Chapter 253

“Yes, understood, Lee Yun-seong.”

Wi Ho-yeon didn’t seem fazed, but Kang I-seo and Charis had different reactions.

“What? You’re saying we should suddenly move while carrying you in this situation?”

“Hey, what the…”

It’s only natural they’d react like that when I suddenly suggested moving while being carried. But of course, I had a valid reason.

“From now on, I’ll use the chimera to find the clan members. I need to connect my vision to the chimera, so I can’t move on my own.”

I planned to use the Shadow Spirit to find the clan members.

Basically, the Shadow Spirit is a spiritual entity.

Meaning, it can pass through objects.

An efficient method given the dungeon is like a maze.

After hearing my explanation, the two finally seemed convinced. Wi Ho-yeon, on the other hand, seemed to have already assumed I had a reason.

“Wi Ho-yeon, please.”

“Yes, don’t worry.”

And so, I started moving while being carried by Wi Ho-yeon.

‘Damn…!’

“Ugh…!”

It felt like my head was going to split.

“Lee Yun-seong? Are you hurt…?”

“No… I’m not.”

Normally, seeing through the chimera’s eyes doesn’t put much strain on my body, but this time was an exception.

‘Damn, the pain is too much.’

The side effects of a recent experiment I conducted on myself, combined with the rapidly changing vision as we passed through walls, made my head hurt.

‘I had no choice.’

I had to make this choice for the future. At least, that’s what I heard from Aitas just before leaving Seongguk.

‘This is for later.’

Right now, I had to focus on the vision before me.

– You fool. That’s why I opposed it.

‘Aditi.’

Aditi spoke to me, but I didn’t respond. I didn’t have the luxury to.

– How foolish. Do you really not want to sacrifice that woman?

‘Shut up.’

– You’ll go mad like this. Haven’t you seen the precedent?

‘… Rekalux.’

The experiments I’ve been conducting recently were inspired by Rekalux, that old man.

– What you’re doing can still be undone. So stop immediately after this. This is advice.

‘Bullshit.’

I need insurance. At least, I have to prepare what I can.

Aditi kept giving me advice, but I ignored it. Right now, I had to focus on the rescue.

‘… Oh, wait.’

I soon found a place with the corpses of beastmen and urgently spoke to the group.

“I’ve found a place with beastmen corpses. I’ll guide the direction from now on, so follow my lead.”

“Yes, understood.”

So, while continuing to search for clues through my vision, I guided the group with my words.

Being carried by Wi Ho-yeon looked ridiculous, but this wasn’t the time to care about that.

‘Was there a chase?’

It seemed the beastmen persistently chased those who fled.

Along with bloodstains, the corpses of monsters and traces of beastmen started appearing.

‘The trail ends here. That’s…’

I found traces of battle and the shield used by Ho-won.

“I’ll change the route immediately. I’ve found Ho-won’s equipment.”

At my words, Kang I-seo reacted urgently.

“Equipment? Is he okay?!”

“… I don’t know. But I found Ho-won’s shield lying on the ground.”

“What? Then he’s…”

Kang I-seo’s face turned pale as if imagining the worst.

‘Tsk…’

“There’s no body that looks like Ho-won. He probably escaped safely.”

Honestly, finding a player’s equipment, which is as vital as their life, lying on the ground isn’t a good sign.

Especially for a vanguard whose role is to protect allies.

‘Seeing the shield in such a state is definitely not a good situation.’

At least we didn’t find Ho-won’s body, but it’s still not a good situation.

‘The shield being in that state means he gave his all to defend.’

But I couldn’t say anything negative to Kang I-seo.

‘… He’s practically her only family.’

Ho-won took care of Kang I-seo like his own child since she was an orphan on Earth.

To Kang I-seo, he’s more of a father than her biological father.

“… Let’s move as quickly as possible.”

******

Thud.

We soon arrived at the place I found through the chimera’s eyes.

‘Strange. The trail ends here.’

Both footprints and bloodstains stopped here.

All that’s visible are broken equipment and a few beastmen corpses.

“… Ah.”

Turning my head at the sound, I saw Kang I-seo staring blankly at the shield lying on the ground.

Then she stumbled towards it…

Thud.

“Ah… this is…”

“… Kang I-seo.”

“… No, right? It can’t be…”

Human imagination knows no bounds, and it doesn’t always have a positive impact.

Sometimes, bad imaginations grow endlessly.

“Damn… no. It can’t be… it can’t…”

I didn’t know how to comfort or reassure someone in this situation.

While I left Kang I-seo and surveyed the surroundings, Charis approached me.

“… Hey.”

“Ah, Charis.”

It seemed Charis had something to say.

With a look of uncertainty, she continued.

“The mana flow here seems a bit strange.”

“Mana flow?”

“It’s strange. In certain parts…”

Just as Charis was speaking…

Fssst –

‘What…’

The space split open like a zipper, and three people popped out.

“Haa… haa…”

“Ugh…!”

Everyone was on edge at the sudden appearance of these figures.

“… Shin Han-sol?”

