Chapter 2
Suddenly, they dropped into a dungeon, and they threw “finding a companion” at me as the first mission.
“Why do I have to…!”
I was beyond dumbfounded, almost to the point of feeling dejected.
So, from the right, it was Cha Si-hyeon, Baek Doha, and Lim Yuchan.
They were approaching me.
…Approaching?
I reflexively stepped back and turned around.
“Hey.”
“Yes! …Yes?”
“If you run away from there, I’ll kill you.”
This son of a…
I stopped right where I was.
‘Is this really crazy?’
A quest asking me to become companions with someone who threatens to kill me at first sight was beyond harsh, it was cruel.
However…
[▸Failure: Death]
The penalty for failure was even more terrifying.
‘I can do it, I can.’
Cha Si-hyeon, who had grabbed my nape and turned me around, asked. His face seen up close was even more handsome, and scarier.
“Who are you? A human?”
What else would I be if not human?
“It is human?”
I turned my head to the voice beside me, and there was the blonde, Baek Doha, standing there.
“Your name?”
“…Yoo Yi-joo.”
I diligently answered Baek Doha who was asking my name cautiously.
Aha.
He let out a short, artificial response and smiled slightly. That smile again. That brutal yet pretty smile. He started looking at me with a strange gaze.
As if trying to gauge whether this person was the cause of the situation or not.
“Let me tell you in advance, I don’t know anything.”
“……”
“When I opened my eyes, I found myself dropped in a place like this.”
I was just standing still, even when you guys were fighting.
I showed both hands to the guys who were still wary.
I have nothing.
Don’t look at me suspiciously.
“Is that so? Well then.”
Baek Doha smiled brightly.
I didn’t know a smiling face could be this unsettling.
“Hey, ease up on the suspicion. We all know you’re just like us.”
It’s Cha Si-hyeon.
He pushed Baek Doha away like swatting a fly and looked at me.
Hmm, he might be unexpectedly kind.
“Even though you look frail, huh?”
I take it back.
He wasn’t being kind, he was belittling me.
“So what’s your rank?”
“Rank?”
“Yeah. It seems we won’t find a way out of here right away, so we should at least know each other’s ranks.”
As he said this, Cha Si-hyeon gestured towards the empty space a little distance away.
It was where what seemed to be the gate entrance had been, but now it had disappeared without a trace.
But I don’t even know my own rank…
‘I think it was shown briefly when I viewed my profile earlier.’
I only glanced at it, so there’s no way I remember.
Given the atmosphere, it seemed I shouldn’t say I don’t know, so I just moved my lips without speaking.
[SYSTEM] Do you want to view your profile? (Y/N)
A window appeared in front of my eyes with perfect timing.
Without time to hesitate, I immediately selected ‘Y’.
[Viewing your profile.]
Then, an information window popped up in front of my eyes.
As I read the text, my eyes moved downward.
Rank, rank, ran-.
“Oh, shi-…”
“What?”
“…It says C-rank.”
Cha Si-hyeon paused for a moment at my answer, then made an expression of surprise.
“Seems you’re not that weak after all.”
“Haha…”
“You probably know without us saying, but we’re S-rank.”
How would I know if you don’t say it.
Of course, I saw it through the skill called ‘Peek’, but still.
“C-rank isn’t bad.”
Baek Doha chimed in.
Startled by his sudden appearance, I instinctively hid behind Cha Si-hyeon’s back.
Baek Doha’s voice was heard over Cha Si-hyeon.
“I don’t intend to harm you. Sorry about earlier.”
“……”
“Really.”
It felt uneasy, but I nodded.
I can’t make him an enemy.
‘S-rank…’
Judging by their natural attitude, it seemed I was the only one unfamiliar with these ranks and skills.
In the current situation, there are two things I can guess.
Either these things originally existed and I lost my memory for some reason, or these people are…
‘From a different world than mine.’
Whatever the case, the men in front of me are the most dangerous yet necessary existence to me right now.
‘If they find out I lied, it’s over.’
Clenching my sweaty hands, I raised my head with difficulty.
The system that had been floating in the air all this time greeted me.
[Name: Yoo Yi-joo
Title: None
Rank: F
Trait: Relentless Growth (-)
Skills: What’s Yours is Mine (-), Peek (S)]
Neither S nor C, but rank F.
‘This is driving me crazy…’
That’s right.
I was an F-rank, weak beyond compare.
💎
F-rank.
No matter how I looked at it, the rank written on the system window was F.
Nevertheless, the reason I could confidently say I was C-rank was…
▸Trait: Relentless Growth (-)
Fulfill the conditions to raise your rank. There’s no limit to growth.
