[Main Scenario #3—Emergency Defense has ended.]
[You have received 1,000 coins as a reward.]
I was yawning and taking a break when a message appeared, announcing the end of the main scenario.
[The fourth main scenario will begin shortly.]
...? Didn’t one just end?
As I stared at the message with that thought, Kim Dokja approached me.
"You two stay here with Yoo Joonghyuk."
"...Are you sure?"
"You won’t be any help even if you go down now. And if that bastard wakes up, that’ll be a problem in itself."
I glanced at Yoo Joonghyuk. He was still unconscious, his jaw swollen.
...Did I hit him too hard...?
"Just let me know if he wakes up. I’ll smack him in the back of the head again."
After saying that, Kim Dokja headed downstairs with Jung Heewon and the sleeping Lee Gilyoung. I watched them for a moment, then wondered why the message feed remained so quiet.
"What are you thinking about?"
"The Demon Kings and the angels haven’t said anything. They usually send me messages around this time."
"It is quiet."
The unfamiliar silence felt awkward, but I soon put it out of my mind and asked about something I’d been curious about.
"Come to think of it, didn’t you say before we came up here that you wanted to do something with me after this scenario ended?"
Lee Jihye’s face turned bright red, and she hurriedly looked away.
"W-When did I ever say that?"
All I could do was scratch my cheek. The atmosphere had suddenly become awkward, so I gathered some branches and began making a pillow for Yoo Joonghyuk.
[The constellation, ‘Demon-like Judge of Fire,’ pants heavily and asks if you called for her.]
"Oh, Angel?"
[The constellation, ‘Demon-like Judge of Fire,’ says, Yes, yes, it’s me!]
"I was worried about you."
[The constellation, ‘Demon-like Judge of Fire,’ grins foolishly.]
[The constellation, ‘Commander of the Red Cosmos,’ watches with displeasure.]
Once I’d finished making Yoo Joonghyuk’s makeshift pillow, I lifted his head and placed it underneath.
[The fourth main scenario will begin in five minutes!]
"Hmm... Are we sure we don’t need to go down?"
"It’s Kim Dokja, so I’m not particularly worried."
"True. If it’s her..."
[The representative of Chungmuro Station is ‘Kim Dokja.’]
[The fourth main scenario has been activated!]
"See?"
"But why did she suddenly become the representative?"
"Maybe they held a vote."
"You think those older men accepted it without a fuss?"
"Maybe she just beat the crap out of them."
"...You’re right."
Lee Jihye and I were chatting while watching the new main scenario messages and the morning sun rising over the horizon when Kim Dokja suddenly came back up.
"That bastard still hasn’t woken up?"
I turned toward the voice and saw that Kim Dokja had acquired something new.
"...? A red flag?"
"Oh... This is—"
"Were you a communist, Ms. Kim Dokja?"
"..."
"I’m joking. It was just a joke."
Kim Dokja’s expression turned icy, and I hurriedly told her I was joking. Lee Jihye gave me a pathetic look, then asked Kim Dokja about the situation downstairs.
"Don’t worry about it. Just rest."
"Will Yoo Joonghyuk be all right?"
"He’ll be fine. He might be left with some trauma, though."
"Trauma?"
"That bastard is mentally more fragile than he looks. He’ll get better after a good sleep, so keep watching him a little longer."
"...The more I watch you, the more strangely well you seem to know all of us."
"A-Ahem."
Kim Dokja scribbled something down, then handed the note to Lee Jihye.
"Here, take this. Don’t read it. Give it to Yoo Joonghyuk when he wakes up. Can you do that?"
"...All right."
After watching Lee Jihye nod, Kim Dokja turned to me with a proposal.
"I need to borrow you for a moment."
"...? Me?"
I pointed at myself in confusion, and Kim Dokja said there was somewhere I was needed. When I looked at Lee Jihye, she told me to go.
"All right... Sure."
---
"...You want me to do that? Why?"
"Just trust me. Do it when I give you the signal."
I followed Kim Dokja downstairs, where Lee Hyunsung and Yoo Sangah were waiting. I beamed at them and spoke.
"Mr. Lee Hyunsung, Ms. Yoo Sangah, you both worked very hard."
"...P-Pardon? I think I misheard you..."
"S-Seoyun...?"
The two stared at me in horror. Somehow, I managed to explain my situation, and they consoled me.
"Heewon and Seoyun, stay here and defend this place with Pildu."
"...All right."
As I watched Kim Dokja’s group recede into the distance, I spoke with Jung Heewon for the first time in a while.
"Has anything been troubling you lately?"
"...No, not really?"
"Would you like some bread?"
[The Fable, ‘Five Loaves and Two Fish,’ smiles kindly and creates bread.]
"...? When did you get an ability like that?"
"Uh... It just sort of happened?"
Come to think of it, I didn’t even know how to use this. How did it come out so naturally?
[The constellation, ‘Savior of the Corrupted,’ becomes certain of her theory.]
