True to Heartland’s nature as a theme park designed for hunters to enjoy as well, even its bumper cars were far beyond the ordinary ones people were familiar with.
No, could these even be called bumper cars?
[Just Ram into Them Bumper Car Restrictions]
―Those under 140 cm tall
└However, they may ride in the passenger or back seats.
└They may ride in the driver’s seat when accompanied by a guardian.
―Those of weak mind and body
―People unable to handle mana.
└Please understand that the bumper cars operate using the rider’s mana as fuel.
└They may ride in the passenger or back seats.
―Public indecency….
After reading the notice, I looked toward the boarding area beyond it.
Used cars that were too large to be called bumper cars, and appeared to be quite old, were zipping around.
‘They look like they’ve just had antennas stuck into their roofs….’
Sparks flew here and there as the antennas scraped against the ceiling.
The used cars that I refused to acknowledge as bumper cars repeatedly crashed into one another.
Even so, it was astonishing that their bodies did not break apart and continued moving as if nothing had happened.
Judging by the looks of it, the airbags only deployed when they received a truly massive impact.
“Wow, doesn’t it look fun?”
“It does look kind of fun… though it seems a little dangerous.”
At that moment, Yeon Haneul, who had been watching beside me, sparkled her red eyes.
Her long rabbit ears twitched perkily, perfectly expressing how badly she wanted to ride.
With her clinging to my arm, I nodded.
We got in the premium-pass line to use the ride.
[In Heartland, overflowing with dreams and hope, you can drive even without a license!]
Some time later, after the Heartland background music and the bumper-car announcement rang out overhead.
Once we entered the boarding area, we each went off in search of a bumper car we liked.
As I looked around at the bumper cars with Yeon Haneul, I asked her,
“What are you going to ride, Haneul?”
“Hmm, I think I’ll ride… that one.”
“…A truck?”
“It looks the strongest and sturdiest, you know? It doesn’t look like it’ll break even if I ram into things hard.”
“…”
Shyly, Yeon Haneul pointed at a blue-painted bumper car shaped like a Bongo truck.
I could only blink as I watched her choose a bumper car that gave off a rough and violent air, the exact opposite of her usual image.
‘So Haneul has a side like this, too…. Cool.’
I admired this unexpected side of her.
Even though I had known her for five years, Yeon Haneul was new and refreshing every single day.
“Yeon Haneul, you really know how to pick a car. That’s right, a truck for a real man! You’re the real deal!”
“Looks like I’ll be reincarnated if Haneul runs me over―.”
From far away, Yong Haerang, who had chosen a similar bumper car, leaned his head out of the driver’s seat and shouted.
I ignored Go Eunbi, who was saying something only she could understand, and agreed wholeheartedly.
She was a wonderful man. A real man.
I reflected on my decision to ride a bumper car that looked like an expensive red Porsche just because I was going to ride one anyway.
I quietly climbed into a vehicle that appeared to have been used as a police car before becoming a bumper car.
‘According to the instructions the employee gave me earlier… the pedal on the left is the brake, and the one on the right is the accelerator?’
The interior of the bumper car was simple.
As long as you knew how to handle mana to some extent and could tell the brake and accelerator apart, it seemed anyone could drive one easily.
‘And even if you don’t know, you can learn while playing. How hard could driving be?’
There was also a button labeled “Siren” in the driver’s seat.
I pressed the button and turned on the siren.
Whee-oo, whee-oo, whee-oo.
The buzzing sound rang out to everyone nearby.
The siren even flashed.
Having drawn everyone’s attention in an instant, I gripped the steering wheel.
[Now, deepen your love and friendship!]
After some time, an announcement finally rang out to signal the start.
The bumper cars began moving.
I pressed the accelerator and drove mine.
The first person I would target was Go—
“Ugh!”
“Gyeonwoo, Gyeonwoo! When you wiggle your butt in front of me like that, it makes me want to ram you!”
“Nam Yuri….”
Nam Yuri rammed into me from behind.
My body lurched forward from the sudden impact, and I glared at her.
Fine, then. I’d start with Nam Yu—
“…Who’s it this time?”
“Gyeonwoo, are you all right? You’re in the way there. Move out of the lane, quickly.”
“All right, all right….”
For someone who claimed she had hit me because she had no choice, Lisa was clearly enjoying herself.
Clicking my tongue, I turned to secure a path to move through, but then—
“Gyeonwoo, sorry! I’ll ram you properly!”
“…!”
Kang Hanbyeol slammed into me head-on.
She must have pressed the accelerator with incredible force, because the impact made the bumper car shake and even deployed the airbag.
With my vision temporarily blocked by the airbag, I had no choice but to grit my teeth.
“These people, seriously….”
But the people trying to ram me did not end there.
“Do Gyeonwoo! Receive my burning friendship!”
Yong Haerang charged at me, shoving every other bumper car out of his way, insisting that a real man never retreated.
“I heard this place is famous for its food, Gyeonwoo! I’ll eat well!”
“W-Well, you were just there, so I hit you, okay? I wasn’t aiming for you or anything! Why were you standing there, anyway?”
