Free Web Novel“Ha....”
Right. A variable like this wasn’t exactly unforeseen. I never expected things to go smoothly in the first place.
I slowly sat back down.
“How are you going to handle it?”
“Thinking.”
The fact they’d bothered to divide day and night meant the dungeon’s events differed by time. I turned my gaze to Ryu Taejun and asked:
“Did you hear anything else?”
“...Uh, like what?”
“Anything. You must’ve heard something about the dungeon.”
“......”
At my words, Ryu Taejun clamped his mouth shut again. I didn’t know if he was actually trying to remember, but just watching his eyeballs roll around made my blood pressure spike.
“Who did you even hear dungeon talk from in the first place?”
“Just... rumors were going around. I overheard it, too...”
“Then there wasn’t anything else? Say what you remember. ★ 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ★ Don’t dribble it out piece by piece every time something happens.”
Ryu Taejun ducked his head like he was forcing himself to recall something. I stared at the crown of his head for a moment, then lifted my eyes to the darkened sky.
After a moment, he snapped his head up as if he’d remembered something.
“Ah!”
“Remember something?”
“I—It’s a little vague, but... I think I heard you shouldn’t stay here long. That you can’t spend multiple nights...?”
For fuck’s sake, what part of that is “a little” vague? It’s vague as hell.
I listened to his disjointed rambling with a slight pinch between my brows. Maybe even he realized how much nonsense he sounded like, because his voice grew smaller and smaller.
'No. Even so, it’s better than having no information.'
And it wasn’t like there was nothing to squeeze out of the fact that he might be right.
Don’t stay long, don’t spend multiple nights... Add to that the warning tone before day flips to night, and how night falls in an instant right after.
'Is night the key?'
It had been quite a while since we entered, and yet we hadn’t encountered a single living thing in the dungeon—besides the vines clinging to the walls.
I came to a quick conclusion.
“Feels smarter to hold out here.”
“...Until morning?”
“Yeah. We don’t know what comes out at night. For the first day, it’s better to just watch how things move.”
I nudged the scattered ash on the ground with my foot and added:
“There’s too much lived-in residue. If they lit fires because of temperature, it wasn’t exactly cold until just now, and cooking... I mean, maybe, but then I have no idea what anyone’s been eating in this dungeon.”
“......”
“I think it’s better to hold out for about a day.”
Unless you’re hell-bent on throwing your life away right this second. And sure, me or Do Yehyun might manage, but Ryu Taejun wasn’t in great shape; dragging him around was a bad call—assuming I intended to keep him alive, anyway.
These things didn’t have selfhood enough to argue, so I knew there wouldn’t be any objections. And even if there were, I wasn’t going to listen.
“Get some sleep.”
When I kindly showed some consideration for him, Ryu Taejun quietly nodded—then hesitated.
“Y-You’re not going to ditch me while I sleep, right?”
“......”
“I’m joking...”
What is this idiot even saying?
I smiled at him and denied it flatly.
“As if.”
If things got dangerous, we’d need at least one decoy. I didn’t drag him all the way here just to take a loss now, did I?
Leaving Ryu Taejun to his awkward laugh and nonsense, I scraped the dirty debris on the ground aside with my foot.
***
We ate a little food we’d brought from outside and cleared a spot where we could sleep.
Now that it was night, the temperature had definitely dropped; the air on my skin felt noticeably cool.
“Are you going to sleep now?”
“I’m not tired yet. You?”
Do Yehyun shook his head. If we were going to sleep, taking turns would be better, but leaving Do Yehyun alone while I slept wasn’t exactly safe, so I didn’t want to consider it.
He didn’t answer right away and closed his mouth neatly.
I brushed his hair back to bare his forehead, naturally tipping his head so our eyes met.
“Why aren’t you answering?”
“...I’m not tired.”
“Even though we’ve been moving nonstop since morning?”
“I have good stamina.”
“Didn’t seem that good before. Guess the training paid off.”
“It wasn’t bad to begin with...”
Because it had gotten dim, I couldn’t quite read his expression. I lowered the hand that had brushed his hair and rubbed his cheek, checking the warmth.
'Am I spoiling him too much?'
Before, just getting close made him flinch and make a fuss. Now, even at this distance, he didn’t show much rejection. Well, not that you could even call it rejection anymore.
“Alright, then.”
When I answered shortly, he gave a slow nod.
After a brief silence, he began, slowly:
“I thought about it.”
“About what?”
“Why I’m... this uneasy.”
“Mm.”
“‘A feeling’ isn’t very objective. At first I wondered if it was leftover trauma... but I don’t think it is.”
“Then what?”
His eyebrows twitched in a peculiar way. Discontent?
'Who knows.'
