Emergency Defense Battle (3)

We leaned over the edge of the gaping hole where the floor had caved in and peered down.

"Ghhhk…."

"Urrrgh… S-someone help me…."

"S-save me… M-my legs won't move…."

The foundation of the second basement level had collapsed, sending people plunging down to the third basement level. They lay crushed beneath the large and small fragments of shattered flooring, moaning in agony.

"Looks just like the opening of a disaster movie."

"…I suppose it does."

I surveyed the former Landlord Alliance members and made the comparison. Kim Dokja answered in a completely lifeless voice.

"Shall we head down now?"

She looked at us as she spoke. Lee Hyunsung ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠and I nodded, and together we jumped into the hole.

We landed safely and were still clicking our tongues at the catastrophe of B3 when a voice called out to us from farther off.

"Dokja-ssi! Jinwoo-ssi! Hyunsung-ssi!"

"Is everyone all right?"

"Hyungs, Noona."

Our companions, who had been smashing the scattered small Green Zones of fewer than three people throughout the underground, came running toward us, calling our names. Kim Dokja turned to Jung Heewon at the front of the group.

"No spots left unbroken?"

"Nope, we smashed every last one! I had no idea 'rooms' could break like that. We all hammered the entire floor as hard as we could, and then—crash!"

"I see. Everyone, great work… Ugh!"

Kim Dokja was smiling at Jung Heewon, Yoo Sangah, and Lee Gilyoung, thanking them for their efforts, when she suddenly clapped both hands over her ears and flinched. Bihyung had almost certainly just screamed directly into her ear.

As Kim Dokja frowned with her ears covered, the others—everyone but me—looked at her with puzzled expressions. Meanwhile, the Landlord Alliance members forced their aching bodies upright and glared at us.

"You sure made a spectacular mess of things."

"Jihye?"

I eyed the Landlord Alliance members warily. Then Lee Jihye's voice came from right beside me. I turned my head and found her looking at us with a long sword slung casually over her shoulder, lounging in a cocky stance.

"Did you smash them all?"

"Yeah, it was easy."

Lee Jihye answered Kim Dokja's question without hesitation. Her face looked considerably brighter—like someone who had just blown off a mountain of accumulated stress.

"So what now? Those bastards are gonna come charging like maniacs. Oh, speak of the devil."

Lee Jihye smirked as the sound of pounding footsteps echoed down the stairs.

"There they are! Get those bastards!"

"Kill them!"

"Pildu-ssi…!"

Landlord Alliance members glared at us with murderous excitement, and people whose Green Zones had all been destroyed—furious beyond reason—closed in around us.

"Y-you ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠sons of bitches! Why did you destroy the Green Zones?!"

"W-what the hell is this?! How are we supposed to survive the monster wave at night now?!"

"We're all dead… We're all going to die…!"

Our companions shrank under the gazes of people filled with resentment, rage, and murderous intent.

You?

I was still puzzling over Bihyung's choice of "you" when the system messages rang out.

"Oh, for fuck's sake. They put a bounty on me just because they got flashbanged? Constellations are such petty little shits. Doesn't living like that get exhausting?"

I stared at the bounty scenario hanging over my head with an expression of pure disbelief.

"Just so you know, I'm not helping this time."

"Wasn't counting on it."

Lee Jihye looked between Kim Dokja and me with a smirk. Kim Dokja snorted a quiet laugh and answered her.

But I kind of want the help, though?

I called out to Lee Jihye as she waved and made a cool exit.

"If you don't help, no more chicken, pizza, or cola for you."

"……………?"

Lee Jihye stopped mid-retreat. She turned back with the creaking, mechanical stiffness of a wind-up toy, staring at me with the face of a high school girl who had just heard something that should not exist in this world.

"Oppa?! I already helped plenty! You can't threaten me with food!!"

She yelled at the top of her lungs, arguing with me. But there was one flaw in her logic.

"That was Dokja-ssi asking for help, not me. I'm the one asking now."

