Chapter 7
To get straight to the conclusion, it wasn’t fine.
‘Damn it.’
How could it be fine?
[SYSTEM] Main Quest-3 [Protect Your New Base]
▸Monsters are targeting your base. Eliminate the threats for your peace of mind.
This quest keeps catching my eye!
“What’s wrong with you? Just come in.”
As a rule, the ‘system’ doesn’t provide incorrect information.
Even in games, doesn’t the system provide correct information to help players progress smoothly?
That’s why I’m now…
“I said come here. Why are you just standing there?”
Unable to enter the cave, I’m sitting outside blankly.
“I think there might be something strange in there…”
Cha Si-hyeon looked at me with a contemptuous expression as I clutched my head.
“I’ll kill it if it comes out.”
What if I die before you can kill it?
After what happened with Lim Yuchan at dawn, my trust had fallen even further.
As I stubbornly resisted, Baek Doha, who had been watching me, chimed in.
“Hmm, then, are you going to sleep out there?”
At this brief question, my shoulders flinched.
‘Sleeping here…’
Isn’t it just a matter of time before I die, whether I encounter a monster in the cave or encounter one while sleeping rough out here?
After considering which option had a higher chance of survival, I finally stood up.
‘Right, let’s go in. There are three S-ranks here, what’s there to worry about?’
It was a quick change of attitude.
In the end, I became the only stubborn one and entered the cave.
And soon after, I realized one thing.
‘I should have lived with more conviction.’
💎
The reason for regretting not living with more conviction was obvious.
As soon as I entered the cave with great resolve, vines appeared from somewhere and instantly sealed the entrance.
I put my hand to my forehead as I watched the vines gradually covering the area around the cave.
“There really is one. A monster.”
Baek Doha’s nonchalant words made me feel utterly dejected.
“Now, what do we do?”
I asked, taking a step back while watching the wriggling, growing vines.
Instead of answering, Lim Yuchan, who was sitting nearby, stretched out his hand and touched the cave wall.
Whoosh!
As fire rose from his fingertips, it burned the leaves.
It would be nice if it kept burning like this, but…
“What? Why is it growing back?”
As Cha Si-hyeon said, the vines cut through the fire and started growing again.
It even got longer?
As if in defiance, it twisted its stems more and sealed the entrance further.
Even with Lim Yuchan’s repeated attempts, it only grew more.
Watching this, Baek Doha concluded.
“Looks like there’s a core.”
“A core?”
What’s that?
“It’s the central being of these vines. It’s probably settled somewhere in this cave. It’s not strong, but it’s persistent. From the current state, it seems to be able to sense magical power too.”
As Baek Doha touched the vine with a bit of magical power on his fingertips, it reacted violently.
“Well, anyway, it’ll keep growing unless we find and kill the core.”
Cha Si-hyeon summed it up bluntly.
“What exactly is this core?”
“I don’t know either. It’s my first time seeing a monster like this.”
Right, I didn’t expect anything.
Letting out a hollow laugh, I reached out my hand.
‘It feels no different from a normal vine.’
Still, just in case, I let go of the vine I was holding.
Turning around, I saw Lim Yuchan and Cha Si-hyeon talking.
“Anyway, doesn’t this mean there’s a monster inside the cave?”
“It seems so.”
“Then I’ll try to find the core.”
“What if you can’t find it?”
“Well… we just stay trapped, I guess.”
Ah… right, that’s how it would be.
Baek Doha, who had been watching the two with a look of exasperation, said to me:
“Don’t worry. If worst comes to worst, we can just break through by force. This thing is persistent, not strong.”
“Yeah, it’s not like we have anywhere to go even if we get out now.”
“Let’s just stay trapped until tonight, and look for another cave tomorrow.”
Once again, I realized how carefree all three of these S-ranks were.
‘I guess it’s not that dangerous after all.’
Well, as long as we don’t attack it like before, it seems to stay still too.
Letting out a deep sigh, I finally sat down on the cave floor.
Trapped in a dungeon, trapped in a cave, what a mess this is.
Even with just a slight turn of my head, I could see the vines stuck to the wall.
‘A way to escape…’
💎
“Did you find the core?”
Cha Si-hyeon, who was standing with his arms crossed, turned his head.
Lim Yuchan, who had just come out from deeper inside the cave, replied.
“It’s not there.”
“Are you sure you looked carefully?”
“It really wasn’t there. I should say there was nothing particularly unusual.”
Baek Doha, who had gone along, explained in detail. Cha Si-hyeon, who had been listening quietly, frowned.
“Is the core too small?”
Since the size of the core varies for each monster, that was unknown.
