Chapter 16
I opened my eyes.
[SYSTEM] Main Quest-6 [Danger Exists Even in Daylight] completed.
Seeing the system window welcoming me first, I felt relieved.
‘I succeeded.’
To be honest, I thought I was going to die.
From the moment I recklessly jumped in, until just before I closed my eyes, I really thought I was going to die.
I clenched my fist as I recalled Cha Si-hyeon’s unfamiliar face that I saw just before closing my eyes.
‘But this was the only way.’
From having to take on the overall task of dealing with the monster if Cha Si-hyeon got hurt, to avoiding Cha Si-hyeon discovering my ‘What’s Yours is Mine (-)’ skill when I killed the monster.
Maybe because he’s S-rank, he might have been able to handle it without the Clairvoyance skill, but…
‘We can’t know that.’
[SYSTEM] One-time skill ‘Clairvoyance (C)’ has expired.
Cha Si-hyeon might have instinctively felt something, but he didn’t seem to have noticed a definite presence.
Considering that I felt the monster’s presence as soon as I used the Clairvoyance skill, the monster’s ‘Stealth’ skill might have erased even its presence.
‘It’s better to save Cha Si-hyeon than to make the worst choice.’
Above all…
[Failure: Retry Opportunity]
Yes, I jumped in half-believing this failure penalty that I had hastily seen.
The failure penalty wasn’t ‘death’.
That’s why I could move without hesitation.
It’s fortunate that I succeeded on the first try, but…
[SYSTEM] Dungeon Guide activated!
[SYSTEM] ‘Sub Quest-1’ has arrived.
Where is this place anyway?
Actually, until just now, I thought I had opened my eyes at night, but looking around, it was so quiet that I could tell that wasn’t the case.
I looked up at the sky, but I couldn’t see any stars, and it was strangely just pitch black.
‘If it’s not night, then what is it?’
No matter where I looked, it was just dark, with no shapes visible at all.
And if there was anything emitting light in this pitch-black space…
[SYSTEM] Sub Quest-1 [Time for Recovery]
▸ Survive in the status recovery area and fully recover your body. Recovery rate increases as time passes.
▸Time limit: ???
▸Failure: Unable to recover body condition
▸Reward: Full body condition recovery
It was the system.
“Sub quest…”
I frowned as I unconsciously muttered the unfamiliar words.
It’s not night. I could quickly tell that I hadn’t ‘really’ opened my eyes.
‘At least I’m not dead.’
It hurt enough to die, but I clearly didn’t die.
The sub-quest didn’t mention resurrection or anything like that, but ‘recovery’.
“Hah…”
Then where am I, and what has happened?
I messed up my hair for a moment at this unexpected situation.
[SYSTEM] You have accepted ‘Sub Quest-1’!
Anyway, what I had to do here was already decided.
[SYSTEM] Adjusting time limit according to current body condition.
Time remaining until recovery
▸ 26:00:00
…It seems I was in pretty bad shape. But isn’t this too long?
As I was staring at the text in bewilderment, I felt a strange chill behind my back.
My hand, which was falling after pressing accept, stopped involuntarily.
Before I could find the cause of this chill, I belatedly recalled one phrase trapped in the blue window.
‘It clearly said to survive here.’
I wasn’t unfamiliar with the word survive. Then there must be something this time too.
Just as I felt a chill, I felt something on my instep.
“Ah… as expected.”
Of course, there would be something.
I let out a dry laugh and kicked off the tentacle that was just climbing up my foot. Fortunately, it fell off with a light push.
When I stepped hard on it as it fell to the floor, misty energy scattered into the air.
I raised my head after watching the tentacle disappear without a sound.
With my eyes now somewhat accustomed to the darkness, I could see dozens of tentacles squirming towards me.
Staring blankly at them, I let out a sigh.
“I guess there’s no choice…”
Might as well kill them all and recover, right?
💎
“They’re late.”
Baek Doha muttered, looking up at the night sky as the sun was setting.
Lim Yuchan, watching him, casually spoke from beside him.
“They’ll come if we wait.”
However, even he, who would normally be sitting and sleeping, was outside the cave.
The cause was Cha Si-hyeon and Yoo Yi-joo, who hadn’t returned even after Lim Yuchan and Baek Doha had finished their exploration and returned to the cave.
‘They probably went to find food.’
It was easy to guess since there was no other reason for the two to leave the cave.
The problem was how far they had gone.
He couldn’t help but worry.
Even though he knew it was useless with Cha Si-hyeon there.
‘No, it’s not useless.’
On the contrary, isn’t it strange that they’re not back yet even with Cha Si-hyeon there?
