‘… It’s to the left.’
Only the direction that felt strange was detected, but predicting what would happen next was difficult.
‘I’m glad it’s not a dangerous feeling… Should we just hang around for a bit?’
“Ugh— it really gives me the chills every time I come here.”
When she snapped out of her thoughts, Ah-rin was shivering.
“Phew… Let’s try to get this done today, somehow.”
“Yep, absolutely…!”
Lee Yeon-hee felt sorry for Baek Ah-rin, who didn’t want to come to the dungeon because of her.
So she was even more determined to clear it faster than usual.
-Kyaaaaaaaah――!!
“Ugh!”
However, despite her determination, her shoulders kept flinching at the sharp screams that echoed from a distance or right next to her.
While watching Yeon-hee, Joo-ah asked.
“Did you rest well yesterday?”
There was a deep concern in Joo-ah’s gaze directed at Yeon-hee. After all, she had struggled with the ‘Evolution Stone’ early that morning. It was only natural for her to be worried.
“Yep! I got a good rest.”
“Definitely… Considering there was no reply for over 10 hours, you must have rested well.”
“Ahh… I’m really sorry! I overslept…”
“Ha ha ha— I’m just joking. But where’s Eun-young unnie?”
No sooner had Joo-ah finished speaking than Ham Eun-young appeared behind her.
“Oh my! Really, unnie, show some presence. You’re not a ghost or anything.”
“Oh… Sorry.”
Ham Eun-young answered in her typical blunt style, then took a moment to look around and muttered,
“This place is nice…”
“What’s so nice about it? It’s just fog all around and withered trees.”
“That’s the nice part…”
“Boo…”
Baek Joo-ah crossed her arms in response to Eun-young’s answer, and seeing that, Ah-rin chuckled lightly and raised her hand.
“Wait a sec before we set off! Today, Eun-young unnie will take the position of mid. As I texted you, I’ve bought two cooldown scrolls, so you need to tell me right away when you need one.”
“Sure…”
Since the scroll is a one-time item, it has to be used in a manner that establishes a contract between the buyer and the recipient, meaning that Baek Ah-rin, the buyer, would be using it for Ham Eun-young.
If Ham Eun-young had purchased them, they wouldn’t need to do it this way, but since she had trouble even coming out from home to the dungeon, Ah-rin was helping her out in this manner.
‘She sure requires a lot of help…’
But she was indeed a very useful party member. Honestly, out of Baek Joo-ah, Baek Ah-rin, and Ham Eun-young, if we only looked at classes, Ham Eun-young was the most unique party member, so it was necessary to find a way to keep her in better health as much as possible.
‘That mirror is the problem… Hmm…’
While observing her still trapped in the mirror, I was pulled out of my thoughts by Yeon-hee gently tugging my arm, turning my head to the left. There, a group of people approached Baek Ah-rin and greeted her.
“Hey there~ Rabbit poop, it’s been a while?”
“You guys…”
Baek Ah-rin instinctively found her hand drawn to the weapon she had at her side as she glared at the dark-faced figures she had never seen before.
‘Hmm, three of them seem to be from Ilseom?’
The aura trailing behind their steps and their weapons prominently displayed on their sides made it easy to guess their origins.
“No way— Rabbit poop. Seeing you strutting around so boldly, I thought you’d teamed up with some big guild, but is this all you got?”
(Pffft-! Just look, they look like they gathered all the noobs. Look at those dark robes, what a vibe. Really impressive. Why are you staring at the mirror with that face? Ha ha ha-)
‘Whoa, I can hear everything you’re saying… It’s rare to see someone so openly picking a fight…’
Even low-tier villains wouldn’t pull that kind of stunt, and I stood there, dumbfounded. The red hooded figure that had become a monster after taking the Evolution Stone was nice when we first met, yet these people mocked even the teammates they had just met.
In a dungeon, it’s usual to be extremely careful when dealing with other party members, so I wondered what gave them the confidence to act like this.
