I Became a Raid Boss

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“Yeah. I didn’t do anything to be ashamed of, right? I just kinda wandered around here and there.”

“Uh-huh.”

“And wanting to know about someone I like is totally normal, right? Kana must have looked up my videos secretly because she likes me.”

“…Uh-huh.”

“So I’m not embarrassed.”

“Uh-huh.”

“…But I cannot forgive you!”

“…?!”

Da-eun, who had been mumbling, suddenly charged at me.

It was a perfectly timed strike, catching me off guard.

This sharp attack was so unlike Da-eun that I felt helplessly trapped.

“How could you do such a daring thing behind my back? You must be ready for the consequences!”

“Uuuugh….”

What’s so daring about it?

But my cheeks were getting mercilessly poked by Da-eun.

Even if I tried to respond, I couldn’t so I just had to swallow my words.

Rubble, rubble.

Da-eun poking my cheeks was a daily routine.

Touching because it’s cute.

Another poke because it’s annoying to play around.

Poking some more because it’s impressive how I endure.

Just poking for no reason.

With every poke, it became clear that I would just get used to it.

So this time it was just a slight annoyance, nothing more.

Rubble, rubble.

‘Something feels… more intense than usual.’

Since I couldn’t tilt my head in confusion due to my cheeks being grabbed, I just stared at Da-eun.

“Why?”

“….”

Da-eun, feeling my gaze, asked me, but with my cheeks squished like a rice cake, there was no way I could give a proper answer.

Realizing this too late, Da-eun made a ‘oops’ face.

Of course, I could shake her off if I really wanted, but I let her hand rest while I pondered.

‘It really isn’t just my imagination.’

Having been often teased, I could confidently say that.

Right now, Da-eun was squeezing harder than usual.

Not hard enough to hurt, though.

‘Could this be related to what Da-eun was talking about earlier?’

The part where she said she wanted people to feel close or intimate with me.

But I quickly wiped that thought away.

‘Even so, that’s going too far.’

Watching Da-eun’s smirk, I seriously doubted any other intentions behind this.

It was probably just embarrassment, as I said earlier.

“Okay. I think I’ve reflected enough now, right?”

After a while of poking, Da-eun finally seemed satisfied and let go.

Glancing at the broadcast screen, my cheeks were a light shade of red from warmth.

“If you’re that embarrassed, you can just delete it.”

“Kana may not know yet, but in this world, there are things you have to do even if you don’t want to….”

“Hmm.”

Honestly, I didn’t understand why Da-eun was reacting that way.

The stuff I found about her past was really nothing special.

And when I say nothing special, I mean that it wasn’t boring or dull, but that she didn’t do anything that could get her in trouble.

The videos on Da-eun’s channel mostly showed her traveling to different places, mingling with the locals…

They were pretty serene videos.

Although she had loads of videos about the Silia world recently, I hadn’t bothered to check those out.

“Why feel embarrassed?”

So I decided to ask directly.

What’s so embarrassing about showing me her old videos?

“…Because I was such a fool back then.”

That came after a wait that wasn’t too short or too long.

“I don’t know how far Kana has seen… but when I first started traveling, I was so inexperienced. The languages I hardly practiced, couldn’t use properly, getting lost, messing up ticket reservations, causing a ton of stupid mistakes.”

Now looking back, I wasn’t just a fool; I was a complete fool.

Da-eun gave a self-deprecating sigh.

“Who would like seeing the past me messing up and freaking out? That’s why it’s embarrassing. Doesn’t Kana have at least one embarrassing memory like that?”

“Um….”

“You can’t possibly not have one! Just admit it!”

“Even if you say that—”

Is this a question or a demand?

I was feeling uncertain when suddenly…

“…Ah.”

“Remember something?”

“Yeah.”

A decent memory came to mind.

One I wasn’t embarrassed about, but it was an inexperienced mistake from long ago.

“It’s unfair that only Da-eun knows my embarrassing past, so you have to share yours too!”

“Fine, I’ll do that.”

It wasn’t difficult.

I nodded eagerly.

“How old was I? I think around four.”

“Uh-huh.”

“I was hungry, with no food, no money to buy any.”

“Uh-huh. …Uh?”

Da-eun’s face looked like she wanted to say ‘something is off.’

But I kept going.

“So I thought maybe I’d find something in the trash to eat, and someone approached me. They asked if I was hungry.”

When I turned around, there was a man in somewhat shabby clothes standing there.

“In the back alleys where I lived, people dressed like that were rare.”

The folks in the alley wore what could barely be called clothes; they were more like rags.

I was one of them, so I knew.

So, a man dressed in ‘somewhat shabby clothes’ was definitely not a local.

“The man said that priests from the Holy Kingdom were in the area doing charity work, distributing bread to the hungry, and suggested I go there.”

