Ch.207Putri’s Stage (11)

# 207. Futri’s Stage (11)

“Futri, you son of a bitch!”

“Life…”

“I miss Sunghyun…”

“Huhu, hu-hu-hu-hu, this is quite entertaining. Quite!”

Around the time Snow White was screaming somewhere in the forest and the dwarfs were lamenting while dripping with sweat, a bizarre white mask with a creepy smile was floating outside the stage, peering inside.

“In-deed! Should I say this is exactly what I’d expect from the top Tower climbers? I wonder how they’ll navigate what’s left!”

The white mask repeatedly approached the stage and then retreated.

“Ah-ah! I want to intervene! I want to intervene!”

“No-no! You can’t intervene! You must not intervene!”

“You’re saying I just have to watch something this entertaining? That’s ab-surd!”

“It may be ab-surd, but are you going to break the rules of the stage?”

“The fake was exposed so pathetically, surely we can make some small changes!”

“Once the stage begins, the invited actors must not interfere until the stage is ruined or the conclusion is reached! Ab-so-lutely not!”

“It would be more fun if I intervened!”

“It’s plenty fun without intervention!”

The sight of the mask going back and forth, saying different things in the same voice, showed signs of madness. But there was no one in this place to stop or point this out, and even if there were, the white mask probably wouldn’t care.

In the end, the invisible tug-of-war with itself was won by the side opposing intervention, and the white mask collapsed weakly into a chair, as if drained of energy.

“Ha-ha! What a shame! It’s such an entertaining stage that I regret not being able to enjoy it even more!”

The white mask, having somehow regained its energy, started chattering again.

“Come on! Dear actors! Why the long faces? Why all the sighing?”

“Aren’t you having fun? Isn’t this unfolding story exciting?”

“Show me an en-ter-tain-ing process and an even more entertaining conclusion!”

“Everyone! You can do it!”

“Futri, you fucking bastard… worse than a cockroach, you malicious piece of shit…”

“Haha!”

**

Forests are inherently dangerous places. Dense trees limit visibility and block sunlight, making them dark. Getting lost is a given.

But the most important thing was that forests aren’t human habitations.

“Coo-oo! Coo-coo-coo-coo!”

“Tweet! Tweet-tweet-tweet!”

Those bird calls that seemed to mock me were actually fine. Snow White naturally attracted animals, and considering she communed with doves while singing before meeting the prince, birds were unlikely to become enemies.

The problem was that encountering even a single wild dog would be disastrous. Originally, she was supposed to find the seven dwarfs’ house with the help of animal groups, but could even Snow White win over every animal she met?

That wasn’t the case. Just as even the most likable top star has antis, even a world-class beauty who could charm animals couldn’t win everyone over.

It was the same in the game—how infuriating it was to come all this way successfully, only to die because you couldn’t find animal groups due to bad luck and instead encountered dogs or predators.

When the Futri raid was active, screenshots expressing users’ despair and rage flooded the forums.

Anyway, navigating this dangerous forest with nothing but intuition and luck, and in poor physical condition at that, was a living hell.

I struggled to scratch marks on large trees with sharp stones, hid whenever I heard animal sounds, and got startled by rustling leaves only to realize much later I’d been fooled…

Still, I had prepared for this, and having endured countless hardships even in my original body, I could somehow bear it.

The problem was that I was facing an even more serious issue.

‘Why the fuck do I need to pee NOW…!’

I didn’t want to say that Snow White was such a pretty princess that she only ate dew and didn’t poop or pee.

It was just a matter of common sense and perception.

Who, seriously who considers a character’s bodily functions while playing a game?

Of course we all eat, sleep, excrete, and bathe. But this was a play within a play, a special stage. It wasn’t even my original body.

Making a huge concession, let’s say Snow White, being human, naturally had bodily functions implemented.

Then why didn’t I feel any such urges while in the city? Before meeting the prince, before meeting Lessar, or when Lessar stabbed me—I should have felt the urge to pee from all that tension.

Without knowing the real cause, there was only one conclusion.

Futri.

That crazy demon bastard who lived for entertainment must have implemented this. While Futri faithfully maintained his concept by never intervening in a stage once it began, what if it had been designed this way from the start?

