Emergency Defense Battle (5)

"Huuuurgh…! Damn it! Daaaaamn it…!"

An hour into the battle, Gong Pildu stared blankly up at the empty air with a thoroughly exhausted face, then exploded in rage. He still had seven hours of fighting left. Looking that wrecked already was downright pitiful.

"Haha! One hour and the guy already looks ten years older!"

"Jinwoo-ssi? Laughing is fine, but your hands dropped."

"Ah—yes, ma'am…."

Yoo Sangah said it with a chilly little smile. I flinched and thrust both hands straight back up into the air. I was currently being punished by Yoo Sangah—on my knees, both arms raised high, in the most humiliating posture imaginable.

I'm… an adult. I'm twenty-six… and I'm getting punished like this….

A grown man of twenty-six receiving a scolding fit for a minor. Shame washed over me, along with the distinct feeling that today had been an especially brutal day.

And the worst part of all…

I glanced at the constellation messages floating in the upper-right corner of my vision.

This is the worst….

Having those ancient, overfed constellations watch me in this humiliating state made it truly the worst day of my life. But I had been in the wrong, so I couldn't exactly rebel… and somehow, defying Yoo Sangah in particular felt impossibly hard.

Caught between the shame and the growing ache in my arms and knees, I finally decided to carefully ask how long this was going to last.

"Um… Sangah-ssi? How long do I have to… keep this up?"

"Why? Tired already?"

"……No."

Ah. Now I get why it's so hard to push back against Sangah-ssi. This ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠is exactly the same pattern as when Mom gets mad….

Back before I moved out, Mom used to nag me every day about when I was going to become independent, when I was going to get a real job…. And now, out of nowhere, I'd been dumped into the world of Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint.

Looking at Yoo Sangah—whose anger pattern was eerily identical to my mother's—I drifted into nostalgia for a moment, and then a thought suddenly struck me. If Yoo Sangah ever became a mother someday, she would make a really good one. And before I knew it, the words had slipped out of my mouth.

"Sangah-ssi, I think you'd make a great mom."

"W-what? Where did that come from all of a sudden?"

"Ah, I said that without thinking… What I mean is, even in a world that's turned into an apocalypse, you still worry about other people with that kindness of yours, and when someone does something wrong, you scold them firmly. That's what made me think it."

"………………."

"Even punishing me like this—it's because you genuinely care about me, and because what I said upset you, right? Isn't that it?"

"Th-that… is true, but…."

Yoo Sangah's brown eyes wavered at my words. Then she turned her head to the side.

"Sangah-ssi?"

"……Please don't talk to me right now."

Her voice came out small and slightly subdued. Looking closer, I could see her cheeks had gone pink. The sight of Yoo Sangah getting embarrassed over something like that was so cute that a smile crept onto my face unbidden.

"Pfft! Ahaha! Did that make you shy? Sangah-ssi, you're ridiculously cute!"

"D-don't laugh! It's only because you said something so weird out of nowhere, Jinwoo-ssi…!"

When I burst out laughing, Yoo Sangah whipped her head around to glare at me—but with her cheeks still flushed bright red, she only looked even cuter.

"Haa… It's been a while since I laughed like this while getting chewed out. Earlier I said those things because I was pissed off at that tenant guy, but I didn't mean them. I'm sorry for making you worry, Sangah-ssi."

"…You're sincerely reflecting, right?"

"Of course! I'm genuinely sorry. I won't say anything like that again."

Yoo Sangah eyed my face, then let out a small sigh.

"I'll take your word for it. You can put your hands down now, Jinwoo-ssi."

"Thank you for forgiving me, Sangah-ssi. Ugh… augh, my shoulders…."

"Hehe. You're still young—shouldn't you be a little early for those kinds of groans, Jinwoo-ssi?"

Having held my arms up for over thirty minutes, my shoulders were screaming, and the moment I let out a pained noise, Yoo Sangah watched me with a bright little smile. Apparently, sincere apology had fully dissolved her anger.

After chatting with Yoo Sangah for a bit, I headed over to the others. Jung Heewon was curled up on the landing, sleeping soundly, while the rest of the party was watching Gong Pildu—who had activated Armed Zone and was now pitifully fighting alone in place of the alliance members and tenants who had become completely useless combatants.

"Ahahaha! Look at that old man—one hour and he's already ancient!"

