Chapter 15
What? Baek Doha’s face turned sour.
“That’s not what happened!”
Cha Si-hyeon, suddenly branded as an S-rank who nearly killed an F-rank, was horrified. As Yoo Yi-joo watched him frantically trying to explain, something else caught her eye.
‘He’s carrying a bow.’
It was the bow in Baek Doha’s hand.
“Are you going to see Lim Yuchan?”
Ah. Yoo Yi-joo nodded.
‘Seeing how they’re still exploring, this dungeon must be quite vast.’
From the first day in the dungeon, the S-ranks, especially Baek Doha, had been consistently exploring.
They had found food, caves, and even a lake, but no boss or exit was in sight.
‘I wonder if they even exist.’
Such doubts began to creep in naturally. Baek Doha, watching Yoo Yi-joo lost in thought, said,
“Since Hyung-nim isn’t here, if you’re hungry, don’t wait. Just ask Cha Si-hyeon to get food for you first.”
Thanks to Lim Yuchan setting fire to the wood before he left, grilling meat wasn’t a problem.
After a moment’s thought, Yoo Yi-joo nodded.
“I will.”
“Hey, what about my opinion?”
“Don’t go out alone when you leave. I’ll be back soon.”
Yoo Yi-joo gave an awkward smile at Baek Doha’s instructions, which completely ignored Cha Si-hyeon.
Was it just her imagination, or did he sound like a mother giving instructions to a child before going out?
‘He seems to have been a bit more attentive since I hurt my neck.’
Yoo Yi-joo scratched the back of her neck, remembering the day Cha Si-hyeon came looking for her.
Before that, he had looked like he didn’t care what she did as long as she wasn’t a bother, so this was quite a change.
“Hey, C-rank. Let’s eat something.”
Yoo Yi-joo, who had been watching Baek Doha’s retreating back, turned at the sudden dinner invitation.
“Wouldn’t it be better to wait?”
Baek Doha had just left, but Lim Yuchan would probably be back soon if they waited a bit.
“We’ll have to go look for food anyway since there’s nothing to eat.”
Cha Si-hyeon shrugged.
Yoo Yi-joo was about to ask what he meant but stopped.
‘The monsters are gradually coming this way too.’
She belatedly remembered the conversation between Lim Yuchan and Baek Doha that she had overheard a few days ago.
From what she heard, they needed to go deeper into the forest to find food…
“…Never mind. Let’s just go later.”
Cha Si-hyeon cut off his words before Yoo Yi-joo could finish her thought. Yoo Yi-joo understood why.
‘Right, I’m scared too…’
Recently, monsters had been appearing more frequently near the cave.
And, of course, it would be no exception when Yoo Yi-joo was alone.
‘It’s too much for me to guard the cave alone without an S-rank.’
As this fact crossed her mind, a sudden idea occurred to her.
“Or can I just come with you?”
She looked up and asked Cha Si-hyeon.
Since monsters attacked because they knew people were there, she had come up with this idea considering that point.
In other words, if there were no people, there would be no reason for monsters to attack.
Cha Si-hyeon, who understood this, nodded.
“No reason why not. Actually, that might be better.”
“Right?”
Yoo Yi-joo smiled at Cha Si-hyeon’s unusually easy agreement.
As expected, if you remove the reason for being a nuisance, that’s all there is to it.
💎
“Not there either?”
I approached Cha Si-hyeon, who was surveying the area ahead.
“Nope.”
“Huh…”
“Not even a shadow.”
My brow furrowed involuntarily at his definitive answer.
We’d been out of the cave for quite a while, but forget catching a deer, we couldn’t even see one.
Animals had been scarce lately, but could the area really be this empty?
“Let’s go further in.”
“If we can’t find anything, maybe mushrooms—”
“I don’t want that.”
I cut him off sternly. How can you compare mushrooms to meat?
Thinking I’d rather spend the entire evening searching for a deer than settle for mushrooms, I took the lead. Cha Si-hyeon followed, looking at me as if I was being ridiculous.
“You’ve always really hated mushrooms, huh? And here I thought you didn’t look like a picky eater at all.”
“It’s not being picky. I just don’t want to eat them.”
“That’s exactly what being picky means.”
Cha Si-hyeon chuckled. Ignoring his teasing, I pressed on.
“If you keep leading like that, a monster will appear.”
I stopped, turned around, and stood beside him. Living as an F-rank among S-ranks, I had long since abandoned my pride.
As we went a bit further into the forest, we still saw no animals, but berries appeared here and there.
While Cha Si-hyeon looked around for deer, something caught my eye.
Round berries with a deep purple color.
“These…”
Yes, they were the ones the wolf pup had given me.
But there was one strange thing…
‘They’re too high up.’
