40.
Choi Jae-won, who had been persistently staring at Ryu Ho-yeon without listening to Han Ji-su, suddenly met his gaze. When he silently mouthed “What?”, Ryu Ho-yeon replied, “Why don’t you look like your cousin when you claim to be related?”
“Cousin? Why are you suddenly talking about cousins… Is this about Lee Han-seo again, I mean, Han-seo hyung?”
Choi Jae-won habitually called him “Lee Han-seo” but quickly corrected himself when Ryu Ho-yeon’s eyes sharpened. Since his feedback was prompt, this slip could be overlooked. Ryu Ho-yeon didn’t press the issue further and simply nodded toward Han Ji-su standing in front.
“Coordinator Han resembles Kim Jun-young completely even though they’re sixth cousins. First cousins are closer than sixth cousins, so why don’t you have any resemblance to Han-seo?”
Though their appearances might differ, their explosive tempers when provoked were identical like actual brothers, but unfortunately, the traits Choi Jae-won shared with his cousin wouldn’t appeal to Ryu Ho-yeon at all. Choi Jae-won pretended not to hear and subtly changed the subject.
“Coordinator Han and Team Leader Kim are sixth cousins? Ah, no wonder they had a strangely similar feeling.”
“Don’t mention that in front of them. They really dislike each other.”
“Huh? Aren’t they close? That’s what everyone says.”
“Well. They can be close and still dislike each other, right? A while back, Coordinator Han tried to seduce Jung-hyuk hyung but got rejected, so with Kim Jun-young… mmph! Mmph!!”
Swooosh…
A snake-like ring of water instantly covered and sealed Ryu Ho-yeon’s mouth.
“Haha. Hoyeon-ssi, how can you talk about such interesting stories so loudly where everyone can hear…”
Han Ji-su’s voice maintained a relatively calm laugh, but somehow sounded like she was speaking through gritted teeth. Surprisingly, others just snickered without showing much surprise. It seemed this was already well-known gossip among those who had been at the Center for some time.
In the end, Ryu Ho-yeon had to remain silenced by the water mask until both the Korean and Chinese vessels were swallowed by the gate side by side.
Inside the gate, the dungeon was pitch-black as always, without any light source. They couldn’t even use decent flashlights or other lighting for fear of attracting monsters. Physical enhancement types could navigate without equipment, but other Espers and Guides couldn’t take a single step in the dungeon without night vision goggles.
Maintaining balance while moving on the rocking boat seemed twice as difficult as usual. This must be why many considered maritime dungeons the most challenging type among various dungeon types.
The Chinese personnel would focus on supporting combat operations and searching for their country’s ship and any potential survivors that might have been trapped in the dungeon.
“Blegh, ugh, too salty.”
As soon as Han Ji-su released the ring, Ryu Ho-yeon opened his water canteen from the supply pack and hurriedly rinsed his lips and mouth, which were clearly affected by the salt. The water ring Han Ji-su had created was made from seawater, so he had swallowed plenty of salt water whenever he opened his mouth.
It made sense to manipulate existing water rather than condensing moisture from the air to create water, as it was much simpler and consumed less guiding energy, especially before entering a gate, but still…
“I don’t understand. It’s not like I made up stories, so why get so upset?”
“Hmm…”
Ryu Ho-yeon’s social skills, which had shown remarkable improvement, still occasionally revealed blind spots like this. Choi Jae-won just swallowed vaguely and pretended not to hear. He’d learned from experience that offering well-intentioned help at times like this often backfired.
“Well, never mind. I should focus on preparing for battle.”
And that was quite an effective response. Choi Jae-won inwardly sighed with relief and obediently followed behind Ryu Ho-yeon.
Today, Ryu Ho-yeon and Choi Jae-won planned to operate completely independently.
In land-based dungeons where feet could touch ground, combat formations were typically divided into three large groups: 1st, 2nd, and 3rd. The main striker and primary combat personnel would be at the very front, followed by backup Espers for healing and support in the 2nd group, with Guides gathering in the 3rd group.
However, the situation changed for maritime dungeons. If each group was placed on different ships and the 2nd or 3rd groups with lower combat abilities failed to defend against attacks even once, everyone would be annihilated.
Therefore, everyone boarded a single large ship with good durability that could withstand external impacts before crossing the gate. Though mobility might suffer, prioritizing survival probability over movement speed was the sensible choice.
“Coordinator Han, I’m thinking of going down now, could you check the surroundings for me?”
“Okay.”
After confirming with Han Ji-su that there were no dangerous monsters within at least 10 meters below the water’s surface, Ryu Ho-yeon created a small boat that would fit just two people snugly.
The small boat floating on the dark waves looked precariously close to capsizing, like a leaf fallen on a lake. But appearances were deceiving—its durability was excellent.
The simpler the shape and material, the more accurately Ryu Ho-yeon could understand objects, and that understanding transformed into clear mental images. The simpler, the stronger the durability of the materialized substance. Most likely, there was no need to worry about the boat capsizing or tearing until they completely escaped the dungeon.
Occupying the front seat of the boat, Ryu Ho-yeon neatly arranged the sniper rifles and Gatling guns he had already materialized. His materialized firearms worked by instantly compressing surrounding air to pierce through monsters’ bodies, so one convenience was not having to create bullets that would only take up unnecessary space.
After carefully adjusting the focus of his night vision goggles and completely settling in, Ryu Ho-yeon turned abruptly to Choi Jae-won, who was sitting quietly waiting to provide guiding.
“What are you doing, Jae-won?”
“Huh…? Do you need guiding already, hyung? I don’t think so, you should still be fine…”
Unfortunately, since he hadn’t specifically studied the internal circuits or blueprints of silent electric motors, his materialized rubber boat only had two long oars hanging on it. When Ryu Ho-yeon said “Not that” to the confused Choi Jae-won, his lips, neatly visible below the night vision goggles covering half his face, parted in bewilderment.
“What?”
At times like this, he’s actually kind of cute… Ryu Ho-yeon swallowed words that would have made Choi Jae-won happy for at least half a year if he had heard them, and pointed to the two oars he had made as durable as the boat.
“You have to row to move forward.”
“What?”
“I can’t row.”
“I see…”
While others would purposely invest time and money to find a peaceful lake park just to ride a duck boat, where else could one find someone who would create a private boat in the middle of the vast ocean during official duty?
Sigh… Even reflecting on it himself, this was rather romantic. (Objectively speaking, it seemed unlikely there was anyone else in the world with the talent to interpret such a situation as romantic. Nor should there be.)
Unaware of the absurd thoughts running through Ryu Ho-yeon’s mind, Choi Jae-won rowed diligently until his combat uniform was soaked with sweat. It was fortunate that he had exercised whenever possible, concerned about his decreasing stamina due to the experiments.
“You seem quite suited to this. That’s good. I was thinking of changing it to a duck boat if it looked too difficult for you.”
“Ah…”
“What? Do you think a duck boat would be better after all? Should I change it to a duck boat?”
“No… It’s fine, hyung… I’ll let you know if it gets too hard later…”
It was clear he actually wanted to try riding a duck boat at least once. Each time he said “duck boat,” his voice noticeably rose by one tone, no, easily by two tones.
If he hadn’t been wearing night vision goggles, Ryu Ho-yeon could have enjoyed the sparkle of interest in his eyes.
Hiding his disappointment, Choi Jae-won wiped his sweaty palms and readjusted his grip on the oar handles. It was unclear whether he was a Guide or a devoted servant—his pure-hearted dedication was unmistakable.
