Chapter 78

< Episode 80 > A world where misunderstandings and pipes coexist. Clumsy ones can’t survive.

The four were lined up in a row, continuing to explore the dungeon.

During that time, monsters and traps appeared, but nothing serious happened.

That was because Rime at the front easily blocked everything.

In a way, it could be called a rather pleasant exploration.

“••••••

But amidst this, Young-hee right behind Rime kept hesitating.

It was as if she had on ill-fitting shoes.

Unable to bear it any longer, Rime turned around.

“Why have you been acting like that since earlier?”

“Huh?”

“You’ve been fidgeting around like a dog who needs to poop.”

“A dog needing to poop…?”

Rime’s straightforward words made Young-hee’s shoulders sag slightly.

Young-hee hesitated for a moment before speaking.

“It’s just… I feel awkward with you in front, Rime-san.”

“…Am I not trustworthy enough?”

Young-hee quickly waved her hands left and right.

“No, no! It’s not that. It’s just… I keep thinking someone else should be in front of me.”

“…”

“I always used to look at someone’s back. Now it feels like something precious is missing…”

“Hmm…”

Young-hee scratched her head awkwardly.

“Hehehe! Isn’t it weird? I’m saying all this even though I don’t remember anything. Sorry! Please ignore me!”

“…Humans I dislike, but there’s one thing even I recognize.”

“Huh?”

“That heart of yours.”

Rime pointed at Young-hee’s chest with her finger.

“Something monsters who devour their own kind don’t possess. That inexplicable, powerful force that arises when you think about someone precious. Something even a genius brain can’t explain.”

“The heart?”

“From my perspective, yeah. Anyway, remember this feeling well. It’ll likely be the most important clue to help you regain your memories.”

Young-hee clutched her chest.

The heart?

Could this vague emotion inside me be what resides in the heart?

“Rime-san.”

“Yeah?”

“You’re making me nauseous.”

Snap.

A vein popped on Rime’s forehead as she tickled Young-hee under the armpit.

“Don’t crawl up just because I’m being nice!”

“Ahahaha! Stop! Stop! I’m sorry—!”

Only after Young-hee pleaded for quite a while did Rime let her go.

“Hehe, just kidding. Thanks! You always say such good things, Rime-san!”

“…And stop talking so much. We’ll end up as enemies later.”

“Eh~ Why are you like that again?”

Laughing and chatting, they walked forward together.

Suddenly, Rime stopped in her tracks.

“What’s wrong?”

Jin at the back asked cautiously.

Instead of answering, Rime raised her hand.

It was then that voices were heard.

“What, what! Who are you guys?”

People were walking toward them from ahead.

It was an adventuring party consisting of three men and one woman.

They were immediately judged as adventurers due to their equipment: swords, bows, and staffs.

The man who seemed to be the leader shouted.

“Hey, this isn’t a place for kids to play around.”

Relieved that the others were human, the man approached without hesitation.

“How did you get here? Who’s your leader?”

At his words, all three women turned around.

Caught off guard, Jin blinked.

Huh? Me?

Can’t I just stay out of this and keep pretending to be the silent type?

“Hey, are you the leader? Aren’t you supposed to be an all-girls party or something?”

The man seemed slightly taken aback.

Apparently, Jin was tall and had an intimidating appearance.

Even without mentioning Hwagcheon, he looked scary enough.

“Tch, I was hoping to charm some ladies, but now this is annoying.” Still, the guy thought these rookies looked young and inexperienced.

The man cleared his throat and tried to compose himself.

“Whatever the reason, this place is dangerous. You should leave while we’re being nice.”

“What will you do if we don’t leave nicely?”

Jin asked expressionlessly.

Actually, Jin was genuinely curious.

Or rather, it was more like he blurted it out absentmindedly due to nervousness.

But depending on how it was interpreted, it could sound like a provocation.

“Are you asking to get chased out by force? Entering the dungeon without permission will result in punishment from the Guild…”

“Our leader is right,” said the class president standing next to Jin.

