## Chapter 143 – The Non-Hero
“Blackie, do you dislike me?”
Wienia, her head buried in my shoulder, spoke with a trembling voice. The anxiety woven into her tone betrayed her feelings. Right now, Wienia was afraid of being rejected by me.
“…I’m asking seriously. I won’t get mad, so answer me.”
It showed in her actions too. With her ox-like strength, she was hugging my neck almost to the point of suffocation, and blatantly pressing her chest against me. She was even trying to seduce me with her body.
As I kept my mouth shut, the symptoms only worsened.
…Thinking about it calmly, it was bizarre that she would like a hyper-loser like me. What did I have to offer? All I had to my name was a tall height, a good body, and a handsome face.
What? Is that really it?
Is that why?
“I don’t dislike you. I told you before, I don’t dislike you.”
Yeah. I don’t dislike her.
But damn it. I don’t really know either. There’s a part of me that just wants her to disappear, but at the same time, I feel sorry that I can’t comfort her more deeply. I’ve said it countless times, but I only have Claudie. I can’t fulfill what Wienia wants.
“Then why do you keep pushing me away? You said that woman is okay with it. So isn’t it okay? Blackie, please. I’m forcing myself to hold back my frustration right now. Just… just once… just… that…”
“I told you I already have a girlfriend. No matter what Claudie says, I can’t do it. That’s what makes it not okay for me.”
Wienia spoke with annoyance. But she didn’t loosen her arms around my neck. Rather, she only tightened them to the point of suffocation.
“…I really don’t like this. Is it first-come, first-served? Everyone else is okay with it, but only Blackie is like this. Isn’t that right?”
Ah, this is it.
Dangerous.
It’s a rear-naked choke.
My life is being threatened.
So this is how she planned to get rid of me.
“…Kuh-heuk. Sorry, Wienia.”
“You fucking bastard… I was first… I was first… I’ve always…”
Anyway, I felt like I was going to die if this continued, so I gently patted Wienia’s back to calm her down. She was appealing to me. But I couldn’t do what she wanted. Even if Claudie pushed me, I had no intention of doing it.
“Suddenly, that kind of woman appears…!”
“Don’t call her that kind of woman.”
“You’re protecting your girlfriend even in this situation?”
“Yeah.”
Wienia pushed me away.
Her eyes were sharply raised, with tears welling up that didn’t suit her. Her face was flushed. Tears streamed down Wienia’s face. The tears that ran down her cheeks fell onto her chest.
Wienia glared at me for a while.
But I couldn’t look her in the eye properly because I was too distracted by the tears that had flowed down and were gathering in her cleavage, trying to form a puddle.
“Don’t cry. Wienia. I don’t dislike you. It’s just… just, well. I just don’t want you to be sad because of me. What can I do?”
“…Then you shouldn’t have said anything.”
I couldn’t just leave Wienia, who kept trying to cry. I immediately took her to a nearby chair and sat her down. If I had a handkerchief, I would have given it to her to blow her nose, but I didn’t have one. It hurts my heart.
“Sit next to Blackie.”
Wienia patted the seat next to her. I couldn’t just stand there, so I sat next to her. I felt so guilty that I crossed my arms and lowered my head. “Hand,” Wienia said softly.
When I unfolded my arms, Wienia grabbed my hand.
“…Blackie.”
“What.”
“You know you’re being really frustrating, right?”
She forcibly opened my fist and intertwined her fingers with mine. Her hand was small, but the inherent grip strength was terrifying. Honestly, if we were to have a finger wrestling match right now, I was confident that I would lose miserably in under three seconds.
“Is this frustrating?”
“…I’ll kill you if you interrupt me.”
“Yes.”
Suddenly, she squeezed my hand tightly, almost bursting my fingers. I answered obediently. I wouldn’t mind just listening to her story.
“It seems like you can’t reason with our Blackie. You have to force him to listen. Blackie is really a pushover and a total loser, but I really like that about him, you know?”
What kind of example is that, you bitch?
“So I just accept it even when Blackie is acting like this. He’s always been a goddamn, motherfucking, pathetic bastard, Blackie is.”
“Hey, don’t you think you’re being a little too harsh with your words…”
“Has it even been a minute since I told you not to interrupt me?”
“…”
She spat out coldly and then massaged my hand.
“Do you need that woman’s permission?”
“…Even if I had permission, I can’t.”
“Yeah, everyone else is okay with it, but only Blackie isn’t. Then I’ll ask again. Look at my face, Blackie.”
I turned my head to the side and looked at Wienia’s face. Pink hair and her unique sharp eyes. Her bright red eyes seemed to be burning with anger, and her flushed face seemed to be pleading with me for affection.
I do think she’s pretty. I was also aware that her chest was seriously large, and that her appearance was the only reason she wasn’t being bullied from way back when…
“Blackie, do you dislike me? Or do you like me?”
“That dichotomy, like black-and-white thinking, is a theme that permeates the entirety of human history…”
“Shut up.”
Is it impossible to escape with nonsense?!
“Do you dislike me, or do you like me? Just cut it off and tell me one or the other.”
“…”
“Blackie…! You fucking bastard! Can’t you see I’m holding back so much right now?! Don’t hesitate, just tell me! Or do you not even want to tell me that? Huh? Is that what it is! Answer me quickly before I fucking kill you!”
“Aaaaaaah!!!”
Wienia, bursting with anger, began to twist my wrist.
A-at this rate, my wrist will be crushed!!! I quickly organized my thoughts about Wienia. This was a situation where my very life was at stake. If I wanted to survive here, I had to give Wienia an answer that would please her!
But.
But would that be okay?
Was Kim Kat, a man, so pathetic that he would lie to a woman who was passionately confessing her feelings to him, just because he couldn’t bear the pain?
