Watching the group's fight from behind.
Except for one person, everyone was facing the monsters in front of them with determination.
Naturally, the most outstanding among them was, without a doubt,
"Phew..."
Kim Dokja.
He fought while observing the overall situation, watching in case he let a Ground Rat slip past, or if one of the group members did.
Yet he was still killing the most Ground Rats.
"One slipped past that way!"
Thwack.
The Ground Rat that slipped through was immediately struck on the head by Lee Gilyoung with a blunt weapon and stunned, then finished off by Yoo Sangah's stab.
It's not just that Kim Dokja is exceptional; this group fights well overall.
Basically, their team synergy is good.
With Lee Hyunsung and Kim Dokja taking the vanguard, Jung Heewon assisted from the side, and if anything slipped to the back, the remaining members caught it.
"Good coordination."
Except for Han Myungoh, who was dragged along like dead weight, the group members suffered light abrasions, but not a single major injury was seen.
"Alright~ Good work."
Confirming the battle was over, I stepped forward.
"I'm surprised everyone fought better than I expected. Even if you were born in a world teeming with Cursed Spirits... I mean monsters, I think you would have done more than your fair share."
"What is that..."
"Haha, just a story from a manga I know."
"Gang-hoon-ssi! Behind you!"
Thud.
As soon as I heard Hyunsung's shout, I snatched the body of the Ground Rat flying from behind with one hand, then grabbed its upper body with the other hand and kindly separated its upper and lower halves.
"I caught one."
"...I-I see."
Maybe I should have caught it a bit more normally.
Seeing me rip it apart with two hands, the group stared at me dumbfounded.
Since they worked hard to catch them one by one, and I just ripped one apart instantly, I guess it can't be helped.
"Don't lower your self-esteem by comparing yourselves to me unnecessarily. You knew I was at this level, right?"
Scratching my head, I looked at the group in front of me.
"I'm just getting stronger a little bit ahead of you. I'll be waiting, so catch up slowly."
"Well, that's certainly fantastic motivation."
At Kim Dokja's words, I grinned and looked at the group.
"So, how many did everyone catch? Seemed like you caught quite a few."
"Ah, I think I caught about four."
"Tch, I think I caught about two."
"I caught about three too!"
Before people's will could be broken because of me, I immediately changed the topic to shift the focus of the conversation.
Since it's a topic that leads into the main story, there shouldn't be any big problems.
"Hmm, since we need to prepare today's food, let's gather the Ground Rats we caught."
"Umm... How do we cook this? Eating it raw seems difficult."
"Even if we can't eat it now, there must be a way."
At Kim Dokja's nonchalance, the group all looked at him.
"Actually, there's something I'd like to ask."
A situation where everyone was just watching quietly.
The first one to open his mouth was Lee Hyunsung.
"Does Dokja-ssi know something about this situation?"
Kim Dokja couldn't speak hastily.
It would be unreasonable to say it came from a book he read.
He was probably thinking of Yoo Joonghyuk right now.
The regressors he saw had also received such questions, and he must have thought about their cases.
But Kim Dokja will avoid speaking about it himself.
"U-Uaaagh!!"
Like this. He'll hide in a situation where it's hard to speak.
"Save me!!!"
A Ground Rat that had been hiding grabbed Han Myungoh's leg and dragged him in.
It seemed it had seen us slaughtering its kind, hid underground, and slowly dug a tunnel to hide here.
Unfortunately, that Ground Rat was faster than the previous ones, and not only was it fast, but it was also huge, making it look difficult to approach carelessly.
"There was still one left!"
"Save me...!!!"
At that moment, with a thud, one more person beside him disappeared.
Thinking 'What the?', I turned my head to look at Han Myungoh, only to see him hugging Yoo Sangah's leg, causing both of them to be dragged away.
It's unfortunate. She swung her spear to save Han Myungoh.
As a result. Our group was forced to watch two people being dragged away.
Lee Hyunsung tried to save them belatedly, but the Ground Rat was so fast that he couldn't catch up.
"Too late."
"Ah...! I knew something like this would happen because of that ajussi!"
"I'm sorry... because I was late."
"Don't say that. Hyunsung-ssi. I was visibly late too."
Of course, I let them go on purpose, but saying that proudly would make me trash.
I have my reasons too. I just stood by out of necessity because I didn't want to complicate things for myself by needlessly twisting the flow of the story.
"Dokja-ssi. This isn't an ordinary tunnel, right?"
