Gods' Idle Talk and the Looming Crisis
"Haa~ The story went on longer than I thought."
"It's because of the ability."
"Ha?! It's because that human acted so arrogantly! How dare he call a goddess like me an auntie... I'll never forget this."
"Yeah, yeah~ Do whatever you want~"
The three gods who returned from the dream moved back to their original spots to look down on the fused world once more.
"By the way, Modern. Why do you call that human your friend? Are you acquainted?"
"Huh? Not really. It's not like we're complete strangers~ There's no special reason, but back when it was still the modern world, he was someone with lots of connections to the 'protagonist' candidates~ A friend's acquaintance is also a friend? Something like that? Though now that the world has completely twisted, who knows how things will turn out."
"What! You're obviously playing favorites!!"
"Favorites, my ass. That's what you do with Ati. If you hadn't kept talking about him, I would've forgotten he even existed."
"You three seem to be having quite the lively chat."
As the three gods chatted, a nearby martial arts god approached with curiosity.
"Ah, it's nothing much. We just came back from meeting a human through a dream after a long time."
"A human? What's so special about that? Isn't that something that happens occasionally in your worlds?"
"Meeting humans isn't unusual for us, but the human we met was quite unique. He was both Modern's friend and Ability's enemy. The same human who tried to slap Ability's cheek, called her a crazy bitch, and ended up calling her an auntie."
At the magic god's words, the martial arts god's eyes lit up.
"Hoh. Suddenly this got interesting. A human who dares to speak nonsense to a god and has ties to gods from two completely different worlds."
"Ties, my ass! It's a bad relationship! And it's not interesting at all!"
"Won't you tell me a bit more? What exactly did he do to become friends and enemies with gods?"
"It's a bit complicated to explain... Martial, if nothing urgent is happening in your world, come over here for a moment. I'll explain slowly."
"Hmm~ Very well."
With the addition of the martial arts god to Modern, Magic, and Ability, four gods began chatting animatedly while gazing down at the fused world.
****
Bright sunlight streamed into the hospital room, accompanied by the chirping of birds. Ju Joyeon woke up feeling completely at ease.
Dream... No way. What an absurd situation. Come to think of it, does this mean I'll have to live as Ati's shield for the rest of my life?
Without moving his body, Ju Joyeon began organizing his thoughts.
Ati received the Ability God's blessing and came to this world dreaming of becoming the protagonist, while I just got caught up in the mess by hanging around her. I clearly didn't do anything wrong. That auntie... isn't she way too unreasonable?
Unlike what the Modern and Magic gods assumed, Ju Joyeon hadn't forgotten a single thing that happened in the dream. He possessed a peculiar constitution that even the Modern God hadn't imagined—one that allowed him to never forget his dreams.
Still, I did get some hard-to-believe information guaranteed by gods. If I weigh the pros and cons, maybe it was worth it.
Despite experiencing something more miraculous than meeting gods, Ju Joyeon felt no particular awe. He simply thought he'd gotten dragged into another troublesome matter. Instead, his mind turned to worrying about what lay ahead.
Haa... Has Ati woken up by now?
Without opening his eyes or moving his body, Ju Joyeon assessed the situation through touch alone. He felt a moderate weight and an incredibly soft, almost cozy sensation on top of him. He realized Ati was still lying on his body.
She hasn't woken up yet? No, I don't hear any breathing... Is she deliberately holding her breath?
As he wondered why Ati was still on top of him, Ju Joyeon became aware that both his arms were still tightly wrapped around her waist.
As expected... She probably can't move because she's afraid I'll wake up.
Having finished assessing the situation, Ju Joyeon slowly opened his eyes. He felt Ati's body twitch for a moment. Ati's face was right in front of him, her eyes closed as if pretending to still be asleep.
"...I know you're awake."
"......"
"Not going to get up?"
"......"
"Or are you hoping I'll leave the room first?"
"......"
Judging that Ati wanted to quietly move past the situation without saying anything, Ju Joyeon decided it wasn't a bad idea and slowly released his arms from around her. As he tried to get up from the bed, he realized Ati might roll off the narrow bed if he wasn't careful.
I should've moved my body first without letting go... Where should I hold her?
After a moment's hesitation, Ju Joyeon carefully supported Ati's waist and shoulder to prevent her from falling.
"Hik?!"
Startled by the unexpected touch, Ati's eyes flew open. Naturally, her gaze met Ju Joyeon's.
"......"
"Hi... Ku, kuu~"
"No matter how you look at it, pretending to sleep again is pushing it."
"Kuu~"
"Stop acting and get up."
"......"
"Your face is turning red."
"......"
Eventually, Ati opened her eyes with a flushed face.
"You had plenty of time to think, right?"
"......Yeah."
"Alright. What do you want to do? How do you want me to handle this?"
"......"
Ati slowly rose from Ju Joyeon's body, straightened her clothes, and got off him. Thanks to that, Ju Joyeon was finally able to sit up on the bed.
"...Let's... pretend it never happened..."
"What?"
"Uh, can't we... just pretend it never happened...?"
"...Pretend it never happened?"
"Y-yeah. I mean, I know I did something wrong, but still... we, we slept together, so... just pretend it never happened..."
"Huuung—"
Seeing Ati's much milder reaction than expected, Ju Joyeon let out a sigh of relief internally.
Of course it wasn't really my fault, but I did touch her body while she wasn't in her right mind and slept with her, so I thought she might try to kill me or beat my head until I forgot everything. Thank goodness.
"I guess you at least know I didn't do anything wrong in this situation."
