I Became a Raid Boss

Yuki’s mornings were always early.

Unless she stayed up late chatting or gaming like yesterday, she always woke up early to start her day.

Gulp.

The first thing Yuki did upon waking was drink water.

As usual, instead of the cold water stored in the fridge, she opted for lukewarm water to soothe her throat. Afterward, she let out a long breath.

Next to Yuki, the two others were still deep in dreamland.

“Hehe….”

“Ugh….”

At that moment, Da-eun shifted in her sleep, pulling the girl beside her into a tight hug.

Kana, who had suddenly found herself enveloped in Da-eun’s arms, frowned as if to protest the discomfort. However, being lost in her dreams, Da-eun remained oblivious.

Kana grumbled softly for a moment but soon regained her peaceful expression.

It seemed that the slightly stifling embrace was unexpectedly comforting, given her usual preference for burrowing into blankets while sleeping.

Yuki observed them silently before changing clothes and stepping out of the vacation house.

This, too, was part of her morning routine.

She would either run along the walking trail, do some light exercises to loosen her body, or sometimes both.

This time, she chose the second option.

Stretching her long limbs, Yuki began to loosen up.

Tap.

“…Hmm?”

Just then, an unwelcome visitor arrived.

Feeling something touch her head, Yuki stopped moving and looked up.

Plip-plop.

As if on cue, raindrops began to fall in earnest.

“Oh dear.”

She hadn’t finished her routine yet.

Should she continue and just let herself get wet since she’d be washing up afterward anyway?

As she debated, Yuki shook her head.

Pitter-patter-patter!

The light drizzle quickly turned into a downpour.

Now the rain wasn’t just drops but thick streams drenching her.

“….”

Her clothes became soaked in an instant, clinging tightly to her body.

Yuki closed her eyes, fully taking in the unpleasant and soggy sensation.

“It was so clear just a while ago.”

***

“It doesn’t look like this rain will stop anytime soon.”

Da-eun said, breaking the silence.

I had been wondering why she was staring out the window for so long, and now I knew.

“How do you know?”

“Hmm? It just feels like it.”

“Ah, I see.”

I ignored their silly conversation and turned my gaze outside.

Indeed, judging by the force of the rain, it didn’t seem like a passing shower.

The sky was dark and overcast.

Even though it had only been a few hours since sunrise, the world outside looked like night had fallen.

“Kana!”

Wham!

As I leaned against the window frame, staring out at the rain, I felt a sudden weight on my back.

The impact wasn’t too strong; she must have held back. My body swayed for a moment but didn’t tip forward.

Two pale arms emerged from behind me.

Naturally, they weren’t mine.

“Hehe.”

“….”

I also felt a light weight settle on my head.

“Get off.”

“Hehe, Kana always smells so sweet. We use the same shampoo, so why do you smell so different from me? It’s fascinating!”

Not only did she ignore my demand, but she doubled down on her antics.

What is she even doing, sniffing someone’s hair like this?

“…I’m going to shower.”

“Huh? No, no, I wasn’t saying you smell bad! You really smell sweet, I mean it. Oh, did you think I was calling it a smell? Then I’ll call it a fragrance instead.”

“It’s not about the wording.”

Sniff, sniff.

To test it, I grabbed a lock of hair near my collarbone and gave it a quick sniff.

Unsurprisingly, it had no scent.

If anything, there was a faint trace of shampoo, but even that was barely noticeable unless I closed my eyes and focused.

I tilted my head…

Or at least I tried to, but the weight on my head stopped me.

“There’s no scent.”

It was foolish of me to believe Da-eun.

“What’s this? Were you really trying to smell the sweet fragrance I mentioned? Kana, you must really like sweet things, huh?”

“You’re wrong on both counts.”

“Hmm. That can’t be right. Even if I was wrong about the scent, Kana liking sweet things is an unchangeable truth!”

“Don’t misuse phrases like ‘unchangeable truth.’”

“Does that mean you’ll stop eating chocolate now?”

“….”

“Hehe, just kidding. But I wasn’t joking about what I said earlier.”

About the fragrance.

Her amused voice tickled my ears, and the breath grazing my hairline descended to my nape.

“Even back in Silia, you had the same scent, so it’s probably not the shampoo but your natural scent. Besides, if it were the shampoo, it wouldn’t come from your whole body.”

“Da-eun.”

“Sniff, sniff, huh?”

“You’re such a creep.”

What better word could there be for someone burying their nose into another person’s body and commenting on it?

“…Gasp.”

Da-eun feigned a dramatic gasp.

Someone who didn’t know her might think my words had truly shocked her.

But I knew better.

