CH 36

‘Maybe it’s because I feel a sense of unity as someone who has a younger sibling?’

This time, Hyeon-woo grabbed the hand he was about to let go of. Their entangled hands trembled lightly.

“Thank you.”

Don’t thank me for this! Hyeon-woo held back what he wanted to shout.

‘But only until we meet someone else.’

Until then, I thought I’d give in to Do-jin’s. But as soon as he made up his mind, he didn’t know that they would immediately run into someone else.

Thud!

Of course. The Minotaur appeared suddenly and rushed at Do-jin, swinging his hammer like a windmill.

“Ummaaaaaaaaaaaawwwwwww!”

Even though the wind whistled from the swinging hammer’s terrifying power, Do-jin and Hyeon-woo weren’t nervous at all. Neither of them were weak enough to be defeated by a Minotaur.

Of course, Hyeon-woo didn’t step forward. If he moved even a little, Do-jin would get scared and nag him. Do-jin clicked his finger a few times and a shadow rising from the floor pierced the Minotaur.

“Umaaww!”

A scream of pain rang out followed by the Minotaur dropping on the spot. The sound of falling was quite noisy, but Do-jin didn’t do anything else. He was confident he’d be able to handle any monsters that were attracted by the sound. However, it was a person and not a monster that heard the sound and turned to flee.

An Awakener with thin eyes and black hair. Iwamoto Junichi.

「Why are you here? 」(ET: These brackets indicate Japanese is being spoken)

Junichi looked at Do-jin and Hyeon-woo with a confused expression and tried to get closer. It wasn’t particularly strange, since traveling in larger groups is safer in a dungeon. But he could only walk a few steps before abruptly stopping.

A shadow suddenly rose up like a spear in front of him.

「What are you doing!」

“Don’t come near us.”

Do-jin stopped Junichi with a cold expression on his face. Faced with this treatment, Junichi raised both of his hands.

「I also didn’t intend to bump into either of you inside the dungeon. But don’t you think it’d be better to work together right now?」

He tried to persuade him rationally, but Do-jin didn’t seem to want to listen anymore. Before Junichi could say anything more, he drew his dagger.

「If it’s gonna be like that, I won’t just stand by!」

In response, Junichi drew out his weapon. He had a thin sword coated in a gloomy purple aura.

“I don’t think he’s an enemy.”

Hyeon-woo tried to persuade Do-jin, but he didn’t budge. At this moment, Do-gin only saw an enemy threatening his only Dongsaeng.

“Please stop it.”

Another voice joined Hyeon-woo’s. It was the voice Do-jin heard when he first entered the dungeon.

“That’s an enemy.”

Enemy?

“Yes, look. Your Dongsaeng is in danger. You have to protect her.”

whisper whisper.

It kept whispering in his ear.

You finally found Ye-won, who you’ve been searching for a long time. That person is a threat to Ye-won. You promised to protect Ye-won. So you must kill anyone that threatens her. He’s an enemy. If you don’t kill him, Ye-won will die. Will you lose your Dongsaeng again? Are you really okay with that happening? Wouldn’t you cry bloody tears of regret?

‘Yes, this time I must protect my Dongsaeng.’

His eyes, which had been covered by his shaggy hair, were dyed black and a shadow fluttered all over his body. He stretched out his hand and grabbed the dagger.

The moment he stepped forward, his body suddenly disappeared. He aimed at the enemy’s neck with a dagger. The enemy, who was threatening Ye-won, turned back, and retreated.

The enemy seemed to shout something, but the sound was incoherent.

‘Do I need to recognize it? He is the enemy. Just kill him! Do-jin left Ye-won behind his back and ran to him once more.’

Junichi clenched his teeth and threw the dagger.

Han Do-jin is the Guild Leader for the Peace Guild in Korea. I heard that he did an excellent job on Jeju Island recently, but I hadn’t paid much attention. The strongest person in Korea is my rival Ji Seon-woo. But what is this power?

I am confident that I’m second to none in terms of swordsmanship and speed, but I don’t think I can trump him.

Damn it!

Daggers weren’t the only thing that needed to be avoided. The shadows were also tricky. The opponent swung the shadow like a limb, and it felt as if he was dealing with several people at that time. His sword, which had already been accelerated to the limit, was shaking slightly, but the Guild Leader’s attack didn’t show any gaps.

‘This is dangerous.’

It was like performing acrobatics on a tightrope. Junichi’s heart plummeted. He barely managed to block another attack.

‘I don’t know how long I’ll be able to hold out.’

A red alarm went off in his head.

‘No. I can’t die here.’