“I suppose I can’t help but follow the crowd. Sorry, Gyeonwoo!”
“Do Gyeonwoooooooo!”
“I’ve been waiting for this day!”
“Die, you lunatic!”
Go Eunbi rammed into me when I was dishonestly off guard, then quickly fled the scene.
Min Arin used the absurd logic that it was the victim’s fault for being harmed.
Park Sagun rammed into me hard while apologizing.
The triplets betrayed me without knowing what kind of revenge they might suffer later.
And finally—
“I’ll send you off, Gyeonwoo!”
“Nom nom.”
…Where exactly?
Yeon Haneul came driving the truck-shaped bumper car at a terrifying speed, as though she had pushed it to its maximum.
And Cha Eun-sol was seated in the passenger seat, buckled in and eating snacks with an expressionless face.
With nowhere to run, I had to take their collision head-on.
‘Why is everyone….’
Why were they doing this only to me?
I want to ram someone too….
* * *
After being in countless traffic accidents, my neck was stiff and my head was spinning.
It seemed that my friends, who had enthusiastically rammed into one another, were feeling similar fatigue.
“Ow… my neck. Something must have gone wrong because of Arin, don’t you think? Arin! How could you drive like that?”
“Yeah― I know there’s nothing wrong with you. If you want, file a claim with the insurance company.”
“Oh, so this is how you’re going to play it?”
Go Eunbi groaned while clutching the back of her neck, as if emphasizing how much she hurt.
Min Arin snorted at the obviously playful act.
Go Eunbi then suddenly grabbed her from behind and shouted,
“Everyone! Arin’s buying soft-serve ice cream instead of insurance! Gather round!”
“What!? When did I ever say that? Why should I have to pay….”
“Thanks, I’ll enjoy it. You really are a good— person. Nom nom.”
“Arin’s treating? I was craving something anyway, so works for me! Thanks, I’ll enjoy it!”
“Thank you. I’ll enjoy it.”
“Yaaay! Arin-Arin’s treating!”
“Ice cream sounds good. I’ll enjoy it.”
“No… listen to me….”
Unfortunately, Min Arin was the weakest among us after the triplets.
No matter what she insisted, she could not go against public opinion.
In the end, she had to pull out her wallet.
“Damn… I’m already struggling to make ends meet….”
“Thanks, I’ll enjoy it.”
“Thanks, Arin.”
Had she left her pride as a member of the Mage Min Family back at the dormitory?
With trembling hands, Min Arin handed her card to the soft-serve shop clerk.
Yeon Haneul and I, who were receiving free soft-serve, did not forget to thank her.
“Do I really need to get a part-time job…?”
How had I, Do Gyeonwoo, known as the Little Griffin of the Mage Min Family, ended up like this?
Min Arin muttered something as she ate her chocolate soft-serve.
From the words I caught here and there, I could roughly guess what had happened.
‘Come to think of it, she said her allowance had been reduced because of the spire incident.’
It was something that had also appeared in the game.
After Min Arin’s episode, she was punished by the Mage Min Family with restrictions placed on the use of her allowance.
Because of that, in the game, one could occasionally see her working part-time at the library to cover her living expenses, or using the request board at the Brilliant Café.
‘That’s how her image changes from an unpleasant, rude brat into an endearing penny-pincher….’
Before long, I would be able to see Min Arin going around looking for a part-time job.
Just then, Yeon Haneul caught my eye as she browsed a nearby souvenir shop.
Her rabbit ears flicked as she showed interest in the masks hanging on the display rack.
“Is there anything you want? Want me to buy it for you?”
“Oh, Gyeonwoo.”
I approached Yeon Haneul.
She shook her head at my question.
“No, you don’t have to buy it for me. I have money too, you know?”
“Use that money to buy strawberry milk instead.”
“I have enough left over even after buying strawberry milk, you know?”
“So what were you looking at?”
“What I was looking at was… this!”
“…Rabbit ears?”
Yeon Haneul reached toward the display and picked up a black rabbit-ear headband.
Even though she already had rabbit ears, I could not help staring at her strangely as she held up the headband.
“Yes, this really is the best. I think it’ll suit you.”
“What? Me?”
“Excuse me, I’ll take this.”
Without answering my question, Yeon Haneul immediately went to pay at the counter.
A moment later, she returned and held the black rabbit-ear headband out in front of me.
“Here. Try it on.”
“…Do I really have to? It’s kind of embarrassing for a guy to wear something like this….”
“Honestly. What does being a man or a woman have to do with it? You wear it because it’s cute.”
“I have no desire to become cute….”
“Hm. Put it on, quickly.”
“…All right, all right.”
Yeon Haneul put on a stern expression.
Unable to withstand her urging, I had no choice but to put on the headband.
Her face immediately brightened.
“I put it on. Happy now?”
“Yes! It suits you even better than I expected.”
“You’re making fun of me, aren’t you?”
“I’m not…. It really suits you. Look.”
Yeon Haneul switched her smartphone to selfie mode and pressed herself close beside me.
My disgruntled face was reflected on the screen of the smartphone in her hand.
