375. Raid Contribution
375. Raid Contribution
***
"Plus or minus five percent?"
At my answer, Seoyun rested her chin on her hand and frowned, deep in thought. Then she shook her head slightly and started to whine.
"Hmm... this is harder than I thought. Sis, isn't the range way too broad?"
"Broad? It's probably easier than you think. Try guessing."
Even as I answered, I found myself smiling. The idea of me calling something easy was funny, but it really was.
Seoyun furrowed her brow at my words and deliberated as if she were making a decision on a matter of grave importance.
"But Sis, you never even showed Phase 5 on stream. Come on, can't you at least give me one hint? Please? Sis~~"
When she started laying on the aegyo, I pretended to give in and offered her a clue.
"Fine. Here's a hint. In Phase 5, Sua retires early."
As I said it casually, my hand twitched slightly.
Even I found it strange that I could say something like that so lightly.
Back when Sua had been hit by Gluttony, my heart had sunk so heavily. But now I was bringing it up far too easily.
'...Right. She seemed fine when we talked on the phone.'
Maybe I'd felt relieved because Sua's voice on the call earlier had sounded completely normal.
Or maybe I'd brought it up on purpose, as if I wanted to see it that way.
That even if it affected me... at least it didn't affect the people around me.
"...Sua retired. So that means it was just Yujeong and you doing the work."
Seoyun's voice snapped me back to attention.
"Well. Something like that."
I answered with a faint smile, as if wiping the thought away.
In Phase 5, the credit could actually be seen as split somewhat, not just between me and Yujeong but because of Belua and Arianne. But since they felt like exceptions when it came to rewards, I just nodded and looked at Seoyun.
"Ah! Then I think I've got a rough idea."
She clapped her hands and even smiled, which piqued my curiosity.
"Yeah? So how much do you think I contributed?"
"Eighty-one percent!"
Her confident answer startled me for a second.
"Seoyun... did I really look like I did over eighty percent all by myself?"
When I asked in surprise, Seoyun shook her head with a subtle expression.
"Honestly, I don't know Phase 5, so I can't be completely sure. But like you said, Sua got retired first, and if you and Yujeong cleared it together, then you were definitely the main one. It feels like you did almost everything."
She looked at me as if she were certain, and I opened my mouth a little awkwardly.
"Still, saying I did everything... it wasn't that much."
I found myself dragging out the words, feeling embarrassed.
I wondered if that was how it had looked from Seoyun's perspective as a viewer, and it was surprising that she'd say that even without having seen Phase 5.
"Hmm... I guess you could say that was the general viewer reaction? The people watching the stream were typing in chat like they really felt you did everything. Honestly, I half felt that way too."
Seoyun continued in a playful tone, and I nodded, thinking that made sense.
Looking back, I had often been the one to finish off raids.
The Harpy Queen, the boss of Phase 2: Hall of Pandemonium. And in Phase 3, Hall of the Great Purge, I was the one who faced Zernati directly.
Rather than the other two failing to play their roles, it was more accurate to say the circumstances had coincidentally lined up that way.
'Is there some kind of system where landing the last hit adds extra weight?'
Since I already knew the answer, I even had thoughts like that for no reason.
Because when we met tomorrow to check the rewards, I'd feel sorry toward the two of them.
Before the forced logout notification had appeared, I'd been planning to quickly claim the reward and end it, and I'd checked the contribution, so the number had felt a little unreal.
"So what's your answer, Sis? Am I right?"
At her repeated question, I simply nodded.
"Correct. Seoyun, how on earth did you get that?"
Even as I said it, I was amazed. Honestly, I hadn't thought she'd be able to guess it at all. And she'd gotten it almost exactly right.
When I looked at her like that, Seoyun's eyes widened instead, and she looked amazed.
"...Sis, it's really eighty-one percent? By yourself? You passed eighty percent raid contribution?"
At her repeated questions, I smiled faintly.
"To be precise, seventy-eight percent."
Even I thought it was absurd when I checked, but considering the overwhelming divine presence Cheon Ryuhwa had shown in Phase 5, it didn't seem impossible.
"Wow... what on earth did you do in Phase 5 to get a number like that? You really did do it all by yourself, didn't you?"
Even though she had no way of knowing the situation, her words hit the mark, and while I was inwardly startled, I feigned composure.
"That... check it on NewTube later. And you said it like you were sure, so why are you so surprised?"
"Well... because you're my sister. I just called out a bigger number than I actually thought. But I didn't know it would really be that much."
"I didn't think you'd actually get it right either. So you said this weekend, right? Let's go shopping together."
Was it really that good to hear? Seoyun smiled so brightly that I couldn't help but laugh.
