Chapter 64

Yoon Seo, who had been silently listening, bit the flesh inside his mouth. If it was last year, Soo Jaehee would have been nineteen. Today, the Soo Jaehee who was speaking about not even being able to recover the bodies was merely twenty years old.

"All of them were really good people. Minyoung noona and I used to eat together a lot and got close when I first joined Seokyoung. That noona lost her father and younger sibling during the Great Cataclysm and only lived with her mother. Her mother kept telling her to quit being a hunter every time they saw each other, but she said she had a responsibility to prevent more innocent civilian casualties and kept working. Hyung, have you ever heard the sound of a parent who lost their child crying? I heard it for the first time back then. It didn't even sound like crying, it was more like screaming. I'll never forget it for the rest of my life."

"..."

"So what I'm trying to say is, in the end, you stepped up, and thanks to that, everyone here survived. That's why I want to say thank you. I think it makes more sense to be grateful rather than to resent you."

Soo Jaehee smiled brightly. Yoon Seo slowly closed his eyes and opened them again.

The twenty-year-old was smiling as he spoke words of gratitude, even while recounting a tragedy that might never have happened had Yoon Seo continued acting as Seo Chaeyoon.

Yoon Seo had resolved to abandon sickening ideals of justice in the Great Dungeon and had lived that way. Yet, for the past ten years, he had never once tried to disguise himself.

He had always thought of himself as cowardly and despicable, and he knew there had been many sacrifices that wouldn't have occurred if he had been there. Only now did he feel like he was truly facing the consequences of his own cowardly disappearance.

"Ah, damn. It's not even dawn, but I got way too sentimental. This is embarrassing."

Having poured out all his thoughts, Soo Jaehee suddenly seemed embarrassed and kicked at the dirt with the tip of his shoe.

Yoon Seo, too, was embarrassed.

Utterly embarrassed.

But for a completely different reason than Soo Jaehee.

"..."

Yoon Seo looked around. When their eyes met, some people gave him an awkward smile and nodded, some flinched in surprise and avoided his gaze, and some glared at him with wide eyes.

Yoon Seo did not apologize.

He must not seek forgiveness.

Unlike Soo Jaehee, he wanted these people to resent the bystander without hesitation. Because such a reaction was only fitting for someone who had turned away, calling justice repulsive.

***

While passing the time with simple exercises like squats and stretching alongside Soo Jaehee, the people inside the camper van who had been in a meeting poured out all at once.

Around Alec, five drones were flying. Yoon Seo instinctively opened the item status window. Their name was , items created by Alec using his skill.

"So, you're sending them out now?"

"Yes."

Alec activated his skill, sending the drones off in different directions. The drones vanished into the distance at a speed too fast to follow with the naked eye. At the same time, a golden light flickered in Kwon Jihan's gray eyes. Yoon Seo found more fascinating than the items.

'Just how many status windows must be floating in Kwon Jihan's view?'

Even if he only opened the ones for those drones, that would already be five status windows floating before his eyes. They could be minimized, but they'd still be a distraction. Yet, considering how well he fought, it was impressive.

After exchanging a few more words about the items' status, they disbanded. Hong Euiyoon exhaled sharply as he turned in Yoon Seo's direction. His expression made it clear he was determined to settle things once and for all. Soo Jaehee, muttering that his hyung was seriously hopeless, got up, but before Hong Euiyoon could reach them, someone else approached first.

"Yoon Seo, have you taken your potion?"

Park Soobin, who had quickly walked over the moment he spotted Yoon Seo, asked.

"I have."

"I'm going to count them all."

"Yes."

Since the guild members had randomly pulled out and consumed mana potions from their subspace, not even Park Soobin would be able to count them one by one. Knowing that, Yoon Seo answered confidently.

"Well, if you hadn't taken one, you wouldn't be sitting here just fine due to low mana state. I'll trust you."

As expected, Park Soobin accepted it without question and pulled out a chair to sit beside him.

'Low mana state..'

Having experienced mana exhaustion to the point of disgust in the Great Dungeon, Yoon Seo treated low mana state and mana exhaustion as trivial, but in reality, it was a serious issue.

Among the surviving Revengers, two had left their wills to Yoon Seo before making extreme choices, and both had suffered from mana exhaustion. Back then, there were no mana recovery potions, so they had to endure with only their natural recovery abilities. It must have been incredibly difficult. Many pointed to mana exhaustion as the primary cause of their suicides.

Fortunately, after mana potions were developed, almost no one suffered from mana exhaustion except for lower-ranked hunters too poor to afford them.

Yoon Seo himself hadn't fallen below 10% mana even once in the past ten years since leaving the Great Dungeon.

However, after using …

[The God of Life pities your healing resistance.]

[The God of Death checks your total mana and rejoices.]

Yoon Seo's current total mana was at 8%.

In other words, he wasn't just experiencing low mana state, he was in a state of complete 'mana exhaustion.'

The persistent headaches that had tormented him a decade ago were slowly stretching their limbs. If it dropped just 3% more, he wouldn't be able to maintain his sanity. He never wanted to experience that feeling again.

