CH 62

I quietly called Min Ah-rin who was close to me.

“Min Ah-rin-ssi.”

“Yes?”

“Can’t you walk a little further away from me?”

“Oh my, you are too much.”

It’s not too much.

“Min Ah-rin-ssi, who treats me like a troublemaker, is even worse…”

“Are you treated me like a child? Disappointing. I’m just afraid that you’ll go somewhere without saying a word.”

“I’m not. I’m not going. You too, let me go.”

Kim Woo-jin, who was clinging to my right arm, opened his axe eyes and looked at me. What, man?

“People around us think it’s weird.”

“I know you don’t care.”

It’s not like that.

In the end, I gave up my freedom of both arms and looked forward. The close team was killing the monster blocking the stairs going up to the second floor.

This monster was a C-grade, which was barely maintaining the B-grade, dropped by sharply. The guild members, who had to face the C-grade at a time that would not be fun even if they were B-grade, dealt with the monsters in an instant with a bored expression.

“I’ll be right back.”

When the battle was over, Min Ah-rin left with healers to take care of the close team. Taking advantage of the disappearance of one watcher, I diligently rolled my eyes (T/N: more like looked around) and tried to find out where the hidden path that Park Geon-ho was talking about was.

Even if I can’t go this time, I might be able to come alone with Cheon Sa-yeon’s permission later. It would be beneficial to know.

“…Han Yi-gyeol.”

Kim Woo-jin, who had fixed his gaze on me, called me in a suspicious voice. Maybe it’s because there were only quick-witted people around, Kim Woo-jin was getting better with each passing day.

“Don’t do useless things.”

“No, what did I do?”

I pretended to be innocent and avoided his gaze. Then, I thought I had to change my method, Kim Woo-jin gently lowered his sharply raised eyebrows and said in a sad voice.

“You told me to never fall behind when you enter the gate. And then you’re thinking of going somewhere alone…”

“That’s.”

I didn’t know the difficulty would be this easy. If the rate of rating reduction was this fast, there was a high probability that A-grade monsters would not appear on the second floor.

“Even if the monster’s grade has dropped, it’s still dangerous because I’m a C-rank.”

“That’s right. Even others so, you should always be careful.”

“Yeah. So don’t go anywhere without me. I’m scared. Do you get it?”

Kim Woo-jin grabbed my arm tightly. There was an uneasy feeling on his face. I guess he’s scared is real.

‘Did I think too much about myself?’

Kim Woo-jin would have believed in me and came in. At first, I was against it, but in the end, it was me who gave him permission and said that I would protect him.

“…okay, let go of my arm. I’m not going anywhere.”

“Don’t ever say that you’re going to go around the gate alone again.”

That’s a bit…

I sighed and said quietly.

“It’s true that it’s dangerous at other times, but in this case, my plan is not bad either. Due to the nature of my ability, I can run away even if I run into a monster. To be honest, I don’t understand why everyone is against it.”

“You…”

Kim Woo-jin twisted his face and made a painful expression.

“Why are you talking like that?”

“What?”

“You only think about efficiency. I know that the gate risk has dropped a lot due to the rating changes. That doesn’t guarantee that where you’re going is safe.”

“I know that. So if it’s dangerous, I’ll run away…”

“Han Yi-gyeol.”

Kim Woo-jin said in a bitter voice.

“Why do you care so much about the gate?”

I frowned at the unexpected question.

“If it had nothing to do with you, you wouldn’t have gotten involved this far. Am I wrong?”

“……”

I couldn’t open my mouth right away. Looking at me who didn’t answer anything like this, Kim Woo-jin made a face that he knew it would happen.

“Gathering data from gates with confirmed anomalies and trying to go directly to the point of taking risks… Of course, I have no choice but to notice it. I’m just sticking with you.”

Kim Woo-jin bluntly criticized me for not caring about him at all. There was no excuse for misunderstanding. Because what Kim Woo-jin said was true.

“I can do anything you want.”

“……”

“I don’t want to help you throw yourself out like this. I will stop it somehow.”

I sighed and lowered my gaze. I knew what Kim Woo-jin was talking about. But it wasn’t the time to relax.

Even at this moment, the gate was broken, and as a result, victims continued to arise. Fortunately, no deaths had been reported so far, but that was only a matter of quick response and luck.

As it became difficult to predict the difficulty due to changes in the gate, more and more talented people felt the burden of the clearing.

When I looked at each of these facts one by one, my heart became frustrated. Of course, that didn’t mean I was going to jump into a dangerous situation.

Even if it was a little cumbersome and even close, wouldn’t it be good for the future to just dig out as much as possible? Even if you got hurt in the process, you would get better soon if you got treatment anyway.

…unless I explained that I could be the cause of the gate anomaly, Kim Woo-jin wouldn’t understand.

「It’s fun for me, so I don’t care what the cause is. But I don’t know if others will take it that way.」

Cheon Sa-yeon’s words ran through my mind. I bit my lips several times, but in the end, I turned away from Kim Woo-jin without saying anything.

At the gesture of refusal, Kim Woo-jin shut his mouth.

