Downtown (6)
Just as we'd surmised from the sight of men in researcher uniforms, the building's true nature was a biological experimentation lab. On one side, captured wild animals were being injected with drugs to swell their muscles and drive them into mindless savagery; on the other, several different species were being spliced together to distill each animal's strengths into a single creation. Every creature we had fought through the previous stages had been made here.
At the grisly sight, the two explorers trembled with rage.
"Such cruelty...!"
Then they began smashing the experimental apparatus one piece at a time.
The researchers, naturally, were hardly the type to stand by and watch. They bolted at first — and within moments came charging back aboard man-sized robots of some kind to mount a counterattack.
Rat-tat-tat-tat!
Seo Ye-in raked them with sustained fire, but the bullets merely pinged off the solid steel mass, raising a shower of sparks and leaving barely a scratch.
"Aim for the flank. The flank."
"Okay."
Look closely, and a mechanism of intricately arranged components clung to the robot's side. Fire on that spot and the machine sputtered, crackled, and stopped dead. Until you worked that out, you had no choice but to spray rounds wherever looked promising — and in the meantime, the pilots gleefully beat the tar out of you. It was a vicious piece of design, engineered to wring its 300 points out of the unwary, but for someone like me who knew the trick in advance, the stage was no harder than anything before it.
Rat-tat-tat-tat!
We took turns cutting down the robots and mutant beasts as they appeared, toppling the laboratory equipment one after another. At the same time, we flung open the cages and released the captive animals, and the laboratory dissolved into utter pandemonium.
[Warning!]
[Warning!]
Red warning lights flashed across every corner of the screen, and then—
THOOM!
A robot even more massive and ponderous than any the researchers had ridden came crashing down onto the stage. Seated at its controls was the Mad Scientist — the final stage boss.
Just as I had this whole time, I fed Seo Ye-in a warning every time the boss telegraphed a threatening move.
"Left arm's slamming down. Slip aside nice and easy."
"Nice and easy."
The explorer man and woman drifted apart to either side, gliding clear of the giant robot's descending arm.
"Count three and jump. Three, two, one. Jump."
"Jump."
The giant robot swept the floor in a wide arc, but the two of them sprang skyward in perfect sync.
"Now. Fire."
"Okay."
Rat-tat-tat-tat!
Round after round thudded into the weak point, and the giant robot's health bar drained away steadily. Then, around the time it dipped below one-third, crimson light began flashing across the thing's frame.
"Laser beams incoming."
And a whole lot of them. It was the final boss's death-throes pattern, and the trouble was that those lasers came in fiendishly intricate combinations. There was no time to call out each and every dodge.
So I had no choice but to say:
"Watch carefully, and dodge as best you can."
"Yes."
And if it all goes wrong, just hit Continue. We'd made it this far; she could afford to burn 300 points or so at this point, couldn't she?
A moment later the giant robot hunched in on itself, then spread wide open — and dozens of laser beams came screaming at us.
Left, right, diagonal, jump, left, forward, hold for one beat, right, back, hold for two beats, diagonal, diagonal, jump...
With flamboyant footwork I tap-danced like a man possessed, slipping through every single one of the dozens of beams. Then I snuck a glance to see how Seo Ye-in had fared.
...She survived?
Contrary to my expectation of a grayed-out Continue? hanging before her eyes, Seo Ye-in's avatar was alive and perfectly well, guns blazing away.
"What the — how did you do that?"
"..."
Seo Ye-in slowly raised a hand and flashed a V.
My "watch carefully and dodge" had meant little more than dodge on instinct for as long as it carries you — but she had truly watched with perfect care, and truly dodged. It was a talent nothing short of devilish. Perfectly adapting to the game would have been impressive enough, but Seo Ye-in had up and become a hardened veteran overnight, right there beside me.
I let out a hollow laugh.
"Let's wrap this up."
Rat-tat-tat-tat!
The man and woman explorers brought down the Mad Scientist and beat the giant robot into a heap of scrap iron. Gathering the animals to them, they fled the collapsing laboratory — and after pausing to watch the compound cave in around them, the whole company walked off together into the sunset...
From the bottom of the screen, the ending credits began their slow ascent. It had been quite the perilous journey, but at last we had seen Gunslinger Adventure through to the very end.
"Good work. High five."
When I held out my palm, Seo Ye-in lightly pressed her own against it. A soundless high five. Tap.
For successfully clearing the mini-game, Seo Ye-in was awarded a tiger plush. It was big enough to rival a large dog, so she had to hug it with both arms — and in that state, she took hold of the tiger's paw and gave me a gentle little wave. Which reminded me, all over again, of Park Na-ri's Beomi.
I had breezed through my own conditions, too — 'spend five tokens or fewer' and 'watch the ending credits' — so a prize came to me as well.
I tucked them away in my inventory for now, to be saved for later use.
Before I could propose one more round, I stole a look at Seo Ye-in's face.
Getting sleepy, I'd say.
Ordinarily she would have conked out long before now, nap or no nap; today, though, she had stayed awake the entire time — traipsing around the downtown district and grinding through mini-games — so it stood to reason she was nearing her limit.
"Shall we call it a day and head back?"
"Yeah..."
Seo Ye-in nodded her head slowly up and down.
On the way to the edge of the district to catch the shuttle bus, I glanced sideways; Seo Ye-in was still walking along, hugging the tiger plush preciously to her chest. She could have stowed it in her inventory, and yet she kept carrying it in her arms — apparently this one had won her over as well.
