Chapter 1165 – 1165. Day 15
I walked towards the old man.
I thought the old man would run away halfway. But the old man didn’t even flinch as I approached. He just quietly watched me, as if keeping an eye on me.
“Old man, what’s wrong?”
I asked first. I was curious about why he was watching me.
“……”
The old man remained silent. The sickle in his hand didn’t go down either. I frowned and asked the old man again.
“I asked why you’re glaring at me.”
“……”
“Don’t be boring.”
“……”
“You think I’ll be scared just because you’re holding a sickle?”
“……”
“Looks like you don’t want to talk. Fine. I’ll give up on hearing the reason. So now, lower your eyes. It’s annoying when you’re looking at me.”
“……”
I raised the flashlight and shined it on the old man’s face. Unable to withstand the light of the flashlight, the old man squeezed his eyes shut and raised the hand holding the sickle.
Thwack!
I kicked the old man’s leg. The old man fell into the field. I kicked away the sickle the old man was holding and put my foot on his head. The old man struggled. When I put more force on my leg, the old man’s movements slowed down.
“…Get off.”
The old man said in a voice that sounded like he was clearing his throat.
“The situation has changed. Why were you watching me? Tell me the reason first.”
“…I was monitoring you.”
“Why?”
“To prevent outsiders from doing anything foolish. You actually harmed me. It’s not too late now. Get your foot off.”
“Or what?”
“The villagers won’t stand for it.”
I pretended to take my foot off the old man’s head, but instead, I kicked the old man’s abdomen repeatedly. Thud, thud, thud. Even though I adjusted my strength appropriately, the sound of the beating was crisp.
“Ugh, ugh, ugh!”
Seeing the old man gag, I stepped back. I didn’t want to get any filth on my body.
The old man staggered to his feet. His corpse-like eyes were full of murderous intent. The old man turned his body and started running.
“Running away, huh?”
I decided to follow him, shut him up, and ask for information about this suspicious village.
The running old man suddenly stopped, bent down, and picked up the sickle lying in the field. The old man ran towards me again. He had no intention of running away from the start.
“Die!!”
He aimed for my neck. He didn’t hesitate to aim for a vital spot. An ordinary person would be frozen with fear and be hit, but… I wasn’t. I leisurely watched the old man’s attack and dodged it.
“Slow.”
The difference between an old man’s body and a young man’s body was enormous. On top of that, I wasn’t just an ordinary body. If I lifted my shirt, I had well-defined muscles. I was at the highest level among ordinary people. Well, from a hunter’s perspective, it was all the same.
Swish! Swish, swish!
After dodging a few attacks, the old man staggered as if he was collapsing.
“Aaaaargh!!”
The old man screamed and attacked me. I dodged his attacks appropriately and tripped the old man’s leg. The leg that had been kicked once lost its balance too easily and collapsed. The fallen old man breathed heavily and swung his sickle at my leg.
“Not a chance.”
I lightly dodged with a backstep and lightly kicked the old man’s head.
The old man’s movements stopped.
“Wait!”
Surprised, I ran to the old man and checked his pulse.
‘He’s dead.’
I did hit his head, but I had taken out as much strength as possible and hit him lightly. I thought the old man wouldn’t die from that.
‘…It means the old man was in worse condition than I thought. Miscalculation. Damn it. I didn’t get any information about the village.’
I was about to leave the corpse and return to my lodging when I stopped.
‘If I leave the corpse like this, there will be problems, right?’
There was a police box in this small village. If a corpse was found, the police would step in, and they might find out that I killed him.
‘If I get arrested, it will interfere with completing the quest. Even if I get arrested, it shouldn’t be right now. Yeah. At least I need to be free during the [15 days], the name of this world.’
I looked around quickly. It was dark and hard to see since I turned off the flashlight. There were no signs of people passing by nearby. I grabbed the old man’s corpse, roughly threw it over my shoulder, and headed towards the mountain. I also grabbed a shovel near the field.
‘Damn it. It’s so hard just carrying one human.’
I entered the mountain, dug a hole, and put the corpse in. I didn’t dig deep. It was annoying and tiring. It was enough if I wasn’t caught for the time being.
‘I’m not going to stay in this world forever anyway.’
I filled the hole with dirt.
‘I’ll throw the shovel back where it was when I go back… Hmm?’
I felt a gaze.
I quickly turned around and looked behind me. There was nothing there. I wiped the sweat from my wrist.
‘My senses are at the level of an ordinary person, so I don’t know. Am I imagining things?’
I focused on my work again.
•••
While Sung Yu-jin was diligently filling the hole, a man was hiding behind a tree, concealing his presence and watching Sung Yu-jin. The man, who was wearing a black cloth, was secretly bewildered as he looked at Sung Yu-jin’s back.
‘He’s a stranger, since I’ve never seen his face before. I heard that college students came from the city today… Is he one of them?’
Swish.
Sung Yu-jin turned his head.
The man held his breath and suppressed his presence. Sung Yu-jin, who had wiped his sweat, focused on his work again.
‘He’s sensitive.’
And calm.
‘Was it not an impulsive murder? A planned murder? Or… is he just like that?’
Either way, it was clear that he was not an ordinary person.
‘I need to report to the priestess and receive orders.’
Sung Yu-jin, having finished his work, left. The man waited a little longer and then moved to the place where Sung Yu-jin had buried the corpse.
‘…Wasn’t he a person who was used to killing? Why is it so sloppy?’
It was so sloppy that it would be obvious as soon as the sun rose. It was clear that he had done it carelessly. The man hesitated and then dug up the ground with his bare hands. It was possible because Sung Yu-jin had roughly packed the soil. He confirmed the corpse buried in the ground in less than 5 minutes.