"Having fun teasing the bald guy, Jihye?"

"Huh? Oppa, did Unnie already finish scolding you?"

"Yep. Your oppa got thoroughly chewed out. Aigoo… I'm dying."

"You're still young—are you allowed to make noises like some old geezer, Oppa?"

I collapsed beside Lee Jihye with a groan, and she looked at me with sympathetic eyes. Something about that look felt strangely complicated.

"Jihye."

"Hm? What's up, Dokja Unnie?"

Kim Dokja, who had been looking down at Gong Pildu, suddenly called Lee Jihye's name, and Jihye answered immediately.

Come to think of it, didn't they say Lee Jihye is weak to cool older sisters?

By Jihye's standards, was Kim Dokja a cool unnie? Was that why she answered so promptly and properly? Male Kim Dokja used to get roasted for being ugly all the time… but apparently not the case here.

"Where's Yoo Joonghyuk right now? Why isn't she here?"

"I dunno either? Master's always busy."

Kim Dokja shot Jihye a sidelong look and casually asked,

"What time did Yoo Joonghyuk enter the 'dungeon'?"

"Around nine this morning, roughly…."

Lee Jihye trailed off mid-sentence, then flinched and whipped her head around to stare at Kim Dokja in shock.

"…Wait a second. How do you know Master went into a dungeon, Unnie?"

Kim Dokja ignored her and studied her phone intently. Then she stared up into empty air for a moment, carefully examining something.

Whoosh!

Before long, a neatly rolled sheet of parchment and ten Intermediate Mana Recovery Potions—the same kind I'd drunk while holding off the monster wave at dawn—materialized in Kim Dokja's hands.

At the sudden appearance of the items, Yoo Sangah looked at what rested in Kim Dokja's palms with eyes full of curiosity.

"What are those?"

"These, you see… are a contract that turns Party A into Party B."

Having carefully drafted the contract, Kim Dokja looked down at the hard-fighting Gong Pildu and waited quietly—wearing an eerie little smile.

Thirty minutes flew by in an instant.

An hour and a half had already passed since the Emergency Defense Battle began, and Gong Pildu still had six and a half hours left to endure.

"Old man! Hang in there! I know exactly how you feel! Just six hours and thirty minutes more!"

"You little bastard…! You think that's easy?!"

"I cheer for you and you still bitch about it. You're only holding on this easily thanks to those turrets. I held out for eight hours all by myself!"

"Then get down here and help, you rotten punk!"

"Two waves is a bit much…."

"If you're not gonna help, shut up!"

Even cheering got me cursed out. I felt oddly wounded. I'd only been rooting for a fellow monster-wave survivor out of sympathy, and this was the thanks I got! What was even the point of being alive!

"This gnoll bear meat is pretty good, actually."

But the living still had to eat. I'd extracted meat from the gnoll corpses at dawn and was grilling it on the Magic Hearth. For the record, the jajangmyeon I'd been planning to eat had been stolen by Lee Gilyoung, so I never got any.

"You son of a bitch! Someone's over here busting their ass… and you're casually chowing down on meat right next to them?!"

"Hey, what am I supposed to do about being hungry?"

"Y-you…!!"

"P-Pildu-ssi! Please calm down!"

Gong Pildu himself was fighting through hunger and exhaustion to hold the monster wave, only to spot me next to him eating perfectly grilled, golden-brown meat. He flew into a towering rage.

Yep. Messing with people never gets old. So fun.

I was deliberately needling Gong Pildu from the sidelines, and his reactions were delicious.

At the messages floating before my eyes, I quietly looked over at Kim Dokja. When I turned my head, Kim Dokja—who had been waiting blankly for thirty minutes—broke into a sly grin as the moment she'd been waiting for finally arrived.

"Hey. You there."

Kim Dokja addressed Gong Pildu, who had poured out so much mana that he was half-dead on his feet. Supported by a nearby alliance member, Gong Pildu looked up at her with great effort.

"Want to die like this, or want to make a contract with me?"

"W-what…?"

"I'm not a constellation, so I can't be a 'Sponsor'—but if you want, I can be your 'Backer.' How about it?"

"What kind of bullshit is that, you crazy bitch…!"

"Gong Pildu, stay down. I wasn't talking to you."

"What…?"

Kim Dokja fluttered the contract in one hand and pointed with the other at the Intermediate Mana Recovery Potions lined up along the stairs.

