#152
As I was groaning “ugh” without being able to move my body, I suddenly heard something like an exhaust sound from far away.
‘…Gasp!’
It was clearly Liam coming here after hearing my groan. I hurriedly got up without time to check my scratches. My leg automatically limped and my body staggered as I tried to move, perhaps due to a minor injury.
As I was stumbling into the forest, carefully trying not to step on any hidden branches, suddenly my shoulder was grabbed. Like a character in a horror movie checking behind them, I slowly turned my face to see Liam looking down at me with an expressionless face.
“It seems you were thinking of escaping.”
Liam’s voice was cold. A chill ran down my spine instantly. I shouldn’t have screamed even if my leg had broken. Of course, it came out involuntarily, but I couldn’t help feeling annoyed.
“Are you that curious about the outside? Unfortunately, nothing changes by going out.”
Liam picked me up. Then he lightly jumped and stood on top of the wall. He gripped my chin and made me look down.
‘Wh-What is that!’
Below, monster-like creatures of unknown form were scratching at the wall. Fortunately, it seemed some special treatment had been applied as they couldn’t leave scratches, but it was terrifying to see monsters scattered everywhere from right below the wall to some distance away.
“Do you think Ray and I brought you here for no reason? There’s no one around here.”
After saying that, Liam jumped down to the inside of the wall while carrying me. I had to get on the car Liam had come in and go back the way we came.
It was absurd to retrace the path I had worked so hard to come, but there was no choice.
“Wa-wait… Ow…!”
Throughout the journey back to the mansion, I tried to persuade Liam. That I wanted to return to the two of them as much as he loved Ray, how could they expect me to decide my future in such a coercive atmosphere, and so on. Of course, since I couldn’t say it in English, it was just me saying various things in a defiant tone, but anyway, Liam didn’t budge at all.
He always stood like a pole next to Ray so I hadn’t given it much thought, but he was more than just a wall. If I went back like this, I’d surely be in trouble. I probably wouldn’t be able to take dawn walks anymore, and it was obvious I’d be confined without being able to go out.
The difficulty of escaping was even higher since this wasn’t my space. If it were downtown, I could have blended in with people, but that wasn’t possible. Moreover, the scene I saw earlier…
‘What on earth happened in America?’
When I read about this mansion on the blog, there was nothing written about the outside situation. Because of that, I naturally thought that if I escaped, I could hide among other people for a while, but it was completely different from what I expected.
Since I didn’t see the date the post was written, maybe it became like this recently. Moreover, judging from Liam’s words that they intentionally brought me here, it seemed that he and Ray already knew about the situation in this area.
‘Is this what they meant by saying people’s residential areas have been pushed back a lot?’
The wall of this mansion didn’t show signs of being old, though maybe that was because it was metal. Perhaps, due to numerous dungeon breaks, individuals building walls had somewhat resolved the situation to some extent.
Ray and Liam could do it because they were rich, but people without money probably had to either die or abandon their residences and flee.
Korea was very comfortable. They were preventing dungeon breaks well, but it seems the situation in America was really different.
‘And in this situation, even if I went out, I wouldn’t have been able to survive…’
I was completely isolated with no way out. They probably put a tracking device on me to prevent me from going outside unnecessarily. Because it would be troublesome if I died.
Not knowing any of this, I put on a show trying to escape…
‘How annoying…’
They say you suffer when you leave home, and it was really true suffering. At this point, I couldn’t think seriously and just felt like I had staged an unnecessary escape attempt. I should have just had a serious conversation with the two of them at home…
‘I miss them.’
As my situation became difficult, I really started to miss the two of them. They must be angry because I left on my own, right? I even thought it would be better to be confined by them rather than by these strangers.
“Wait.”
Liam, who had been driving the car, suddenly started accelerating like crazy with a stiff face. Although the car, meant only for going around the garden, couldn’t speed up much, it was clear that some problem had arisen.
Finally dragged to the front of the mansion, I tilted my head seeing Ray standing there restlessly.
“Ray, what’s wrong?”
Liam rushed to Ray in an instant and asked. Ray stamped his feet and gasped, “Nikki…!”
‘Nikki?’
