I Became a Raid Boss-Chapter 258: Little by little, slowly

"But isn't it a little weird...""Yeah, really. Does it make sense to suddenly want to move your body?""What’s the big deal? There's something called dawn energy; sometimes you just feel like training all of a sudden.""I get that too, sometimes I want to take a midnight walk.""If you're not going to believe it, then why ask? Haha.""This is why celebrities end up getting mental issues. It’s not even their fault in the first place."

I nodded after reading through the long list of comments under the post.

"Peaceful, huh?"

"...This?"

"This is peaceful. We’re not summoning someone’s parents for a battle or tossing around insults."

"..."

Daeun stopped scrolling and stared at me quietly.

"Why?"

After hearing my words, Daeun remained silent for a while before opening her mouth.

"Kana, can you bring me your phone?"

"...My phone?"

"Yeah. I need to check something."

I froze.

I had a bad feeling about this.

Whoosh!

As soon as I froze, Daeun's hand cut through the air.

Her palm moved, leaving a faint trail in the air.

But—

"Slow."

If she really wanted to catch me, she should’ve moved faster.

It was decent for Daeun, but even a third-rate mercenary could’ve moved faster than that.

"You tried to catch me with that slow pace? You’re a century too early."

"Ugh...!"

I struck a victory pose in front of the trembling Daeun.

"V."

"Ugh...! Calling me arrogant, how rude! ...But it’s cute!"

Click!

Daeun lifted her phone, and the shutter sound rang out.

Normally, I would’ve teased her for making a fuss, but this time, I tilted my head instead.

"What’s 'Do-yaga-o'?"

"Ah, um..."

Daeun, who couldn’t easily answer, fumbled for words.

Watching Daeun struggle, my eyes narrowed.

"...Is this another weird thing?"

Sometimes when I heard strange words, I would look them up, and they turned out to be internet memes.

Some were meaningless, like a joke, while others were made to tease, so when I learned the meaning, I’d get back at Daeun.

Was this one of those moments? I subtly clenched my fist, but Daeun quickly waved her hand in a hurry.

"No! It's not that!"

"If it's not that, why hesitate?"

"I was just thinking about how to explain it! It’s really not anything weird!"

And then she started explaining at rapid speed.

To summarize Daeun's explanation, it was something like, 'A proud face.'

To be more accurate, it was a smug look.

After hearing her explanation, I understood, but at the same time, I didn't quite get it.

"There's nothing difficult about this. Why were you so hesitant?"

"Well, in subculture, it's usually an attribute of clumsy characters. Like, they get cocky and then are caught off guard."

"...But I’m not clumsy?"

"Yeah. I figured Kana would say that, so I was thinking about how to rephrase it."

"You could’ve just not said it at all. You knew what else you could say."

"...Talking about what’s proper here is cheating. Be honest, and win with manipulation and fabrication!"

"What are you talking about?"

I didn’t think it was anything that strange, so I decided to let it go.

‘She wouldn’t lie in this situation.’

She knew very well that a terrible consequence awaited if she got caught lying.

I didn’t think Daeun would go that far.

"I still don’t get why you wanted my phone?"

"You said it was peaceful just now, Kana."

Daeun pointed to the monitor screen as she answered.

"I was curious about what you usually watch to call this peaceful."

"I don’t think that’s all there is to it."

"...If I check and it’s not right, I’ll install a parental control app... Ah!"

I knew it.

She had been hiding some dark thoughts all along.

"I’ve said it dozens of times already. I’m not a kid."

I knew that Daeun considered me a younger sibling, and she had said so herself.

"But there’s no need to always protect me."

Sometimes, when browsing the internet, I’d see people who took pride in using foul language.

They’d argue with people from different countries and say that their insults were so much worse than what we use in Korea.

Is that really something to be proud of? Well, that’s a separate issue.

"I’ve heard worse insults than that."

From my perspective, who has heard words spoken on the battlefield where lives are on the line, it wasn’t a big deal.

Words spoken at the peak of emotions are full of human malice.

You can’t say them in your right mind.

"...Now I’m curious."

"There’s nothing to gain from knowing."

I pushed Daeun, who was showing interest, away.

I didn’t want to say it, and if I were to say it, I certainly didn’t want Daeun to be the one to hear it.

What good would it do?

"That’s it!"

Daeun, who had been quietly listening, suddenly jumped up from her seat.

I looked up at Daeun in surprise as she shouted with excitement.

"What do you mean by that? What are you talking about all of a sudden?"

The source of this c𝐨ntent is freёnovelkiss.com.

"You just said ‘That’s it’s not a good thing,’ Kana. That’s what I wanted to say."

"...?"

I still didn’t understand what she meant.

"Just calm down a bit."

I tried to calm Daeun, who was flapping her arms wildly.

Though she was still standing, she spoke in a much calmer voice than before.

"Kana, it’s different from what you’re used to, and it’s not like it’s a good thing, right? Things like 'How are your parents, what about your family education'... those kinds of words."

"...That’s true?"

"Yeah. So, I hope Kana doesn’t see those kinds of words as much as possible. There’s no need to go looking for them."

Just as Kana didn’t want to hear bad words, I didn’t want Kana to see bad things either.

That’s what Daeun said.

"..."

And I couldn’t argue with that.

Once I said it, I couldn’t really refute it. Plus, Daeun’s words were the right thing to say.

If I were to argue that this and that were different, I’d probably be asking for the same words I heard on the battlefield.

It wasn’t about forcing it; it was about me hoping she wouldn’t do it for my sake.

In the end, I relented and nodded.

"...Okay. I’ll try not to watch them from now on."

"Really?"

"Yeah."

I wasn’t watching it for the sake of enjoying the fights. I had just happened to see it, but I didn’t expect Daeun to react so seriously.

After I promised and linked my pinky finger with hers, Daeun smiled contentedly.

"Great. Since you promised, I’ll let the phone search go."

"...Thanks?"

"Anytime. Anyway, back to the main topic, I’m glad nothing happened. Honestly, I was worried it would cause another fire in the fan cafe."

Daeun shrugged and joked.

"Daeun worries too much. You’ve been in broadcasting for so long, why are you stressing over this?"

"Of course I’m worried! If something goes wrong, I won’t be able to take care of Kana. I want to send her to a good family, and if I can’t handle the sadness, I’ll just drink away each day. Then, one day, I’ll see Kana, smiling brightly from afar, and think, ‘She never gave me that look when she was with me.’ I’d get jealous..."

"Was your childhood dream to become a novelist?"

How could she rattle off like this without stopping?

It’s really amazing every time I see it.

I tilted my head.

"...So?"

Listening to her, it ➤ NоvеⅠight ➤ (Read more on our source) was getting a bit interesting.

"What happened after you got jealous?"

I urged Daeun for the next part of the story, and she gave me a smug look.

"Keep reading."

"...?"

"Starting next episode, it’s pay-per-view. If you want to keep reading, pay up."

So that’s what a "Do-yaga-o" was.

She had that expression, full of mischief, like she wanted to mess with me.

Did I really make that expression?

I couldn’t believe it, but shrugged it off and rummaged through my pockets.

"Ugh..."

Of course, I found nothing in my hands.

I’d never had cash in my hands since I came to Earth, so there was no way I had any money.

"..."

After thinking for a moment, I confidently held out my palm.

"Huh? What’s this?"

"...Give me some pocket money."

I need to keep reading, quickly.

A moment later, Daeun’s loud laughter echoed through the house.