Ch.72Great Fury

# 72. Great Anger

For a moment, the world froze. Not just me, but also my party members, the swaggering Ayors, and the passersby who had approached thinking something interesting was happening.

Yebeop Nojeong’s single statement demonstrated tremendous impact. Indeed, it was an omnidirectional damage dealing worthy of a Veritas Sorcerer.

Ignoring the goosebumps rising beneath my clothes, I raised my arm to embrace her shoulder and played along with her act.

“Sorry. Did you wait long? Something urgent came up that I couldn’t ignore. I tried to finish as quickly as possible and return as fast as I could…”

I kissed the top of Yebeop Nojeong’s head ostentatiously for the Ayors to see, then met their eyes. Though they appeared physically superior to me, they seemed to sense that the atmosphere had already turned against them, and they began to back away nervously.

I raised my voice, addressing the bystanders who had now surrounded those guys.

“I’m just an ordinary human adventurer, but I’ve heard many wonderful things about Ayor and Ayord, and I’ve always cherished the desire to visit Ayord someday.”

Freedom. Diversity. Generosity. The legendary Ayors who stood against the Hyeomseong, and even Radaniya’s achievements.

After filling the Ayors with pride for a while, the atmosphere shifted further in my favor.

“I can’t claim to have traveled everywhere in the world, and I’ve only seen a small part of Ayord so far! But despite that, I can say this: Ayord is the essence of Ayor itself, a city that everyone—regardless of age, gender, or race—should visit at least once before they die! Ah, except for those Hyeomseong bastards, of course.”

“The young human friend speaks nothing but truth!”

“Indeed! Like a true adventurer, he already grasps the essence of Ayord.”

“Wait a minute. So those scoundrels were harassing this human adventurer’s wives…?”

“Those worthless pieces of trash!”

Yes! That’s it!

“My wives were also looking forward to this visit. They said that even at first glance, the city exceeded their expectations. They were excited to rest at the inn today to recover from their journey and then properly explore Ayord starting tomorrow. I had to step away briefly for an important matter, and during that time… this ‘unfortunate incident’ occurred.”

“N-no! There was no married status indicator! It only appeared later! I’m certain!”

“Y-yes! If we had known they were married from the beginning, we wouldn’t have approached them! At first, there were at least five times more guys than us!”

“Then why are you still here when those others are gone?”

Why else? They must be persistent pickup artists.

I expected the guys to flee after I’d gone this far. Was it because they were publicly humiliated while trying to hit on someone, or did they think it was too late to back down?

“Prove it! Fucking prove it! She was clearly flustered! That wasn’t the pleasant surprise of a married woman!”

Their choice was a final desperate struggle.

“Why should I prove my love for my wife to you?”

“Because I don’t want to be someone who messed with a married person!”

I felt a gaze on me. Lowering my head slightly, I met Yebeop Nojeong’s eyes. From an angle where the Ayors couldn’t see, she gave me an expressionless wink, then closed her eyes and tilted her head upward.

This is that, right? A kiss signal?

Ah.

‘I never imagined my first kiss would happen like this.’

Whatever.

I pressed my lips against Yebeop Nojeong’s as naturally as possible.

My first kiss was…

Soft.

“!!!”

“O-oh. That’s so passionate it’s making even me feel hot.”

“Tsk tsk tsk. How can you ask a couple who can kiss like that in public to prove anything? Ugh, those guys are bringing shame to Ayor.”

“Drag those bastards out! Hey, young human friend! We apologize on their behalf!”

“If you ever come to my shop, I’ll give you half price!”

It was so soft—meltingly soft—that I could barely hear what the spectators were saying.

After what felt like nearly five minutes of public kissing, we were finally able to separate when the Ayor pickup artists were being dragged away.

‘What if she suddenly sticks her tongue in!’

‘Be quiet.’

Yebeop Nojeong maintained her usual expressionless face, but judging by how red her face had become, she was clearly embarrassed too.

The problem was…

“Ha, haha, ahaha…”

“Wow. Our oppa. So passionate?”

“Ah…”

It wasn’t over yet.

**

I suggested we change locations, citing that it was inappropriate to discuss everything on the street. After barely persuading the two women who were furious about my sudden disappearance and the public kissing event, we finally arrived at our original destination, “Radaniya’s First Step.”

In the room where the five of us would be staying, I showed them the black cat still drooping on my right shoulder and explained everything that had happened in detail.

