Creator’s Favoritism

The monster’s red eyes gleamed with an eerie light. Mahjong tiles, dice, and betting slips undulated like waves across its writhing flesh, mixed with squirming maggots.

“What the hell is going on?”

Lee Chan-yu looked confused after returning from moving the injured soldiers and civilians to a safe platform.

Trump cards splashed out from the monster’s gaping side, which had grown even larger. It was a revolting sight.

“I don’t think I can handle this anymore. Its rank has increased.”

At my words, Lee Chan-yu glared at the monster for a moment before raising her right hand with determination.

With the player changed, it was time for another game to begin.

[SYSTEM: Starting a rock-paper-scissors game with a D+ rank monster. Please select your card.]

The same system message appeared for me standing right beside her, but I didn’t dare think about touching the cards. For me right now, this was a 100% losing battle.

However, that didn’t mean Lee Chan-yu could definitely resolve this situation.

I anxiously tried to assess the current situation objectively.

The probability of winning at rock-paper-scissors is one-third.

In the worst case, even Chan-yu could have bad luck, and the monster’s rank could rise until even she couldn’t handle it.

After pondering for a moment, Lee Chan-yu selected a card.

[SYSTEM: The D+ rank monster’s card is ‘scissors’. As a penalty for losing at rock-paper-scissors, the monster’s rank increases by one level.]

The cruel system message appeared as if to mock us. Lee Chan-yu cursed with a deeply furrowed brow.

The monster’s body grew larger by the second as it writhed. A sinister laugh, “keke,” spread across the platform like poison.

“Have to kill it…”

Seeing this, Lee Chan-yu unconsciously materialized her whip. I hurriedly grabbed her wrist to stop her.

“Wait!”

While holding her back, I frantically calculated in my head.

Even if the game continued until Chan-yu won, the monster would grow to A+ rank with just two losses.

We couldn’t bet on uncertainty. We needed a way to win this game unconditionally.

‘Think, think…’

As I desperately racked my brain while gripping the fire axe handle until it hurt, it happened.

“This time you can really win. I’m telling you, you can win. If you win just once, you can make up for all your previous losses.”

A voice that was unclear whether it belonged to a man or woman, old or young, echoed horrifyingly in my mind.

My whole body froze for an instant. Lee Chan-yu, covering both ears, shot me a look asking ‘Did you hear that too?’

The fact that it started causing auditory hallucinations meant it had grown enough to use mental attacks.

「Tito differentiates the monster’s behavior patterns to emphasize that, unlike previous ones, this monster possesses human-like intelligence.」

If the monster before us could think like a human, it was an even more formidable opponent.

‘If we don’t engage and wait for Kang Chagyeong to arrive…’

When we showed no reaction for a moment, the monster grotesquely wrinkled what appeared to be its face.

Then it slowly extended one limp arm threateningly toward a civilian behind us. Clear terror filled the eyes of the woman who occasionally let out groans while trembling.

We really had no time. We needed to start the game immediately and buy time until Kang Chagyeong arrived.

「Tito plots that while the monster, grown to A+ rank due to ‘Maeng Sun-woo’s’ bad luck, is rampaging, ‘Kang Chagyeong’ arrives to resolve the situation.」

‘Is growth to A+ rank inevitable…’

As I ground my teeth with an audible crack, a solution I hadn’t thought of before flashed through my mind.

If you flip around a situation where only one person in a group has particularly bad luck, it could mean that one of the others might have incredible luck.

With my jaw clenched, I raised my right hand and made a proposal to the monster.

“How about… the three of us play rock-paper-scissors? But let’s apply the rules as 2 vs 1. You’ll face both of us simultaneously.”

“What are you…”

Lee Chan-yu grabbed my arm with a bewildered face. I subtly shook my head, signaling her to stay put.

“Originally, when three people play this game, it always ends in a tie, right? Because everyone will definitely choose different cards. But I think it’ll be more interesting if we change the rules a bit.”

My heart and brain felt like they were racing, probably due to adrenaline.

In a three-person rock-paper-scissors game where everyone shows different cards, the monster would inevitably win against someone while losing to the other person.

The crucial point was ‘who’ the monster would lose to.

If I won against the monster and Lee Chan-yu lost, the attack would come right at me.

However, since there was no way I could win against a B+ rank monster, this was an overwhelmingly favorable rule for the monster.

“Even if you play one-on-one with Lee Chan-yu like now, you’ll die by her hand unless you win more than two times in a row. Your probability of winning consecutively is only 25%.”

I swallowed dryly, making sure it wasn’t audible.

“But if we apply the rules as I suggest, you just need to not lose to Lee Chan-yu in the first game.”

If the monster played a winning hand against Lee Chan-yu in the first game, even if it lost in the second game, it could still rise to A rank, equal to Lee Chan-yu.

The monster stroked its lower jaw as if considering something. At least the statistically calculated win rate was true.

“Your win rate will more than double. Only idiots and cowards wouldn’t bet on a game like this. Right?”

Cold sweat ran down my back, but I forced a smirk while pretending to be at ease.

“But why are you proposing a game that’s disadvantageous to you? You guys…”

“Ah, shut up.”

I irritably cut off the monster’s words as they began echoing in my head again.

“So, you don’t want to play?”

A particularly bright light flashed in front of my face, now devoid of any hint of a smile.

“Die if you’re scared.”

A gurgling sound bubbled up from the monster’s throat.

[SYSTEM: Starting a rock-paper-scissors game with a C+ rank monster. Please select your card.]

“The middle one!”

I shouted so loudly that thick veins bulged in my neck. The card in the center of the three flew to me and flipped over. It was ‘rock’.

A red trump card spinning in mid-air soared high. I shouted loudly toward Lee Chan-yu, who was standing ready to attack.