Of the four approaching, three grew more aggressive when looking at us, standing next to Baek Ah-rin.
I was a bit surprised that they could do so even after seeing my scary face, but really, since I had made it a habit to keep my magic power wrapped up when not in battle, it was only natural that they couldn’t gauge my level.
They had probably grown used to seeing monsters, so my appearance wouldn’t intimidate them at all.
Baek Joo-ah looked like she was about to unleash a spell on the ones disrespecting her friend, and Yeon-hee seemed quite bothered, summoning Ran and Chehwa behind my back to keep an eye on things.
Behind the two laughing was a short-haired woman with a spiteful expression on her face, wearing makeup that looked like it was about a centimeter thick.
She stepped forward and opened her mouth.
“Ah-rin sunbae~ I wonder if you’ve improved at all to the point where you’re not heaving after using your skills?”
“Sunbae, what sunbae? You just used and abused me and walked away.”
“Huh? Is that so? But still, you were my mentor, sunbae… Then what should I call you? I can’t just call you ‘Rabbit Poop’. Isn’t that right, Ah-rin sunbae?”
With one hand on her chest, the short-haired girl tilted her head slightly while openly taunting Ah-rin. She was young, yet she’d clearly learned all the bad things from somewhere…
‘Go away! Baek Ah-rin!’
At this point, I thought Ah-rin would step up first and have it out with them, but surprisingly, she maintained her composure.
“You guys haven’t changed… What do you want?”
“Ooh— are you finally not stuttering, sunbae? That’s your specialty, isn’t it? Acting all cute.”
“Hah… Heo Min-sol… Can you knock it off?”
“Pfft! Oh, sunbae? What have I even done~? I just came to say hi.”
“Fine, so just go. Scram from in front of me.”
Ah-rin reached her breaking point and began releasing a menacing aura, and even the three who instigated it didn’t hold back, revealing their own strength without restraint.
But one of them made eye contact with the warrior behind me.
Seeing that more than ten summoned creatures had come forth, he frantically waved his hand, trying to stop his companions.
“What? Why?”
“Th-that behind you…”
“Huh? Ugh! When did they…”
(Hidden behind the skeleton, I didn’t see, but that’s that person. I was in a party with the renowned Noh Ha-yoon before.)
‘Yeon-hee recognizes them. She came running just for Baek Ah-rin. She should’ve surveyed her surroundings. Tsk tsk-‘
Of the three in front, we could win, but that’s only if we were willing to kill. That’s something we could never do over such minor issues.
Eventually, while I shook my head, I made no move. After all, this was her personal problem, and we didn’t need to interfere unnecessarily.
It was still too soon for us to step in for a party member we had only gone through one dungeon with together.
While I decided to just watch, Baek Ah-rin stepped forward and blocked our way.
“Go ahead. I’ll let it slide this once.”
“Psht… Rabbit poop, who do you think you are to let us off? Clearly, she’s lost her mind. You think just because there are monsters behind you, you’re all tough?”
“We’re still hearing that we got pushed around by a bunch of losers like Apex because of you, and even apologizing would be an understatement. Right?”
“It was supposed to be a friendly duel, but who would ever believe that? Hah… This is infuriating.”
‘Hmm… Apex… So they’ve tangled with those guys.’
“That’s…!”
Ah-rin seemed to want to refute, but with a sigh, she conceded, waving her hand dismissively.
“Hah… Just let’s move on…”
Defeated, she turned around and said that to us, while Joo-ah and Yeon-hee moved closer to ask her what she meant.
“Just… do that. Don’t ask.”
‘You must hold it in, Yeon-hee. I know you want to flip the table, but…’
Even if we were to counter, we had to wait for Ah-rin to step up first. It would be troublesome if Yeon-hee was dragged into this because she started the fight.
“Let’s get moving. You seem to have had your fun…”
As Ah-rin stepped back, she asked but couldn’t bring herself to leave when a man who was in a party with the three Ilseom guild members gestured to leave.