Familiar faces came into view. Shin Han-sol, sweating profusely, and…





‘One member of the Mardan Clan, and…’

… Uncle Ho-won, unconscious and missing an arm.

“Uncle!”

Without waiting for anyone else to react, Kang I-seo was the first to rush forward.

“Uncle! What’s wrong?! Uncle! Your, your arm…”

The problem was, even though Kang I-seo shook Uncle Ho-won to wake him up, there was no response.

‘… This isn’t good.’

After using my ability on Uncle Ho-won, I confirmed he wasn’t dead. At least he was still breathing.

But…

‘… He lost an arm. The bleeding is too severe.’

He looked like he was on the verge of death.

“Ah, what’s wrong with Uncle? Han-sol! Huh?! Why is Uncle…”

Kang I-seo seemed to lose her composure upon seeing Uncle Ho-won missing an arm.

“Haa… Hoo… That…”

Shin Han-sol also didn’t look like she was in a normal state. It seemed like she had exhausted all her mana.

“… Kang I-seo, step aside for now.”

I urgently pulled out a potion from my pouch and poured it over Uncle Ho-won’s wound.

Of course, we had brought healing supplies in preparation for situations like this.

‘At least they managed to stop the bleeding minimally over there. That’s somewhat fortunate.’

Otherwise, Uncle Ho-won wouldn’t have lasted until we arrived.

‘There’s nothing we can do about the arm for now. The priority is getting everyone back alive.’

It’s impossible to treat him here anyway. We need to return first before we can do anything, whether it’s saving him or not.

“What do we do… What do we do about Uncle… Damn it… What is this…”

‘Sigh…’

Uncle Ho-won’s body was a mess.

Given his role on the frontlines, he must have borne the brunt of the attack.

‘If Uncle Ho-won had fallen, everyone would’ve died. He must’ve done his best.’

Unable to hold back her frustration, Kang I-seo tightly gripped Uncle Ho-won’s remaining hand and cursed.

“Damn it… Those bastards…”

‘First, we need to hear the explanation.’

“… Han-sol, can you explain what happened?”

“Ah… Well…”

“… I’ll explain. I seem to be in relatively better shape.”

A man who appeared to be a member of the Mardan Clan spoke to us.

At least this man looked relatively unharmed.

“… Alright. What exactly happened here?”

The man, with a tired expression, began to explain.

“The dungeon was maze-like, and with our numbers, we were split up to tackle it. The dungeon itself was quite easy, as you know. The problem was that we were ambushed by another faction while clearing it.”

“The Beastmen?”

The man nodded in response.

“Yes, correct. I don’t know why they attacked us, but the issue was that they significantly outnumbered us.”

The numerical disadvantage was evident just from the number of Beastmen corpses we’d seen so far.

“… So you ran.”

“Yes, we ran, but they persistently chased us. Just as we were reaching our limit, Shin Han-sol here suggested a plan.”

‘That ability.’

The method Shin Han-sol mentioned must be related to what we saw earlier.

“You hid using Han-sol’s ability.”

The man nodded and briefly glanced at Shin Han-sol with admiration. Though Shin Han-sol was too busy catching her breath to notice.

“… Yes, but Shin Han-sol hesitated to suggest it for a reason.”

“And that reason was…?”

“… Shin Han-sol said her ability could create a separate space. She proposed hiding there until rescue arrived, but there was one problem.”

Something felt off.

But from my perspective, I couldn’t figure out what the problem was.

‘A problem? Didn’t you manage to hide safely?’

“What was the problem?”

“Only three people could hide. There were four of us… So one member from Eternity volunteered to act as bait.”

‘… Lee Jae-hyo.’

I couldn’t help but bite my lip at the man’s words.

That meant Lee Jae-hyo was still out there, luring the enemies away.

‘I thought we got separated because I couldn’t see him… Turns out he volunteered to be the bait.’

From Lee Jae-hyo’s perspective, it must’ve been the only choice.

Two mages and one severely injured.

In the end, the only one in that squad who could act as bait and distract the enemies was himself.

‘Damn it, the situation’s a mess.’

Normally, we’d move immediately to rescue Lee Jae-hyo, but… the problem is we can’t.

Lee Jae-hyo and Uncle Ho-won. Right now, we can only focus on one.

A wave of nausea rose within me. In the end, the choice fell on me.

‘Damn it… Why now…’

I had no choice but to close my eyes tightly. The situation was demanding a quick decision from me.

… In the end, I had to make a choice.

‘… We need to get Uncle Ho-won out of the dungeon first.’

At least we’ve taken the minimum necessary steps, but that’s all they are—minimal.

‘Lee Jae-hyo still has a chance to hold out. But not this one.’

“… Alright. Then, since we have a severely injured person, our priority is to get out of the dungeon first.”

“Yun-seong. What about Lee Jae-hyo…?”

“There’s no choice. We need to get the injured to safety first, then we can rescue him.”

‘We’ll have to hope Yoo Ju finds Lee Jae-hyo.’

Even Lee Jae-hyo wouldn’t be able to shake off the pursuit on his own.