"What the hell are you talking about!"
"Something you couldn't know, and don't need to know. You know that as well as I do."
"I'll kill you!"
I wonder how long she's going to keep up that verbal tic.
How many times has she already threatened to kill me?
"More importantly... to think that the great Yoo Joonghyuk is pinned under me..."
"Get off me already!"
"Doesn't this situation feel kind of... erotic?"
"...What?"
Wow. In my entire life, I never thought I'd see Yoo Joonghyuk genuinely flustered.
[The female Constellations despise you.]
"Yeah, yeah, get lost. It's not like I can get married anyway."
[A Constellation who likes changing genders cackles, calling you a lunatic.]
"You were still here? I didn't notice, since you have zero presence."
[Many Constellations are flustered by your actions.]
[A few Constellations are enjoying your actions.]
Why are they enjoying it when I'm insulting them?
Are they perverts?
[The Constellation 'Demon-like Judge of Fire'—]
[The Constellation 'Lily Blooming in Aquarius'—]
[The Demon King 'Demon King of Wrath and Lust'—]
Hmm...!
No matter how I think about it, they really are perverts.
***
[Due to excessive immersion, the 'Fourth Wall' is shaking.]
'No way... Did she come back to her senses after hearing me? Is it really getting resolved this easily?'
Seeing Yoo Joonghyuk wake up more easily than expected, I let out a breath and felt a wave of relief.
'Good thing Oppa subdued her properly.'
Right now, Yoo Joonghyuk was completely restrained.
Well, the way Oppa was sitting on top of her was a little... questionable, but a win is a win.
'I kind of want to be pinned under him like that just once—!'
No, wait, what am I imagining...?
Anyway, even if they strengthened their control over Yoo Joonghyuk in that state, she wouldn't be able to break free.
Now all we had to do was use that opening to finish off the Theater Owner...
['Theater Owner Simulation' is flustered.]
['Theater Owner Simulation' releases its control over the character, 'Yoo Joonghyuk'!]
Released it when it should've been reinforcing it?
Did it give up?
No. There was no way something from Ways of Survival would let this go so easily.
What was it plotting?
['Theater Owner Simulation' looks at the character, 'Kim Dokja,' and smiles crookedly.]
['Theater Owner Simulation' attempts [Mental Erosion] on the character, 'Kim Dokyun'!]
"...What?"
No other word could have captured my current feelings better than that.
A foul, blackish-green smoke seeped into Oppa.
"...Oppa?"
Please, don't let him be controlled.
That was all I could pray for.
—Kkakak!
Oppa... picked up his axe and slowly rose to his feet.
Pointing that axe straight at me.
"Everyone, get back!!"
—Tadat!
—Tadat!
At my shout, the two who had been attacking the Theater Owner pulled back.
Even Yoo Joonghyuk had kept trying to protect the Theater Owner as long as she was under control.
If they hadn't retreated now, that brutish axe would've flown straight into our party.
—Kaaang!
"...Tch."
Yoo Joonghyuk launched a surprise attack in that instant, but of course, it was blocked with ease, and she was thrown back.
"...I was fighting you just a moment ago, and now I have to join hands with you to fight Oppa."
"...Just don't get in my way."
We were already exhausted to the limit.
Could we even buy time against Oppa?
It was true that he'd suffered serious injuries, but... this was my brother, a man who had fought through his wounds even while fully conscious, before being controlled.
Now that he'd been mentally manipulated, he obviously wouldn't care about his injuries at all.
[The Constellation 'Secretive Plotter' advises you to recall the trait your brother once told you about from his past.]
"...Ah!"
Right, when we were inside the sea dragon's stomach, he'd told me about the effect of his trait, hadn't he?
"...And that's not all. When it comes to Dokja, all of my stats are fixed at 0."
If that was true... no, since it was true, then the only one here who could easily subdue Oppa was me.
But... could I really do that?
It wasn't a matter of confidence.
It was a matter of whether I could bring myself to attack someone who had always sacrificed himself for me.