No.
I am no longer the hyper-loser Kim Kat of the past.
I have changed.
Literally, I have changed a lot.
I have obtained “strength.”
Wienia was the first being to mess up my otherworld life.
After I accidentally encountered her as an F-rank adventurer and suffered, Wienia would pour all kinds of harassment on me whenever she saw me. Physical abuse, mental torment, financial damage, damage to my dignity… Listing them would be as endless as my military service.
Even the period lasted for at least a year or two.
It was the same even when I became an E-rank. Fortunately, Wienia had gone away on a job in the middle, so there was no harassment during that time, but when Wienia returned and I became a porter on a holiday after subjugating the Cockatrice, I was just horrified.
That’s right.
Back then, I hated her so much.
But not now.
If I had to divide my feelings into “dislike” or “like,” then “like” would be the correct answer.
I remember her softness.
I remember the shape of her bursting chest.
Then would it be okay to answer that I like her?
The terms “like” and “dislike” between men and women almost always meant those kinds of feelings. Would it be okay to say that I like her and ignite the fire in Wienia’s fickle heart? So would it be right to lie and say that I dislike her, even if it meant lying?
“…I like you.”
My 고민 wasn’t long.
I said what I felt as it was. That is Kim Kat, the man. No matter what the situation or the given fate, I do not lie to my heart. If I were to divide Wienia into like and dislike, my answer was “like.”
“…”
I glared at Wienia strongly with my inner strength. It meant that she should stop breaking my hand bones. Wienia couldn’t withstand my gaze and lowered her head.
“…Then can you kiss me?”
And she said quietly.
“I can’t do that.”
“You fucking son of a bitch.”
What can’t be done can’t be done. Wienia, who threw my hand away as if it were trash, jumped up and turned to look at me, cursing.
“You’re a real fucking son of a bitch.”
“…”
It was literally a murderous look. If lasers came out of her eyes, I wouldn’t have survived that just now. That gaze, combined with Wienia’s unique sharp eyes, was so destructive.
“Follow me, Blackie.”
“Huh?”
Then she said that.
“Are you deaf? I said follow me.”
“…”
At that voice, which sounded like she was going to kill me at any moment, I also got up and followed her. Wienia’s tears had stopped a long time ago.
“You’re my puppy for today.”
“What? Puppy?”
She, who had returned to her usual self, was extremely Wienia-like.
“If you don’t follow me, I’m going to beat you up and put a leash on you, so why don’t you just come along obediently? That woman isn’t here, so do you think I’ll let you off easy? If you don’t want to die, just do as I say.”
“…Yes.”
I’m fucked, really.
“Hand.”
Wienia looked at me with an expression as if she were looking at trash and then held out her hand. She said I was a puppy, so I guess she meant to hold out my hand like a dog.
Well, this is also fate.
If I can end it with this much, I should accept it.
I clasped hands with Wienia. She began to pull me around as if she were taking me for a walk. The leash wasn’t just a figure of speech…
“Does Blackie want to eat?”
“I’m a little hungry.”
“Answer with ‘woof.'”
What?
Did I hear something wrong?
“Huh?”
“I’m going to get angry?”
“…Woof.”
When I reluctantly answered “woof,” Wienia smiled as if she was finally in a good mood. I think I’ve seen a few real psychos in my life, but Wienia was truly the top of the top, a real psycho.
Just because she likes me doesn’t mean her psycho tendencies disappear. Wienia was always Wienia.
“If you like it, bark once. If you don’t like it, bark twice. By the way, if you bark twice, I’m going to tear you to death, so think carefully and answer well. Now, let’s try again. Woof.”
Oh my god, this can’t be happening.
“…Woof.”
“Kyahahahaha!!”
Wienia’s ominous laughter echoed.
The place she took me to was a restaurant that was clearly expensive, located on a street that looked luxurious at first glance. No, I shouldn’t call it a restaurant. It was too sophisticated to just lump it together like that.
The moment a hyper-loser like me stepped inside, I would turn to dust.
Wienia, who had secured a two-person seat, sat me down and sat across from me. The chair was soft. Looking around, I saw wizards and people wearing 멋들어진 armor eating. No, I shouldn’t say they were eating.
It was a meal.
To my bewildered self, Wienia—
“What does Blackie want to eat? They have dog food here, should we get that?”
—said such terrifying words while acting cute.
I was seized with fear.
If it was Wienia, she would definitely feed it to me and even have dessert.
“Why aren’t you answ er ing.”
딱, 딱, 딱, 딱, 딱, 딱, 딱, 딱. She, who had no patience, began to tap the table seriously with her fingers. It was like a death sentence, so I gave up and decided to answer.
“Woof.”
“Huh? Really? Blackie is really going to eat what dogs eat? Kyahat! Kyahahat! Good. Our Blackie wants to eat it, so I have to feed it to him! Excuse me.”
Wienia called the waiter and ordered two servings of some menu.
…It’s not dog food?
“Just kidding. How could I feed that to my beloved Blackie? Kyahat, you looked so scared, it’s so cute. Why is our Blackie so cute? Is it because he’s a 병신?”
“…”
The meal came out during that hellish time. It was a greasy menu with no carbohydrates to be found. Sadly, I, a pathetic man, felt hungry in this situation. The enticing smell made my mouth water.
“Wait, Blackie.”
“Woof.”
“Now eat.”
It was a truly humiliating meal.
I was tearing at the meat while crying in my heart. It was so delicious that I was crying while eating.
Hehe, grinning. Wienia, who was endlessly watching me eat with her chin propped up in both hands, looked happier than ever. Seeing her happy while treating me like a dog made me feel like my mind was going to fly away, but Wienia was always this kind of woman.
Damn it…