“Cheh… You, Baek Ah-rin, don’t show your face in front of me. I don’t know what you’ll do if you run into me in a dungeon.”
“……”
“Sunbae! We’re taking Route A, so try to stick to another route if you can~”
The last jibe was thrown by those who had signaled to move and followed the man taking the left path.
That man would likely have the same role as Ham Eun-young does in our party. And such leaders would typically direct their subordinates without argument.
……
“Hey! Baek Ah-rin, come explain. Until now, we only talked about guild matters, and I didn’t want to make you sad, but I need to know now. Hurry up!”
“……”
Baek Joo-ah pressed Baek Ah-rin, who was bristling with anger.
Eventually, Baek Ah-rin approached us, who had gathered round, and simply explained why she had left the Ilseom guild.
“The girl who called me sunbae earlier got into a spat with Apex guild outside… Somehow, it escalated, and we had a guild battle with Apex. It was a 5v5, and I was the first one out… I lost. Pathetically. The result was a 2 to 3 loss for us…”
“So you ended up being the root cause of all this?”
“Yeah…”
“Wow, seriously! They’re throwing a fit over that? Those idiots.”
“It’s a group that never liked me anyway. They just found an opportunity. And the opponent was too much of a mismatch. Since it was Apex…”
“Apex those criminals are that strong? They must have set up a match with the same rank.”
“Yeah… But… As an excuse, I was in terrible condition that day. Normally, I would’ve easily beaten them, but of all times…”
I got the gist of the story. It was just childish drama.
A bunch of anti-guild members using Ah-rin’s mistake as a reason to tarnish the guild’s name.
There were a few prickly details along the way, but we should focus on the present.
“Good deal! There’s no way you should stick around with those kinds of guys. Good job, Baek Ah-rin.”
“Exactly! You didn’t do anything wrong at all.”
“Phew… Well, it was a while back. I’m sorry for setting a gloomy mood from the start!”
The party members genuinely comforted Ah-rin, and even Ham Eun-young grabbed her sleeve, nodding her head repeatedly, showing her goodwill. To her it was probably the best she could do.
“Ugh! Whatever! Just start with full energy!”
To help shake off Ah-rin’s mental anguish, we paused for a bit from the start.
And maybe thanks to the encouragement of the party members, Ah-rin quickly regained her spirits and signaled for us to move out.
Just as everyone was about to take a step in tune with Ah-rin’s signal—
– KWA-AAAAAAANG――!!
“Yaaaah!! Wh-what’s that noise?!”
“Ugh—! What’s going on suddenly?!”
‘……’
Just as we had begun to take our steps, a tremendous noise erupted from not far away.
– What’s going on… in this eerily quiet dungeon…
– Ugh, this is really annoying… What a headache since morning.
– Looks like something fun is happening right from the start. Who’s going?
But the staff members at the gate hardly paid attention.
They quickly returned to their indifferent state, casting looks at the hunters, urging them to get moving or to stop loitering.
After all, they knew we would be heading there anyway.
In an instant, the party members exchanged glances and immediately took off in that direction.
‘I can’t resist watching a fight or a fire.’
Of course, the other teams near the entrance made the same choice and followed suit.
“Is it the A route? Is that okay?”
Since it was exactly the same path the earlier guys had taken, Joo-ah expressed her worry for her friends.
“… If they start getting annoying again, I’ll handle it.”
“Clap, Clap, Clap!!”
“Huh? Il-wol, are you cheering for me?”
Nodding—
“Hehe-”
When she regained her usual smile, she tilted her head, catching sight of the many peculiar hunters locked in a strange standoff.
‘What are they all doing standing around?’
At the center was a square object, and dozens of hunters were tightening the strings of tension around it.
Never before had I seen such an arrangement, even with many years of hunter experience, and the mystery was resolved when we reached the scene of the thunderous noise.
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