Da-eun wasn’t that kind of person.

“Starting the day with such a blessing… Today is truly my lucky day.”

“Of course.”

I couldn’t understand why she enjoyed this sort of thing.

But voicing my thoughts would only make her act out more.

Of course, I knew she was joking, but…

Sometimes, I couldn’t help but wonder, “What if she’s being serious?”

Sniff.

“…?”

As I was caught somewhere between the joke and the truth, another breath tickled my shoulder.

“…What are you doing?”

I asked Yuki, who had suddenly leaned in close without me noticing.

Without answering, Yuki, engrossed in her task, raised her head.

“It’s true.”

“What’s true?”

“There really is a sweet fragrance.”

“You’re saying that too now?”

Was her repressed nature unleashed by Da-eun, or was it the other way around?

It was one of those chicken-or-egg dilemmas that I had no energy to solve.

“How does such a smell come from you? It’s fascinating.”

“Right? It’s incredibly fragrant, isn’t it?”

“Indeed.”

“I’m amazed at you both.”

Scent this, fragrance that—what nonsense were they even talking about?

I brushed off their synchronized chatter.

“…Ah! Kana ran away! She was fine until Yuki showed up! So this is all Yuki’s fault!”

“Aren’t you the one who started it? That makes it your fault.”

“No, it’s both of yours.”

Freeing myself from the two, I burrowed into the unmade bedding.

Da-eun gave me a longing look, but when I glared at her, she averted her gaze.

“With the rain pouring like this, sightseeing is probably out of the question today. Eating out seems difficult too. Good thing we stocked up on food beforehand.”

“It might stop later, though.”

“That would be great, but…”

Da-eun murmured, her gaze still fixed outside the window.

“Like I said earlier, it doesn’t look like it’ll stop anytime soon. Well, if it clears up later, we can go out then. For now, let’s take it easy. Still, it’s strange. The forecast didn’t mention any rain at all.”

“When has the weather forecast ever been reliable?”

“Wow, such deep-rooted distrust.”

“I’m just saying the truth.”

“It just shows how hard it is to predict the weather.”

Da-eun shrugged at Yuki’s comment.

“Anyway, I hope it stops. It’s a shame to spend the whole day cooped up in the vacation house when we have to leave tomorrow.”

However.

Contrary to Da-eun’s hopes, the tapping of rain against the window continued well into the night.

***

“…Still raining?”

“Yeah, still.”

Sitting on a chair by the window, gazing outside, I nodded.

“It’s relentless. I didn’t think it’d stop quickly, but I didn’t expect it to last all day. It hasn’t even let up.”

“Even the weathercaster was flustered. They didn’t anticipate this much rain.”

“They didn’t even expect rain at all.”

Da-eun sighed.

Then she turned to me—

“This won’t do. It’s time for Kana to step up.”

“…Huh?”

“Kana will slice through the storm clouds with her sword!”

Like this, swoosh-swoosh!

“Then the rain will stop.”

She accompanied her words with bizarre gestures that I could only guess were meant to signify cloud-slicing.

…Was this supposed to be some kind of ritual to wish the rain away?

“Anyone can see it’s a cool image of slicing through storm clouds.”

“Nobody thinks that.”

“Exactly.”

“Ugh, come on!”

Even my words were heavily toned down.

Unaware of my restraint, Da-eun pouted her lips in mock offense.

I ignored her exaggerated reaction and said,

“Do it?”

“…Can I even do that?”

“Weren’t you asking because you thought you could?”

“I was just saying it for fun. Who would seriously think anyone could slice through storm clouds?”

“I thought you could if it’s you, Kana.”

“Good for you.”

Da-eun ruffled my hair playfully.

“…Well, now that I think about it, maybe Kana could actually pull it off.”

“Yeah, even though I’ve never tried it before.”

“It’s fine. If you do, it’ll probably be on the evening news as a special report. Something like, ‘The Mystery Behind the Phenomenon That Split the Sky.’”

“That’s true.”

If it took enough mana to chase away the clouds covering the entire sky, it would definitely draw attention.

Da-eun, who suggested it, and I, who played along, both knew the conversation wasn’t serious.

We were just having this frivolous exchange because there wasn’t much else to do.

“I never thought it’d keep raining until the day we leave. It’s disappointing, but it’s not like this is our only chance to visit.”

Let’s come back on a better day.

Just as I was about to nod at Da-eun’s consoling words,

“Wait a second.”

Yuki, who had been tossing in occasional comments while scrolling on her phone, suddenly spoke up.

“The flights are canceled.”

“…What?”

Hit by the unexpected bad news, Da-eun’s face froze in shock.

—

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