Ch.94Understanding

# 94. Understanding

‘Not a blessing, but a curse.’

My head was throbbing, my back and waist aching, and why did my legs feel so empty…?

“Ah. You’re awake?”

“Eek!”

“Pfft. Ah. I’m sorry. You’re just so cute.”

“Cute…? Me?”

Oh my head hurts…

As I tried to grasp the situation, an incredibly pretty girl who sparkled just by existing was smiling gently before me.

“You were out of it yesterday, so let me introduce myself again. I’m Seon Seyeon, Yehyun unni.”

“Ah, yes. Seyeon-ssi.”

“My nickname is ‘CutKiller’.”

“Eh?”

Is this a dream? No, it’s not.

That CutKiller, wow.

“Oh right. You can speak comfortably with me.”

“May I ask, your age?”

“Ah. I’m twenty-one.”

“T-twenty-one.”

Pretty and young too! A ten-year age gap, my goodness.

This beautiful, young, and polite person is CutKiller?

Since yesterday has been shock after shock after shock, my hangover almost feels like it’s retreating in comparison.

“Can you move at all?”

“Yes. I mean, yeah.”

“Haha. Then I’ll introduce you to the others again. You must be hungry too.”

As I put on the clothes Seyeon-ssi—no, Seyeon—gave me, I remembered what I had been wearing yesterday, and why my legs felt so empty.

‘Ah. How embarrassing! What shameful behavior!’

Following Seyeon, I crawled awkwardly out of the tent to find two more identical tents.

‘Trees scattered about, some rocks… where is this place?’

If the situation weren’t like this, it would feel like we were at some camping site. Drinking heavily the first night, then cooking ramen in the morning to cure the hangover…

“We’re just guessing it’s near Ajord. With both engineering team brains knocked out… ahaha.”

“Ajord?! The place with those cute Ajors?”

“Yes. Though we’ve already passed it.”

Despite her bright smile, I could see the deep fatigue Seyeon was trying to hide.

Between people too exhausted to move and others too mentally drained to function, she must have almost single-handedly led the group, set up the campsite, and probably even kept watch all night just in case.

Now that the alcohol had worn off and some time had passed, I could make somewhat rational deductions.

“You’ve been through a lot, haven’t you?”

“Ah. No. I’m just sorry about what happened to you, Yehyun unni.”

I expressed my gratitude honestly, but she seemed even more apologetic. Come to think of it, didn’t that guy, the raid leader, say they kidnapped me forcibly because of their own selfish desires?

– To think the raid leader would appear so young and handsome, I must have been starving for men deep down!

– Our handsome raid leader! Hehe, did you want to talk to noona?

“Ah. I want to die.”

“Pardon?”

“Ah, it’s nothing!”

My face was burning hot even though I hadn’t been drinking. Not just the raid leader, but the other raid members too, even Seyeon standing next to me—they all must have seen me yesterday!

I was too embarrassed to face the other raid members sober, but my desire to properly understand the current situation was stronger. I had received an explanation yesterday, but honestly, I’d forgotten most of it.

Seyeon stopped at the entrance of the tent marked with a 2 and asked inside.

“Subin unni. Can we come in?”

– Yes. Come in.

“Yehyun unni. This way please.”

I really can’t get used to this. She’s so considerate and polite.

Of course, I liked it. Following Seyeon into the tent, I saw two women looking at me.

As I stood there blankly staring, Seyeon introduced me.

“Subin unni. Soyu unni. This is WaterAnswer Yehyun unni. Yehyun unni. This is LawMaster Eun Subin unni. And this is physical therapist In Soyu unni. Ah! They’re twenty-seven and twenty-nine years old.”

“Sorry for the late greeting. Nice to meet you. I’m Eun Subin.”

“…I’m In Soyu.”

They looked quite similar to the image I had of LawMaster and PhysicalTherapist from the game… but why are they all so pretty? T-this is cheating! It’s cruel!

Since they both weren’t feeling well, and we agreed to continue talking over breakfast, we quickly left the tent. Then we moved to the tent marked with a 1.

“Leader. Are you awake?”

– Yeah… Seyeon.

“Yes, leader. Can we come in?”

– Yeah. Come in.

I heard a very husky “male” voice. It was different from the voice I usually heard through the microphone, and different from what I heard yesterday, so for a moment my heart…

‘Heart, why are you acting up!’

Clutching my chest tightly, I entered the tent.

In the dim tent, the raid leader and a woman were lying side by side.

“Meow.”

“A cat?”

“You know Radania, right?”

“Huh? Radania? The legendary Ajor Radania?”

“Yes. That Radania. For various reasons, she’s now Danya. I’ll explain this too.”

“Meow!”

A black cat was lying on the raid leader’s chest, kneading it. Ah. So cute. What should I do?