“…This won’t do. We should go look for them.”
Just as Baek Doha, unable to bear the strange unease swelling inside him, was about to get up, Lim Yuchan stopped him.
“Wait a moment.”
“I’ll go check quickly.”
“No, that’s not it.”
Lim Yuchan frowned.
Baek Doha turned his head in the direction Lim Yuchan was looking and couldn’t help but stop in his tracks.
“Baek Doha…!”
Of course.
“Cha Si-hyeon?”
The person they had been waiting for was running towards them in tatters.
Before Baek Doha or Lim Yuchan could say anything, Cha Si-hyeon shouted urgently.
“Quickly, use your skill!”
“You…”
“Please. Please, I’m begging you.”
Baek Doha’s gaze fell on the limp woman in Cha Si-hyeon’s arms.
He blinked vacantly, wondering if he had seen wrong, but reality didn’t change.
Not only Baek Doha, but Lim Yuchan’s gaze also wavered.
Why…
“Please, save her.”
Just a few hours ago, her face had been fine. She was the person who had waved goodbye naturally.
‘How can a person become such a mess in an instant?’
Baek Doha felt a chill down his spine at the motionless Yoo Yi-joo.
Even Cha Si-hyeon, who had grumbled about discrimination against him, was now covered in what might be monster blood or something else, pleading desperately.
“…..”
“Your healing skill, please use it. I’ll give you all my mana, just use that to save her.”
Undoubtedly, this was something the Cha Si-hyeon that Baek Doha knew would never say.
From the beginning, Cha Si-hyeon never needed his help.
More precisely, he would have said that someone not better than him interfering unnecessarily was rather a hindrance.
Sometimes it was annoying, but his confidence was backed up to the point where it had to be accepted.
The word ‘please’ didn’t suit him at all…
“Baek Doha, quickly—”
“It’s not enough.”
Baek Doha slowly raised his head to face Cha Si-hyeon.
His disheveled face, slightly trembling pupils, and that confident demeanor now covered in anxiety.
In fact, none of it suited him.
“What?”
“The injury is too severe for my skill to heal.”
Cha Si-hyeon had come to Baek Doha, who had a healing skill, as a last resort, but he had overlooked one thing.
[Using skill ‘Recovery (E)’]
[SYSTEM] Warning! The condition has exceeded the limit for using this skill!
The fact that Baek Doha’s skill couldn’t heal everything.
It was natural. He wasn’t a healing-type hunter either.
He was lucky to have obtained a healing skill, but as evident from the skill rank, it could only be used for very minor injuries.
“At the very least, a healing-type hunter would be needed…”
Baek Doha, who was about to say it was possible, closed his mouth.
“Then…”
Looking at the uncharacteristically flustered Cha Si-hyeon, Baek Doha momentarily wondered.
The Cha Si-hyeon he knew would protect the weak, but wouldn’t cling to the injured. He thought that wasn’t his duty.
Then why was Yoo Yi-joo different?
‘Either Cha Si-hyeon’s values changed in that short time…’
Or Cha Si-hyeon had some ‘responsibility’ for Yoo Yi-joo, who ended up like this.
“…”
No way, right?
Baek Doha was at a loss for words. There’s no way that could be…
“Baek Doha, speak.”
“…”
“Can’t you save her?”
Lim Yuchan asked, as if throwing cold water on Baek Doha’s dazed mind.
Suddenly, a scene flashed in his mind. Yoo Yi-joo’s face looked particularly pale in the flickering red light. What expression did she have then, and what did she say?
“It’s okay.”
“Because I would have done the same.”
And he realized. Ah, this is…
“There is.”
This is a question with a predetermined answer.
“I can save her.”
[SYSTEM] ‘Healing Potion (S)’ has been taken out of the inventory.
💎
While the three S-rank individuals were on edge, there was another person who was also anxious…
“Ah, when will this end!”
Yoo Yi-joo, who shouted at the empty air, exhaled heavily.
The reason for her outburst was,
“Is it even possible to not give a moment’s rest…?”
The monsters kept coming without giving her even a single moment to rest.
It had been a while since she started the sub-quest, but the monsters showed no sign of disappearing.
“Did they install a monster generator somewhere?”
Yoo Yi-joo, who was grumbling while thinking it was quite likely, suddenly paused.
‘Wait, do I really need to defeat them all?’
A lightbulb went off in her head.
The quest said to survive, not to kill. In that case…
[Skill ‘Boundary Line (C)’ is being activated.]
Yoo Yi-joo stretched out her hand.
[Time remaining]
▸ 12:05:23
And so, the beginning of an incredible loophole was at hand.
💎
Thank you for reading! ♡
