Chapter 19 - How to Manage Your Connection (9)

 

The situation we found ourselves in now was like tap dancing on Choi Soojung’s anger trigger button.

 

As soon as she heard the words ‘as expected,’ Choi Soojung gathered the harsh wind in her hands with a cold look in her eyes.

 

“Junior, you thought you knew my situation? That’s how much your brain doesn’t spin?”

 

Despite Choi Soojung’s sharp reaction, Scammer smiled confidently and said.

 

“I know. Your lineage, your past. That’s why I dragged you to this dungeon.”

 

It was truly a storm of aggro.

 

Scammer must have been addicted to the dopamine that gambling gives him.

 

Or maybe he had 99 lives and was excited to die at least once.

 

But why are you letting me get caught up in it, why!

 

“Aha. Can I see that as meaning that you want to die here?”

 

“W-Wait!”

 

I felt like crying at the thought of having to get involved in this tense situation. Teacher, please save me. Guys, help me!

 

“Rather than fighting each other, wouldn’t it be better to go out and improve our posture now?”

 

Scammer chuckled at my words. You bastard, why are you smiling? It’s ominous.

 

“We can’t go out. It’s that kind of event.”

 

The wind in Choi Soojung’s hand condensed even stronger.

 

You Scammer, don’t add fuel to the fire! Do I really need to say that now?

 

“If you kill me now, Kang Nahyun and you will both die here.”

 

“What?”

 

What does this mean again?

 

“This is the Temple of the Beast. A place where the tower’s beasts come for trials.”

 

Scammer smiled and continued.

 

“Of course, the difficulty of the trial isn’t such that we can beat it without knowing the strategy. But I know the strategy.”

 

That incredibly triumphant smile was that of a winner who had the upper hand in negotiations.

 

“There is a reason why Senior must return alive, right?”

 

But why are you putting my life in the middle of your negotiations, you bastard! You said it wasn’t dangerous!

 

You bastard who speaks two different things with one mouth! See if I ever believe you again!

 

After hearing Scammer’s words, Choi Soojung glared at him fiercely for a moment, but eventually slowly released the wind she had gathered in her hand.

 

The gaze she was looking at Scammer was still as if she were going to kill him, but at least it didn’t seem like she was going to kill Scammer right away.

 

Congratulations, Scammer. It’s a successful gamble. Damn you main character bastard.

 

“…So, what can I do?”

 

I asked cautiously, making a scared expression.

 

There is no need to worry. As he said, he probably knows how to conquer dungeons very well.

 

Since he was a huge troublemaker who knew every part of this game inside out, he must have created a hidden event with some confidence.

 

He said with a grin.

 

“Conquer the maze.”

 

Clap, clap, Scammer lightly touched his palm and slumped down in his seat.

 

“I’ll start with a briefing. Sit down, Senior.”

 

Scammer motioned to me. I guess he wants me to come too.

 

Choi Soojung and I both sat down in front of Scammer, then he took out some chalk and wrote on the stone floor.

 

‘Maze’, ‘Trap’, ‘Letter’, ‘Clairvoyance’.

 

“First of all, do you see that door over there?”

 

We saw the door pointed to by Scammer. The rectangular stone door was in form of a hole without a door.

 

“If you go through that door, the maze begins. Once you enter, it’s one of two things. Either die or get out alive.”

 

He shrugged his shoulders slyly.

 

“You can’t come back out through that door.”

 

That’s? Not? What you’re supposed to say? With a smile? You bastard?

 

“Anyway… There are all kinds of traps in the maze, and hints are written near these traps in letters written by beastmen. A hint to avoid the trap.”

 

Scammer pointed at himself.

 

“And I can interpret the letters.”

 

As expected of a game nerd.

 

“So we can avoid all the traps.”

 

“Right. As long as we avoid the traps and continue along the path, the exit will appear.”

 

“Why do we need clairvoyance?”

 

“The letters are written in a location that only beastmen can read. Written so high that you can only see it by flying, or it’s written very small, so clairvoyance is essential to check the details.”

 

“I see… I will try my best.”

 

“Right. I will use the vision sharing skill I gained while leveling up to share your vision with Nahyun and understand the situation.”

 

“Got it!”

 

“Then the briefing is over.”

 

Scammer stretched out.

 

“Just in case, I’ll check the equipment before leaving!”

 

“Yeah.”

 

“Mmhm!”

