Chapter 455: The square circle (2)

I began thinking about how this event came to be.

One, I was bound tightly.

Two, I was thrown inside an unfamiliar mountainside.

No matter how hard I analysed it, the end result always came back to ‘kidnapping’, but who would dare to infiltrate the <Kim Dok-Ja Company> and kidnap me? Which could only mean….

“….is…..”

“….Dok-Ja…..Untie…..?”

“Aht?…”

Faint voices could be heard coming from somewhere.

I grunted and struggled to free myself, and then, staggered towards where those voices were coming from. I brushed past the thickets and around 30 seconds later, ran into a fairly wide campsite manned by my companions.

“Ah, so he came on his own volition, then.” Han Su-Yeong snickered and waved her hand towards me. “What are you looking at? Haven’t you seen an industrial strike action before?”

“Hang on a minute, this….”

“What a nice breeze. Dok-Ja-ssi, why don’t you come and lie down here?”

Jeong Hui-Won was lying spread-eagled on the ground looking up at the sky right next to Han Su-Yeong. She moved her arms as if they were her wings, causing the fragrant green blades of grass to fall and get back up again and again.

Han Su-Yeong then began muttering in a reverential voice. “Grass lies down. Faster than wind, it lies down.”

“Ohh.”

“Jeong Hui-Won too lies down. Faster than wind she lies down and before the gust comes she stands up first.”

“Not bad?”

While looking at this sudden breakout of a poetry reading competition, as well as Jeong Hui-Won providing timely support fire, I asked them in a dazed voice.

“Just what is going on…..?”

“This is the workers’ revolution, dumbass.”

“Okay, you’ve been harping on about a revolution and whatnot for a while now, but….”

“Argh, I just want to take a damn break. Do I need to spell it out for you??”

I frowned after she berated me.

Taking a break?

“What are you talking about? Don’t you know what era we’re in right now?”

“What era are we in, then?”

I wasn’t sure what to say when she retorted back like that. What did she mean by ‘what’ era we were in?

[Currently, the Nebula <Kim Dok-Ja Company> possesses the qualification to enter the Final Scenario.]

[Remaining time to enter the scenario is: 28 days, 12 hours, 15 minutes and 7 seconds.]

I calmly replied to ensure that I wouldn’t get sucked into her pace. “We don’t have the time for this. The Final Scenario is literally just around the corner.”

“And that’s why we need to take a breather now. If not, when can we be able to, like this?” said Han Su-Yeong, while sighing out grandly. “Look around you. Don’t spend your day buried in your smartphone, alright? You still wanna work even after coming to a place like this?”

After hearing her, I began scanning the surrounding terrain for the first time.

Indeed, we were in a fertile, green forest. I wasn’t sure which mountain it was – Jirisan, Seoraksan, or Hallasan…. In any case, it was a really beautiful mountain, alright. The sunlight wasn’t too strong, while the wind blowing felt cool to the skin. It was perfect weather for camping, in other words.

I hesitated somewhat before speaking up. “Uhm, I’m not saying that we shouldn’t take a break, but…. Uh, it’s good to rest, but what I’m saying is that we should finish what we need to do first. Right now, we’re….”

“Holy cow. Dok-Ja-ssi, you’re really ‘kkondae’ minded, aren’t you? Is every company representative out there like you?” Said Jeong Hui-Won, while lightly tapping my shin. “Representative-nim? When you’re taking a break, you’re supposed to just do it.”

My head became complicated.

Han Su-Yeong glared at me when I didn’t say a thing and addressed me in a sour tone of voice. “Sure, you’re oh-so-right. Everyone shouldn’t be resting at the same time, so at least one person should be in a scenario. Why don’t you go ahead?”

“What?”

“I’m saying, why don’t you do the scenario that you love so much?”

After hearing her, my gaze abruptly shifted up to the air to discover an actual scenario window floating up there.

[Sub Scenario – ‘Workers’ Off-day’ has been generated!]

I had never even heard of such a scenario before so I quickly accessed the scenario window.

+

<Sub Scenario – Workers’ Off-day>

Type: Sub

Difficulty: ???

Clear condition: You’re the head representative of the Nebula <Kim Dok-Ja Company>. Due to your exploitation and harsh treatment, employees of <Kim Dok-Ja Company> are currently in a very fatigued state. They are greatly dissatisfied with you, the head of the Nebula, and are in the middle of a strike. As their boss, you must listen to their complaints and appease them. In consideration of your weak communication skill, the total goal for complaint resolution will be set at 5 people.

Time Limit: 12 hours

Reward: Trust from <Kim Dok-Ja Company>’s employees

Failure: Death (?)

+

Death?! What the hell, what kind of a scenario is this….?

I looked up at the sky, and Biyu went “Ba-aht” up there.

Han Su-Yeong grumbled directly aimed at me. “Seriously, man. This guy needs to be told through a scenario just to understand it.”

*

While feeling anxious, I looked around my surroundings.

