Chapter 162

 

“What the—are you hurt? Let me see.”

I rushed over, and through the torn fabric of her pants, I saw the mess of a wound. Thankfully, it wasn’t a full-through shot, but the arrow had torn up the flesh badly on its way out, and blood was oozing out from the gash she’d just forced open.

Lee Jae-ah, who had been crying like a child moments ago, hastily wiped away her tears and waved me off.

“I’m fine. I just need to stop the bleeding and drink a potion. I’ve got some with me.”

“That kind of junk will only make it worse.”

She froze mid-motion, about to lay out some mid- and low-grade potions from her inventory. I poured some purified water directly onto the wound without saying another word. Her whole body jerked, but then her eyes widened as she watched the wound rapidly knit itself closed.

“What the—! That fast? I-it even cleared the status effects!”

“Of course. That stuff’s not for sale.”

“How… How is that even possible? Just applying a potion shouldn’t restore both health and mana…”

“Trade secret. Anyway, that was just the minimum recovery. You should top it off. Got any mana potions left?”

“Y-yeah.”

She nodded quickly, pulling one out from her inventory and drinking it. I kept an eye on her while scanning the area around us.

The tremors and noise were getting louder. They weren’t right on top of us yet, but at this rate, it was only a matter of time before we ran into them.

“Thank you,” she said softly.

Lee Jae-ah stood up and gave me a small bow. After confirming that her leg was fully healed, she looked at me and said,

“Then I’ll go. Don’t get hurt—and make sure you get out. Come visit my workshop sometime.”

“Y-Yeah… wait, what?! You’re not coming with me?”

“Nope.”

I nodded, and Lee Jae-ah looked around in panic.

“But, Eui-jin—you’re alone right now!”

“Yep.”

“And you’re a potion maker!”

“Not just any potion maker. I’m the world’s first and only S-Class Potion Master.”

“Ack, s-sorry. World’s first and only—wait, that’s not the point! We’re in a dungeon, and there are maniacs running around! You’ll be in serious danger if you’re alone!”

“Sticking with me would be more dangerous. I’m the one they’re after.”

“What?”

She looked shocked at first, then frowned in disbelief.

“Why would they—? No, even if that’s true, going alone is worse! That means we should stick together! I’ll protect you!”

“You? Protect me? You’re a support type.”

“I still have combat skills! What about you?”

“…None.”

“See?”

She had a point. I didn’t have any combat skills. I did gear up before entering the dungeon, sure—but fighting off dozens of maniacs with weird powers? That was a stretch even for me.

I glanced at Lee Jae-ah. Determination shone brightly in her eyes. It was clear she had already decided in her heart to come with me. But honestly, I couldn’t just welcome that so easily. She was only a B-rank hunter, and on top of that, a support type.

Wouldn’t it just be more dangerous for her to stick with me? But at the same time, leaving support-type Jae-ah alone here felt unsafe too.

Torn between these two worries, Lee Jae-ah started pestering me again.

“Come on, let’s go together, okay?”

“…This is the first time I’ve been guarded by a B-rank.”

“Ah, Eui-jin nim!”

The crazy cult fanatics weren’t just after me; they were attacking hunters we passed along the way too. Even if we split up here, it wouldn’t be especially safer. Calculating that it might be better to go with Jae-ah and the stealthy Cloud who hid our presence, I had no choice but to accept her request to accompany me.

***

“Huff, huff... Eui-jin nim, this way!”

“Noona! Watch out ahead!”

Jae-ah leapt over a pit in front. I hugged my bouncing bag tightly and quickly followed her jump. When I looked back, I locked eyes with a cultist closing in behind us.

“Damn it…”

“Stop right there!!”

Like I was going to stop just because they shouted. Gritting my teeth, I kept running straight ahead. A black tentacle brushed past my ear.

Luckily, the first cultist who found us wasn’t very skilled. He seemed determined to take all the credit himself, chasing us alone without calling for backup, but as we kept slipping away just out of reach, he grew more and more frustrated. We had to lose him before he called reinforcements.

I alternated my gaze between the potions in my inventory and the distant shaking rock wall. If only we could make it there somehow…

“Fuck, I told you to stop…!!”

“Aaah!”

“Eui-jin nim!!”

A sharp whip sliced across my back. I tumbled to the ground, clutching Cloud tightly, writhing in burning pain.

“Ugh, fuck… ahh, ugh…”

“You’re making this real tiring. Don’t think you’re going anywhere easy.”

That damn bastard… 

Tears blurred my vision, swelling with pain. Clenching a round potion bottle in my hand, I waited for him to come closer. Just as I was about to throw it at the shadow approaching me, the cultist suddenly split in two.

‘Huh…?’

Warm blood splattered across my dumbfounded face. Behind the fallen cultist stood Tae Jae-heon, looking down at me with cold, piercing eyes. Damn. I was trying to avoid a fox but ended up walking straight into a tiger’s den.

“Eui-jin nim, are you okay? Oh my god, you’re bleeding…!”

