Chapter 228

“Mr. Jehyun....”

Im Haekyung called to me gently. Instead of turning around, I just tipped my chin.

“I thought you’d pretend you didn’t know until the very end. In a way, this is completely unexpected.”

The way Im Haekyung said that, they really did look a little surprised. Of course, it could’ve been a deliberate performance.

Pretending I didn’t know until the end was already off the table. You could tell just from the fact that Im Haekyung flat-out called it “pretending.”

Up to now, I’d been able to spew whatever bullshit I wanted at Im Haekyung and play dumb because Im Haekyung didn’t know the correct answer. Even if I spat out some implausible bullshit as the wrong answer, from Im Haekyung’s point of view it was still the only piece of information they had, so regardless of whether they believed it or not, there was no risk of extra information leaking.

But this time, they’d come in already convinced. In the first place, Im Haekyung would never sincerely ask me something like this. If they wanted to hear the “right answer,” they could mess with my mind and pull it out as much as they liked.

‘It’s more accurate to say they were watching my reaction. Or... did they just want to?’

Either way, from the moment I got into Im Haekyung’s car, there was no point denying anything anymore.

So what did I do?

‘Well, there’s no answer here.’

I could let Im Haekyung see me as interesting and comfortably extend my lifespan, or I could hammer in the impression that even with a ridiculous Skill like that I was still a total small fry so they wouldn’t bother keeping me in check, or I could mix in a suitable lie and try to act like I was above even Im Haekyung’s Skill.

Of course, all three would get found out in under a minute, so I boldly skipped them.

So in the end, what I chose was....

‘Ditch Im Haekyung!’

I wasn’t going to resolve their mood or their curiosity. I was just going to give up and leave them hanging. Mood? I wasn’t their boyfriend, so why would I bother smoothing it over. Curiosity? It was better to let them stay curious. Life would be boring as hell—this was basically me tossing them an entertaining story. They should be grateful again this time.

It was funny in the first place that I was supposed to care about someone who barged in out of nowhere and started chewing on something weird.

‘Of course, I was fine with it though.’

Back then, I’d been the small fry, and Im Haekyung had been an S-rank Awakener. If you were an S-rank Hunter, it made sense you’d do that much for a pathetic small-fry bastard.

‘And it’s not like I did it for free.’

Bringing back what you’d already agreed on and using it to corner someone again was insane.

‘Who told you to read the contract wrong....’

I snorted inwardly and looked back at Im Haekyung, who still had that pretty face but was only slightly tightening the area around their eyes.

The fact that they shoved me into an S-rank Dungeon and then came strolling in leisurely proved their personality was trash.

‘Psychopath bastard.’

Well, setting aside my personal complaints about Im Haekyung, if I looked at the facts objectively, ditching Im Haekyung wasn’t a bad choice at all.

Im Haekyung wouldn’t tell the media about this anyway. They weren’t the kind of person to loosen a secret only they held just to screw me over.

Trusting deeply in Im Haekyung’s personality, I clicked my tongue in my head.

‘And they noticed I copied the Skill almost immediately.’

It wasn’t anything else—it was an invisible mental-type Skill I copied and used in a really subtle way, and Im Haekyung still caught it at once. It was impressive in a lot of ways.

I didn’t know if they recognized it that fast because it was a copy of their own Skill, or because they had insane instincts, or because their mana detection was just that ridiculous, but it was an absurd speed. Well, it was probably all three.

The Hunter whose mind I’d controlled was half-soaked in madness. It was the look in the eyes of someone who’d had fear completely stripped away in the middle of an S-rank Dungeon.

“There’s no need to attack! I came out fine too! It’s just ugly as hell... I’m telling you it’s nothing!”

“Even if it’s not alive, it’s still attacking us!”

“Just leave it!”

“...What? That?”

After almost getting pinned and killed once, he’d finally found his voice.

The Hunter called Kim Yuhyun gathered up the other Hunters on his own and tried to explain with his limited vocabulary. Maybe because he was the kind of Hunter who used his body, his explaining ability was fucking awful.

Still, the other Hunters must’ve realized they were facing an actual life-or-death crisis, because they started listening hard to his bullshit explanation.

It was rambling and messy, but what he ~Nоvеl𝕚ght~ was saying was clear.

It’s nothing. So there’s no need to be afraid. Any way at all.

I watched the infection of emotion and cracked my neck, pop pop. Watching them fight for hours with my mouth shut was making my body start to feel stiff.

“What did you do, Mr. Jehyun... with my Skill.”

Only then did Im Haekyung open their mouth again, letting out a small laugh. And after a moment, without even hearing my answer, they quickly guessed the right one.

“You removed fear?”

“.......”

Reaching the answer in an instant, Im Haekyung tapped their chin like they were thinking something over. Then they burst out laughing—different in nuance from before.

Nodding like they understood what I meant, Im Haekyung suddenly grabbed my shoulder, bent down, and pressed in close.

“But really... was that a good choice?”

That question was loaded as hell. The body heat on my shoulder wasn’t exactly pleasant either.

Before I could even answer, Im Haekyung started talking smoothly on their own.

“Removing fear in a Dungeon that drives people with fear. It’s the most primitive method, and it definitely works.”

“.......”

“But, Mr. Jehyun.... You have to be very careful when you touch the mind.”

Im Haekyung was still smiling as they said that. No—if anything, they looked even more entertained right now than before. Im Haekyung’s hand pointed at a Hunter standing right next to Kim Yuhyun, a Hunter who looked like he was just about to be persuaded.

