Ch.210Putri’s Stage (14)

# 210. Futri’s Stage (14)

“Damn, Seyeon unnie’s tanking was insane.”

“Hehe. I almost lost it when my shield broke…”

“Wow. Look at that wound. So clean.”

“Even as dwarves, we can’t suppress the movement skills of veteran players…!”

“Phew, everyone did well. I’m glad we’re all safe.”

After the forest beast, the tiger, collapsed, the dwarves seemed to release their tension and almost simultaneously sat down. But with the beast dead, it was safe to say the forest posed no danger, so they took a moment to rest comfortably.

“Now we just need to find Snow White.”

“If Sunghyun isn’t digging a hole in the ground to sleep, he probably heard the noise from our fight and will find us somehow.”

“He might have run away after hearing the beast’s roar.”

“Nah, that’s not it. If the beast had won, our screams would have been longer and more drawn out, right? It was just one beast, but there are six of us.”

“Ah!”

“The beast’s roar was really loud and scary, but it died quickly, so he’ll think we won and come toward us.”

The dwarves were convinced by Subin’s words. They trusted her because she was their raid leader. The only dangerous element, the beast, had just been dealt with by them, so Sunghyun, knowing this, would come looking for them.

“Sunghyun’s going to be shocked. Like, ‘Why are there dwarves here?!’ He’s going to be so surprised!”

“I don’t think that’s what will shock him—our appearance itself will be much more shocking.”

“Ah.”

“He’ll be happy to see us and glad that the stage progression is somehow resolved, but thinking about how the story got twisted, he’ll probably tear his hair out. Anyone want to bet?”

The dwarves chuckled at Soyu’s response to Yehyun’s question. They didn’t just laugh but even made bets. The result was unanimous, so the bet couldn’t be established, but they laughed anyway. It was due to the thrill and relief of successfully distinguishing the fake, dealing with it, and dramatically completing the tiger raid.

But as 10 minutes passed, then 20, without any sign of Snow White—not even footsteps or a voice—anxiety gradually mixed into their previously relaxed expressions.

“Could it be that he couldn’t make it to the forest at all?”

“If that were the case, the stage progression wouldn’t have started in the first place, right?”

“Or maybe the forest is too big, and he couldn’t notice us?”

“Is this place really that big? That would be too harsh…”

The dwarves, who had planned to rest for about 10 more minutes, adjusted their posture.

“What if he made it to the forest somehow but can’t move even after hearing the noise?”

“Oh no.”

“For example, what if he didn’t die during the Lesar part or while escaping the city, but got injured…”

“This is no time to rest. We’ve rested enough, let’s move quickly.”

Yuri jumped up after hearing Arang’s mumbling, and the dwarves began calling out loudly for Snow White—or rather, Sunghyun—now that there was no beast to worry about.

“Sunghyun-ah!”

“Oppa-!”

“Boss-!”

As their loud voices suddenly echoed through the forest in succession, animals that had fled because of the beast and were cautiously returning ran away again.

“Ah, I wish I were a druid right now!”

“Boss! Boss!!”

“Answer if you can hear us!”

As time passed, their voices grew louder with increasing anxiety. But just when their frustration was reaching its peak because they still couldn’t hear even a peep from Snow White, they realized that the animals they thought had scattered in all directions were actually moving in one consistent direction.

Different types of animals all moving in the same direction? It was clearly an unnatural phenomenon.

Seeing this, they instinctively knew.

They needed to follow those animals.

The dwarves all diligently moved their short legs. When they arrived at the spot where the animals had formed a circle, what they saw was…

“What the hell… why are dwarves here…”

A fragile girl, covered in dirt and crawling like a baby who couldn’t walk yet, cursing with a voice like a nightingale.

“Haha… fuck…”

“Sunghyun!”

“Boss!”

When Snow White fainted after making eye contact with the dwarves, they hurriedly picked her up and began rushing back to their house at full speed.

“Her body is burning hot!”

“Hurry!”

**

‘Ugh, I feel like I’m dying…’

Since I was conscious and could feel pain, I probably wasn’t dead.

‘This must be the dwarves’ house.’

I was sure of it, lying on a somewhat soft bed with occasional gruff voices coming from outside. While I was at it, I reflected on my recent memories.

I was definitely crawling toward the sound of the beast’s roar when suddenly, a group of fleeing animals surrounded me. So I thought, ‘Ah, good. Whatever happened, I found a group of animals, which is fortunate,’ and just then, the dwarves came running, calling my name.