Lee Jae-ah came running over, completely panicked. Rune and Root were sniffing around me, making me stomp my feet in frustration. Tae Jae-heon gave my limp bag a light kick with his foot and muttered,

“So this was the problem why I couldn’t see you at all. Rune and Root had their work cut out for them.”

“Fuck, don’t touch that… Hak!”

I tried to kick his foot away, but a searing pain slashed across my back and I gasped. I heard Tae Jae-heon clicking his tongue above me before he suddenly lifted me up and sat me on a nearby rock.

“Take off your clothes.”

“No need. I can do it myself.”

“You really want to do it yourself looking like that?”

Honestly, I wasn’t confident. The moment I bent my arm back, I knew the inevitable pain would hit me, and just imagining it made me sweat. I saw Lee Jae-ah approaching step by step behind Tae Jae-heon, avoiding Rune and Root. My eyes lit up.

“Oh! Maybe I can have noona do it…”

“Do you want to clean up one more corpse?”

Damn crazy bastard.

Grumbling, I finally took off my pocket and vest. Tae Jae-heon turned behind me. As he rolled up my sleeve, I felt the sharp sting of dried blood pulling at my skin. Gritting my teeth, I warned,

“I’m going to use my potion… Ugh…”

As soon as I handed Tae Jae-heon the potion, he poured it over my back. The pouring itself was quick, but that brief moment when the potion touched the wound was unbearably painful. 

I flinched without realizing it, clutching the arm that was holding my shoulder. Then my body leaned against something.

“This fucking hurts… damn it…”

Tears welled up. It was the first time I had such a severe injury, and I didn’t know healing could be this painful. Until now, I’d only focused on the healing effects after treatment, thinking as long as it worked, it was fine. But no, this wasn’t going to cut it. I even felt a bit guilty thinking about Lee Jae-ah, who I had treated earlier.

‘Ah, this fucking hurts. Next time I heal someone, I gotta add some anesthesia or something.’

Once the treatment was done, the pain finally faded. Opening my tightly shut eyes, I realized I had been holding onto Tae Jae-heon’s waist and quickly stepped back.

“What the hell is this!”

Behind me, Lee Jae-ah and the dogs were staring wide-eyed.

Ah! Noona is here too, so don’t make me look weak!! I glared at them in frustration, but Tae Jae-heon just snorted and tossed me a piece of white cloth.

“Wipe yourself off. I can’t stand looking at you all dirty.”

***

I nudged Root off my leg as it rubbed against me. It was trying to tell me to go to its master, but thinking I was playing, it started using my leg as an obstacle to practice agility on its own.

“This damn mutt…”

“Woof!”

We were heading toward the warp point. Our group consisted of me, Lee Jae-ah, Tae Jae-heon, and his two mutts under his command.

It was a strange lineup. Being stuck with the guy ranked #1 as the worst person to travel with was awkward as hell, but there was no other choice if we wanted to avoid those cult freaks.

Lee Jae-ah, who was using her skills to scan the surroundings, spoke to me.

“Luckily, the dungeon reset is about five hours away. If we go to the warp and wait for the reset, we should be fine.”

“But the warp to the 18th floor was broken.”

No matter if they were hunters or cultists, any creature with a head would definitely head toward the warp.

‘It doesn’t sound very safe… but still, better than being with Tae Jae-heon alone.’

The only things I trusted were the constellation map and Lyraff’s leash. No matter where we were, they’d come looking for us on the day of the eruption. More than that, I was worried if Zero and Cheong were safe.

As expected, we kept running into cultists on the way to the warp. Tae Jae-heon took out everyone he saw, but their numbers kept growing, making it impossible to guarantee the safety of Lee Jae-ah and Cloud.

Eventually, I stopped and said,

“It’d be better to wait until the dungeon resets before moving.”

Tae Jae-heon stared at the direction of the warp, seemingly pondering. Suddenly, Rune, who had been circling us, sniffed sharply and dashed off somewhere. Root followed right after.

The problem was that Root was carrying my stuff on its back—my cursed Greedy One’s Mouth, full of new materials given by Seong San-ha, and my A-rank belt with a 30-slot inventory function.

“Hey, where do you think you’re going!!”

Without a second thought, I sprinted after Root. I barely caught up with the two heads ducking through the narrow gap. As I snatched the stuff Root was carrying, I noticed a magic circle drawn on the ground beneath the dogs’ paws. Jae-ah and Tae Jae-heon, who had followed, must have spotted it too, because they hurried over.

“This is…”

“A warp?”

“Yeah, a warp.”

“Woof!”

Rune lifted his head proudly.

It was just a sealed warp we had seen several times on the way up to the 20th floor. But strangely, this warp was pulsing with a faint wave—meaning it had been activated.

Watching Tae Jae-heon inspect it with interest, I asked hesitantly,

“…We’re not going in, right?”

“Why wouldn’t we?”

Just then, before I could even question it further, Rune and Root dashed forward, and someone shoved me hard from behind.

“Hey, you damn bastard!!”