Chapter 51
“Are you serious?”
As soon as we entered the faction space after the declaration of war, Cha Si-hyeon asked. I continued moving forward without stopping and answered his question.
“Of course I’m serious. Why, do you have a problem with that?”
“You’re weak.”
This. As I looked at him with annoyance, he seemed to realize his mistake and scratched his head before speaking again.
“I mean, what are you going to do if you get a low rank and all the people above you end up coming in here?”
I see what he’s worried about.
“You probably only wanted that kid.”
“Not really.”
“Anyway. Even if you got a high rank, what if that kid received a lower rank than you?”
“Don’t worry. I’m confident, that’s why.”
Although I fully understood what he was worried about, there wasn’t enough time to explain in detail. Just saying I was confident made Cha Si-hyeon bite his lip. I should change the subject.
“Besides, aren’t you going to do this round? As you said, even if it’s just you above me, it’ll reduce the number of people entering the faction by one.”
Baek Doha left, so why are you following me around? As I looked at him as if asking that, he sighed.
“I don’t know.”
At his sudden remark, I tilted my head.
“What do you mean?”
“I’m not happy about that girl joining, and if the rest of the people also come here, I can’t guarantee what I’ll do.”
“You…”
Before I could continue, Cha Si-hyeon suddenly grabbed my right wrist. Then, gently stroking it, he looked at me.
“Please, stop making me worry.”
Unlike his unwavering eyes, his voice was filled with anxiety, and for some reason…
‘I feel suffocated…’
Ever since I injured my hand, Cha Si-hyeon kept worrying. Even though Baek Doha had treated it, he kept looking at my wrist, or handling it as if it were made of fragile glass.
I opened and closed my mouth repeatedly before shutting it again. Cha Si-hyeon looked at me like that, then let go of my hand and turned away.
As I watched his retreating figure, my feelings became complicated. I snapped back to reality when I heard Mungchi bark towards the right corridor.
I lifted my head to see Lee Cheong-sin approaching me.
“Noona! Did that girl leave?”
“Ah, yeah…”
Realizing he was talking about Jin So-yul, I scratched between my eyebrows as I answered.
“Is it okay not to help her?”
Ah, he heard about it. I thought he didn’t know since Lee Cheong-sin wasn’t around during the commotion, but it seems he already heard through Du Man-sik.
“Yeah, it’s fine.”
Feeling my senses return to reality, I spoke again.
“I was going to help originally, but it became unnecessary.”
“Why?”
I paused before answering and looked up.
[DUNGEON GUIDE] Protecting the Faction from External Invaders – Stage 2 <Rebellion of the Uncaught> has begun.
▸The external invaders in this stage are extremely hungry. They will do everything to catch and eat people. Be careful not to be captivated by hallucinations.
The status window that appeared in front of everyone filled my eyes.
“She’s bound to win this quest.”
“What?”
Lee Cheong-sin tilted his head as if he really didn’t understand. After looking at him for a moment, I recalled checking Jin So-yul’s status window in my mind.
According to the guide’s explanation, the boss this time fights based on hallucinations, and…
“That girl’s ability is clairvoyance.”
Jin So-yul’s ability was clairvoyance.
💎
Is there anything one can’t do to survive?
It was true.
Jin So-yul recalled her desperate plea in front of the 1st rank faction, kneeling and begging. Whether she would die alone without a faction or die in front of the 1st rank faction, it seemed the same to her. Fortunately or unfortunately, she didn’t die in front of the 1st rank faction…
“I’ll only accept those who achieve a higher ranking than me, a C-rank, in the second stage.”
Yoo Yi-joo’s voice saying that echoed in her head.
Can I do it?
She’s also a C-rank. A C-rank with no special abilities and can’t even use weapons properly. The chances of such a C-rank beating hunters who were at least B-rank in the former 1st-rank faction…
“Haa…”
Jin So-yul buried her face in her hands. It’s beyond her capabilities to survive alone in this dungeon.
‘But I can’t not do it when the situation turned out like this because of me.’
Jin So-yul forcibly got up from her seat and gripped the sword she didn’t even know how to use.
As she emerged from the corner, the monster that had been pacing back and forth, sensing human presence on the opposite side whirled around.
Jin So-yul flinched twice, once at its long arms and legs, and again at its bright blue eyes. She gripped the sword so tightly it would hurt anyone watching.
‘Here goes.’
Swallowing hard, Jin So-yul charged forward.
As she rushed forward quickly, aiming to stab the sword into the monster’s body as she got closer, bang!
In the blink of an eye, the monster struck down Jin So-yul.
“Ugh!”
Jin So-yul, who collapsed against the wall after taking a single hit, groaned in pain. She wanted to grab the sword that had fallen away, but the monster approached her without giving her time.
