Are You Okay?

"Huh?"

This quest caught me completely off guard. It was different from the ones before. The reward, the details, even the remaining time—everything had changed.

Save a person? The quest's suddenly heavy content left me stunned for a moment. At first I thought it was a joke, but—

Time was still ticking down steadily. The moment I saw that, I was already throwing on my clothes and heading out the door.

"Damn it. Where the hell is Dongcheon Intersection?"

I plugged the address into the navigation app. It was about a twenty-minute walk from home. Even as I laced up my shoes and started heading there, my head was spinning.

"Hey, Ring."

"So if I don't complete this quest, someone gets hurt? Is that what you're saying? No way."

That vague answer—what the hell did it mean? Were they going to get hurt or not?

When it put it like that, I couldn't press any further.

Damn it, I hope I'm not too late.

Before I knew it, the remaining time had dropped to three hours and thirty minutes.

I arrived at the bank the quest had indicated. Out front was a large circular bench beneath a parasol.

"Whew."

I sat down and caught my breath. Looking around, nothing seemed to be happening. I still wasn't too late. The thought let me relax a little, and I started turning the situation over in my now-clearer head.

Save a person…

The location was specific, but the instructions were incredibly vague.

Is someone going to collapse? Or maybe it's nothing serious…

"Wee-woo, wee-woo…!"

Right then, an ambulance sped past the intersection. My heart lurched for no reason. Maybe I was the weird one, but the sight of a siren always made my stomach twist. What if it was someone from my family inside?

The crosswalk signal in front of my bench changed several times. Not many people were around. It was the middle of a weekday afternoon, and I could really feel how few young people were out these days. Older folks didn't usually wander around this area at this hour. At most they'd be playing betting games of baduk or janggi under a nearby overpass.

"There's barely anyone here. Who am I even supposed to save?"

Somehow more than two hours had already passed since I'd arrived. Anxiety kept me glued to the bench like an idiot, constantly scanning my surroundings. Whenever someone walked by, I'd wonder if they were the person I was supposed to save and stare too long, earning strange looks.

"What happens if nothing ends up happening?"

"…What? That's ridiculous!"

Maybe it was because I'd spent two and a half hours stressing under the blazing sun while cicadas screamed overhead, but I ended up shouting without meaning to. The parking attendant at Cheonsa Bank looked my way. The suspicious glance made irritation flare up inside me.

"I've been out here suffering like this and there's no reward? How does that make any sense?"

But then again… when I thought about how I'd received 30,000 won just for carrying someone's mother's bags to the bus stop…

…Damn it. They called it the power of God, but I couldn't understand a single thing it was saying. A task of appropriate value? What did that even mean?

The ring's half-hearted answer drained all the strength from my body.

"Ha… what the hell am I even doing right now?"

I needed to be writing another resume, yet here I was roasting under the sun because I'd believed a ring that suddenly introduced itself as the power of God. Unbelievable.

"Ugh."

I ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠sighed and wiped the sweat from my forehead. Another woman stopped in front of the crosswalk. She was holding a rather expensive-looking parasol.

"Yeah, sis… No, I'm not really interested in the family assets or anything. Yeah, I just want to quietly run the café like this. Come visit sometime. I'll brew you a really good cup of coffee."

I hadn't meant to eavesdrop, but it sounded like her family was pretty well-off. Must be nice…

Just as that thought crossed my mind—

"You may cross now."

The AI voice overlapped with another, far more urgent one.

"W-watch out! Watch out!"

It came from the road above the crosswalk, filled with panic.

Watch out? Watch out for wh— huh?

"Whoa, whoa!"

I nearly jumped out of my skin. The convenience store truck parked up the slope from Cheonsa Bank—with its hazard lights on—had started rolling slowly toward us. And it was gradually picking up speed.

Fuck, they didn't set the parking brake!

It wasn't an everyday occurrence, but it wasn't unheard of either. I'd seen it plenty of times on Dumuncheol TV. Still, watching it happen right in front of me was a whole different level of terrifying.

Wait a second…

Even as a third-party observer, I was this shaken. How must the person actually facing the oncoming truck feel?

"Kyaaaaaah!"

