On The Honeymoon (9)

The second floor was still in chaos. The boss monster summoned by the hulking ones was rampaging regardless of the broken wall, and the Kuns, out of mushrooms, were just scrambling to escape.

They’d trip, help each other up, and flee again with their stubby legs.

THOOM—!

And then—crushed underfoot.

Once the Sekun mushrooms ran out and the fleeing began, the giant monster looked more smug than ever, swinging its breath-deflecting right arm as it marched forward.

It had a face like the Kuns were nothing but annoying fuzzballs. And the one it was staring at—the one who blew off its left arm—was Rurin.

Even with its right arm made of magical bricks, it seemed to view her breath as a real threat.

Honestly, I was pissed.

How dare it even look at Rurin like that?

Looking at someone else’s wife like that? Absolutely not.

So I grabbed Rurin’s hand and yanked her toward me.

“Rurin, come here.”

“My love?”

Rurin looked at me after being pulled over. So I said exactly what was on my mind.

“Monsters keep looking at you. You can’t just go around radiating beauty like that.”

“Eh?”

Rurin looked at me like, what the heck are you talking about?

“I mean, facts are facts. My wife is pretty.”

“Wha—what’s with you?! I mean, it’s true, but still! Hehe.”

She smiled, lifting the corners of her lips. She’d been frowning from all the monster stress—thank goodness. A frown doesn’t suit her at all.

“So turn your head this way so those guys can’t stare anymore.”

“But we have to kill that thing!”

“Hehe. Mana has returned, can’t you feel it, my dear?”

“Oooh?”

Hearing me, Rurin spun around with the confidence of a freshly transformed Sailor Moon.

“It’s true!”

“Right? We broke the wall.”

“So now you’re the strong version of you?”

“Yep.”

“I liked the weak version too. That’s a bit of a shame.”

“Really?”

“Then I’ll stay put! That thing doesn’t matter anymore.”

“That’s true. Yes, please stay still.”

After tirelessly commanding the Kuns and blasting her breath, Rurin declared a strike, and the monster roared, charging all the way up to us.

“KRAAAAGHHH!”

In the distance, since they were out of Sekun mushrooms, the tide had turned—the big monsters were now running wild.

“They said, ‘That one’s weak.’ To the giant monster.”

Rurin interpreted the monster’s roar and scoffed as she said it.

“Oh yeah? So they can see. That was true…until just now.”

The big monsters kept roaring. Rurin kept translating.

“They said to leave it to them. That they would deal with me. They don’t know their place.”

Well, they weren’t wrong—until now. I hadn’t lifted a finger, so they probably assumed I was just some harmless background character.

Can’t blame them. It was kind of true.

More importantly, right now the Kuns—who no longer had weapons—were getting beaten by the remaining big monsters. That needed fixing first.

“Rurin. Put a shield on all the Kuns. We can’t let them get hurt anymore.”

“Understood. That’s an easy one.”

As the giant monster slammed the ground with its fist, shaking the earth and stomping down—suddenly, everything changed for the Kuns beneath it.

“Kuuuuuun! Kunuuuuun!”

They were yelling for each other to run, and just then, the shouting Kun got stepped on by the giant monster—

“Huh?”

—but it couldn’t bring its foot down. The barrier stopped it. No matter how hard it pressed, it couldn’t touch the space where the Kun stood.

Confused, the monster shifted its foot to the side—and with a thud, it hit the ground.

The Kun that was about to be crushed was perfectly safe.

Yup. That’s the power of a proper shield.

For Rurin right now, that level of magic was child’s play. Thanks to the Dragon Orb, she was far stronger than a normal dragon. Her shields could block just about anything.

“Kun-kun-kun?”

The only issue? Even the Kuns were confused. The one who should’ve been crushed just looked around in a daze.

Its fluffy little cotton-candy body looked around with a blank face—like a newborn baby.

Not just that Kun—the others too. One was about to be smashed by a club, but the club bounced off and knocked the big monster over with the recoil.

“Kuuhn?”

“Grrahhh?”

Both attacker and defender looked completely baffled.

Satisfied that the barrier worked, I left them confused and turned back toward the giant monster.

And I started walking toward it.

Slowly.

The giant monster roared and swung a fist at me.

Alright then. Time for some magic. I unleashed a full-on 9th-class spell without mercy.

A massive burst of energy clung to the monster’s body, sparking an intense explosion.

It was a powerful detonation spell called Plozernia.

The erupting spell wrapped the giant monster—

KWAHHHHHHHHHH—!

—and a thunderous explosion shook the entire area. The monster’s body shattered, its stone dust blowing everywhere, clouding our vision.

Just in case, I gripped Rurin’s hand tight. She held mine too.

As the dust settled, our sight returned. The giant monster lay collapsed, with only its lower half remaining.

It hadn’t even managed a counterattack. The boss was dead. And the ones who summoned it—the big monsters—panicked and fled.

The big monsters ran toward the huge door they had opened earlier—maybe trying to find another way out.

The Kuns looked stunned, shocked that the giant monster had been obliterated in a single blow.

