novelnext Chapter 57 : Chapter 57
Chapter 57 : Chapter 57
Chapter 57
The old cast iron front door opened with a creak.
I, Lee Ju-seong, and Park So-yul entered the single-person lodging where old moisture was soaked in side by side.
This space, surrounded by concrete walls on all sides, consisted of furniture no different from any business hotel single room.
A bed and a dressing table, a chest of drawers and a coffee table, and a bathroom without a single window.
Compared to the gym, it was an incredibly luxurious composition.
Park So-yul narrowed her eyes and looked around the room.
“I guess you earned some money while I was away?”
Without turning my head, I took off the outer garment I was wearing and hung it on a nail driven into the wall.
“Well, I earned a decent amount.”
The pride seeping into my words represented my past actions.
Even without stating the numbers, the fact that it was by no means a small amount must have been conveyed.
Park So-yul leaned her back against the wall and crossed her arms.
Whether she was gradually getting used to the air of this island, her shoulders, which had been raised from tension, were slowly coming down.
“It seems like you're earning money well. How was life? Was it worth staying?”
She asked again.
It was a question driven by pure interest, wondering about my tracks.
I clenched my mouth and gave strength to both corners of my lips to make a pleasant smile, then stood by the window and sat on the windowsill.
“I lived no differently than during Round 1. Observing when I needed to observe, and fighting when I needed to fight. I was able to survive until now because I was still less lazy than my opponents.”
“Did you find anyone trustworthy?”
“That part is so-so. I met about two new people. One... remained as a somewhat dangerous relationship.”
Park So-yul’s eyes shook slightly.
It seemed the word ‘dangerous relationship’ touched somewhere inside her.
“You lived better than I thought.”
“What about you?”
When I, the protagonist, asked back, Park So-yul shook her head slightly.
“Wouldn't the fact that I returned here be an answer in itself?”
She answered with the corners of her mouth raised, but a gray light that had not yet gone out was still floating in those eyes.
At that moment, silence flowed in the room.
The air between the two of us passed wordlessly, and it felt as if balloons of emotion that seemed like they would burst if touched were floating in the air.
I saw that dirty smudge marks remained on Park So-yul’s cheeks and neck and said.
“How about you take a shower and come out? I will order room service while you are washing.”
Park So-yul brought her arm close to her face and sniffed her own scent.
A line was drawn between her fair eyebrows.
It seemed it was quite terrible even for her to smell.
“Should I take that as pure goodwill?”
“Haha, at least I can confidently say that no lewd intentions are mixed in.”
“I don't know if I should take it well or badly.”
“I think So-yul is attractive, but before that, you're a comrade. At least I won't be the one to touch you first. So if So-yul ever feels like it, please tell me anytime.”
I extended my right arm to the side as if imitating a cultured gentleman, then pulled it back elegantly while placing my palm on my left chest.
At the same time, I completed the posture by bowing my waist slightly.
Park So-yul finally regained her smile at my standard attitude of not blocking those who come and not blocking those who leave.
“You're truly the same as ever.”
I pushed the windowsill with my buttocks and moved away from the window as if bouncing.
Then, I opened the shower room door as if a butler was bringing a guest into a mansion and made a gesture for her to go inside.
I added a word as an aside.
“Because there's no reason to change.”
Whether my answer was quite to her liking, Park So-yul pulled her hair tie.
Her greasy hair spread out abundantly, and it shook along whenever Park So-yul’s head shook left and right.
Soon the shower room door closed, and the sound of pouring water echoed cozily.
While Park So-yul was showering, I operated the living room intercom to order room service.
The menu was a Club sandwich set.
It was a menu with a sandwich containing bacon and chicken, accompanied by French fries and fruit ade.
Right after the food ordered through room service arrived, the shower room door opened and white steam burst out.
As if opening a bamboo steamer.
Inside the steam, Park So-yul walked out while patting her wet hair with a towel.
Park So-yul was wearing my T-shirt, which was several sizes too large, and shorts, and although her body line was not visible at all, a sense of voluptuousness seeped out.
