Resurrection Chapter 74 - Did It Feel Good?

I grabbed the hand that had landed on my side. Heesoo hyung lifted his head, and upon seeing my expression, which was wrinkled with caution and anxiety, he immediately withdrew his hand and pulled his body back.

As the weight that had been pressing down on me disappeared, Heesoo hyung said.

“I didn’t intend to cross the line.”

“Oh, of course. I’m sure you didn’t.”

I fell silent, feeling extremely awkward. The heat that had dominated the space between us just a moment ago had vanished as if it were a lie.

Heesoo hyung also moved away from me, his demeanor completely back to normal. He reached out a hand to help me up and said.

“Thank you for granting my unreasonable request.”

“No, not at all. I, well, enjo— I-it was fun.”

This is driving me crazy. What am I rambling about?

Now that my reason had returned, I felt that agreeing to Heesoo hyung’s request was a mistake in itself. Just a moment ago, I had thought that if I did it with Ulfheðinn, there was no reason I couldn’t do it with Heesoo hyung, but looking back, it seemed like an absurd idea. I even began to suspect that I had been pretending to do it for Heesoo hyung’s sake when in fact, I had wanted to kiss him.

It was possible that Heesoo hyung had become conscious of me because of what Ulfheðinn did, but agreeing to it was another matter entirely. The fact that I had so easily allowed the excuse and gotten so engrossed in it was pathetic and shameful.

“Let’s go back now.”

I couldn’t hide my feelings and turned my body away from him. As I walked with long strides, Min Gongchan’s words became questionable.

Could it be that Heesoo hyung doesn’t love me, but that I will come to love him?

In fact, that was more plausible. If Heesoo hyung, who had been my lifelong support, my sanctuary, my ideal, and the object of my admiration, were to actively desire me, there was a high possibility I wouldn’t be able to refuse him until the end. I had never considered a person of the same sex as a romantic partner, but Heesoo hyung was someone who could render my sexual preferences meaningless.

It wasn’t something to be proud of, but I was weak to temptation and indecisive. I didn’t choose partners carefully, nor did I practice chastity; I was of the mindset that as long as I could satisfy my desires, anything was fine.

If my partner hadn’t been Heesoo hyung, I wouldn’t have stopped what we were doing just now, but…

Heesoo hyung was off-limits.

Not him.

It wasn’t just because of Min Gongchan’s prophecy-that-wasn’t-a-prophecy.

Heesoo hyung was too noble to get entangled with someone like me. He was too good for me, so he had to meet someone who suited him and be happy.

I might be able to get him to the max level, but anything else was not my responsibility. It was an impossible task without even needing to try.

I would rather roll around with some random person on the street; something like this should never happen with Heesoo hyung again. I drew a firm line for myself and raised my hand to rub my lips repeatedly. In doing so, I failed to notice that the expression on Heesoo hyung’s face as he followed me was unfamiliar.

If I had turned around and looked at him, I would have seen his eyes blazing red. They were eyes burning with a desire that did not suit Heesoo hyung.

👑

If dungeons are otherworlds, then of course aliens exist.

Strictly speaking, the monsters teeming inside dungeons are also aliens. Goblins, trolls, orcs, ogres, lizardmen, harpies, and other monsters that walked on two legs and had a similar appearance to humans even possessed something akin to intelligence.

They formed groups, built villages, and lived in communities. They revered a leader and knew how to use shamanism or magic. They just hadn’t developed enough to interact with humans.

Above all, they were cannibals. Since they treated humans as prey, humans had no choice but to hunt them.

However, not all aliens had low intelligence like monsters. Some races built their own civilizations and interacted with each other. The proof of that was the otherworld shop.

Strictly speaking, the otherworld shop did not target humans. It wandered around, seeking out civilizations scattered across various times and spaces, and very occasionally, it would appear in a dungeon.

From an alien’s perspective, a dungeon was a barren and dangerous outskirts of the universe that there was no particular need to set foot in. Of course, it wasn’t a place the otherworld shop would set as a destination, but it would appear in dungeons for reasons like resupply, rest, or emergency landings.

Naturally, for a human to encounter an otherworld shop was like plucking a star from the sky. It was harder than winning the lottery.

Knowing this, Yoon Younghyun chased Min Gongchan, who was riding the ghost horse, until his claws were about to fall off. When Min Gongchan finally entered a certain dungeon and sent the ghost horse away, Yoon Younghyun was on the verge of collapsing, dripping with sweat.

“Haaah! Heh! Hah! Huuh! Hah! Haaahk!”

Yoon Younghyun, sprawled carelessly on the ground, had a strong urge to give Min Gongchan a piece of his mind. But he was too busy breathing to get any words out. Seeing him panting, Min Gongchan casually tossed out a remark.

“You followed me well, just as a son of a bitch would.”

“Huuh, haah, haah!”

