I Became a Raid Boss-Chapter 201: Between familiarity and unfamiliarity (1)
“...!”
It felt as if someone had grasped my throat, and my chest constricted tightly.
The being beyond the light only stared at me with a massive eye.
It didn’t make any other moves.
However,
Under its gaze, I couldn’t move a single finger.
“Keuhk...”
After holding on for what seemed like an eternity, a tiny breath finally squeezed through, escaping from my lungs.
As the breath squeezed out, I gasped desperately for air, following the faint path it created, as if it were my only lifeline.
In the process, I made a sound that I would have thought to be quite disgraceful, but in my current state, I didn’t have the mental energy to care about such things.
Like a fly sitting in front of a frog.
Like a frog standing before a snake.
Under the presence of a predator, whose very essence weighed on my soul, there was nothing I could do.
“....”
In what seemed like an eternity, I wished for this moment to pass.
Eventually, the rain that had been hitting my head stopped, and the intense light that had been blinding me disappeared without a trace.
And the overwhelming presence that had been constricting me was gone.
Only the moonlight poured down onto the ground, as if nothing had happened.
Swoosh.
Sitting down slowly under the moonlight, I sank down, feeling as though I had dreamed in the middle of the day, but I knew this wasn’t a dream.
The sense of weakness spreading through my body and the cube that had turned into a pile of scrap metal, losing its light, both told me that everything I had experienced was real.
“...I didn’t walk away with nothing.”
I mumbled helplessly, staring at the cube that was left behind.
There were many questions, and even more problems to resolve...
‘...’
But right now, all that occupied my mind was the thought that I wanted to rest.
“...Ugh.”
The man trembled violently.
As soon as he stepped outside his house, a subtle chill covered him.
“The weather suddenly got cold.”
It’s all due to global warming.
The man mumbled as he looked up at the sky, but quickly stopped complaining and began walking briskly.
He had an appointment with the guys.
Even if he arrived on time, it was clear the others would be late, but he couldn’t be late himself.
After all, he was the one who’d be left hanging at the end of the day.
As expected, when he arrived right on time, his friends weren’t in sight.
Normally, he’d have sent a bunch of messages filled with affection and worry, but he simply brushed his arms, covered in goosebumps, and waited quietly.
He waited for about five minutes.
Finally, one by one, his friends began to show up.
“Hi.”
“Hi, what’s up? What time is it?”
“Oh, the traffic was terrible.”
“Didn’t you take the subway?”
“The subway was packed.”
“Then your head was packed.”
They shared some warm greetings and walked into the store, the cozy air wrapping around them.
As the food they ordered was served and drinks started to flow, the atmosphere heated up nicely.
When the mood had simmered, one friend casually asked,
“So why did we meet today?”
“Well, when do we ever need a reason? If we want to see each other, we just do.”
“What’s the point of seeing other guys?”
“With your face, you won’t be able to meet any girls, so you might as well see some guys.”
“Yeah, my face is better than yours.”
“So, are you still a virgin?”
“You bastard.”
Before he had the chance to reply, his friends began to bicker among themselves. The man took a sip of his drink.
It was the same scene as usual, nothing new.
It’s basically WWE.
It wasn’t even a real fight, so there was no reason to stop them.
As he placed his empty glass down, the man spoke up.
“I’m getting married.”
“....”
“....”
The table fell silent in an instant.
Maybe it was just his feeling, but the whole store seemed quieter, too.
However, the silence didn’t last long.
His friends, who had stopped arguing, looked at him and each threw in a remark.
“Did you finally decide, huh?”
“Wow... didn’t think we’d have a married guy among us.”
“Have you picked a wedding venue?”
“I’ll start looking now.”
“But...”
One of his friends poked him in the ribs.
“When you last asked, you said you weren’t sure, so what happened? Was there a reason?”
“...I guess you could call it a reason.”
The man gave a wry smile.
“You know when I went to Jeju with my girlfriend?”
“Ah, that day...”
Even though a week had passed, the incident that day still came up in conversation from time to time.
“The roads were flooded, and it was chaos, right?”
“The rain was so heavy that the communications were cut off. I never thought I’d see communication fail because of rain...”
“The facilities were fine, right?”
“If everything was fine, then why was the communication cut off?”
“Hey, hey.”
Thud.
The train of conversation returned to the tracks with a thud.
“So? Did something happen that day?”
