Free Web NovelI followed Im Haekyung’s gaze and looked at the tent where Do Yehyun was.
“Why did you decide to bring Yehyun all the way here?”
At his question, I answered right away.
“Because I needed a healer. Without him, I’d already be dead.”
“You’ve got quite a lot of trust in Yehyun. Well... there are barely any healers you can drag along into a dungeon like this in the first place. And no hunters who’d agree to come.”
“Right.”
“Meanwhile, Yehyun... would even pretend to die if you told him to, Jehyun.”
At his assessment, I twisted my lips into a crooked smile. Sure, the two of them knew each other, but there were limits to how much Im Haekyung could really know about Do Yehyun. Hearing him make an assessment like that was entertaining.
Since I didn’t say anything, he glanced at my reaction and added,
“Yehyun has quite a bit of ambition of his own, too.”
“Ambition?”
“You never felt it, standing next to him? It’s pretty intense.”
Wanting so desperately to be helpful that he practically begged for it—if that counted as ambition, I guess you could call it that.
‘Not sure.’
“He probably has some.”
“You don’t seem very interested.”
“Doesn’t matter what kind of ambition he has, as long as he doesn’t betray me.”
“If you’re worried about that, you should check in on him a little more often.”
I wasn’t sure there was any point listening to relationship advice from someone like him.
Ignoring his words, I turned his earlier question over in my mind one more time.
‘Leave Do Yehyun behind and go?’
He dressed it up nicely with talk about efficiency and eliminating variables, but if you stripped it down, it was complete bullshit.
‘Who the hell abandons their healer.’
We were about to go face the dungeon boss, and he was suggesting I ditch a self-healing healer who’d just Awakened to B-rank? It was absurd.
‘There’s not even anything to think about.’
The possibility that he’d been influenced by the dungeon boss? That was something I’d already accepted the moment we entered this shitty place. Coming into a “dungeon” crawling with brain-fried cultists and expecting to walk out with your mind completely intact would’ve been crazier.
‘Honestly, this is better.’
Meeting the dungeon boss had actually been the best key so far, in the sense that it had thrown us decisive hints for solving the problem.
Narrowing his eyes, Im Haekyung asked in a low voice,
“So you were never considering leaving Yehyun behind to begin with.”
“Yeah.”
I answered without hesitation, and he let out a thoughtful little sound.
“When I see things like this, it really does seem like you have people you cherish, Jehyun. Like Yehyun... or Seowon, maybe?”
“Of course.”
What a strange thing to find remarkable. Isn’t it normal that there are people you like and people you think are pieces of shit?
I’d thought it before, but Im Haekyung had a knack for saying obvious things in a weird way.
I looked at him quietly and spoke.
“Bringing a healer along was part of the plan from the start, and I don’t intend to change that. Besides... it’d be a waste to leave him here.”
“His skills?”
“Those too, sure, but....”
It wasn’t simply because he was a rare healer. The reason was actually simpler than that.
‘It’s just fucking annoying.’
It was Do Yehyun we were talking about. The one person I’d found right after falling into this place, someone who didn’t exist in the original. A presence that, just by existing, put a dent in the “plausibility” of the story.
After coming here, Do Yehyun had been the first case where my choices were reflected. Not someone I happened to pick up, but someone I’d taken some trouble to pick up. It was annoying enough that anyone else might snatch him away—there was no reason for me to throw him away myself.
No, even setting aside all those petty details, the idea of other people touching the guy I’d brought along explicitly to use myself was, from the beginning, extremely fucking unpleasant.
I spent a moment looking for the right phrasing, then gave up and just said it cleanly.
“It’d be a waste not to make use of all the effort I put into finding Do Yehyun and getting him to this point. Or rather, more than “waste”... I brought him here because I intend to use him. I don’t see how anyone else gets to do anything about that.”
After listening to my answer, Im Haekyung stared at me steadily, then nodded.
“Alright.”
“Yeah.”
With that, he lifted both hands in a small gesture, as if in surrender, and said,
“I won’t try to talk you out of it. You always make your plans, anyway, Jehyun.”
‘Talk me out of it?’
Did a mental-type Awakened really need to “persuade” anyone? He could just manipulate my mind and get whatever answer he wanted.
But I didn’t feel like asking and handing him an opening, so I just nodded without comment.
“So, do you have a ➤ NоvеⅠight ➤ (Read more on our source) proper plan?”
A plan, huh. Originally, the whole plan had been to shove the not-all-there Yang Dokyeong forward and search for the “god” together with Do Yehyun. But now that I had Im Haekyung, there were plenty of other methods available.
