The Price of Unity
While Choi Yujin had taken Yu Siwoo aside for a private conversation, the rest of the group was far from quiet.
"Shit, does that bastard actually think he’s a real hero?"
"Calm down, Jeongho-hyung. Something must have happened in the arena."
Led by Han Jeongho, the group was whispering their criticisms of Yu Siwoo. And from a distance, Kang Daehan was listening intently, careful not to let anyone notice.
Yu Siwoo. His strength was undeniable. He had single-handedly cleared out an entire breeding farm, and during the journey to this village with Daehan, he had demonstrated his prowess right before his eyes. Yu Siwoo was strong. He might even be the strongest person currently in this stage.
He was sharp, prickly, and not easy to approach, but seeing how he looked after the Corpse Band—Choi Yujin and the others—it was clear he wasn't entirely heartless. More than anything, even if his words were rough and cold, his core must be warm. Daehan had seen it: the way he had mercifully finished off the woman who had been turned into a breeding vessel, and how he had meticulously recovered the bodies of the fallen.
Could it be that he’s actually a kind person, wearing a suit that doesn't fit him just to hide his true self? Is he acting cruelly to those around him just so he won't be used by anyone?
To find the truth, Daehan had gone around asking people about him.
Since most of the talk was about Yu Siwoo, Daehan gathered information quickly. But the most ear-catching detail was what happened in the tutorial stage, the Goblin Forest.
"I don't see Park Changsoo. Did he... die? Surely he wasn't murdered by Yu Siwoo, right?"
"What are you talking about all of a sudden?"
"No, Park Changsoo pushed Yu Siwoo off a cliff to kill him."
"Huh?"
"No, wait. To be precise, he grabbed Yu Siwoo by the collar and demanded information. He was the first one to sign a contract, right? He thought Siwoo knew something. Just like Han Jeongho."
He was a man who had left a deep impression by being the first to contract with an angel. Daehan had just assumed he died in the tutorial, but to think there was such a backstory.
"Haa..."
Maybe he survived the arena through sheer spite. Even if someone was inherently good, Daehan had often seen in fiction how people could become entirely different beings if they fell into the abyss of hell. Of course, he couldn't say for sure, but at least Daehan knew he was at a crossroads.
"What are you going to do? Are you going to go with them to catch the Orc Lord?"
"Han Jeongho will try to stop it, right? With the others."
"Probably. But those guys, even if they're full of nerd-logic, some of it isn't entirely wrong."
"But thanks to that, we survived the goblins, and it's true that we're hunting the orcs easier than we thought."
Which side would he stand on? It wasn't about picking sides, but since opinions were divided, he had no choice but to make a decision. Would he follow the group that clearly looked like the strong ones? Or would he bet on the "high-level information" (speculation) held by the group that seemed to have mastered this world to some extent?
"Tsk..."
His mind was made up, but Daehan couldn't easily make the choice. After all, crossing over to that side alone right now—
"Hey, they're coming."
While he was lost in thought, two women returned to the village.
"Wow... holy shit."
A woman with blonde hair tied in a ponytail and a brown-haired woman following beside her. They were already famous as being in the top five beauties among the female prospective heroes, but seeing them like this in a place like this gave them a different kind of charm.
"What the hell happened in the arena to make them like that?"
Shin Yuhee and Kim Chaerin. The two who had gone out to hunt orcs returned without a single scratch—
"Ha, fuck. God... ha."
To Daehan, the fact that they returned without a scratch was the first thing he noticed, but for the others, since they weren't covered in a single drop of blood, other things caught their eyes first. Honestly, if Daehan's reason wasn't currently running cold, he would have looked at their bodies, where their lines were clearly exposed, first too. They were wearing white shirts because their leather armor didn't fit, and their pants were so tight that the lines of their hips were fully exposed.
"......."
"Ugh."
At the men's gaze, Kim Chaerin glared, growling as if asking where they were looking, while Shin Yuhee didn't even care and just started unbuckling her gear.
"Hey. Shouldn't we go with them, if only for their sake...?"
"Are you saying that because of their skills, or because they're pretty?"
Perhaps it was because of the secret evaluations the men were making. If Daehan wasn't in a situation where he had to make a choice for survival, if he had been part of the mainstream around Han Jeongho, he would surely have been part of the evaluation of that group.
"Both. I was aiming for Shin Yuhee even before I came here."
"I was aiming for Kim Chaerin. But... ha, damn. Shin Yuhee always seemed like that, but I don't think Kim Chaerin was that kind of girl."