With the black rabbit-ear headband on my head.
‘It doesn’t suit me….’
Rabbit ears? They weren’t manly at all.
They contrasted with Yeon Haneul’s white-and-blue rabbit ears.
And yet she was smiling at the screen, looking absolutely delighted.
“White rabbit and black rabbit. Don’t you think we look good together?”
“…Now that you put it that way, I guess we do. Not bad, actually.”
“We should keep it in a photo. Ready?”
I felt like I understood, but at the same time, I really didn’t.
Still, Yeon Haneul seemed happy, so wasn’t that enough?
I took pictures with her again and again until she was satisfied.
A picture of us standing so close our cheeks touched, a picture of us making V signs with our fingers, a picture of us making finger hearts, a picture of us eating soft-serve ice cream.
And a picture of us feeding each other, too.
“Is the strawberry flavor good? Let me have one bite.”
“Then I’ll eat yours too.”
The soft-serve had melted considerably and lost its original shape, but neither of us cared.
As childhood friends of five years, we did not mind sharing the same bowl any more than we minded sharing a large bowl of bibimbap.
We each took a bite of the soft-serve ice cream in the other’s hand.
“Vanilla’s good too.”
“Yours is good, too.”
“My strawberry one really is the best!”
To keep the soft-serve from dripping, Yeon Haneul rounded off the spot where I had taken a bite with her tongue.
When our eyes met, we both giggled for no particular reason.
We simply felt like laughing.
That was when we heard a scream.
“Aaaaaaaah!”
“…”
It definitely was not the kind of scream people let out on a theme-park ride.
Besides, I could sense an uneven concentration of mana coming from the direction of the sound.
Something had definitely happened.
‘Looks like the story’s starting.’
This was the situation I had been waiting for.
Stuffing the ice-cream cone into my mouth in one bite, I spoke to Yeon Haneul and the others as they tried to figure out what was happening.
“It looks like a monster may have appeared. Let’s go see if there’s anything we can do to help.”
* * *
Because of the way mana unconsciously released by people mingled throughout Heartland, rifts were prone to occurring there.
All it took was someone deliberately stimulating the ambient mana, even for a brief moment, to create a distortion in space. Monsters would appear from within it, and chaos would follow in a chain reaction.
‘It’s definitely the Dust Bug’s doing.’
According to the game’s story.
The villain who had inadvertently infiltrated Heartland, the Dust Bug was plotting to create a rift in order to evade the hunters pursuing it and escape Heartland.
The incident currently unfolding in Heartland could be considered part of that plan.
Woof! Woof!
The closer we got to what appeared to be the center of the rift, the more frequently we encountered monsters.
Rank 1 monsters in the shape of wild dogs—Hounds—came charging toward us.
Among them was a Rank 2 monster, the Hell Hound, the leader of the pack.
“I’ll take the Hell Hound.”
“Need backup?”
“It’d be nice! I’m counting on you!”
There was no reason for us to hesitate against them.
We divided up our roles without delay.
Leaving the Hounds to the others, Gang Hanbyeol and I picked up the pace to confront the Hell Hound.
Immediately afterward, the magic deployed by Yeon Haneul and Min Arin flew in from behind us, clearing a path forward.
We advanced along that path, evaded the pack’s interference, and reached the Hell Hound.
Yelp!
It wasn’t a fight that would drag on for long.
With Bak Sagun and the triplets drawing its aggro and preventing it from commanding the pack, the Hell Hound was no match for us.
Gang Hanbyeol and I had no trouble cutting off its breath.
Then we returned to the party formation and dealt with the remaining Hounds.
It wasn’t long afterward that we reached the center of the rift.
‘There she is. If we hadn’t run into her, we would’ve had to wander around looking for her…. Did we find her right away thanks to Hanbyeol’s high luck stat?’
At the scene, hunters who appeared to have sealed the rift were working to clean up the aftermath.
Among them, I spotted Kwon Boram, an independent patrol officer of Shield.
Her hair, tinged with violet, was so striking that she was impossible to miss.
“Yes, senior. We’ve blocked the rift for now, and the others have gone to eliminate the monsters that scattered. As for the Dust Bug… it took advantage of the commotion to escape.”
She was probably exchanging information with a navigator affiliated with Shield.
I walked toward Kwon Boram as she spoke with one hand touching her earpiece.
Sensing my presence, she turned her head and recognized me with her yellow eyes.
“We meet again, Sheriff.”
“You all….”
Fortunately, she seemed to remember us.
That made the conversation easier, and I brought up the line Gang Hanbyeol would have delivered under normal circumstances.
“It looks like you’ve run into some trouble. Could you tell us what happened? If there’s anything we can do to help, we will. Of course, it won’t be for free.”
“Did I hear that correctly?”
“There’s no such thing as a free lunch. Right, Hanbyeol?”
“Indeed! We won’t take too much, just a reasonable amount! We’ll be conscientious about it!”
“Gyeonu, Hanbyeol. Honestly…. I’m sorry, Sheriff. My kids can be a little out of left field, can’t they?”
I Became the Childhood Friend of the Mid-Boss