His answer continued, unhurried:
“I can’t explain it exactly, but because I’m worried about, uh, hyungnim...”
“Hyung.”
“...because I’m worried about you? You don’t really share what plans you have. But this time it’s really only me.”
“You were fine when we went with other guild members?”
“It felt like there were a few more safety measures then.”
“Yeah?”
Even as he said it, there wasn’t much certainty in his eyes. He couldn’t find the reason his gut wouldn’t settle.
'Maybe it’s related to the dungeon.'
A dungeon that makes people face their desires would absolutely have psychological effects.
That was when it happened.
Rustle. A faint sound like something being stepped on wrong brushed past my ear.
“Hold on.”
I rose slowly to my feet. A presence?
In that instant, someone stepped in from beyond the bend in the wall where I couldn’t see.
“......”
In the darkened view, it was hard to make out their face. We both held back, a strange standoff stretching on until I moved first.
Even as I closed the distance, the guy just stared this way without saying a word.
I brought up the status window immediately.
Name: Yang Dokyeong
Age: 22
Rank: D
Title: —
Main Skills: Chain Binding (D), Restraint (D)
Growth Limit: D
What? Who the hell is this bastard.
He stood there as if nailed to the spot and muttered:
“There definitely wasn’t anyone here, there wasn’t anyone...”
'Was he someone who stayed here for a long time?'
I took my phone from my pocket, turned on the flashlight, and shone it at him. In an instant the view brightened; he squeezed his eyes shut and turned his head aside.
His clothes were worn out, and his condition was pretty... Did he get ambushed?
I asked him:
“Who are you?”
He stared at me blankly, then suddenly lifted a hand and waved it in front of his face.
'What is this idiot doing?'
Then, as if his mind slowly clicked back into place, he blinked like he’d finally come to.
“Ah... a real person...”
“......”
“A real person...”
Muttering the same words like a sigh, he suddenly burst into wild laughter.
He laughed until he staggered, unable to steady himself; then, finishing with a little cough, he looked straight at me.
“I... I’ve been lost for so long I don’t know where the people I came with went... I’ve been wandering like crazy...”
“......”
“...You really are people, right?”
Trying to explain his situation in a jumble, he started tapping his feet on the ground.
“Ah, right, so...! I had teammates originally, but every day that passed here, one by one they disappeared... No, this place is way too strange...”
“......”
“It’s too strange... I tried to get out, but it feels like everyone left without me... I—ah, I think I’m probably alone here... But now I’ve got one, two, three... seeing three people in front of me is such a relief.”
I stared at him, a weird sense of déjà vu creeping in.
'He’s got exactly the same vibe as that guy I shanked before, huh?'
Do people just go mad from visiting this maze?
Either way, judging by the state of him, a normal conversation was going to be a stretch, and he looked crazy at a glance; I had no intention of bringing him in and creating a variable.
“Yeah. And?”
“Huh...?”
I stood crooked and just looked at him.
“What’s your point?”
“......”
“We’ll be moving soon. Are you coming or not?”
“N-Now? But it’s night?”
It was a throwaway line, but his eyes went wide. He looked almost... shocked.
'If that’s his reaction, there really is something about the night.'
I’d been about to kick him out on the spot, but I changed my mind. If he knew anything, I should use it.
'But the minimum safety measures first.'
I smiled at him.
***
Ryu Taejun slowly lifted his chilled body.
Ever since he’d passed out, his condition had been weird, but it did feel better than before he fell asleep.
'Side effects of the blessing... must be that.'
Blankly retracing his steps up to now, he rose to his feet.
Right, even so, “Seo Jehyun” didn’t seem as bad as he’d thought. Sure, the first impression was a little sharp.
'First impression... his way of talking’s kind of scary, and his height... hmm, his looks are all... no, his personality’s a bit...' freewēbnoveℓ.com
...Anyway, there was a decent chance he was a good person.
It was still dim around him, but he felt like he’d slept too long, so he glanced around to thank Seo Jehyun for keeping watch, and the person sitting beside him.
'Huh...?'
And in that moment, he doubted his eyes and shot to his feet.
“Ack!”
Where Seo Jehyun and the person beside him should have been, some guy lay on the ground trussed up tight, staring at Ryu Taejun.
He shrieked on reflex, then hurriedly clapped a hand over his own mouth.
'What is going on? No, what the hell happened while I was sleeping... Where’s Seo Jehyun?'
As his confusion peaked, a low, cool voice came from behind him—familiar.
“Taejun.”
“......”
“What did you think was going to jump out, screaming like that?”
He turned around slowly. There stood Seo Jehyun, smiling faintly as he looked at Ryu Taejun.
Ryu Taejun snapped his mouth shut.
