Future War (1)

The party let out a collective sigh of relief at the message announcing the end of the third Main Scenario. But the message that ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠followed immediately after made every face go stiff.

I frowned slightly at the system message floating in front of my eyes.

…Probably because a fair number of stations already finished the third Main Scenario. They're jumping straight into the fourth.

But it had been less than ten minutes since the third Main Scenario ended. That meant we would have to enter the next scenario with bodies still heavy with fatigue, nowhere near peak condition.

I silently cursed the Dokkaebis for launching the fourth Main Scenario immediately just to keep our progress in sync with the other stations.

After reading the scenario message, Kim Dokja's expression hardened a little as she approached Lee Jihye.

"Jihye, you stay here with Yoo Joonghyuk."

"Is that okay?"

"Even if you go down now, you won't be much help. And Jinwoo-ssi gave Yoo Joonghyuk a sleeping pill, so she won't be waking up anytime soon."

Lee Jihye nodded at Kim Dokja's words.

"Shall we head down too? Sangah-ssi and Hyunsung-ssi will be waiting."

"Yes, Noona."

"Alright."

Unlike the others answering Kim Dokja, I paused for a moment to look at Yoo Joonghyuk still slung over my back. Then a brilliant idea struck me.

"Hold on a second."

"Jinwoo-ssi?"

Kim Dokja, Lee Gilyoung, and Jung Heewon stopped mid-step toward the lower floor and turned to look at me.

"You all go on ahead downstairs. I'll be down in just a bit."

"Hmm… what are you planning?"

"Just a little fun."

Fun for me, at least.

Kim Dokja shot me a deeply suspicious look.

"…Don't cause too much trouble, okay?"

"Haha! Got it! Don't worry so much!"

Kim Dokja stared at me the way one stares at an uncontrollable little gremlin, then shook her head in resignation and led Lee Gilyoung and Jung Heewon downstairs.

"Jihye."

Once I confirmed Kim Dokja had taken the other two down, I called Lee Jihye in a gentle voice.

"Hm?"

She tilted her head and looked up at me. The gesture was almost painfully cute.

"Help me with one little job."

"A job? Out of nowhere?"

Lee Jihye stared at me with a puzzled expression.

"You'll understand when you see."

I quietly purchased a few items from the General Store, then spoke in a voice thick with barely contained laughter.

"It's only common decency to prepare a proper reception for our sleeping, violent queen on the rooftop, right?"

I spread a pink mattress across the rooftop floor, then laid out a thin blanket patterned with adorable little animal characters on a pink background. On top of that, I set down a plump, brightly colored pink pillow.

"Huh? Uh…? Wait…?!"

Lee Jihye finally seemed to grasp what I meant. She stared at me with a stammering, open-mouthed face that screamed, Have you actually lost your mind?

"Pfft… heheheh…!"

I carefully lowered Yoo Joonghyuk from my ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠back onto the pink mattress.

But that wasn't enough.

I pulled the pink blanket embroidered with a princess character over Yoo Joonghyuk as she lay there, head nestled against the fluffy pink pillow.

"Kh— pffft…!"

Sure, the moment Yoo Joonghyuk woke up she would come at me swinging her sword. But who was I? I was a man who would stake his life for the sake of a good laugh.

If it's for fun, I'll put my life on the line. That's just who I am.

Next, I carefully arranged cute stuffed animals all around Yoo Joonghyuk.

With meticulous, delicate hand movements that left not a single plush out of place, I set the adorable dolls around the sleeping Yoo Joonghyuk. Lee Jihye stared at me in blank, horrified silence.

"O-Oppa…! Have you actually gone insane!? If Master finds out about this, you're dead for sure…!?"

But she snapped out of it quickly, grabbing my clothes with both hands and trying hard to stop me.

"Jihye."

"Oppa, stop right now. You're really going to die!"

"Jihye. All you have to do is keep quiet."

"…You want me to die by Master's hand too?"

Lee Jihye let go of my clothes with a look of pure terror and put some distance between us. Undeterred by her reaction, I gripped her shoulders with a solemn expression and spoke.

"If Yoo Joonghyuk wakes up, just tell her the store only had this much stock left. That should cover it."

"…But that's not true, Oppa. The store doesn't only have that much stock."

At Jihye's sharp observation, I simply smiled. Her large, clear black eyes flickered back and forth at my reaction.

"Jihye, I neither confirmed nor denied anything, did I? Just say exactly what I told you, and your Master will never find out."

I released her shoulders and walked over to the peacefully sleeping Yoo Joonghyuk.

"General Store. Purchase an instant camera and dedicated film."

"Alright, our Joonghyuk queen! Say cheese!"

Click! Click! Click! Click! Click!

I photographed Yoo Joonghyuk as she slept deeply, looking for all the world like a beautiful Sleeping Beauty of the forest (laughs).

"Let's see how these came out."

I checked the photos right away.

Shot after shot of Yoo Joonghyuk buried under a pink mattress, pink blanket, pink pillow, and a swarm of adorable little plushies.

Her face was beautiful enough to be called a goddess, and the sheer pink overload of cute objects surrounding her made a smile bloom across my face without me even realizing it.

"Perfect. Well, I'm heading downstairs now, Jihye!"

"Uh? Uhh… be careful going down, Oppa…."

Lee Jihye stared at me with a dazed expression, then awkwardly smiled as she saw me off.

