I Became a Raid Boss

“Whew…”

A misty breath puffed out and hung in the air.

Crunch!

An icy shard shattered beneath my thoughtless step.

Though it wasn’t quite winter yet, I found myself in the middle of an unexpected deep freeze.

“But this will be over soon.”

Snort!

As if answering my muttered words, the massive bull before me let out a fierce grunt.

Unlike the warm breath that left my mouth, the air from its nose didn’t condense into a mist.

After all, this sudden winter was entirely its doing.n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

Ssshhh…

A bitter, icy chill poured from the bull’s nostrils, so cold it felt like it could freeze me solid just by looking at it.

The rapidly dropping temperature crystallized the surrounding air, causing ice shards to form and fall to the ground.

“…Should’ve brought a hand warmer.”

Though my body could usually withstand most temperature changes, the cold radiating from it was something else entirely.

It was bad enough to make me feel like even breathing was a challenge.

“Then again, maybe it wouldn’t have made much difference.”

What good would a small hand warmer do against a cold capable of freezing a roaring bonfire solid?

If it didn’t turn into a solid block of ice immediately, I’d count myself lucky.

Thinking about lugging around a literal block of ice made me feel better about my decision to come unprepared.

In truth, I hadn’t even considered bringing anything like a hand warmer since I had no idea I’d be fighting something like this.

“Would it kill her to give me a heads-up?”

I sighed and vented a minor complaint.

From the giant I first hunted to the few Dimensional Creatures I had taken down since then, all Edel ever told me was their locations.

Not a word about their appearance, traits, weaknesses—

Nothing remotely helpful for the actual battles.

Of course, I understood Edel’s reasoning.

The whole point of this exercise was to get me used to fighting Dimensional Creatures.

If she had spoon-fed me all the details, it would’ve defeated the purpose.

Still, that’s just how things are sometimes.

Even if you understand something rationally, you can’t help but feel annoyed when you’re the one dealing with it.

“You get me, don’t you?”

I casually addressed the bull glaring at me.

Though calling it a bull might not have been entirely accurate.

Its head and horns did resemble a bull’s to some extent.

But ordinary bulls aren’t the size of small buildings, nor do they exhale freezing air.

Even its legs and body were shaped differently.

It was more like something trying to become a bull. But splitting hairs about its identity was exhausting, so I decided to stick with “bull.”

The putrid wolf, the fire-spewing giant, the frozen beef—no, bull.

And then there was the flying, eyeball-covered tentacle monster from last time.

They were so inconsistent that I started looking forward to seeing what would come next.

…Anyway, this bull wasn’t the strongest Dimensional Creature I had faced so far, nor was it the most troublesome.

That title went to the aforementioned tentacle monster.

Its appearance alone was enough to stir a deep, inexplicable disgust, and the way it wriggled made it even worse.

When I told Da-eun about that fight, she nearly fainted and frantically asked if I was okay.

‘…It’s strange.’

The whole situation felt off to me.

Dimensional Creatures are entities from beyond dimensions.

They don’t belong to Silia or Earth.

So why do they look similar to animals I know?

Maybe it was just coincidence, like how Earth animals exist in Silia…

“Who knows.”

A strange sense of discomfort clung to me and refused to let go.

As I followed that train of thought, another question popped into my mind.

“Is there some kind of habitat for Dimensional Creatures outside the dimension?”

They couldn’t have just appeared out of nowhere from the void and started invading.

Unfortunately, Edel didn’t have an answer for that either.

She’d grumble about how, if they’d known something like that, they wouldn’t have been invaded in the first place.

What could I say to that?

So, I decided to brush it off, thinking, “Well, Edel and the god of Earth are putting their heads together, so we’ll figure it out eventually.”

***

“Have you been waiting long?”

I’d been lost in thought for quite some time, but the bull simply glared at me with its wide eyes, not charging forward.

Then again, its legs were all severed, so if it could charge at me, that’d be even stranger.

All it could do was cling desperately to its last breaths and fix me with a dying glare.

Seeing the fear lurking behind those violet eyes, I smirked in satisfaction.

“You know, they say it’s respectful to make livestock’s deaths painless during slaughter.”

The same principle applies to hunting.

From that perspective, my actions right now would be considered anything but respectful.

After all, I had immobilized the bull by cutting off its legs and was now taunting it with my monologue as it writhed helplessly.