[The archangels of the Nebula Eden resolve to do ‘something.’]
[The constellation, ‘Scribe of Heaven,’ avoids the glare of the constellation, ‘Savior of the Corrupted.’]
I checked the messages appearing before me once again, but there was still nothing from the Demon Kings.
Jung Heewon nibbled on the bread—she said it was delicious—and asked me curiously,
"What are you staring at?"
"Oh... The angels have started sending messages again, but the Demon Kings are still quiet."
"Isn’t that a good thing?"
"Hmm... It just feels like something that used to be there is suddenly gone..."
"Hmm. I know what that feels like..."
After we’d talked and waited for quite some time, Kim Dokja returned and told us about the hidden scenario she had received.
"That scenario sounds incredibly difficult... Will you be all right, Dokja?"
"Still, I’m glad Dokja is a candidate for the throne."
I had been listening quietly, but now I spoke up.
"Empress Kim Dokja, are we setting out to plunder another abyss now?"
"Pfft!"
Jung Heewon spat out what she was eating, while Kim Dokja looked flustered. Hmm... Since she was a female king, wouldn’t that make her an empress?
"Empress! She called you Empress! Hahahaha!"
"...You don’t have to call me that."
"Really?"
"...First, I think we need to investigate the people who attacked us. We’ll be heading straight to Dongmyo Station, so Heewon, Seoyun, and Hyunsung, will you come with me?"
Confused that her name hadn’t been called, Yoo Sangah raised her hand.
"Then what about me...?"
"Sangah, please remain here."
Yoo Sangah’s shoulders drooped as if she’d been shocked.
"Yes, of course... I suppose that would be..."
Kim Dokja realized her mistake and hurriedly began explaining herself.
---
I wanted to applaud Kim Dokja after her lengthy speech, but the quiet, serious atmosphere made me think better of it.
"I... I’m not sure I deserve to be given a position like this..."
"I’m entrusting it to you because you’re Yoo Sangah."
[The constellation, ‘Guardian of Youth and Travel,’ marvels at Kim Dokja’s gift of gab.]
Deeply moved, Yoo Sangah answered with a bright smile.
"I’ll do my best!"
After granting Yoo Sangah the position of deputy representative, the rest of us departed. There seemed to be fierce resistance behind us once we were gone, but...
"Aaaaaaaaagh!"
It didn’t seem like we needed to worry.
"I see you in a new light, Ms. Kim Dokja. You’re a better speaker than I thought."
Jung Heewon looked puzzled by my words.
"What did you think of her before?"
"About the same as a con artist and a villain who manipulates everything from behind the scenes?"
"..."
Kim Dokja looked hurt by my words, but her expression suggested she agreed to some extent.
"But is it really okay to leave our captain behind like that?"
"He’ll probably be fine."
"I’ve been thinking this for a while, but you seem to know our captain incredibly well."
"Hmm... Do you have any younger siblings?"
"I did, but they died."
"...I’m sorry."
"It’s okay. If I’m sad, my sibling in the afterlife will be sad too. So I really am fine."
At my words, Jung Heewon patted my back and consoled me. The briefly chilled atmosphere soon passed.
"Then do you have any younger siblings, Heewon?"
"Yes, a younger brother. I think he started middle school this year..."
"What’s it like having a younger sibling?"
"Annoying. He’s a pain, talks back at the slightest thing... He once caused trouble at school, so I had to go in our mother’s place..."
"But you’re worried about him now, aren’t you?"
"Well... He’s still family, after all."
"I feel the same way."
"Are you talking about the captain?"
"Yeah."
Hmm... So they snapped at each other and fought sometimes, but still worried about each other?
"You three seem very close."
"Why, soldier? Are you jealous?"
"A-Ahem. That isn’t what I meant... I was merely saying that because it seems we’ve arrived at Dongdaemun History & Culture Park Station."
With a small grunt, I stepped inside. The completely deserted station greeted us.
"It’s quiet, isn’t it?"
"It is. There isn’t even a single guard."
As we looked around, that Kang What’s-his-name whom Lee Hyunsung had been carrying suddenly sprang upright.
"N-No...! Dong... Dongdaemun...! Dongdaemun Station!!"
"Kang Ilhun?"
Startled, Kim Dokja hurriedly checked his condition.
"...It seems Dongdaemun Station has been occupied."
"Maybe it’s a double trap?"
We laid Kang What’s-his-name back down and checked his condition. Then, feeling a sudden chill, I focused my hearing.
"Someone’s coming."
"...Seoyun, do what I asked you to do back at Chungmuro Station."
[The skill, ‘Illusion Lv. 3,’ has been activated.]
"Huh, Kang Ilhun? What’s the point of th—!!! Y-Yoo Joonghyuk...?"
Lee Hyunsung and Jung Heewon stared at me in horror. I silently drew my sword and unleashed a wave of killing intent.
"Who are you?"
Oh, right. The lightning effect.
I almost forgot.
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