“Yehyun unni. As you know, this is our leader, he’s twenty-seven. And this is Seaax Ayuri. She’s twenty and my only younger sister, also the youngest in our raid team. Yuri. I know you’re awake. Even if you can’t get up, you should at least greet her first.”

“Pfft, I can’t call her WaterAnswer anymore… since she’s the eldest unni…”

“Hey. Seyeon told you to greet her properly. No matter how close we were before, you can’t be like that from the start. Greet her properly again.”

“Ugh…”

Twenty… twenty…?

My mind went blank. The eleven-year age gap was one thing, but the term “eldest unni” was another, and what about that violent figure?! She’s lying down! She’s clearly lying down!

“I-it’s okay. You seem to be in a lot of pain, so you don’t have to force yourself to greet me.”

“No. Lying here like this is already a big failure, but being rude is even more unacceptable. Yuri. You’re not off the hook yet.”

“Fine, I got it. Hello! I’m Ayuri. Can I call you unni?”

I could see the raid leader and Seyeon sighing.

‘Right. That’s Seaax. Yes.’

When the raid leader gave Seyeon a look, she quickly crawled over and helped him sit up. The cat, Danya, nimbly moved to his thigh.

As he slowly stroked Danya’s back, he began explaining the things I was most curious about, one by one.

About this place, the “Tower.” The similarities and differences with the game.

The raid team’s goals and why they brought the members.

The relationships between raid members.

The situation right before they brought me.

What they wanted from me right now.

And how incredibly sorry he was for being so presumptuous.

The raid leader explained everything so well that it felt like receiving feedback in the middle of a raid.

After he finished explaining, he took out some water to drink as his throat seemed dry, and I thought:

‘Yes. I can clearly see that I’ve been kidnapped.’

But they seemed rather uneasy that I wasn’t getting angry.

Angry?

I am. Of course I am! Of course I should be…

‘Is it because I’m foolish, or because I’m generally known as a good-natured person?’

More than my anger, what struck me more was that all the raid members who had disappeared without a word were alive. I was glad to see them, relieved.

I was more worried about Backend who remained alone. I left out the surgery part. That was something Backend wanted to keep private.

When I expressed my feelings honestly, the three of them looked dumbfounded.

“She’s really like WaterAnswer.”

“Yes. Very WaterAnswer-like.”

“Huh, isn’t she too nice for her own good?”

That’s a compliment, right?

“Of course I’m worried about my job, my parents, and many other things. But you said there’s hope, right? You said there’s a possibility of going back? Then I’m fine for now! Even if I want to resent you and get angry, I’ll save it all for later!”

“Yehyun-ssi.”

“Oh right! The most important thing! If we do go back, you have to compensate me for losing my job, okay? Otherwise I won’t work!”

“Of course.”

The raid leader slowly bowed to me. He seemed to be tearing up a bit, but that must be my imagination?

“I’ll repay you many times over. Thank you, really, thank you so much.”

“Yeah. That’s enough for now. By the way, if I’m going to pull my weight, I need to make a contract with a spirit—”

*Grumble*

“Ahaha. Seems like someone’s hungry…”

*Growl*

“Seyeon. I’ll prepare breakfast, could you spread the word?”

“Yes, leader.”

Ugh, I was trying to cover up my embarrassing history by looking cool!

**

“Now that you mention the favor quest, I understand why that annoying gatekeeper was talking about alcohol. I don’t remember the name, but I do remember what kind of alcohol they liked best. But I don’t know the ingredients or the mixing method. I just bought other items to push through.”

Thanks to the raid leader’s efforts, they were able to appease Aniri. She seemed to have sorted out her emotions and faced reality while washing up, as things went more smoothly than expected, but that didn’t mean the current situation was resolved.

“Then can’t we just substitute it with another gift?”

“It may be game-based, but we can’t act completely like it’s a game. The quest clearly asked for alcohol.”

“So, what I’m saying is, couldn’t we substitute the specific alcohol the gatekeeper wants with another type? We have some alcohol we bought to drink a little at night. The ones we bought in Edengard.”

“…It was almost our only pleasure.”

At Aniri’s suggestion, the Golden Wing raid leader’s face soured. If it was nonsense, he could have ignored or refuted it, but it was a reasonable suggestion.

Moreover, it wasn’t bought with raid funds, but with personal money.

“We need to survive first! It seems like we’ll be stuck here for a while without being able to go down to Edengard, and if we get kicked out, we’re doomed!”

“That…”

Not “we” bought it, but “I” bought it.

You all enjoyed drinking it too, will you replace it later?

“…Fine.”

The Golden Wing raid leader had much to say, but he held back. It was all too clear what was more important.

His expression was utterly gloomy as he checked the meager alcohol supplies in his inventory.