Ch.205Putri’s Stage (9)

# 205. Putri’s Stage (9)

“Arang. Um… I think we all weigh about the same.”

“Huh?”

“Pfft.”

Arang, who had bravely stepped forward, deflated quickly at Soyu’s words. If they were in their original bodies, no one would have contradicted what Arang said, but… now they were all similarly-sized dwarves who would be hard to tell apart without nametags.

Though their inherent abilities might make their strength and movements slightly different, claiming to be the lightest was clearly wrong.

“So what do we do? Time keeps passing.”

“Hmm…”

Meanwhile, the impostor continued to struggle relentlessly. The dwarves, exhausted both physically and mentally, wanted to deal with it as quickly as possible. After all, even after getting rid of it, they needed to leave the house and go to the mine before meeting Snow White.

“Can’t we just figure something out?”

“If only we were taller with longer arms…”

“If we could build climbing stairs or a tower, we could reduce the risk, but all the usable furniture has been pushed away.”

“AAAAAAAAHHHHH-“

“SHUT UP!”

*CLANG-*

When the impostor’s screams grew so loud they could barely hear each other, Yuri, unable to stand it anymore, struck the furniture with a shovel. But it backfired. Perhaps because it wasn’t its own body, the impostor began to rage even more.

“Why did you provoke it!”

“Shit. Doesn’t this bastard ever get tired?”

“I don’t think we should consider it a normal dwarf.”

An ironic situation where they had successfully trapped it, but their stress was actually increasing.

Just then, Subin, who had been concentrating with her eyes closed and ears covered, clapped her hands to get everyone’s attention.

“If we don’t have a climbing tower or stairs, we can make one.”

“Unnie… I don’t think you heard because your ears were covered, but we don’t have any furniture left.”

“I know that. But there is one thing left.”

“There’s something left?”

Subin pointed her index finger at herself. Then she pointed at each dwarf in order.

Those who understood gaped in shock, while for those who still looked confused, tilting their heads, Subin provided additional explanation.

“I once heard a story from Sunghyun about his school days. Something called ‘hamburger,’ a torture disguised as a game that had no apparent purpose or fun.”

“Oh my goodness.”

After Subin suggested building a tower out of dwarves since there was no furniture, there was a moment of silence… well, not exactly silence, but since they had no other options, they decided to implement it immediately.

The problem was determining the ‘order’ in which they would be stacked…

“Geez. Why are you all hesitating so much? Seyeon unnie.”

“Yes?”

“Let’s you and me be at the very bottom.”

“Alright.”

“It feels a bit weird to be pressed against each other in these bodies… but we need to decide quickly and act fast!”

Thanks to the bold declaration from the duo of Seyeon and Yuri volunteering to be at the bottom, the stacking order somehow ended up being by age.

Except for Arang, who wouldn’t be crushed and needed to climb to the top to deal with the impostor.

“Ugh, shit! So fucking heavy!! Arang unnie!!! Hurry!!!”

“Nngh… haa…”

“Can’t… can’t breathe…”

With short limbs and no footholds to step on, Arang had to crawl up from when there were three dwarves stacked, and her climbing to the top itself was tremendous pain for the dwarves crushed underneath.

They were enduring purely through sheer willpower.

Additionally, Arang had to bring tools, but she couldn’t climb while holding them, so they had to be passed hand to hand from Yuri at the bottom all the way up, which was hard labor in itself.

“I made it to the top!”

“Give us a signal when you jump…!”

“Gotta tighten my abs aaaargh!”

“3! 2! 1! Jumping!”

Standing on the narrow peak of the dwarf tower, Arang held a chisel in one hand and a broken shovel handle in the other as she jumped toward the pile of furniture like she was diving. Due to her short legs and heaviness, her jumping power was negligible, but she somehow landed on the upper part with a thud. As soon as Yehyun, who was at the top, shouted that it was done, the dwarf tower collapsed with a rumble.

“Just push it! We’ll catch it!”

“Got it!”

“Be careful!”

“Be careful!”

Arang seemed to be gritting her teeth in pain, perhaps from landing badly, but soon she carefully moved her limbs. The furniture pile seemed to shake unsteadily due to her weight, but her agility hadn’t completely disappeared, and she somehow managed to climb to the top.

Having physically experienced how the pile could collapse if she applied force incorrectly, she took a deep breath and concentrated her center of gravity on her upper body. Then, in a very short moment, she explosively pulled away the furniture at the top…

“Catch it!”