Did something happen to Nikki? Feeling somewhat ominous, I closed my mouth and watched the two of them, when Ray urgently grabbed Liam’s hand and ran towards the garden. It was in the direction where I had asked Nikki to place the laptop.
Finding myself running along with them, I stopped in my tracks, shocked at what I saw ahead. There was a dungeon entrance in mid-air.
Right below the dungeon entrance, Nikki was sitting with a pale face. She was in a precarious position where she would be swallowed into the dungeon entrance if she moved.
“Because you asked Nikki, unluckily, Nikki ended up like that!”
Ray pointed at me, angrily shouting like thunder. So, it seemed that very unluckily, a dungeon entrance had rapidly appeared where I had asked Nikki to wait.
“Why is there a dungeon entrance…”
As I muttered blankly, Nikki cried out:
“I’m scared! I don’t want to die, Ray, Liam, save me…!”
Seeing Nikki’s terrified face, a feeling of guilt crept up. The sudden appearance of the dungeon entrance wasn’t my fault, but I had used her for my escape attempt…
“It’s extremely rare for a dungeon entrance to appear again in an area where a dungeon break has occurred…”
Even Liam muttered with a confused face. It seemed that this rare accident had occurred despite them coming to this mansion feeling assured because of that.
“Hani, you can clear the dungeon, right? Huh?”
Ray clung to me and shouted. It seemed Nikki was both a secretary and a precious friend to Ray. He shook me vigorously with teary eyes.
“I don’t know what grade this dungeon is, but if Liam can’t clear it alone, it’s a big problem. But if you’re there too, the chances of clearing it will increase, right? Please, I beg you. Prevent the dungeon from breaking. If it stays like that, Nikki might be swallowed!”
As Ray rushed to me and shouted, Liam nodded.
“Surely you won’t run away seeing that situation. Let’s go in.”
“I’ll contact the Awakened Management Bureau immediately and enter as backup if support is needed.”
Certainly, if the dungeon expanded any further, Nikki, being a normal person, would clearly be swallowed in an instant.
I understood that Ray couldn’t go in because someone needed to stay and request support from the American Awakened Management Bureau. I understood the situation, but…
‘I have to go in? Here?’
I had a somewhat ominous feeling. But I couldn’t just stand still when this had happened because of me, so I could only hesitate with a worried heart.
However, before I could dawdle, Liam had already approached and gripped my arm tightly.
“Wa-wait a moment! What if it’s an elemental dungeon! We might be done for in one go due to heat or cold!”
I screamed loudly standing in front of the entrance. Nikki quickly relayed my words to Ray and Liam.
“Take this.”
Ray handed me a bracelet.
“It’s a bracelet that can resist temperature changes, so it will help.”
As I took it, Liam flinched for a moment. Looking closely, I saw he was wearing the same thing on his wrist. It seemed like they were matching pairs, but sadly, it was a product I needed, so I had to keep my mouth shut.
As soon as I put on the bracelet, the slightly chilly feeling of dawn instantly disappeared. It seemed to function by resisting temperature changes to maintain a constant body temperature.
After accepting the bracelet, there was no turning back. I had no choice but to enter the dungeon with a gloomy face.
Inside the dungeon was chaos from a volcanic eruption. Lava dripped from a distant volcano, looking like a river. I could see red monsters swimming around on top of the dark red and black lava river.
I couldn’t tell exactly how strong they were. Usually, you measure the dungeon energy before entering, but we couldn’t do that this time.
Anyway, it seemed the monsters weren’t the flying type, which was fortunate. We could quickly catch them if we rode on something.
“Can we use the flying item you said you used during the last dungeon verification?”
It seemed Liam had thought of the same method I had. I nodded and tried to use my inventory.
‘Huh?’
But… there was no response from the inventory that always opened smoothly. It was the same no matter how many times I tried.
‘Is it because Nine isn’t nearby…?’
Suddenly, a chill ran down my spine and my body stiffened.
If I couldn’t use the inventory at all, I could only use my abilities as a guide inside the dungeon. That meant Liam was the only one who could use force in this dungeon.
It would be difficult to convince Liam that I couldn’t use items, let alone survive in this dungeon with a body no different from a normal person…
‘I’m doomed.’
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
