Chapter 39
Is it a dream?
I blinked my eyes blankly. As if to tell me it wasn’t a dream, he opened his mouth.
“Come here.”
It’s been a while since I heard that voice.
“Quickly.”
Somehow he seems a bit annoyed…?
I stared blankly at Cha Si-hyeon before coming to my senses belatedly.
‘First, I need to go to Cha Si-hyeon.’
Just as I was about to move towards him, the man suddenly grabbed my wrist and pulled me.
“Where do you think you’re going!”
A sharp voice pierced my ears. I lost my balance for a moment, but something firmly grabbed my waist.
“Don’t touch her.”
Cha Si-hyeon, who had approached without notice, firmly gripped Seo Hoyoon’s wrist with terrifying eyes.
“Aack!”
At the same time, Seo Hoyoon’s scream filled the room.
Ignoring his cry, Cha Si-hyeon’s grip on his wrist tightened, causing the guy to struggle to pull his hand away.
“It hurts! It hurts!”
Seo Hoyoon’s hand was turning white due to a lack of blood flow and the way it was being held tightly. As I blankly watched the veins popping out on Cha Si-hyeon’s hand, a voice came from behind me.
“How long have I been looking for you, only to find you in a place like this with that half-baked guy?”
“No, that’s not what I meant to…”
“What. Keep making excuses.”
It’s a bit unfair, but I had nothing to say, so I just scratched my head.
“What about the others?”
As I tried to change the subject, he let out a scoff.
“I came all this way to rescue you, and you’re asking about the others?”
As I avoided his gaze, Cha Si-hyeon ran a hand through his hair and let out a long sigh. Then he said,
“I don’t know. They seem to have scattered. Anyway, I came to see you—”
Bang!
That’s when it happened.
“Where!”
An unpleasant touch grabbed my arm, and whoosh!
My body fell backward. The unfamiliar dress I was wearing was so uncomfortable that I couldn’t move.
Cha Si-hyeon’s eyes widened as he reached out to me, but he was a beat too late.
‘Ah.’
By the time I barely regained my balance…
‘I made a mistake.’
I was already in Seo Hoyoon’s hands.
💎
Tap tap tap!
The sound of two pairs of footsteps echoed through the corridor.
Gi Da-in, who had been running urgently as if she couldn’t waste a moment, looked up.
A tower several times larger than the 5th faction’s space filled her view.
“Is the 1st faction leader really here?”
“That’s what I said.”
Gi Da-in, who had lowered her stiff neck, muttered to herself even as she continued running.
“It’s so big, yet there was no one stopping us on the way here…”
“It’s true. According to the information I just hacked, this is the back door—no, do we have time to argue about this?”
Shin Shawol finally frowned, seemingly displeased by the lack of trust in his abilities.
Then he let out a deep sigh.
“We need to go rescue that C-rank Yoo Yi-joo or whatever.”
At those words, Gi Da-in shut her mouth.
Right, the important thing was to somehow reach the 1st faction and rescue Yoo Yi-joo.
From the start, Gi Da-in, who neither knew much information nor had hacking abilities, could only trust Shin Shawol at this moment.
Knowing this, Shin Shawol inwardly clicked his tongue at Gi Da-in, who couldn’t question him and just ran anxiously.
‘Why am I doing this?’
He was the one who was surprised when three faction members suddenly came back beaten up by a C-rank after causing trouble.
‘Well, I’m not without responsibility…’
If pressed, it was his fault for failing to manage the faction members and for letting someone from another faction be taken instead of his own people.
Still, he thought he had done his part by revealing the location. It was then that:
“Wait, stop.”
Noticing a figure that caught his eye, Shin Shawol reached out to stop Gi Da-in, who had been running mindlessly.
“Why?”
“There’s someone there, we might get caught.”
“Someone?”
Gi Da-in turned her head. At the same time.
“Hey, who are you?”
“We’re caught.”
They were discovered.
“In-intruders!”
As one quick-witted guard shouted, footsteps began to sound from all directions.
