Chapter 157

 

I found myself puzzled by what he was suddenly saying, when Seongsan-ha chuckled and took the ladle from my hand.

“These are precious hands—what if you get hurt while cooking?”

“If I get hurt, I can just apply a potion.”

“I was saying I wanted to eat the food alone, but should I have said it differently?”

“What do you mean by that…”

It took me a moment to understand what he meant, and my face turned bright red.

“Don’t—don’t talk nonsense! I’ll never cook in front of you again!”

“That would be quite a shame.”

I glared at his grinning face before spinning around with my back to him. Since I ended up not eating dinner, I’d have to fill my stomach with some dry rations.

As I walked away, I could sense someone following behind me. When I stopped abruptly, the footsteps behind me stopped as well.

“What.”

I turned around with irritation, and something came flying from behind. What I reflexively caught was a small paper bag. When I opened the folded opening to check inside, there were apples, bananas, and a few pieces of bread.

“You didn’t eat dinner. Take it.”

“Thanks, but how did you…”

It had been a long time since we entered the dungeon, so there shouldn’t be any fresh food like this left. Suspecting something, I examined the paper bag and noticed small letters glowing in the middle. 

It was a single-use storage item that wasn’t mass-produced due to its poor efficiency. It was only used for storing very precious ingredients that spoil immediately after picking, or temporarily preserving severed body parts during combat. Who would put something like apples in such an expensive item…

Just as I was about to open my mouth in bewilderment, I saw a Cheon Rang Guild member running urgently toward Seong San-ha from behind.

“Guild Master! Guild Master!”

“What’s going on?”

“There’s a group of hunters who just entered the 16th floor. We estimate it’s a 9-person party.”

Seong San-ha’s brow furrowed. I hastily stuffed the paper bag I was holding into my inventory and approached him.

“Could they be fake hunters?”

“We’ll know when we see them. …Do we know roughly where they are now?”

“They’re passing through the valley.”

“Send Hunter Kim Yeo-jin to guide them this way.”

“Yes sir!”

Until they arrived, the base camp was enveloped in a strange tension. The prevailing opinion was that they probably weren’t fake hunters since they had openly revealed themselves, but we couldn’t ignore the slim possibility.

After some time passed, Hunter Kim Yeo-jin, who had gone to fetch them, returned. Behind her, we could hear the grumbling voices of the hunters.

“So why do we need permission from Cheon Rang? Did you guys rent this place out or something?”

“First they block the entrance, now they’re occupying the middle floors…”

“Occupying… I told you there’s a problem and we’re asking for your temporary cooperation.”

“So what’s this problem?”

“It’s obvious. From the 17th floor up is like a highway. They want to break through to the 20th floor first. Right?”

The mocking voices were irritating, so I roughly shook my head to clear my ears.

“As expected, but they don’t seem to be fake hunters.”

“…That’s fortunate, but we don’t know what the fake hunters might have done, so it’s dangerous. We’ll need to move together until the 20th floor.”

“They’re already grumbling like hell—will they really cooperate quietly?”

I’m not giving those bastards any of my cooking.

Sure enough, hunters with faces full of dissatisfaction emerged from behind the trees. I was watching them with my arms crossed when I recognized the faces of two women in the group.

“Huh?”

They were hunters I had met before in the Dae Cheong Lake dungeon. Their names were Hyo-young and Lee Jae-ah, I think.

Hyo-young, who had been firmly stepping on the foot of a grumbling man telling him to stop, was looking around with a troubled expression when our eyes met, and she showed a surprised look.

“You! …Kang Eui-jin!”

Come to think of it, by now rumors that ‘Kang Eui-jin’ had entered the tower would have spread outside, but they probably hadn’t reached the hunters who entered the tower around the same time as us.

Hyo-young grabbed Lee Jae-ah’s arm and shook it while pointing at me. Lee Jae-ah’s eyes also widened.

Just as I was about to raise my hand to greet them, the hunter who had been showing his hunter registration card snatched it back and snapped,

“Here, you’ve confirmed our hunter registration cards, right? We’ll be on our way now.”

“From the 17th floor onward, it’s cave terrain. It would be better to prepare on the 16th floor before going. How about moving together with us from here on?”

The hunters’ expressions hardened at the words of Cheon Rang’s guild members

“What? Why should we move with Cheong Rang?”

“Is that a suggestion or a demand?”

“They’re just trying to keep us from reaching the 20th floor first, aren’t they?”

“Of course not. It’s just a proposal for everyone’s safety. We have no way to stop you if you refuse… But we’ll keep running into each other from here on, so wouldn’t it be better not to create any bad blood between us?”

“This is bullsh… That’s a threat!!”

This doesn’t seem like the right atmosphere for greetings.

I didn’t really care whether those hunters went ahead or joined us, but it looked like it would take some time for the commotion to die down, so I tapped the arm of Seong San-ha, who was standing next to me, and said,

“I’m going in first.”

“Alright. Make sure you eat dinner.”

“Yeah. Thanks.”

I waved my hand and turned around.