“...Did I not tell you?”
“No, you didn’t.”
Now that he thought about it, he hadn’t mentioned it.
The man scratched his head.
“I went to Hallasan that day.”
Once again, there was silence.
The difference this time was that his friends were looking at him like he was an idiot.
“If you’re going to die, just leave your computer to me.”
“I’ll take the shoes.”
“I’ll take the kidneys.”
“...Are you guys crazy? Do you think I went there because I expected that much rain?”
“You’re the type who’d still do something like that.”
“True.”
“...Anyway.”
Saying just that one sentence had led to this reaction, so it was easy to imagine what they would say when he told them the truth.
So, the man decided to hide the truth a little.
“The road collapsed, and I got trapped. I managed to get out, but after that, I thought I couldn’t delay any longer.”
“...Isn’t that Stockholm Syndrome or something?”
“It’s just the ‘swaying bridge effect.’ You’re an idiot.”
He didn’t want to go through that experience again, but at least it gave him the courage to act, and he decided to think of it as a good thing.
“But you were trapped. How did you get out?”
“Rescue workers came and saved me.”
“In that weather? Is that even possible?”
“Maybe they weren’t just regular rescue workers?”
“Rescue workers aren’t superhumans.”
“What? Are you insulting the people who risk their lives to save others?”
His already hyperactive friends were even worse after a few drinks.
The man, feeling different from them, recalled that day.
That day, when the rain poured from the sky... no, when it stormed.
Blocked by mudslides and fallen trees, the man and his girlfriend couldn’t get out or go anywhere.
Then, a child appeared before them.
Wearing a yellow chick-shaped raincoat and dark sunglasses, the child spoke briefly with the man and then disappeared.
Along with all the obstacles blocking their path.
Was it a dream? Or was it a ghost?
As they discussed the child’s identity, they agreed.
‘It must’ve been a hallucination. They say you start seeing things when your body temperature drops. Probably the whole roadblock was just a product of the temperature change.’
‘...Could be.’
They agreed it was just a hallucination caused by the drop in body temperature.
But...
Even though they agreed on that, the man couldn’t shake the image of the girl in the yellow raincoat.
Foll𝑜w current novℯls on ƒrēewebnoѵёl.cσm.
‘Who was that girl?’
Her large sunglasses covered half her small face, so he couldn’t really see her features.
But for some reason, her build and voice felt oddly familiar.
“...Sigh.”
The man sighed, realizing there was no way to figure it out.
So, he simply took another sip of his drink.
‘...This is all global warming’s fault.’
He mumbled inappropriately, trying to pretend it wasn’t bothering him, but the drunken haze on his face was clear.
A week had passed since the invasion of the dimensional beings.
It wouldn’t have been strange if the world had been in chaos, but...
[The government continues to provide aid to the disaster victims...]
[Help for the disaster victims continues to pour in...]
[Some say the authorities should be held accountable...]
Surprisingly, the world went on without much change.
Even though unprecedented abnormal weather had struck Jeju Island, communications were down, and travel was interrupted.
The man wondered if maybe the administrators or Edel had done something to smooth things over.
‘What? No, I thought about interfering, but seeing how things were going, I figured it would be fine.’
But even though that was denied,
...Wasn’t it too easy to get through this?
At this point, all the concerns seemed foolish.
Complaining, the man continued,
“That’s all global warming’s fault.”
As he rambled on, trying to pretend he wasn’t bothered, the drunk smile on his face couldn’t be hidden.
"Da-eun, are you busy? Can I come along?"
"No big deal. Why would work matter? It’s rare for you to ask me to go, so let’s go!"
"Is that right?"
I raised an eyebrow at her response.
Da-eun stuck out her pink tongue and grinned.
"Just kidding. There’s nothing major today. I have to broadcast tonight, but since Kana said it wouldn’t take too long, I think it’ll be fine!"
"Yeah, it won’t take long."
I nodded and added one more thing.
"Probably."
"You didn't say 'probably' earlier, did you?"
"That's why I’m saying it now."
"Wow, you’re so annoying. Can I pinch your cheek just once?"
"No."
"Sorry, but Kana's opinion doesn’t matter!"
"...Ugh."
Da-eun, with a piercing glare, grabbed my cheek. If there hadn’t been an autonomous driving system, she wouldn’t have been able to do this.
...I realized that the development of civilization isn’t always a good thing.
