Chapter 49

Instead of answering my question, they just stared at me with their mouths hanging open. Then one of them, whether regaining or losing his senses, flushed red and started striding toward me.

What stopped him was Im Haekyung.

“Wait, just a second. Let’s hold off for a bit, shall we?”

Mind Domination (S) is activated.

At Im Haekyung’s words, the thug who looked like he was about to grab me by the collar slowly sank back down into his seat. Anyone could see it wasn’t voluntary—his movements were too unnatural. Do Yehyun’s eyes widened.

'You’re being brainwashed right now too, you know.'

Still, brainwashing isn’t a passive skill, so being able to freely use two skills at once? Just in terms of skill proficiency, Im Haekyung was clearly above Kwon Taehan at the beginning of the story.

The memory of collapsing after trying to use Mimic and Agitation at the same time to deal with these bastards resurfaced, and it left a sour taste in my mouth.

After neutralizing them in an instant, Im Haekyung folded his arms, gave me a long look up and down, and seemed to ponder something.

“Was that a death-dungeon?”

No point pretending any further—he wouldn’t believe me anyway. Better to answer honestly.

“The chances were high.”

He tilted his head slightly and muttered to himself.

“This doesn’t make sense....”

And in that moment, I instinctively knew he wasn’t going to play along with me anymore. He looked at the quest window and asked:

“I understand what Release means. Do you know what Recruitment means?”

“I don’t know exactly.”

That was only half true. ‘Additional Ally Recruitment’ in quest-type dungeons. Obviously, it wasn’t a free pass to bring someone in from outside. It usually meant pulling in a random monster from the dungeon.

“Not exactly means you know something, doesn’t it?”

“As you probably already guessed, the odds of recruiting a human are zero. At best, the dungeon gives you a monster. If you’re really lucky, you get a useful beast. But if you can’t tame it, you’re screwed.”

“A beast? Oh... like the one Hunter Linehart keeps?”

“Yeah. If you’re lucky.”

Willow Linehart of Australia was one of the very few tamers in existence, the first hunter to actually capture dungeon beasts and raise them. Thanks to that, he had correction stats that were absurd for a B-rank.

Of °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° course, that was only possible because he awakened as a tamer. Not just anyone could domesticate beasts. If it were possible, there would already be online courses on beast-taming in Korea.

Im Haekyung smiled faintly, then pressed further.

“They’re not easy to control, no doubt. The media makes them look like pets, but as you know, they’re still monsters. They just don’t live in the dungeon anymore. Still, if it’s just one additional ally, I don’t think it’d be too hard....”

After a pause, he snapped his fingers. At the sound, the others sitting quietly around us all slumped into sleep.

“Am I wrong?”

Mind Domination (S) is activated.

'Confident bastard.'

I shifted my gaze from Haekyung’s smiling face to the men collapsed on the floor.

So much for lecturing about human rights. Now he was dropping people with a snap of his fingers.

*Well, Haekyung’s always been like this.... *

Still, he wasn’t wrong. Unless it was an S-rank dungeon boss, Im Haekyung could flatten almost anyone one-on-one.

'But the problem is, I don’t know much about this type of quest dungeon.'

If the original novel had clearly detailed it, I wouldn’t have stopped him from choosing Recruitment. But right now? Why take a risk when the safe option’s right there?

“That’s true, but right now we don’t know who—or what—would show up. If it’s an S-rank dungeon boss, even you’d struggle, wouldn’t you?”

“That’s extremely unlikely. S-rank dungeons don’t exactly appear often.”

“So you actually want to recruit?”

That I hadn’t expected. As I narrowed my eyes, trying to read his expression, a hand suddenly clamped down on my shoulder. Do Yehyun.

“Yehyun, what is it?”

“Hyung... I think I’m...”

“Hm?”

“...gonna throw up.”

I turned to look—his face was ghostly pale as he clutched my shoulder. The hell? Even as I was about to check his condition, Haekyung’s voice cut in.

“Ah, damn.”

“.......”

“Sorry, Yehyun-ssi. I tried to control it, but....”

Brainwash (S) is activated.

The status window, impossible to ignore all this time, flashed again.

'What the fuck is this?'

I thought he’d at least try to hide that he was using Brainwash. But showing it off so blatantly?

'He’s doing this on purpose?'

