Chapter 51
“Han Yeonwoo Esper, you’ve been confirmed. You may enter.”
With a gentle push from behind, Yeonwoo entered the training ground and looked around. The first thing he saw after passing through the door was a black hemisphere filling the indoor space. Even from a distance, he could feel the dungeon mana surrounding the hemisphere.
“Hyung.”
As he was trying to calm his agitated mana core, Chahun, who had been waiting, approached him. Yeonwoo looked Chahun up and down, inspecting the fastening straps that were properly secured rather than loosely fixed as usual, and thoroughly checked the auxiliary bag as well.
“Did you check your potions?”
“Yes.”
Even if Chahun hadn’t packed them properly, Yeonwoo had extras in his bag, so it would be fine. After patting his bag to confirm the location of the potions, Yeonwoo looked down to examine the thigh belt and froze.
“What about the magazine?”
“I don’t need it anyway. I’ll be using Sili all day.”
At those words, Yeonwoo closed his eyes and sighed. If it had been Yeonhwa, Chahun would have been scolded severely by now. Despite being told so many times to bring it… Yeonwoo wanted to pinch Chahun’s cheeks hard for deliberately not bringing it, but he suppressed his anger and looked at Chahun with a subdued gaze.
“Right. You won’t need it.”
Chahun’s eyes widened at Yeonwoo’s indifferent gaze and low voice, and he scrambled to make excuses.
“No, you know too, hyung. When using Sili, I don’t need a magazine. I won’t be using the gun anyway, and the magazine is just heavy, so I didn’t bring it.”
“And what if something happens where you really need it? I’ve told you repeatedly that items sometimes don’t work properly in dungeons.”
At Yeonwoo’s voice mixed with a sigh, Chahun was about to head back to the training room to get a magazine. However, he visibly panicked when he saw the firmly closed door. Chahun looked at Yeonwoo with eyes that asked what to do. Watching him, Yeonwoo clicked his tongue lightly. It was clear that in the book, he got hurt because of behavior like this.
Yeonwoo opened his bag and gestured to Chahun. Good thing he brought extras just in case. As he took out the spare magazine he had packed, Chahun carefully took it.
“I’ll make sure to bring it next time.”
Yeonwoo nodded without even glancing at Chahun and walked toward the Center Director. You should have just packed it even if it was a hassle. As Chahun followed behind with regret, Yeonwoo asked him:
“Do you remember what they said to do first when we enter?”
“Yes. Finding our senses is the top priority,”
It was an explanation he’d heard so often that it felt like it might be permanently etched into his ears, and an answer he’d given until his mouth wore out. After Chahun recited the order and methods without hesitation, Yeonwoo nodded and looked up at him with a bright smile.
“If you know all that so well, then why didn’t you bring the magazine?”
Even though it wasn’t the praise he was hoping for, Chahun’s lips slowly curved upward. Afraid of being scolded for smiling when he hadn’t done anything right, Chahun quickly bit his lip and obediently followed behind Yeonwoo. He should feel bad when being scolded, but whenever Yeonwoo showed concern for him, it felt like dandelion seeds were floating in a corner of his heart.
“You’re here.”
The floating feeling like flower seeds was crushed into the gutter with a single word from the Center Director. Chahun stood with a slight slouch, glaring at the Center Director, and Lee Sangwon was staring at Chahun with a look like a hyena eyeing someone else’s food bowl.
“Han Yeonwoo Esper, this way.”
Leaving the three of them behind, the Deputy Director led Yeonwoo to one side.
“What is this…?”
Where the Deputy Director was pointing, the center’s guides were standing in a line. Jo Heeseo, who was standing in the middle, spotted Yeonwoo and waved her hand enthusiastically. Seeing her bright face made Yeonwoo’s stomach twist. It wasn’t long ago that she was sobbing about not wanting to guide Yeonwoo. Now she’s pretending to be glad to see him? She had insisted on getting rid of him because she didn’t want to work with him, and now her face was so thick?
Ignoring Heeseo, Yeonwoo scanned the ID cards of the guides standing in a row. There were fewer A-rank guides than he expected. Even considering the center didn’t have many high-ranked guides, it was too few. It seemed they had chosen original team members rather than Chahun, whose performance was uncertain.
While higher-ranked guides would be preferable, even lower-ranked ones would be fine for getting used to a guide’s sense in the dungeon. As Yeonwoo waited to discuss his opinion with Chahun, Heeseo approached with light steps. Noticing that the Deputy Director wasn’t stopping her, Heeseo smiled broadly and extended her hand to Yeonwoo.
“Wouldn’t it be better to go with your team?”
Yeonwoo couldn’t help but laugh at Heeseo’s words. Since when did she treat him as a team member? All those guides were waiting to train with Chahun, yet her attitude suggested that he would obviously choose her, which was truly pathetic.
Before he could shake his head to refuse, Heeseo quickly reached out to grab Yeonwoo’s hand. But just as she did, another guide who had approached pushed Heeseo aside and was about to introduce himself when yet another guide pushed that one away and extended a hand toward Yeonwoo.
In the chaos that suddenly unfolded, Chahun pushed the surprised Yeonwoo behind him and glared at the Deputy Director.
“Are you even listening to me? I said we don’t need them.”
Yeonwoo’s eyes widened at Chahun’s words. Enter the dungeon without a guide? You might be fine with your large mana core, but what about me?