Junichi moved desperately. But his body suddenly stopped. He looked down at his feet and saw a shadow restraining him.

He almost died in one shot. He barely escaped this crisis, but suffered a long sword wound in the process. His condition quickly began to deteriorate.

‘Now what, God damn!’

It seemed to be an ability of the dagger. Death was approaching faster every moment.

***

“Hyung!”

Seon-woo wandered through the maze calling out for his Hyung.

“Here! I’m over here!”

But the first person he encountered was someone other than his Hyung. It was A-yun, who had been taken hostage.

“Thank god.”

A-yun, who was holding accessories in her hand, wiped her chest.

“Have you not seen my Hyung?”

“I haven’t seen him. Was Hyeon-woo pulled in too?”

A-yun asked with a worried expression.

“Yes.”

“Well then, let’s go find him!”

“I’m going fast, are you able to keep up?”

“Of course. You know who I am.”

A-yun confidently answered Seon-woo’s question. It would have been nice if his Hyung had been more active in wearing items. Seon-woo casually checked over A-yun, who was plastered with items.

“I don’t think you understand how fast I’ll be.”

“What?”

Then, Seon-woo placed A-yun on both of his shoulders as if carrying a sack of rice. He took off at his top speed.

A-yun could barely handle the unsteady air roaring in her ears as she looked at the maze’s blurring scenery. A monster appeared but was killed by Seon-woo in an instant. He reached out his hand to freeze and shatter. A-yun remained unaffected.

‘How strong are you?’

It’s hard for the Yoram Guild to increase their rank because of this guy blocking them. A-yun grumbled inwardly.

‘How much further do we need to go?’

They heard the sound of metal hitting metal.

‘Shit!’

Seon-woo put A-yun down and ran straight to the scene: a small cavity in the maze where Do-jin and Junichi were fighting. Seon-woo’s eyes quickly scanned the two of them.

‘Which one?’

Do-jin is, of course, an ally. Then it was said that Junichi was the enemy, but it felt strange. Although annoying and irritating, he wasn’t the kind of person to do anything reckless, but he heard a voice that immediately erased his doubts.

“Seon-woo!”

“Hyung!”

He finally found him. Seon-woo breathed a sigh of relief and moved to approach Hyeon-woo. But before he could take a few steps forward, he had to step back again. It was because Do-jin began attacking him.

“What are you doing!”

“What are you doing?”

Do-jin replied in a cold voice.

“Are you asking because you don’t know?”

He stared at the air for a moment. His smile twisted.

“You are an enemy, so I have to kill you.”

Then, while Do-jin released his hand for a moment, Junichi pulled out his body and spoke with a nervous voice.

「Isn’t he crazy!」

“Han Do-jin.”

When Seon-woo called, Do-jin looked at him.

Now, at first glance he looked normal, but something about him was off. Seon-woo immediately asked Junichi to help form icy flowers.

“What happened?”

“I don’t know. They suddenly started attacking me.”

The situation was so urgent that it seemed that words wouldn’t come out. Junichi briefly explained the situation in choppy Korean Language.

“It’s a Demon monster.”

“Monster? Isn’t he an S-class?”

S-class Awakeners had high resistance by default. That said, even if Seon-woo was hit with a mental attack, he’d barely be able to withstand it. But why was Do-jin so completely dominated? It seemed there was a possibility that this dungeon’s grade might be S grade or higher.

“Let’s subdue it for now.”

At Seon-woo’s words, Junichi raised his sword again.

「I will put be in your debt.」

Unified, the two of them started to deal with Do-jin.

Seon-woo and Junichi faced Do-jin in battle. It seemed they were trying to subdue him through their combined efforts. Hyeon-woo looked at them in the midst of a fight before turning his gaze to the maze’s ceiling.

Above them hung a huge spider with a human upper body. The spider was muttering in a creepy, muffled voice. Upon tuning in to what it was saying, Hyeon-woo was shocked.

“They are enemies. You have to kill them all. That’s how an Oppa protects his Dongsaeng. Yeah, good job, kill them, kill them all. If you fail, your Dongsaeng will die.”

Contrary to its harsh and bizarre appearance, it looked like a monster from the Demon Realm.

‘Strange.’

Even so, it was strange. Despite being fairly powerful, the spider was unable to fully dominate its puppet. The Dongsaeng’s presence seemed to have greatly weakened Do-jin.

Have you been staring at me for a long time?

The monster hanging from the ceiling finally noticed Hyeon-woo. His strangely ripped eyes narrowed at Hyeon-woo. Then, the muttering stopped.