Chapter 62

"I won't say I'm sorry. I couldn't have done anything else."

"You're not crazy."

"Do you still trust me? Really? Do you trust me?"

"If you really trust me... trust me... and kill me with my spear. Please."

"Will you... die for me?"

*

"Aaah... Ugh..."

An-Sol was crying heavily in my arms, tears flowing nonstop. After the whole drama, An-Hyun glared at Yun-Jung with a furious expression, as if ready to pierce her with his gaze. If I hadn't been there, he might have immediately swung the spear in his hand. Hyun seemed to want to say something, his mouth moving, but he quickly closed it and mumbled under his breath.

"Sol, I'm sorry. I was wrong. That's right, you're a good girl. No more tears."

sniff... sniff 

"O...oppa... I... I'm... bait..." (Did you really tell me to be used as bait?)

Though her words were interrupted by her sobs, I understood the meaning of what Sol was trying to say. I quickly shook my head and answered, saying it wasn't true. 

After hearing my response, Sol seemed to feel a bit relieved, and her crying gradually stopped. She was still sniffling and hiccupping, but it seemed like she had calmed down enough. I stopped patting her head and tried to pull her away, but she immediately pouted and began to cry again. I quickly embraced her again and gently stroked her head. The tear marks on her face and the way she wiped her tears seemed incredibly pitiful.

Yun-Jung was kneeling in front of Sol, holding her hands up. The absurdity of her actions in the dungeon made something rise up inside me, but I tried to ignore it. I got swept up in the mood of the others as well. However, with An-Hyun's fury so intense, I just decided to turn a blind eye.

Yun-Jung was bowing her head, her face clearly dejected. Both An-Hyun and I wore stern expressions, and the atmosphere around us was very heavy. Usually, Yun-Jung was all playful and energetic, but in situations like this, she was being cautious, almost like a cat that sensed danger.

"Well then, at least try to make an excuse." An-Hyun said, his voice sharp.

Yun-Jung pouted, then retracted her lips, clearly hesitant. She glanced at Sol, then spoke in a hesitant tone.

"So, the reason I did that is because..."

"Ughhh..."

Sol, feeling upset, continued to rub her face against my chest. I embraced her, trying to comfort her, but I could see the fire reigniting in Yun-Jung's eyes as she watched. Still feeling guilty, Yun-Jung bit her lip and continued in a tone of regret.

"Well... Sol has good instincts. There were four gates, so... with her instincts, I thought she could distinguish the safe ones from the dangerous ones..."

Was that really the reason I brought her to the gate? Hmmm. It wasn't an entirely absurd idea, so I rested my chin on my hand and nodded slightly. But then, unable to resist, I felt Sol wriggling and whining inside my arms again, so I gently patted her back, trying to comfort her. What on earth am I doing right now?

Luck is one of the least researched stats. The only thing I knew for sure was that it had a bigger impact on magic rather than physical strength. There were a few other minor things I had heard, but they were all just baseless rumors.

An-Hyun's face was uncertain. However, after a moment, he seemed to accept it, nodding, and then tapping Yun-Jung lightly on the head with the tip of his spear. It must have been annoying for Yun-Jung, but she didn't react in any way.

"Then you should've done that earlier. What's this about using her as bait? There's a time and place for everything. You should have said something earlier. Hyung, you should say something to Yun-Jung too. You always baby her and let her get away with everything, and now she's like this."

"Wh... what?"

The moment An-Hyun finished his sentence, both Yun-Jung and I were left speechless, our faces a mixture of confusion and disbelief. What was he even talking about? Yun-Jung, looking highly aggrieved, closed her mouth tightly and tilted her head in confusion. Still, Yun-Jung had clearly done something wrong, and Sol was looking at me with a burning gaze. That left me feeling extremely awkward.

*

After calming the chaos for a while, we were finally able to move forward again. I glanced at Sol, whose eyes were still red and puffy, Yun-Jung, who was sulking, and Hyun, who was keeping his mouth tightly shut. I couldn't help but sigh quietly. Just when it seemed like we were gaining momentum, we ended up back where we started.

"Oh, this feels like it's going somewhere."

In the end, we chose the second gate. We decided to give it a try, so I positioned Sol in front of all four gates. The results were incredibly different. At the first gate, she trembled slightly. At the second gate, she tilted her head in slight confusion. At the third gate, she made a displeased face, and at the fourth, she immediately ran away.

Having gathered enough information with my third eye and senses, I couldn't help but be impressed. As a priest, magic was the most important thing, but the thought crossed my mind—what if I invested just 1 point in Luck? Seeing that the effect was similar to the third eye, despite the 100 points in Luck being unstable, it started to intrigue me.

Perhaps hearing my praise, I noticed Sol standing taller beside me. Her thin, white neck straightened, though her eyes were still swollen from crying, which made the sight almost comical.

With a calm demeanor, I continued walking, sensing the surroundings. I had a feeling that we were about to encounter monsters soon, so I stayed alert. Sure enough, I felt something on my senses, and as I stopped, the others immediately tensed up. Whenever I stopped, it was almost always a sign that we were about to fight, so they seemed naturally on edge.

"We should be careful from here on out," I said in a strange tone, and their expressions froze as well. There were two types of monsters ahead—only three in total. One life form and two statues. I had a rough idea of what was ahead, so I felt it was necessary to give a heads-up before they got confused. As I resumed walking, I noticed Sol, who had been puffed up with confidence, and spoke gently to her.

"Sol."

"Yes?"

It seemed like the anger toward me had dissipated, as I heard Sol's usual soft voice. She smiled at me as usual, and just as I was about to continue talking while sweating nervously, something interrupted me.

"Help! Please, someone help!"