“No way! Is that black cat really Radaniya?”

“That’s what I’m saying.”

“To put it bluntly, it’s become your pet, right?”

Kutjukyeora was drawing circles or squares on the blanket, while Saeaeks was silently glaring at me with her arms crossed. Yebeop Nojeong, uncharacteristically, was sitting in the corner with her head down.

Only the physical therapist was engaging in conversation with me.

“Pet… is not quite right.”

“But that’s what it looks like right now. Anyone would see a cat.”

“Danya might get angry if she hears that.”

“Danya~?”

“Ah, that’s—”

“Let’s just overlook oppa’s sudden disappearance since it was beyond his control. We can interrogate the cat when it wakes up.”

Saeaeks, who hadn’t said a word until now, uncrossed her arms and spoke.

“But Subin unnie.”

“…Yes?”

“I understand the situation and the intention, but I feel really betrayed.”

“Um, Yuri.”

“I’m talking to Subin unnie right now, oppa.”

They say extreme anger is actually calm fury.

Saeaeks seemed to be in that state.

‘Let’s get out of here first.’

I tried to slip away discreetly, but—

“Where do you think you’re going?”

“S-Seyeon?”

“Stay right here.”

I surrendered to Kutjukyeora’s grip as she firmly grabbed my back.

“Those Ayors weren’t in their right minds. It was obvious they wouldn’t listen to logical arguments. We had already tried everything we could say. The atmosphere was such that a kiss on the forehead or cheek wouldn’t have been enough to convince them.”

“Even so, unnie didn’t have to be the one to do it.”

“There’s such a thing as flow and timing. I had already established our relationship by calling him ‘honey’ and embracing him. If another woman who had been standing apart suddenly appeared to provide proof, it would have been less effective.”

“That’s nonsense! We were all claiming to be married to him anyway, and everyone saw us!”

My head and heart were aching.

It felt like the aftereffects of the magic (portal) were hitting me belatedly.

“Then why did you just stand there?”

“…What?”

“From the moment I improvised until the moment I k-kissed him. Why did you just stand there?”

“I, I, I—”

“I did my best. Planning the route to be as inconspicuous as possible, telling you all in advance to style your hair like married women, improvising as a couple and even kissing. I wasn’t expecting gratitude, but I didn’t want to be criticized like this either.”

Saeaeks was like a pressure cooker about to explode, and Yebeop Nojeong, feeling wronged herself, didn’t mediate as usual but instead confronted her head-on. Kutjukyeora was biting her lip hard and muttering something unintelligible, while the physical therapist was watching the scene with amusement.

I wanted to step in, but the headache and heart pain made it impossible.

“Hah. Even so… I understand you did your best. I get it. But do you really have no feelings at all for oppa? Can you just kiss someone in front of so many people simply because you’re ‘doing your best’? With a man you have zero feelings for?”

“I think I’ve mentioned before that I have some human-to-human goodwill toward him.”

“You know that’s not what I’m talking about! Don’t deflect!”

“Fine, then say I do.”

“Hey! Eun Subin!!”

“Mind your manners, Ayuri.”

My head hurts so much.

In normal circumstances, I would have found their voices attractive even when angry, but now they felt like awls drilling into my head and eardrums.

“They say the quiet cat is the first to climb onto the stove—you planned this all along!”

“You think I knew when and where he would disappear, when and where he would reappear, and even planned a public kiss in front of all those people? That level of delusion is pathological.”

“Since you memorize game information to an obsessive degree, I think it’s entirely possible!”

“If you’re going to keep making these ridiculous accusations, just stop. It’s beneath you.”

“Why you!”

“You want to go there?”

The two who had been sitting stood up and took positions. Kutjukyeora, who had been beside them, also rose and stood next to Saeaeks, while the physical therapist, who had been watching from against the wall, moved closer.

“I’m done treating you as my unnie.”

“Final warning. Don’t cross the line.”

“Fuck! Who crossed the line first?!”

As Saeaeks hunched down and Yebeop Nojeong, who had sighed, began concentrating magic at her fingertips—

I couldn’t take it anymore and shouted.

“Everyone shut up and sit down.”

“Oppa, don’t interfere—”

“Shut. Up. And. Sit. Down.”

Don’t. Make me. Say it. Three times.

*Hiccup*

Temporary peace descended upon the room.

My head and heart still hurt.