"Oh. Then you have to keep at least one full day of the weekend free, okay? Because I'm going to shop for a really long time. So prepare yourself!"
She added it like a warning, and I nodded as if I understood, while wondering if she could really be that happy about it.
Then, out of nowhere. Shopping made me remember that time I'd gone to the department store with Eunha.
'Well, a girl her age would like shopping.'
I was the abnormal one for not enjoying shopping. Most people seemed to like it.
Smiling like that, I slowly set down my spoon.
Somewhere in the middle of all our talking, I'd finished my meal.
"What? When did you finish eating?"
Seoyun, by contrast, had been too busy talking to use her spoon much, so she still had food left.
"When do you think? I ate here and there."
I scooped another half bowl of rice and sat back down, and the meal continued in a warm, pleasant atmosphere.
The same moment.
Without knowing that someone else was going through a completely different situation.
***
A luxurious high-rise officetel.
A city deep in evening. On a terrace overlooking a dazzling night view stood a woman with long hair hanging loose.
She had been tilting her wine glass while gazing at the nightscape as if entranced, and now she raised her hand absently.
Even as her disheveled brown hair obscured her vision, she rested her cheek against the wine glass for a moment as if her mind were hazy, and looked out at the city dyed in brilliant colors.
Then she carefully parted her moist lips.
"...Why on earth am I like this?"
Sua, having spoken, was clearly aware that something was wrong with her right now.
She'd picked at her dinner, filled her stomach just enough, and had originally planned to go straight to sleep.
But for some reason, she couldn't fall asleep.
Even through deep fatigue, her consciousness was strangely sharp, and closing her eyes brought no sleep at all.
After that, heat kept rising through her whole body and she couldn't sleep, so she'd come out to the terrace to cool off and feel the night breeze.
That was why she was on the terrace now.
...
Resting her cheek against the cold wine glass, Sua stared blankly at the city awash in color and let out a soft breath.
How long had she been looking at the night view? She couldn't tell, but it felt like quite a long time had passed.
And still, she didn't feel like she could fall asleep.
"Right... I don't have to force myself to sleep."
Even as she spoke, her mood was strange.
Not sleeping wasn't particularly unusual. She'd pulled all-nighters plenty of times, and she'd played Another World for over twenty hours and then gotten up the next day perfectly fine.
It shouldn't be anything special. It just felt strange.
As if something was completely different from those times.
Her stamina alone was better than most people's. She'd rarely dealt with the minor illnesses some people lived with, and in her whole life, she could count on one hand the times she'd even caught a cold.
'But.'
Why did she feel so strange right now?
It felt like she had to fall asleep quickly. Like an obsession, the fact that she was doing all sorts of things just to sleep felt bizarre.
"..."
She clenched her hand absently, and her body definitely felt exhausted, like she was completely worn out.
But her eyes showed no sign of closing.
For a while, she'd looked at the city nightscape through a blurry, alcohol-hazed gaze. Now she felt her vision sharpening again.
"......This is really weird."
She murmured blankly, unable to find the reason.
She glanced at the table. Two already-empty bottles of wine sat there plainly.
That was strange too. Normally, she'd have passed out drunk and fallen asleep by now. She'd already gone past her limit.
So why was my mind still so clear and awake?
Slide.
I set down the glass I'd been holding and grew wary.
Even if my mind was clear, my body already felt like it was at its limit. I gave up on the idea of drinking more wine.
Emptying my mind like that, I changed my thinking.
"Let's just stay up all night."
If sleep showed no sign of coming, then so be it.
Like I'd drunk too much coffee. Or like I was just in a situation similar to that.
Maybe I was overthinking this sleeplessness.
'Right. Today was a little special.'
There had been a lot of startling moments during the raid with Serin, so maybe my emotions had fluctuated a lot.
On top of that, Serin hadn't answered for about an hour earlier, so I'd been worried sick by myself, and my emotions had probably swung up and down sharply.
Right. It was just that. I changed my mind.
And once I changed my mind, I felt much more at ease.
"So... what should I do to pass the time?"
I muttered to myself and turned on my smartphone to check the time. It was already nearing 2 a.m.
Realizing I'd spent about two hours looking at the night view, I let out a hollow laugh.
When I thought about what to do to pass the time, the first thing that came to mind was obviously Another World. But I didn't particularly feel like playing right now, so I dismissed it.
"Maybe I'll check the community."
Checking the community to see the reaction to today's raid didn't seem like a bad idea.
Just as I made up my mind and started to get up.
BaTalk!
Coincidentally, BaTalk rang.
Who on earth would message me at this late hour? I checked the message.
"...What."
The moment I checked it, even I thought the dumbfounded sound that escaped me was ridiculous.
Without realizing it, I checked the message again.