“But you’re not just any ordinary lifeform, are you?”

Maybe it could feel pain, maybe not—

Either way, it wasn’t my problem.

My musings were unnecessary and lengthy. The conclusion, however, was simple.

I slit the bull’s throat with the sword I had been holding and muttered to myself,

“I want beef.”

Tonight, I’ll insist on having beef for dinner.

Preferably fresh meat, not frozen bull like this.

***

As soon as I crossed the dimension back to Earth, Da-eun greeted me eagerly.

“Oh! Hero Kana, you’ve returned!”

“Here we go again.”

No, it wasn’t just a figure of speech. She really had been waiting for me.

If not, there was no way she could greet me the moment I arrived, dressed so unnecessarily well.

“Would you like to eat first? Take a bath? Or perhaps…”

Da-eun trailed off, winking dramatically.

“…me?”

“Beef.”

“…Huh?”

“I want beef.”

Da-eun pouted in frustration for a moment, disappointed that I didn’t play along with her joke.

“Why the sudden craving for beef?”

Determined to satisfy her curiosity, she asked me.

“Today, it was a bull.”

“A bull? Oh, you mean a Dimensional Creature that looked like one?”

“Yeah.”

It was nice not having to explain everything in detail when she could put the pieces together from a simple comment.

“Normally, wouldn’t fighting something like that make you lose your appetite?”

“It wasn’t a real bull, so what does it matter?”

Besides, it wasn’t even that fierce of a fight.

When I added that, Da-eun gave me a slightly confused look.

“Is that so…? I feel like I wouldn’t want to eat it regardless, but it’s your choice. Anyway, you said you wanted beef for dinner, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Unfortunately, that’s not happening.”

“…Why?”

“Because beef is expensive. And lately, Kana, you’ve been eating way too much chocolate, so our finances aren’t looking great.”

“….”

“Just kidding!”

Da-eun, who had been speaking with a deliberately serious expression, burst into laughter.

“Ahaha! Look at how shocked you are. So, Kana, you do realize you eat a lot, huh?”

“…No, I don’t.”

“Don’t lie. If that wasn’t the case, there’s no reason you’d look so shocked. Stop lying and tell the truth already!”

“I’m serious, I don’t.”

I shook my head at Da-eun, who looked triumphant and was demanding that I confess the “truth” immediately.

“I was only shocked because I thought you lost your one redeeming quality.”

“….”

Da-eun without money?

That’s like fish bread without the fish.

“…That’s so mean! And by the way, fish bread doesn’t even have fish in it to begin with!”

“It was a joke.”

“Well, you hurt my feelings! I’m going to cry now….”

“Then I’ll show it to Yuki.”

“….”

“You’re not going to cry?”

“…Not crying.”

“What a shame.”

I shrugged and put my phone back down.

“Still, don’t you think it’s a bit harsh to throw a real punch just because I poked you a bit? Anyway, I wasn’t joking about dinner not working out today. So let’s have beef tomorrow instead, okay?”

“….”

“Even if you give me those longing eyes, no is no.”

“Why not?”

Perhaps it was because my expectations had been dashed, but my voice naturally came out sulky.

“Did you forget? We’re having dinner out with my parents tonight.”

“…Oh, right.”

That’s right. We did have plans.

Da-eun’s words reminded me of the promise I had completely forgotten. I scratched my cheek awkwardly.

I almost made a mistake.

Of course, even if I had forgotten, Da-eun hadn’t, so it’s not like the plans would’ve been ruined.

“If you really want, I can suggest having beef tonight. My parents probably wouldn’t mind.”

“No, it’s fine.”

It’s not like I’m going to die if I don’t eat beef.

Fighting that Dimensional Creature that looked like a bull had just triggered a craving.

And when I remembered how Da-eun had been gushing for days about how she found this amazing restaurant and how much she wanted me to look forward to it, I carefully pushed her suggestion aside.

There’s no way I could throw cold water on her excitement when dinner was just a few hours away.

“Thanks for understanding!”

“There’s nothing for you to thank me for. If anything, I should be thanking you.”

After all, I owe the life I’m living now to Da-eun.

She smiled warmly.

“Yeah, yeah. Our Kana’s so thoughtful.”

“….”

…Still, this feels a bit much.

Her voice was so gentle, as if she were praising a child for completing an errand, that I couldn’t help narrowing my eyes slightly in mild annoyance.

—

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