It was because of the trait I had discovered at the last moment.
‘It means I can raise my rank.’
It would have been better if they had just given me S-rank right away, but…
First, I calmly checked the conditions for rank advancement.
[SYSTEM] Checking rank advancement conditions.
▸Rank advancement condition: Defeat 100 monsters (F→E)
‘…Can I do it?’
With dungeons and skills already being bewildering, suddenly being told to kill 100 monsters.
I, who had only killed mosquitoes in my life, made a disgusted expression.
At this rate, it would be difficult to even reach E-rank, let alone C-rank.
Wouldn’t it be faster to kill the system?
As I was fuming internally, I heard a disgruntled voice.
“How long are we going to stay like this?”
It was Cha Si-hyeon.
‘Ah.’
Startled, I finally came out from behind Cha Si-hyeon where I had been hiding.
Seeing this, Cha Si-hyeon silently sighed and turned his head towards Baek Doha.
“Let’s wake up the boss first, and then look for anything useful.”
“Alright.”
I was about to follow Cha Si-hyeon, scratching my cheek.
No, more precisely, I was about to.
“…Huh?”
If there hadn’t been a hand grabbing my arm.
Wondering what it was, I turned around and met eyes with Baek Doha.
I found myself unwittingly captivated by his sparkling green eyes.
It didn’t seem like he was wearing contacts.
“You.”
He said coldly, as if throwing the words.
“Don’t do anything stupid.”
“…Pardon?”
“That guy thinks weak ones aren’t dangerous, but I don’t.”
A quiet but sharp voice that pierced through.
My open mouth naturally closed.
Ah, this is…
“Weak ones can be more troublesome, not less.”
He’s warning me.
“I don’t think we fell here with you for no reason. Additionally, we have no obligation to take along someone suspicious.”
“……”
“Don’t you agree?”
His smiling face and gently curved eyes were a bit chilling.
‘Damn it.’
If you’re going to drop me in a place like a dungeon, couldn’t you give me easier companions?
Baek Doha, who had been quietly observing me without a response, eventually started walking again.
‘If I let him go like this…’
I reached out and grabbed Baek Doha.
“Me too.”
Later won’t do.
The only chance to lessen suspicion even a little is now.
“What?”
“I also don’t think I fell here for no reason.”
At those words, Baek Doha’s fine brows furrowed.
“You said you have no obligation to take along someone suspicious, right?”
I quietly swallowed my dry saliva.
They have no reason to take me along.
I’d be more of a burden.
But let’s think in reverse.
Baek Doha suspects that I might be the culprit or an accomplice who dropped them in this dungeon.
In this situation… is it okay to let go of someone suspicious?
“If I’m suspicious, then keep an eye on me. I don’t mind.”
If I’m really suspicious, wouldn’t it be more unsettling to just let me go?
Of course, I know this could also increase Baek Doha’s suspicion.
But if, even a little bit, this could lessen his suspicion…
“During that time, please help me survive here for just one month.”
If I could just accompany them with surveillance as the purpose.
The three of them seemed to know each other, but I didn’t.
Therefore, suspicion would naturally be directed at me.
‘But there’s not enough evidence.’
This situation is rather fortunate for me.
“Even if I’m really suspicious, wouldn’t this be better than killing me right away? I might know the exit or be helpful in finding it.”
Of course, they might kill me later if they find out I have nothing to do with the dungeon and am useless, but…
I had to avoid the immediate death in front of me.
Baek Doha quietly observed me as I nervously watched his reaction.
“I don’t plan on staying here for a month.”
His lips parted slowly.
“We haven’t found a way out immediately, but we are three S-ranks after all.”
“I know. But, you never know…”
It seemed like the quest to survive in the dungeon had only appeared for me.
“I’ll try not to be a burden. Just one month…”
If I could at least raise my rank to C, no, even D, before being abandoned, I might be able to survive on my own.
“Please let me accompany you.”
“……”
Our gazes met.
My anxious look was reflected in his strangely cold green eyes.
It seemed like a refusal was about to come any moment.
“One month. No more than that.”
Before I could even ask if he was serious, a status window popped up as if to confirm.
[SYSTEM] Main Quest-1 [Finding Companions] completed.
[SYSTEM] Reward is being given.
▸Skill, ‘Extraordinary Brain (E)’ acquired.
In a harsh dungeon, sometimes cold judgment is necessary. (Judgment +50%)
“Yes. I will. One month is enough.”
I smiled brightly, afraid he might change his mind. It’s truly enough.
After all, my goal is independent survival.
💎
Thank you for reading! ♡
