Chapter 231

They’d been acting like they were about to die this whole time, so it looked like they’d finally snapped somewhere in the process. I looked at the Hunter pitifully for a moment, then stood up.

Hunter Seok stared blankly at me getting up, then suddenly grabbed my pant leg.

“At least help me up too.”

“.......”

I hesitated for a moment over whether to grant the request, then grabbed the Hunter’s arm and pulled them up. Once upright, the Hunter checked their own body like it was second nature, then stared at me hard.

“How long was I... separated?”

“How would I know.”

“...Right. Yeah, you weren’t even with us in the first place. Then... did the Guild Master come?”

“Yes. They came.”

“Together with you?”

Why are there so many questions? I saved someone who looked like they were about to die, and now if I leave this Hunter alone, it feels like they’ll just keep firing questions at me forever.

I cut them off roughly and asked,

“The timing was different, but... well. Haeseong’s Guild Master sent me, and then came too, so you could say it’s basically ‘together,’ right? Anyway—how did you end up like that?”

“If the Guild Master came... that’s a relief. Honestly, earlier it was really almost a disaster. Ah, you didn’t see—.”

Why does this bastard keep talking about something else? I asked how they almost died, and the extra commentary was long as hell. I just stared without responding, and only then did the Hunter seem to realize what was going on and shut their mouth on their own.

“...Ahem. Thanks for saving me. Even if you stuffed potions into my mouth like a maniac and I almost suffocated to death, anyway, if it weren’t for you, here....”

“You’d have died.”

“.......”

Stating the obvious made the Hunter nod. A short silence followed, then the Hunter finally gave an answer on their own.

“I don’t know exactly where this is. At some point, I just kept getting chased. By... those monsters.”

“Monsters?”

“You didn’t see? Until just now, here—.”

“What did they look like?”

“There were... a lot. There were ones that looked like people, and like, forms that were unclear....”

The Hunter trailed off vaguely. I listened and nodded.

‘No confidence.’

Those two Hunters I ran into earlier were trembling while staring at empty air, and this looked like the same kind of case. Since it’s a Dungeon that stimulates whatever fear you’ve got buried inside, the shape would have no choice but to change depending on what each person fears.

Even if it wasn’t the Dungeon Boss directly handing you some handcrafted VR-horror experience, it was probably enough to understand it as: something frightening enough to qualify attacked them.

“...You really didn’t see anything?”

“No.”

Like they didn’t believe me, the Hunter still didn’t even try to hide the suspicion. I gave a dry laugh and answered.

“It’s a Dungeon that stimulates fear. Something in the Dungeon probably poked at whatever you’re afraid of, Hunter Seok. The more fear you feel, the worse it gets, and then you end up fighting some kind of imaginary monster—seems like that kind of Dungeon. Based on the earlier case, too.”

“...Earlier case?”

“Before I got here, I saw two Hunters fighting empty air. Looked like they’d separated too.”

“Ah....”

The Hunter let the words fade out like a sigh. Seemed like they knew who I meant. Then, putting on a pretty pained face, the Hunter asked,

“...Those Hunters, th, then... what happened to them?”

“They died.”

“Then the bodies....”

“.......”

“You couldn’t recover them.”

The Hunter covered their face once, then nodded like it was nothing. Yeah. An A-rank Hunter who goes into Dungeons like it’s eating meals probably isn’t going to despair just because one Hunter died. At least, not while they’re still inside a Dungeon.

‘That aside....’

The Hunter’s attitude and way of talking felt oddly like they already knew me, and that bothered me.

‘Same with the bullshit earlier.’

I asked immediately.

“By the way—do you know me?”

“...Yeah. I do.”

“How?”

“You came to Haeseong... all the time.”

The Hunter blinked like I’d asked something obvious, answering in an incredulous tone.

I went to Haeseong a lot?

‘No way.’

It’s not like I didn’t know who this Hunter was, but that was just from articles and outside media. It wasn’t like I’d ever met face-to-face. Actually seeing their face... not even once.

The Hunter cleared their throat and added,

“You met one-on-one with our Guild Master so often... I got curious.”

“.......”

Ah. So not “we’ve met,” but “you watched me from one side.”

Whether I looked uncomfortable or not, Hunter Seok seemed to think this was their moment and started dumping out curiosity like a waterfall.

“You and the Guild Master knew each other from before, right?”

“I still don’t really know them.”

“Bullshit. You’re close, right? I was curious how you got close. There isn’t a single member from another guild the Guild Master met privately that often. Even in our guild... it’s not like that happens.”

What is this—are they a fan of their own Guild Master?

“I figured there was some... hidden connection. Like you ran into each other back in school, or you were close a long time ago. But the age gap is pretty big, so none of that really made sense.... Actually, I saw an article about you not long ago.”

“.......”

“I didn’t search it up because it was you. I just keep up with those kinds of articles. But then I saw a familiar face.... Ahem. And it’s not just me—there are a lot of Haeseong Hunters who know you.”

‘This bastard talks so damn much.’