‘Old man Jiro…’
A diligent and capable worker had died.
‘The priestess will be sad.’
•••
I returned to the lodging.
The circle members were gathered and playing. Beer cans were rolling on the floor. The men were flirting with the women, and the women were awkwardly smiling and dealing with the men.
“Sung-san! Come over here!”
Wada Kyoshiro called me. I sat next to him and picked up a beer can. Hagawa Ryoko was sitting demurely next to Wada Kyoshiro. Her appearance in a white dress was pure itself.
“Why are you so late? Dinner time is already over.”
“I got lost on the way. Dinner… I’m not that hungry, so it’s okay.”
“Ah, Sung-san. This is Hagawa Ryoko. She’s my childhood friend. She’s in the same first year as us.”
“I’m Hagawa Ryoko. You’re Sung Yu-jin-san, the Korean exchange student, right? Please take care of me.”
“If you’re a first year, you don’t need to use honorifics. Speak comfortably.”
“Okay. I’ll speak comfortably.”
The three of us talked. Hagawa Ryoko seemed to have a surprisingly strong personality.
“Hagawa.”
A yellow-haired delinquent swaggered over. Tanaka Hiroshi showed off the tattoo on his forearm.
“I’m going to the corner store, do you want to come with me?”
“Tanaka-senpai… I’m sorry, but I need to go back to my room soon to get ready for bed.”
“It won’t take long, it’s okay. I’ll buy you anything you need.”
“It’s okay. I’ve already prepared all my necessities, so I don’t need anything.”
Hagawa Ryoko spoke firmly, but Tanaka Hiroshi didn’t seem to be willing to back down easily. The atmosphere was getting colder, and Tanaka Hiroshi blatantly pushed a beer towards Hagawa Ryoko.
“I saw you sipping your drink earlier? I’ll teach you how to drink. You have to drink it all at once to get the real taste.”
“…Tanaka-senpai. I’m not good at drinking.”
“I said I’ll teach you.”
“Senpai. Please stop.”
Wada Kyoshiro stepped forward. He stood up and blocked Tanaka Hiroshi’s path. Tanaka Hiroshi’s face was visibly distorted.
“Wada. Can’t you see I’m talking to Hagawa?”
“Hagawa can’t drink. Please stop.”
“This impudent bastard.”
Tanaka Hiroshi raised his fist. But the fist was never thrown. Mori Masahiro, who had approached unnoticed, grabbed Tanaka Hiroshi’s wrist with his large hand.
“Tanaka. Don’t cause trouble and just stop there.”
Tanaka Hiroshi’s lips twitched. But when Mori Masahiro glared at him, he backed down.
“…Okay, senpai. Please let go of my wrist. …Tch. You ruined my appetite.”
Tanaka Hiroshi grumbled and left the lodging with two other men. It seemed like they were going to the corner store.
“Phew. Thank you, Mori-senpai.”
“It’s nothing. Everyone listen! The drinking party ends here! Don’t forget that you must participate in the festival tomorrow evening!”
Mori Masahiro stepped in and cleaned up the drinking party.
I also slowly helped with the cleanup while glancing at the women’s lodging.
When Tanaka Hiroshi was hitting on her earlier, I could have stepped in before Wada Kyoshiro. I had a chance to gain some points from Hagawa Ryoko. But I didn’t step in and stayed still. I had no intention of slowly targeting women in this world. I didn’t have time for that.
‘There’s yobai in Japanese traditional culture.’
A culture of entering a woman’s room in the middle of the night and raping her.
A very excellent traditional culture.
• • •
Rattle, rattle.
The window shook.
I, who was lying in bed, slowly opened my eyes and got up. I checked the time. 2:17 AM.
It was a good time. I could sneak into the women’s lodging and do yobai. My target was Hagawa Ryoko.
Rattle, rattle, rattle!
The window shook violently. I could hear the sound of water pouring down, as if it was raining. I hardened my face. This wasn’t just rain, it was rain hitting the ground.
I walked towards the window. Wada Kyoshiro, who was sleeping under the window, was asleep with a blanket over his head. When I looked outside the window, it was serious. The trees were swaying as if they were about to break, and the rain was pouring down tremendously.
‘It’s a typhoon. It came so suddenly?’
It was a little strange.
If they knew that a typhoon was coming when they were planning the schedule, they would have canceled it.
‘There’s no way a typhoon would suddenly appear, so they would have known if they looked at the weather information?’
I picked up my smartphone and checked.
It turned out that the typhoon that was heading to Korea in the evening had suddenly changed its course and landed in Japan. The speed of the landed typhoon had slowed down, and it seemed like it would affect us for at least 3-4 days.
‘A typhoon can’t stop me. I’m going to do yobai.’
Thud, bang!
Something flew and broke the window. It was a broken tree branch.
“W-what’s going on?!”
Wada Kyoshiro jumped up from his bed and looked at the window. His face hardened instantly as he grasped the situation.
“It’s not just a shower… the wind is too strong. It’s a typhoon. Phew. The tatami shouldn’t get wet.”
Wada Kyoshiro seemed very familiar with this. He looked around, picked up the blanket, and blocked the window.
“Sung-san. Since the window is broken, it’s better to tear it down and fix it with a wooden board. Have you seen any wooden boards?”
“No. I haven’t.”
“I saw a warehouse next to the kitchen earlier in the evening. I haven’t been inside the warehouse… but there might be boards. Sung-san. Can you hold the blanket? I’ll go.”
“No. I’ll go.”
I didn’t want to stand still holding a blanket like I was being punished.