My companions seemed to be enjoying themselves. Han Su-Yeong was busy reciting parody poems, while Jeong Hui-Won had fallen asleep among the grass. Yi Gil-Yeong and Shin Yu-Seung were butting heads and growling at each other.

“Hey, Shin Yu-Seung. Let’s make a bet. Let’s see who can catch the bigger dinner today.”

“What are we betting on?”

“The loser grants the winner one wish, okay?”

“Call.”

The kids quickly sprinted towards the forest and Yu Sang-Ah called out to them. “Be careful.”

There was a small valley with a flowing stream next to the campsite; Gong Pil-Du sat on the fishing chair he brought along, and while looking at his lure in the water, he yawned out relaxedly. Han Myeong-Oh sitting next to him was muttering about this and that.

“If only we were out by the ocean, I’d have caught a seabream this big….”

I heard the refreshing sounds of water flowing in the valley as well as mountain birds chirping away. It felt as if the calming greenery of the overgrown mountainside was slowly collapsing on myself.

It was as if I was still dreaming.

This sort of affectionate behaviour felt uncomfortable to me, like some kind of ill-fitting clothes. Was it okay to be like this? Was it okay to experience moments like this already?

I searched for Yu Jung-Hyeok.

Indeed, we shouldn’t be like this. If it was him, he should agree with me. He must be standing around somewhere while glaring at the group. Along with that scary light in his eyes, he’d start lecturing everyone, beginning with “You fools….!”

I quickly located him.

I was about to raise my hand and call out to him, but then, stopped after realising something was off there, too.

Chi-eeeik.

He was actually cooking over there. Standing before a large grille, his hands were moving around in a showy fashion to grill some meat. Vegetables were sizzling and shuddering inside the frying pan. The [Breaking the Sky Swordsmanship] capable of destroying the heavens was now used to chop vegetables and meat.

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I even forgot to call out to him and stared at that spectacle in a pure daze.

….Just what in freaking hell was going on here?

In the next second, his eyes shifted over in my direction. He then silently conveyed his words with that trademark scary glare of his. I didn’t need to resort to the [Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint] to tell what those eyes were saying – it was most definitely…

⸢You can look all day long, but you aren’t getting any of this food.⸥

….That’s what those eyes probably meant to say.

His sides were occupied by both Yu Mi-Ah and Yi Ji-Hye, their eyes filled with deep interest and anticipation.

“Now.”

Yu Mi-Ah opened her mouth, and Yu Jung-Hyeok moved his chopsticks with an emotionless face. He was like a mother bird, picking up a piece of meat to place it in her mouth. She grinned brightly.

“It’s really tasty.”

Yi Ji-Hye blankly standing around opened her mouth, too. He studied her for a moment or two, before placing more meat inside Yu Mi-Ah’s mouth, instead. That carried on for four, maybe five more times, and eventually, Yi Ji-Hye shut her mouth.

“Master, you’re too heartless.”

Unable to endure it any longer, she personally moved her chopsticks. However, his frying pan shifted according to the eye-catching trajectory of the [Red Phoenix Shunpo] to avoid her hands. She grew tearful first before getting rather stubborn about it.

“Oh, so you wanna have a go, is that it??”

I seriously couldn’t tell whether I was inside the world of the ‘Ways of Survival’, or the ⸢Ice-cold Handsome Regressor Yu Jung-Hyeok Shouldn’t be Doing This⸥ world.

He continued evading Yi Ji-Hye’s chopsticks and fed his little sister Yu Mi-Ah without twitching his eyebrows once, remaining utterly expressionless. However, there was something I could glean from that.

And I came to a realisation, He was genuinely serious about being here.

⸢Even though we are in this sort of time frame, why did Yu Jung-Hyeok let this event happen?⸥

I wasn’t the only head representative of <Kim Dok-Ja Company>. In more ways that one, Yu Jung-Hyeok was a far more obstinate person than I was, and also, boasted far greater experience in running a group such as this one.

Yet, such a person had willingly participated in this camping trip.

⸢Y ou re ally ca n’t t ell, Kim Dok Ja?⸥

Accompanying [The 4th Wall]’s voice, several paragraphs unfolded themselves before my eyes.

⸢Author-nim, how about going to a beach during this regression turn?⸥

That was a comment I posted a long time ago.

Even though I remembered so much about the ‘Ways of Survival’, I had forgotten all about the comments I posted. Now that I thought about it, there was one event that Yu Jung-Hyeok never missed during his countless repeated regressions.

⸢”Today, we take a break.”⸥

That would be taking an off-day.

It happened during the original ‘Ways of Survival’, but hadn’t happened so far in this world.

Every time they were about to encounter another important hurdle, he’d take his companions to a different planet’s tourist attractions. Of course, he had the pretext of finding necessary items for the upcoming scenarios, but he didn’t force his group to do the same things as him.