“Thanks for letting me use the shower. After washing, I realized that I had been living in a sticky state until now.”
“Staying overnight is not allowed, but if it's the shower room, I'll lend it to you anytime.”
“Oh my, are you afraid I might jump you?”
“I would happily accept that anytime, but before that, I'm worried about So-yul’s balance. Even if it's a single room, you have to pay an additional fee if two people sleep.”
The guest room fee was unrelated to the size of the room.
If the number of people increased, an additional fee per person had to be paid.
It was a measure to prevent the trick of multiple people sleeping in a single room in advance.
I took up one side of the coffee table and gestured to the opposite seat for Park So-yul.
“Please sit.”
Park So-yul accepted my invitation and sat opposite me.
The characteristic lavender scent of the hotel conditioner wafted as she passed by me.
The feeling was peculiar as people emitting the same conditioner smell sat across from each other.
“I'll eat well.”
Taking Park So-yul’s pre-meal greeting as a starting point, the meal began.
Park So-yul was eating very combatively.
As if she had just realized she was hungry until now, she bit into the sandwich frantically and put handfuls of French fries into her mouth.
I had barely taken two bites, but Park So-yul was already finishing her meal.
Slurp!
When she emptied the 500ml Grapefruit ade at once with a straw, Park So-yul wiped her mouth with a napkin belatedly and looked embarrassed.
“I'm sorry. I've been so distracted for the past few days that I barely ate properly.”
I slid my portion of French fries, which I hadn't even touched, toward Park So-yul and asked.
“How did you end up coming back?”
I roughly knew the reason, but I wanted to check specifically in case Park So-yul’s personal circumstances had changed as the scenario changed.
Park So-yul took a deep breath as if suppressing her anger.
“Haa, actually, my family doesn't have a father. And my mother is...”
Her eyes became sharp as if the thought alone made her angry.
Like a master sword forged by a craftsman named time.
“A fanatic who fell for Taepyeong-gyo and offered up the household assets.”
It was the same as the personal circumstances of Park So-yul that I knew.
Although I knew, I feigned ignorance.
“Did you put out the urgent fire with the money you earned before?”
“I thought I could. But when I went home... no, the house to go back to itself had disappeared.”
“Oh no...”
“Did I ever tell you that I have a younger sister who just turned twenty?”
“You hardly spoke about your personal circumstances.”
Park So-yul held the straw stuck in the glass cup and spun it around.
The ice inside the glass cup made a clinking sound as it bumped into each other disorientedly.
Reflecting her troubled state of mind.
“Because my mother was in that state, I took my sister out two years ago with the intention of cutting ties completely. I scraped all the savings I had collected until then and got a small jeonse room.”
Thinking it was best to just listen, I maintained silence.
“...”
Park So-yul, who took my silence as a sign of listening, continued.
“I thought I just had to pay off the loan debt in my name that was created because of my mother. But while I was away to participate here, something happened.”
“...”
“It seems my mother contacted my sister while I was absent. She reportedly begged saying she was wrong and asked to live together after finding a new house. And she said the money needed to buy a new house was slightly lacking and asked her to chip in just a little.”
The situation was like this.
Park So-yul’s mother, Park Young-ok, contacted Park So-yul’s sister and found out the location of the jeonse room.
When her mother came and begged while crying, the sister, whose heart weakened, ended up answering that she understood for now.
The sister naturally intended to wait for Park So-yul’s decision, but Park So-yul did not return even after a long time.
In the meantime, Park Young-ok continued to pressure the sister by appealing emotionally, and finally committed an atrocity.
Taking advantage of the expiration of the jeonse room contract, she notified the landlord that they would not be renewing the contract.
The landlord took it as it was since it was what a parent said, and soon found a new tenant and deposited the jeonse deposit into Park So-yul’s account.
However, there was one problem.
It was that Park Young-ok still had various powers of attorney that she had made by gaslighting Park So-yul back when she didn't know anything.
Park So-yul bit her lips repeatedly and spoke with a boiling voice.
“Not enough with my jeonse deposit, she even canceled the actual cost insurance I put in my sister's name and scraped away all the money we had. Knowing that her leg is uncomfortable and she needs to keep receiving treatment... haa...”