Just as Jin So-yul hurriedly raised her hands to cover her head and face.
[Skill, ‘Penetrating Sight (C)’ is automatically activated!]
A blue system window flashed in her dark vision. Jin So-yul, who had been blinking blankly at the sudden alarm, belatedly realized that the pain she was expecting didn’t come.
‘What’s going on…?’
Did it leave? The moment she slowly raised her head, Jin So-yul’s eyes caught sight of the monster still there.
‘I can see it.’
However, unlike before, it was now in a translucent state.
[SYSTEM] You have detected the ‘hallucination’!
[SYSTEM] The ‘hallucination’ cannot harm you.
[SYSTEM] The ‘Master of Hallucinations’ has targeted you!
💎
“That child’s ability is clairvoyance?”
Unlike the others who went out as soon as ‘Protecting the Faction Stage 2’ began, Lee Cheong-sin remained with me in the faction. I nodded at Lee Cheong-sin’s question from beside me.
“Yes. There probably won’t be many people who can distinguish between ‘real’ and ‘fake’ in this round.”
“Is it different from the doppelgangers we experienced in Stage 1?”
“It should be.”
If my prediction is correct, it will be completely different.
“How so?”
“While clones can definitely harm us, hallucinations shouldn’t be able to touch us.”
I haven’t seen it directly yet so I’m not sure about the details, but fortunately, since Jin So-yul’s ability is in the clairvoyance category, I didn’t need to think too hard about it. The important thing is…
“I need to collect points too, so I’ll go ahead first.”
I also need to collect points to get into the rankings.
“Are you going alone?”
“Yes. You stay here.”
“But still…”
“You don’t have a weapon right now and you can’t use any skills.”
Lee Cheong-sin made a face as if he’d been hit right where it hurts. I didn’t mean to hurt him, but.
“Since it’s a hallucination, we don’t know what might happen, so you need strong mental fortitude or mental-type skills, which would be dangerous for you.”
At my firmness, Lee Cheong-sin hesitated before speaking.
“Because I’m weak…”
“You’re not weak.”
You’re the person with the most potential to grow among all the people I’ve seen. Soon, you’ll become so strong that you won’t even be able to joke about being weak.
“Just wait until I can help you improve a bit more.”
“Huh? What do you mean…”
Leaving behind Lee Cheong-sin’s dumbfounded expression, I moved my feet.
‘Don’t rush.’
Slowly, it’s not too late to help Lee Cheong-sin grow after dealing with Jin So-yul first.
Right now, the important thing is to perfectly complete Stage 2.
I first completely left the faction and walked wherever my feet took me.
And I encountered a human-shaped monster passing through the corridor.
It had no eyes and walked like a deflated balloon. As I frowned at the unpleasant dark blue aura it emitted, it suddenly threw the iron bars it was holding at me.
Surprised by the rapidly approaching iron bars, I twisted my body and barely avoided them. At that moment, the monster rushed at me as if it had been waiting for this.
I unhesitatingly stabbed the sword I was holding into it, and its movement stopped abruptly before dispersing like an illusion.
“…So this is how it works.”
I can’t tell if it’s a hallucination or a real monster.
Well, it wouldn’t be easy.
Blood trickled from my left arm, perhaps from a scratch when I avoided the iron bars earlier.
‘Judging by the lack of a system alarm, it’s probably not the boss, but it seems hallucinations can attack too.’
Just as I was about to move again, thinking this wouldn’t be easy either.
“Kyaaak!”
A woman’s scream rang out. I rushed towards the voice coming from right in front of me and saw it.
“Jin So-yul…?”
Jin So-yul was being pushed toward the wall by a monster.
But something was strange.
‘What? It’s not attacking?’
Based on what I experienced earlier, even if it’s a hallucination, it should be able to cause harm, but the creature was just scaring Jin So-yul and pushing her toward the wall.
Instinctively feeling something was off, I hurriedly reached out my hand and shouted.
“Jin So-yul! Grab my hand!”
Thud. And at the same time, Jin So-yul’s back hit the wall, and then she disappeared. She literally just vanished.
As I hesitated at Jin So-yul’s figure disappearing as if swallowed by the darkness, the creature that had been cornering Jin So-yul looked at me.
“It’s definitely a hallucination, but…”
As I muttered that, several system windows popped up in front of my eyes.
[SYSTEM] You have detected the ‘hallucination’!
[SYSTEM] The ‘hallucination’ cannot harm you.
[SYSTEM] The ‘Master of Hallucinations’ has targeted you!
Huh…?
💎
I’ve picked up a new novel!
The EX-Rank Hot Spring Owner Is on Strike
Comedy, Fantasy, Romance
💎
Thank you for reading! ♡