“We’re doomed.”
“Ah…”
As Gi Da-in’s face showed a look of despair, the blade of a sword flashed above her.
“Watch out!”
Just as Shin Shawol reached out his hand, Gi Da-in extended her hand towards the sword first.
[Using skill, ‘Lasso (B)’!]
Whoosh! A sturdy vine extended from her fingertips, wrapping tightly around the sword and the attacker’s wrist.
“Don’t worry about me!”
Having confirmed Gi Da-in was safe, Shin Shawol immediately kicked the 1st faction members rushing in from the other side.
“Ugh!”
With a thud, the man lost his balance and fell. Shin Sa-wol turned his head back and said,
“Go ahead! I’ll handle this, go to your faction leader, quickly!”
Gi Da-in, who had been blocking attacks from other faction members, immediately used her skill upon hearing those words.
[Using skill, ‘Swing (B)’!]
The vine that sprouted from her fingertips struck down the enemy’s body.
“Argh!!”
The sword the enemy was holding was thrown to the ground, and Gi Da-in took that chance to start running up the stairs.
The 1st faction’s area, which looked high even at a glance, was much higher than expected.
“Found her! She’s here!”
Another faction member stood in Gi Da-in’s way as she climbed the stairs with all her might.
‘How many faction members are there…!’
She didn’t want to realize in this way that there was a reason the 1st faction was number one.
Her skill was very powerful in ability, but it had limitations. The mana consumption of the skill itself was enormous. In other words,
‘I’m out of mana now.’
It meant it was impossible for her to defeat these enemies alone right now. Just as Gi Da-in was about to retreat and avoid the enemy.
“Where do you think you’re going!”
“…!”
Bang! Mana fired from the enemy’s fingertips using a skill sent Gi Da-in flying.
Gi Da-in’s body crashed down the stairs with a loud noise.
“Take her sword first.”
The enemy who had sent Gi Da-in flying spoke to the other men who had just arrived for support.
‘No!’
Gi Da-in checked the sword she was holding and struggled to get up.
Not this sword. This sword, of all things.
This wasn’t just anyone’s sword…
“One moment.”
That’s when it happened.
Before she could finish her thought, an unfamiliar man’s voice came from the side. Just as she was about to turn her head to see who it was.
[Using skill, ‘Fierce Strike (B)’.]
[A paralyzing effect is added to the arrowhead!]
Whoosh!
The afterimage of an arrow passed by in front of her eyes as fast as light.
“Aaaaargh!”
When her gaze, unable to follow the arrow, turned belatedly to where the sound came from, she could see an enemy screaming with an arrow stuck in one shoulder.
The man who approached Gi Da-in, who was blankly watching this, reached out his hand. After considering the straight, white hand that was hard to believe was a man’s, Gi Da-in finally took it, and he helped her up gently.
“I’ll handle this.”
Then he said that. Gi Da-in, still unable to grasp the situation, finally asked.
“Wh-who…”
“Ah, right.”
The man flinched as if he had just realized. Then he continued.
“I didn’t introduce myself. So, I’m Yoo Yi-joo’s…”
A familiar name. As he was about to say that name, he hesitated for a moment, then finally said with a bright smile after some consideration.
“Let’s say, colleague.”
Colleague?
When did Yi-joo make another colleague?
As various questions arose in Gi Da-in’s mind, the man said,
“But that’s not what’s important right now.”
He nodded his head.
“That sword, looks like its owner might need it.”
Ah.
Gi Da-in, belatedly grasping the situation, climbed the stairs. The man drew his bowstring every time the enemies tried to reach for Gi Da-in, watching until she stepped on the last stair before turning his head.
“I thought I’d finally see her face.”
He muttered as he drew his bowstring again towards the oncoming enemies.
“I was a step late.”
His voice didn’t reach Gi Da-in.
Ding!
[Message sent to Faction Leader ‘Yoo Yi-joo’!]
Because another sound filled her ears more quickly.