"One moment."
Kim Dokja approached the tunnel and looked inside.
"..."
Then, pretending to need a moment to think, he stepped back slightly, turned on his phone to quickly read up to the important parts, and then turned back to us.
"It's not an ordinary tunnel, but we have to go in. Of course, I'll only take a few people, and I think the rest of you should stand guard here. If an emergency occurs, I'll give a signal, and you can come in then."
Wise choice. If we all go in at once, it'll be hard to prepare for anything.
"I'll go in with Gilyoung. And..."
I guess I'll take a break while keeping watch here...
"Gang-hoon-ssi will go in."
"Eh."
Why me...
"You're going, right? If Gang-hoon-ssi hadn't let his guard down, those two wouldn't have been dragged away."
"No, that's... Ah, alright."
Using an unblockable move like that is cheating.
Sighing inwardly, I stood behind Kim Dokja.
"And Hyunsung-ssi. Heewon-ssi isn't in good condition, so please take good care of her."
At those words, Hyunsung turned his gaze to Heewon to check her condition and nodded.
"Understood."
"Wait, wait a minute. I'm fine!"
"Jung Heewon-ssi. Confidence is good, but foolhardiness isn't."
At Dokja's words, Jung Heewon turned her head away with a frustrated expression.
But what can she do? Her body is practically screaming, 'I'm not in good shape.'
"Let's go in. Gang-hoon-ssi, Gilyoung-ah."
"Okay."
"Yes."
We threw ourselves into the tunnel dug by the Ground Rat.
It definitely looked like a tunnel dug at a near-vertical angle, but the moment we entered, gravity seemed to twist, and we could walk upright.
This must be thanks to the skill of the Ground Rat that dug this tunnel.
"This way."
Kim Dokja and I held Lee Gilyoung's hands and moved forward. Of course, I could have walked alone, but since Gilyoung naturally held my hand, it looked like the kid was reaching out to help, which was cute, so I just followed without saying much.
"Excuse me, Hyungs."
"Hm?"
Then, Gilyoung called us. He must have wanted to ask since earlier but waited until we reached a place where others couldn't hear.
"You did that on purpose earlier, right?"
"...Did what?"
"When that monster took Noona and Ajussi, you let them go on purpose. Gang-hoon Hyung was staring right at them..."
Ah, I didn't stare blatantly, but I guess I got caught. That part.
"I was watching both of your faces at that moment."
To think he was watching both our faces at that moment, and even deduced that... I hate sharp kids, n—no. That's not it.
"Yeah, that's right."
"Busted."
As soon as we admitted we were caught, messages exploded like a bomb.
[Constellations of the Absolute Good system frown at your cruelty.]
This... was originally a message meant only for Kim Dokja.
Just as Lee Gilyoung saw both Dokja and me, Kim Dokja also looked at me, dragging me into it, so I got hit by the bomb too.
"Why did you do that?"
"Because of the Ground Rats' habits."
Kim Dokja decided to answer honestly.
He must have thought Gilyoung was smart enough to notice everything anyway, and hiding it was meaningless.
"Ground Rats have a habit of stockpiling their captives in one place. So sometimes they hoard rare items too, but getting to that place is complicated, so we have to follow the path they dug themselves to find it."
Kim Dokja sighed.
"I thought only Han Myungoh would be taken. I didn't expect Yoo Sangah-ssi."
"...What about Gang-hoon Hyung?"
"Since Dokja-ssi didn't move even though they were right in front of him, I figured he had a plan. And I also thought that if they were in danger, I could save them."
Actually, I can gauge Yoo Sangah's position right now. It was a distance I could fly to and handle immediately if I wanted to, and the Ground Rats around there didn't seem to be a problem.
"So... in the end, Dokja Hyung's goal was the items, and Gang-hoon Hyung just followed Dokja Hyung's action?"
"Yeah, disappointed?"
"No. Dokja Hyung is really bad at lying. I know he's not that kind of person. If he were, he wouldn't have saved me in the subway. I believe in Hyung."
Tear-jerking trust, truly.
"And I also believe in Gang-hoon Hyung, whom Dokja Hyung believes in."
"Well, thanks for that."
[Some Constellations are moved and teary-eyed.]
[You have been sponsored 200 Coins.]
Thanks to getting entangled in an unexpected part, I even got bonus Coins.
Well... profited from an unexpected place. Kid, later when you save someone once, I'll save you twice.
Comments (0)
Please log in to leave a comment. Login or Register