Ignoring Yeonwoo’s question about what to do if something necessary came up, Chahun stood in front of the black hemisphere. When asked if he really didn’t need a guide, Chahun insisted they really didn’t and placed his hand on the hemisphere as instructed by the training director.
The black hemisphere responded to Chahun’s mana, rippling and creating a swirling vortex like a gate. Chahun, looking down at the vortex, turned his gaze to stare at Yeonwoo. It was obvious. He was going to ask if he could go alone.
That morning, when Chahun had asked if they really had to go together, Yeonwoo had replied that if Chahun was confident he wouldn’t get lost in the dungeon or if he wanted to go with Sangwon, he could go in alone.
In response to Chahun’s gaze, Yeonwoo gestured toward Sangwon. With a groan and a grimace, Chahun extended his hand to Yeonwoo.
Chahun continued to insist they didn’t need a guide as he held Yeonwoo’s hand. Yeonwoo glanced at the auxiliary bag, relieved that he had packed plenty of mana potions. While applauding Chahun’s ambition to tackle the dungeon without a guide, Yeonwoo watched Lee Sangwon who was standing behind the Center Director.
Why was Sangwon even here anyway?
While it made sense for the Center Director or Deputy Director to be present, it was highly suspicious that Sangwon, who had no connection to Chahun, was standing guard. As Yeonwoo looked around, he stopped Chahun who was about to step into the rippling vortex.
“I, I mean, I will enter first.”
He was definitely plotting something. Chahun stepped back readily when Yeonwoo said that since finding one’s senses takes a long time, it would be better if he went in first. As Yeonwoo stood before the vortex and put his foot in, feeling like he was breaking through a sticky membrane, it happened.
“Han Yeonwoo Esper.”
Lee Sangwon, who had approached, clenched his fists and said,
“Don’t forget. Train as if it’s the real thing.”
* * *
Passing through the gate as if being sucked in, Yeonwoo began to find his senses one by one. Not only was there the crushing pressure, but the heat from his mana core frantically producing mana to push away the dungeon mana was also considerable.
Only after finding the sensation in his feet did Yeonwoo open his eyes, then covered his mouth.
Of all places, it was a cave-type dungeon. When the dungeon of the same type where he had met his end filled his vision, tears welled up in Yeonwoo’s brown eyes. Along with the appearance of a black-scaled dragon in the empty space, he had visions of his perfectly fine hands melting away. Yeonwoo swallowed hard and fell to his knees.
With his breathing completely tangled and phantom pain burning in his fingertips and toes, Yeonwoo squeezed his eyes shut and curled up. As he was suffering in an inescapable illusion, feeling nauseated from the burning sensation in his mana core, something tickled the back of his hand.
As soon as he felt that sensation, the illusions and auditory hallucinations tormenting Yeonwoo disappeared. In the cave that had been filled with a rampaging dragon and its flames, only Yeonwoo’s gasping breaths echoed.
Slowly catching his breath, Yeonwoo reached out for his dagger. Even though he couldn’t feel Chahun’s mana, the sensation on the back of his hand remained. In this dungeon where Yeonwoo was alone, there was only one being that could touch the back of his hand.
A magical beast.
Had Chahun summoned a magical beast before even entering? He’s so impatient. Clicking his tongue, Yeonwoo carefully got up. He didn’t want to show himself being defeated by a magical beast at the entrance, not even in the middle of the dungeon.
“Huh?”
It wasn’t a magical beast. Through his blurry vision, he saw a gem snake. Though Yeonwoo didn’t have taming abilities, he could tell the gem snake was confused. The gem snake circled frantically around Yeonwoo, occasionally raising its body and looking around, clearly not knowing what to do.
The gem snake would hide behind any larger rock it found, then open its mouth and survey its surroundings cautiously. When its eyes met Yeonwoo’s, it glowed with golden eyes and quickly slithered toward him. The gem snake raised its body erect in front of Yeonwoo, looking around and nodding its head rapidly.
What’s going on? When Yeonwoo reached out his hand, the gem snake quickly climbed onto his palm. Yeonwoo’s eyes widened at the familiar weight and appearance.
“Are you the same one from before?”
The gem snake, staring intently at Yeonwoo, flinched in surprise, then wrapped around Yeonwoo’s wrist. And then it bit its own tail?
“What the—”
“What is it?”
“What the!”
Startled by Chahun’s shout, Yeonwoo quickly hid his wrist behind him. Covering his left wrist, which had the bracelet, with his right hand, Yeonwoo watched Chahun carefully.
“What is it? Are you okay?”
Chahun reached out and wiped beneath Yeonwoo’s eyes.
“Why are you crying?”
Tears were falling drop by drop from Yeonwoo’s eyelashes every time he blinked.
“It’s motion sickness. My stomach is a bit queasy.”
Lowering his gaze, Chahun examined Yeonwoo’s hair, wet with sweat, his lips gasping for breath, and his reddened eyelids in turn, then waved his hand to create a chunk of ice.
Although he couldn’t feel the cold because of the ring on his hand, Yeonwoo liked the feeling of having his face massaged, so he held onto the ice for a long time, exhaling languidly.
After shaking off the moisture, Yeonwoo checked his mana core, which was pulsating with a pleasant beat. Chahun also confirmed there were no problems and looked around the dungeon.
Before setting off, while Chahun was checking that Sili was functioning properly, Yeonwoo looked at the bracelet on his wrist.
Just now, what on earth was that?
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