What if I clashed blades with him and he died just like that?
Even if I knew the story ahead, could I survive in this world without Oppa?
No, would there even be any point in surviving?
['Theater Owner Simulation' mocks you.]
...Do I have no choice?
"I'm sorry, Oppa. Forgive me. No, don't forgive me."
[The special option of 'Unbroken Red Thread' has activated.]
[Your ether attribute is converted to 'Flame.']
[Stigma, 'Song of the Sword', has been activated.]
[A verse left behind by Admiral Yi Sun-sin settles into your sword.]
The world was always full of contradictions.
Just like now.
In a ruined world, they only stood out more sharply.
[The Constellation 'Sea-Commander' looks on in pity at you, who must fight your own blood.]
[The Constellation 'Demon-like Judge of Fire' mourns.]
[The Constellation 'Prisoner of the Golden Headband' wipes the smile from his face.]
[The Constellation 'Secretive Plotter' comforts you and tells you to stay strong.]
Gilyoung hesitated.
Considering how close they were even among our group, that was only natural...
It didn't look like we could get help from Titanoptera.
In the end, I had to do it myself.
"..."
Even then, neither Oppa nor the Theater Owner made any move.
'Is it waiting because it's the so-called Theater Owner?'
It felt like a villain politely waiting for the hero's transformation scene to finish.
—Swoosh.
The Theater Owner raised its arm,
—Thud!
Then brought it down, giving the signal to attack.
"Everyone, be ready!!!"
Starting with Yoo Joonghyuk, who had already experienced Oppa once, and the rest of the party who had watched it happen.
"..."
"..."
"...?"
"Why isn't he moving?"
Oppa still stood in place without moving.
The Theater Owner was expressing full-body panic, as if this wasn't what it had intended at all.
How shocked did it have to be to react like that?
['Theater Owner Simulation' strengthens its control over the character, 'Kim Dokyun'!]
"..."
['Theater Owner Simulation' grows even more flustered as it sees Kim Dokyun still not moving.]
['Theater Owner Simulation' further strengthens its control over the character, 'Kim Dokyun'!]
['Theater Owner Simulation' maximizes its control over the character, 'Kim Dokyun'!]
Even I was too stunned by this situation, which I was seeing for the first time.
At that level, even Oppa shouldn't be able to...!
"..."
"...That's weird. Is that mister really being controlled? Why isn't he reacting at all?"
Exactly.
It said it had strengthened the control to the maximum.
And yet he was still just standing there....
—Swoosh.
"He moved—!"
[Don't move, Kim Dokja.]
"!!!"
"Everyone, hold your positions!"
"Are you crazy, lady?!"
[The Constellation 'Secretive Plotter' is curious about your plan.]
I'm sure of it.
Oppa... wasn't being mentally controlled.
—Bwoong!
—Chwaak!!
With the sound of something being swung, red blood sprayed everywhere.
And that blood belonged to...
['Theater Owner Simulation' is horrified!]
Simulation.
—Bwoong!
Once across.
—Bwoong!
Once vertically.
—Bwoong!
Once diagonally.
No, not just that. So many times it couldn't be described in words.
I could only see him swinging in a mindless trance.
And so the Theater Owner was butchered until nothing remained but red bloodstains, not even a single scrap of flesh left behind.
"Phew... Watching all of you get fooled was pretty funny. Maybe I should become an actor."
"Is now really the time to be saying that?!"
"Don't shout. Because of you, the donut in my stomach is ringing."
—Pop.
Oppa poured a recovery potion into his mouth, one I had no idea when he'd bought.
"That's better."
[The barrier surrounding the 'Theater Dungeon' has disappeared.]
"Are you okay, Dokja-ssi?"
"Yes. Strangely enough, I don't even have a scratch. What about you, Heewon-ssi?"
"I'm fine. And thankfully, Jihye's safe too."
The effect he'd told me about before, the one where he took the damage meant for me instead.
That must've been one reason Oppa had struggled so much more.
