IF Chapter 35

Chapter 35

 

“What do you want to know?”

He asked as soon as we sat down. He had long since dropped the formal speech.

“I’m curious about how to survive here.”

I didn’t think I needed to be particularly polite either, so I just answered as soon as I sat down. By the way, it was just Shin Shawol and me here. Gi Da-in had agreed to wait outside, so we could talk comfortably.

Shin Shawol blinked as if my question was unexpected and then said,

“How to survive, huh. Since you’ve cleared [The Forgotten Forest], you should be able to survive to some extent. Do you know what this dungeon, [The Abandoned Mansion], is?”

“All I’ve heard is that having a faction makes it easier to survive.”

“You know nothing.”

…It’s not like I wanted to be ignorant. That stung a bit.

“Hmm… Let’s start with factions. As the faction ranking goes up, the area gets bigger. So the higher-ranking factions have more space inside than it looks from the outside.”

I see. I looked around the room. I was surprised at how big it was when I entered the faction area, but I guess it’s because they’re ranked 5th.

“There are three ways to raise your ranking…”

Shin Shawol held up three fingers. He folded his index finger as he spoke.

“First, expand your faction by acquiring more Blue Zone areas.”

Then he folded his middle finger and continued.

“Second, by destroying a faction ranked higher than you.”

If a faction above us disappears, our faction’s ranking goes up too. Adding that, he folded his last finger.

“This is the most difficult and tricky method… Do you know that when you become a faction leader, you engrave a ‘symbol’ on your body?”

I suddenly remembered engraving a symbol on my forehead. When I nodded, he said,

“That’s right. If you destroy the other party’s symbol, their faction becomes yours.”

And in my case, it’s the third method.

Shin Shawol added calmly. The content was quite chilling.

“You let your guard down because I’m not an offensive hunter~”

Shin Shawol said with a chuckle. In a place like this, letting your guard down means instant death or something.

He was more talkative than I expected. With his sharp, upturned eyes and fox-like face, he spoke glibly like Baek Doha, but was even noisier than Cha Si-yeon.

As I listened to him rattle off information I didn’t particularly want to know, Shin Shawol started to share even more useless information.

“Oh, by the way, I didn’t name our faction, okay? I want to change this crappy name, but I’m too lazy to bother~”

No wonder it sounded crappy.

I looked around and asked indifferently,

“If you were to change it, what name would you want?”

“The Lair of the Black Flame Dragon.”

“Are you serious?”

Whether you change it or not, it’s still crappy. No, the Black Flame Dragon whatever is even crappier.

As I looked at him with cold eyes, Shin Shawol, smirking with an annoying smile, asked,

“More importantly, don’t you want to join our faction?”

“Your faction?”

“It’s rare for someone to repel my ability.”

He must be talking about that ‘hacker’ trait, right?

I briefly recalled the system window text that appeared when I repelled his skill, then removed my hand from my chin where it had been resting.

Being scouted by a faction, and a 5th-ranked one at that, is quite a tempting offer. But unfortunately…

“I’m a faction leader.”

“What? What rank?”

“78th.”

“78th…”

He scrolled down the system window for a while and then exclaimed in shock.

“You’re dead last!”

His surprised look was quite ridiculous.

“Is that so surprising?”

“Faction leaders are usually B-rank or higher, what’s your rank?”

“C-rank.”

“What?”

But she repelled my ability…? I heard Shin Shawol’s confused muttering, but I deliberately ignored it. Then soon after, his voice came again.

“Anyway, you can’t join our faction then.”

He made a strange expression for a moment and then smiled.

“In that case, I don’t have any more information to share.”

…Huh?

“You’re not asking how I blocked your skill.”

“You weren’t going to tell me anyway, right?”

Shin Shawol shrugged lightly as if he never intended to share that information in the first place.

“Our faction members made some mistakes, and we’ve shared some small information with each other, so let’s wrap it up here.”

The only information I got was that your 5th-ranked faction name might soon change to ‘The Lair of the Black Flame Dragon.’

I watched quietly as Shin Shawol stood up, then stood up after him.

“Sure, whatever.”

I didn’t expect to get much significant information anyway.

As I was about to take a step, he suddenly grabbed me.

“It’s evening now, so the monsters will start coming out soon, you know?”

Monsters come out from various parts of the stone mansion interior. I know that, but so what?

