IF Chapter 50

Chapter 50

 

“A young girl is throwing a tantrum, asking us to open the faction door. But we’re not sure if we should just let her in…”

It wasn’t a monster appearing, nor another faction leader picking a fight, just some girl asking to open the faction door.

“She’s just throwing a tantrum without doing anything else?”

When I asked, Gi Da-in nodded.

“Yes. She’s just… asking to be let in without any reason.”

‘What’s this about?’

It seems too blatant to be a spy sent from another faction…

“Just once, please!”

That’s when I heard it. An unfamiliar girl’s voice from up ahead.

I raised my head from my thoughts and looked forward, seeing Lee Cheong-sin’s back as he fidgeted nervously in front of the door.

“What are you doing there?”

“Oh, Noona!”

Lee Cheong-sin’s face brightened as soon as he heard my voice and turned around.

“Du Mansik Hyung asked me to guard here just in case.”

So he calls Du Mansik ‘Hyung’ too.

I heard that Du Mansik holds the position of management director in the Hunter Association.

That’s why the S-class hunters were already acquainted with Du Mansik, and Lee Cheong-sin, famous as the unfilial son who knocked out his father… was recognized by everyone except Gi Da-in.

Even so, I marveled at Lee Cheong-sin’s friendliness, noting his already changed way of addressing people, as I grabbed the door handle. Lee Cheong-sin blocked me.

“Um, are you going to go right away? Isn’t it dangerous?”

“It’s fine. There’s no one else to go anyway.”

Cha Si-hyeon went to train with Mungchi, saying he felt stiff just sitting around, and Baek Doha went to look around the dungeon. …Come to think of it, what’s Lim Yu-chan doing?

Suddenly remembering his existence, I turned to Lee Cheong-sin.

“What about Lim Yu-chan?”

“He’s sleeping.”

Ah, right. That guy was always sleepy.

I remembered Lim Yu-chan sleeping through Baek Doha and Cha Si-hyeon’s fight in the first dungeon.

‘Well, I guess I have to go then.’

I had no intention of forcibly waking someone who was finally resting.

As I brushed past Lee Cheong-sin and opened the entrance door.

“Just once, please! Let me see the 1st ranked faction leader just once!”

I heard the cry. After seeing Du Mansik’s troubled back, I strode forward.

“You called for me, right?”

“Faction Leader!”

Du Mansik showed a rare expression of relief.

“Go in first. I’ll handle this.”

“What? Alone is a bit—”

“I’ll be with Da-in, so don’t worry. You look uncomfortable right now.”

Du Mansik hesitated at my words. If it were the usual Du Mansik, he would have likely sent her away firmly, but if he’s wavering like this, there can only be one reason.

“You’re thinking of your little sister, right?”

“Well…”

“It’s okay. I won’t harm this child, so go ahead.”

Though he seemed to believe my words, he hesitated for a moment before entering the faction. If someone looks like they might be persuaded, no matter how firmly I act, it won’t be effective.

“So why were you looking for me?”

I asked the girl kneeling down. She looked a bit surprised, as if she hadn’t expected me to come out. Judging by her young face, is she a high school student?

“Well…”

The girl, who had been moving her lips, soon looked up with a face that seemed about to cry.

“Could you please accept me into your faction?”

Watching this, I activated my skill.

[Skill, ‘Peek (S)’ is used!]

[Name: Jin So-yul

Rank: C

Faction: None

Title: Deactivated

Traits: None

Skills: Penetrating Gaze (C), Big Slash (D)]

And I discovered something strange.

‘…Deactivated?’

The title is ‘Deactivated’, not ‘None’. Only 2 skills. Traits are better than expected. Given the situation and her lack of faction, there’s a high chance she was either expelled or lost her faction due to the previous round.

After quickly making my assessment, I reached out to the kneeling girl.

“Stand up.”

The girl stared blankly at my hand.

“Let’s go inside first.”

💎

Clink.

Two teacups made a sound as they settled on the table.

Taking a sip of tea, I looked at the girl sitting across from me.

“How old are you?”

“I’m 17. My name is Jin So-yul.”

As I thought, a high school student. Noticing So-yul’s slightly wary expression, I put down my teacup and said,

“Don’t worry, it’s not poisoned. If you’re uncomfortable, you don’t have to drink it.”

So-yul was quiet for a moment, then slowly nodded. Right, in this dungeon full of enemies, it’s good to refuse tea from a stranger. Not minding her wariness, I spoke again.

“So, why do you want to come here?”

“I’m too weak. No one will accept me.”

“What about your original faction?”

“It’s gone.”

As I thought, it seemed her faction had been eliminated in the ‘Protect the Faction from External Intruders – Stage 1’. So-yul seemed to have barely survived.