Even though the situation was unexpected, I figured the woman crossing the street could still dodge it. There was some distance, and the truck was moving fairly slowly. But she froze, only able to scream, and the truck closed the dangerous gap in no time.

Are you insane? Why aren't you moving?!

If I just stood there, a horrific accident was about to happen right before my eyes. I reflexively lunged forward and yanked her toward me. I must have pulled with everything I had, because I heard a sickening pop from her shoulder. But there was no time to worry about that.

I'd nearly been hit myself by the 2.5-ton delivery truck.

"Huff… huff…"

"Screeeeech! Crash! Thud!"

Thankfully the truck didn't travel much farther before slamming into a tree and stopping. If it had gone even a little more, it would have collided with cars on the main road and caused an even bigger disaster. Or rather, if I'd been even a second slower, this incident would have been all over the news and definitely would have made it onto Dumuncheol TV. It was that serious.

"Beep—"

The situation had been so sudden that a loud ringing filled my ears along with the sound of my own ragged breathing.

"Hic… sob… huuuuh…"

But I couldn't stay dazed. I felt violent ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠trembling against my chest and the sound of crying. It snapped me back to reality.

"Hey, are you all right?!"

Before I could even ask, the truck driver—who looked deathly pale—came running over from far away. The sight made anger surge through me. I knew he probably hadn't done it on purpose, but I wasn't in the mood to care. I wanted to scream at the guy to make myself feel even a little better, but—

The quest completion message popping up at that exact moment was so absurd it actually cooled my ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠anger a little. And then—

The additional quest made me laugh bitterly. Damn it, all for that stupid money…

"…I'm fine. Please check on the person who nearly got hit first."

The other man flinched. He looked even more surprised that I was handling it so calmly. From his expression, it seemed he'd been braced for a torrent of curses… Ah, whatever. Staring at the unreal quest window had somehow calmed me down.

But the person who'd nearly been run over was a different story. I glanced down.

She wasn't making any sound, but tears were streaming down her face. The woman stared up at me with bloodshot eyes.

"Ah, r-right! A-are you okay? I'm so sorry. It was my mistake… I'll call insurance right away—no, a hospital…"

The woman didn't leave my arms until the ambulance arrived. She must have been terrified. Her shoulder was dislocated. If I'd been a little more skilled, it wouldn't have happened…

"I hope it doesn't leave her with trauma."

With those words, I quietly headed home. The short incident had drained every last drop of energy from me.

The reward was sweet, at least. How much had I made in a single day?

***

Moyong Sunae, now wearing a cast on her shoulder, still couldn't calm the frantic beating of her heart. She'd taken the medicine the doctor prescribed, but it hadn't helped. There was nothing she could do about it.

I-I really almost died.

She'd been on the phone and holding a parasol, so she'd noticed the truck too late. When it appeared right in front of her, her heart had plummeted. Her vision went white, and her body froze solid. Her mind had screamed at her to move, but she couldn't even lift a finger. All she could do was scream helplessly.

If that person hadn't stepped in to save her…

Her heart thumped.

The moment Moyong Sunae felt something strange and touched her chest—

"Miss, are you all right?!"

"Sunae, are you okay?"

Familiar faces rushed to her side.

"I heard you were in a car accident! What bastard did this to you?! I'll report him to the court and make sure he rots in prison for the rest of his life!"

"Eldest Miss, that's not what's important right now. We need to confirm that the youngest miss is truly unharmed!"

"Ah, r-right… I got carried away. I'm sorry, Secretary Park."

Watching the two people who were angrier on her behalf than she was, Moyong Sunae couldn't help but let out ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠a small laugh. Her older sister stared at her in disbelief.

"How can you laugh at a time like this?"

"U-um, Sis. I'm fine. Someone… someone saved me."

"What?"

"If that person hadn't been there, I might really have died…"

"…!"

Her sister jumped at the serious words, but Moyong Sunae's mind was elsewhere.

"Now that I think about it, I didn't even get that person's contact information… Um, Secretary Park, is there any way to… find him? I wasn't able to thank him properly…"

As she asked, Moyong Sunae unconsciously fidgeted with her fingers.