Things had gotten twisted. Seriously twisted.

If my memory wasn’t wrong, there were definitely six dwarves who ran to me yesterday. That was the least of it. The dwarves who should have gone to the mine had entered the forest, and judging by the circumstances, they had clearly defeated the beast.

The outcome was the same—Snow White beginning to live with the dwarves after getting their permission… Haah. It was a situation that made me sigh involuntarily, but if they, who knew Futri’s stage as well as I did, had taken such a reckless action, they must have had no choice.

There’s a difference between speculation and confirmation, but thinking I should quickly take my punishment if I couldn’t avoid it, I forced myself to get up. As I barely moved my still-trembling thin legs and opened the door, a dwarf shorter than even my not-so-tall body was looking up at me with a demure posture, holding a towel.

“Sunghyun…?”

The gaze and expression were tender, but why were the face and voice so gruff?

Barely swallowing the “Oh shit” that almost reflexively came out, I asked:

“I’m really happy to see you after so long… but who are you?”

“…”

“Soyu noona? Yehyun noona?”

“Sob.”

The dwarf, who I later learned was Yehyun noona, ran down the stairs with tears in her eyes, and hearing that sound, the rest of the dwarves came running up the stairs and surrounded me.

“You’re awake!”

“Sunghyun!”

“Boss… I’m so glad.”

“I missed you…”

“Woohoo! The number one raid leader turns out to be the world’s most beautiful girl!”

Hmm.

‘Haha, what a mess.’

The mismatch was so severe that I experienced serious cognitive dissonance, but I was so happy to see them welcoming me like this that I spread my arms as wide as possible and hugged them all at once.

“I’m glad everyone is safe.”

Their laughter as they rushed to me was still gruff.

**

Our reunion wasn’t entirely simple. Having overcome the crises so far, we naturally thought about the crises yet to come.

I still couldn’t get used to seeing women who would normally be called goddesses for their beauty transformed into barely distinguishable bearded dwarves except for their speech patterns, but the change in appearance was a minor issue.

“At least the progression is working, so that’s fortunate…”

“Are you worried about the butterfly effect or penalties when dealing with Futri?”

“Considering the scene where Snow White reunites with the prince after the stepmother turns into an old woman, I don’t think it will have that big an impact.”

“I don’t know how long we’ve been at this, but now that Snow White and the dwarves are together, isn’t it about time for the stepmother’s appearance?”

“Ah. There’s also the stepmother raid.”

“Wait. Doesn’t having one less dwarf make the stepmother raid tougher?”

“You’re right. Oh.”

The dwarves pulled at their hair and beards. The atmosphere was serious, but their gestures were so funny that I couldn’t help but smile and make a joke.

“Isn’t it better than me stupidly eating a poisoned apple, falling into a comatose state, and then having to be awakened by the prince?”

But as soon as I finished speaking, the atmosphere turned cold.

‘What, what’s going on? Why is everyone suddenly like this?’

Did I say something ignorant about the game? Or did it sound like I was underestimating what the dwarves had to do?

No. And these weren’t the kind of people who would get paranoid and offended over something like this.

“Um, well.”

“Futri, that fucking bastard. That piece of shit. Worse than the devil.”

“Yu-Yuri?”

When Yuri, who was already known for her cursing, started swearing with such seriousness, the atmosphere became even more hostile. Normally, I should have reprimanded her with a stern expression, but because it was a dwarf’s voice rather than Yuri’s appearance, the destructive power of her curses was several times stronger.

“Why are you suddenly like this?”

“Why am I suddenly like this…? Oppa. It was something I was trying hard to forget. But you just had to bring it up and make me remember.”

“So what exactly did you remember that made you curse so—”

“Snow White almost dies after eating the poisoned apple. And who wakes her up?”

“The prince?”

“How!”

“Well… Ah.”

I got goosebumps. I understood why the atmosphere had turned hostile with Yuri and everyone else, but at the same time, I got goosebumps as I recalled something I hadn’t even considered.

Because it was just a character being controlled in a play within a play, and because it was a famous scene known for ages, I had simply thought, ‘Oh, the illustration of sleeping Snow White looks awesome,’ and moved on.

“L-let’s think about that later. It won’t happen until after the stepmother raid anyway.”

“Subin unnie. Since things have come to this, should we just kill everyone?”

“…”

“Subin, you can’t stay silent there!”

What should have been a cozy house filled with laughter was now enveloped in a chilling atmosphere.