"Wh-wh-what?! What kind of—!! This is a scam…! A total scam!!"

Lee Jihye huffed and puffed with pure indignation.

"If you'd rather never freeload chicken, pizza, cola, malatang, tteokbokki, or any other food off me again, that's fine by me."

"Y-you…!!"

I watched her with a leisurely expression. Lee Jihye glared back, shoulders heaving, fuming for a long while before finally letting out a huge sigh and stepping over to my side. She drew her long sword, pointed it at the Landlord Alliance members and the surrounding crowd, and grumbled under her breath.

"…I'm definitely getting revenge for this. When this is over, I'm telling Master!"

"Calling your mom over something like this is a bit much, don't you think? I didn't even threaten you."

"Threatening someone with food absolutely counts as a threat!"

Kim Dokja, who had been listening to our exchange, shot me a look that clearly said Wow. You are the worst.

While Lee Jihye and I bickered back and forth, Jung Heewon beside me turned to ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Kim Dokja and me with a question.

"So right now, killing Dokja-ssi and Jinwoo-ssi would get someone at least five thousand coins?"

"Why, planning to kill us?"

"If I die, you lose the house and every single convenience that comes with it, Heewon-ssi."

"I was joking! A joke! You think I'd betray my two saviors? Though if someone offered, say, two hundred thousand coins, I might think about it."

"Heewon-ssi! The Constellations in our channel are so broke they can't even sponsor ten thousand coins!"

"Huh? Our channel's Constellations are that poor?"

"Eheh~ All right, all right. Our Constellations aren't broke. Wow, you're all incredibly rich. I'll apologize on Heewon-ssi's behalf. So everyone, please just calm down a little."

"…Excuse me? Why am I being dragged into this, Jinwoo-ssi?!"

"But you were the one who called them poor at the end there, Heewon-ssi."

I smirked at Jung Heewon and the Constellations' messages alike. Jung Heewon clenched her fists and trembled from head to toe at the sight of my smug face.

Judging by the look in her eyes, she was currently debating whether to kill me or let me live.

"I'm kidding, kidding! Please don't look at me like that. I'm sorry, Heewon-ssi!"

Intimidated by Jung Heewon's murderous glare, I hastily waved my hands and apologized with genuine remorse in my eyes.

"Oppa, how many lives do you even have? Is it okay to pull that much aggro?"

"You've only got one life, so you might as well live it fun and thrilling, right?"

"You're seriously insane, Oppa…."

Lee Jihye shot me a look reserved for complete lunatics.

"Um, everyone? This really doesn't seem like the time for a casual conversation…."

At Lee Hyunsung's words, we all snapped to attention and looked around.

People hostile toward us had gathered on every side. Landlord Alliance members burning with hatred and a thirst for revenge, and tenants blinded by the coins of the bounty quests, all glared at Kim Dokja and me with murder in their eyes.

"Dokja-ssi, Jinwoo-ssi. Please get behind me."

Lee Hyunsung stepped in front of Kim Dokja and me like a shield. Then Jung Heewon, Yoo Sangah, Lee Gilyoung, and Lee Jihye took up positions around us as well, forming a protective circle.

"Looks like I finally get to pay you back. Though there's one particularly annoying person in the mix…."

"Jinwoo-ssi, Dokja-ssi. We'll hold them off somehow."

Jung Heewon smiled at Kim Dokja, then shot me a sidelong glare mid-sentence. Yoo Sangah leveled her weapon at the crowd, her expression tense.

Kim Dokja looked at her companions with a briefly moved expression, then turned her gaze to the hostile throng ahead and asked Lee Hyunsung a question.

"Hyunsung-ssi, how many more times can you use that skill from earlier?"

"At most one or two more times, I believe."

Hearing Lee Hyunsung's answer, Kim Dokja patted the shoulder of Lee Gilyoung, who was visibly tense at the sight of so many hostile people.

"You don't have to be nervous. The ones they need to fight aren't us."

With that, Kim Dokja glanced toward the subway tracks—and a new system message appeared before our eyes.