Duguen!
‘Irene!’
Duguen!
‘Irene! Irene! Irene!’
Grid’s heart was exploding as he ran to the palace. The image of Irene in a pure white wedding dress was fluttering before his eyes. He imagined how happy Irene would be to regain her youth and tears filled his eyes.
“Wife!”
He even used Shunpo because he wanted to quickly see Irene’s smiling face. Grid arrived at the palace without the knights knowing it and opened the door to Irene’s bedroom.
“Wife…?” Grid was baffled. Irene was sitting in front of the mirror with her head lowered. She seemed to be crying.
“Y-Your Majesty? You’re back.” Irene belatedly noticed Grid’s arrival and rose from her seat in a startled manner. Her long silver hair was covering her small face.
Grid wondered, “Are you crying? What happened?”
Irene didn’t raise her head to the end and Grid was filled with an unknown anxiety as he reached out to her. However, Irene avoided his touch.
“What is it? Why aren’t you showing your face?”
Perhaps… had something gone wrong? All sorts of sinister thoughts struck Grid.
“I… I…” Irene’s trembling voice was heard in the heavy air. She raised her head with difficulty and her face was just as young and beautiful as the day when she first met Grid. The small wrinkles around her eyes and mouth had disappeared without a trace and the slightly dry skin gradually became shiny. Only the eyes that were deep from the passage of time were the same.
It was fortunate. Fortunately, there was no problem. Rather, his wish was fulfilled. Grid was happy after feeling that he had lost 10 years. Then Irene’s trembling voice penetrated him.
“My face changed like this one overnight. I… am I a monster?”
“……!!”
Grid belatedly realized why Irene was terrified. The unexpected reaction caused Grid to hug Irene’s small body.
“You aren’t a monster or a freak. Rejuvenation is a blessing to rejoice about. Why are you worried?”
"…Your Majesty, do you know what happened?”
“That…”
Grid started to explain. First of all, he talked about the concept of divinity and proudly laid out the saga of how he tried to build up Irene’s divinity. Irene listened silently and her expression gradually darkened. Intense emotions were swirling around in her deep eyes.
“Wife?” Grid had thought Irene would be happy so he was flustered when she showed a different expression.
Irene’s tightly closed lips slowly opened, “How… how can you do this without saying anything to me…?”
“It was a surprise event in the hope that your joy would double…”
“Please leave.”
“Huh?”
“I want to be alone.”
“W-Wife?”
Irene didn’t do any special training. She might’ve gained divinity, but her physical abilities were only slightly better than ordinary people. However, Grid couldn’t remove her small hands. He was pushed out of the room and stared blankly at the firmly closed door.
“W-What is this?”
***
“Why are the two people who are so in love…”
“The queen is probably dissatisfied due to His Majesty’s frequent outings.”
Rumors started to circulate around the royal palace about the relationship between Grid and Irene. In the three days after Grid returned, Irene hadn’t gone out and they had separate meals. Therefore, there must be a problem between the two people.
“Your Majesty.”
“……”
“Your Majesty!”
“Uh, yes?”
Like a soulless doll, Grid turned his head to the side as he ate. He could see Lauel’s glaring eyes.
“When did you arrive?”
“I have been standing beside you for a while. How long are you going to lose your soul?”
Grid never wasted time. Every day, he worked hard blacksmithing or hunting. Then he came back and took care of the king’s duties while his stamina was recovering. He didn’t even set aside time for meals unless he had an appointment with Irene or Lord. Such a man had wandered the palace without doing anything for three days. Not only did he stay away from the smithy and hunting grounds, he seemed to have erased from his memory the habit of making underwear.
“It is a pity that someone who knows better than anyone that time is more valuable than gold is wasting this time. Even Prince Lord is unable to concentrate on classes these days because he is worried about Your Majesty.”
“Irene? Is Irene worried?”
“I couldn’t meet her because she didn’t give me permission… maybe she is worried?”
“Hah…”
“Stop sighing. The people are agitated.”
“Why… why is Irene angry?”
Lauel was the number one contributor for the current Overgeared Kingdom. He was considered one of the best geniuses in the world. Grid hoped that Lauel could analyze and resolve the situation. However, Lauel didn’t know a woman’s heart. He had a genius brain and a handsome appearance, but he devoted himself to Satisfy all day. There was no time for love and no opportunity to learn about the hearts of women. However, Lauel was the author of the ‘Female NPCs Strategy’ and he was always confident.
“The reason why she is angry is simple.”
He might’ve never been in a relationship, but there was nothing in the world that he didn’t know…
Lauel analyzed Irene’s psychological state. “I heard Your Majesty played freely in the form of Queen Irene? From the perspective of the queen, would you feel good if the people of the East Continent remembers you as a violent, macho girl? Huh? You messed up the image of a noble person whose hobby is poetry and flower arrangements… Sigh.”
“That’s it!” Grid gained great enlightenment and rose from his seat. He ignored the order to stay away and ran to Irene’s palace, pulling out Berith’s Skin Mask.