"Answer quickly. Sign a contract with me, and I'll supply you with all of these."

A moment later, a message appeared before Kim Dokja's eyes.

Kim Dokja calmly regarded the message from the constellation Defense Master. Meanwhile, Gong Pildu finally dropped to his knees on the floor, completely spent. Even from this distance, his exhausted face was painfully clear.

"Kh…!"

"Pildu-ssi!"

Seeing this, Yoo Sangah urgently called out to Kim Dokja.

"That man—he's going to die like this."

"Cough!"

"P-Pildu-ssi! There's blood coming from your mouth…!"

Gong Pildu hacked out a dry cough, and blood spilled from his lips. The alliance member supporting him cried out his name in a voice thick with shock and worry.

"Go on, take a good look. You've got to save your incarnation, don't you?"

Kim Dokja held the contract up to the message window so the constellation Defense Master could read it comfortably.

Kim Dokja smiled at the messages before her eyes. Down on the stairs, Gong Pildu roughly wiped the blood from his mouth and shouted up at Kim Dokja and the floating messages.

"W-what the hell is this message?!"

"That's the sound of you getting sold off, old man."

"You…! Sponsor, I'm fine! You don't need to accept a deal like this!"

Hearing me, Gong Pildu thrashed and yelled at his own Sponsor. But his Sponsor apparently had other ideas.

Kim Dokja carefully read the clause Defense Master had added, then spoke with a satisfied smile.

"I accept."

Having sealed the deal with Gong Pildu's Sponsor, Kim Dokja handed Yoo Sangah one of the mana potions.

"Give this to Gong ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Pildu."

"…Is it all right to give it to him?"

"I contracted with Gong Pildu's Sponsor, so yes, it's fine."

Hearing that, Yoo Sangah used her mana threads to deliver the potion to Gong Pildu. Still slumped on the floor, Gong Pildu coughed and hacked, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth. After a long bout of coughing, he stared blankly at the potion floating gently before his eyes.

"What's this?"

"Drink it and fight."

"Kh, you stupid bitch. You think doing this means I'll forgive you?!"

Gong Pildu glared at Kim Dokja, snatched the potion, cracked the lid, and gulped it down. Blue smoke rose from his body as the turrets that had gone unrepaired from lack of mana began restoring themselves to their original state.

Feeling better after drinking the potion, Gong Pildu glared up at Kim Dokja.

"The day I get out of here… that'll be ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the day of your funeral, you bitch…."

"Shut your mouth, Gong Pildu."

Thup.

"Mmph…?"

At Kim Dokja's single word, Gong Pildu's mouth clamped shut and he couldn't speak. He stared down at his suddenly sealed lips with bewildered eyes.

"Mmph? Mmmph mmmph…?!"

"Now go fight hard. And don't touch my companions."

Kim Dokja looked down at the panicking, silenced Gong Pildu as she spoke. The rest of the party glanced back and forth between Gong Pildu and Kim Dokja with stunned expressions.

"Mmph…! Mmmph mmmph!"

"P-Pildu-ssi?! What's suddenly wrong with you?!"

Watching Gong Pildu and Kim Dokja, a single thought flashed through my mind.

"I see… so Dokja-ssi is an S."

"It is nothing of the sort…."

"I understand completely, Dokja-ssi. It happens."

"I said it's not, you idiot."

Kim Dokja glared at me, then addressed the group.

"Everyone, I'm sorry, but I'll need to step away for a bit."

"What? Right now?"

"Huh, Dokja-ssi. Where are you going?"

"There's a terrible woman who vanished to hog items all by herself, not caring whether people live or die."

"Wow, what an awful person."

I naturally played along with Kim Dokja's words, and she continued speaking to the party.

"Sangah-ssi and Hyunsung-ssi, please stay here. Every forty minutes, toss Gong Pildu one of these potions. Other than that, there's nothing special to do—just keep an eye on him and rest."

Jung Heewon asked Kim Dokja,

"What about me, Jinwoo-ssi, and Gilyoung?"

"You're coming with me."

"I'd rather not, though?"

"You don't get a veto."

I tried to say I was too tired to go, but Kim Dokja shut that down hard—looking fully prepared to grab me by the leg and drag me along if I refused—so I closed my mouth.

"Looks like no one else objects. All right then—let's go smack that terrible woman upside the head."