However, his natural recovery rate was so fast that in two hours, he would be back above 10%, so Yoon Seo wasn't too concerned.

"Yoon Seo, it's getting late. Aren't you going to sleep?"

"I can't sleep. What about you, Soobin?"

"I can't either. Since I'm up, I thought I'd gather some herbs or something. Gotta earn points with the guild."

After , the dungeon had become an environment where lava stones could no longer be collected, but in return, new herbs, fruits, and minerals had appeared, things that hadn't existed before. Some guild members were already listening in on the conversation while diligently gathering these resources.

"Yoon Seo, do you want to gather some too?"

"I'll pass."

"What about Jaehee?"

"Hyung, does all of this go to the guild? Can individuals keep any of it?"

"You have to give it all to Seokyoung."

As soon as Park Soobin said no, Soo Jaehee's eyes, which had been sparkling with excitement, immediately dulled.

"Then I'm not doing it. Too much work."

S-rank hunters usually didn't bother collecting dungeon resources. That was the job of lower-ranked hunters who entered the dungeon with them.

"Besides, I need to stay by Yoon Seo hyung and keep an eye on him. Because of the people trying to pick fights with him."

Soo Jaehee joked. From his viewpoint, Hong Euiyoon, who had hesitated briefly because of Park Soobin, was now striding toward them.

"Hey, what other skills do you have?"

Hong Euiyoon never held back. Yoon Seo let out a sigh.

"I don't have any more."

"You're lying again, aren't you? Just try using another one later."

"And if I do?"

"You're hiding your power and acting all shameless. When did you awaken?"

He wasn't sure why Hong Euiyoon was asking about his awakening period. When Yoon Seo didn't answer, Hong Euiyoon continued.

"You're not seriously telling me you've been hiding it for the past ten years, right? If you had a skill like , so many people wouldn't have had to die in the Great Dungeon!"

"Ha…."

Yoon Seo let out a sigh in disbelief. Seeing that sigh, Hong Euiyoon became even more agitated, and Soo Jaehee stepped in to stop him.

"Euiyoon hyung, that's enough."

"Hunter Hong Euiyoon. Please calm down."

Park Soobin also grabbed Hong Euiyoon, who looked like he was about to actually hit Yoon Seo.

'That's the kind of thing you can only say when you don't know anything.'

Of course, Yoon Seo had used in the Great Dungeon. As long as his mana allowed it, he used it relentlessly.

Even when people next to him tried to stop him, telling him he'd die if he kept going, Yoon Seo still used the skill.

And yet, they all died.

Hong Euiyoon was righteous, and Yoon Seo understood why he was so angry. He was speaking out of sorrow for those who had died in the Great Dungeon. But Hong Euiyoon was underestimating the Great Dungeon. It wasn't even comparable to this rookie-level place….

Well, it was understandable that he didn't know. The surviving Revengers had barely spoken about what happened in the Great Dungeon. Two had died, one's mind was shattered, and one had gone missing. People had no idea what kind of place the Great Dungeon truly was.

'I need to tell them before I die.'

Yoon Seo wished that red-black portal dungeons like the Great Dungeon would never appear on Earth again. That kind of hell should never exist again. But at the same time, he had always thought that people needed to know about it.

It wasn't an easy thing to do. Talking about it meant he would inevitably have to recall it.

"I only obtained recently. I didn't even know I could use it like this."

"You're such a liar. I can't trust anything you say."

"If you're not going to believe me anyway, why bother asking? Why don't you use a detection skill or something?"

"Hey! Does anyone here have a detection skill?"

Hong Euiyoon shouted. One hunter, caught off guard by the sudden request, used a detection skill on Yoon Seo, while Yoon Seo shamelessly activated . The hunter who used the appraisal skill began sweating nervously.

"H-Hunter Yoon Seo is… telling the truth…."

"What? Are you serious?"

"You heard him, so calm down already, Hunter Hong Euiyoon."

"What kind of ridiculous S-rank are you that even a detection skill doesn't work on you? If someone like you had been by Seo Chaeyoon's side, he wouldn't have lost so many comrades, and he wouldn't have disappeared either!"

"...."

"O-Of course, I don't like cowards like Seo Chaeyoon, but still, that's how it would've been."

As Yoon Seo silently stared at him, Hong Euiyoon narrowed his eyes sharply and then suddenly shouted.

"What are you looking at? Damn it, at least show some remorse!"

Alec, who had been quietly watching, clicked his tongue.

"Tsk. Enough already. Hunter Yoon Seo just said he recently acquired the skill. Why do you keep bringing up events from ten years ago? As someone who stayed outside instead of joining the Revengers, it's getting tiresome to listen to. You're like a frog sitting by a well, completely unaware of the rocks being thrown in."

Since Hong Euiyoon couldn't bring himself to argue with a senior, he fell silent. Only then did Park Soobin and Soo Jaehee finally let go of his arms.

[The God of Life feels sorrow for 'Rita Switch's' family.]

'Come to think of it, the God of Life was also Rita noona's guardian god.'