Surviving in the Trash Hell Game by Tossing a Coin

Chapter 6 - Dark dog(5)

From the very conception of the plan, it was tails.

Getting worked up over heads or tails at each stage was itself futile.

No wonder the completion conditions didn't appear.

The world is indeed honest.

It didn't allow for a cheap trick like causing an injury and then making them fall to their death to achieve the objective.

Rather, it only returned the price for the cheap trick immediately.

“The chopstick…!”

A fragment of the chopstick was embedded in the hind leg of the Dark Dog that bit me.

It was the very same Dark Dog that had been injured by the trap.

It must have fallen late due to its injury.

And it likely wasn't seriously harmed, having used the corpses of its fallen comrades as a cushion.

My brilliant move was tightening the noose around my own neck.

What I had thought was good luck was the enemy's good luck.

Blood flowed from the spot where the fangs were embedded.

Maletta, who had let go of me in shock, also tumbled to the side.

The Dark Dog, having thrown its weight to pounce, pinned me down squarely and bit down hard on my shoulder.

“Let go, you son of a bitch…!!”

Even when I tried to resist, it wasn't just biting my shoulder.

It was pressing down on my left arm and body with its heavy weight.

In that awkward state, meaningful resistance was impossible.

Even when I flailed my right arm and punched the Dark Dog's snout, the beast's body didn't budge.

Rather, it only put more force into its claws and fangs, as if enjoying the situation.

“Grrrrrrrrrrr…!”

“Gaaaaaaargh…! Guuuuuh….”

Sometimes, after working a part-time job, my body would ache so much I thought, ‘I’m going to die’.

To the point where nonsensical thoughts like, ‘Is my body broken, am I dying today?’ would pop into my head.

But the pain that was assailing me now was on a level that made those experiences not even worth mentioning.

It was a pain like I was going insane, something I was feeling for the first time.

“Commander!! Damn it, how is it still alive….”

Maletta screamed and hurriedly drew her scythe, but she couldn't easily intervene.

Because the two of us were too entangled for her to separate only the Dark Dog.

Of all things, her weapon was a giant scythe that could only be wielded with both hands.

While you could expect powerful movements, you couldn't expect precise ones.

To cut down the Dark Dog, she would surely have to slice off a part of my body along with it.

Of course, Maletta was a Grade 3.

Meaning, she was extremely strong.

If that were possible, she could just brutally charge in and rip it off with her hands, and that would be the end of it.

What she was weighing was the possibility that this individual was the last of the Dark Dog pack.

If this individual was the last of the pack, then the quest would be cleared without having met the conditions.

Meaning, I'd be injured for nothing and receive the penalty on top of that.

Moreover, the content of the ‘weakening’ was also vague.

The possibility of being weakened while injured and dying on the spot could not be ignored.

There wasn't a single safety net.

Every side was tails.

From the moment I tossed the coin and got the Dirt Spoon, every coin had been tails.

“Damn it, damn it!! Co, Commander!! Wh, what should I do….”

Maletta, unable to use her strength, could only fret anxiously.

She, who was weighing the penalty against my life.

“Grraaaaaah….”

“Gaaaaaaargh….”

At the sound of the Dark Dog's growl and my groan that flowed out again in pain, she seemed to have made up her mind and threw down her scythe.

Then, she clenched her trembling hands tightly and slowly approached me.

“Sorry, Commander. St, still, it's better to have a next time than to die, right…!”

“Ugh, Maletta….”

She prioritized my life over the success of the quest.

That also meant she was willing to accept the penalty.

Also.

It meant she was giving up on the quest.

It meant she was succumbing to reality and compromising.

It meant she was ignoring my will to do it until it works.

Of course, thinking rationally, it was much better to look forward to the next time than to die.

But to block off all possibilities with just the single word, ‘rational’.

That, I could not tolerate.

“I just need to get stronger! So….”

“No!!”

I converted the scream into defiance and spat it out forcefully.

I met Maletta’s gaze, filled with worry and moisture, with my own will.

There may be trial and error, and hardship, but there is no failure and no giving up.

That is the life I have lived.

It is the life that I, a Dirt Spoon, have carved out by living fiercely.

“Commander…?”

“Watch closely, Maletta!! What kind of person your Commander is!”

So instead, I smiled confidently.

I put strength into my left arm, which felt like it was about to be torn off.

I met the gaze of the Dark Dog, which was staring at me with the joy of victory.

I will succeed.

Just like always.

Because I am ‘Kang Woon’, born with bad luck.

Because even if I have nothing to be proud of in my life, I am the Kang Woon who gets through any hardship, one way or another.

In any case, everything in life is a probability.

And the probability of success and failure are both equal at 50.

Do you succeed, or do you fail.

Just that difference.

And I am not dead, and as long as I am alive, I can continue to toss the coin called ‘thought’.

I toss the coin until the heads called a brilliant move appears.

I toss it until it works. I toss it until heads comes up.

If you surviving by stepping on the chopstick was luck, then I just had to stomp you with stronger luck.

And at the end of that.

Heads came up.

I thought of a brilliant move.

“Is my blood tasty? Doggie?”

“Grrrrrrr….”

Fortunately, the beast bit my left shoulder.

My right hand was free enough to throw a punch.

To leave me with such a godsend.

The goddess of fortune was still smiling upon me.

Instead of futilely punching its snout like before.

I moved my hand into my right pants pocket, which I had momentarily forgotten about.

“If so, then bite harder, eat your fill!!”

