#93
Seo Yi-young hesitated.
“…Turn Back Time.”
Seo Yi-young stared at the ground, touching his lips and blinking.
What if the skill name wasn’t a metaphor for something, but just literally what it said? Not speaking in roundabout terms, but literally…
“Time regression.”
At Choi Do-jun’s voice that happened to be heard, Seo Yi-young raised his head.
“Your ability. Right?”
“…”
Since Seo Yi-young couldn’t be certain either, he couldn’t give any answer.
While he couldn’t find words to respond and kept his mouth shut, the hunters who had been collapsed around them began to regain consciousness and get up. Though their physical injuries had been healed by Seo Yi-young’s healing, it seemed the aftereffects of the mental attack remained.
“What. Is it all over? What’s going on?”
“…Uh, oh my. What…?”
Most of the hunters who regained consciousness and discovered the defeated boss mob were surprised, unable to understand what had happened. In their bewildered state, their gazes gathered toward Seo Yi-young and Choi Do-jun.
Though he knew they wanted an explanation of the situation, Seo Yi-young didn’t really know what to say either.
“As you can see, we simply succeeded in clearing the dungeon. Get ready to leave.”
At Choi Do-jun’s blunt words, no one asked any more questions. Well, the fact that they had cleared the dungeon itself was important, not who had succeeded in what way. Moreover, if they were S-Class hunters, they would each have abilities they didn’t reveal.
Since they knew what matters each other considered sensitive, they didn’t pry further and just offered words of appreciation for their hard work. Though they had smiling faces, their eyes contained regret at not being able to directly see how the calamity-level dungeon boss had been defeated, or wariness about how remarkable Choi Do-jun and Seo Yi-young’s abilities were.
Thud!
While those gazes were exchanged, there was the sound of something enormously huge falling.
It was a giant NEO-CORE of unprecedented size. Since the principle was to distribute according to contribution to the dungeon clearing, everyone was surely feeling inwardly regretful.
“Since it’s a calamity-level dungeon, I’d like to propose equal distribution among everyone.”
“What?”
“Huh?”
Though everyone was surprised by Choi Do-jun’s proposal, no hunter raised objections. Certainly, the NEO-CORE before their eyes was of such a desirable size. The hunters who had finished collecting the NEO-CORE began preparing to leave the dungeon. Choi Do-jun was the same.
Only Seo Yi-young was different from them.
He was waiting for something.
No matter how calamity-level it was, this was a new-type dungeon. If he guessed from the pattern so far, the ‘item’ that Seo Yi-young was aiming for would appear after defeating the new-type dungeon boss mob. The problem was that he didn’t know where that item would fall. The only common factor was that it was somewhere near the boss mob. Since drawing the attention of other hunters wasn’t good either, Seo Yi-young acted together with the other hunters appropriately.
Thud.
In the midst of that, there was the sound of something falling. Since Seo Yi-young had been waiting for that sound, he immediately reacted and looked around. He needed to take it naturally, without catching the other hunters’ eyes.
However, what he encountered were Choi Do-jun’s eyes. The thought that their eyes had met by chance was brief. Choi Do-jun picked up something from the ground. It seemed to be the sound made when Choi Do-jun dropped something. It wasn’t what Seo Yi-young was looking for.
Without taking his gaze off Seo Yi-young, Choi Do-jun slowly approached and spoke quietly.
“What are you looking for?”
The moment he was asked the question, he realized. He dropped it on purpose. I fell for it beautifully. Since he hadn’t expected to be asked such a question, he couldn’t answer immediately. He couldn’t come up with what to say to Choi Do-jun. He didn’t even know where to start.
“Looking for what. I’m just looking around.”
For now, he deflected. That was the best he could do. If he insisted he didn’t know what he was talking about, Choi Do-jun wouldn’t be able to do anything about it. Surely he wouldn’t kill someone for playing dumb. Of course, even if he tried to kill him, Seo Yi-young wouldn’t just quietly die either.
Seo Yi-young looked at Choi Do-jun searchingly. Since when had he been watching him? While Seo Yi-young couldn’t answer properly, there was a clink sound of something falling. Seo Yi-young’s shoulder flinched. Choi Do-jun saw Seo Yi-young’s reaction and narrowed his eyes.
Though it was troublesome, there was no choice. He had no intention of explaining. What would he say to Choi Do-jun? Even Seo Yi-young didn’t know where to start the story. He didn’t have the confidence to speak. He was scared because he didn’t know what Choi Do-jun’s reaction would be after spilling everything.
Seo Yi-young bit his lips tightly. For now, securing the item was the priority.
However, Choi Do-jun moved toward where the sound had come from before Seo Yi-young.
“…Uh. Wait…”
Oh no.
He hadn’t expected Choi Do-jun to act first. Seo Yi-young followed behind Choi Do-jun a step late. One by one, hunters began to appear, looking at the two of them with curiosity about what was happening.
The item that had fallen on the ground came into Seo Yi-young’s view. He tried to grab it before Choi Do-jun, but couldn’t. Choi Do-jun picked it up a step faster and looked back at Seo Yi-young.
In Choi Do-jun’s hand was a necklace with a ring threaded on it. Without saying anything, he immediately put the necklace in his pocket.