The tree was larger than I expected.
I looked up at the tree and tried raising my heels slightly. Failure.
Stretching my arms with all my might, jumping—both failed.
“Huh…”
I was a bit bewildered.
That little guy climbed up and picked this by himself?
A creature no bigger than a stray cat around the house?
‘Maybe…’
I recalled the wolf’s bright blue eyes.
That unusually small but fast creature, with those uniquely sparkling eyes.
‘Is this fruit that monsters eat separately? It’s not bad for something I’ve never seen before.’
Cha Si-hyeon’s voice echoed in my mind.
‘Wait a minute.’
Setting aside the fact that the wolf I saved was a baby monster, if this fruit is what monsters eat…
A chill ran down my spine.
One damned hypothesis came to mind.
Now I understand why there are no animals here.
Monsters are gradually coming this way. As that happens, we see fewer and fewer animals, which is also a problem.
‘Damn it.’
By the time I realized the reason, it was already too late.
Ding.
[SYSTEM] ‘Main Quest-6’ has arrived!
The familiar sound filled my ears even faster.
I was about to turn urgently towards Cha Si-hyeon, but I stopped.
Struggling to lift my head, what I faced was, of course, the system window.
[SYSTEM] Main Quest-6 [Danger Exists Even in Daylight]
▸ In the dungeon, you must not let your guard down even during the day. Defeat a monster using a stealth skill.
Guide Benefit: Acquire one-time skill ‘Clairvoyance (C)’ (Usage count: 1)
The glittering text trapped within the system made my insides churn.
[SYSTEM] Guide benefit skill ‘Clairvoyance (C)’ will be used automatically.
Thump, thump, thump, thump.
But before I could continue my thoughts, the ground began to shake intermittently. It was clearly a presence I hadn’t felt until just now.
In the eerie feeling that crept over me, the sound ringing in my ears was just like a giant walking through the forest.
[SYSTEM] Clairvoyance skill negates the stealth skill.
[SYSTEM] Protect yourself from the monster.
There was no time to be scared of this enormous sound.
The important thing was to alert Cha Si-hyeon, who didn’t have the Clairvoyance skill, about the monster’s presence.
As I looked around urgently, my gaze searching for the monster suddenly stopped.
“Yoo Yi-joo?”
I could feel Cha Si-hyeon looking at me, sensing something was wrong.
But I didn’t turn to look at him.
My eyes were fixed solely on the monster wielding a giant club.
The creature, resembling a golem, wasn’t looking at me.
It raised its club. The direction it was aiming was frustratingly obvious.
“…What are you looking at? Is there something behind me?”
Cha Si-hyeon.
Yes, the monster was looking at Cha Si-hyeon.
When I came to my senses, I was already reaching out.
[Using unique skill ‘What’s Yours is Mine (-)’]
[Successfully stolen skill ‘Goddess’s Blessing (S)’ from target ‘Baek Doha (S)’!]
[Unique skill ‘Goddess’s Blessing (S)’ activates!]
Thwack!!
As I embraced the warm energy, that huge club struck my body directly.
“—!”
A pain I had never experienced before deeply penetrated my back. I couldn’t continue the breath I had exhaled like vomiting.
I expected it to be incredibly painful, but this was truly on another level.
“You…”
In an instant, my head spun, and my vision blurred.
In that state, looking at the utterly shocked face, I couldn’t help but think.
[SYSTEM] The goddess who favors you has returned 50% of the damage received to the enemy!
[SYSTEM] The monster’s stealth is broken due to receiving a critical hit!
“Yoo Yi-joo—!”
For this time, at least, I’m glad I wasn’t just a burden.
💎
A huge roar. A suddenly appearing monster. The smell of blood seeping into his nostrils.
Cha Si-hyeon grasped at his reason, which kept slipping away from these words.
So, so…
His wavering gaze fell on the small body embracing him.
‘Why?’
All the thoughts in his head wandered aimlessly, and in the end, only questions remained. Cha Si-hyeon removed his hand from Yoo Ijoo’s back.
A red bloodstain dripped onto the ground. The blood slowly seeped into the grass, soaking it.
‘She’s weaker than me, and there’s no benefit to gain from this action.’
Then why did Yoo Yi-joo block the attack for him?
What did she gain from protecting him?
As he raised his head, he saw the monster howling in pain, presumably from Yoo Ijoo’s attack.
Cha Si-hyeon couldn’t understand.
But the one thing he did know was that the monster before his eyes had struck Yoo Ijoo’s back.
With that thought, Cha Si-hyeon drew his sword.
[Using unique skill ‘Final Blade (S)’!]
His black eyes flashed with silver light as if they were blades themselves.
💎
Thank you for reading! ♡
