I Became a Raid Boss
Chapter 201

“…!”

It felt as though someone was gripping my throat, choking me.

The being beyond the light simply stared at me with its immense eye.

It didn’t make any other movements.

However,

Under its gaze, I couldn’t even lift a finger.

“Keheuk….”

I held on and held on until finally, a single ragged breath managed to escape.

Clinging to that narrow opening, I frantically gulped in air as if it were my only lifeline.

The sound I made in the process was undeniably pitiful, but I didn’t have the luxury to care.

Like a fly in front of a frog.

Like a frog before a snake.

Before the overwhelming presence of this predator that crushed my soul, there was nothing I could do.

“…”

Time crawled by, stretching into eternity as I wished desperately for it to pass.

At some point, the rain that had pelted my head had stopped, and the intense light that burned my eyes vanished without a trace.

Likewise, the oppressive presence that had held me captive was gone.

Only the moonlight now poured down as if nothing had happened.

Srrrk.

Bathed in the moonlight, I slumped to the ground.

It felt like waking from a dream in broad daylight, but I knew that none of this was a dream.

The exhaustion weighing on my entire body, and the cube—now a lifeless hunk of metal—told me everything was real.

“…At least it wasn’t all for nothing.”

I muttered weakly as I stared at the abandoned cube.

There were still countless questions, and even more unresolved issues, but…

‘…’

All that occupied my mind right now was the desire to rest.

***

“…Phew.”

The man shivered as he stepped outside.

A faint chill had enveloped him the moment he left his house.

“It feels like the weather suddenly got colder.”

Blaming it on global warming, he murmured as he looked up at the sky, but soon stopped grumbling and briskly continued walking.

It was a meeting arranged with the guys.

Even if he arrived on time, the others would likely show up late as usual.

But that didn’t mean he could be late himself.

After all, he was the one who had the most to gain from today’s meeting.

As expected, when he arrived exactly on time, his friends were nowhere to be seen.

Normally, he would have sent a barrage of affectionate yet nagging messages, but instead, he quietly waited, brushing the goosebumps off his arms.

After about five minutes, his friends finally began to show up one by one.

“Hey.”

“Hey? Look at the time, man.”

“Ah, there was traffic.”

“Didn’t you take the subway?”

“The subway was crowded.”

“Your head’s crowded.”

Exchanging playful banter, they entered the restaurant, where warm air enveloped their bodies.

As food arrived and drinks began to flow, the atmosphere grew lively and warm.

At the point when the mood had reached a comfortable peak:

“So, why did you call us here today?”

One friend cautiously brought up the question.

“When have we ever needed a reason to meet up? It’s been a while, and I wanted to see you guys.”

“What’s the point of meeting up with guys?”

“With your face, you can’t meet women, so you might as well meet guys.”

“Yeah, and my face is better than yours.”

“Then why are you still single?”

“You jerk.”

Before he could respond, his friends were already bickering with each other.

Watching them argue, the man took a sip of his drink.

It was the same scene as always, nothing unusual.

It wasn’t as if they were in a WWE match or anything.

Since they weren’t seriously fighting, there was no need to intervene.

Setting his empty glass down, the man spoke up.

“I’m getting married.”

“….”

“….”

The table fell silent in an instant.

For a moment, it felt like the entire restaurant had gone quiet, though it might have been his imagination.

The silence didn’t last long.

His friends, who had stopped arguing to stare at him, began to speak one by one.

“So, you’re finally tying the knot after being so crazy in love?”

“Wow… I never thought one of us would get married.”

“Have you booked a venue yet?”

“I’ll have to start looking now.”

“But.”

One friend nudged him playfully.

“You said last time you weren’t sure yet. What changed? Did something happen?”

“…You could call it an event.”

The man gave a wry smile.

“Remember when I went to Jeju Island with my girlfriend?”

“Oh, that day….”

Even though it had been a week, that day was still a hot topic of conversation.

“They say the roads were flooded, and it was utter chaos?”

“The rain was so heavy it even knocked out communication. I never thought rain could do that….”

“Wasn’t all the equipment intact?”

“If it were intact, why would the communication fail?”

“Hey, hey.”

Thud thud.

The tapping sound on the table brought the derailed conversation back on track.

“So? Did something happen then?”

“…Didn’t I tell you?”

“No, you didn’t.”

Come to think of it, he realized he hadn’t shared that story yet.

The man scratched his head.

“I went to Hallasan that day.”

Silence fell again.

The difference this time was that his friends were now looking at him as if he were the biggest fool in the world.

“If you’re going to die, leave me your computer first.”

“I’ll take your shoes.”

“I call dibs on your kidneys.”

“…Are you guys insane? How was I supposed to know it would rain that much?”

