Chapter 36
The first thing I did when the day broke was not to leave the 5th faction’s area…
“Ask me. I’ll tell you everything you want to know.”
It was to have a conversation with the 5th faction leader, Shin Shawol.
I shrugged my shoulders as I looked at the guy with dark circles under his eyes, probably from staying up all night.
“If there’s anything I’m curious about, it’s about the points? I saw my faction members fighting over points.”
“To think I lost to someone who knows nothing…”
He muttered dejectedly and added.
“Points are nothing special. You get them by killing monsters, or by stealing them from others.”
“So what do you use these hard-earned points for?”
“I don’t know.”
He shrugged lightly.
“I hear there will be a big use for them in the next dungeon… Anyway, everyone’s trying to steal them because they seem good.”
I felt strange. To think they were trying so hard to steal something without even knowing its use.
Remembering Gi Da-in’s puzzled expression, I spoke up.
“I don’t have any more questions now.”
As I leaned back on the now softer sofa, he raised a question mark. His expression asked if this was it. Seeing that expression, I quietly opened my mouth again.
“Just promise me you’ll help when I need it.”
“That’s it?”
“That’s it.”
“No contract or anything?”
“Why bother? If you become a hindrance, I can just kill you then.”
From the start, Shin Shawol isn’t my enemy.
His main ability, hacking, doesn’t work on me, and likewise, three of his four skills are hacking-related abilities which probably won’t work on me either.
‘The remaining one is a recovery ability, which isn’t a threat either.’
The most dangerous situation would be if he mobilized his faction members to attack us.
‘But even that…’
Thinking of the faction members who were all beaten by me, it’s not a big deal.
Surprisingly, Shin Shawol didn’t get upset at my words about him not being a threat, but instead let out a deep sigh. Then he asked.
“How did you know I would come then?”
“How could you not know that?”
Isn’t it more ridiculous to let someone live who blocked your skills?
To Shin Shawol, I am an enemy. He’s the type who analyzes opponents with his hacking ability and sends faction members to fight, but since hacking doesn’t work on me, from his perspective, I’m someone who should be killed quickly.
‘And it was too obvious.’
Suddenly telling me to stay over, giving me noticeably different big and small beds.
He must have thought the faction leader would naturally sleep in the big bed, and that’s probably why Shin Shawol attacked the person in the big bed, even though he couldn’t see in the darkness.
“Hah…”
Shin Shawol sighed as if everything I said was correct.
“I told these bastards to check if someone’s crazy or not before picking a fight…”
Hearing his small mutter, I felt strange. So he just called me crazy?
“Well,”
Just as I was about to open my mouth again,
Knock knock, there was a knocking sound from beyond the door.
Come in. Shin Shawol said belatedly, calming himself.
Then the door opened and a man entered hesitantly, saying,
“Faction leader, someone from the 1st faction is here.”
…1st? As I tilted my head and looked back at Shin Shawol, somehow, his expression was worsening. What’s going on?
“But…”
Meanwhile, the man on the other side also hesitated with a bad expression. What could he be saying to look like that?
Until then, I had been indifferent, but I had no choice but to jump up from my seat at the next words I heard.
“They mistook someone named Gi Da-in for a member of our faction, and are trying to take her away.”
What?
I jumped up from my seat and tried to rush out the door.
“Wait.”
I would have rushed out. If only Shin Shawol hadn’t grabbed me.
“We can talk later.”
As I hurriedly tried to shake off Shin Shawol’s arm, he grabbed my wrist even more firmly.
“Do you know what the 1st faction guys are like?”
Shin Shawol’s expression had hardened even more than before.
I raised my head with an expression demanding an explanation. The answer came from elsewhere.
“…The 1st faction has bad manners.”
It was the faction member who had opened the door and entered earlier.
“What do you mean by bad manners…”
“Every week they visit each faction and take one person away.”
What?
“Among them, the pretty ones go to the faction leader’s bedroom, and the high-ranked ones are killed by the faction leader to raise the faction’s rank.”
Shin Shawol gradually loosened his grip on my wrist and ran his hand through his hair with a sigh.
“It seems your faction member has been caught now, but if you go, you won’t see anything good.”
They’re not the 1st faction for nothing, he added. It meant I couldn’t win by force.
I blinked blankly.
‘So, are they saying Gi Da-in is being dragged to the 1st faction now?’