But given that neither of them saw it, there was a chance the core could be incredibly small.
Lim Yuchan, thinking it was a possibility, spoke.
“I think it might be better to just destroy everything.”
If we destroy everything, the core would be destroyed too.
“We’ll have to move caves anyway.”
Just as Cha Si-hyeon was grumbling, finding it quite troublesome.
Thud.
The sound of something falling was heard. Baek Doha instinctively looked outside the cave, but that wasn’t the source of the sound.
“She…”
Thud, thud, thud.
Turning their heads towards the sound, they saw Yoo Yi-joo.
“Doesn’t her head hurt?”
That’s right. Yoo Yi-joo, who had fallen asleep in the cave, was repeatedly hitting her head against the wall, unable to hold it up properly.
Just a few hours ago, she had been looking at the carefree S-ranks strangely, but ironically, she was the first to relax and fall asleep.
Of course, no one expected her to start banging her head.
Cha Si-hyeon sighed and waved his hand as if to say to ignore it and continue talking.
“Forget it. If we leave her—”
Thud.
“She’ll wake up—”
Thud.
“On her own—”
Thud.
“…She’s not waking up?”
Baek Doha watched Yoo Yi-joo with a very unimpressed expression.
It’s almost fascinating.
Judging by the loud sound, she seems to be hitting quite hard, so how can she not wake up?
Just as Yoo Yi-joo’s head was about to droop again.
Finally, unable to watch anymore, Lim Yuchan supported her face.
And he sat down next to Yoo Yi-joo, offering his shoulder.
Watching this, Cha Si-hyeon’s eyebrow twitched.
“What’s this all about?”
The Lim Yuchan he knew wasn’t the type to be considerate of such things. He was usually indifferent to everything.
“I’m repaying a debt.”
A debt?
Although he was used to unexplained statements, this time he couldn’t understand and was about to ask what that meant when.
Rustle.
The three S-ranks heard a sound near their ears.
Baek Doha, who turned his head first, quickly assessed the situation and couldn’t help but let out a hollow laugh.
“No wonder it was quiet for a monster.”
The vines that had been quiet until now slowly started to grow.
[SYSTEM] The 6th-grade monster species, [Vine Guarding the Cave] reveals itself!
As if it was about to swallow the entire cave.
💎
Bang!
My eyes snapped open at the sound that echoed in my head.
‘What’s going on?’
What greeted me as soon as I opened my eyes was…
“What on earth happened while I was asleep…?”
Cha Si-hyeon and Baek Doha were fighting with the vines.
“You’re awake?”
Lim Yuchan got up from his seat at the sound of my voice.
I’m not sure why this person was sitting next to me, but did he think I wouldn’t wake up in this chaos?
“Why are you fighting?”
But that wasn’t the important thing.
Why were they fighting with a monster that doesn’t attack if left alone?
As I was watching them, unable to understand why they were causing unnecessary trouble, Baek Doha looked back and nodded toward the wall.
“It’s not that, it just started spreading constantly at some point.”
For reference, Baek Doha was saying this without touching the vines.
Despite that, the vines were still growing.
‘…In other words, the situation has gotten worse.’
Ironically, even as the situation worsened, Baek Doha was still smiling.
He doesn’t seem worried. Right, looking at how easily Cha Si-hyeon is defending against it, I guess this thing is weak. Just annoyingly persistent.
“Should we just break through?”
“Let’s do it.”
“Ah, that means we’ll have to sleep outside again?”
“Hold on, break what?”
When I asked, not understanding the conversation, Cha Si-hyeon gestured with his chin. Following his gesture, I could see the opposite side of the cave.
‘Ah…’
No wonder they were so calm. They had such a plan in mind.
Far from feeling refreshed after waking up, my head was aching.
It’s actually a good plan. If the core is in this cave, we could escape to a place where there is no core.
However, if there’s a problem…
‘Will the quest disappear?’
If I just leave this area, will the quest that’s already been given disappear?
If this quest doesn’t disappear even after moving to the next shelter, wouldn’t the same thing happen again?
I looked up at the empty space.
[Skill, ‘Extraordinary Brain (E)’ is activated.]
I know. That there is a way.
[Fatigue is low due to sleep.]
[The efficiency of the skill, ‘Extraordinary Brain (E)’ increases.]
I even slept in this situation to increase the skill efficiency to figure out that ‘way’.
Having received the effect of increased skill efficiency, I opened my eyes that I had been keeping closed and raised my head.
“The core…”
And I asked Baek Doha.
“Is there a possibility it’s outside?”
💎
Thank you for reading! ♡
