Enemy
"Don't cry, pig."
"W-who's crying?"
Thanks to the bastard who had been standing there in a daze, a dagger had ended up in my body one more time, but I couldn't say I was in a bad mood.
Still, the fact that I had nearly died was impossible to deny.
The more I thought about it, the more absurd it seemed. I had really come that close to dying in a way so stupid it was almost insulting.
If everything had gone according to my scenario, Park Deokgu should have stopped Kim Jaejun before the second attack landed, and Jung Hayan should have poured mana into the healing ring before she even screamed.
In reality, I had lost so much blood that my mind had nearly gone dim, so all I could say was that I had been lucky.
It was also the moment I realized my calculations could collapse over the smallest factor, and that I couldn't go around throwing dice carelessly.
I do think it's better to throw them when it's necessary, though...
What I learned was that before throwing the dice, I needed to prepare far more thoroughly.
It was disappointing, but there was nothing I could do about it.
Even I panicked when things suddenly went sideways.
In a way, maybe it was enough to be grateful that this was all it had come to.
We were still in the Tutorial Dungeon, and if I compared it to a game, we were still beginners.
Probably, Jung Hayan's and Park Deokgu's problems would be solved by time.
"Hyung, I... "
"For now, just keep Yoo Seokwoo pinned down."
"Ugh... that'll be all right?"
I gave a perfunctory nod.
After all, a rare-grade item, the Ring of Mana Shield, was protecting me.
Through Mind's Eye, I judged that the things I could see right now didn't have the power to break through the mana of that shield.
I suddenly felt grateful to Kim Hyunsung.
The item was more effective than I had expected.
Mana Shield.
"Kieeeeeeeek!"
I could see the monsters battering at the translucent barrier over and over, but strangely enough, I didn't really feel afraid.
I recited the incantation and began to build a tower of mana.
"Lord, I beseech You, answer my voice, grant me the power to burn my enemies..."
"......"
"Fireball."
My head swam slightly.
I still had a little mana to spare, but that dizziness was probably from all the blood I had lost.
My wound had closed, but the damage was still there, lingering in my body.
As soon as I finished the spell, a massive fireball formed before my eyes. I broke apart the mana shield and thrust my hand forward, and with a thunderous roar the bastards were swallowed in the blast.
Bang!
It was a perfect hit, but Park Deokgu still threw himself in front of me, just in case any of them had survived.
There was no doubt about it. They had all been wiped out.
"Hoo..."
"Y-your body. Are you all right?"
"I said I'm fine."
I was a little dizzy, but there was no problem. If anything, I felt strangely refreshed.
I had come back from the brink of death, and the situation was unfolding beautifully.
Jung Jinho would be killed by Kim Hyunsung, and Kim Jaejun was probably having the time of his life being held down by Jung Hayan.
The only question left was what to do with Yoo Seokwoo.
It wasn't as if I hadn't thought about it at all.
But it was only natural that I should neutralize him first.
Park Deokgu wasn't stupid either, and he had already started binding the bastard up tightly.
It was only a crude leather strap, but it was better than nothing. No, more importantly, with that much strength, the bastard couldn't break a leather strap like that.
"Let me go! You can't do this to me!"
He was only now coming to his senses and struggling, but there was no miracle reversal waiting in the wings.
He was flailing on the floor while Park Deokgu pressed him down with brute force.
"You son of a bitch!"
"Lee Kiyoung, you rat bastard! Untie me right now!"
"Pathetic."
"My hyungs are coming back. After they kill that bastard Kim Hyunsung, they'll come straight here and drive a knife into your throats. You'll definitely be begging for your lives after that..."
He was babbling as much as he wanted, but I was so dumbfounded I couldn't even speak. The world inside that bastard's head was far deeper than I'd expected.
"Pfft."
"You're laughing? You think this is funny? You think you'll keep laughing like that? Lee Kiyoung! And that pig beside you too... I won't forgive Jung Hayan either. Never. I'll make her regret not choosing me. Every day... every day..."
"What?"
"Th-"
"I can't hear you."
It was only natural that I wore the most irritating expression I could manage.
I tipped my hand to my ear, leaned forward a little, and curled up the corner of my mouth, and the bastard's face, foaming with rage, swam into view.
"Yo-you, Lee Kiyoung, you piece of trash!"
Watching someone that worked up was always enjoyable.
"You seem pretty confident."
"What..."
"Anyone looking at it would think your beloved hyungs abandoned you and ran off."
"What?"
"Didn't you get a warning from Jung Jinho? That once Lee Ki-cheol died, the plan was canceled here...? No, maybe they said it would be better to watch the situation a little longer."
"What?"
His face was pure disbelief.
He looked as if he was asking how I could possibly know that.
It was exactly the expression I had been hoping for.
In truth, if it hadn't been for my own Mind's Eye and Kim Hyunsung's reaction, I would never have known any of this.
At best, I would have thought, I'm moving with a group that feels a little off.
Whether my words were right or wrong didn't really matter to me. Judging from the bastard's face, I seemed to have hit the mark to some extent, but that was no longer important.
Obviously, there was no reason to explain the situation on this side to him.
"W-what are you talking about?"
"Pathetic."
I kept laughing.