 

After receiving and organizing the various potions handed over by Scammer, I quietly approached Choi Soojung, who was still in a depressed mood.

 

She was still frowning heavily.

 

“E-Excuse me…”

 

“…Why?”

 

“Well, what should I call you from now on? Wouldn’t it be…”

 

“You can call me as usual, or you can call me Senior. I don’t worry about small things.”

 

“Then, Senior…”

 

I think she’s superior in any way…

 

I pretended to be a good kid who was just caught up in a scam, like an observant puppy.

 

“Yeah.”

 

“What Yuhan did this time was a bad thing, right?”

 

“According to my standards, it’s kind of like that.”

 

“T-Then, I’ll scold him later. Yuri will also scold him…!”

 

I glanced at Scammer and whispered to Choi Soojung as if I was revealing an important secret.

 

“This is a secret, but if Yuhan does something bad, Yuri has decided to scold him.”

 

‘I’ fidgeted with my hands and hesitated. I eventually closed her eyes tightly and speaks in a low voice.

 

“S-So, I mean… Don’t worry too much…!”

 

And Choi Soojung, who saw that,

 

“Haha,”

 

She laughed.

 

“Wahahahaha!”

 

Choi Soojung, who was laughing heartily, seemed to have relaxed a bit, and she responded to me with a lighter expression. She reached out her hands and gently pulled my cheeks.

 

“Are you worried about me? Thanks.”

 

Ouuuch.

 

“By the way. When Yuri scolds that guy, you’ll let me do the same, right?”

 

“…Yes!”

 

But it looks like Senior won’t stop at just scolding you, but will actually kill you.

 

Even though I was holding my cheek, I laughed with joy at the sight of Choi Soojung’s smiling face.

 

I finally escaped from the hellish atmosphere. Although it hurts a bit, I can offer it as a sacrifice at this point.

 

“Soft, soft~”

 

But when will you let me go, Senior?

 

Choi Soojung’s hand, which had been massaging my cheek for a long time, stopped only when Scammer had finished preparing his strategy. My cheeks were tingling.

 

Thanks to sacrificing my cheeks, the atmosphere of the party improved dramatically. We each held a weapon in our hands and nervously walked inside the stone door.

 

As soon as I entered the maze, the stone door closed with a clang sound.

 

“Oh, my~ now I have no choice but to find an exit!”

 

“Let’s go.”

 

“Fighting!”

 

When Scammer used the vision sharing skill, his eyes began to glow even redder than now. I felt connected to him by a thread-like energy.

 

It feels bad.

 

“In the next hallway, on the right.”

 

“Left.”

 

“Straight.”

 

We walked in silence as instructed by Scammer.

 

Although we often ended up in blind alleys, since there was definitely treasure in those places, Scammer clearly had gone there on purpose.

 

However, when making a contract with Scammer, it was decided that any treasure obtained in the dungeon would be handed over to him, so it was a cakewalk. Ah, I’m pissed off again.

 

Anyway, after the smooth journey continued for a while, Choi Soojung seemed to have relaxed a bit and started floating in the air again.

 

What’s changed is that she keeps trying to touch me. She hugged my neck from behind or nuzzled her head.

 

…Really why?

 

Is it a good thing I seem to have gained favor anyway? I decided to think that it was a good thing since the higher the affinity with the main characters, the better.

 

After walking for a while, I saw a stone door that looked exactly like the entrance.

 

The difference is that the door is now open.

 

“It’s the exit!”

 

“We’ve finally arrived~!”

 

We headed to the exit at a fast pace.

 

When I went to the exit, I found the temple’s reward room as described in the original story.

 

At the center of the altar decorated with animal bones was a crude-looking key made of bone.

 

That key… was one of the key items in the novel’s main stream, probably.

 

“Senior, please go and grab the key.”

 

“Hm? Meee?”

 

“Yes. Senior has to be the one to get it.”

 

Choi Soojung seemed reluctant, yet she did as Scammer said and approached the altar and grabbed the key.

 

The key glowed faintly and letters began to be engraved on it. It was a text message from the beastmen I saw while wandering the maze.

 

Suddenly, I looked to the side and saw Scammer smiling sinisterly. He’s a real scammer bastard.

 

Choi Soojung suddenly looked at the key with the text engraved on it with disgust, and she threw it hard at Scammer. Of course, Scammer couldn’t receive it.

 

I picked up the key for this man with trash specs.