“I didn’t know the Holy Kingdom did that…”

“Edel’s doctrine emphasizes charity, so they do charity work regularly. But that’s not what’s important right now.”

“Huh? That wasn’t the end? I thought you were embarrassed about digging through trash.”

“That kind of embarrassment isn’t new, so it doesn’t bother me. If that was the end, I wouldn’t even bring this up.”

“…Now I’m suddenly feeling uneasy.”

“Why should you feel uneasy about my story?”

“No matter how much of an onlooker you are, you can’t just sit there when you know there’s a bomb under the table.”

“…Is my story really that intense?”

“I’m not saying Kana’s story is a bomb, just that it feels intense enough.”

“Ah, I see.”

After a small shock, I resumed my story.

“When I asked where it was, he said he’d guide me.”

At that time, I wasn’t used to life in the alleys yet, and after rummaging through trash without finding food, I wasn’t in a state to make rational decisions.

If I had been just a bit less hungry, I wouldn’t have followed the man.

“…You can’t be serious?”

“Well, I followed him, and guess what? It was a slave trader, not a charity event.”

Yeah, I suppose that part about getting bread could be the same.

If I had put on a collar and entered a cage, I would have gotten food.

Da-eun gulped heavily.

“…So what happened next?”

“What do you think happened? I ran away. If I didn’t, I wouldn’t be here talking to you.”

To stop my escape, I could have been gutted or faced a future where I was nothing but a toy.

Regardless, that man must have wanted to catch me, but I lightly shoved him off.

From the perspective of someone who was once male, that’s a pretty guilty attack…

‘Yeah, right.’

If I had been caught, I would’ve seen all kinds of things no one should see.

It’s foolish to approach a small girl without caution.

“After that day, no matter how hungry I am, I learned never to trust anyone.”

“…That really was a bomb story.”

Da-eun muttered helplessly.

“But I don’t feel embarrassed about it.”

“…That’s something to feel sympathy for, not embarrassment.”

“Uh-huh…. that’s not what I mean.”

There were plenty of mistakes I’ve made myself.

Did I not make blunders too?

“Anyway, you’ve gleaned a lesson about not trusting others so easily.”

Growth from mistakes should be enough, right?

It might be a little awkward, but I didn’t think I had to be that embarrassed.

When I said that, Da-eun looked at me in surprise.

“I never would have thought Kana would say something so pro-human.”

“…It’s not some pro-human nonsense.”

“See, everyone? Kana is such a warm-hearted girl.”

“That’s not what I meant.”

But… ‘everyone’?

It took me a moment to process the unfamiliar term that came from Da-eun.

‘…Oh right. We’re live.’

I had just known this ten minutes ago.

But lost in conversation with Da-eun, I forgot about it.

Fortunately, I hadn’t said anything too problematic.

-ㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ

-Poor thing…

-Our Kana should only walk on flower paths from now on.

-Hurry up and open donations!!!1!!!

-From today on, I should be filial to my mom…

“…?”

For some reason, the chat was flooded with tears.

What on earth is going on?

In this confusing situation, Da-eun brightly spoke up.

“Since we’re at it, why don’t we talk a little more about what kind of person Kana is?”

Ah, this must be what she mentioned right before the broadcast.

But even saying that-

“…What should I say?”

It was a tricky topic to approach.

I scratched my cheek, unable to hide my bewilderment.

“Normally, it should be someone close to the person who can speak about them to maintain credibility. So who’s closest to Kana? It’s me, Joanie!”

“I won’t deny that we’re close. But… is Joanie’s word really credible?”

“Hehe, just stay quiet. I’ll reveal everything about what kind of person you are, Kana.”

Da-eun wore a confident smile, and while I felt a strange sense of foreboding,

‘…What could possibly go wrong?’ I shook my head, trying to suppress my worries.

* * *

But unfortunately, my intuition proved to be on point once again.

“Kana generally takes pranks lightly, but sometimes she pulls some mischievous pranks and pouts. When she does, her cheeks puff up, making it obvious she’s upset, yet she claims she’s not pouting… Ugh, you should’ve seen that!”

“….”

“But then again, when she’s clearly fuming and not talking, if you ask her if she wants chocolate, she’ll whisper a tiny ‘…yeah.’ And when you finally give it to her, she munches happily, and her face brightens up. It’s super cute!”

“That….”

“Anyone who knows would know that Kana likes meat over vegetables. No, should I say she won’t even touch vegetables, so it’s accurate to say she only eats meat. Anyway, when I worry and try giving her vegetables, she’ll tightly shut her mouth and shake her head. It makes me weaken my resolve and keeps making me give up…”

“Stop….”

It didn’t have to be this on point.

I gave up on stopping Da-eun and just hung my head low.

With the sudden drop in temperature lately, I felt the warm air on my face, and I didn’t like it.

‘…Why is this happening.’

I never agreed to this much detail!

 

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