“Chan-yu! Pick a card!”

The trump card in front of us spun faster and faster, looking like it might disappear at any moment. Lee Chan-yu, with an unusually flustered face, protested.

“Wait… if I lose this time…”

“No, just pick one! You’ll win!”

My voice, full of certainty, had a nervous laugh mixed in. Lee Chan-yu snatched a card just as it was about to vanish from mid-air.

If there’s an A who lost ten times in a row at rock-paper-scissors, there must necessarily exist a B who won ten times in succession.

If I lose to the monster, Lee Chan-yu must win against it. If Tito really intended to burden me with such terrible luck, the only option was to flip that massive misfortune around.

“I’m A, and Chan-yu is B.”

“What?”

Lee Chan-yu’s questioning voice rose as if she’d heard my muttered words. But there was no time to respond to such things.

“I’m A!”

I swung the fire axe with all my might, aiming for the monster’s neck.

[SYSTEM: activated.]

However, the monster’s mouth split into a creepy grin as it luckily dodged the axe.

Peeeng-

A red trump card-shaped projectile grazed my cheek by a hair’s breadth. A stinging pain spread along with blood, as if cut by a knife.

[SYSTEM: The C+ rank monster’s card is ‘paper’. As a penalty for losing at rock-paper-scissors…]

A head-on battle with the monster was a mistake anyway. Neither my ‘rock’ nor the monster’s ‘paper’ mattered – only Lee Chan-yu, who must have drawn ‘scissors’, could kill this horrific monster.

“Chan-yu is…!”

Right then, at that exact moment, there must have been another system message.

The message in the hologram window before Lee Chan-yu’s eyes flickered with different content than mine.

[SYSTEM: The C+ rank monster’s card is ‘paper’. Having won at rock-paper-scissors, the player’s attack right is acknowledged.]

A cold light flashed in Lee Chan-yu’s eyes as she confirmed the message. She wrapped her long whip around the platform ceiling’s frame and leaped high.

KWANG!

And blue energy drawn in a cross shape in mid-air exploded with a thunderous sound. My body, caught in the sudden strong pressure wave, flew like a piece of paper.

[SYSTEM: Seoul Station Gate in Yongsan-gu, Seoul has been annihilated. ]

Finally, the message announcing the gate’s annihilation appeared. A triumphant smile crossed my face as I read the message in that brief moment…

“Maeng Sun-woo.”

Ugh, my head…

“Maeng Sun-woo. Wake up.”

Lee Chan-yu’s face, which had appeared double, gradually merged into one. Crouching down with her brows furrowed, she was tapping my cheek with her fingertip.

Every impact to my head made me want to retch. I blinked, trying to gather my scattered wits.

Rain was now falling steadily on the train platform, which had cleared of the red energy. My body was pathetically crumpled on the bare ground.

A large bump had formed on the back of my head, probably from hitting a plastic bench while flying through the air. I must have passed out briefly.

Reality slowly returned as I dazedly touched the bump on my head.

“Are you okay?”

Lee Chan-yu’s voice was full of doubt.

“Of course, of course! I’m fine, totally fine! You did great! Hahaha!”

I hugged Lee Chan-yu tightly while laughing like a madman. I could feel her body awkwardly stiffen, but perhaps because I looked so pitiful, she didn’t act as cold as usual.

“I thought you might have hit your head when you said you were B.”

She must have heard what I’d shouted like a battle cry earlier. One of Lee Chan-yu’s eyebrows twitched as she lightly pulled me up by gripping my upper arm.

“I am A rank, after all.”

A subtle breath mixed into the end of those words, almost imperceptible unless you were paying attention.

Lee Chan-yu’s eyes, looking at me in the rain, were curved with traces of laughter for the first time.

FLASH.

A rectangle that seemed clearly aimed at Lee Chan-yu lit up brilliantly. Even in the midst of the blinding light, I could sense it.

That when this scene appears in the webtoon, Lee Chan-yu’s popularity among readers would definitely rise.

「Tito grins with satisfaction while meticulously drawing Lee Chan-yu’s smiling face. Despite sitting in front of the tablet for 13 hours already, at this moment all fatigue is forgotten.」

I couldn’t understand why I felt so defeated by Tito even though we’d managed to annihilate the gate.

“At least it’s good that their job satisfaction seems high…”

“What are you suddenly talking about?”

Having heard my muttering, Lee Chan-yu asked with an even more serious face than before.

Then she started slapping my cheeks with increased force, as if trying to wake someone unconscious.

“Ow, Chan-yu, stop…”

As I was getting hit without being able to resist, it happened.

“Ugh…”

A man’s low groan reached my ears. Park Sang-oh, whom we’d forgotten while dealing with the monster, was stirring over there.

“That person’s awake too.”

Lee Chan-yu murmured indifferently, just watching him. She didn’t seem to have any intention of actively catching Park Sang-oh. My mind, which had been distant, became momentarily sharp with purpose.

My head spun as I staggered to my feet, gripping the plastic chair. Self-diagnosis indicated I definitely had a concussion.

Ah, I’m gonna throw up…

While forcing down the nausea that threatened to surge up, I glared at Park Sang-oh’s back.

The first typical symptom of a concussion is the inability to make proper situational judgments.

I didn’t know how many panels Tito had drawn while I was unconscious, but I felt like catching him might get me at least one more panel of face time in the webtoon.

“What are you…”

Lee Chan-yu, belatedly noticing my strange behavior, reached out her arm. I shook off her hand randomly and started running.

The second notable symptom of a concussion is loss of balance. In other words, while patients think they’re walking straight, to others they appear to be moving crookedly.

After sprinting across the platform as if taking a running start, I launched a drop kick into the air about 3 meters away from Park Sang-oh.