Emergency Defense Battle (4)

"W-what the hell?!"

"An Emergency Defense Battle…?! Why all of a sudden?! It's still daytime!"

The people who had been advancing on me and Kim Dokja with weapons in hand checked the scenario message, then shouted in panic.

Kuaaaang!

Kieeeek—!

At the far end of the tracks Kim Dokja was watching, a Red Zone bloomed into existence. From within it, monsters poured out amid their howls and screeches.

"Crazy! What the hell are those things?!"

"E-everyone, run! The monsters are coming!"

The monsters spawned from the Red Zone charged straight at the people, intent on killing them. Panic seized the crowd at the sight of the creatures racing toward them, and Line 3 platform instantly dissolved into chaos.

Kuaaak!

"Gyaaah! S-save me!"

"Uwaaaaah!"

"Kyaaaak!"

No one had the luxury of worrying about the bounty scenario anymore. Faces drained of color, they fled in every direction trying to escape the monsters. A few grolls and mole crickets tore into alliance members and tenants alike; the sight sent the rest into a screaming, milling frenzy.

Watching it all, Kim Dokja shouted to our group.

"Everyone, run for the stairs! Hyunsung-ssi!"

Everyone except Lee Hyunsung sprinted full-tilt toward the transfer stairs. They made it halfway up in a single burst, then stopped and looked back down.

"W-what are you doing?! Get out of the way!"

"Hurry up! Do you all want to die here?!"

"Why did you suddenly stop?! There are monsters everywhere down there!!"

The people who had followed us up the stairs started complaining the moment we halted midway. Kim Dokja kicked a few of the ones right below her out of the way, then drew her sword in one smooth motion. White Pure Demonic Energy flared along the Unbreakable Faith as she spoke to the crowd.

"Looks like you still haven't grasped the situation."

She drove the Unbreakable Faith, wreathed in White Pure Demonic Energy, straight into the center of the staircase. The instant the blade sank in, a sharp crack split the air; fissures raced across the concrete, and the entire stairway collapsed.

Kwarrrung!

"Uwaaak! G-get down, hurry!"

"The stairs are collapsing! Get down already!"

As the staircase crumbled, Kim Dokja looked down at the people scrambling back to the platform and said,

"Even if you make it up here, you won't survive. There are no more 'rooms' left anywhere in Chungmuro Station. There's only one way to live now."

The people stared at the ruined stairs in despair and shouted up at her.

"W-what the hell do you want us to do?!"

"What else? Fight."

"You crazy bitch! Stop spouting bullshit and get lost!"

"You bitches smashed all our rooms and now you want us to risk our lives fighting those monsters?!"

"There's no time to argue! Find another staircase, now!"

"I doubt that'll work out the way you think."

Kwaaang!

From the opposite side came another thunderous crash. Lee Hyunsung, following Kim Dokja's orders, had just finished demolishing the remaining stairs.

"Uwaaaaah! No!"

"W-what are you doing?!"

"D-don't tell me the other stairs too…!"

The despairing screams of the people trapped below the stairs where Lee Hyunsung stood drained every last drop of color from the faces of the alliance members beneath us. I smirked down at their ashen faces and taunted them.

"Oh dear. The last stairs just went down too. Now what are you going to do?"

"Y-you… you fucking bastards! Uwaaaaah!!"

Trapped on Line 3 platform with the monsters, the people hurled curses, and screams thick with raw terror erupted from every corner. Lee Jihye's expression hardened as she watched them. She turned to Kim Dokja.

"Wait, Unnie! This isn't what you told me! If we just leave them like that, they'll all…!"

"I know."

Kim Dokja gazed down at the pandemonium below with perfect calm.

A faint silhouette of Cheon Inho flickered behind Kim Dokja's back. She must have selected him from the Bookmark just like in the webtoon.

What a waste. I should've extracted that skill from Cheon Inho myself. If I had, how many more coins could I have raked in while doing business…

I still regretted not extracting Cheon Inho's Instigation skill back at Geumho Station. Hell, I was still regretting it now. With that skill, even if it was a coin toss whether it would work on Constellations, I could have agitated the crowd while ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠selling and made at least 1.3 times more coins than I was currently pulling in…

I was smacking my lips over the missed opportunity while staring at Kim Dokja when she suddenly shouted toward Gong Pildu.

"Hey, Gong Pildu!"

Gong Pildu flinched at her voice, then glared daggers at her. Kim Dokja ignored the look and pressed on.