"What the hell is Chekhov's Arena that it made them all so on edge? Ha."
"My point exactly. Even Choi Yujin wasn't like that. And Yoon Garam too..."
Evaluations of the women. Perhaps because they realized they could never return to Earth, or perhaps because they were suffering together, the men's evaluations of the women were becoming more explicit than expected.
"Unnie. What do you think of Siwoo-oppa? I think it's an act."
"You think that's an act? Isn't he just crazy?"
"That's why it's an act. They say he was killed by Park Changsoo. I'm telling you, he's pretending to be an asshole on purpose to keep the mosquitoes away."
"Then isn't that a problem? If it's hard to stick a straw in him."
Of course, that went for the women too.
"It's fine. Men are easily hooked once you give them some pussy anyway."
"You're going to give it to him?"
"Unnie. What's wrong with a one-night stand with a handsome, fit guy? We get some help on the side, too."
"Which one is the goal?"
"Both. Siwoo-oppa will definitely be the strongest."
"I thought you were going to cling to Jeongho?"
"Information is useless once it spreads, but martial power lasts, doesn't it?"
Was it a woman's intuition? Daehan was sure because he had seen the skill with his own eyes, but some women were making cold assessments just by seeing Yu Siwoo from afar.
"Are you crazy? Yu Siwoo is a total psycho. He's a mental patient who over-immerses himself in NPCs and stuff."
"Unnie."
"Wake up. If Yu Siwoo and those guys catch the Orc Lord, we're the ones who lose out! You guys haven't even caught 20 orcs, let alone 100, and if the main quest ends like this, we're going to be total losers in the next stage, too."
"Watch your language..."
Was it not? Was he just thinking that as a wishful thought? Was Yu Siwoo actually a kind person who was corrupted after being murdered by Park Changsoo, but couldn't suppress his inherently good nature? Was that just Daehan's happy delusion?
"...Park Changsoo, you son of a bitch."
At least one thing was clear: the fact that such a kind person had been completely ruined was likely influenced by Park Changsoo's murder. Even in clichés, the betrayal of a comrade is often the turning point.
"By the way—"
"Yes?!"
A startled voice. The voice was a pleasant scream from someone completely unexpected, so not only Daehan but everyone in the village was startled.
"Siwoo-oppa?!"
Kim Chaerin. The woman who had been openly glaring at the men stealing glances at her chest had her eyes sparkling at the name Yu Siwoo.
"Where is he, Sunbae."
Shin Yuhee was urging the other members of the Corpse Band as if she would go to Yu Siwoo right away.
"Over there..."
Tap-tap-tap.
And as soon as she knew the location, she disappeared as if running.
"...Fuck, what is this?"
"Did those women do something with Yu Siwoo?"
"What happened in the arena to make them like that...?"
The attitudes of the two women had completely changed at the existence of a man named Yu Siwoo.
"Crazy, did you see their expressions?"
Daehan slowly stood up and packed his weapons. Information, or martial power? The conclusion of which lifeline looked stronger had already been reached.
* * *
"Sunbae!!"
Just as I was about to call the others, Shin Yuhee entered the house.
"Sunbae...!"
She immediately ran to me and hugged me. Thanks to Choi Yujin inside and Kim Chaerin outside closing the door immediately, it wasn't visible to others, but it felt like a Golden Retriever rushing at me.
"Yeah, yeah. Sorry I'm late."
"What about Park Changsoo?"
"I hunted him down and killed him. That guy is on his 2nd death now."
"Isn't it his 3rd death, including the one from the earthquake?"
"Let's just count the deaths as a prospective hero."
I lifted Shin Yuhee up and swung her around like an airplane.
"I have something to talk to you about, but there are some urgent matters right now."
"I understand. We can talk after we finish the stage—"
"I have something to say about that issue."
"Yes?"
"There's something I only want the three of you to know."
I set Shin Yuhee down and whispered softly so only the three of them could hear.
"I need you to act a little. For the sake of everyone's integration and the cultivation of a sense of camaraderie."
"......Huh?"
"Oppa, did you really go wrong somewhere...?"
"This is a move for the future. It's no good for us to be at odds with each other. In the end, we all have to cooperate to fight the Demon King's army and defeat the Demon King."
In the direction that yields the maximum benefit for me, I intend to take a drastic measure.
"For the next stage, nothing is more certain than someone's sacrifice to lead to unity."
I still have 1 coin left.