At Ju Joyeon's words, Ati nodded slightly. Her morning habit wasn't forgetting memories but acting on impulse. Even after fully waking up, she remembered everything she had done. Though she didn't know exactly why she had slept on top of Ju Joyeon, she knew she had repeatedly ignored his requests to come to her senses and instead used her body to seduce him with vulgar aegyo. She also knew that despite her advances, Ju Joyeon had stopped by simply hugging her and sleeping together. And she had enough shame not to shift blame onto others just because she was embarrassed.
Crazy bitch! You're a crazy bitch, Ati! Just like Ju Joyeon said, you're a crazy bitch!! No matter how much I like sleeping in beds, no matter how much I liked the warmth of Ju Joyeon's body, how could I seduce him with my body like a whore! Vulgar! I'm a vulgar woman! Ati!!
Thinking about it again, she realized that having Ju Joyeon touch her body had been a blessing for him, so her suggestion to pretend nothing happened felt utterly trashy, plunging her once more into extreme self-loathing.
"I-I'm sorry... I really... I did something wrong..."
"No. It's fine."
Ju Joyeon cut off Ati mid-sentence as she tried to withdraw her earlier suggestion and beg for forgiveness.
"Well, it's the truth. When would a guy like me ever get the chance to sleep with a girl like you? Never, even if the sky split in two. Let's just pretend today's events never happened. You erase your ridiculous dark history, and I'll just treat it as an experience I'll never have again."
"B-but..."
"Ati, let's go eat."
"...Okay."
Watching Ju Joyeon act as if nothing had happened, Ati nodded. Feeling grateful, she resolved to keep this morning's events as their shared secret.
Ju Joyeon stood up from the bed and straightened his rumpled clothes. Just as he was about to leave the room while making small talk with Ati about what lunch might be, a familiar sound echoed from the corner.
Click click!!
At the sound, Ju Joyeon's movement toward the door stopped.
"...House? When did you come out?"
Report.
"Huh? Report? Ah... You mean yesterday's thing."
Leaving Ati, who still seemed slightly awkward, Ju Joyeon approached House.
"Do we have to do this now? Can't we do it later in the evening? I think I need to smooth things over with Ati first..."
Impossible.
House flatly rejected Ju Joyeon's request. Ju Joyeon was slightly taken aback by the immediate response.
"I-is that so? Then I guess there's no helping it. You mean we absolutely have to report now. What happened?"
Report.
Just like last night, House released its young roaches to create a map while forming readable text for Ju Joyeon.
Currently, a group attempting to capture the hospital's medical staff has been detected.
"...Huh? What did you say? Capture what?"
Twelve individuals presumed to be their accomplices have been identified inside the hospital.
"Uh, wait a second. There are accomplices inside the hospital?"
"What are you talking about that has you so flustered?"
Ati, who hadn't been watching House's text, approached Ju Joyeon after noticing his strange reaction.
Among them, three are patients being treated for wounds inflicted by Saber Leos. Six belong to the party that entered the hospital yesterday morning. The remaining three are a party of three that left the hospital yesterday morning and returned.
"...House? Hold on... I'm not sure I understand correctly. Are you saying the Delpiari party I was guiding yesterday and the Ragon who came looking for Ati last night are working with the group trying to capture the hospital's medical staff?"
Affirmative.
"Huh? Ragon? Ragon and the Delpiari party are accomplices?"
Feeling that something was going strangely wrong, Ati wanted Ju Joyeon to explain the situation. Though Ju Joyeon didn't fully understand either, he briefly explained what House had just told him, and together they looked at the map while listening to House's report.
Forty-six humans gathered 5km from the hospital. All confirmed to be combatants based on their weapons. Among them, six appear to be mages. Failed to identify what magic they use.
"That's over fifty people. Are they bandits?"
Affirmative.
The group name Kelts Pitra is frequently mentioned in their conversations.
"Kelts Pitra? Ati, you..."
Ah, she's an ability user so she wouldn't know.
"Huh? What did you say?"
"No... With over fifty people, wouldn't the hospital staff be able to handle them? Since we already know who the enemies are, we should be able to easily subdue the twelve who snuck inside."
"Huh? Now that I think about it, you're right. There are definitely a lot of patients here, but there are even more adventurers. Plus, I hear the sentinels are quite strong."
"For now, let's tell Mom to capture those twelve..."
Click!
House made a loud sound to draw Ju Joyeon and Ati's attention.
"House? Why? Do you have something else to say?"
Affirmative.
House's map began moving rapidly. The Kelts Pitra group gathered 5km away split left and right, with three members heading toward a monster group—350 War Trolls and Saber Leos—located 7km away.
Report. Current movements recreate the situation from approximately four hours ago.
"...Four hours ago?"
Affirmative.
Next, the situation from three hours ago was recreated. The three humans soon encountered the War Troll horde, immediately retreated, and began fleeing back toward the bandit group's direction.
Recreating the situation from two hours ago.
Then, the entire War Troll horde began moving. An army of 350 monsters started marching to pursue just three humans.
Recreating the situation from one hour ago.
The three used the terrain to pass by the hidden bandit group, leading the War Troll horde toward the hospital's direction.
Displaying real-time situation on the map.
As if deliberately stalling for time, the three bandits who had been circling near the hospital changed direction and began moving rapidly toward the hospital. Their distance: approximately 1.5km.
Kelts Pitra's plan has been identified as using the monster group to eliminate combatants and unnecessary humans while abducting medical staff—the primary means of recovery—and women for their amusement.
"What... the fuck..."
Of all days, today—the day they woke up late after sleeping together instead of reviewing House's report earlier—the situation had spiraled completely out of control.