TPDGR 29

Chapter 29 ….

“Excited? I just went like BANG against the wall. Heart racing yet?”

Instead of her heart, Hyunjin’s eyes trembled slightly side to side. Then he let out a faint sigh as he looked at Ana.

It wasn’t unusual for Ana to do something strange that defied expectations.

Today was just another one of those weird impulses.

Honestly, he had no idea what exactly she was doing… but he knew the answer.

Looking at Ana, brimming with anticipation, Hyunjin said firmly,

“No.”

“…!”

Honestly, he didn’t even understand why she would be excited. He didn’t know what wall-banging was.

All he knew was that, by normal standards, doing something like this to someone else was incredibly rude.

If she did this to anyone else, it would be a disaster.

Hyunjin was generally unflappable, able to endure almost any kind of attack or malice. But if a civilian were on the receiving end, they would surely faint.

The thought of Ana doing this to anyone else was horrifying.

What if the other person had a heart attack from it?

So Hyunjin decided to teach her a lesson by reversing the situation.

In an instant, their positions switched.

“Huh?”

Surprised, Ana was pressed against the wall as Hyunjin’s arms trapped her. Their faces were now even closer.

Ana, flustered, tried to speak.

She looked at Hyunjin in shock.

His scent came rushing closer.

Ana’s eyes widened. She couldn’t comprehend the situation. She was now trapped by Hyunjin’s arms.

‘D-did Hyunjin just do a wall-bang to me?’

There was no one else around. Only the shadowed figure of Hyunjin and his dark eyes were visible. She felt like her flustered face was reflected back at her.

“Excited?”

Hyunjin repeated his own question.

Ana twisted her body in embarrassment. Her left arm was blocked. As she tried to turn to escape, her right arm was stopped as well.

Ana groaned in confusion.

She could easily have shrugged off his arms with her strength, but she was too shocked to think clearly. Even though his arms were only loosely encircling her, it felt like a barrier.

“Kim Ana, excited?”

Trapped and restless, Hyunjin asked again.

Blushing, Ana shouted,

“No! Not… not at all!”

For some reason, she felt embarrassed and her heart was pounding.

This kind of thing… wasn’t exciting at all. Totally lame!

Just as Ana, having collected herself, tried to push him away with force,

Hyunjin withdrew his arms and stepped back smoothly.

“See?”

“What?”

“Since it didn’t excite you at all, don’t do this to anyone else. It’s rude. You understand now?”

For some reason, he spoke as if teaching an elementary school kid. Unlike Ana, who was flustered and upset, Hyunjin remained calm.

It felt unfair. Like being scolded by an adult.

In frustration, Ana slammed her head against his chest. Hyunjin groaned and stumbled.

“Kim Ana!”

Seizing the opportunity, Ana dashed past and left the castle behind.

Yes, now she knew that wall-banging was not exciting at all.

She needed another way! Another way to appeal and make Hyunjin obey her!

Time passed. The sun set, and darkness fell over the Demon King’s Dungeon.

The fire crackled brightly, and behind it, the puppet theater stage boxes were set up. Puppets climbed onto the stage and greeted the audience.

“Now then! This is the first play we’re performing after settling here!”

“Waaah!”

The children clapped and cheered. Among them, Hyunjin was present.

He didn’t understand why he was still here.

“Excited?”

Suddenly, Ana, who had called him to the castle wall, said something strange and inexplicable. After reversing the earlier situation, she had bumped his ribs with her head and then dashed away.

She grabbed him before he could return to Earth.

“Play! You have to watch the play!”

“…Play?”

“It’s my royal theater’s puppet show. You’ll be amazed! After watching it, my dungeon will seem completely different! You’ll fall head over heels!”

She raised her head confidently, proudly presenting her puppet theater.

So somehow, he ended up having dinner and watching the puppet show with her.

[Hah, a puppet show! They do everything in the dungeon!]

Ego Sword muttered, but only Hyunjin could hear it.

“Hello, Hyunjin.”

“Oh, hello.”

Joanna approached Hyunjin, who was sitting in the field.

She bowed politely and sat next to him.

Being a saint, she showed no romantic interest even sitting next to a man.

Hyunjin also had no particular thoughts at the time.

“Ahem, ahem.”

At that moment, Ana approached between them.

“No seats left. Ahem…”

She cleared her throat and squeezed between Hyunjin and Joanna, sitting down.

“Demon King?”

[Why does that Demon King have to squeeze in between us like that!? Tch!]

Hyunjin raised an eyebrow in confusion, but Ana turned away, pretending not to notice.

She pressed herself between them, knees together, enduring the cramped space.

Soon, the stage curtain rose. The puppets began their performance. The play gradually reached its climax.

“…So you two cannot marry.”

“Why, Father!”

“Because you’re fraternal twins separated during the war…! Sob!”

[Ugh, gross…]

“Look. The seven dots in the shape of the Big Dipper on your buttocks are proof!”

“W-What? Then you’re my sister…?”

“You’re my younger brother?”

“Sis!”

“Brother!”

“Aigo, sis!”

[Damn it. I can’t watch anymore. I’ll just close my eyes.]

Ego Sword groaned and ground its teeth.

Having never watched a play or drama before, Hyunjin was indifferent.

Honestly, I’m not sure if it’s fun or not.

What impressed him, however, was the dedication of the puppet performers.

Though other audience members looked pale, Hyunjin could see how much effort they put into the performance.

When the play ended, the performers came off stage, sweating, to greet the audience.

The orcs, children, Griffith, and Joanna applauded.

Hyunjin joined them in clapping.

As the audience began to disperse back to the village, Hyunjin stood up.

“You know, Han Hyunjin.”

Ana followed him toward the gate.

“What is it?”

She glanced at him with a triumphant smile and grinned.

“The play was fun, right?”

Instantly, Hyunjin grabbed his sword. Ego Sword exploded with curses, buzzing from Ana’s question.

Though Ana couldn’t hear it, the sheath vibrated enough to be noticeable.

Hyunjin tightly held the sheath and quickly answered,

“It was fun.”

“…Right?! Amazing, isn’t it?”

Ana’s eyes sparkled as she nodded.

“It’s my theater company.”

“Yes.”

“I’ll show you again next month.”

She puffed up proudly, and Hyunjin hesitated, then nodded.

“I’ll look forward to it.”

“Hehe, alright. Bye!”

After passing through the gate, he returned to Seoul in the blink of an eye.

Because he had used a costly invisibility potion beforehand, hunters and police around him didn’t notice.

As he left the bridge, he stopped in his tracks.

Ana’s face came to mind.

She had proudly introduced her theater troupe as if showing her favorite toy.

Even though she hadn’t acted herself, she was so confident.

“Pfft.”

Hyunjin laughed without realizing it, then flinched.

…Why did I laugh?

It was somewhat funny, but not enough to laugh out loud.

He scratched his cheek awkwardly.

“Alright, the mine has been safely checked. Now only the forest remains?”

I unfolded the Demon King Dungeon map I received as a reward.

We had accumulated a fair amount of funds from the gold mined.

We didn’t have workers for the mine immediately, but this much gold was enough for fifteen people to live on for now.

There was no rush for the forest either.

“The firewood for cooking and other needs, and materials for later repair of civilian houses, should suffice.”

“Let’s schedule it within this week.”

“Yes.”

Hopefully, there weren’t any ghosts in the forest.

I chewed on my Mapitnut thoughtfully.