Ch.219Futri (3)

# 219. Putri (3)

The moment I realized we were entering the Putri raid, I immediately surveyed my surroundings. Unlike other raids, the Putri raid didn’t start with an immediate boss encounter.

‘What kind of gimmick is it? Please. Something easy. Give me something easy…!’

There wasn’t much to look at. I was in a small, enclosed room with walls on all sides. In the center of the room was a small table with a crystal ball placed on top.

It reminded me of the Room of Beginnings.

“How ambiguous.”

Despite Putri’s unexpected remark earlier, the fortunate thing was that this place was one of the original patterns. It wasn’t blatantly complicated or a particularly nasty pattern.

At least it wasn’t the kind of place where you’d move thinking it was just scenery, only to suddenly lose half your HP, get stunned, or suffer a 90% damage reduction debuff.

While I was relieved to have avoided the worst gimmicks, I couldn’t be too happy because not only was the Putri raid itself a gamble, but this particular gimmick was also random.

“Let’s go.”

Nothing would change by just waiting. I didn’t like that we’d scattered again so soon after finally gathering as a complete team, but they could certainly overcome challenges on their own, so I decided to worry about myself first.

‘Besides game knowledge, I’m the weakest one here. Who am I to worry about others?’

After steeling myself, I looked at the crystal ball. It was transparent enough to see inside, but what would fill it was completely random.

Although it was a gimmick where all six of us had to succeed—failing even one person would force us to retry—that’s just how raids worked.

“Let’s get this over with quickly.”

Hoping that the transparent crystal ball would contain Putri’s doom rather than our own, I placed my hand on it.

Soon, with the awful sensation of my face being sucked into a super-powerful vacuum cleaner, the world flickered out.

**

‘What if that’s hinting at our future?’

Like Sunghyun, Subin, who had also fallen alone, was more concerned about the video Putri had shown than the gimmick itself.

Although Putri was a concept-obsessed being who pursued fun…

A psychopath who enjoyed watching others suffer with false hope…

A lunatic who oscillated between real madness, fake madness, cheerfulness, and seriousness…

A voyeuristic pervert who observed and remembered everything we’d been through in the Tower…

A demonic clown who would suddenly chuckle and speak in strange ways, saying things only he understood…

What bothered her was that he had never lied. At least not when it came to his own “fun.”

And as one of the great demons, he seemed to clearly understand our situation…

Of course, this could also be manipulation for his own amusement. If we confronted him later, he could easily dismiss it as just a visualization of his imagination. He’d probably giggle and mock us for believing it.

Perhaps making us worry about such things and getting on our nerves during the battle was his first objective.

She knew all this, but…

Even knowing it, she couldn’t stop thinking about it. After all, returning to Earth had been the unchanging ultimate goal of all raid members for so long.

During difficult times, when they loved each other, sometimes after meals or while keeping watch and staring blankly at the campfire… imagining how they would live after returning to Earth had been more helpful for mental stability than one might think.

‘Sunghyun.’

Subin consciously reset her thoughts. It was a mental management technique she had developed herself after realizing at a young age that negative thoughts and worries generally led to even more negative outcomes.

This would help her escape from Putri’s cunning words for a while, but in their place came worry for the man who was her love, support, and the pillar of their raid team.

In truth, Sunghyun had filled her heart for a long time, and Putri’s nonsense had only temporarily disrupted that…

The metaphor might be strange, but just as there’s room for dessert even after a full meal, her heart being full of him didn’t mean new worries couldn’t arise.

Though he would surely manage well as always, honestly speaking, Sunghyun’s combat ability was probably the lowest in the raid team.

Especially after struggling so much in the previous stage where he had to act alone in the powerless Snow White role, he must be having a hard time being separated again after barely getting any rest.

Of course, he was better than any of them at using his wits and making plans, so he might be the first to overcome this challenge and end up waiting for them, asking why they took so long.

Yes. That’s how she would dispel this worry.

With that thought, Subin placed her hand on the crystal ball.

As for the others… they would manage well too.

**

“Ah.”

As the world flickered and then revealed a new, clear environment, I let out an involuntary sigh.

“This doesn’t seem random at all.”

How else could I explain that this gimmick appeared right after Putri showed us that video?

If you’re wondering what kind of gimmick this is, it’s based on the “Trolley Dilemma”—something even non-players of this terrible game would have heard of at least once in their lives.

It presents binary choices where either option will inevitably make you feel like shit, with a time limit for selection.

Naturally, refusing to choose or selecting both options wasn’t allowed.

And once it started, you couldn’t stop halfway after making a choice. Since the original concept involved directing a trolley with broken brakes, there were countless stories of people who chose poorly at first and then had to watch helplessly as their snowballing mistake led to a terrible outcome screen that made them want to rage-quit.

And true to Putri’s style, just when you thought you were making up for earlier mistakes, it often turned out to be a trap choice. It was infuriating.

People who fell victim to this gimmick were so angry that they started posting screenshots of all the choices they faced on community forums, and some hero organized them all into a searchable Excel spreadsheet.

Even though it was random, there weren’t infinite variations.

‘I didn’t memorize all of this though.’

It wasn’t like you encountered this gimmick every time, and when you did, it was smarter to just search for key terms to find better options. For this kind of strategy, the collective wisdom was much more efficient than grinding it out alone.

“Well… this might be better than something requiring physical skills.”

I approached the solitary carriage. The horse standing there looked exceptionally large, impressive, and powerful, but knowing it would run like mad once we started, I could only regard it with unease.

‘The carriage seems normal.’

I climbed onto the driver’s seat. Once I pulled the reins, the horse would run like a trolley with broken brakes until the road ended, and all I could do was turn left or right.

In the game, choice prompts would appear in the center of the screen while running, and if you didn’t change direction in time, the horse would crash into obstacles, overturning the carriage and killing you.

If the same principle applied here, the system would display messages in my field of vision, but since it had been broken for a long time, I decided not to expect such conveniences.

I kept my eyes wide open to spot anything immediately, wiped the sweat from my hands so I could move the reins at any moment, and pulled on them.

“Neeeiiigh~”

The horse reared up on its hind legs with a whinny, then immediately started galloping at an incredible speed. Naturally, the carriage shook violently.

The open space made the perceived speed feel even more intense.

“Wh-whoa, fuck! Hey! You damn horse! Sl-slow down a biiiit!”

At this rate, I wouldn’t be able to react to anything that suddenly appeared. If this were a car it might be different, but the horse was so fast and rough that just holding the reins properly was a challenge.

“Argh!”

Why were there rocks big enough to make the carriage jump?!

The carriage lurched dramatically. For a moment, I thought it would tip over to the right. This had suddenly turned into a racing game (with instant death). My hands holding the reins began to shake in both literal and figurative senses.

‘Please, appear! Anything!’

I wanted to get off this crazy carriage as soon as possible. Being careful with my choices? Careful my ass. If that rock embedded in the ground earlier had been just a bit bigger, I might have died before even getting to make a choice.

At this point, I needed to act quickly.

With that determination, I clenched my buttocks tight and widened my eyes again. My eyeballs quickly dried in the headwind, but I blinked rapidly to endure it.

「Keys to return home (6)」

「I give up」

「Exclude one other person」

Soon, something like a highway sign appeared. The horse was moving so fast that almost immediately after passing the sign, a milestone and fork in the road appeared.

‘That’s fortunate. No need to agonize over the first choice.’

Without hesitation, I pulled the reins to the left.

“Aaaaargh!”

The carriage nearly overturned again in the process…