After thinking for a bit, I asked, ƒгeewebnovёl.com
“Can you control a crazy person’s mind too?”
He stared at me and burst into a laugh that said he couldn’t believe this shit. Once he’d smoothed the laugh off his face, he replied as if it were obvious.
“Of course.”
“Good, that’s a relief....”
“I can control yours too, Jehyun.”
This bastard.
I completely ignored that line and calmly moved on to the next phase of the plan.
***
I felt like we’d spent too much time already, so after that, things moved quickly. I dragged the “resting” Yang Dokyeong back out and plopped him down in front of Im Haekyung, then extracted the necessary information.
Im Haekyung squeezed him without resistance and shook the info out of him.
‘More useful than I thought.’
I had no idea how long Gi Cheongmin had been here, but it was clear Yang Dokyeong had spent at least several months living in this place.
‘And the fact that the information is trustworthy... is a bigger advantage than I expected.’
Glancing at the completely normal-looking Im Haekyung beside me, I organized the information I’d just heard in my head.
Setting aside the more intriguing bits, the solid takeaway was that you had to go toward the “exit” at “night” to maximize the chances of meeting the god.
‘It keeps, k-keeping people from leaving.... If they leave, there won’t be anyone left here anymore. That’s only natural.’
So the dungeon boss was guarding the area near the exit to prevent people from escaping.
‘Where’s the exit?’
‘I can’t explain it in words. Th-the maze paths are too complicated... you’ll see if we go together.’
‘That’s what he says. Are you going to bring him?’
I wondered for a second if Im Haekyung was asking with a specific answer already in mind. But this time too, I’d already made up my mind.
‘Yeah, bring him.’
‘No...!’
At that, even in his half-fogged mind, he started trembling, his expression screaming naked fear. He tried his best to sound calm as he rambled nonsense.
‘I-I’d rather you didn’t run into him.’
‘Why? Doesn’t he grant wishes?’
‘That’s not granting wishes. It’s just something weird....’
He kept trying to explain after that, but his logic was so shredded that none of it landed.
‘Can’t you treat him with mental control?’
‘If I could, I’d have a healer title too, wouldn’t I?’
Watching him carefully modulate his skill activation, I threw out a question now and then, and every time, he’d give me that vague smile and enthusiastically twist my questions into snark.
While he kept nudging the conversation in different directions and dragging out answers, I slipped into the tent where Do Yehyun was sleeping.
“Yehyun.”
I tapped his cheek with my fingertip where he lay curled up on the bed and woke him quickly, then gave him the situation in brief.
“Hyung...?”
“Did you sleep?”
“Yes.”
“Good. You just woke up, so you’re probably out of it. I’ll keep it short. Im Haekyung’s here.”
“.......”
The grogginess on his face cracked a little. Knitting his brows slightly, he repeated back,
“Im Haekyung?”
“Yeah. Haeseong’s Guild Master.”
“...Why?”
“I asked for help. Before I came in here, I gave him a Teleport Box and told him to come when I needed him. The one you used.”
“You... needed him, so he came?”
Yeah, given that he’d seen me turned into a bloody pulp just half a day ago, it was hard for Do Yehyun to accept that “he came when needed.”
I corrected myself quickly.
“The timing’s kind of off, sure.”
“...Yeah.”
“Still, he’s very capable, so he’s been a big help. He did a lot while you were sleeping.”
“.......”
Looking down at Do Yehyun’s somewhat stiff face, I got to the point.
“To cut to the conclusion again, it looks like it’s about time we escaped this place.”
“Ah....”
Now understanding the situation, he nodded and sat up fully.
“I’ll explain the details later. Just get ready and come out.”
“Yes.”
Even half out of it, he followed instructions obediently. I watched his back for a moment, then stepped out of the tent.
While Do Yehyun got ready, I calmly prepared to set the original plan in motion.
“We’re leaving Taejun behind, right?”
Just as I’d expected, Im Haekyung asked.
“Yeah.”
“Hm, alright. That does lighten the load.”
Summing up the situation in one sentence, he nodded slightly, clearly without complaint.
I took my eyes off him and looked down at Yang Dokyeong sprawled on the ground.
‘Yeah. It’s about time we left this dungeon.’
It had already been three nights we’d spent here. If things dragged much longer, we’d end up filling out a full week, easy.
For the record, the method of escape I’d chosen wasn’t just securing a route out. What I wanted was much more straightforward and standard than that.
‘Dungeon clear.’