"How long are you going to stand there like an idiot? If you want to live, you need to move. If you move, everyone else can live too."

"You fucking bitch……!"

The people drowning in despair, terror, and panic seemed to have fallen under Kim Dokja's Instigation. They rushed over in a frantic scramble and surrounded Gong Pildu, shouting at him.

"P-Pildu-ssi!"

"Pildu-ssi! Please save us!"

"Please, just save us!"

Faced with those desperate, fear-soaked expressions, Gong Pildu looked thoroughly rattled. Kim Dokja watched ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠them from above with a deep smile, then shrugged with casual ease.

"The third scenario isn't as hard as you think. If everyone gives up their 'rooms' and joins the defense battle, only a manageable number of monsters will spawn."

The alliance members and tenants, thoroughly under the spell of her Instigation, clung to Gong Pildu's body and pleaded.

"P-Pildu-ssi! You're the only one we can trust right now!"

"Please save us!"

"Can't you hear their voices, Gong Pildu? If you fight alongside them, everyone can survive."

"That would be more convincing if a few people hadn't already died, Dokja-ssi."

"Shut your mouth, Jinwoo-ssi."

My little interruption earned me a smile that never reached her eyes; Kim Dokja fixed me with a thoroughly creepy stare. Then a Constellation's message floated up in front of us.

"There's no more 'room' for any of you to run to. Landlord or tenant, forget that crap and start fighting. Otherwise you're all going to die."

"That damn bitch…!"

Surrounded by alliance members and tenants, Gong Pildu glared up at Kim Dokja. He looked at the monsters creeping closer and the desperate faces of the people around him, then finally made his decision and roared,

"Goddamn it… everyone gather up!"

"Pildu-ssi…!"

"Armed Zone takes time to set up again. Hold out just a little longer!"

"You all heard him?! Protect Pildu-ssi with your lives! That's the only way any of us survive!"

The alliance members and tenants formed a defensive line centered on Gong Pildu and leveled their weapons at the monsters closing in.

"Uwaaaaah!!"

"Kyaaaaak!"

"Uwaaak!"

While Gong Pildu installed Armed Zone, the alliance members and tenants held the monsters back. But soon blood sprayed as people took hits; screams of those who had arms and legs bitten, slashed, or torn off echoed across Line 3 platform.

"H-huaaaak!"

Right on cue, a tenant whose back had been raked by a groll's foreleg let out a scream.

"Sangah-ssi."

"Yes!"

Kim Dokja ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠hadn't even given detailed instructions, yet Yoo Sangah already understood what she needed to do. She used her skill, Thread Binding, to shoot out threads of mana and pull the wounded tenant to safety.

"Ugh… th-thank you."

The tenant Yoo Sangah had rescued trembled as he pressed a hand near the wound. Then his eyes met mine and Kim Dokja's. His fingers ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠slowly tightened around the weapon he still held. Kim Dokja smiled as if she found him utterly pathetic.

"Ah, going for the bounty, are we?"

"Shame. You should've jumped a little earlier."

"Th-that's… I'm sorry."

The tenant flushed with shame and let the weapon drop. But for just a moment I had seen the way he looked at me and Kim Dokja—like we were walking coin purses—and I really didn't like it.

"What, not going after me?"

I draped an arm around the shoulders of the tenant who had his head bowed in embarrassment.

"My timer's still running. Kill me right now and you'd get at least three thousand coins. Not interested?"

"Jinwoo-ssi! What are you saying…!"

Yoo Sangah cried out, startled. I waved her off.

"Just ignore what that pretty lady said for a second. How about it, buddy? Three thousand coins. Most people never even get to see that many."

"U-ugh…"

The tenant's face twisted with pure agony as his hands twitched.

"It's fine, it's fine. You can swing that blade for three thousand coins. Even if my companions here don't forgive you, I will. Deal?"

"Y-you…"

I whispered into his ear like a devil tempting him to be honest about his desires. His expression slowly filled with naked greed as his gaze drifted back toward his weapon.

"But just so you know… I never said I'd go down easy."

"What…?"

I grabbed him by the scruff of the neck and hauled him up onto the broken edge of the stairs. The tenant's face went paper-white at the sight of the monsters swarming right beneath his feet, and he started babbling in panic.

"Uwaaaak! P-please spare me! I-I was completely wrong!!"

"You were wrong? But your hand was still inching toward that weapon. Should I just toss you down there as monster chow or not?"

"Huaaaak!!"

