Chapter 19:
“…”
“…”
…
…
Damn it.
The window came to mind.
‘Wouldn’t it be better to jump than to be brutally torn apart and killed?’
A weak, desperate thought. But the situation was the situation, so I couldn’t help it. Like a protagonist being chased by a villain, jumping into the sea from a steep cliff.
“…”
‘…’
I couldn’t even bring myself to speak. In fact, I couldn’t even lift my head.
Avoiding the Demon King’s gaze, I cautiously looked around.
A dark, quiet, and spacious room. For the Demon King, who had been alone in this place for so long, this game might have meant more than just a game. Perhaps, for her, Little Farm was the real world, and this place was the fake one.
Her Martian city, extravagantly decorated with an excessive amount of lights, was brilliantly lit, unlike this place, where there wasn’t a single speck of darkness.
‘What kind of ridiculous sentimentality is this? You idiot, Baek Dongha…’
People become sentimental when they’re about to die.
My gaze, which had been circling around her, avoiding direct contact. I knew. I knew that eventually, I would have to look at her. Whether I lived or died.
And like peeling off a piece of scotch tape from my skin, I carefully shifted my gaze towards the Demon King’s face.
…
I’ve seen that face before.
It was the face of those who had been hit by Dorothy’s mental breakdown skill. First, the color drained from their eyes, then their movements ceased, and finally, they became empty shells, devoid of souls.
‘Now all that’s left is for me to disappear.’
Hehehe, am I losing it? In novels, people always spout some profound words before they die. I think mine is above average.
“Hey.”
…
The Demon King’s voice echoed through the silent castle. I felt like I was adrift in a dark ocean, surrounded by man-eating sharks.
“Hey.”
Answer her. Whether I live or die, I have to face her eventually.
“…Yeah.”
Even to my own ears, my voice sounded like a terrified badger.
“… Why did you do that?”
A flat question. An expected sequence. And so was the answer I had prepared.
“… I’m sorry.”
There was no reply.
I looked back at the character selection screen. The spot where the Demon King’s beloved pink-haired tycoon character once stood was now replaced by the empty words “Empty Slot.”
‘She’s not going to let it go just because I apologized… Damn it…’
But what could I do? All I had was my mouth.
-Clack, clack
Her bare feet were approaching me. Slowly, distinctly.
My fear-ridden heart felt a little calmer.
‘You fought well, Baek Dongha.’
Memories of my time here flashed through my mind. The moments of breaking, shattering, dodging, and discomfort. Enough. It was enough. I had done enough.
-Whoosh
?
The Demon King walked past me, who had closed my eyes, and stood in front of the game console.
“Resurrection.”
-Fwoosh
…
She was casting Resurrection, the revival magic that required the combined power of 26 high priests, on a hunk of metal. It was a truly bizarre scene.
“Resurrection, Resurrection, Resurrection”
-Vroom, Vroom, Vroom
‘Stop… Stop it.’
The Demon King looked like a mother desperately clinging to the lifeless body of her child.
A part of me was also hoping for a miracle. Maybe, just maybe, the pink-haired character could be revived.
But of course, such a thing didn’t happen. The radiance enveloping the monitor faded.
“… It’s not working.”
-Thud
The Demon King collapsed on the spot. She removed the hair tie she always wore, and her black hair cascaded down to the floor.
“Sob, hic… Sob… Sob…!”
She then hugged the game console and burst into tears.
‘… What should I say?’
Even my somewhat functional brain couldn’t come up with an answer. What could a bus driver possibly say to a parent who lost their child in a bus accident?
‘A verbal apology won’t cut it.’
What was needed now wasn’t emotional platitudes, but a practical solution. Bringing up insurance money to a grieving family would be insensitive, but the difference here was that the character could be recreated.
“… I’ll recreate it from scratch.”
Her sharp, lynx-like eyes pierced my heart.
I had felt this kind of rage before. When the rescue letter I sent was discovered.
Back then, it seemed like a mix of complex emotions.
But the emotions she was displaying now were not as diverse, making it easier to decipher.
‘Rage, emptiness, sadness.’
Don’t be scared. If I cowered here, I would be screwed.
I placed my hand on the Demon King’s shoulder. A small, white shoulder, like any other woman’s.
“I’m sorry. I’m truly sorry, but since it can’t be undone… I’ll recreate it.”
“…”
“It’ll be faster with two people.”
“…”
Her silence felt like a demand for a higher price.
-Gulp
‘I really didn’t want to say this, even if it was a lie.’
“Even if it takes decades.”
My low murmur barely reached her ears, but the Demon King’s ears perked up. And I saw her red eyes glint through her black hair.
“… Okay… Swear to God.”
“…? I swear.”
Huh?
Did I see that wrong?
Faintly, but the Demon King smiled.
… What’s with this strange feeling?