This is still the 5th faction, after all. There are more A-rank members besides Gi Da-in.
Yet they specifically chose Gi Da-in…
‘Gi Da-in is going to the faction leader’s bedroom.’
As soon as that thought crossed my mind, I rushed out the door.
“Wait—!”
I heard a voice behind me, but I ignored it and kept moving. And then, I grabbed it.
“What are you doing?”
The wrist that was holding Gi Da-in.
“Let go.”
“What? Who are you to speak informally-“
[Using unique skill, ‘What’s Yours is Mine (-)’]
[SYSTEM] Successfully stole the skill ‘Flame Fist (S)’ from target ‘Lim Yuchan (S)’!
“I said, let go.”
[Unique skill ‘Flame Fist (S)’ activates!]
Whoosh! The fire that came from my hand blazed over the man’s wrist.
“Argh! H-Hot! What is this!”
He panicked and shook off his hand.
What else could it be? It’s the skill of the great S-rank.
Ignoring the man who was vigorously shaking his arm to put out the embers, I checked on Gi Da-in.
“Are you okay?”
“Y-Yes…”
I was relieved to see her bewildered gaze only containing confusion.
“You, what are you going to do now?”
Shin Shawol, who had approached without me noticing, spoke with a hardened expression. I quietly closed my lips while looking at his face.
‘What else can I do.’
Turning my back on Gi Da-in, I spoke to the man with the now fierce expression.
“Take me instead.”
“What?”
I heard a surprised voice from behind me. Trying hard to ignore it, I spoke again.
“I’ll go in her place.”
💎
I looked around.
‘This is…’
Enclosed walls, high-ranking hunters, and people from other factions, including myself, being dragged like criminals. We had arrived at the 1st faction’s area.
I stared at the back of the man leading the people at the front. The sight of him carrying a large shield and an axe made me involuntarily flinch.
[Using skill ‘Peek (S)’]
[Name: Du Mansik
Rank: A
Faction: Dawn (Ranking: 1st)
Title: None
Trait: Desperate One (C)
Skills: Sturdy Shield (A), Neutralization (B), Body Slam (C), Self-Protection (D).]
A tank, huh.
No wonder he looks so sturdy. His name fits too.
While observing Du Mansik, who gave off the impression of an idol’s bodyguard, I casually spoke to him.
“The area is quite large, is it because you’re the 1st faction?”
Du Mansik turned around with a slightly bewildered expression. It was a look as if he was seeing a strange person.
‘What’s strange… Oh.’
Was I too nonchalant?
Come to think of it, I had entered this place for not-so-good reasons, so having such a calm face was strange. Moreover, to speak so casually to a member of the 1st faction, the cause of this situation.
He must think I’m quite brazen.
As I belatedly realized and was about to lower my head, I heard a voice.
“Yes… Well, unlike the lower factions, we’re in the ‘Tower’ after all.”
Fortunately, although surprised, Du Mansik didn’t seem to want to question further and answered my comment.
‘Tower?’
That’s the first I’ve heard of this. As I widened my eyes, Du Mansik, seemingly sensing my gaze, scratched his head.
“You didn’t know? From the 4th faction up, the faction areas change to a ‘Tower’ format.”
This place we’re in now is that ‘Tower’, he added. As soon as I heard that, I looked around.
‘Now that you mention it…’
On the way from Shin Shawol’s area to here, I had felt like we were entering a side building of this ‘Castle’ dungeon. It felt exactly like moving to a tower attached to the castle, and it seemed it wasn’t just my imagination.
“You can occupy one of the towers located in the east, west, north, or south. We’re in the north.”
I see. I nodded. Du Mansik, who had been explaining rather kindly, turned right instead of going straight as he had been doing. When I followed him, the first thing I saw was iron bars.
“This is…”
“The faction leader will come in a few days. Until then, you’ll live in here.”
Huh.
‘They’re really treating us like dogs, aren’t they?’
Putting us in iron bars when we’re not even criminals, it’s just like being caged animals.
“There’s a mana suppressor, so it’s best not to use skills.”
However, for now, I could only accept it passively, so I let out a sigh.
As I stepped in, I felt Du Mansik’s gaze behind me disappear.
Finally, the iron gate closed.
‘For now, let’s wait and see.’
It was the moment I was imprisoned in the 1st faction.
💎
Thank you for reading! ♡