[The end time of the third Main Scenario is approaching!]
"Looks like things are wrapping up down below too."
"They should be. Do you know how much time has passed here?"
Did Oppa have no heart?
Did he really have to nitpick every little thing like that?
"Jihye must really like us now, huh? Puffing out your cheeks and acting cute like that?"
—Thump thump thump!
"I can't even talk, and attacks from someone weaker than me don't hurt at all, you know?"
Lee Jihye sent me a pleading look for help.
"That's enough, Oppa. You're going to make our squirrel cry."
"Kekekeke."
This kind of playfulness was one of Oppa's strengths.
More precisely, the way he acted as if things were still ordinary, even in a ruined world.
Because when I watched them banter and joke around like that, I could forget, even if only for a moment, that this world had been destroyed.
He made it feel less like a break after defeating an enemy, and more like an ordinary day where we were smiling and chatting.
"A shooting star!"
"Want to see it?"
Oppa lifted Lee Jihye and Gilyoung so they could see the meteor shower from higher up.
A child and a high school girl perched on his shoulders.
"Damn, it's beautiful....
Everyone simply stared at the shooting stars.
Yoo Joonghyuk and Oppa, who knew what that meteor shower meant, seemed to be memorizing the location, while the rest of us, who didn't know its meaning, merely closed our eyes and made wishes.
'An adult quietly watching shooting stars from another adult's shoulders is... kind of pathetic—'
—Flash!
"Uwah!"
Suddenly, Oppa forced me up onto his shoulders.
"This brings back memories."
"...Yeah, it does."
"Aren't Hyung and Noona making wishes?"
"Mine already came true."
"What about Noona?"
"I did make one."
If it was Oppa, maybe he already knew.
"What was it?"
"They say if you say your wish out loud, it won't come true."
"Who knows? Well, saying it or not is up to you."
"That's true."
This wasn't some combining robot, but somehow Gilyoung was hanging off his right shoulder, Lee Jihye off his left, and I was clinging to the middle of him.
Hearing that in this state made me feel a little embarrassed somehow.
"I wished to see the epilogue of a certain novel."
"Any other wishes?"
"Oh my, isn't it supposed to be one wish only?"
"There are that many stars, so asking for one more should be fine. The ones peeping on us right now are called Constellations too, after all."
'One more should be fine'....
If that was the case, then this was what I wanted to wish for.
That I could see the epilogue of a certain novel together with the family I treasured most.
"What about our third regression?"
"...I wished someone would shut that mouth of yours."
"Mmmph? Mmph mph? (Ah~ is that so? Do you like me now?)"
"Haaaaaaaaah....
A sigh from Yoo Joonghyuk.
She'd yielded to me so much until now that I hadn't noticed, but Oppa had a pretty strong personality too, almost as much as Yoo Joonghyuk.
Once the sun climbed high into the sky, a new hell would open.
Even so... why did it feel like, if I was with Oppa, even a worse hell would be bearable?
[The Hidden Scenario has ended!]
[Main Scenario #3 - [Emergency Defense Battle] has ended.]
<Main Scenario #3 - [Emergency Defense Battle]>
Category: Main
Difficulty: B-
Clear Conditions: All [Green Zone]s in the area have been destroyed, causing the monsters scheduled to appear over the remaining days to appear all at once. Survive against the overflowing monsters until the remaining time runs out.
Reward: 1,000 Coins
Failure: Death
[You have acquired 1,000 Coins as a reward.]
.
.
.
"Hey, chuuni."
"Shut up before I rip that mouth apart."
"If this isn't chuuni, then what is?"
—Creak.
"Alright, alright. What are you, some dog? Why are you grinding your teeth like that?"
"Haaaaaaaaaaah... Just say what you want."
"Send the others down. Let's talk alone."
"Why would I—"
"Because you've got plenty you're curious about too, don't you? Like 'how I endured [Mental Erosion].'"
"Are you accepting or not?"
"If you spout nonsense, I'll rip that mouth apart."
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