I Became a Raid Boss

“Can Kana stop the wind from blowing? Or prevent water from flowing?”

“….”

“Human hearts are the same. Even if the mind says no, the heart doesn’t always agree. Sometimes it leads to foolish actions or falling in love at first sight. But I don’t think that’s entirely a bad thing.”

Da-eun faintly smiled, a wistful expression crossing her face.

“Even if it leads to arguments, hating someone, or turning away from a close friend. Because it is the heart that allows for salvation to exist.”

“…Da-eun.”

“If there were no hearts, conflicts might cease to exist, but a world where everyone only made rational decisions would undoubtedly be a cold one.”

Fighting, reconciling, hating, and loving.

That is what ‘humanity’ is.

“And so, I think wandering wherever the heart desires, wherever the feet take you, is part of the charm of traveling. The heart is a blessing and a miracle bestowed upon humans.”

When Da-eun finished speaking, none of us could say anything.

Was it because her words struck a chord?

Or because the wistful smile on her face rendered us speechless?

No.

“You really made a lack of planning sound so grandiose.”

“Mm-hmm.”

Who would believe that all these words were just a response to being asked about her plans?

Honestly, I doubt anyone would.

Even I, who listened to Da-eun’s nonsense from start to finish, couldn’t understand it.

“…Did you even hear what I said just now?”

“I heard you. Quite well, in fact.”

“Then how could you react like that? It was such a moving speech…!”

“…Moving?”

I wouldn’t say it was moving, but it was memorable.

The fact that she could string such words together meant she must have thought about them often.

Or maybe she’d heard them before.

Just as crops won’t sprout on barren land, it felt like Da-eun must have seen and learned quite a lot.

In other words, Da-eun’s elaborate speech neither impressed me more nor less than that.

“And it’s not that there’s no plan! ‘Wander wherever the heart desires!’ is the plan!”

“…Well, I guess that’s one way to put it.”

I don’t particularly mind the lack of planning.

After all, this trip itself was decided on a whim, leaving little time to prepare.

There’s also my own responsibility, having dumped everything on her after merely sharing my opinion, and I’m not the type to meticulously plan my actions.

“You’re the one who got all defensive and rambled on without anyone saying anything.”

“…Ugh!”

“Do we have a place to stay?”

Yuki casually asked the momentarily deflated Da-eun.

Since she had joined us on this trip upon Da-eun’s suggestion, it was natural that she didn’t know much.

“I’ve got the basics like accommodations and a rental car sorted out. I’ve also looked into places we could visit. Well, more like I already knew them from a previous trip.”

“So you did have a plan.”

“When it comes to preparedness, I’m Shin Da-eun, remember? That said, I haven’t decided on any specific activities. Just going with the flow and doing whatever catches our eye.”

“I’m on board. Kana?”

Kana silently nodded.

We didn’t come here to do anything extraordinary, and the decision to travel was impulsive to begin with.

In that sense, Da-eun’s idea of doing whatever felt right in the moment seemed to fit the purpose better.

“…Exactly! That’s exactly what I was thinking! I put so much thought into this, but Kana and Yuki don’t even get it and keep criticizing me….”

“Your voice is shaking.”

“And we didn’t even criticize you that much.”

“Why do you two always team up against me during moments like this? Am I a public enemy?!”

“It’s not that you’re a public enemy; it’s more of a behavioral issue.”

“T-that’s harsh! You’ve been trying to leave me out and blame me for everything since earlier…!”

“Well, that’s because Da-eun-”

That’s because Da-eun keeps saying weird things.

If Yuki had been the one talking instead of Da-eun, the blame would’ve been directed at her.

That’s what I wanted to say, but.

“I’m sulking!”

Da-eun yelled before I could finish.

She stormed off to the car parked in the airport lot and got in.

Then, sticking her head out of the window, she declared.

“If you don’t apologize right now, I’ll leave the two of you behind this time!”

“What?”

Da-eun, with her sharp glare and dramatic words, looked like someone determined to abandon the world before it could abandon her.

Yuki and I, left behind by Da-eun, exchanged glances.

‘What’s her deal?’

‘No idea.’

‘You live with Da-eun, though. Shouldn’t you know?’

‘It’s Da-eun.’

‘Ah.’

We only exchanged glances, yet it felt as though we could hear each other’s thoughts.

Maybe it was just my imagination, but for that brief moment, it felt like our minds were connected.

“I’m sorry.”

Yuki apologized.

However, there was a problem—her apology came across as insincere.

Even I, just listening from the side, could tell. There was no way Da-eun wouldn’t notice.

“That’s not sincere!”

As expected, Da-eun’s anger only grew.