***

I don’t know how they convinced them, but when I woke up the next day, the hunters had joined at the rear. A strange scene unfolded with our group—including Cheon Rang and a few S-ranks—followed by the individual party and Nox trailing behind like sausages on a string.

When we passed through the warp at the mountainside to the 17th floor, a cave filled with strange rock formations appeared all around us.

“From the 17th floor to the 20th floor, it’s all inside caves. The monsters are stronger, but the distance between warps isn’t far, so we should be able to move faster than before.”

Unlike the first day when we cleared 6 floors in one day, it was taking longer to advance to the next floor as we climbed higher in the tower, so this was welcome news.

It had already been two weeks since we entered the tower, so I wanted to open the door to the 20th floor as quickly as possible and return to the workshop.

‘There better not be some shitty quest that pops up when opening the door, right? If that happens, I’ll just say it’s not my problem and bolt back to the workshop.’

Inside the cave, not only was the terrain rough, but the monsters were strong, so there was no suitable place to set up a base camp. We had to take turns keeping watch and sleep relying on thin blankets.

I couldn’t fall asleep and desperately missed my bed as I lied on the hard stone floor.

‘Ugh… This is so uncomfortable.’

As I tossed and turned, I looked to the side. I could see Seong San-ha, who had fallen asleep sitting with his back against a rock.

Since I couldn’t sleep anyway, I got up from my spot with no intention of sleeping. As soon as I sat up, my eyes met with Zero, who was sitting on a rock in front, working on some unidentifiable leather.

“Where are you going at this late hour? Are you perhaps planning to poison Guild Master Nox…”

“Stop talking nonsense.”

I gave him the middle finger and stood up. When I covered Seong San-ha with the blanket I had been using, he slowly opened his eyes. A low, subdued voice flowed out.

“…Where are you going?”

“I can’t sleep, so I thought I’d take the watch shift early. Keep sleeping. It’s not our turn yet.”

I brushed the dirt off my clothes and approached the hunters who were on watch duty outside. When I tapped their shoulders, both turned around in surprise.

“Who… Oh, Eui-jin nim. You’re here already?”

“Go get some sleep. I’ll keep watch.”

“No, it’s not your turn yet, Eui-jin nim. Besides, we have orders not to let you be separated from the S-rank hunters.”

“I’m not alo…”

“Go ahead and go in.”

“Ah…! Guild Master!”

Seong San-ha, who had followed me out even though I told him to keep sleeping, approached my side. The Cheon Rang guild members immediately bowed and left as soon as Seongsan-ha spoke.

“I told you to keep sleeping, so why did you follow me out?”

“I didn’t want to leave you alone.”

“Tch, alone my ass. You know Zero’s not sleeping either.”

When I pointed toward Zero, who was hiding his body in the darkness, Seong San-ha smiled and rested his head on my shoulder.

“Yeah, I know, but I didn’t want to leave you alone. It’s dark and cold here.”

“I’m not scared of stuff like that.”

“…That’s cool.”

“…If you’re sleepy, go rest in the back.”

Why follow me out just to talk nonsense?

I forcibly made Seong San-ha lie down and sat down next to him. As I took out a fatigue recovery potion from my inventory, I glanced at Seong San-ha. His eyes were closed, but he didn’t seem to be sleeping.

‘He does seem to have trouble sleeping lately.’

The fatigue recovery potion was a potion that eliminated accumulated fatigue in the body and restored vitality. It was essentially no different from a stimulant, so if you were in a state where you could sleep, it was better to just sleep. 

After some consideration, I secretly sprinkled a sedative around Seong San-ha. Not long after, I could hear Seong San-ha’s steady breathing as he fell asleep. 

Only after Seong San-ha had fallen asleep did I take out the fatigue recovery potion and drink it down in one gulp. Perhaps because it was a potion I made myself, my mind became clear as soon as I drank it, and my whole body overflowed with energy.

“That looks good, Boss. Don’t I get any benefits?”

“…Here, take it.”

I threw the potion toward where Zero’s voice came from. I didn’t hear any breaking sound.

Since I was on watch duty anyway, I might as well keep an eye on the surroundings.

I drew my dagger and stared wide-eyed into the darkness when I heard Zero’s whisper.

“Boss. We have visitors.”

“Visitors?”

When I turned around, I saw Hyo-young and Lee Jae-ah getting up from among the sleeping people and walking toward us. When our eyes met, they looked startled but then quickened their pace.

“Um, ah… hello.”

“We didn’t have a chance to greet you at other times. Do you remember us? I’m…”

“I know. Hyo-young from Saiden Guild and the unaffiliated Lee Jae-ah.”

When I pointed at each of them as I spoke, both their faces brightened.

“Ah…! I didn’t expect you to remember us.”

“We transferred to a different guild. We’re not with Saiden anymore, but with Acorn Guild now.”

“Huh, Acorn? …Ahem, sorry. That’s a cute name.”

I failed to manage my expression and grimaced before quickly forcing a smile. Seeing this, both of them chuckled softly, and Lee Jae-ah spoke carefully.

“…We only found out later that the person who helped us back then was Potion Master Kang Eui-jin.”

“Of course. It was a secret back then.”