“Careful!”

Through the hole created by the removal of the large piece of furniture, the reddish face of the still-panting impostor became visible. Soon, the impostor looked up, and their eyes met. Horror filled the impostor’s eyes.

“…!”

“Hah!”

Arang didn’t miss that moment and jumped from the top, holding the chisel and broken shovel handle in reverse grip. The impostor desperately tried to swing its hammer upward, but with limited space, it could only assume an awkward defensive posture. She deflected the hammer handle with the broken shovel handle and drove the chisel in her other hand straight into the impostor’s nape.

It happened in an instant.

“AAAAARGH!!!”

“…”

“Gurk, this, this can’t be! I can’t, can’t disappear like this!”

“Die. Impostor.”

Blood spurted like a fountain from the impostor’s neck. Its condition was so severe that it would certainly die from blood loss even if left alone, but Arang didn’t let up. Instead, every time the impostor struggled, she drove the chisel deeper into its neck with her fist. A chilling sound echoed.

“Ugh, kkhk, puhk.”

“Don’t make those sounds with Sunghyun oppa’s voice. It makes me want to really kill you.”

She was already on the verge of killing it, but no one was going to point that out.

“I, I am.”

“I told you.”

*THUD-*

“Not to.”

*THUD-*

“Make a sound.”

*THWACK-*

Each time Arang’s fist hammered down on the chisel, the bleeding actually decreased, but the impostor’s vitality drained away faster.

Soon, when the chisel was embedded so deeply in the impostor’s neck that only the head was visible, the life completely vanished from its eyes.

“The impostor is dead!”

“Restore! We need to restore everything! Quickly!”

Arang held her breath and pulled out the embedded chisel. Another gush of blood spurted out.

She, who had just killed the impostor with a terrifying intensity, shuddered as she looked at the large hole in the nape of the dwarf that had been the impostor.

‘What if it doesn’t come back to life?’

At least they had succeeded in identifying and driving out the impostor…

“Arang! Be careful just in case!”

Arang decided to believe that her unnies would somehow handle it, as they had done so far.

**

‘Fuck.’

The chest that had been slightly pierced by Lesar still throbbed and stung. It wasn’t like pricking your thumb with a needle for indigestion; being stabbed in the chest with something larger than a kitchen knife would naturally hurt. At least the medicine applied to the bandage seemed effective as the bleeding stopped quickly, but it was incredibly annoying to feel the throbbing pain with every step.

And besides the pain, there was no solution.

I knew that in the game, after dealing with Lesar, I needed to leave the city and reach the house of the seven dwarfs in the forest.

But there was a world of difference between controlling a character with clicks and keyboard commands and moving with these frail legs in person. Moreover, I was hungry from not eating properly, had lost quite a bit of blood, and had to remain vigilant about being discovered by the stepmother at any moment—I was the very picture of a protagonist in a tragedy.

‘Putri, you bastard, I won’t kill you normally. Absolutely not.’

If I heard a voice saying, “Why are you so angry about experiencing being the most beautiful girl in the world, even if temporarily?” with an infuriating smile, it would just be my imagination.

I pulled my hood deeper to cover my hair and face, clutched my hungry stomach, and walked through the shadows of the city toward the outside.

“Hehehe…”

“Ssup…”

“Kikikik…”

It’s the queen who saw me singing with the prince. With Lesar sent away, there might be less direct surveillance for a while, but even apart from the queen’s watchful eye, Snow White’s appearance was too eye-catching. So I wrapped myself up as much as possible to avoid attention, but I still drew gazes wherever I went.

Especially when passing through the slums, the dirty, gloomy people who had nothing left to lose looked at my body with gleaming eyes, and it felt more horrifying than having bugs crawl all over me. So this is what visual violation feels like.

Fortunately, I knew the way well and moved without hesitation, half-running without rest. If I had shown even a hint of confusion, I would have immediately become their prey…

‘No. My mind is getting polluted! No! Don’t think about such things!’

After hiding and running repeatedly, I finally reached one of the “dog holes” (escape routes), and fortunately, my frame was small enough to pass through the hole leading from the slums to outside the city. As soon as I emerged, I took a deep breath of fresh air.

“Haaah… phew…”

It was good that I had quickly escaped from the foul-smelling, dirty, and dangerous slums.

But now I had to walk alone through the forest path, dangerous in a different way, to find the dwarfs’ house.

“Life…”

I felt like crying.