16 – Episode 16 – Pursuit (3)
Seyuju seemed to have only dirtied her clothes with blood, but there didn’t seem to be any injuries.
In facing six opponents alone and finishing them off even faster than us, I couldn’t help but feel her strength once again.
“Monster.”
“I’m glad you’re safe, Miss Yoo. You wrapped things up rather quickly,”
She seemed to realize that she had rushed through my words. She started to explain hastily.
“Oh! The other side was quite weak. It seemed like they had never really fought before…! They looked really confused when they saw me…”
Seo Yooju began to ramble, revealing details I hadn’t even asked for.
The more I looked at Seo Yooju, the more I realized she was strong but not particularly sharp.
“Or perhaps I should say she’s a bit of a simpleton.”
“Well…! Anyway, no one got hurt, and everyone fought really well.”
“It seems like the enemy was overconfident. They probably underestimated us because we had a couple of girls in our group. They were taken by surprise, and I don’t think they’ve ever seen magic before.”
“Yeah… I felt the same way when I was facing them. It seems like these guys survived by ambushing people running from monsters or attacking small groups.”
After listening to Seo Yooju, Kang Iseo muttered in agreement.
“Damn, those sneaky bastards. It must be really terrifying to fight monsters. Those cowards wearing the lower garment ornaments…”
Everyone silently concurred with his words. As Seo Yooju had suggested, these guys seemed to prefer killing and looting their own kind to prolong their lives, rather than choosing to fight the monsters.
“…Anyway, let’s continue moving forward.”
Seo Yooju took the lead, and we followed behind her.
It had been less than ten minutes since we resumed our journey. Except for Seo Yooju, everyone in the group was sneakily glancing at me.
“I… made a mistake.”
Maybe it was because I looked different than usual just now, but I felt people were watching me closely.
As we walked in silence, Kang Isuh began to speak to me.
“Hey, you’ve got some character, huh? I was genuinely surprised earlier. I thought you were a complete saint, but just now, you seemed a bit like a villain. Hehe…”
“Well, I usually don’t act like that, but I guess stress got the best of me.”
Seo Yooju looked puzzled as she overheard our conversation. Her expression seemed to ask, “What are these two guys talking about?”
Mr. Howon didn’t seem to care much. As for Yurim and Yoo Hyun, Yoo Hyun appeared a bit awkward, while Yurim didn’t seem to be bothered at all.
“Or maybe she’s just pretending not to care… I’ll have to find out later.”
The real issue was Song Haeun. She seemed a bit taken aback after seeing me just now and appeared to be keeping her distance, as if she found me a bit intimidating.
“Ugh… Do I have to start the whole process over from the beginning? I feel like I’ve just fallen off a cliff.”
I had tried to win Song Haeun’s favor as much as possible, but it seemed like I had ruined everything with a single moment of behavior.
It felt like my plan to make a good impression on the future promising star had just crashed on the rocks.
“But, to be honest, I prefer this more human side of you. Seriously, coming here and not swearing once, does that even make sense? I understand it all~”
“Is she genuinely not thinking, or is she saying this to freshen up the atmosphere?”
“Actually, I found it rather sexy when you were cursing. Honestly, it was kind of my type. You can forget about this cosplay and just swear at me informally.”
“… Alright.”
“Why on earth are you cosplaying as a character that doesn’t even suit you? Just casually curse at me…”
I couldn’t tell if Kang Yiseo was saying this seriously or not.
‘Well, maybe not…’
It must have been my misconception that made me feel like Kang Yiseo would enjoy it if I cursed at her.
‘I wonder how she’d react if I really did swear at her.’
Anyway, while Kang Yiseo and I were having a conversation, Seo Yujoo seemed curious about our conversation and started asking.
“What are you two even talking about?”
I started coughing in confusion. Kang Yiseo glanced at me and then responded to Seo Yujoo’s question with a smirk.
“Well, you know, didn’t Euiyoung confess to the boss? Like, he told him that he likes guys and asked Euiyoung to come under him, but Euiyoung…”
Seo Yujoo seemed flustered, not sure if Kang Yiseo was joking or being serious.
“What, really?”
‘Ugh… falling for such a ridiculous prank…’
Seo Yujoo started muttering quietly.
“It can’t be… Yoon Sung, I…”
I pretended not to hear Seo Yoo-Ju’s soliloquy.
Anyway, while Kang Yisuh teased Seo Yoo-Ju and people engaged in small conversations, Seo Yoo-Ju stopped and spoke up.
“I think we’re getting closer to the center. From now on, those of us who can use magic will start moving slowly while sensing the surrounding environment with our magic.”
With that, Seo Yoo-Ju, myself, Song Ha-Eun, and Yoo Hyun started moving slowly while using our magic to sense our surroundings.
We moved while sensing for about 20 minutes. Since Seo Yoo-Ju knew the location of the dungeon, I thought she would be the first to say that she had detected its location after a suitable amount of time had passed, but she didn’t mention anything about finding it yet.
“…Is she purposely pretending not to have discovered the location of the dungeon?”
Certainly, since other people couldn’t see Seo Yoo-Ju’s status window, they didn’t have any suspicions yet, but her behavior so far had been beyond common sense.
She was alone with a significantly lower combat power, and most of the guesses and plans were made by her.