This was too fun.
This moment, with dumb bastards like this moving around like puppets and chess pieces, was just too fun.
I'm genuinely glad that the piece Jung Jinho had thought of as insurance was this idiot.
"What could he mean..."
"What is he talking about..."
I had no intention of explaining it to him.
Instead, I let a very pleased smile spread across my face.
If he wasn't an idiot, he would understand.
The bastard's vacant expression floated into view.
Maybe his whole life was flashing before his eyes.
From the moment I had suggested we tackle the dungeon first... to the magic when we blocked the first monster wave, to Lee Ki-cheol's rather absurd death.
He might even now be realizing that everything, including my provocation, had been part of a carefully built play.
The idiot was probably even guessing why I had so brazenly kept touching Jung Hayan.
There was no reason for me to mock him and then spend a pleasant time with Jung Hayan, was there?
Everything had been a worthless trap aimed squarely at him.
He probably couldn't even believe that he had fallen for it.
No matter how bad humans are at controlling their own minds, in his case it must have been worse.
Park Deokgu was staring at me in shock, but I didn't bother adding any more explanation.
The reason was that the face of the bastard who had begun thrashing around like a lunatic had come into view.
"Y-you bastard, Lee Kiyoung! You worthless piece of trash!"
The very idea that he was waiting for his hyungs was ridiculous to begin with.
Jung Jinho had judged that his force was insufficient, so he had recruited Yoo Seokwoo and descended into the dungeon with him to create variables.
To put it bluntly, he had simply lost control of his temper and done something stupid.
It was obvious if you thought about it even a little calmly.
Yoo Seokwoo must have realized he had made a mistake too.
"Y-you..."
"Thanks, Seokwoo. I've got a lot to thank you for."
I sent him a grinning, mocking smile, and he tried to lunge at me before realizing the situation. His hands and feet were already bound, so I wasn't exactly frightened, but I still frowned a little at the ugly sight.
"I'll kill you! I'll kill you!"
"That's my line."
Whether he lived or died was my choice.
"What?"
"I'm not a good person. Of course, killing someone is a little uncomfortable, but... considering I ended up in a place like this, I think it's something I need to experience at least once. Yes. Experience."
"That's..."
"I do like to leave things to other people, but there are limits to how long I can keep relying on someone else's hands. Besides, sins are always better when shared."
"Y-you... you're insane..."
"You were the same. If things had twisted just a little more, I'd be the one lying here. Or maybe Hayan or Deokgu instead."
I lifted the spear in my hand slightly.
"H-hyung."
Neither Park Deokgu nor I had ever killed anyone before.
His voice was a little flustered.
He didn't seem to be trying to stop me, only asking whether I was really going to do it.
If he had tried to dissuade me, I might have stopped right here. It was that hard to go through with this.
Of course, the hand holding the spear was trembling.
It was fear of killing a person.
I had made up my mind, but even so, actually carrying it out was difficult.
Jung Hayan, whose personality had become a little twisted, and Kim Hyunsung, who had killed countless people, were not the same as me.
I was an ordinary civilian. A plain little nobody.
Honestly, I still didn't want to.
But.
Choice.
If I was going to experience it anyway, it seemed most rational to do it here, right now.
"P-please, spare me."
"Sorry."
My grip tightened on the spear.
"Close your eyes if you don't want to watch, Deokgu."
I didn't bother looking at Park Deokgu's face. I assumed he must have shut his eyes.
"S-spare me!"
With a soft, wet sound, the spear was swallowed into the bastard's throat in an instant.
The sickening sensation ran straight through my hand.
"Kek... kek..."
I saw the bastard clutching at the spear and thrashing around.
I wanted to turn away, but I knew I couldn't deny what I had done.
I was the one who pulled the trigger, the one who sent the bullet flying.
My arms and legs kept trembling.
It wasn't as though I was seeing a person die for the first time, but this was the first time I had done it with my own hands.
It's the same as with Park Hye-young.
They had been killed by me as well.
No, in fact, I had practically killed them myself.
Even the woman I had first seen at Start Point, if you wanted to be strict about it, I might have killed her too.
Because I had turned away from her plea for help.
There was no reason to panic now. No reason to hesitate. I just had to accept the situation as calmly as I had then.
I would tell myself there had been no other choice, that it had been necessary.
Watching a life quietly bleed out wasn't easy, but...
"Lord..."
"Kek... sa... ve..."
"Sorry."
The bastard's face twisted in pain. That breathy, broken voice kept spilling out of him, and the blood he kept coughing up in spasms was anything but pretty.
As time passed, his face grew a little more peaceful.
"Sa... ve... mo... th..."
In the end, the bastard looked this way one last time, and when he finally fell silent, a quiet stillness settled over the chamber.
"If I do it... you can do even better."
It was the same line I had used when I first hunted with Park Deokgu and took down a monster.
Unlike the first time, there was no answer this time. Instead, a slightly offbeat voice came back to me.
From Park Deokgu's point of view, it was probably his own awkward attempt to steer the conversation away.
"Hyung..."
"......"
"Were you Christian?"
The question was absurd, completely out of place for the situation, and I let out a dry laugh before continuing the bastard's words.
"There's no such thing as God."