At that moment, the battle was over. No one chased after the fleeing monsters. The Kuns weren’t that aggressive to begin with—and though still confused, they started getting loud, realizing the giant was dead and only a few big monsters remained.

“Well, it ended well. The Kuns didn’t lose too many. Looks like Sekun mushrooms really were the key to all this.”

“Is that so?”

Using Sekun mushrooms to break the ruin’s walls—that was the trick that restored mana. Without them, this would’ve been a total nightmare.

But since Sekun mushrooms were right there on the first floor, the hint was in plain sight.

“Go tell the Kuns. They’ve won back their freedom. Tell them they should be happier about it.”

Rurin nodded and ran over to the Kuns. They immediately bowed, and Rurin began talking with her usual triumphant energy.

Just like that, the second floor was fully conquered.

We could’ve opened a dimensional rift and gone back to our original route immediately, but we decided to wait and watch the Kuns clean up first.

We’d leave once we confirmed there were no more monsters inside the massive door.

The Kuns were scurrying around thanks to us, and Rurin was poking around the big door—her curiosity must’ve kicked in again, so I left her to it.

Through the hole in the wall, I could see the sky. Wide, clear skies and crisp clouds.

What worried me was the chance that beyond the giant door might be a path to a third floor—and that this ruin wasn’t over yet, threatening the Kuns’ newfound freedom.

I’d promised to liberate them, so that would’ve broken my word. Thankfully, that wasn’t the case.

Rurin called me over, and when I checked, the space beyond the big door wasn’t a stairway to another floor—it was an exit.

It was like a mountaintop. The exit led downward, like a path off the mountain. The fleeing monsters must’ve escaped that way—so once the big door was closed, the Kuns could live in peace here.

Even if the monsters came back, as long as the Sekun mushrooms were around, they’d be fine.

I explained all that to the Kuns and then looked over at Rurin.

Rurin, who was chatting excitedly with the Kuns, noticed me looking and ran over.

“My love? Why are you calling me?”

“I wasn’t calling you yet. Just looking.”

Though I was planning to.

“That was a ‘come here’ kind of look.”

“You’re not wrong. Let’s go. Crash landing arc ends here—we need to get back on the road.”

“Kuuuuuun!”

Right as I said that, Rurin shouted to the Kuns in their own language.

And the Kuns suddenly panicked and ran over.

“I told them we’re leaving. So…we go now.”

“Alright then.”

A pretty cool goodbye. I don’t mind. I’m sure they’ll manage from here.

I took Rurin’s hand as she nodded, opened a dimensional rift, and as bright light poured out, the Kuns dropped to the ground in shock.

Republic of Korea. Seoul.

Through the dimensional rift, we safely arrived in Seoul this time.

Thankfully, there was no chaos like our first time here. Back then, I passed out and Rurin practically declared war on the passing cars.

This time, we were both calm. Having visited once before helped us feel less out of place.

Rurin understood cars now and didn’t pick any fights. Technically, we’d just crash-landed in a random world, so calling this a “flawless arrival” might be a stretch.

Still, we got here in one piece. That’s what matters.

So the first thing we did was find a place to live.

Considering we planned to stay a week, we debated between a hotel and a house—but after that exhausting honeymoon in the other world, we leaned toward experiencing newlywed life here instead.

While checking real estate listings, we were told that for a weeklong stay, Airbnb was the way to go these days.

It’s kind of like a guesthouse, they said, and we could rent out the entire home. That sealed the deal.

As for ID and all that… We had to use Rurin’s 10th-class mind magic. In the end, we were able to rent a small house somewhere in Seoul.

People said the internet had come a long way—and yeah, modern life really was convenient.

No down payments, no lease contracts—just a one-week rental, and boom: our little love nest.

Right inside was the kitchen. One small bathroom. No tub, but a showerhead—enough for cleaning up. Then there was one room that served as the master bedroom and the only bedroom.

And a decently sized double bed.

Not as luxurious as our lair’s bed, but still perfectly fine for sleeping.

Compared to our lair with a lavish bedroom, private bath, dressing room, sauna, dragon den, storage room, and more—it didn’t even come close. But this was a vacation, not real estate shopping, so comparing the two would just be silly.

Still, since it was a guesthouse and not a hotel, we could cook—which let us try out life in the modern world.

To Rurin, it probably felt like experiencing the future.

Of course, the moment she saw the house, Rurin looked around and asked,

“Is this a storage unit?”

“No, this is the house.”

“This?”

“What, too small?”

“Hm. It’s fine! I can see you wherever you are, so I like this kind of house. At the lair, just finding you was a whole thing! And I had to wrangle the Luruns too.”

It was like she read my mind with that answer.

“Right? I was thinking the same thing. For newlywed life, small can be cozy.”

“Love… But if I undo my polymorph, this place will get crushed.”

“Exactly why you should keep it on.”

“That’s true. Hehe.”

Rurin didn’t look the least bit dissatisfied.

And with that, our newlywed base camp for the week was set—no issues at all.