“You’re strong, so I thought you might be able to accept someone like me…”

As I quietly watched So-yul mumbling, she suddenly stood up, perhaps feeling anxious. She bowed deeply at a 90-degree angle and held out something.

“Please accept me! This is all I have, but…”

“A sword?”

What she held out was a single sword.

“It might not look like much, but I think it’s a high-level sword. I’ll give you this sword, so please, won’t you accept me?”

As I was looking at the sword held in her small hands, there was a knock.

“Faction Leader.”

It was Du Mansik’s voice.

“Come in.”

The door opened, and Du Mansik looked at So-yul, who had awkwardly raised her head, and then at me. Seeing his more serious expression than expected, I tilted my head, and he quietly spoke.

“Rumors have spread that you let this child in, Faction Leader.”

Huh?

“And?”

That can’t be all.

Du Mansik wouldn’t make that face just because of a rumor that I brought So-yul into the faction. Du Mansik glanced at So-yul and made a troubled expression.

“It’s okay. Just say it.”

“Well…”

After hesitating for a moment, he continued.

“People are trying to force their way in, asking to join our faction too.”

…I thought I heard a commotion outside. Realizing it wasn’t just my imagination, I stood up.

The three of us—Du Mansik, So-yul, and I—headed back to the faction entrance.

And there…

“I go train for a bit, and you’ve already caused trouble, Yoo Yi-joo?”

“Thanks to you, Yi-joo-ssi, we never get a break, haha.”

Cha Si-hyeon and Baek Doha were looking at me as I rushed over, with a crowd of people behind them.

As I laughed helplessly, Mungchi, who had gone training with Cha Si-hyeon, licked my hand as if to comfort me.

‘Yeah, right. This is just my life, isn’t it?’

💎

“So what are they saying now?”

Cha Si-hyeon, who had been watching Yoo Yi-joo talking with the crowd of people while leaning against the wall, asked Baek Doha.

Baek Doha, who had returned a little later than Cha Si-hyeon from patrolling and gathering dungeon information, shrugged.

“Well, it looks like….”

“Please, I beg you! I’ll lie down and beg as many times as it takes! Please, just let me join!”

“No one else will accept us! I barely managed to establish a faction, how can I handle the next stage alone? I’ll die.”

“You have few faction members here, so please, I beg you. Please accept me.”

After hearing the cries coming from all directions, Baek Doha leaned against the wall alongside Cha Si-hyeon.

“It looks like they wanted to join our faction but gave up knowing it was full of high-ranked members. Now they’re causing a fuss after hearing rumors that we let that girl in.”

After the first stage, many people lost their factions. Joining a faction was essential for the dungeon guide, so while they created factions in blue zones, many became single-member factions without any other members.

This meant many people would have to fight the next stage alone.

Cha Si-hyeon made a sickened expression at Baek Doha’s neat summary. Yoo Yi-joo, looking equally tired, calmly spoke.

“I’ll say it again, we have no intention of accepting you. It would be better if you looked for other factions—”

“Ah! Why won’t you accept us?!”

And at that moment, someone shouted angrily. Baek Doha peeled himself off the wall, and Cha Si-hyeon furrowed his brow.

“That’s right! You accept someone like her, but tell us to just make our own factions and live alone?”

It was easy for the first shout to lead to a second.

“I’m much better than that brat!”

“I’ll beg! I said I’ll beg! Please accept me too!”

“Come out here! Hey, what’s wrong with me that you won’t accept me? I lost my faction in an instant because of you after being in the 1st rank faction!”

What kind of logic is that?

Cha Si-hyeon let out a hollow laugh. Are they just getting angry now because they know it won’t work due to the firm stance?

Yoo Yi-joo, furrowing her brow while listening to everyone’s outbursts, said,

“Then let’s do this.”

“Hey, what are you trying to—”

“Wait.”

Baek Doha stopped Cha Si-hyeon, who was about to intervene to stop Yoo Yi-joo.

“Let’s see what happens first.”

Huh. Cha Si-hyeon let out a scoff as if asking if he was serious. But Baek Doha’s expression was firm. Right now, he trusts Yoo Yi-joo.

“Let’s make a bet.”

“What?”

At this unexpected statement, the expressions of those who had been shouting became blank. Yoo Yi-joo watched them quietly for a moment, then raised her head confidently.

“I’ll only accept those who achieve a higher ranking than me, a C-rank, in the second stage.”

Judging by their attitudes and faces, about 80% of the people here were from the 1st rank faction.

‘People who lost their factions because of me.’

This meant they were people with decent ranks, enough to be in the 1st ranked faction.

Yoo Yi-joo raised the corners of her mouth as she addressed the people staring at her blankly and asked again.

“What do you think? Will you take the challenge?”

In other words, you think you can beat someone like me, right?

[DUNGEON GUIDE] ‘Protecting the Faction from External Intruders – Stage 2’ begins!

💎

Thank you for reading! ♡