💎
When Cha Si-hyeon opened his eyes, the first thing he saw was neither Baek Doha, Lim Yuchan, nor even Yoo Yi-joo…
[SYSTEM] Congratulations. You have entered a new dungeon!
It was this kind of sentence.
It didn’t take long to figure out what had happened.
It was simple. He had fallen into another damn dungeon.
Along with a system notification, it was as if he had cleared one stage, entered another dungeon, or something like that, but there was no need to think about it in detail.
Anyway, the important thing was that he had failed to get out, this was another dungeon, and now Yoo Yi-joo and the others were not beside him.
So, what to do now.
Cha Si-hyeon had to think for a long time about what to do next.
There was only one reason.
Yoo Yi-joo.
Because Yoo Yi-joo had been stepped on.
Yes, he was worried about Yoo Yi-joo, who must have fallen alone like him. From what he had seen of Yoo Yi-joo so far, she wouldn’t die easily, but still, she was a weak C-rank. Who knows what kind of hardships she might face here.
People are damn scary when it comes to affection.
So finally, Cha Si-hyeon reached out to the white furball in front of him, deciding to search for Yoo Yi-joo.
Let’s find her first and think about what to do next.
So he went to search.
As soon as he heard the news that she had been taken by the 1st faction leader, he ran frantically. He had come to find her, so she couldn’t be gone. He had run like hell to get there before she disappeared.
Cha Si-hyeon looked up and recalled up to that point.
Yoo Yi-joo was captured by the guy who was the 1st faction leader. And she was wearing clothes he had never seen before, giving off an unfamiliar scent.
As he took a step forward, the guy hurriedly retreated and pressed a knife close to Yoo Yi-joo’s neck.
“Don’t, don’t come closer. I’ll stab her the moment you take another step.”
Ha. Cha Si-hyeon let out a scoff and glanced at Yoo Yi-joo’s neck. The single knife pressed tightly against her neck couldn’t be that troublesome. Damn it. Cha Si-hyeon muttered softly and took a step back again.
“Who told you to underestimate me?”
He could hear laughter from behind him, as if they had already won.
‘Underestimate, huh…’
Cha Si-hyeon had survived with Yoo Yi-joo for about a month. He had fought with her, gathered food with her, lived with her.
So he could tell.
“You made a mistake.”
“What?”
Even if he might have underestimated her, Yoo Yi-joo hadn’t.
[Using skill, ‘Trick of Trick (B)’.]
A smile spread across Cha Si-hyeon’s face.
“You took the wrong hostage.”
[Moving within a 30 meter radius!]
The airflow shook, and Yoo Yi-joo disappeared in an instant.
“What the?!”
She really disappeared in a moment.
While Seo Hoyoon was confused, a new voice was heard.
“Yi-joo! Over here!”
[SYSTEM] You have regained the item [‘White Moon Sword(SSS)]!
Yoo Yi-joo, who had moved within 30M in an instant, received the sword from Gi Da-in.
And exactly 15 seconds.
[Moving back to original position!]
The moment she returned to Seo Hoyoon.
“Wh-what!”
She placed the sword against his confused shoulder.
As if sensing her next move, Seo Hoyoon’s eyes widened, and Yoo Yi-joo smiled.
“Too late.”
At first, when she received the power of the faction leader, the system told her to engrave a symbol meaning faction leader.
‘If the symbol is destroyed, you lose the faction leader authority.’
Slash!
The symbol on his shoulder was vertically cut, and blood splattered.
“Ugh, uwaaaaah!!”
Seo Hoyoon screamed.
Through his hands clutching his shoulder, the symbol gradually losing its light could be seen.
[Symbol destroyed!]
[Faction leader authority is transferred.]
[Faction name changed to ‘White Moon’!]
[Faction ‘White Moon’ rises to 1st place in rankings!]
When she confirmed the last sentence, a smile finally appeared on Yoo Yi-joo’s face.
‘Situation resolved.’
💎
Thank you for reading! ♡