* * *

After processing the monsters, Park Geon-ho decided to sleep and move tomorrow. Min Ah-rin approached me as I sat looking at the bonfire.

“Yi-gyeol-ssi, did you fight with Woo-jin-ssi again?”

“…um, rather than fighting.”

“The atmosphere was not a joke.”

I glanced at the back of Kim Woo-jin’s back, who was helping the guild members organize their surroundings.

After that uncomfortable conversation, Kim Woo-jin was still by my side, but he didn’t say this or that or grab my arm as usual.

It was a difficult situation for me as well. Kim Woo-jin wanted an explanation, but I couldn’t.

“I think I said something that made him offended.”

“I can understand what’s upsetting him about even if I don’t listen to the explanation.”

“……”

I asked cautiously at the words I could feel the bones.

“Well, maybe Min Ah-rin-ssi…”

“What am I? I don’t know if Yi-gyeol-ssi was stubborn, but you said you wouldn’t go.”

I was thinking of coming separately later, but I felt guilty for no reason and only smiled awkwardly. Just imagining Min Ah-rin’s anger was quite frightening.

“The situation seems much more serious than last time, so I can’t intervene.”

“It’s okay. It will be resolved in time.”

“Then that would be a relief… I don’t think Woo-jin-ssi has a personality that can be easily passed on.”

“If it doesn’t work out, there’s nothing I can do about it.”

Because of Kim Woo-jin, I couldn’t stop doing what I had to do. If you’re disappointed with me and get farther away from me because of this, I’m sure you’ll feel a little upset.

“If Woo-jin-ssi hears what you just said, he will be very sad.”

“It’s not that I’m going to give up easily. But emotions don’t change when other people make an effort, don’t they?”

Min Ah-rin smiled at me with a complicated expression. The sound of a burning bonfire resounded between me and Min Ah-rin as silence came. I looked at the blazing yellow light and added, meaning not to worry.

“Anyway, I have no intention of acting separately even though I’m worried about the people around me. Kim Woo-jin… I’ll try to solve it well.”

“Hmm. I like it. I will believe you.”

Min Ah-rin, who answered playfully, raised her body up.

“Have a nice dream, Yi-gyeol-ssi.”

“Min Ah-rin-ssi, too.”

When Min Ah-rin left me, Kim Woo-jin, who had been wandering for nothing even after finishing organizing, returned.

“Kim Woo-jin.”

The expression on Kim Woo-jin’s face, sitting next to me hesitantly, didn’t even look right.

“You look tired. Get some sleep.”

“A little later…”

Kim Woo-jin, who was quietly looking at the bonfire, opened his mouth with a hesitant voice.

“What we talked about earlier.”

“Oh.”

“…it’s not like I’m just trying to force myself to listen to things you don’t want to say. To be honest, even if you don’t like me very much, I understand…”

“Don’t flip it over. I can’t explain it because there are other circumstances.”

It was a sincere statement, but Kim Woo-jin didn’t really believe it.

“I know that my life is important. More than you think. So, don’t worry about useless things and just go to sleep.”

Kim Woo-jin, who had moved his lips to say something more, apparently changed his mind, nodded his head without saying anything, and went to the place where the bed was prepared.

We woke up early in the morning and walked around the gate all day, so it must have been quite a daunting schedule for Kim Woo-jin, who was a C-rank. As expected, Kim Woo-jin fell asleep shortly after lying down, exhaling his even breath.

When there were only a few awake, including me, a quiet silence came. Looking at the glimmering bonfire, I remembered the gates I had experienced one after another.

‘It seems that every gate I enter has a problem.’

There was a 50% chance that an anomaly would occur in the gate. It was not that only problematic gates were not likely to be caught, but it was true that it was unnatural.

‘To find a solution, we have to investigate the gate…’

Since I couldn’t figure out how much influence I had on the gate, I wasn’t sure if I could directly go inside the gate and investigate it myself like I did until now.

A bitter laugh came out. The original plan was to raise Ha Tae-heon as quickly as possible and then try to run away while Cheon Sa-yeon lost his gaze.

Instead of hiding from running away, I had a cooperative relationship with Cheon Sa-yeon and was walking through the gates… Even Ha Tae-heon looked hate me.

I felt absurd that I was proud of myself for being able to wield the future at will by using the novel.

‘What should I do in the future?’

There was a high probability that things would go wrong if I made a plan because I didn’t know what would happen, but it was still better to think about it roughly than to move recklessly.

I remembered the contents of the data that Kim Woo-jin brought. Most of it was memorized, so it was easy to remember only the information I wanted.

‘Jayna Guild.’

Compared to the Requiem Guild and the Roheon Guild, it was the guild with the fewest anomaly gates. After solving this gate, it didn’t look too bad to go to the Jayna Guild Gate.

If I asked Cheon Sa-yeon, he would arrange a seat for me. I was thinking about which grade gate to enter, but someone approached me.

“Woo Seo-hyuk-ssi.”

“Aren’t you tired?”

When I lightly shrugged to signify that it was okay, Woo Seo-hyuk pulled something out of his inventory and held it to me with a blunt expression.