Chapter 16

Yoo Ju only had some blood splattered on her, but she didn’t seem to be injured anywhere.

The fact that she took on six people alone, finished faster than us, and came to help made me realize once again just how strong she was.

‘Monster.’

“I’m glad you’re safe too, Yoo Ju. You finished up really quickly.”

Realizing that she had wrapped things up too fast, she hurriedly started explaining.

“Ah! The opponents were pretty weak. They didn’t seem like they’d ever fought properly…! They looked really panicked when they saw me…”

Yoo Ju started rambling, even mentioning things no one had asked about.

The more I looked at Yoo Ju, the more I thought she was strong but not exactly the sharpest tool in the shed.

‘No… to be precise, she’s got a bit of a goofy side.’

“Ahem…! Anyway, no one’s hurt, and everyone fought really well.”

“It seems like they underestimated us a bit. With two kids and a higher ratio of women, they probably thought we’d be easy targets. When we actually fought, they seemed completely thrown off by the magic, like they’d never seen it before.”

“Hmm… I definitely felt it too while fighting. These guys probably survived by ambushing people fleeing from monsters or traveling in small groups.”

Hearing Yoo Ju’s words, Kang I-seo frowned and spoke up.

“Damn, sneaky bastards. They must’ve been too scared to fight monsters. Just a bunch of cowards…”

Everyone silently agreed with that statement. If Yoo Ju was right, these guys chose to kill and loot other people rather than face monsters to survive.

“… Anyway, let’s keep moving.”

Yoo Ju took the lead, and we followed behind her.

Not even 10 minutes after we started moving again, I could feel the others glancing at me out of the corner of their eyes.

‘… I messed up.’

It seemed like people were watching me because I had acted differently than usual.

While everyone walked in silence, Kang I-seo started talking to me.

“… Hey, you’ve got a temper, huh? I was really surprised earlier. I thought you were all prim and proper, but honestly, you seemed a bit like a villain back there. Hehe…”

“… Well, I don’t usually act like that. Must’ve been the stress building up.”

Yoo Ju looked confused, not understanding what we were talking about.

Ho-won didn’t seem to care much, and Yoo Rim and Yoo Hyun… Yoo Hyun seemed a bit awkward. On the other hand, Yoo Rim didn’t seem bothered at all.

‘Or maybe she’s just pretending not to care… I’ll have to figure that out later.’

The problem was Song Ha-eun. She seemed really startled by my earlier behavior and was keeping her distance, as if she was a little scared of me.

‘Sigh… Do I have to start all over again? This is driving me crazy.’

I had been trying so hard to win Song Ha-eun’s favor, but it seemed like I ruined it all in one moment.

My plan to impress the future rising star felt like it had just been thrown off a cliff.

“But honestly, I think it made you seem more human? I mean, who wouldn’t curse after being dragged into a place like this? I totally get it ~”

‘Is this girl really clueless, or is she just trying to lighten the mood…?’

“Honestly, the way you cursed was kind of sexy? It’s totally my type. Just drop the whole gentleman act and keep cursing and speaking casually.”

“… No, thanks.”

“Tch, why are you sticking to that gentleman act when it doesn’t even suit you… Just curse freely…”

Kang I-seo’s expression turned sulky, and I couldn’t tell if she was being serious or not.

‘Ah… no way…’

It must’ve been my imagination, but I got the feeling she’d actually like it if I cursed at her.

‘I’m kind of curious how she’d react if I really cursed at her.’

Anyway, while Kang I-seo and I were talking, Yoo Ju started asking what we were talking about.

“What are you two even talking about?”

I panicked and started fake coughing. Kang I-seo glanced at me, smirked, and then answered Yoo Ju.

“Well, you know how Lee Yun-seong got confessed to by the enemy leader? The guy said he likes men and told Lee Yun-seong to join him, but Lee Yun-seong…”

Yoo Ju, taking Kang I-seo’s joke seriously, started stammering in confusion.

“W-what? Really?”

‘Sigh… What’s the point of falling for such a lame joke…’

Yoo Ju started muttering to herself quietly.

“That can’t be… Yun-seong is mine…”

I pretended not to hear Yoo Ju’s muttering.

Anyway, while Kang I-seo teased Yoo Ju and everyone chatted a bit, Yoo Ju stopped us and spoke up.

“I think we’re getting close to the center. From now on, those who can use magic, please use it to sense the surroundings as we move slowly.”

So the four of us who could use magic—Yoo Ju, me, Song Ha-eun, and Yoo Hyun—started moving slowly while sensing our surroundings.

After about 20 minutes of sensing while moving, I thought Yoo Ju would announce the dungeon’s location since she knew where it was, but she hadn’t said anything yet.

‘… Is she pretending not to find the dungeon on purpose?’

Of course, the others couldn’t see Yoo Ju’s status window, so they weren’t suspicious yet, but her behavior so far had been beyond common sense.

She was way stronger than everyone else, and most of the plans and guesses had come from her.

Maybe Yoo Ju thought that if she found everything herself, it would seem suspicious later, so she didn’t seem to want to say anything this time.