“It’ll help at first. Realizing the original method was wrong can become a kind of energy. Because they start expecting that they can escape another way.”

“Yes.”

“But what about after that?”

After throwing that question out so abruptly, Im Haekyung chuckled low and turned their hand slightly to point at Kim Yuhyun.

“Does that Hunter know what he has to do next? No....”

“.......”

“Do you know, Mr. Jehyun?”

Their gaze stuck to my face for a long moment.

‘This is funny.’

Without answering, I twitched one eyebrow.

Im Haekyung’s hand moved again. Leaving Kim Yuhyun, it pointed toward someone a bit farther away.

“Do you really think everyone here didn’t know they didn’t have to attack that? I don’t think so.”

“.......”

“Someone sharp would’ve known. They just didn’t say it. Because at least until they can think of ‘what’s next,’ they still need things they can ‘do.’”

“.......”

“In a Dungeon, that sense of efficacy is a very important... feeling. It’s better to get the illusion that you’re still taking something down than to feel the despair that you can’t respond at all. Even if you have to accept physical losses.”

It was an interesting thought. I looked at Song Hwayoung, the person Im Haekyung’s fingertip was pointing toward.

The one naturally taking charge of giving directions was Song Hwayoung again. Even though her mana was tangled and she couldn’t properly implement even a single Skill, she took the front line anyway and seized the position of giving orders with practiced ease.

‘She’s skilled.’

Was this just natural because she was the Guild Master of a guild?

Sensing that I was staring at Song Hwayoung, Im Haekyung’s hand rose up again.

‘They’ve been touching me like crazy since earlier, fuck.’

When I obediently let them grab my chin, Im Haekyung personally adjusted my line of sight, too.

“And this side looks dissatisfied as well.”

“Dissatisfied.”

“Yes.”

The Hunter Im Haekyung pointed out as looking dissatisfied was also someone I already recognized. Hunter Lee Haseo from Haeseong. The one who’d tried to chase after Hunter Seok, who ran earlier, and clashed with Song Hwayoung.

‘Ah.’

Logically, this was even easier. You stayed because you were told you had to bust your ass, you left your teammate to die, and now everything you did up to this point was meaningless? I’d be pissed too.

‘Did Song Hwayoung get murdered by a human?’

That sudden, rational suspicion made me seriously think for a moment.

And that thought got broken again by Im Haekyung’s voice. Realizing I wasn’t focusing, Im Haekyung snapped their fingers with a sharp sound and continued.

“It’s like teaching kindergarteners.”

“Is it? I’ve never been to kindergarten.”

‘So what?’

After spouting nonsense, Im Haekyung pulled their hand back from pointing at the Hunters and grabbed my shoulder again.

“The moment they feel fear will definitely come again. Unless you’re so incredibly skilled at Mental Domination that you can completely remove everyone’s fear.”

“You can do it, Guild Master. Aren’t you going to join in?”

Even though there hadn’t been any casualties since Im Haekyung arrived, was this really the time to be this relaxed? No—Im Haekyung had shoved me in here because they wanted to observe me, so were they achieving their goal? Either way.

‘Half-assed, aren’t you.’

Hearing my question, Im Haekyung answered like it was obvious.

“I have to join in.”

“Then join in and remove some fear.”

“If I remove everyone’s fear, they’ll definitely feel the discrepancy. They’ll notice.”

“Then get their agreement. It seems like the simplest way to clear it.”

“Well... Mr. Jehyun... almost no one trusts mental-type Hunters as much as you’d think. And there are existences where getting agreement is impossible in the first place.”

Im Haekyung said that like it was nothing. Naturally, my gaze shifted toward Song Hwayoung.

‘They’re probably talking with her in mind.’

I’d known for a long time that the relationship between those two was fucked. And that Song Hwayoung absolutely hated Im Haekyung’s mind control.

“And honestly, fear isn’t a bad thing. A sense of crisis about death comes from fear. Like how pain plays an important role in survival....”

With that, Im Haekyung’s hand fell away. But my shoulder still felt like their hand was there.

I slowly lifted the corner of my mouth while scanning the Hunters in front of me.

Im Haekyung was right. To be fair, they were a bastard who was almost never wrong in the first place.

Even if it looked like they’d found a breakthrough for now, in the end they’d fail to find a new one and end up returning to square one.

But there was always information Im Haekyung didn’t know. And like Im Haekyung said, just knowing the information in advance was enough to buy time.

In fact, this Dungeon had no description at all of how it functioned before Kwon Taehan entered. So if I wanted a hint, I had no choice but to fit the situation and the original’s content together.

If the Dungeon Boss here was “something that feeds on fear,” then what would make it come outside? It was surprisingly simple.

‘Cut off its food.’

Like how Moros came outside in Jinsando’s desire maze to constantly swallow desire.

So then—how do you cut off fear?

‘Kill every existence that can feel fear... make them lose consciousness. Or temporarily removing fear works too.’

And that was why I’d touched their fear. I had to move on to the next step.

Right on cue, the A-rank Hunters who’d endured the masses’ assault let out surprised exclamations.

‘Good.’

Indifferently, I shifted my gaze and looked at the ominous horizon far away. It was getting subtly darker than before.

‘Haha....’

A laugh came out on its own when a familiar situation appeared. Was it because it had been a while since things lined up this neatly?

Anyway, there were a few more pieces of information Im Haekyung didn’t know.

The first one was—

Whether every one of these bastards died or not, it obviously wasn’t my problem.