⸢”Master, come join us and have some fun!”⸥

⸢”Hey, Yi Ji-Hye. Kekeke. Take a gander at my abs, will ya. Even my Black Flame Dragon praised m….”⸥

⸢”We’re going to eat Jung-Hyeok-ssi’s cooking today, right?”⸥

Even Yu Jung-Hyeok was like that, yet what was I like?

⸢….We must get ready for the next scenario.⸥

We were always in a hurry as if we were being pursued. We never had any leeway. And as we got to the latter half of the scenarios, such tendency grew even stronger. Our goal was ‘always’ right in front of our eyes. I acted as if the scenario themselves would break down if we didn’t solve whatever it was in time. But now that I began thinking deeply about it, the scenarios would’ve been just fine even if we didn’t hurry up and do something about them.

“H-hey, Yi Gil-Yeong!! We agreed not to use any skills here, didn’t we?!”

“When did I?! You gotta give it your best always!”

I heard the kids’ voices as they were returning with hunted prey.

Soon after that, I heard Han Su-Yeong’s loud call that reverberated throughout the valley. “Alright, then. The treasure hunt event will now begin! The prize is a Star Relic from the Black Flame Dragon!”

“Whaa, really? From that Black Flame Dragon?”

“I’ve hidden it somewhere in the valley, so the first one to find it is the winner! Ah, right. You’re forbidden from using your skills. Got that? Besides that, there are other prizes too, so…..”

“That Star Relic is mine!”

Han Myeong-Oh quickly discarded his fishing rod and jumped inside the stream, but a little while later, Jeong Hui-Won grabbed hold of his head and threw him out of the water. In no time at all, Yi Ji-Hye and the kids returning from their hunting trip all jumped into the valley’s water, too.

“Yo, hold up, Ji-Hye noona!! That’s [Ghost Fleet]! You think I won’t notice it just because they are tiny now??”

“Yi Gil-Yeong! Are you seriously taming water bugs? You cheater!?”

“Both of you, disqualified!”

How long had it been since all of my companions were smiling together like this? Maybe, this could be our first time. They were able to smile even though the scenarios hadn’t ended yet. They were able to chat away in happiness like that, and share their stories.

⸢And while looking at that spectacle, Kim Dok-Ja suddenly felt lonely for some reason.⸥

Could it be that I had failed to understand a single thing about the ‘Ways of Survival’ – no, wait, regarding my companions, instead? Maybe, because I was drunk in the fantasy of witnessing the Conclusion, I actually ended up missing all the countless words that had to be read in order to reach the true Conclusion?

[You have currently resolved 0 complaints.]

A scenario that previously felt like nothing important suddenly felt as imposing and difficult as a ‘Great Fable’ now.

I plopped down below a parasol and dazedly looked on. Someone lightly tapped me on the shoulder.

“How goes it with your scenario?”

Yu Sang-Ah grinned refreshingly.

I replied with a powerless grin of my own, and she addressed me again. “Well, Dok-Ja-ssi, your communication skill has always been a little lacking, so it can’t be helped, I guess. You were also like that back when we were working for the company.”

“….I was?”

“You really didn’t speak all that much to other people.”

I became utterly speechless after she mercilessly carpet-bombed me with facts. But then again, after giving it a bit of thought, it made total sense. I grew up without a friend from a young age. I wasn’t clued in on how to socialise with other people, and back then, I only thought about how to weasel myself out of the company meal get-together. I figured that, rather than wasting time doing that, I might as well read the ‘Ways of Survival’ one more time instead.

⸢Kim Dok Ja y ou h ave a fri end no w⸥

And then, here was an inorganic ‘substance’ that tried to rile me up by saying that it was my friend.

Yu Sang-Ah settled down beneath the parasol too, and observed our companions with a relaxed gaze. Perhaps she was going for the camping look herself, because rather than the usual Buddhist robe, she was now wearing a casual one-piece with a wide-brimmed straw hat. She sure knew how to match the atmosphere regardless of where she was. She was someone too good to be kept in the <Kim Dok-Ja Company> run by a pretty useless leader, at the very least.

“Sang-Ah-ssi, do you by any chance regret getting in the subway that day?”

I wasn’t sure why I asked her that. Even now, the events of the very first scenario remained vivid in my mind.

⸢If only Yu Sang-Ah’s bicycle didn’t get stolen.⸥

If she got her start from somewhere else, then she might not have become <Olympus>’s Incarnation. Maybe, she wouldn’t have to die, either. She wouldn’t have to experience the pain of reincarnation, too….

“No, I don’t.”

I had never seen such a determined expression on her face before.

“So, Dok-Ja-ssi. You mustn’t regret anything, either.”

“Pardon? Regarding what…..?”

“I mean, everything.”

I wasn’t sure what to say to her. It felt as if I’d only sound like an ass just by thanking her or expressing my gratitude. The ‘Ways of Survival’ never taught me what I should say in moments like this.

As if she could read my mind, she grinned refreshingly and pointed to someone over yonder.

“I think it’ll be for the best that you speak to that person first.”

<Episode 86. The square circle (2)> Fin.