Also, I didn't try to push the beast off like I had been doing until now.

Rather, I crossed my legs and hugged the Dark Dog's torso with all my might.

“Grrk!?”

“But, isn't life originally an equivalent exchange!”

It was indeed in my pocket.

There was no way it wouldn't be.

Because I had only used one for the trap.

Without hesitation, I took out the sharp, long object I grasped in my hand.

And to provoke it, I thrust the chopstick close to the beast's eye.

“Now, look closely! This is a chopstick! Isn't it amazing?”

“Kek!?”

As if sensing something was amiss, the beast hurriedly tried to pull its head away.

But its fangs, dug deep into my flesh, didn't come out easily.

Moreover, there was no way my body, clinging on with crossed legs, would come off so easily.

Rather, by trying to pull its body away forcefully, the beast allowed my left arm to be freed.

I immediately raised my freed left arm and wrapped it around the beast's neck.

Now, the roles of hunter and prey were reversed.

“Since you took my arm, I’ll have to take your head!”

Just like that, I plunged the tip of the chopstick into the beast's eye.

“KEEEEEEEEEE!!”

A cheerful squish sound.

The first sweet trumpet of victory, a spreading crimson color.

The Dark Dog, writhing in pain, trying somehow to get away from me.

But I had no intention of stopping just with the reversal of fortunes.

I pressed the tip of the chopstick, which was accurately lodged in its eye and shaking, with the palm of my hand.

And just like that, I applied force.

I pushed the chopstick deeper. Deeper.

So that it could reach its head, its brain.

And at some point, as the chopstick went in as much as I applied force.

A cheerful crack sound was heard.

“Kee, keek, kerrk….”

Soon, the beast's struggles, after one last convulsion, completely ceased.

Its giant body went limp, and the pressure on my shoulder and body was released.

Really.

I really did it.

As I struggled to push the beast's body away, the quest window finally updated.

[ Lair of the Dark Dogs ]

Even though the goddess of fortune turned her back on you, you splendidly overcame the crisis.

This reward is bestowed upon you for successfully defeating a Dark Dog on your own.

Reward: One month's worth of supply cubes and a map of the vicinity

I cleared it.

Did you see that?

I told you, if you do it until it works, it gets done.

Damn it.

***

The three skills Maletta could use were as follows.

The area-of-effect attack skill Hongyeom-yunmu, and the defense and counter skill Counter Stance.

“Blazing Restoration!”

And finally, the healing skill, Blazing Restoration.

An effect that healed the target's physical wounds by enveloping them in a warm flame.

As soon as I pushed the Dark Dog away, she immediately knelt before me.

And she cast the skill, enveloping me in a flame she conjured from her hand.

As expected of a Grade 3, the amount of healing was also immense.

Although I couldn't see a numerical value for HP, I could tell that the damaged parts of my body, aside from fatigue, were completely regenerated.

“I’m really fine now, Maletta.”

“…….”

“I’m serious, I’m not lying! So….”

If it weren't for that.

“Let me go. I can’t breathe….”

“…No.”

Maletta, who had been fretting over my every condition, wouldn't have been hugging me so tightly she felt like she would burst.

After casting the skill on me, Maletta had been hugging me tightly with both arms for almost dozens of minutes.

Not only did I have to pick up the quest reward that had fallen on the ground, but the day was also getting dark, so it was right to push her away somehow and get moving, but.

“Sob, I'm sorry, Commander. I’m really sorry….”

It also felt a bit wrong to coldly push away someone who was sniffling and apologizing like that.

The way her body, hugging me, was trembling like an aspen leaf made me feel sorry instead.

“I, my mind really went blank… I couldn’t do anything….”

However, it was a bit much to see her blaming herself so severely.

Because I remembered her cheerfulness and talkativeness.

“I never raised you to be such a weak mercenary!! To not believe in me!”

A stern rebuke!!

So, to lighten the mood, I first spoke in a joking tone.

“It's me, me, me! Kang Woon of bad luck!”

Though she couldn't see it, I even pointed at myself with my thumb to change the atmosphere.

But Maletta didn't seem to have any intention of smiling again at my words.

It seemed there was still time left before she calmed down.

“…I'm sorry.”

“Sigh, can’t even joke around.”

So I just gave up and had no choice but to face Maletta’s strong embrace with my whole body.

Then again, Maletta had been dead for almost several years before being revived and meeting me.

I had missed her too, so I imagined how much more she must have.

At that point, suddenly.

I felt a sense of unease.

It was true that I missed her.

I, too, had missed her very much and was glad to see her.

If I were in the same situation as her, I would have shown a similar reaction.

But her reaction was too much.

She completely changed her attitude up to now and blamed herself, even crying.

Maletta and I have only known each other for a few hours in ‘reality’.

Even in-game, I only gave orders to the mercenaries.

There were absolutely no actions that would form a relationship where we would die for each other.

However, Maletta was treating me with extreme intimacy.

No, it was more than that.

She was acting this way to the point that I felt sorry.

This part was definitely something I needed to address.

“This, this isn't a dream, right? Commander, you're really alive, right?”

Still, for now, I decided to put my questions aside.

It wasn't my style to question someone who was this sad and worried.

And if our journey continued, there would be plenty of time to confirm things.

“Who are you trying to turn into a ghost? It's okay, it's okay. I didn't die.”

So I held the crying Maletta and patted her for a long time.

Until the day grew dark.

And so, the Dark Dog quest came to an end.