178

"First, Ga-eul. Take out all the things that Se-hee gave you separately."

"Huh? Me? Ah, okay! Got it!"

Lim Ga-eul, seemingly caught off guard by Yoo-ri's sudden address, fumbled with her spatial tattoo and spilled out its contents.

Thud, thud, thud—

The items that were revealed were a "rub-on water-based pain relief patch," "pepper spray," "a stun gun for self-defense," and a "suspiciously designed ornament."

Seeing these items, the party members couldn't help but furrow their brows. The items seemed to have no common theme or purpose.

"The only thing that makes some sense is this water-based pain relief patch," Doh-hee said, stroking her chin as she picked it up.

"But even that's strange. It's not even a hunter-specific item… And we all carry much more effective muscle relaxant sprays with us anyway."

"And as for the stun gun and pepper spray, I thought those were usually carried by men for self-defense. Are there monsters that are particularly sensitive to smell or vulnerable to electric shocks or something?" Se-hee added, her voice trailing off in confusion.

"Hmm… Well, at least those make some sense. But this last thing, I have no idea what it's supposed to be," Yoo-ri said, frowning as she held up the suspiciously designed ornament.

It was a strange object—a round hoop with a tangled net, adorned with beads and feathers, resembling something a goblin shaman might carry.

"Could it be some sort of ritual object?" someone suggested.

"No idea. Never seen it before," another replied.

"Me neither," chimed in another.

Just as everyone was perplexed by the odd ornament, an unexpected voice piped up.

"Hmm? Isn't that…? I think I have something similar in my room!"

It was Lim Ga-eul.

"You have something like this in your room?"

As everyone turned to look at the unexpected source of information, Lim Ga-eul waved her hands frantically.

"No, no, no! Guys, it's not weird! Stop looking at me like that!!"

"So, what is it?"

"Well, it's called a dreamcatcher."

"A dreamcatcher?"

"Yeah, you hang it in your room, and it's supposed to catch bad dreams… and let you have good dreams instead… Stop looking at me like that!! I know, I know, it's probably just superstition, but it's, it's famous, okay!!!"

"Bad dreams…"

Thanks to Lim Ga-eul's unexpected contribution, they were able to identify the mysterious ornament. As soon as they heard the explanation, Sophia's eyes lit up with understanding.

Snap!

"I got it!"

She pointed to the other items.

"All of these are related to sleep!"

"Sleep?"

Kang Do-hee furrowed her brows, not understanding the connection between the items and sleep.

"Yes! This water-based pain relief patch is famous in the modeling industry. A lot of models would apply it under their eyes. And the pepper spray and stun gun! While they might not be dangerous to us with our mana awakening, they are effective at keeping one awake!"

It made sense. Kang Do-hee stroked her lips, remembering Jin Yuha's words.

"Little Fool mentioned that this dungeon confuses the senses and challenges common sense. If all of this is about confusing dreams and reality… then it makes sense that we're dealing with an enemy that utilizes dreams. Yes, it fits."

Yoo-ri nodded gravely.

"Now that we have a theme, we need to come up with a plan. If there's a device inside that forces us into a dream state, we need to think about how to deal with it when we're pulled into a dream."

"Well, in that case, how about this, juniors?"

Once again, it was Lim Ga-eul.

As everyone's gaze turned to her again, she seemed a bit uncomfortable, but continued bravely.

"So, in a movie I watched before, the protagonist spun a top to check if they were dreaming or not."

"A top?"

"Yeah, so if you spin the top and it keeps spinning without stopping, it means you're in a dream. If it stops midway, then you're in reality."

"Oh, that makes sense! So, even in a very intricate dream, it's still an illusion. The top will keep spinning because of the expectation and belief that 'a top spins'!"

"Y-yeah! You got it, Sophia! You understood exactly what I was trying to say!"

Lim Ga-eul nodded vigorously, trying to maintain her composure.

"So, let's spin a top too?"

Kang Do-hee's patience was wearing thin.

