episode_0012

Yoo Da-hee grabbed her aching back as if it might break and rose from her seat.

“Ugh…”

It felt like each disk was escaping its proper place, giving her an incessant shiver-inducing sensation, but thankfully that wasn’t the case. With a clattering sound, everything returned to normal.

The uncomfortable place where she had spent the night bending her back was none other than the passenger seat of Deke’s 25-ton cargo truck.

The reason was simple.

It was because there was nothing left in this world.

After the arena battle, Yoo Da-hee’s immediate action upon returning to Earth was to seek out traces of her past. Despite Deke clinging to her side and pleading, he fled without a word.

Before being drawn to the alien world, it wasn’t too difficult to find the small one-room apartment where I used to live.

No matter how much time had passed, the familiar neighborhood, the buildings that hadn’t changed at all from then to now, made nostalgia naturally well up in my chest…

Since the owners of typical one-room buildings don’t change much, I wanted to ask how they disposed of the things inside, but all I encountered when looking for Yoo Da-hee was a desolate construction site.

The one-room building was nowhere to be found, with only “No Entry” signs rolling around on the dirt floor.

I asked nearby real estate agents what had happened…

“Oh, over there? There used to be a one-room building, but it seems the owner changed once. They were planning to rebuild the building or something, but during new foundation work, artifacts were unexpectedly discovered there…”

Ah.

The new owner abandoned the site, leaving it as is, and since the story of the artifact spread far and wide, no one dared to buy it, so it remained abandoned.

Furthermore, since it wasn’t certain that artifacts were only there, all nearby buildings gave up on reconstruction.

One wrong move and it’s a disgrace if a fake artifact pops up.

…I never thought nostalgia for an unchanged street would be like this.

Tsk.

“But young man, I feel like I’ve seen your face somewhere before…”

“Oh, I’m sorry, you must be mistaken.”

In the brief moment of pause, Yoo Dahee, who had rushed out of the real estate office, let out a deep sigh.

She hadn’t really expected the house to still be there… Honestly, even a small part of her would have been surprised if it were true. If it had been true, she wouldn’t have bothered coming in the first place.

Expecting betrayal is a surefire way to experience it; if you don’t expect anything, there’s no chance of being betrayed. And that wasn’t the only problem.

“Yoo Dahee… Miss Yoo Dahee… You’re supposed to be deceased?”

“…?”

Just as inappropriate behavior at a funeral home would be a resurrection, it seemed that resurrection was also taboo at the Administrative Welfare Center.

Nearly eight years since departing from this world, a substantial amount of time had passed since her automatic declaration of death through the system’s missing person report. Even though Jesus resurrected in three days, it seemed unlikely that such logic would apply to an ordinary person after eight years, despite Dahee’s attempt to argue so.

The official in charge, displaying a perplexed expression upon confirming her death through fingerprint identification, left me with no immediate recourse.

If she had any family or relatives, they would have raised objections, but it seemed that no one was willing to dispute the death of the orphan, Yoo Dahee.

Surely, there’s an old saying that even a mouse hole has its sunny days and that there’s always a way out when the sky falls, so why does hardship keep coming her way?

Yoo Dahee – deceased.

It’s fine for harsh reality to overwhelm her, but could it please do so in moderation?

As I pondered how to navigate this situation, the official continued to gaze at Yoo Dahee’s face.

“Ma’am, it seems to be correct… um, but if it’s not too much trouble, could I take a photo-”

“What? I don’t believe it. No need for talismans, no ancestral rites.”

“No, that’s not it… Both at the real estate office and here, strange reactions kept popping up around Yoo Dahee.

Is my life truly jinxed? Just as the official was about to say something to the despondent Yoo Dahee, someone hastily interjected.

“Ta-da! For such a Yoo Dahee, Lady Astrea herself has come especially to pick you up… Hey, you there, taking a picture is inappropriate.”

What did he do? Drenched in sweat, Deke was standing there.

If you only looked at the way he spoke and his appearance, it seemed like a beauty had come in a sports car to pick him up. But in reality, it was more like driving a 25-ton truck and rolling down the window.

Such dissonance would be hard to intentionally seek out.

I really didn’t want to ride, but…

“…Could you please give me a ride…? Contract holder…?”

Looking at Deke’s tearful face, as if he might burst into tears any moment, I couldn’t help but weaken.

With a sigh, I reluctantly got on the truck, and what greeted me was—

“Hey, over there! Catch him! Yudahee, it’s Yudahee!”

“Contract! Make a contract with me and become a magic youth!”

“Dahui oppa, let’s go to the party!”

It wasn’t just a zombie horde; it was a surging wave of countless people rushing towards us.

It felt like we’d be screwed if caught, no room for choice at all.

“Go, go! Start moving!”

As I closed the door and looked at Deke, he stepped on the accelerator as if waiting and headed onto the main road.

If we had been even a little late getting on, we would have been caught in that situation.

There were even some trying to rush in front of the car, but…

“Ugh…!”

Deke continued to accelerate and plowed through.

Clunk, clunk.

…I swear something just got run over by the truck.

“Nothing… happened…!”

This crazy guy.

Naturally, she was a goddess who even committed hit-and-runs, but when I looked around, Yudahee couldn’t blame her for that.

If we stopped for even a moment, we’d end up filming the latter part of a midnight curse!

After breaking through for a while, we finally managed to shake off the crowd.

Sending a questioning look to Deke, he scratched his cheek.

“I… won at the arena, remember…? It’s because of that.”

The Battle Royale of the gods’ arena had long since turned into a kind of worldwide entertainment, not just for the gods.

