Chapter 12
“Let’s look for him.”
Those were the first words Baek Doha uttered when Lim Yuchan hadn’t returned for two days, or more precisely, a day and a half.
“It was the cave opposite the lake, right?”
When I nodded, he picked up the bow placed inside the cave.
“Are we going to look for him right now?”
“Well, it’s been almost two days, so I’m a bit worried. Cha Si-hyeon, let’s go.”
Baek Doha jerked his chin towards Cha Si-hyeon as if telling him to get up quickly.
Sighing, Cha Si-hyeon grumbled about having no rest, but still picked up his sword placed near the cave wall.
“It’s not like he’s the type to get into danger in the first place. I’m sure he’d come back if we wait just one more day.”
Baek Doha didn’t bother to answer. As I was about to see them off,
“Yoo Yi-joo-ssi, you should come with us too.”
Baek Doha said to me.
Huh?
“Me too?”
Won’t I be useless?
As I sent a questioning look, Baek Doha said while stepping out of the cave,
“Still.”
I wonder if it’s just my imagination that he’s been speaking vaguely since earlier. Unlike Lim Yuchan, who never explained anything, or Cha Si-hyeon, who only gave brief explanations out of laziness, Baek Doha was the only one who explained things to me.
It was awkward to argue, and I just felt strange about it, so I scratched my cheek and followed him.
Well, that’s not important right now anyway. I decided to just not worry about it.
We headed towards the cave like that.
‘Honestly, I don’t think Lim Yuchan would be in any danger.’
Having seen his status window completely, I was confident that wherever he went, he wouldn’t be found dead.
Of course, I wasn’t completely unconcerned like Cha Si-hyeon.
‘In the end, I’m just an F-rank worrying about that amazing S-rank.’
Putting aside the ridiculous thought, I stopped walking after a while and looked up.
“That’s the place, right?”
“Yes.”
There was only one large cave behind the lake, so it was easy to know where Lim Yuchan had gone.
Cha Si-hyeon, who had poked his head into the cave entrance, quickly scanned the inside with his eyes and pulled his head back out.
“You said there was light here?”
“He’s not the type to see things wrong, so I guess so.”
Cha Si-hyeon seemed to think so too, as he nodded after a moment of silence.
“Then let’s go.”
Just as I was about to move,
“We’ll go in alone.”
Baek Doha stopped me.
“Just the two of you?”
“Yes. The path in the cave is dark and rough. It would be better for Yoo Yi-joo-ssi to stay here.”
Above all…
“If Hyung-nim hasn’t been able to come out, I think at least one person should stay outside to prepare for any situation.”
Baek Doha explained briefly. He meant someone needed to guard the front.
“I’ve checked everything here, and there were only small fry monsters. Just stop any monsters trying to come this way.”
I remained silent for a moment before nodding.
“Okay, I’ll do that.”
Baek Doha maintained silence with me for a while before finally smiling.
“We’ll be back.”
Cha Si-hyeon lightly pressed my shoulder once and followed Baek Doha into the cave.
Whether because the cave was too dark, or because their steps were too quick, their figures soon disappeared.
“……”
For a very brief moment, even after they had disappeared, I stared at their receding figures with a complex expression before turning my head. And at that moment.
Rumble, the ground shook.
[SYSTEM] ‘Main Quest-5’ has arrived!
[SYSTEM] Main Quest-5 [Guard the Cave Entrance]
▸You have been asked to guard the cave entrance. Remember the trust your companions have placed in you and protect the cave entrance from the [Deep Cave Spiders (Intermediate)]
▸Reward: Trust of your companions
▸Failure: Monster invades the cave
“Huh.”
Only small fry monsters, he said.
Well, I guess even intermediate monsters are small fry in the eyes of an S-rank.
‘For me, this is no different from a hard mode battle.’
Four pairs of eyes turned towards me. I looked up at the reward section once, then at the failure penalty once.
It’s not death.
Nevertheless…
[You have accepted the quest!]
I tried not to think anymore.
I was anxious that I might be unable to guard this entrance, and I was told they might be disappointed if I failed.
And even the fact that Baek Doha didn’t say, ‘I’ll be back.’
💎
“Hey, but wouldn’t it be better if I stayed instead?”
A low voice echoed throughout the cave in the darkness, where nothing could be seen ahead.
Baek Doha’s hand, which was moving forward without hesitation despite relying solely on his intuition and magical power rather than his eyes, paused as it touched the cave wall.
“What are you saying all of a sudden?”
“What do you mean what. I’m talking about that C-rank, her.”
Cha Si-hyeon frowned. Regardless, Baek Doha continued walking as if he had never paused.