I lowered him a little farther over the edge. His absolute terror was actually kind of fun.

"Five hundred coins."

"W-what?!"

"Pay me five hundred coins and I'll forgive you. Deal?"

"Huh? I was just getting a little payback because I didn't like the way this guy looked at me and Dokja-ssi like we were walking coin bags."

They never listen to a damn word I say. Rotten bastards…

The nth round of Constellation bullshit was already draining my energy. I was staring blankly at their messages when the tenant spoke up in a desperate voice.

"I-I'll pay! So please just spare me!"

"Payment first."

"Thanks for the business, customer."

Whoosh.

"Ugh…!"

I casually tossed the ungrateful customer who'd just paid five hundred coins toward the stairs, then turned to my companions, who were all staring at me with complicated expressions.

"I'm getting jjajangmyeon. Anyone want some?"

"Is this really the time to casually eat black-bean noodles, Jinwoo-ssi?! And you shouldn't have said something like that to that man in the first place! Do you have any idea how shocked I was?!"

"Come on… you really think I'd lose to a guy like that? Anyway, I'm touched that Sangah-ssi cares so much about me. So what do you want? Jjajangmyeon? Jjamppong? We're getting tangsuyuk too, right?"

"Of course I was worried! And stop changing the subject!"

Yoo Sangah scolded me with a slightly heated expression. I did my best to ignore her while ordering jjajangmyeon from the regular shop. I peeled the plastic wrap off the top and was just about to mix the noodles when a soft hand grabbed my ear. I was still wondering what that was about when a sharp jolt of pain shot through it.

"Jin. Woo. Ssi—!!"

"Ow ow ow!! It hurts! Sangah-ssi!!"

"It's supposed to hurt! Stop ignoring me!! Everything I'm saying is for your own good!"

Apparently thoroughly pissed that I'd ignored her while trying to eat jjajangmyeon, Yoo Sangah seized my ear and twisted it hard. Pain flared. She kept twisting while putting her mouth right next to my ear and unleashing a machine-gun barrage of scolding.

"I've never seen Sangah-ssi that angry before."

"I know… to make someone as kind and patient as Sangah-ssi that furious. Jinwoo-ssi, in a way you're pretty impressive yourself."

Jung Heewon and Kim Dokja watched Yoo Sangah and me like they were rubbernecking a fire across the river, chatting away like a pair of aunties.

Then Gong Pildu's booming voice rose from below. Everyone except Yoo Sangah and me looked down.

"Everyone get clear!"

"All of you die, you sons of bitches!"

With a mechanical whir, five turrets rose from the floor. They immediately fired condensed red mana shells and swept the monsters away in an instant.

Tudududududu!

Bang! Kwaang! Bang!

The monsters under the turret barrage screamed. The ones in the rear ranks faltered at the sound, and the people erupted in cheers.

"Uwaaaaah!"

"S-see? That's our Pildu-ssi!"

Our group was staring blankly at the spectacle when Lee Hyunsung's admiring voice floated down from higher up the stairs.

"Truly an incredible stigma."

"Oh, Hyunsung-ssi, good work."

"Not at all. I only did what needed to be done."

Lee Hyunsung scratched his cheek bashfully at Jung Heewon's praise, then turned to Kim Dokja with a question.

"But Dokja-ssi. That stigma looks like it consumes a lot of mana. Will he be all right without our help?"

"Gong Pildu's stigma has excellent cost-efficiency. For the time being he'll be fine on his own."

Kim Dokja answered Lee Hyunsung, then stretched her legs out and sat down, addressing the rest of us.

"Then let's just sit back and freeload for a bit."

"Is it personal maintenance time already?"

"Oh, perfect. I was short on sleep anyway."

"Then I'll have some jjajangmyeon."

Lee Hyunsung sat down following Kim Dokja's lead. One by one the others—everyone except Yoo Sangah and me—settled in as well. Jung Heewon actually lay flat on the floor like she was ready for a real nap. Meanwhile Lee Gilyoung snuck over, stole the unwrapped jjajangmyeon I'd been about to eat while Yoo Sangah was still scolding me, and started mixing it with gusto.

"But are we really okay just resting here, Dokja-ssi?"

"It's fine, so don't worry too much. Think of it as having picked the right line."

"And them over there?"

"They picked the wrong line."

Kim Dokja answered our questions with a smile, then looked down at Gong Pildu, who had fully activated Armed Zone.

"Uwaaaaaaaaaah! Damn it! Daaaaamn it…!"