Betrayal (2)
Betrayal (2)
"......So, you went ahead and pulled off something like that without even consulting me, and now you want me to help clean up the shit?"
"......Sorry."
The next day, I bowed my head to Deokgu. Putting all sorts of stuff in the newspaper was his job, so in the end, I had to get his help.
Deokgu exploded in anger. It was justified anger. The kind I had no choice but to accept....
"Isn't this just too much?"
"But...... you can't act."
"What? Have you ever seen me act!? Have you!?"
"That's exactly why I didn't ask."
"......Yeah, fair enough."
Unless someone professionally studies acting, anyone's acting skills basically follow their social skills.
And honestly speaking, Deokgu's social skills weren't all that great. There was no way he'd studied acting, so naturally, his acting chops weren't great either.
"Even so...... damn, you're always causing trouble. And I'm the one cleaning up all the shit. Might as well be your mom at this point."
"Yeah, clean up the shit for me. Deokgu-mommy."
"Cut that creepy shit out."
Deokgu clutched his head, racking his brains over how to lay out the newspaper pages. He'd already gotten ads from tons of trading companies and groups, so he couldn't pad it with useless crap.
Since who knew what ridiculous demands the Elves might throw at them, he had to keep a good chunk of pages reserved at all times.
"How we gonna handle this?"
"Cut back on the ads a bit."
"What about the money?"
"Pay the cancellation fees. Just hunt more."
"You cool with that?"
"Yeah."
"But...... didn't you say you can't go above the 30th Floor?"
"Oh."
Right. I couldn't go up to the 30th Floor where the Dungeon Ruler was waiting. The earnings from below the 30th Floor were barely enough to cover rent and printing costs.
If we had to pay cancellation fees on top of that, we might actually go bankrupt and end up hounded by debt collectors.
"......Should we just take down the Dungeon Ruler now?"
"You think we can?"
In the end, we decided to leave it to luck. Please, oh please, don't let the Elves ask for any ads until they ran out....
'I need to get stronger.'
I needed power. Sure, I could fool the Elf Kingdom's eyes for a little while, but it was just a stopgap.
It wasn't a fundamental solution. A real fix meant liberation from all threats.
Like some Buddhist philosophy, Dojin hoped no one could ever threaten him. But he didn't want to live cowering and groveling in fear either....
Fortunately, in this world, aside from money or authority, you could become a superhuman—an individual surpassing entire groups with raw martial might alone.
'It's tough...... but the other paths are the same.'
Earning money to rise above others, or seizing power to become king—all of it meant risking your life. That's what power was.
'I can't go after money or authority.'
Even with our modern knowledge and cheat abilities to apply it, it wasn't perfect. We'd probably just fumble with half-assed info, get our knowledge stolen, and end up screwed. Same with power.
'The only thing I can aim for is martial strength.'
To build that strength, Dojin entered the Dungeon again today. Not to climb it, though.
"......You want me to attack you?"
"Yeah."
Seoyun looked at him in confusion after hearing Dojin's words. On the 1st Floor of the Dungeon, in the vast plaza he'd created with his Dominion Authority.
He told her to unleash her Ability on him.
"Sounds dangerous."
"It's fine."
"......You asked for it?"
And right away, Seoyun spread her arms wide. Massive ice wings formed behind her.
Jjeojeojeok—the air froze, the precursor to countless ice spears flying in echoed.
Dojin simply closed his eyes quietly. Sure, he'd pulled back the dark curtain now for Seoyun's sake, but the upper floors he aimed for were shrouded in total darkness, and his enemies would attack from those shadows.
So Dojin had to get used to the dark too. More precisely, he needed to sense and dodge dangers flying at him from all sides even with his eyes shut.
Ssaeeaek! The sound of ice spears slicing through the air rang out. Too late to react with hearing alone. Sound only travels at 340 meters per second, but her ice spears broke the sound barrier.
By the time Dojin actually heard it, the spears were already blanketing everywhere.
"......Again."
"Okay."
Seoyun withdrew her Ability. Then aimed at Dojin once more. Watching her, Dojin finally opened his eyes.
'Guess I need to get used to it with my eyes first......'
Seoyun's Ability was way too fast. Impossible to dodge blind.
First things first, he had to acclimate to it. Especially the speed.
"Ready?"
"......Yeah."
"I won't kill you, so don't worry."
Seoyun grinned at Dojin. He always tried to show a strong front, but he just didn't match up well against her.
Her Ability was instant, overwhelmingly powerful, and froze anything that moved solid— a nightmare for a swordsman who relied on close quarters.
Once she confirmed he couldn't even swing before getting wrecked, she grinned and made a proposal. More like a demand, really.
"Let's make it interesting."
"......Like what?"
"Every time you lose once, you do it once."
No need to spell out what "it" was. Her eyes made it obvious. Dojin stared at her wide-eyed.