The Demon King created a new character. The reborn pink-haired character was now lounging behind my character, who was diligently digging potatoes.
-Thud, thud, thud, thud, thud
-Thud, thud, thud, thud, thud
The Demon King seemed strangely satisfied. Why did she look happier now, sprawled out on a wooden cart, than when she was riding the roller coaster?
“I want to ride a donkey.”
“… Then ride one.”
“I need one to ride one. They cost 5000 potatoes each.”
“Wow, that’s expensive. Do they lay golden eggs or something?”
“I want to ride one.”
“I don’t have 5000 potatoes, so I can’t buy you one.”
“… My previous character could have bought 100,000 donkeys…”
“… Do they offer payment plans? 12 months?”
Having committed a 10:0 blunder, I was now obligated to fulfill all of her extravagant whims. I was already getting beaten and robbed, but now she was extorting me without any justification. What do you call this? Wage slavery?
“My character wants carrot juice.”
“How can your character talk?”
“She wants it.”
“I’ll start growing carrots right away.”
“She wants it now.”
“How much is it?”
“500 potatoes.”
“That vendor is a rip-off artist. I bet he’s a thief. We should just catch him and use the bounty to buy…”
“Are you going to buy it or not?”
“Wait, I have some potatoes left in the warehouse.”
I didn’t. I had given her everything except this month’s rent. The potatoes I had slaved away for four days were all gone, thanks to the Bean Paste Demon King. This is why it’s important to marry well. Or not at all, perhaps.
-Slurp, slurp, slurp
The Demon King watched with satisfaction as the pink-haired character sipped on the carrot juice, which cost 500 potatoes.
“Hehehe…”
The Demon King’s character, who had gone from being a universal tycoon to a village girl in worn overalls, seemed happy nonetheless.
“Want a sip?”
“You can’t give me any.”
“That’s right.”
‘Just like Nain.’
Then, she said something that short-circuited my brain.
“Hehehe. Hehe. This is fun.”
….!?
The strange feeling I had been experiencing intensified, and I turned my head sharply.
“… What did you just say…? What did you say?”
“…Huh? What did I say?”
The unfathomable depths of the Demon King’s mind were laid bare before me. I threw a potato into the abyss. It just kept sinking. I couldn’t hear it hit the bottom.
-Thud, thud, thud, thud, thud
-Thud, thud, thud, thud, thud
The only sound in the silent room was the rhythmic thud of my hoe. I felt dizzy.
“Can I go to the bathroom?”
“100 potatoes.”
“Here you go.”
I paid the doubled toll and stepped out into the dark hallway.
-Thud, thud
…
-Thud, thud, thud, thud, thud
What if…
Just what if…
What if all of this was part of the Demon King’s plan?
The game conveniently froze when I tried to steal her potatoes.
And then my character was deleted.
It was too perfectly orchestrated to be a coincidence.
Then…
The following sequence becomes plausible.
‘She intentionally made the taxes high to encourage me to steal potatoes. She deliberately showed off her years of progress to amplify my guilt when the character was deleted.’
…
Above all, there were no tears in the Demon King’s eyes when she was sobbing.
Was everything part of her plan?
Did she sacrifice her decades-old world for this moment?
To keep me by her side for decades, farming potatoes?
Right next to my character, making me farm potatoes while she sipped carrot juice made from my hard-earned harvest?
A chill ran down my spine. The genre suddenly shifted to thriller.
When did she… When did she start planning this? When she made me farm potatoes? When we started playing the game? Or… before I even arrived, when she created the character?
…
“Pfft.”
That can’t be.
Overthinking was a habit, and it seemed my paranoia was acting up. My imagination had become overly active lately. The naive Demon King concocting such an elaborate scheme? It was preposterous.
‘I survived this time, so let’s be careful not to make the same mistake again.’
-Splash, splash
I washed my face with cold water and relieved myself. It was a 100-potato bathroom, after all. I had to get my money’s worth.
-Thud, thud
As I approached the game room again, a faint sound from inside caught my attention.
-… Hehe.
!?
-… Hehehe.
The Demon King was inside the closed room, digging potatoes and chuckling softly.
She was definitely, definitely laughing. Like a true demon.
-Now we’ll be together forever.
-Clank
…
It felt like a lock had been placed on my heart.
…
From the beginning. Everything.
I had been dancing in the palm of her hand.
‘Crazy… Crazy demon…’
The genre had changed. To thriller.
…
I wanted to… I wanted to turn around and run away.
‘Yes, let’s do that…’
I turned back, taking blind steps towards a door that led to nowhere.
Stealthily…
Stealthily…
-Click, creak.
!!!!
The Demon King opened the door and peeked her head out.
“You’re back? Come in.”
Her red eyes curved into crescent moons. Her wide mouth opened, and she delivered my death sentence.
“Time to dig potatoes.”