That wouldn’t count as mid-stage intervention.

“Futri, you fucking bastard… worse than a cockroach, you malicious piece of shit…”

Was it because this was the first urge I’d felt? Or was it because women’s bodies can’t hold it as well as men’s?

It was too hard to hold. Cold sweat ran down my face as I pressed my thighs together and tensed my toes.

‘I’m really screwed. Forget the embarrassment, the smell will spread.’

If I were in good condition and had even a small shovel, I would have dug a hole, quickly relieved myself, and covered it with dirt. But now I had neither.

There was no solution.

I walked awkwardly to hide myself as deep in the forest as possible, then squatted down and lowered my underwear.

‘God is dead.’

Somehow I felt like I was cursing more as Snow White than usual, but as I squatted and lowered my underwear, the “emptiness” down there that I had tried not to think about felt so blatantly obvious that I couldn’t help but curse.

Whether I cursed or not, the laws of nature couldn’t be defied by a mere human…

Shhhhh—

“…”

I must have been holding it for a long time, as I released an enormous amount in a short period. That moment was so relieving that I momentarily forgot how fucked up this situation was.

But after finishing, the fucked-up-ness came back twofold.

The puddle I could glimpse and… the relieved area. And the post-relief cleanup that would have been a simple shake or two for a man plunged me into another dilemma.

‘No toilet paper, what do I wipe with?’

Truly, Futri was a son of a bitch.

**

The seven dwarfs, or rather six dwarfs, continued to move without rest. They built a coffin for the fake and dug a hole for the coffin. Digging a hole would have been easy even in their original bodies, but building a coffin was not as simple.

However, the dwarfs were skilled with their hands, so they somehow managed it. They moved the fake’s corpse, which still hadn’t revived, into the coffin, made air holes, and buried it in the ground.

They had hoped otherwise, but the fake didn’t revive even as it was completely buried.

The dwarfs had almost given up on the fake’s revival.

“Haah… this isn’t exactly a perfect crime scene.”

“If it weren’t for the story, that wouldn’t be wrong.”

“How much penalty will we get?”

Though they wanted to finish “moderately” messing up the house and quickly move to the mine, Subin realized the party’s condition was at its limit, so the dwarfs were now resting.

“Well, I can’t be sure since it’s not exactly like the game.”

“Maybe 10 percent?”

“Even 5 percent would be harsh.”

“Very harsh.”

The higher you go, even a single point can change your class ranking and determine raid success or failure.

This wasn’t an exaggeration—at the highest levels, the cost to raise a single point skyrockets, and that one point difference could change your damage cycle.

And now they might face a 5 percent penalty in a raid?

In top-tier raids where optimization was essential, 5 percent was an enormous figure—a pattern that could be skipped with five hits might now require six.

“I’m more worried about Sunghyun than us.”

“Isn’t Lessar the most dangerous?”

“No. Sunghyun would have easily passed Lessar. There’s a persuasion route.”

“I agree with Soyu. I would do the same. And the forest part is probably the most dangerous.”

“The forest? Isn’t that just the section where you wander around and meet animals?”

“Yehyun, you say that because you’ve barely played Snow White. You’d know how annoying it is if you tried it yourself.”

Their concern about their own situation shifted to worry about their only absent teammate, raid leader Ban Sunghyun.

But that topic also faded quickly. There was nothing they could do about their concerns.

“Sigh, we’ve rested enough. Let’s finish what’s left and head to the mine.”

“Wait.”

“Hmm? What is it, Subin?”

“Is there really nothing we can do?”

“What?”

The other dwarfs looked at Subin with pitying expressions. The situation had deteriorated so badly that they thought her mind had finally reached its limit, clinging to impossible hopes.

“Subin. You know better than anyone.”

“I thought so too until just now. But thinking again, the fake is completely dead.”

“Y-yes?”

“The seven dwarfs have already become six dwarfs, so couldn’t the six dwarfs head to the forest instead of the mine?”

“…Huh?”

Subin stood up abruptly and looked at her companions.

“The story has already derailed. Since it’s come to this, let’s derail it in the direction we want.”

“Huh? How?”

“We’ll go meet her. In the forest.”