"No, we don't have one of those right now. But…"

Yoo-ri suddenly came up with a suggestion, and in an instant, everyone nodded in agreement.

With their plan in place, they quickly finished their preparations.

Yoo-ri took one last look at the party members.

"From now on, we begin our assault on the Jukai Forest. Our primary objective is to find and rescue Yuha. And as I've emphasized several times, do not make any assumptions while we're in here. Let's go."

And so, without Jin Yuha, the Utopia Party embarked on their mission to conquer the Jukai Forest.

.

.

.

It was a mystical sight.

Black shadows swayed, as if guarding a certain spot, surrounding it in a mysterious dance.

And in their midst stood a person.

Pale skin. Dark circles under the eyes.

Long blue hair draped over her like a blanket as she lay curled up on her side.

Her breathing, emitted from her mouth, was weak and sounded as if it could stop at any moment.

It was a familiar face. She was the character they always found dead in the Jukai Forest quest.

In the original game, when players approached her in this state, a text would appear:

[ 'Suspicious Girl' – She doesn't seem to have been dead for long. ]

The veteran players of Velvets focused on the phrase "not long." For a while, the community was ablaze with attempts to speedrun the quest and save the girl.

However, these attempts lasted less than a month, as they all ended in failure. No matter how much they optimized their routes and enhanced their speed with fully upgraded gacha characters, she was always found dead.

Eventually, it became a widely accepted fact that this character was 'unsavable'.

'And during the boss fight in this forest, she appears as a ghost to aid the players at a crucial moment.'

Yet here I was, encountering the alive and breathing quest giver simply because my Charm stat had exceeded 100.

More thoughts flashed through my mind, but there was no time to dwell on them.

'She's probably going to die soon anyway…'

There was a reason why she couldn't be saved, no matter how much players optimized their routes. Even with the lucky encounter due to the Easter Egg, she looked critically ill.

For now, the priority was to save her life.

'If only Sophia were here…'

But since I had ventured here alone, separated from the party, there was little I could do.

I retrieved a first aid kit from my spatial tattoo and took out a blood-red potion.

'Potion.'

In the world of Velvets, there were potions that restored health, but they worked differently from those in other games. Perhaps as a way to emphasize the importance of healers, these potions didn't instantly heal wounds or replenish health. Instead, they seemed solely focused on prolonging life.

I placed the girl's head on my lap and brought the potion to her mouth.

"...."

However, she was unconscious and only responded by breaking out in a cold sweat, unable to open her mouth.

'If I pour the liquid into the mouth of an unconscious person, it could block their airway. Hmm, I have no choice…'

Swoosh—

I inserted my finger into her mouth, forcing it open.

Then, I slowly and carefully poured a small amount of the potion into her mouth, letting it trickle down my finger.

After some time had passed,

"….Ugh…"

The girl frowned as if in pain.

Slowly, her eyes opened. Her gray irises, devoid of any emotion, fixed on my face.

As soon as she saw me,

She curled up the corners of her mouth.

Mumble mumble.

She chewed on my finger, which was still in her mouth,

Ptooey—

She spat it out.

"How dare you lay your hands on me."

Her voice was devoid of emotion.

"I had no choice but to help you because you looked like you were at death's door."

"Give up. No matter what you do, you will never be able to seduce me."

"….What?"

"Don't play dumb. I'm getting bored now. It's been a while since we started this game."

"Are you… the client who posted the request to cure insomnia?"

"Ah, I see. So you're the adventurer who took my request and came looking for me. This concept is quite fresh, I must say. You've put some effort into your appearance; it's better than usual. A succubus, huh?"

"No… that's not it. First of all, I'm not a succubus."

"At least, if you're going to try to deceive me, make it believable. Does a hunter who takes my request look like this?"

She shook her head in disbelief.

"Well, it's getting boring now. Either leave or strip and dance for me. Who knows, maybe if you put on a strip show with that face, I might be tempted to give you my body."

At her words, Jin Yuha's face turned bewildered.

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