“What. …Why are you taking that. Give it to me quickly.”
Seo Yi-young held out his hand to Choi Do-jun. He didn’t expect Choi Do-jun to obediently hand over the item. He had never thought of Choi Do-jun as an easy opponent.
“Didn’t you say you were just looking around?”
“No, that’s not it.”
However, he reacted as if proving that he was indeed not to be taken lightly.
His insides burned with frustration and anger. He was doing this even though he knew. Of course, it was true that Seo Yi-young hadn’t spoken honestly. But that didn’t mean he had to come out like this. Seo Yi-young took a breath.
“That’s what I was looking for. So give it to me.”
Even though he spoke honestly now, Choi Do-jun just stared at Seo Yi-young with indifferent eyes. Choi Do-jun looked at Seo Yi-young for a few seconds, then acted as if he hadn’t heard his words. Eventually, Seo Yi-young got frustrated and grabbed his arm.
“Choi Do-jun…!”
“Let’s talk after we get out.”
Seo Yi-young stared at Choi Do-jun, who had spoken so curtly. Certainly, they couldn’t argue any further here. Drawing the attention of other hunters was not good in many ways. Even now, there were many gazes on the two of them. Seo Yi-young had no choice but to glare at Choi Do-jun once and nod.
He didn’t know exactly what he would hear from Choi Do-jun after they got out. But probably, he would ask about that item. He would also ask why he was looking for it. Then what words, what answer should he give? Choi Do-jun wouldn’t be convinced by evasive words. In his anxiety and impatience, Seo Yi-young rubbed his lips.
Seo Yi-young, who had been frowning, covered his face with one hand.
It was because even in this situation, he thought it was good that he couldn’t check immediately even during the time they were leaving the dungeon. How cowardly was this? Even a brief reprieve was welcome. He didn’t want to confirm the truth. If he could, he wanted to avoid it. Seo Yi-young had thoughts like a child hiding from something scary with their eyes covered.
If. If the status window of that necklace now came out as Seo Yi-young expected, then…
“Seo Yi-young. We’ve arrived.”
“…Yeah.”
At Choi Do-jun’s call, Seo Yi-young came to his senses and answered.
All hunters deployed in the dungeon had returned alive with complete survival, not a single wound. It had been a week since they entered the calamity-level dungeon.
The people who had been waiting for the hunters’ return were ecstatic at the unbelievable situation. And the fervor for coverage was beyond imagination. Three of the hunters were to hold a press conference as representatives, but Choi Do-jun and Seo Yi-young were not among them. The media had requested that at least one of the two appear at the press conference, but both declined.
Setting aside Seo Yi-young, it was unexpected that Choi Do-jun also refused. Because he had expected that Choi Do-jun, who was nothing if not responsible, would respond to the press conference request. Of course, if Choi Do-jun had gone to the press conference, Seo Yi-young would have had to wait that much longer to get the necklace back, so he should be grateful that he didn’t go.
Seo Yi-young grabbed the arm of Choi Do-jun, who was about to move to the prepared car, from behind.
“You said we’d talk after getting out.”
“I did. Follow me.”
As soon as Seo Yi-young followed Choi Do-jun and got into his car, he opened his mouth. Though he was aware that he didn’t need to react so stiffly, it was difficult to soften his expression.
“Give me that quickly.”
As soon as Seo Yi-young got in the car and was free from other people’s gazes, he immediately brought up the main business.
Choi Do-jun looked at such a Seo Yi-young and narrowed his eyes. He tilted his head to one side and was examining Seo Yi-young’s expression thoroughly. Even that was irritating right now. Seo Yi-young was showing the neurotic reaction typical of someone who was on edge, but he was too mentally cornered to realize it.
“What exactly is this that you’re acting like this?”
“You don’t need to know. Just give it to me.”
Seo Yi-young repeated once more. His voice came out sharp without him realizing it.
He expected Choi Do-jun to refuse once more here, but he unexpectedly obediently took the necklace out of his pocket. Then he placed the necklace on Seo Yi-young’s outstretched hand. Clink. He hadn’t expected to get the necklace back so obediently. He thought he’d have to argue a few more times.
Seo Yi-young moved his lips as he looked at Choi Do-jun, then widened his eyes.
The necklace’s status window appeared.
[Owner: Lee Myung-hoon Necklace. A necklace made by threading the wedding ring with his deceased wife.]
He felt the blood draining from his face. It wasn’t just his imagination, as the necklace Seo Yi-young had been holding fell onto the car seat.
The list of awakened individuals who had disappeared so far.
And the owners of items from new-type dungeons that matched that list.
Jo Tae-su’s request to sleep with S-Class combat hunters.
S-Class Hunter Lee Myung-hoon, who couldn’t be reached.
And Lee Myung-hoon’s name that appeared in the status window of the item that came out right after clearing this calamity-level dungeon.
A hypothesis was established in Seo Yi-young’s mind. And it was surely not far from the truth.
Through some method he didn’t know, awakened individuals became boss mobs in dungeons. And Seo Yi-young had somehow influenced S-Class Hunter Lee Myung-hoon becoming a boss mob this time.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