‘Hmm… She probably led us in the right direction, so someone will find it soon.’

After about another 20 minutes of moving, Song Ha-eun suddenly started panicking.

“Uh, uh?!”

Rumble—

Song Ha-eun must’ve sensed the dungeon’s location, as the dungeon suddenly made noise and revealed itself from underground.

Soon, the dungeon appeared before us.

‘… The dungeon.’



The size of it… is smaller than I thought.

The dungeon looked like a very small pyramid. It was almost laughable to compare it to the Great Pyramid of Giza in Egypt on Earth.

About 20 meters in length and width, and about 15 meters in height? I’m not sure exactly. Anyway, the dungeon appeared to be pyramid-shaped from the outside, and there was a narrow entrance to enter it.

The Returner, after seeing the dungeon, made a complicated expression for a while and then started speaking.

“…So this is the dungeon. Ms. Ha-eun, thank you for finding it.”

“Yes… it’s, it’s amazing.”

Who on Earth has ever seen a pyramid with their own eyes? Although it was significantly smaller than the pyramids on Earth, everyone seemed to be in awe, as they were speechless for a while.

“Damn… it’s freaking huge. Are we really supposed to go in here? Are we even capable of clearing it?”

As Kang I-seo cursed while looking at the dungeon, the same voice from the tutorial started speaking.

[Congratulations. Someone has discovered the tutorial dungeon. To those who have finally found the tutorial dungeon after much effort, we extend our congratulations.]

[If you clear the dungeon, everyone currently alive will enter Eras, regardless of whether they participated in the dungeon or not. The dungeon is somewhat challenging, so we recommend attempting it after you’ve grown stronger.]

Hearing the guide warn about the dungeon’s difficulty, I suddenly started feeling anxious.

‘…Can we really clear this?’

I glanced at Yoo Ju for a moment, and her face didn’t show any anxiety about clearing it. That made me feel a bit reassured.

[We will cheer for you to clear the dungeon.]

After that, the guide’s voice stopped. It seemed the guidance ended there.

Mr. Ho-won started speaking.

“It seems the guidance is over… but is it really the right time to enter the dungeon now?”

Mr. Ho-won also seemed worried after hearing the guide’s warning.

“…Not today. I think we should camp here and challenge it tomorrow. I believe we can clear it.”

Yoo Rim, perhaps because her younger sibling’s safety was at stake, started asking Yoo Ju.

“…Unnie, can I ask why you think that way?”

“Because we don’t have any means to get stronger anymore. We’ve all already obtained our jobs and the traits that come with them. We’ve also explored all the buildings in every direction. There’s nowhere left to explore.”

“…Then what about bringing more people who can fight? Going back to the camp…”

Yoo Ju slowly shook her head and replied.

“No, the people left in the camp won’t fight. The guidance we just heard wasn’t just for us. The people in the camp must have heard it too. Do you think those who’ve already given up fighting the monsters outside would willingly enter a more dangerous dungeon?”

“Then what about finding people who are still fighting monsters outside and bringing them…”

“Yoo Rim, think about what the guide just said again.”

“…I don’t understand what you mean.”

“The guide said that regardless of whether they participate in the dungeon or not, everyone alive will enter Eras once the dungeon is cleared.”

Yoo Rim seemed to realize something and replied.

“…So from other people’s perspective, there’s no need to participate in clearing the dungeon…”

“Exactly. From their perspective, there’s no need to risk their lives entering the dungeon. They can just wait for someone else to clear it.”

As Yoo Ju said, this is the end of the guidance for everyone. Everyone will just wait for someone else to clear the dungeon.

Someone might ask me, “Why don’t you just not enter the dungeon either?” But from the moment everyone heard the guidance, we have no choice but to clear the dungeon ourselves. No one else will risk their lives to go in.

‘Damn… I don’t know if it’s a god or whatever, but if this was intentionally designed, it’s a really messed-up design.’

Suddenly, I wondered what the first round was like, since the second round has the Returner to make it somewhat manageable.

‘It must have been hell itself.’

Probably, no one wanted to go. Everyone would have kept putting it off until the food started running out, and then they’d try to force others to go.

Maybe… the method I thought of could have actually been executed.

While lost in thought, I snapped back to reality at Yoo Ju’s words.

“Anyway, what I’m saying is that from the moment this guidance was given, we have no choice but to clear the dungeon.”

There’s actually one more option. Dragging people here and throwing them into the dungeon.

If we enter together and push them forward to clear it, the difficulty would probably drop significantly. Whether they die behind us or in front of us from the dungeon or monsters, it’s the same.

The problem is, the people here wouldn’t even think of this. No, their minds would refuse to even consider it.

Because these people are all good people.

Only someone with a twisted personality like me could think and execute this.

A dark feeling rose inside me, but I swallowed it down.

In the end, everyone seemed to understand Yoo Ju’s words and silently nodded in agreement.

“…If there’s no other opinion, we’ll start camping here. We’ll set the watch order, get some sleep, and then enter after eating tomorrow morning.”

Everyone nodded.