You say one sentence and you get ten back. And seriously—what kind of guild member is this invested in their Guild Master?

“...I’m allowed to be curious, right?”

“Sure.”

That’s your freedom.

When I answered flatly, the Hunter hesitated, then asked one more time.

“So how are you close?”

I stared at empty air and replied without any sincerity.

“Yeah.... We’re dating.”

“What?”

“Im Haekyung said they like me.”

“.......”

Only then did the Hunter finally shut up.

‘Finally, quiet.’

Satisfied that the area that had been noisy up until now had gone silent, I looked around again—then from the side, the Hunter, who’d been following with a serious expression, asked again.

“Really...? How did that happen?”

“No idea. Maybe because I’m handsome.”

“.......”

The Hunter’s face looked weirdly pissed off.

“What.”

“...And you?”

“No idea. Money?”

“You’re saying you’re with the Guild Master for money?”

“From that angle, they’re fucking charming.”

When I answered just as half-assedly again, the Hunter shut up on their own, probably spinning off into imagination.

‘If I assume the side with the Dungeon Boss is roughly the middle of the Dungeon, then even out here, it should be affecting things. Is Im Haekyung blocking it so I don’t feel anything?’

While scouting the area, I brought up my Status Window.

‘Nothing really stands out.’

More than anything, I was curious when Kwon Taehan would enter this place. And when that happened, whether I should be hiding my body, or whether it’d be fine to watch Kwon Taehan.

I was seriously weighing it when, beside me, Hunter Seok kept hovering and spewing nonsense.

“...Then it explains a lot.”

“......?”

“Say it properly. Really...?”

“.......”

“If it’s true, I won’t tell anyone.”

“Why would you? It’s not exactly a secret.”

Of course it wasn’t ◆ Nоvеlіgһt ◆ (Only on Nоvеlіgһt) a secret. It wasn’t even true in the first place.

That made the Hunter’s expression go serious again. After a moment, the Hunter spoke slowly.

“Yeah.... Then how did you end up he—don’t tell me, the Guild Master told you to?”

“.......”

A strange liveliness lit up in the Hunter’s eyes as they said it.

“You knew I separated... and the Guild Master sent you?”

The leap in logic was impressive. But I didn’t bother correcting them, just watched.

‘Think whatever you want.’

I’d been spouting bullshit too, and it’s not like it matters if this Hunter upgrades it into slightly better bullshit now.

The Hunter’s face kept cycling between grim and solemn like they were thinking hard, then nodded like they’d made up their mind.

“Then... let’s go back.”

“.......”

“I don’t really understand why I separated so suddenly, even now.... But I have to help the Guild Master. Even if they’re S-rank, in a Gate like this, it could still be hard....”

The Hunter, who’d been rambling nonstop, finished with a resolute expression as they looked at me.

“...Let’s go back.”

What is this nonsense?

I stared blankly, then answered.

“No.”

***

A Dungeon Boss presumed to be S-rank, and seven A-rank Hunters.

Im Haekyung narrowed their eyes, gauging how much mana they had left.

‘This might not work.’

It wasn’t just that there were a lot of them. The fact that each of their Ranks was high, too...... wasn’t even the top issue right now.

‘The Dungeon’s responsiveness is higher than I expected.’

They’d experienced a similar Dungeon before. As if it were a ridiculous coincidence, that Dungeon had also been a Cheonmyeonggyo-based maze Dungeon they’d entered because of Seo Jehyun’s request. Of course, it wasn’t a complete coincidence. Back then, they went in because Seo Jehyun asked. This time, they’d forced Seo Jehyun in.

‘To think he’d just run off like that....’

No matter how fearless he was, they hadn’t expected him to peel off alone in an S-rank Dungeon. Sure, it was a threatening moment with the Dungeon Boss right in front of them, but according to Seo Jehyun, he’d already seen one Hunter run away after everyone gathered. And he’d assessed that Hunter as “probably dead.”

So does that mean Seo Jehyun has some way not to die?

‘Well. That matters less than this right now.’

Im Haekyung lightly shook the thought away and focused on the situation in front of them. No matter how much they wanted to turn their interest elsewhere, Im Haekyung wasn’t the type to live purely on interest to the point of throwing away the duty right in front of them.

As already mentioned, the biggest flaw of this Dungeon was that responsiveness. The space itself was a kind of mental form. It moved, constructed itself, and vanished according to what the Dungeon Boss thought. Even though it was “space,” it was bound to an individual mind.

And normally, that wouldn’t be any problem for Im Haekyung at all. No—if anything, it would even be an advantage. If you can manipulate the entire space, how could it not be advantageous?

But not today.

—Weiiird....

“Yeah...?”

Answering softly to the Dungeon Boss’s whiny resonance, Im Haekyung adjusted their mana and clamped down on it harder once more.

Im Haekyung’s advantage was, in the end, simply that no matter what Dungeon they faced, they had mana beyond it.

But today....

‘It’s similar.’

For the first time in a long while, Im Haekyung clenched their teeth and threw their gaze into the distance.