“I’ll go back to the East Continent! I will travel to the East Continent with this beautiful image and spread the word of how feminine and lovely you are…”
The excited Grid abruptly shut his mouth. Irene’s cold gaze made him realize that he had misunderstood the point.
***
“Sigh…”
Shin Youngwoo logged out and sighed. He felt depressed. His excitement of sharing happiness with Irene, who regained her youth, had changed to depression and frustration.
“I have no appetite…”
What had gone wrong? Youngwoo ignored the signals from his empty stomach as he changed his clothes and moved to the underground parking lot. He had an important schedule for today.
Yura’s grandfather—Youngwoo was invited to the birthday feast for Chairman Lee Jinmyung. He didn’t have time to enjoy the party, but he had to go because it had been set a month ago.
“Irene…”
He had wanted to see a smiling face. It was a pity that he couldn’t see it in the end. He felt sorry that he couldn’t comfort her because he didn’t know why she was angry.
“Ireeeeene!”
The moment Youngwoo entered the highway, he stepped on the accelerator strongly and his car Thirteen let out loud exhaust sounds. It seemed to be trying to comfort Youngwoo’s heart.
***
“I’ve heard the news. You look very depressed.”
Before attending the party, Youngwoo first met Yura and visited a department store in order to prepare a gift for Chairman Lee Jinmyung.
“Irene… Irene won’t come out from her palace.”
Youngwoo usually didn’t bring up Irene in front of Yura. At the very least, he showed a minimum of care, but today was an exception—he was so worried about Irene that he asked Yura for advice, “I’ve worked hard to build up Irene’s divinity and restore her youth. What is the problem? Why is she angry rather than rejoicing?”
Chairman Lee Jinmyung’s taste was surprisingly very common, thus Yura chose a tie pin from a domestic brand rather than a luxury brand, and while matching it against Youngwoo, she replied, “Miss Irene has been preparing her heart for a long time.”
“Preparing her heart?”
“She was ready to leave alone.”
“……”
“She would’ve felt lonely and scared for a long time.”
Youngwoo vaguely knew this. Irene felt loneliness and fear every time she saw herself growing old alone. It was why he pushed for this. It was to not let her leave alone. It was with the hope that she would grow old with him.
“Miss Irene would’ve been sad, but she is strong. She vowed to show you a smile on the day she left alone.”
“……”
“Yet that determination became useless when she regained her youthfulness. It came one day without any notice. Perhaps she is confused? She is happy, but she feels that she is a fool. She wishes you had consulted with her in advance.”
“Ah…” Youngwoo finally grasped the problem. He gritted his teeth as he realized he had been lacking in consideration.
They finished shopping and returned to the car. Then Yura reached out to him who had been rebuking himself. There was a piece of chocolate she bought a while ago in her thin, white hand. “Would you like one?”
“Yes…”
The worry that lasted for a few days disappeared with this care. Youngwoo accepted the chocolate and saw that in the rearview mirror, his forehead had wrinkles.
“……!”
Just then, Yura grabbed Youngwoo’s hand and held it tightly. Her hand was warm and soft. Yura smiled at the flustered Youngwoo. “Irene’s confusion will end. She will soon understand and appreciate your heart and will be filled with happiness. So stop worrying and wait for her to clear her mind. Now, smile.”
“…Thank you.”
When did it start? Every time they rode a car together, Yura’s left hand was always holding his hand. Youngwoo finally regained his smile after several days.
***
Red Sage Haster—a person with a unique class, and one of the Five Miracles. He had never missed being first place in any game and his goal was naturally to become the supreme one. He dreamed that he would one day catch up with Grid…
“Okay, it is certain with this.”
“Cough!Cough!”
He was defeated in a battle with 10 normal class players. His dying face was crushed and the faces of the high rankers were filled with joy.
“The gap between players will be narrowed. Chairman Lim Cheolho’s words are true.”
The resistance to abnormal statuses wasn’t invincible. The proof was that Haster, who resisted several abnormal statuses like any unique class player, was currently under their feet. There was clearly a way to target the abnormal status resistance and they had identified it.
“The next prey is… Yura will be the most suitable.”
The high rankers laughed as Haster turned to gray ash. Their aim was the practice of justice. Their goal was to create a fair gaming society by successively defeating the minority who were lucky enough to gain hidden classes and reigned over them.
“Let’s shoot a video of hunting Yura and spread the legend attack strategy around the world. That is our duty.”
Games were made to be enjoyed. It was a law that everyone should be equal. They must not allow a small number of people to have privileges. Wasn’t the tyranny of the few whale gamers the reason why the former mobile gaming industry declined?
“We will lead Satisfy in the right direction.”
“For the majority!”
“For the majority!”
Three weeks down and approximately a month to go until the final submission date on the 15th November. There are multiple character fanart and fanfiction entries, but only one scene fanart so far. More entries can always be used or the prizes will go to waste!
6th Anniversary Event Link