“You’re the kind of guy who would do it anyway.”

“True.”

“…Anyway.”

With just one sentence, he could already imagine the kinds of comments he’d hear if he told them the full truth.

So, he decided to keep things vague.

“The path collapsed, and we were stranded. Somehow, we managed to get out. After that, I realized I couldn’t keep putting it off anymore.”

“Isn’t this that… Stockholm Syndrome or whatever?”

“No, it’s the suspension bridge effect, idiot.”

He didn’t want to go through something like that again.

Still, he thought it was worth it since it gave him the courage to move forward.

“But you said you were stranded. How did you get out?”

“A rescue worker probably saved them.”

“In that weather? Is that even possible?”

“That’s why they’re rescue workers.”

“Rescue workers aren’t superheroes.”

“What? Are you insulting people who risk their lives to save others?”

His friends, who were already a chaotic bunch, became even rowdier after a few drinks.

Setting himself apart from the ridiculous conversation, the man quietly recalled that day.

The rain poured relentlessly from the sky… no, it was more like a downpour.

Blocked by landslides and fallen trees, he and his girlfriend were trapped, unable to move forward or back.

Then, a child appeared.

Wearing a yellow raincoat shaped like a chick and dark sunglasses, the child spoke briefly with the man before vanishing.

Along with all the obstacles that had been blocking their path.

Was it a dream? Or a ghost?

As they discussed the child’s identity, the two of them reached a conclusion.

“It must have been a hallucination. When your body temperature drops, you start seeing things. Maybe we just imagined the path was blocked because of sudden temperature changes.”

“…You think so?”

They agreed it was likely due to hypothermia-induced hallucinations.

However,

Even after coming to that conclusion, the man couldn’t shake the image of the girl in the yellow raincoat.

“Who was that girl?”

The oversized sunglasses that covered half her small face made it hard to see her features clearly.

And yet, for some reason, her build and voice felt strangely familiar.

“…Sigh.”

He sighed, realizing there was no way he’d find an answer no matter how much he thought about it.

So, he simply took another sip of his drink.

“This is all because of global warming.”

Muttering a complaint that made no sense in context,

His face betrayed the faint flush of intoxication, no matter how hard he tried to act otherwise.

***

A week had passed since the invasion of the Dimensional Creatures.

Given the chaos, he thought it wouldn’t be surprising if the world was in complete disarray.

[The government continues to provide aid to flood victims…]

[Support for disaster victims remains steady…]

[Some call for accountability…]

Contrary to expectations, the world moved on without significant change.

Despite the unprecedented weather anomalies in Jeju Island, communication disruptions, and severed travel routes.

She had wondered if the administrator or Edel had intervened, so she asked about it.

“What? Nope. I thought about stepping in, but after seeing how things were going, I figured it’d be fine.”

She denied it.

It was true that ordinary people wouldn’t be able to understand what had happened.

Still…

Wasn’t everyone brushing it off a bit too easily?

It made all his prior worrying seem foolish.

When she grumbled, Da-eun, sitting in the driver’s seat, snapped at her.

“Kana, you’re such an idiot! I told you not to get hurt, and then you came back soaking wet, looking pale as a ghost! You were bedridden for days!”

“…That wasn’t because of the rain.”

But she stopped herself before explaining further.

She had already explained multiple times before, and saying it again now wouldn’t change anything.

Besides, she had gotten so worked up the last few times that she’d given up entirely.

With the weather turning colder and falling into a lake, it was no surprise she assumed she’d caught a cold.

But seriously, just getting a bit wet and falling into a lake doesn’t give you a cold…

“Well, Da-eun will find out soon enough anyway.”

Instead of revisiting the topic, she changed the subject.

“Da-eun, you’re not busy, right? Is it okay for you to come with me?”

“Kana asked me to come with you. Does it matter if I’m busy? Of course, I’ll drop everything and go!”

“…Is that really okay?”

When she looked at her with a bewildered expression, Da-eun stuck out her pink tongue.

“I’m joking. I don’t have much to do today. I just need to stream tonight, but since you said it won’t take long, it should be fine!”

“Yeah, it won’t take long.”

She nodded and added one more thing.

“Probably.”

“Didn’t you just say it wouldn’t take long?”

“Well, now I’m saying ‘probably.’”

“Wow, you’re so annoying. Can I pinch your cheek just once?”

“…No.”

“Sorry, Kana, but your opinion doesn’t matter!”

“…Ughhh.”

With an intense glint in her eyes, Da-eun reached out and pinched her cheek.

Without the autonomous driving system, she wouldn’t have been able to pull such a stunt.

…It was moments like these that made her realize the advancement of civilization wasn’t always a good thing.

—

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