Perhaps Seo Yoo-Ju also thought that if she discovered or realized everything herself, she would be suspected later, so she seemed to have no intention of saying anything this time.
“Hmm… She must have led us in the right direction, so either I or someone else should discover it soon.”
Continuing on like that, about 20 more minutes passed when Song Ha-Eun began to panic.
“What, what?!”
Kruururung –
Whether Song Ha-Eun had sensed the location of the dungeon or not, suddenly the dungeon made a sound from under the ground and revealed itself.
Eventually, a dungeon appeared before us.
“… The size of the dungeon is… smaller than I thought.”
The appearance of the dungeon… looked like a very small pyramid. Comparing it to the pyramid of the Pharaoh Khufu in Egypt would be laughable.
It was about 20 meters in width and length each. The height was around 15 meters? I’m not exactly sure. Anyway, the dungeon seemed to have a pyramid shape from the outside, with a narrow entrance that led inside.
Upon seeing the dungeon, the Returner made a complex expression for a while before starting to speak.
“… So, this is the dungeon. Haeun, you’ve worked hard to find it.”
“Yes… It’s… impressive.”
Who on Earth has personally seen a pyramid? It was noticeably smaller than the ones on Earth, but we all remained silent in awe for a while.
“Damn… it’s freaking huge. Do we have to go in here? We should be able to break through it ourselves, right?”
As Gang Yiseo cursed at the dungeon, a voice similar to when the tutorial started could be heard.
[Congratulations. Someone has discovered the tutorial dungeon. Congratulations to those who have finally discovered the tutorial dungeon after all your hard work.]
[If you clear the dungeon, regardless of participation, everyone currently alive will be granted entry to Eras. The dungeon is somewhat challenging, so we recommend challenging it after you’ve grown to a certain extent.]
As I heard the Guide warn about the difficulty of the dungeon, I suddenly started feeling uneasy.
“… Can we break through this?”
Glancing at Seo Yujoo for a moment, she didn’t seem to have any concerns about clearing it. That helped me feel a little relieved.
“I will cheer for all of you to clear the dungeon.”
After that, the voice of the guide was no longer heard. It seemed the guidance had ended here.
Mr. Howon began to speak.
“It seems like the guidance has ended… But is it really the right time to enter the dungeon?”
Mr. Howon seemed worried after hearing the warning from the guide.
“… Not today, at least. I plan to camp here and challenge it the next day. I believe I can clear it thoroughly.”
Yurim started asking Seyuju, as it seemed to be a matter of her younger sibling’s safety.
“… Unni, may I know the reason you think that way?”
“Because we have no means to become stronger anymore. We’ve all obtained jobs and gained the corresponding abilities. We’ve explored all the buildings in all four directions. There’s nothing left to explore.”
“… Then how about bringing more people who can fight? Going back to the camp…”
Seyuju slowly shook her head in response.
“No, the people left at the camp will never fight. The guidance we just heard wasn’t just for us; the people at the camp must have heard it too. Will those who have given up on fighting with the monsters outside the camp venture into an even more dangerous dungeon together?”
“Then, what if we find the people outside who are fighting the monsters and bring them…”
“Yurim, think about the explanation the guide just gave one more time.”
“… I don’t understand what you mean.”
“The guide said that regardless of whether or not you participate in the dungeon, once it is cleared, all surviving individuals are transported to a place called Eras.”
Upon hearing Seo Yujoo’s words, Yurim responded with a look of realization.
“…From the perspective of others, there is no need to participate in dungeon conquest…”
“That’s right. From the perspective of others, there is no need to risk their lives to enter the dungeon. They can simply wait until someone clears it in their place.”
As Seo Yujoo said, this is where it ends from the point where the guide provides information to everyone. Everyone will simply wait for someone else to clear the dungeon.
Someone might question me, saying that we don’t have to enter the dungeon. However, from the moment when everyone has received the guidance, we can only clear the dungeon ourselves. No one will voluntarily risk their lives to enter the dungeon.
“Although I don’t know if this was intended or designed, if it was, it’s a really ridiculous design.”
Suddenly, I wondered what it was like during the first round, when there were no returnees for the second round.
“It must have been hell itself.”
Perhaps they tried to avoid going. They kept postponing and postponing until they ran out of supplies, and then they must have tried to force each other to go in.
Maybe… the method I had in mind really was implemented.
Lost in thought, I snapped back to reality at Seo Yujoo’s words.
“Anyway, the meaning of my words is that from the moment the guidance was given, we have no choice but to clear the dungeon.”
Actually, there is one more option. Bringing people along and throwing them into the dungeon.
If we enter together and use them as a shield, the difficulty will probably decrease significantly. Whether we die from monsters in front or behind us, it’s all the same.
The problem is that the people here won’t even entertain such a thought. No, their minds will likely reject such notions.
Why? Because these people are all good-hearted individuals.
This is something only someone with a twisted personality like mine can think of and execute.
Though some dark emotions welled up within, I swallowed them down.
From Noble mtl dot com
In the end, as Seo Yooju spoke, everyone began to express their tacit approval.
“… If there are no further objections, we will begin our camp here. We will establish a watch order, rest, and then enter tomorrow morning after breakfast.”
Everyone nodded in agreement.
protagonist thinks he is Sasuke🤣