"2,000 Coins for one night? Are you kidding me? I ought to slice you up for sashimi, seriously!"
"Dokja."
"I... couldn't get a room."
As promised, my brother didn't come.
He was probably resting somewhere at his leisure.
"Did you find anything, Dokja?"
"No, I couldn't find one either."
"...Where is Kim Dokyun?"
"My brother will be spending tonight alone, without a room."
At those words, everyone's faces stiffened.
Even Gilyoung, who normally didn't show much emotion.
"What do you mean by that...?"
"Exactly what I said."
"But why?"
"Because my brother doesn't need a room."
The mole crickets had burst apart the instant they slammed into him. For someone like my brother, a room was a luxury.
On the surface, it looked like he was just making things a little harder on himself so the rest of us could get rooms more easily...
But that smile he wore when he said it made it seem like he was plotting something.
"Isn't that too dangerous?"
"Losing to Yoo Joonghyuk was just bad luck with the matchup."
"Even so, he's injured right now."
"Even taking that into account, my brother is the kind of person who can tear all of them apart by himself."
As if I wasn't worried.
Out of everyone here, I was the one worrying about my brother the most.
The reason I told him we had to grow stronger together was only to stop him from throwing himself into danger.
But my brother had taken those words, given them some grand meaning on his own, and believed in them completely.
It was nice that it became a shackle on him, a reason for him to think about me even more, but at the same time, it became a shackle on me too.
It gave me a justification to keep my brother by my side, but at the same time, it also gave him a justification to leave my side.
Now he could say he was separating from me with the heart of a lion dropping its cub off a cliff.
Judging by his expression, he hadn't liked that very much either.
"Anyway, there is a sense in which my brother sacrificed himself for us."
"...Because the number of people per room is limited?"
"That's right."
"Damn it."
***
"Yo!"
"Ah, shit. Mister, you're here again?"
"Now you're cursing the moment you see me?"
It hadn't even been a full day since we met, and she was already swearing at me.
Looks like Jihye would be pretty easy to get close to, in her own way.
She's got better people skills than her master, Yoo Joonghyuk.
"Still, I hope you don't die. You could end up becoming a companion, and more than anything, what you did fighting Master was pretty impressive."
"Even if I lost."
"Nobody can beat Master."
Not yet, maybe.
Yoo Joonghyuk would keep getting stronger, sure, but all I had to do was get even stronger than that.
First, it'd be nice if I could get a weapon.
Since I fight with strength as my main focus, something like a giant hammer, or maybe gauntlets.
"Haa..."
"Why? Scared because you couldn't get a room?"
"I picked a fight with Yoo Joonghyuk. Why would I be scared of some lousy monsters?"
"Well, that's true."
Considering Yoo Joonghyuk's personality, she was scary enough to make the monsters look tame.
"Then what's the problem?"
"I want a weapon too."
"Ah~ You're jealous? I'm not giving you this."
"A sword doesn't suit me anyway."
I'd never learned swordsmanship, and I didn't have any related skill, so it'd just be a pretty but useless toy in my hands.
If I swung it with brute force, the blade would bend, or the sword itself would shatter because it couldn't withstand my strength.
And if it was a saber-shaped blade like that, it'd be even harder to handle.
A sword like that would suit Heewon better than Dokja.
"Where's your master?"
"How should I know? She went somewhere."
Why did that answer make me feel uneasy?
"Is it okay for you to be hanging around here instead of looking for a room?"
"I lost because it was Yoo Joonghyuk. There's no way I'd lose to monsters."
"True enough..."
[10 minutes remain until the third main Scenario begins.]
"There's not much time left, so I'm heading down."
"But you don't have a room?"
I wasn't going down there to look at rooms.
I was going down there to show them myself.
Gong Pildu probably did have a room, but even if he did, he'd obviously charge an outrageous price.
There was no need to pour Coins into a room I didn't even need.
"I said I was going to fight the monsters."
"...No way?! You're insane. I kind of like that, though."
If I went down, Gong Pildu and his gang would definitely sneer at me.
They'd throw out some mocking line like, "Looks like you couldn't get a room. Want one?"
And then, once the Scenario started, everything would change.
Right in front of everyone, I would tear the monsters apart and kill them.
What kind of twisted expressions would those bastards make then?
Just imagining it made a laugh slip out.
[All the Constellations in the channel feel uneasy at your smile.]
"I felt it when I saw you picking a fight with Master, but mister, you're seriously crazy."
"That's my charm."
[The third main Scenario has been activated.]
"Ah, it started. I'm really heading down now. See you tomorrow morning."
I wonder if Dokja managed to find a room.
A message...
No, if I sent one right after the Scenario started, it'd only get in her way.
"Well, look who it is. What are you going to do, still haven't found a room?"
Why were there so many bastards these days who kept interrupting me whenever I got lost in thought...?
Dokja excluded, of course.
"The ones who need rooms are weaklings like you. I don't need one."
"...What do you mean by that?"
"It means it's something only pathetic 'idiots' like you need—"
What?
I could feel power flooding through my body.
[All stats have increased by 10.]
If Dokja had gotten a room, there was no reason for my stats to rise.
Which meant... Dokja failed to get a room?
"Do you feel like something's wrong—!"
Crack
Thud
"!!!"
All eyes turned to me.
Of course they did. I'd dragged the bastard who was mouthing off at me out of his room and snapped his neck.
Were they all going to think I did it for the room?
[Many Constellations are appalled.]
[The Constellations of the absolute good alignment—!]
[The Constellations of the absolute evil alignment—!]
[The Constellation 'Secretive Plotter'—!]
[The Constellation 'Goddess of Love and Beauty'—!]
[The Demon King 'Demon King of Wrath and Lust'—!]
[The Constellation 'Demon-like Judge of Fire'—!]
[The Constellation 'Lily Blooming in Aquarius'—!]
Indirect messages from the Constellations suddenly started pouring in at high speed.
I didn't even need to read them to know why they were making a fuss. I'd just said I wasn't trying to hurt anyone, then immediately did the exact opposite.
"Shut up, all of you. I am not in the mood to humor Constellations or Demon Kings right now."
[Many Constellations are enraged by your statement.]
[A few Constellations are wary of the change in your atmosphere.]
At least a few of them had some sense.
Rumble!
I could feel the vibrations rising from below.
The monsters swarming in because of the Scenario.
The things that had put Dokja in danger.
The things I would... tear apart and kill.
"Kieeeek!"
The same pack of mole crickets that had come from Geumho Station.
Just like before, they charged in ferociously, only to burst apart on impact against my unmoving body, over and over again.
"Crazy...!"
"That's a human?"
I couldn't even hear the whispers around me.
Thud...
Thud...!
A vibration far heavier than the mole crickets shook the ground.
It had to be something much bigger.
I could see its shape behind the swarm of mole crickets.
A giant fire bear with horns...
Just a few days ago, I would've trembled if I saw something like that.
But now, I felt nothing at all.
Crack
Even though it was a bear, it didn't feel any different from the human whose neck I'd just snapped.
This wasn't the end, was it?
I could still see more of them pouring up those stairs.
This had better not be the end.
Because I was just about ready to lose it, and I needed something to take it out on.
[The Great Tree looks at you and speaks.]
[Tear and kill, until everything comes to an end.]
[Because I will always be watching by your side.]
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