As I made an expression that seemed to ask that, he eventually smiled at me and said,

“Stay the night. We have plenty of rooms.”

💎

“This is the room the faction leader has provided for you.”

The man who guided us to the room under Shin Shawol’s orders said.

“Wow…”

Gi Da-in exclaimed in awe.

“It’s huge!”

Indeed, it is huge. I agreed and scanned the room once.

It was on a completely different level from our faction area that I had struggled so hard to obtain, making ours look pitiful in comparison.

When we first entered the 5th ranked faction area, I thought it was really big, but I didn’t know there would be rooms this large.

I had heard that the higher a faction’s rank, the larger its area automatically becomes to match, but isn’t this too big?

“If you need anything, please call. Make yourselves comfortable, and I’ll take my leave now.”

As we stood there stunned, looking at the room, the 5th-ranked faction member who had guided us bowed lightly. Thud, the door closed as he withdrew, and Gi Da-in spoke first.

“There are two beds, which one do you want to use?”

I didn’t expect her to ask this, it’s really thoughtful. I looked at both beds and pointed to the larger, more luxurious one.

“You take that bed, Da-in-ssi.”

Gi Da-in nodded.

“This is the first time I’m sleeping in a bed since falling into this dungeon.”

Same for me.

Gi Da-in, seemingly pleased with the spacious room, immediately ran and flopped onto the bed.

I followed her, sitting on the edge of the smaller bed opposite hers.

“We’ll leave as soon as it’s light tomorrow, so let’s sleep quickly.”

Gi Da-in nodded at my words.

I turned off the lights and lay down.

Suddenly, my conversation with Shin Shawol came to mind.

‘He said faction leaders are usually B-rank, didn’t he.’

Come to think of it, there were ranks.

[SYSTEM] Would you like to check the conditions for your next rank promotion?

As if reading my mind, a system window popped up. I often feel this, but it must be reading my thoughts. How else could it know me so well?

‘I’ll check.’

As I answered familiarly, the system displayed again.

[SYSTEM] Rank promotion conditions revealed.

▸Rank promotion condition: Become 1st in this dungeon. (E→D)

“…What?”

My voice came out in surprise, and I heard Gi Da-in stirring. Ah. I quickly covered my mouth and closed the system window.

‘Let’s just sleep for now.’

I might end up waking Gi Da-in at this rate. As she said, it’s been a while since we felt the comfort of a blanket, I can’t wake her up.

I blinked for a moment, staring at the dark ceiling, then turned my head.

Beyond the window, a large moon shone uniquely in the pitch-black sky. The moonlight streaming through the window gap was particularly dazzling.

‘Is it just my imagination?’

I felt like I had seen such a moon once before.

💎

Thud, a single foot quietly echoed in the corridor.

The footsteps that had been moving without hesitation in the darkness reached a room.

The silhouette of a man reached for the doorknob but hesitated. Then he turned and gently stroked the wall beside him.

A yellow symbol glowed on the back of his hand, and a door-shaped light appeared on the wall.

[‘Faction Leader’ authority opens the door!]

The man stepped through the quietly appearing light without a sound.

Whoosh, his body disappeared as if by magic as he entered the room. The only moonlight flowing through the window illuminated the dark room.

The man approached the large bed on the left with quiet but unhesitating steps.

He saw a woman sleeping soundly with her back turned.

‘Easy.’

The man, inwardly smiling lightly, drew a dagger.

Just as he was about to place the blade against the sleeping woman’s back.

“That’s far enough.”

Something cold settled against the side of his neck.

What. Whirl, startled, he turned around to see a figure holding a sword to his neck.

“Who…?”

“That’s not important right now.”

A chilling voice pierced his ear.

“Put down the knife first.”

“…..”

The man slowly removed the dagger from the woman’s neck and placed it on the bed.

“Why don’t you lower your sword too?”

“I can’t do that.”

The firm voice contained a hint of amusement. That distinctive relaxed voice. Could it be…

The man turned around again. The face that had been hidden in darkness gradually revealed itself in the moonlight.

A face so pale it was almost white, expressive eyes, an eerily cool and calm demeanor, with a somewhat out-of-place feeling.

“Shall we have a real talk now?”

Yoo Yi-joo said with a grin.

“Ha.”

Shin Shawol, who had been dumbfounded seeing her smile like that while holding a sword to his neck, let out a hollow laugh.

“I let my guard down.”

It was his defeat.

💎

Thank you for reading! ♡