"Hell yeah! Got a sponsorship and captured our Joonghyuk's blackmail material! Life is good!"

Business concluded, I practically flew down the stairs toward the lower floor.

Just as I was nearly there, I spotted Kim Dokja, Lee Gilyoung, and Jung Heewon up ahead.

"I'm here."

"Ah, Jinwoo-ssi. You're finally down?"

"Yeah. But Heewon-ssi, why are you carrying Gilyoung?"

"Ah, Gilyoung looked really tired. So I was carrying him."

Lee Gilyoung was on Jung Heewon's back, snoring softly — clearly deep asleep.

Well, staying up all night is pretty rough for an eleven-year-old.

I pulled my gaze away from the deeply sleeping Lee Gilyoung on Jung Heewon's back and looked toward Kim Dokja and Jung Heewon instead.

The two of them were talking with awkward little smiles.

Looks like, just like in the webtoon, Heewon honestly admitted she'd overheard Kim Dokja and Yoo Joonghyuk's conversation, and Kim Dokja hit her with a straight-line "Become my companion." Good.

Having rejoined Kim Dokja and the others, I headed further downstairs with the group.

As we drew closer to the lower level, a commotion rose up from below.

"Where the hell did that bitch Kim Dokja and that bastard Park Jinwoo go?! Spit it out already!"

Apparently deciding the third Main Scenario was over, Gong Pildu and the Landlord Alliance members had surrounded Lee Hyunsung and Yoo Sangah and were putting the pressure on.

"They're really living it up."

"Indeed. Looks like they still haven't come to their senses."

Wanting to help Lee Hyunsung and Yoo Sangah, we hurried the rest of the way down.

"Now, just a moment… please calm down first…."

"You—! Does this look like a time to calm down?! Huh?! We almost all died because of those two!"

Lee Hyunsung looked thoroughly cornered under Gong Pildu's shouting. Kim Dokja called out both of their names loudly, stepping in to help.

"Lee Hyunsung-ssi, Yoo Sangah-ssi!"

"Huh? Dokja-ssi!"

At the perfectly timed appearance of Kim Dokja, Lee Hyunsung and Yoo Sangah looked over at her with expressions of pure relief.

"Pildu-ssi! That's the bitch!"

"That bastard, where the hell has he been hiding ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠until now…!"

As Kim Dokja descended the ruined stairs of the Line 4 platform, the Alliance members shouted with faces twisted in fury.

"Grrr…! Grab that bastard right now…!"

Supported by an Alliance member, Gong Pildu glared at Kim Dokja, a full magazine of curses loaded and ready to fire — but unfortunately for him, that never happened.

Because—

Ding!

—the system message for the Fourth Main Scenario had just appeared.

The moment the message floated up, Bihyung materialized in midair.

The flow of conversation cut short by Bihyung's words, Gong Pildu shot Kim Dokja a vicious glare. Kim Dokja simply shrugged with a completely unbothered expression in response.

They had spent the entire night fighting an emergency defense battle and were thoroughly exhausted. The sudden appearance of the Dokkaebi Bihyung alongside the Fourth Main Scenario message made everyone's faces go rigid.

"What the hell do you want this time!"

A few people snapped at Bihyung as he floated in midair, voices full of protest.

"Oh, for fuck's sake…."

"Are you kidding me!? How long has it even been since the third Main Scenario ended!"

At the stream of curses pouring from thoroughly worked-up faces, Bihyung waved his hands dismissively.

At Bihyung's words, people's faces darkened even further, and they muttered quiet curses under their breath.

The mention of working with other stations already had them fretting. Bihyung snickered at their expressions and continued.

People stared at Bihyung with eyes full of questions.

Bihyung wore a sly little smile.

With that, Bihyung's form scattered and vanished. Then a system message appeared before everyone.

Ding!

Zzzt!

As the Sub Scenario generated, a white flag appeared at the center of Chungmuro Station's platform.

"Everyone get out of my way!"

Gong Pildu, the first to spot it, shoved people aside and sprinted for the white flag.

Just as Gong Pildu was about to reach it, Kim Dokja smiled faintly and spoke.

"Gong Pildu, get down!"

Crash!

"Waaagh!"

Gong Pildu personally reenacted a scene that showed up constantly in a certain anime. Thanks to ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠slamming face-first into the floor with full force, twin streams of blood poured from his nose.

Kim Dokja casually ignored him, lightly stepped on his back as she walked past, and took the White Flag into her hand.

Gong Pildu's face went deathly pale as he read the messages. He pointed at Kim Dokja and bellowed.

"Steal the flag! Just snatch it within five minutes!"

At Gong Pildu's shout, the Alliance members finally snapped out of it and charged at Kim Dokja, screaming.

"Dokja-ssi!"

The party finally closed ranks around Kim Dokja, drawing their weapons to protect her. But I held them back.

"Why bother fighting?"

"Huh?"

"Let's just step into a room and rest for a bit."

I quietly generated the door to My Room and pointed at it.

"Ah! Right. We only need to hold out for five minutes."

"Come on, come on! We worked all night. Let's go inside and rest for a little while. I've also got something for Sangah-ssi and Hyunsung-ssi."

"For us?"

Yoo Sangah and Lee Hyunsung looked at me with blank, bewildered faces.

"I'll explain once we're inside. For now, let's just go in."

Ignoring the Alliance members charging toward us and Gong Pildu thrashing around, screaming his head off, we opened the door and stepped through.