CH 63

“What is this?”

“It’s a candy that relieves fatigue. If you are not going to sleep, eating it will help you move tomorrow.”

The light sky-blue item really resembled candy. I greeted my eyes as a token of appreciation and put the candy in my mouth.

“…you eat it without any doubt.”

It was sweeter than expected for an item that relieved fatigue. Rolling candy in my mouth, I answered the words that didn’t make sense to Woo Seo-hyuk.

“Should I be suspicious?”

“It’s not like that, but… do you like sweets?”

“Yes. It’s more effective than that.”

I walked around the gate all day and had a slight headache from thinking about it, but after eating the candy, my mouth felt cooler and my head felt lighter.

“Then that’s a relief. It’s an easy-to-find item, but sometimes it doesn’t work for some people.”

It was quite an interesting item. If you eat this candy, your fatigue will go away. My body must be A-rank, if it did well, I might be able to walk around without sleeping for a week.

“Where do you get it?”

I asked Woo Seo-hyuk for the source, thinking that I should buy several and take them with me.

“Even if it is made as safe as possible, it is not an item that is completely free from side effects.”

However, Woo Seo-hyuk, who had a strange expression on my question, said something else instead of answering it.

“Yeah, well… I guess so.”

Coffee and beverages containing caffeine had side effects. So of course, this item would have, too. I looked at him with doubt.

“I can give you more candy, but somehow Han Yi-gyeol-ssi seems to be overusing it.”

How did you know? I asked, brushing the back of my head in embarrassment.

“Then even it’s a place that sells it…”

“It’s kind of like that too. I think there are about 20 of them.”

“Haha, no way. Please don’t do that and let me know.”

“I’m sorry.”

“I’m still A-rank, so eating a few of these won’t cause any major problems, right?”

I asked for it one more time, but Woo Seo-hyuk was adamant.

“I’m sorry.”

“……”

No, if you’re going to do this, then you shouldn’t give it to me at all. You make people excited for nothing and you really do it so well.

I grumbled inwardly, thinking.

‘I’ll have to ask Cheon Sa-yeon to help me.’

For some reason, I felt like I’m getting more and more things to ask Cheon Sa-yeon to do.

* * *

While the guild members were making up their beds, I, Park Geon-ho, and Woo Seo-hyuk got together once again. It was to decide what to do with the hidden path next to the entrance to the second floor.

“To be honest, I think it’s still worth a visit, but I’m not going to insist.”

“It doesn’t matter if I go too, but as the person in charge, I can’t send you alone… This time, it would be better to just clear up to the third floor as usual.”

“We’re on the same page. You don’t have to go looking for a problem.”

At the end of the discussion, it was decided not to go. Unfortunately, but I thought it would be better to come back later.

“Ei, that’s not fun.”

“It’s boring because the monster level has already been lowered.”

“I want to meet new monsters in new places!”

“How about going all the way to the third floor?”

“Right. Except for those who are having a hard time~”

Rather, it was the guild members who resisted the decision. The non-combat team watched with a tired expression as the combat team, who had been regained vitality after a good rest, chatted with excitement.

“Reject. It’s a reprimand to change the plan and extend the schedule in the first place.”

“What? That’s a different story. Until yesterday, Team Leader told me to go first.”

“Are you betraying me?”

Park Geon-ho said pitifully to the protesting guild members.

“Stupid bastards. Do you know that he changed his opinion because he was afraid of reprimands?”

“So no?”

“Then what?”

“Anyway, after reading the reprimand, I’ll write some details. I’m sure because I’ve used it once or twice. What I’m really afraid of is…”

Park Geon-ho lowered his voice and said with a serious face.

“The time that is called by the Master. Not this time. I got a feeling. If you act your way, you’ll get a call from the representative office…”

I sighed. That’s right. It’s bullshit from start to finish.

It was funny he looked pathetic at the guild members. Looking to the side, Woo Seo-hyuk was also looking at Park Geon-ho with contempt.

The guild members who were persuaded by Park Geon-ho followed the orders silently. As we went up the stairs to the second floor, a huge door made of sandstone appeared.

“Let’s see.”

Park Geon-ho, who roughly pushed the sand piled up in front of the door with his foot, firmly stepped on the stone engraved with a triangle. To open the door, we had to touch a hidden device.

Kugugugung!

The sand fell softly and the door went up as if it had opened its mouth. At the same time, a sharp arrow flew towards Park Geon-ho’s head.

“Hm?”

Park Geon-ho, who lightly bowed his neck to avoid the attack, threw the iron ball he was holding inside.

Kieeeek!

The screams of the monster were heard along with the sound of an explosion. For a while, dozens of arrows flew towards us this time.

“Stand back!”

A guild member, who ran out in front of Park Geon-ho, opened a white curtain. Tiing! Fortunately, the arrow did not penetrate the shield and fell to the floor.

“This is the first time this has happened. The monster didn’t stay and came out to the front door?”

Park Geon-ho tilted his head, frowning. The monsters were knocked down like dominoes by the attack from the long-distance team.

After removing the shield and going through the door, I saw a monster corpse that filled the floor. Black skull bones and old bows. As an A-grade monster archer, it was not an easy opponent to die like this.