Park So-yul shuddered, unable to continue her words in the end.
Currently, Park So-yul’s sister was temporarily staying at the studio apartment of a friend Park So-yul knew.
However, the sister would be walking on eggshells in her own way, and separately from that, she felt sorry to death for causing trouble to the friend, so her mind couldn't possibly be at ease.
“While I was in trouble, a Dealer came to find me. They suggested how about re-participating while providing certain information to me.”
“It must have been information that made you have no choice but to re-participate.”
“Yes, that's right.”
Park So-yul spoke with viscous murderous intent.
“It was information that Park Young-ok, that bitch, participated in this game along with the Taepyeong-gyo people.”
Reunion with Park Young-ok.
That was precisely Park So-yul’s top priority.
As an aside, she wanted to secure an amount that would allow her to live a normal life with her sister this time, not for the sake of putting out an urgent fire.
I mentioned the clash with Kim Ju-han’s group earlier.
“It was good that we provoked Kim Ju-han earlier.”
“Your calculating side is the same as ever. It was all a setup, right?”
“The game site is not only on this island. There are several other islands. Kim Ju-han is someone who came over from another island because the players on this island decreased and they had to urgently fill the numbers.”
“I understand. That bitch is not on this island, but depending on the conditions, you can artificially induce her to come to this island from another island.”
The number of players will continue to decrease in the future.
When that time comes, players from other islands will come to our island.
Since Kim Ju-han will know he is no match for me for now, it is certain that he will try to recruit a Dealer and bring the followers to this island even by overexerting himself.
I clearly stated that I was cooperating because it was also beneficial to me.
“I will tell you in advance to prevent misunderstanding. I am trying to make a mark out of Kim Ju-han in my own way, so do not feel burdened.”
“Heh, you're good at strategies but you have no talent for creating a mood. It would be much more helpful for maintaining Ju-seong’s ability to just let me misunderstand instead.”
“If you really want to misunderstand, you can do that too. I welcome it anytime.”
When I lifted the glass containing the Grapefruit ade as if making a toast, Park So-yul burst into a small laugh.
With this, the two of us finished the work of clearly stating each other's positions, and as a result, we promised to continue cooperating.
After the meal was over, Park So-yul left the guest room to return to the gym.
I saw her off.
“Kim Ju-han’s group will be staying at the gym, but they won't be able to recklessly lay a hand on So-yul. Since you showed off your friendship with me, they will lay low as much as possible.”
Park So-yul left the place while leaving a greeting thanking me for the concern.
After sending Park So-yul off, I washed up briefly and fell onto the bed as if collapsing.
As the tension was released, the aftermath of playing Rounds 3 and 4 in succession rushed in all at once.
While my eyes were closing, a faint lavender scent was felt.
I couldn't tell if it was the scent wafting from me or the lingering scent Park So-yul left behind.
Even though it was a smell I always smelled, for some reason today I felt completely at ease and could sleep comfortably.
Chirp chirp!
The moment I encountered the morning bird sounds, which are evidence of a sound sleep, my eyes snapped open.
The clock placed on the dressing table was pointing to noon.
My mood sank rapidly at the thought that I had missed the free breakfast buffet for hotel guests.
However, the regret was only for a moment, and for once I could hear good news through the announcement.
[Everyone, the players who safely survived Round 4, you have worked hard.]
[Today is a rest period.]
[We intend to praise the survivors who have survived for a long time, and provide time for those who chose to return by re-participating to grasp the tendencies of the survivors.]
[We have prepared a buffet in the hall lobby. We inform you that the buffet operates only during lunch time and it is a mandatory participation event for all survivors.]
It was news that players who had insisted on only free meals to save money would be happy about.
However, the organization would not show kindness for no reason.
The proof was that they notified it was an event that all survivors must forcibly participate in.
As expected, through the subsequent additional guidance, it was revealed that the free buffet was also part of the next game.
[Communicate with various players during the meal and form a 4-person group. The 4-person group formed today will become one team and participate in Round 5 that will take place tomorrow.]