I asked in an easy tone.
"So? How was today?"
"...It was fun."
Good — as long as she'd enjoyed herself. It had been a rewarding day in more ways than one.
I was turning to walk on when the tiger's front paw gave my arm a soft tap. Wondering if she had more to say, I looked back over, and Seo Ye-in held my gaze for a long moment before opening her mouth.
"Want to come again."
Seo Ye-in was generally sparing with her words, and even when she did speak she pared everything down to the bone, so a great deal always went unsaid. That "want to come again" was almost certainly missing the word "together." And judging by the way she went on staring straight at me, she appeared to be waiting on my answer.
I nodded, smiling.
"Sure. Let's make the time and come back often."
"..."
And then — for just the briefest of moments — the corners of Seo Ye-in's mouth curved softly upward.
"I like it when you smile. Smile more often."
"...?"
But she hadn't yet noticed the fact herself, and only tilted her head, puzzled.
Ahn Jungmi received Seo Ye-in with formal courtesy as she returned to the dormitory.
"You've returned, Agassi."
"Mm."
"Did you have an enjoyable time with Kim Ho-nim?"
"Mm."
She tossed out her terse answers with her usual blank expression, but Ahn Jungmi, a veteran butler, read at once the mood drifting around her young mistress.
She seems to be in good spirits.
She must have worked off plenty of stress with Kim Ho downtown. With the requested "time to recharge" now in hand, they could somehow slog through another week of mentoring. In her heart, Ahn Jungmi offered her thanks to Kim Ho for toiling in her place. And with that, a thought surfaced naturally:
I wonder how what I asked of Kim Ho-nim turned out...
Had he managed, with the [Bunny Ear Coupon], to choose an item suited to the Agassi — one she might grow attached to? The sharp eyes of the veteran gunner glinted. In a flash she scanned Seo Ye-in from crown to toe, checking for anything changed since her morning departure. And there, on her wrist, she found a white bracelet.
"Agassi, might I examine your bracelet for a moment?"
"Mm."
When Seo Ye-in extended her hand, Ahn Jungmi pulled up the item description — and her brows lifted slightly at what she found.
The Cumulus Cloud Bracelet... A-Rank?
It was remarkable. She had handed over, quite unmistakably, a B-Rank coupon — and back had come an A-Rank item. How he had managed it, she would have to learn in due course, but one thing was certain: I was right to leave it in Kim Ho-nim's hands. Once again, Kim Ho had proven how useful he could be to Seo Ye-in. With this, her own standing at the Future Strategy Office would remain secure, and she could lend the two of them even more active support going forward.
Just then, Seo Ye-in began rummaging through her inventory, and —
"I got plushies too."
Out came a shark and an anaconda, thrust forth without warning. And when a tiger's face appeared next, even Ahn Jungmi flinched; the detail was so uncannily vivid that for an instant she mistook it for the living animal.
"I see you visited the Game Center. I'm glad the Agassi appears to have had an enjoyable time."
"I bought a butler gift, too."
"...Pardon?"
Ahn Jungmi blinked both eyes. She said she had bought a what...?
Seo Ye-in then produced a carefully wrapped paper bag and held it out. The downtown bakery's emblem stamped on it suggested bread packaged up for the road. In truth, the bakery coupon was something Ahn Jungmi herself had strained to procure for her own use, only to yield it up willingly for Kim Ho and Seo Ye-in — and though she was, in the end, only human, a faint thread of regret had lingered in her heart. Now Seo Ye-in had thought of her, and brought bread back wrapped for her.
Ahn Jungmi trembled beneath the surge of emotion.
Agassi... she's all grown up...!
Her eyes were starting to sting with heat. After years of patient endurance, Seo Ye-in had finally matured into a proper human being who knew how to express gratitude.
"Open it."
"Yes — I'll open it right this moment!"
But the instant Ahn Jungmi tore the wrapping and opened the bag, an overwhelming, sinister spiciness struck the tip of her nose.
?!
Ahn Jungmi froze, smile still fixed in place. Then her gaze traveled slowly downward, and she examined the contents in detail. It appeared to be a pizza bread — except that where tomato sauce ought to be, the magma of hell itself bubbled and churned, and from within that hellish magma all manner of searing toppings howled their vow to burn your tongue to cinders. It was the notorious signature dish of the downtown bakery, unveiling itself in all its glory: the Hellfire Pizza Bread.
Ahn Jungmi searched her memory for a moment. Had she made some blunder? Was this the Agassi's own manner of lodging a grievance? No — that hardly seemed likely. She had served Seo Ye-in far longer than a year or two; she sensed her mistress's displeasure the instant it arose, and not the slightest trace of it showed now. Which meant the bread had been brought with genuinely good intent. The only problem was that, of all things on this earth, it happened to be a Hellfire Pizza Bread.
Ahn Jungmi thought: A first gift from the Agassi. Whatever it may be, receiving it with gratitude is a butler's duty.
"..."
Seo Ye-in kept watching her steadily. The look in her eyes seemed to ask, Don't you like it? — and so Ahn Jungmi mustered a smile that filled her entire face.
"Thank you, Agassi. I'll savor every bite."
And she took a great, hearty bite of the Hellfire Pizza Bread.
That day, Ahn Jungmi beheld hell.