The girl, who was already annoyed, crossed her arms and glared at the man.

“This isn’t a registered dungeon. And you didn’t come with permission either, right? Or are you threatening us?”

“Ah, no, we were just worried about you…”

“Oh my, as you can see, we don’t have a single scratch on us. We broke through quite easily. Did you guys suffer a lot?”

The class president smiled sweetly.

The man’s face turned red and pale alternately.

Since the start, these brats have been mocking him, an adult!

Worse, someone with a C-class hero certification!

These guys…!”

Just as the man was about to explode, he suddenly stopped.

He glanced over Jin, sizing him up and down, and then wore an expression as if realizing something.

“Hey… Are you Kim Yu-jin, the successor of Hwagcheon?”

“So what?”

Click!

The adventurers behind the man got into position.

In response, the class president also prepared herself.

Rime looked at them with a sigh,

while Young-hee tensed up and readied herself.

The only one who showed no change was Jin himself.

‘They say the heir of Hwagcheon attends the academy. Did he bring along a gang of hooligans at this age? Arrogant brat.’

The man smirked as he looked at Jin.

“…What brings Lord Hwagcheon’s son here?”

“I’ve something to find.”

“Really need to come here yourself? You could’ve sent subordinates.”

“Guess there was a method to that.”

Jin nodded as if he truly hadn’t thought of it.

Unexpected reaction caused the man to furrow his brows.

What? Is this really the infamous heir of Hwagcheon?

‘Could this guy be a bit slow?’

The man glanced back.

His comrades were all ready for battle at any moment.

On the other side, none of them were properly armed.

Their leader was that vacant-looking guy.

Plus, there was no information about any followers.

‘This might be the chance to cut off Lord Hwagcheon’s neck!’

Infamous to the point where second place would cry, Hwagcheon.

Killing its lord would instantly raise one’s reputation.

This was like a pumpkin rolling in with its vine intact.

Gulp.

The man placed his hand on his sword.

‘No, wait!’

Then, he grinned as if a brilliant idea struck him and changed the subject.

“Ah~ Ah~ This is embarrassing. We were really just worried. We didn’t know about your skills. Let me apologize.”

No one relaxed their guard upon hearing those words.

Rime was waiting for Jin’s cue to chop off their heads,

and the class president prepared to unfurl a curtain if a fight broke out.

“Hmm! Hmm! Don’t be tense. We’re adventurers, after all. If you don’t mind, I’d like to propose a collaboration with your leader.”

“Collaboration?”

“This dungeon splits into two paths ahead. We’ll need to clear both to conquer the dungeon anyway.”

Saying that, he winked with one eye.

If the recipient had been a cute girl, it might have worked.

But coming from a middle-aged uncle, it was just creepy.

“If we’re at this point, wouldn’t it be more efficient if each of us took one path?”

“We came here for an item in this dungeon, so that would be inconvenient.”

“Ah, then you can have that item! We’ll concede that much as an apology for causing trouble.”

The class president narrowed her eyes.

At first glance, it seemed like a great deal for them.

Which made it all the more suspicious.

Most importantly, it deviated greatly from the standard approach of adventure parties.

“There’s no need to do that, is there? Normally, for safety reasons, it’d be better to tackle it together-”

“Fine.”

The person who interrupted the class president was Jin.

Jin replied casually.

“Then let’s do that and meet up at the end.”

“Alright! Good job, you rich folks sure know how to talk sense.”

Having reached a reasonable agreement, they lined up until they reached the fork in the road.

“Ah, so we’ll take the right path, and you can take the left, okay?”

Jin, recalling Soo-hyun’s instruction to always take the right path, asked.

The man nodded nonchalantly.

“Yeah, whatever. We don’t care which side we take.”

They shook hands, and the two groups parted ways.

The man chuckled smugly as he watched Jin’s group enter the right path.

****

“Hey, Leader. Why did you let them go like that?”

