CH 5

The first to run off was Yoo Jin-woo. He brutally shoved Kim Yong-tae aside and started running up the stairs while making strange noises. The same was true for Kim Yong-tae, who was stunned for a moment as if he couldn’t understand the situation. He hurriedly followed Yoo Jin-woo up the stairs.

However, Baek Tae-beom and I remained still. That was because I knew what was going to happen. Then, Baek Tae-beom suddenly asked.

“Can I come closer to you?”

“…Closer?”

As I was bewildered by the sudden question, Baek Tae-beom became a little shy and spoke again.

“…Somehow, I feel more at ease when I’m with Ga-hyun-ssi, so I think it would be better to get closer.”

What kind of man…

But, I couldn’t deny that giving him another rice cake would make him a bit more interested in me. Maybe it’s because he’s someone I know, or because he signed a contract with me as a Constellation. I couldn’t just reject him, so I had no other choice but to gesture for Baek Tae-beom to come closer. (TL/N: “Giving him another rice cake,” it’s something like, giving him a reward/present/something like that. I’m not very sure but the meaning is there.)

Then, Baek Tae-beom carefully held my hand, burrowing into the space between my fingers, as if rubbing the palms of our hands together. The hand with the clear outline of calluses was a lot bigger than mine. For a while, I just had to wonder about whether my hands would be bigger if I was a bit taller, as I was embarrassed by the hand that caught mine.

“What are you–”

“Ah. I’m sorry.”

Baek Tae-beom hurriedly fell as if he was surprised he was holding my hand.

And then.

“U-uaaaaaaagh…!”

The two men, who had run up ahead, were running up from below us. As they came up, they saw me and Baek Tae-beom and stumbled with pale faces. Yoo Jin-woo exclaimed nervously.

“How the hell did this happen! We definitely went up!”

They must have thought of dungeons as a really simple means of earning money. I think it wasn’t wrong to think that before a chaotic situation like just now. If you do well, you can get a lot of money, after all. Then, I saw Baek Tae-beom, who started to speak with a stiff face.

“It’s a simple pattern of… It’s like a labyrinth.”

“Labyrinth?”

“It is a labyrinth that makes it impossible to climb the stairs. We’ve been climbing the same spot all this time.”

“Damn, then what are we supposed to do?”

Kim Yong-tae said, as he shook his head sharply. Instead of raising my hand like before, I spoke calmly.

“I think I know.”

[Dungeon <Invasion of the Red Mist>]

[Escape the Red Mist within the time limit.

Reward: 15,000 Coins

Penalty for Failure: Death

Time Limit: 13 hours and 50 minutes]

“If you look carefully, there’s nothing said about you having to climb the stairs within the time limit, right? It only says to escape the red mist.”

Even as we were talking, the red mist continued to rise. Yoo Jin-woo nodded his head nervously.

“So, basically, shouldn’t we be going down instead of going up?”

“What?”

“Though you have to go down to get out of that fog, if we continue like this, we’ll only be caught in the fog. I think there must be an exit somewhere down there.”

“I agree.”

Baek Tae-beom said resolutely. Where did your timid personality go? Even though I did nothing, I felt proud as a Constellation.

But, why the hell are you holding my hand?

I have too many things to think about other than that.

“What kind of nonsense is this? If you go down, you’ll end up dead!”

“Are you sure? Have you touched the fog? Are you sure you’ll die if you touch it?”

As I refuted Kim Yong-tae’s words once again, he wrinkled his face in irritation. His face turned red, and it looked like he was going to snap at any moment. So just when I was about to step back, with an elated face, he grabbed my shoulders harshly.

“Then… You go first!”

“Oh, wait…!”

Just after such words, my entire body was suspended into the air.

I was literally pushed straight down the stairs. The sharp stone steps hit my shoulders and waist and the pain was immediately transmitted to me. I curled up, covering my face reflexively. I let out a shaky breath from the pain I felt all over my body. A scream came out of me as I fell.

In an instant, the red mist enveloped my body.

As if something was lifting me up, I floundered and stretched out my arms. At the same time, it felt like my throat was being strangled. Like a huge giant was grabbing my neck and lifting it. Red eyes gleamed inside the fog. I struggled to escape, but such actions were in vain.

Is this how I am going to die?

I suddenly had a different thought. If I die now, will I be able to get out of this damn novel?

[The constellation, ‘The One Who Knows The End’ is synchronized with the body.]

“Ga-hyun-ssi!”

The trajectory of the white sword split the fog in an instant.

The mist, which was believed to be intangible, was cut into chunks. With a thud sound, a clump of the mist fell to the floor and a loud scream reached their ears. And just as I was about to fall again, a strong forearm held my body.