The soft voice, booming through the air around us, made me frown. Just as I was about to explain, the interruption came. As expected, the voice coming from inside caused Hyun and Yun-Jung's expressions to change dramatically.

"Hyung, I think this is what the other player we met earlier was talking about, the other players."

"It sounds like they're being kidnapped around here…"

"Enough. I was talking, wasn't I?"

I interrupted Yun-Jung in a stern voice, and the kids immediately quieted down. However, their faces were full of impatience, clearly wondering why we weren't rushing to help. I clicked my tongue and was about to speak when I heard another cry.

"Is anyone there? Please, help me! Please, someone help me!"

"..."

As expected, this was a clever one. And, to be honest, it was starting to annoy me. Honestly, I had been feeling frustrated ever since we wasted time at the gates earlier, and while it wasn't entirely my fault, I had been holding back. And besides, I couldn't really take my frustration out on the kids. But now, I couldn't hold back anymore—if I kept going like this, my old temperament might start showing.

I drew my sword, swung it lightly toward the front, then immediately sheathed it again. Quietly, I sent a mana-infused sword wave in a subtle, covert motion, hoping the person on the other side would understand it as a signal to be quiet. If they were at least somewhat intelligent, they'd take it as a cue to shut up.

"Save me... kiieee!"

After confirming that my sword wave had lightly cut through the monster's right arm, I sighed. The kids were just staring blankly, likely having caught on to something after the horrifying scream they heard towards the end. My high-level control over the sword wave had been subtle enough that they hadn't noticed it initially.

"Hmm. Let's try this again. Sol, do you know anything about a monster called 'Lamik'?"

"Eh... Lamik? Hmm..."

I watched Sol deeply concentrate, probably struggling to remember something that wasn't categorized as a major monster. The answer, however, came from an unexpected source. Yun-Jung, who had been silently fiddling with her dagger, raised her hand cautiously.

"Oppa. Lamik... isn't it a type of a doppelganger?"

"Hmm?"

I looked at Yun-Jung in surprise. Sending her a look to continue, Yun-Jung seemed to gather some courage and continued speaking in a quiet voice.

"Like a doppelganger, it can't change its appearance perfectly for long periods, but it can mimic voices. I heard that its physical abilities aren't that great, but that's mainly for more experienced players, so newer players should be cautious. Especially since they tend to set traps and manipulate players' emotions, making them fall into those traps... so we should never go in carelessly..."

"…Correct. But how did you know? Lamik wasn't exactly heavily emphasized in the usual guides."

"Just... by coincidence."

Yun-Jung stuck her tongue out in a playful manner, and I gave her a proud look. Sol pouted and muttered, "I knew that too..." An-Hyun shook his head with a confused expression before turning to me and speaking up.

"Hyung. So, does that mean the voice we just heard was the one made by Lamik?"

"That's right. It probably mimicked the voice of one of the intruding players after consuming their vocal cords."

As expected, An-Hyun's ability to assess the situation and think quickly was top-notch. If he only added a little more basic knowledge, he'd be perfect. While I was lost in thought, An-Hyun quickly aimed his spear at Yun-Jung. In that instant, I couldn't help but react with a reflexive action.

Clang!

Zing! Thud!

In a lightning-fast motion, I drew my sword and struck An-Hyun's spear. Before he could react, he lost his grip, and the spear spun wildly, crashing into a corner. The entire situation happened so quickly that everyone stood frozen, their mouths agape.

An-Hyun, especially, seemed to be in shock. He looked between me and the spear, then stammered in an unsteady voice.

"H-Hyung. It was just a joke…"

"A joke? What joke?"

"Well… I was just suspicious that Yun-Jung might actually be Lamik…"

Normally, I would have confronted him immediately, but under my intense gaze, even Yun-Jung was silent. My long-suppressed anger finally erupted. Whether intentional or not, pointing a weapon at an ally was one of my biggest triggers, and it was one of the things I hated most.

"An-Hyun. An-Sol. Yun-Jung. You all seem to have completely lost your minds. Are you going to keep acting like this? Do you want to keep going like this?"

"..."

My scolding left the group speechless. But I didn't stop. I continued to press them.

"Just because I laugh it off and let things slide, do you think it's okay to treat me like a fool? When it's time to do something, you need to do it. How long are you going to stay in this carefree state? And An-Hyun. A joke? You aimed your spear at Yun-Jung as a joke? What if she does this too?"

"Ah, no. Oppa, I did the same thing to Sol, you know. It's okay. I'm not angry. So, calm down~ okay? Oppa~."

"Hyung, I'm sorry."

Yun-Jung's attempts to act cute and An-Hyun immediately bowing his head didn't ease my anger. It was fine to joke around, but there was a limit to everything. After the fight with the Rengas, the group's attitude had drastically loosened. The deeper we went, the more we should stay alert, but they seemed to be doing the opposite.

If they recalled the warnings I had given in the Forest Of Midnight, they'd understand just how far they had crossed the line. I had never heard of such a carefree group, and even if there were, I couldn't understand it. I spoke to An-Hyun in a cold voice.

"The joke with Sol was bad, but at least it had some reasoning behind it, so I could overlook it. But now, we're inside a dungeon, in the middle of a real situation. You're aiming your weapon at your own teammate? Is that something you do with a clear mind? A joke? Do you want me to try the same thing as a joke?"

An-Hyun, who had previously been overwhelmed by my presence in the inn, quickly shook his head with a stunned expression. His face seemed to show some reflection, and it seemed like he was beginning to understand what I was trying to convey.

A brief silence followed, but I nodded with a cold expression. An-Hyun lowered his head deeply and quickly grabbed his spear. Sol, who had been observing the entire situation, swallowed hard and tightly gripped her staff.

After a while, I gave them a disappointed look, then sighed heavily before finally speaking up.

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