“If you were a stray dog, I would’ve picked you up.”

“Kraaahk!”

Yoon Younghyun got angry and was about to retort when he nearly choked. Leaving him be, Min Gongchan looked around and muttered.

“It should be around here.”

They had arrived in a place completely surrounded by crystals. Yoon Younghyun, who had barely regained his senses, recognized this place as Dungeon 34, a.k.a. the <Crystal Cave>, famous for mining monster crystals.

This was a relatively safe D-class dungeon, but like most dungeons, it became extremely dangerous if you ventured outside the designated activity zone. A strange monster called the Crystal Crab was the main inhabitant, and it was a pain in the ass because its shell was incredibly hard and it had a petrification ability.

If you were exposed to the beam that turned people into crystal statues, it couldn’t be fixed with ordinary skills. You had to go to a hunter-specialized medical center, but that was extremely difficult when you’d become a crystal.

In fact, it was the people around the victim who suffered the most. Just think about it. How heavy would a human-sized crystal statue be?

Not everyone carried a dimension pocket like Min Gongchan, so just transporting it out of the dungeon was a problem to begin with. Even then, in the case of a regular party, teammates would carry you out, but pickup groups would often just leave you behind.

Since the cost of hiring people to bring someone out was enormous, even families would often pretend not to know. Occasionally, the government-run rescue team for stragglers would bring them out, but if you were outside the activity zone, it was a lost cause.

Seeing no markers of any kind, Yoon Younghyun was sure this was outside the activity zone. There was no sign of human presence, and all around were eerily glowing crystals. He got up, brushing himself off and grumbling.

“If I’d known we were coming to a dungeon, I would’ve brought my gear, wouldn’t I? I have no weapon and I’m bare-handed, so how am I supposed to fight if a monster shows up?”

“I have most of the gear you’d need, so there’s no problem.”

Min Gongchan tapped the dimension pocket he had tucked inside his clothes. Naturally, Yoon Younghyun couldn’t help but be annoyed.

“Then you could’ve just put the gold bars in there! Why did you have to make me carry them?”

“Just because. To give you a hard time?”

Yoon Younghyun’s lips moved wordlessly, dumbfounded by Min Gongchan’s words, which were delivered without batting an eyelid. He adjusted the impossibly heavy bag of gold bars and said, looking deeply wronged.

“Why do you hate me?”

“Is there a reason for hating someone? Besides, you’re not a person.”

“You mean because I’m a werewolf?”

“No, you mutt.”

Yoon Younghyun’s face turned red and blue as if he were about to hit Min Gongchan. But it was usually Kim Yitae who called Yoon Younghyun a mutt.

In fact, Min Gongchan didn’t want to soften the term werewolf into the cute moniker of ‘mutt’. He knew well that such small actions could lower one’s guard and cause hesitation at critical moments.

Min Gongchan inwardly regretted treating him like a mutt and turned his head away sharply. Then he pointed to a clearing surrounded by the crystal forest and finished what he had been saying.

“Any gear I don’t have, you can buy at the otherworld shop that will appear soon.”

“An otherworld shop is really going to appear in a place like this?”

Yoon Younghyun, full of suspicion, ripped off the tattered hem of his pants. Then he wrapped it around his fists.

Having suddenly entered a dungeon with his bare hands, he felt extremely anxious. He had never beaten a Crystal Crab with his bare hands, but to do so, he had to protect his fists.

It was then. Suddenly, the surroundings trembled with a woooong. Yoon Younghyun tensed up, thinking it was a monster, but Min Gongchan was calm. Soon, the space in front of them distorted, and something appeared with a flash of light.

Yoon Younghyun, who had been squinting, blinked, and a small shop that looked quite old came into view. Under a sign where the paint and letters had almost completely worn away from corrosion, phosphorescent stones were embedded in a distracting manner.

The stall where goods should have been displayed was empty, which was utterly disappointing. Yoon Younghyun asked Min Gongchan.

“This is the otherworld shop?”

“Yes.”

“This is so different from what I imagined. They said it has everything, but this place has nothing.”

“Shh!”

Min Gongchan frowned and raised a finger to his lips, so Yoon Younghyun shut his mouth. Just in time, the door of the shop behind the stall burst open, and someone appeared.

Seeing the bizarre appearance, Yoon Younghyun felt the hair all over his body stand on end. Like a morning glory, the center of its face swirled and was indented. From there, two antennae, which might have been eyes or something else, stretched out and wriggled.

The being was dressed in what might have been a cloak or some rags, and behind it, dozens more tentacles writhed. The tentacles, which had suction cups like octopus legs, were disgusting just to look at.

Yoon Younghyun swallowed the scream that rose in his throat. In contrast, Min Gongchan made a strange hand gesture and said.

“This person is the otherworld merchant.”

“Th-this?”

“He’s sensitive to sound, so lower your voice and politely follow my hand gestures.”