Honestly, I didn’t even think she was truly upset.

From what I’ve seen online, these days, people call this kind of thing WWE*. *(sarcastic slang for overly exaggerating dramatic arguments or conflicts)

“If you’re going to apologize, do it with sincerity!”

“I’m really sorry.”

“…Adding one more word doesn’t magically make it sincere!”

“…I sincerely apologize?”

“I’m telling you, just saying more words doesn’t make it sincere! Apologies need to come from the heart!”

“What a hassle. What kind of apology do you even want?”

As if she’d been waiting for those words, Da-eun slammed her hands on the steering wheel the moment Yuki finished speaking.

Honk!

“Eek?!”

And just like that, when the short honk blared, she jumped in surprise—a reaction that was so very Da-eun.

“…Ahem! Like I said earlier, I want an apology that feels sincere.”

Da-eun cleared her throat and cautiously glanced around.

“…And if Kana does it with some cuteness, I’d consider that a sincere apology.”

“Just stay sulky forever. Yuki, let’s go.”

See? It’s exactly like WWE.

She wasn’t really upset to begin with; she was just hiding impure motives, so there was no need to apologize in the first place.

There wasn’t anything else to hear, so I turned away.

Now that I knew her intentions were ridiculous, Yuki would lose interest too.

“…?”

Or so I thought, but for some reason, Yuki didn’t react at all.

I paused mid-step and looked up to see Yuki rubbing her chin.

“That idea is a bit tempting.”

“….”

This is bad.

Yuki’s caught the Da-eun syndrome too.

“Right?! Kana’s already so cute just sitting there, so wouldn’t it be interesting to see how adorable she’d be if she actually tried being cute? I can’t be the only one curious, right?”

“Hmm, definitely.”

“…Since when were you into things like that?”

“Well, I prefer beautiful and cute things over anything grotesque. In that sense, Kana is… hmm.”

Yuki gave a thumbs-up.

It seems the current target is me.

However.

While Da-eun herself, as the host and source of the Da-eun syndrome, is beyond saving, it’s still easy to slow down the progress in someone infected.

“Walking to the lodging could serve as training too.”

“…!”

Flinch!

Yuki’s body visibly jolted.

However, it seemed that wasn’t enough, as Yuki quickly suppressed her unease and feigned composure.

In that case, I’ll go a little further—

“If you walk to the lodging, I might even consider giving you a reward.”

I slightly lowered my voice, speaking more softly than usual.

At the subtle tone, Yuki’s body began to tremble.

“I-I’ll go—”

Bang!

“Me too! I want to go too!”

Da-eun burst out of the car she’d been sitting in and came running.

“I want a reward from Kana too! So say it to me the same way…! Why are you using that voice only for Yuki?!”

…This, I didn’t expect.

***

Fortunately, we didn’t end up doing something as foolish as walking to our lodging while leaving behind a perfectly good rental car.

Had we actually done that, the rental company probably would’ve been baffled.

Then again, they’d already been paid, so maybe they’d just laugh it off.

Though Yuki seemed a little disappointed about not walking, Da-eun didn’t appear the least bit upset.

“…Say the same thing you said earlier?”

When she begged me to repeat exactly what I’d told Yuki instead of acting cute, I complied, and she ended up enjoying it.

“…Why do they even like this kind of thing? Ugh…”

“Gasp! Service on top of that…! Thank you, thank you.”

…Honestly, I felt a little weirded out at that moment.

Why would anyone even want to hear something like that?

I seriously can’t understand it.

“I was thinking about something.”

Da-eun, having entrusted the driving to the self-driving feature, looked at me from the passenger seat.

“Since we’re on Jeju Island, I think we should visit Hallasan Mountain. How about we go tomorrow morning since it’s already late today?”

“Hallasan?”

“Yeah. It’s the tallest mountain in Korea, and the view is amazing. It would’ve been even better in the spring, but oh well.”

“Hmm…”

Hallasan, huh.

It wasn’t like I didn’t know about it.

It was more like I asked out of habit.

“If Da-eun wants to, sure.”

Climbing a mountain isn’t exactly strenuous.

Having already achieved the goal of hanging out together, I didn’t feel the need to object to Da-eun’s suggestion.

“What about Yuki?”

“…Whatever.”

A slightly pouty voice came from the back seat.

Though she didn’t seem thrilled with the situation, Yuki didn’t dislike the idea itself and agreed.

“Great! Then let’s wake up early tomorrow and go hiking!”

Da-eun exclaimed enthusiastically.

It was a spontaneous, impulsive decision.

“…Not bad.”

As Da-eun said, going with the flow might not be such a bad thing after all.

—

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