With a look of fake regret, Haekyung offered Yehyun a suggestion.

“Why don’t you lie down for a bit?”

“What the....”

Before he could finish, I caught him as he collapsed, easing him down properly. Yehyun hadn’t lost consciousness, but he wasn’t in any state to speak coherently.

“Yehyun.”

His breathing and pulse were steady. No fever either. Then what the hell? He curled up instead of answering, letting out a weak groan.

“Ugh....”

“Does it hurt?”

“...Haa....”

Yeah, he was out of it. Things were going south faster than I liked.

I stood again and faced Haekyung head-on. He looked down at Yehyun sprawled on the floor, then raised his eyes to meet mine—his smile gone.

“Looks like he’s suddenly not feeling well.”

'Bullshit.'

I admired his nerve as I answered.

“Looks like it.”

“He’ll wake up within an hour, right?”

He said this while cocking his head toward the ticking timer.

51:47:01

Eight minutes gone already. I shrugged, answered his shameless remark.

“Sure. If he wants to make it out alive.”

“Good. Then while we wait for Yehyun-ssi to wake up, why don’t we talk a bit?”

He clapped once to draw my attention, narrowing his eyes slightly and curving his lips in the faintest smile.

'Why the sudden hostility?'

If he hated following my lead, he wouldn’t have come along in the first place. He’d played nice through the first two quests, but now?

'Does he have a problem with killing people?'

That didn’t fit his original behavior at all. I was suspicious.

“You asked earlier if I wanted to recruit. Honestly, I don’t want either option. They’re both unpleasant.”

“Then?”

If he hated Recruitment and Release, what the hell did he want?

I was keeping a calm face, but inside I was uneasy. In this dungeon, no one could vouch for me, and Im Haekyung’s reputation wasn’t exactly bad. If I died here, no one would know.

'Feels like I walked straight onto a stage set up for my own execution.'

I had to admit—I’d been pushing my luck too far with this body.

'Was I too careless?'

I mean, clearing dungeons together and gaining skills should’ve been a win-win. If he hated me, he could’ve just refused to come. Was he twisted, or had he planned this all along? I couldn’t tell.

But then he said something completely out of left field.

“I haven’t known you long, Jehyun-ssi, but I can tell what kind of person you are.”

“.......”

'The fuck’s he on about?'

Where the hell was this ‘personality talk’ coming from? I turned my head, giving him a sideways look. He was still smiling faintly as he continued.

“You’re not as calculating as you think. More like: ‘If it works, great. If not, whatever.’ That’s how you come off. Like you’ve always got a safety net.”

'This is me being calculated.'

But he wasn’t entirely wrong either. If it works, good. If not, too bad. What else could I think, when I knew I couldn’t truly die? Whether endless returns or permanent death was worse—I hadn’t exactly tested it yet.

“And that makes me wonder—what’s that safety net? A skill? Your rank?”

“.......”

“It’s neither, is it? Because despite those ‘amazing’ skills, you keep coming to me. Knowing full well I’m a mental-type.”

He raised an eyebrow at me.

Right. I understood what he was implying. This was the backlash for ignoring his calls. He never trusted me to begin with, but he knew his own strength. That’s why he followed me here.

'Still... maybe next time we should have a proper talk?'

I failed to realize ‘next time’ meant inside a Gate. His plan had been obvious: brainwash Yehyun, knock out the others, and create one-on-one time with me—in the middle of a timed quest.

'He planned this.'

“Surprised you haven’t used Mind Domination to just ask.”

“Would you really be okay with me pulling the answers out that way?”

Of course not. My expression must’ve said as much, because he folded his arms and continued.

“Didn’t think so. Anyway, I’ve built up my own little theory. About why you keep entering dungeons like this. Even risking death. The simplest theory? You enjoy it. You want dopamine, adrenaline. That thrill. And thrills like this are addictive.”

... I almost called bullshit. But then paused. Was it?

Nah. If that were true, I’d already be running into every dungeon I could find with crazy eyes. Getting kidnapped today only made me feel pissed, not excited.

'Still... if I’m being brutally honest, aside from nearly dying, this is more fun.'

Let’s be real—college lectures and study groups only offer so much ‘fun.’ Not that I hated that life. It’s just that I’m the kind of person who’s supposed to live something relatively dull and steady.