Ten minutes after parting ways with Jin’s group, the adventurer mage asked.

“I honestly thought we’d have a showdown there.”

“I did too.”

The other teammates nodded unhappily.

“Honestly, wouldn’t we have won if we fought there?”

“This dungeon conquest seems less appealing than the title of defeating Hwagcheon’s successor.”

“Tsk tsk, you fools. That’s why you’re stuck as third-rate adventurers forever.”

Their third-rate leader shook his head.

“Hey, who said I gave up on cutting off the heir’s head?”

“Huh? But you were the one who proposed the collaboration first.”

“That was obviously a lie. Since we’re conquering the dungeon anyway, if we just kill them after they clear it, it’d be a win-win situation, right?”

The mage blinked for a moment.

Then, understanding the situation, burst out laughing.

“Hahahaha! Wow, Leader, you’re despicable, despicable! It’s too cruel to mess with kids like that, isn’t it?”

“Let’s slaughter that Hwagcheon brat and tie up the girls for our fun. There were quite a few attractive ones, weren’t there?”

The man chuckled wickedly.

“Especially that chick with her hair tied back and huge boobs. I want to hear her scream defiantly.”

“Kuk kuk, it’s been a while since we’ve had some fun.”

“Still, aren’t they too young? Isn’t this going too far?”

The man shrugged.

“That’s how the world works. We’re just giving a proper education to a rich kid who doesn’t know how the world works.”

“Kyahahahaha! This is ridiculous!”

“Head’s up.”

“Ahahahahahahahahahahahah!”

“Don’t laugh too loud. We might draw suspicion.”

“Ki hyahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahah!”

“……Wait, what the hell-”

The man froze as he turned around.

His companions were all laughing wildly.

Crazily. Their eyes bloodshot, tears streaming down their faces.

“What… What’s going on… Gasp!”

The man spat blood from his mouth.

Even as he coughed, he glanced at his own hands.

They were already transforming into reptilian appendages.

“Mo…Monster transformation?”

Dungeons have various traps.

Most deal physical damage.

But occasionally, there are curses like this.

Once afflicted, it’s nearly impossible to remove without a powerful blessing.

Needless to say, there was no one with such a skill in their B-grade party.

“How…how could there be a curse in such a low-level dungeon…”

The man staggered.

Could it be that choosing the right path at the fork was the correct answer?

Damn it.

Getting distracted by thoughts of Hwagcheon’s heir was a mistake.

‘Bastard. Getting caught in a fifty-fifty probability trap. My luck is atrocious…’

Suddenly, a past conversation flashed through the man’s mind.

– Ah, so we’ll take the right path, and you can take the left, okay?

– Yeah, whatever. We don’t care which side we take.

Right.

The one who chose the path first was Hwagcheon.

If he knew this place was a trap…

And if he anticipated our thoughts…

‘Could it be…we were the ones played?’

Thinking back, it was strange.

The opponent was the notorious Hwagcheon after all.

An organization that worships absolute power above all else.

Would their successor really be that naive?

Not to mention believing our proposal without suspicion?

‘Hmm…was it all an act?’

Now that I think about it, it was too smooth.

Still, it’s terrifying.

In that short time, he figured out our thoughts,

Thought of a way to handle us without shedding a drop of blood,

And legally, Jin’s side did nothing wrong.

Moreover, this is a hidden dungeon.

It’s questionable whether our deaths would even be discovered.

‘This…is Hwagcheon’s successor…’

!……

!………

.

Regretting having underestimated someone who shouldn’t have been messed with.

The man transformed into a monster alongside his companions.

“KYAAAAAAAAAAAA!”

Meanwhile, on the left path of the dungeon.

Jin grinned widely and said,

“Wow, they even gave up their items. Such kind people, huh? Right?”

“Y-yeah, right?”

Young-hee awkwardly nodded at Jin’s comment.

The class president remained skeptical, lost in thought.

While Rime happily walked ahead as if listening to a cheerful song.

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