“Isn’t it dangerous to leave her alone at the entrance?”
“There weren’t any dangerous monsters around.”
“How can you be so sure? How do you know another monster won’t appear?”
And can she, who fainted from an F-rank monster, even protect that front? Cha Si-hyeon was about to say, but suddenly stopped.
“Hey.”
And turned his head towards Baek Doha.
“You’re hiding something, aren’t you?”
“No, I’m not.”
“Don’t be ridiculous.”
Cha Si-hyeon let out a dry laugh at the immediate response. Cha Si-hyeon knows Baek Doha well.
Whether it’s because they’re the same age, or because they’re both S-rank, or because of the hardships they’ve been through. Either way, as someone who has been watching Baek Doha from the side, he knows his way of thinking.
And to Cha Si-hyeon, Baek Doha’s behavior right now was very strange.
Baek Doha is the type who never takes any risks.
So normally, he would have either insisted on all three of them going into the cave or left Cha Si-hyeon at the cave entrance.
Yet that Baek Doha left Yoo Yi-joo behind.
Baek Doha sighed.
“I had no choice.”
Finally, unable to withstand Cha Si-hyeon’s pressure, which he clearly felt even in the darkness, Baek Doha opened his mouth.
“For something that’s preventing Hyung-nim from coming out, it’s too risky to leave you behind and take Yoo Yi-joo-ssi with us.”
“We could all three go. Couldn’t we protect her?”
“No… that’s not the issue.”
We might end up unable to leave just like the senior, Baek Doha added.
“I left her because I thought we might be able to get out by sensing her faint magical power.”
Baek Doha was very sensitive to magical power and could catch even small fluctuations in others’ magic.
Even Lim Yuchan and Cha Si-hyeon would find it difficult to detect Yoo Yi-joo’s magical power in this deep cave, but it wasn’t impossible for Baek Doha.
It was a decision to increase the chances of survival.
Cha Si-hyeon listened quietly to Baek Doha’s words before speaking again.
“But what if the reason Hyung-nim hasn’t returned is because he ‘had to escape first’?”
In other words…
“What if what’s at the end of this is an escape route?”
Of course, Lim Yuchan isn’t the type to find an escape route and leave alone. He has at least that much affection.
But if he unknowingly entered an escape route.
If what’s at the end is an escape route, and Cha Si-hyeon and Baek Doha pass through it without having time to go back, then Yoo Yi-joo…
“Are you suggesting we escape and leave her behind?”
💎
Golden eyes, four pairs, eight legs, and the size…
‘Why is it so big?’
They said intermediate. Are they kidding?
While inwardly cursing, what I ended up picking up was still the gun. It might just be big but not that tough, right?
‘It might unexpectedly be weak.’
I extended both arms straight and, bang! I shot at the spider before it could approach me.
But to my surprise.
“……?”
With a thud, the bullet that seemed like it would pierce right through the spider’s body bounced right off.
What’s going on? I’m sure I imbued it properly with magical power.
Click, click. In my panic, I quickly checked the gun and raised my arm to aim again.
But, thud! The second bullet also bounced off.
‘It’s not working.’
I need to use a skill.
‘But using “What’s Yours is Mine” right now is a bit problematic.’
Cha Si-hyeon and Baek Doha went to rescue Lim Yuchan. If I take and use their skills, not only might they be in danger, but the chances of them realizing their skills are gone also increase.
While I was pondering, one of the spider’s legs swooped towards me. I hurriedly blocked my whole body with both arms, and with a thud! I was flung away.
“Ugh!”
With a crash, my back slammed straight into a tree. It felt like my back was splitting open, and tears welled up in my eyes.
‘Those legs are like solid rocks.’
As I couldn’t move due to the shock of the heavy impact on my back, I heard a whoosh! sound of something flying. I quickly raised my head to see silk shooting out from the spider’s mouth.
‘I need to dodge—!’
I tried to escape somehow, but the silk rushing straight at my body was faster.
Whoosh! The endless silk started wrapping around both my body and the tree.
“Ugh! This is crazy.”
My arms, which I was frantically waving, got stuck to the tree, and the more I tried to shake my body, the faster it got wrapped up until before I knew it…
‘I can’t move at all.’
I had become completely immobilized.
The silk that was wrapping around my waist moved up to my chest, then my shoulders, and finally reached my neck. At that moment, just like when my legs were tied by the Kraken, a fear of death flashed through me.
“No, ack—”
Just as I started coughing from the pressure on my neck.
“Woof!”
A cute barking sound… barking?
I quickly raised my head, and at the end of my vision was a small ball of fur.
‘A wolf?!’
Isn’t that the wolf cub?!
💎
Thank you for reading! ♡