She'd probably go all out to make him scream surrender. Honestly, perfect. Half-assed training was pointless.
But.
'This...... might actually kill me if I screw up?'
Remembering Seoyun shaking her hips all day, creaming herself nonstop, Dojin shuddered.
To avoid that, he raised his sword.
Chwaruruk!
Countless small, thin ice blades—designed to be hard to cut—rained down.
He'd manage to slash some, but the moment he slipped, ice filled every direction in a flash.
"One time."
"......Again."
Seeing Seoyun's smile, Dojin swung his sword.
Over and over.
The sword was complete. Hearing that, I headed straight to Lastina's Workshop.
She was manning the counter for once and gave me a light smile before trying to switch to a stern expression.
"Come on in."
"Where's the weapon?"
"Impatient, aren't you? Here."
Lastina said that and pulled out the sword hidden behind the counter. As Dojin requested, compared to a longsword, it was a short ring-pommel sword.
"This is......"
"The Demon-Slaying Sword. Specialized for cutting magic."
"......Cutting magic?"
"Not just monsters with Magic Stones in them—even spells."
I stared at her intently. Magic was the domain of intelligent beings. A sword that cut magic meant this blade was made to cut humans.
"How'd you know to make something like this?"
"Hmph, a smith of my caliber can tell the intent just from blueprints. That sword's designed to cut humans, right?"
"Swords are all like that."
"No, this one's specifically tuned for humans only...... whatever, none of my business."
She ordered me to test it. I drew Crow from my waist along with the Demon-Slaying Sword.
First thing that came to mind: dual swords, Niten Ichi-ryu. The stance from Japan's sword saint Miyamoto Musashi.
The Niten Ichi-ryu used a long katana and short wakizashi. Perfect—the blades here were different lengths too. Long longsword and short ring-pommel.
Back on Earth, I'd lack the arm strength to swing 'em properly—hell, they'd swing me. But not anymore.
'Light.'
The swords felt ridiculously light. Like holding clouds.
"Test over?"
"Yeah. Super light...... exactly what I wanted."
"Then that's settled. Follow me."
She headed inside, telling me to come. I followed, and there was armor on a human mannequin.
Leather armor from magic beast hide, reinforced with metal plates in spots.
"The armor's ready already......"
"Try it on."
"Here?"
"Yeah, gotta adjust if the fit's off."
Hearing that, I stripped right there. I'm a guy, and not desperate enough to get horny over gear.
She seemed the same—no lust in her hot gaze sweeping my body.
It was passion. The kind a craftsman has for perfecting their work.
Armored up, I twisted and moved, checking for snags or discomfort.
"Perfect fit."
"Swing the sword."
"I said it fits."
"Might feel different in a real fight."
Fair point, so I drew the ring-pommel and swung it around. Wearing proper armor with a Joseon-style ring-pommel sword, I felt like a true warrior.
Fresh sensation—my heart started pounding.
"Hm, fits perfect."
"You've been saying that......"
"Then take it off."
"I wanna head back like this."
"How you gonna transport the dummy? There's a delivery service—quit whining and strip."
Once I ditched the armor, the pleasant tightness released. Kinda missed it.
Now free, I went to grab my clothes—then Lastina "accidentally" dropped sharp tools on them.
Sliced to shreds, no way I could wear 'em.
"Whoops, my bad......"
"......Hey, you."
"Sorry. I'll have them deliver new clothes too, so wait here a sec?"
Obvious as hell. But no stopping someone with a face like steel. Shirtless, I sat on the sofa waiting for Lastina.
Soon after calling delivery, she came back and plopped right next to me.
"......What're you doing?"
"Hm? Oh, this is my spot normally."
Seeing her slyly snuggle up, her intentions were crystal clear. Dwarves fall hard and obsess wildly, huh.
Seemed true enough. No idea why, but somehow I was loved.
No point pushing her away, so I asked what I'd been wondering.
"Hey, Lastina."
"Yeah?"
"Got a question."
"Shoot."
"Why's your speech like that?"
"Picked it up from Dad. Instead of teaching manners, he taught hammer swings."
"What's he up to now?"
"He passed away."
"Oh...... sorry."
"Why apologize?"
My Korean Confucian instincts kicked in with a quick apology, but this otherworld Dwarf just tilted her head like, why sorry for that?
Watching her, I was hit again: she wasn't human—a Dwarf, special to this Otherworld.
'Looks young, but probably over fifty......'
And over those long years, how'd she meet Orion? Curiosity burned.
Gotta ask to satisfy it, so I did—straight up.
"How'd you meet Orion?"
"Hm? Didn't that Eared One tell you?"
"Nope."
"She's the MVP who helped me move to this city."
"Oh?"
I figured she helped with the move or escorted her here.
"What'd she help with?"
"That girl smashed my hometown Workshop to bits."
"......Huh?"
I was speechless. She just smiled silently as horse hooves clopped outside the building.