Before I knew it, I was in Baek Tae-beom’s arms.

“Tae-beom-ssi?”

“Are you okay?”

Baek Tae-beom asked urgently as he checked my condition. I could feel that something was flowing from the back of my head, so I think my head was hurt and bleeding. Seeing Baek Tae-beom’s surprised expression, my guess became even more credible.

“Oh no….”

“It’s not mist, it’s like a group of monsters. Just now, I cut it with a sword. Ga-hyun-ssi was right.”

Baek Tae-beom said as he lightly swung his sword dripping with red blood. He moved again, holding me in his arms. After the approaching red mist was cut away, the mist cuts again turned into solidified chunks and fell to the floor.

I only buried my face into Baek Tae-beom’s chest and rolled my eyes.

‘Contractor information.’

[List of Contractor Information.]

[Contractor – Baek Tae-beom]

[Title: Awakened

Status: Enraged

Constellation: One Who Knows The End

Coins possessed: 3,000

Skills possessed: [Sword] [Hermit]

There are skills that have not been developed because the conditions are not met.]

‘Enraged?’

Looking up, Baek Tae-beom’s expression seemed calm as usual. The same was true for his golden eyes. It didn’t seem like he was experiencing such flurry emotions, so I couldn’t think he was angry.

Then suddenly, our eyes met.

“Are you really sure that you’re okay?”

“…Ah, yes! I’m fine! I’m just bleeding a little!”

“That’s not usually okay.”

Hugging my waist a little tighter, Baek Tae-beom smiled and said.

“I’m going down the stairs like this, so hold on tight.”

Why do I feel so reassured?

Baek Tae-beom hugged me and went down the stairs step by step, cutting the approaching mist with his sword. The jelly-like entity was cut into chunks and dispersed in an instant. As if he was familiar with the sword, a spear came to my mind as if to let me know.

[Your contractor uses the skill. Skill: Dark Sword Dance]

[Your contractor’s sword proficiency will be increased in an instant.]

A pure white light erupted from Baek Tae-beom’s sword.

His figure also looked like someone, who was holding a torch high.

[Your contractor feels enraged.]

[Your contractor wants to kill Kim Yong-tae]

‘What?’

Did I see it wrong?

Until now, there was no way my innocent Baek Tae-beom would have thought like that. It was clear that I saw something wrong ever since my head was banged against the stairs.

Baek Tae-beom slowly cut through the fog and reached the lowest floor, the first floor. But there was no place that seemed like an exit, as well as the door we entered before. A red mist hovered around us as if it were trying to get a taste of us.

“What should I do? There is no exit. Was the first floor not the exit? Should I have gone upstairs?”

No, it can’t be. Inside the scenario <The Fall of Another World>, we had to solve the problem in this way unless there was a special case. I slipped out of Baek Tae-beom’s arms and looked around. And caught sight of a strange place.

“Look over there.”

There was an opened window where I pointed. And from the open window, the red mist kept coming in.

“I told you not to avoid the fog, but to get out. Maybe we should get in there and get out of there. That’s the only strange thing.”

“I’ll give it a try.”

Baek Tae-beom said, holding his sword firmly. He walked ahead and cut the fog in his way. It felt like something was falling to the floor every time the fog was split, but I couldn’t care less about it now.

As Baek Tae-beom approached the window, he gripped his sword again and thrusted the sword into the open window where the fog was coming in.

Stab.

As his sword seemed like it stabbed into something soft, strange noises began resonating from all directions. A door appeared where Baek Tae-beom’s sword was embedded. Suddenly, the mist that had filled the surroundings disappeared.

[Congratulations on clearing the dungeon! Rewards have been distributed.]

[Reward: 15,000 Coins]

[You will be given a new title by clearing <Invasion of the Red Mist>]

[You left channel #70jj5.]

As soon as we opened the door, we were able to get out naturally through the door of the building we came in. Baek Tae-beom looked around curiously, then looked behind me and hardened his expression.

“You…”

Kim Yong-tae and Yoo Jin-woo were getting out of there, gasping for air.

“Slow down, slow down!”

“Slow down? How could you say that after what you’ve done?”

Baek Tae-beom spoke fiercely as he grabbed me and led me behind him. It was only after I got out of the dungeon that I realized that I wasn’t in good shape right now. My ankle was sprained, and my wrist was swollen. There must have also been blood on my head, so I could understand why Baek Tae-beom carried me around like a mama kangaroo.

But that wasn’t the problem now.

“Hey, there, ahjussi.”

I said, pointing at Yoo Jin-woo’s bulging pocket.

“Give me that, please.”