On arena days, chicken and pizza joints were completely sold out. Even real estate and city officials were affected.

In fact, it was almost miraculous that I had been wandering the streets alone until now.

Up until now, if we were to count the number of times the arena has opened, it’s been countless ordinary victories among the many competitions, but its impact was truly top-notch.

The situation from that time was once again flowing on the billboard attached to the wall of the building across the intersection far away. Surrounded by dozens of contractors, Yoo Dahee made eye contact and muttered to herself.

Then, with the words “NO SIGNAL,” it turned pitch black… and with a fade-in effect, the gruesome scene of the arena and the ruthlessly defeated planet flashed by.

…Why didn’t I see something like that?

Not only on the billboards but also in the newspapers on the street, the appearance of that time appearing everywhere made Yoo Dahee feel extremely uncomfortable.

It’s not like it’s some kind of historical disgrace generator.

Ryoitentakai – Mukukusho

Gyaaak guwaaaak.

The mistakes of the past are endlessly replaying in her mind.

“…On top of that, even the gods caused a commotion… There has never been such a case before.”

Among the crowd were not only people but also the avatars of the gods who were jumping around to recruit me.

For Yoo Dahee, it was her first contract, and on top of that, her opponent was a rookie goddess who was extremely poor, and she had previous experience of proposing more divine power and snatching away a contractor.

They were desperate gods who thought it was an unparalleled opportunity.

How could they endure the monstrous rookie god of the desert who knocked everyone out with just one use of her main weapon in a situation where she could only use it once as a penalty!

Even though there were offers pouring into Dike’s personal messages, offering to write off all the debts she had lost so far and add more divine power…

Dike had no intention of accepting that.

“Well… this is the Amazon stock from 1994… and the Tesla I bought in 2003!”

He was proud of himself for resisting the temptation of selling out to such a small temptation, but…

It was Yoo Dahee who grabbed him by the collar and turned him around again.

“Kkiyaaaaat!”

Debtdebtdebtdebt!

A debt of up to 500 billion won!

The debt she had forcibly guaranteed!

“You should pay it back when you can, you crazy jerk!”

“Not selling, not selling, not selling, not selling! With points, I can live well and eat well!”

Caught in the clutches of such a goddess, Yoo Dahee wrapped her head in a sigh that came out involuntarily.

“From 100th place to 51st place is demotion, from 50th place to 21st place is maintenance, from 20th place to 4th place, one point each…”

And for 3rd place, 6 points, for 2nd place, 12 points, and for 1st place, 15 points were promised as the arena’s prize.

At that time, the bounty on Yoo Dahee’s neck was 20 points, surpassing even the 1st place reward, it was an extraordinary ticket, so it wasn’t surprising that she flew like that.

“The current remaining points are 2 + 15, 17 points…! Even after deducting the overdue loan interest and principal repayment, there are still usable points… a whopping 5 points, 5 points!!”

It was said that these points could be traded according to mutual agreement. Deke’s words about being able to live well and eat well were not wrong at all. However, Yoo Dahee’s gaze toward Deke was cold.

“You’re a despicable rice weevil…”

She couldn’t help but wonder what was different about him… but this fleeting thought passed through Yoo Dahee’s mind, suggesting that perhaps it wasn’t as bad as she had initially thought.

Come to think of it… would this be… okay as it is…?

What Yoo Dahee desperately wished for upon returning to Earth from the foreign media was just a peaceful daily life, nothing more. It would be a problem to forcibly break the contract with Deke and leave.

Judging from the recent situation, it was evident that gods from all over the world would use every means to make contracts with her.

Her everyday life would crumble.

On the contrary, being bound by a relationship called debt with Deke might actually be helpful.

After using Deke as a shield, if she could hide behind the position of being a contractor, maybe it would work out?

“…Oh?”

Moreover, not only that, but with the debt remaining and Deke trying to resolve it using the points, under this abnormal structure, Deke would have no choice but to cling to Yoo Dahee, the sole contractor.

An overturning of the typical master-servant relationship that everyone dreams of.

In other words, Deke would be forced to absolutely obey Yoo Dahee as long as this abnormal contractual relationship persisted.

There was no need to aim for 1st place in the arena this time around.

As originally desired by Dike, if I just roughly cut about 50 frames and carefully calculate the remaining loan interest and principal for Dike, would that be enough to earn points in a close call…? Hehe. “Th-this is an unpleasant laugh…!” Dike seemed to shiver as if something was creeping him out, but what could he do? The mistakes he made, he had to bear them himself. “So, should we go back to the lodging now…? Honestly, I feel like I’m going to die from exhaustion.” Not only did he compete in the arena all day, but he also chased after his body. It seems like he can’t just keep wandering around in a truck like this. However, Dike just smirked as if to say, “What are you talking about?” “Huh? No place to stay?” “What the heck…” Yoo Dahee, who wondered what on earth was going on, asked with a sense of unease. A foreboding thought crossed her mind. …Ugh, it couldn’t be, right? “Then, where have you been resting until now?” “Well, in the truck?” “Eating?” “In the truck?” “…..You mean to tell me you’ve been taking care of everything, including accommodation, in the vehicle?” “Yes, in the truck.” Even a kapuero doesn’t live like this! But as always, foreboding thoughts always seem to come true. Upon closer inspection of the vehicle, traces of a makeshift life were evident. She may have the name and appearance of a goddess, but her behavior was no better than a laborer named Kim. Can this contractual relationship really be maintained? Yoo Dahee was seriously considering whether she should jump out of the truck even now.