A person with a measuring ability, who checked archer’s level with a serious expression, said to Park Geon-ho.

“Team Leader. It’s bigger than the first floor.”

“Did it become B-grade?”

“Yes. 78.4% of B-grade. Previously, it was 21.54% of A-grade.”

“Its grade went down, but it has changed so aggressively that it even came to the door…”

Park Geon-ho looked uncomfortable. The grade had been lowered. This was a problem I expected from the first floor. Second, attacking as if it was waiting as soon as we appeared was a very heterogeneous behaviour.

‘Yeah. Like… as if it was intelligent enough to know when we’re coming.’

However, I don’t know if it was an S+ grade monster, or did a monster that had fallen to B grade had that much intelligence?

Whether he had similar thoughts to me, Park Geon-ho gathered the guild members.

“Did you notice anything strange?”

“I found nothing.”

“Things are a bit ambiguous.”

“If it was alive, we would have been able to see if it was under some kind of spell, but we killed it…”

A number of cases had been investigated, but no specific conclusion had been reached. There was no other way, so in the end, we moved on with the discomfort covered.

“The atmosphere is strange.”

“Be careful. Kim Woo-jin, you too.”

I looked around, paying attention to Min Ah-rin, who was making a worried expression, and Kim Woo-jin, who was next to her.

I felt an unfamiliar, unpleasant sensation sticking to me.

The second monster that appeared was a large caterpillar monster, a B-grade Great Larva (그레이트 라바). Compared to its slow body, it was one of the most difficult monsters to deal with close abilities, spraying poison everywhere with poison holes on its back.

“What?”

However, the Great Lava didn’t budge in a still state, rather than spewing poison. O wondered if it was dead, but its torso shook slightly to see if it was breathing.

Great Larva, who was bigger and chubbier than most adult males, shrank with its back rolled up as a guild member approached.

“Just in case, the close team step down. It could be poison.”

The long-distance team stepped forward and said. I also got stuck in the middle and used my ability to attack a Great Larva.

The Great Larva, whose centre of the body was cut off, died without even screaming. So did the other Great Larva. The measuring ability confirmed the grade level on the corpse.

“Grade C 69.2%.”

“This is so…”

Park Geon-ho, who was thinking about something with his arms crossed and his brows frowned, ordered the guild members to burn all the bodies of Great Lava. Since it didn’t react normally, he was worried that the body would come back to life or be manipulated by some power.

The corpse of the Great Lava, which had been lowered to a C-grade, burned even with a normal fire. After clearing up, the team continued to move forward.

* * *

The team, which cleared up the monsters faster than originally planned, unpacked their luggage to rest before the stairs to the third floor.

Even after the Great Larva, monsters with lower grade continued to appear. It was a trivial situation for those who were worried that an S+ grade monster would appear as an anomaly.

Park Geon-ho and the team members of Special Operations Division, who came in expecting a hot clash with a strong monster, responded that they were leaking, but other than that, the non-combat team and Woo Seo-hyuk were in a more fortunate atmosphere.

As for me, it was good to see the grade dropped. I was able to relieve some of my worries about Min Ah-rin and Kim Woo-jin.

‘More than that, the problem isn’t the grade…’

It must be an abnormal movement of the monster. Not only me, but also Park Geon-ho and Woo Seo-hyuk felt the seriousness, and unlike the first floor, I continued to look around sensitively.

“Yi-gyeol-ssi.”

Min Ah-rin handed over what she was holding in her hand. What was in the paper cup was steaming hot barley tea.

“Thank you.”

“Aren’t you tired?”

“It’s all right.”

When the situation went like this, the desire to sleep disappeared. With an A-rank body, it was really useful at times like this. Even if I didn’t sleep for two days, I could endure it somehow.

On the other hand, Min Ah-rin and Kim Woo-jin, who were non-combat talented people, had rough skin. We had been moving all day, and the bed wasn’t comfortable, so the fatigue wasn’t going away.

“You look very tired, Min Ah-rin-ssi.”

“It’s kind of like that, but… the second floor is finished. You just have to work hard until tomorrow.”

“That’s right. Let’s cheer up a little bit more. Kim Woo-jin, are you okay?”

“Yeah.”

Kim Woo-jin quietly nodded at my question. After yesterday’s conversation, Kim Woo-jin behaved as usual, but the subtle sense of distance was still there.

I felt bitter and pretended not to know it. If I couldn’t take responsibility and explain it properly, I had to accept this.

Min Ah-rin seemed to have noticed this situation to some extent, but she decided that it was not a matter for others to interfere, so she said nothing and said goodnight with a smile.

“See you tomorrow, Yi-gyeol-ssi. Woo-jin-ssi.”

“Good night.”

As time passed, everyone fell asleep with the exception of a few who stood by the watchman. Park Geon-ho and Woo Seo-hyuk constantly walked around the team to prepare for the invasion of monsters.

I stayed by the side of Kim Woo-jin and Min Ah-rin without falling asleep.

T/N :

Seo-hyuk, you… (눈‸눈)

It’s like you gave him a false hope wwwww 

Should I say that this date actually more focused on bonding of Yi-gyeol and Woo-jin instead of the threesome?