Chapter 60 …
“What the—? Kwon Seo-woo, did you call him?”
“As if! Why would Hyung Baekgyeon be here…?”
The moment our eyes met Baekgyeon’s, all of us fell into confusion.
“Did I hear that right? Baekgyeon said he’s clearing this dungeon? Then are we too late?”
“B-But from what he said earlier, doesn’t it sound like he’s going in with us?”
“Then why?!”
“……”
The expressions on the team members’ faces stiffened in an instant. Mine wasn’t any different. Damn it.
Why… why did he come?
Since things had gone sour with Kwon Seo-woo, I’d thought he wouldn’t show up at all this time.
Just then, Baekgyeon’s gaze met mine. He strode straight toward me and—uncharacteristically—greeted me without any violence involved.
“Feels like it’s been a while, Kwon Asol.”
“…Huh? Are you being serious?”
“What’s with that reaction?”
Is he managing his image because there’s a camera here?
While I was busy marveling at the sheer shamelessness of the rank-1 hunter, Piuri lowered her voice and asked the question everyone was dying to know.
“Why would someone as high-ranking as you come here? An S-rank hunter shouldn’t have any business with a newbie dungeon.”
“Why else? A junior I care about is going on his first dungeon run. I can’t just sit back and do nothing.”
At that moment, Kwon Seo-woo—who had been caught by Baekgyeon’s gaze—jerked visibly.
…A junior he cares about? Can’t sit back?
Honestly, it sounded like complete bullshit, but the next words made the situation clear.
“Kwon Seo-woo.”
“…Y-Yes?!”
“Did you lose your phone? It’s been turned off nonstop.”
“Ah—th-that’s, my battery died…”
“Really? Be more careful next time. What are you going to do if I can’t reach you when it matters?”
As he spoke, Baekgyeon lightly patted Seo-woo’s shoulder. He was smiling, but all of us knew that it wasn’t a genuinely pleasant smile. Damn it.
So that call he ignored back then—it was from Baekgyeon.
Now that I’d heard this much, I could roughly piece things together.
So this time, the problem was that Kwon Seo-woo kept avoiding Baekgyeon….
The law of shounen manga.
The protagonist always has a brutal mentor. The protagonist gets tired of training and tries to run away, but the mentor never lets him go!
In other words, it was the classic cliché of the world’s number one obsessively raising an overpowered protagonist.
“Then you don’t plan on yielding this opportunity to your precious juniors?”
“Going easy just because they’re juniors isn’t my style. You know dungeon entry is strictly first-come, first-served, right? If you were in such a hurry, you should’ve come earlier.”
Baekgyeon was right. Aside from a few special cases, dungeon entry rights were given purely in order of arrival.
There are regulations to prevent monopolization by specific guilds, but that doesn’t apply here….
“Choose. Either go in with me, or wait quietly here for your turn while I clear it and come back out.”
Which meant there was no real choice except going in together.
As the flustered team members exchanged quick glances, I spoke up.
“Let’s go in together.”
“What?!”
“Look at his face. He’s already registered for solo entry into a dungeon with no one else waiting. Do you think he’d politely step aside if we asked? If we say we’ll wait until he finishes, he’ll probably refuse to go in himself and just dig his heels in.”
“Wow, Asol, you really read faces well. Did you study that professionally or something?”
“Nah. This level you can tell just by giving it a quick glance.”
The more I spoke, the paler Kwon Seo-woo’s face became, but oddly enough, my own mind felt clearer.
Damn it. At this point, I don’t even know anymore.
The ideal scenario would be separating from Baekgyeon and entering on our own, but I didn’t have the confidence to persuade him verbally. He looked like he wouldn’t back down no matter what, so I decided to claim another mental victory.
Magic stones… right, if I tell him in advance not to destroy the dungeon, it’ll be fine. Please.
Yeah. This was an opportunity—an opportunity to mend Baekgyeon and Kwon Seo-woo’s relationship.
That’s right. Maybe this dungeon is meant to bring those two back together. Damn it.
Thinking about it calmly, maybe because their relationship diverged from the original story, the original’s forced plot correction kicked in like this. If that was the case, then as long as I set the stage, things would resolve themselves again.
Given the situation, this was the best possible choice. After some hesitation, the team members nodded as well. As I headed toward the dungeon entrance, I whispered to Kwon Seo-woo.
“Kwon Seo-woo. Use this chance to get closer to Baekgyeon.”
“H-Huh?”
“I told you before. I get how you feel, but this is something you’ll really need. Okay? Just listen to me once, please.”
“No, noona, why do you keep saying this from before—”
“And if you get close to him, then I can do a proper introduction—ah, no. I mean, I can handle things better somehow. It’ll be annoying, but hang in there.”
“What?!”
Honestly, Kwon Seo-woo aside, the fact that he’d gained such abilities and still hadn’t even opened the rank-1 status window was ridiculous. If this were a normal possession-reincarnation story, he would’ve opened the rank-1 status window within ten chapters and started from there.
“Kwon Seo-woo Hunter! How do you feel about clearing your first dungeon together with Baekgyeon Hunter? Please say a few words!”
“Huh? Excuse me, this wasn’t something I agreed to—”
“Smile nicely while you still can. Look at the camera.”
“…Yes! I’m so, so happy to be clearing a dungeon together with Hyung Baekgyeon! Haha! The best experience of my life! Highly recommended!”
Wow. He’s really pitiful.
Only after being dragged around by Baekgyeon and forced to take dozens of photos with a thumbs-up did Kwon Seo-woo finally get released.
Just before entering the dungeon, I added the line I’d almost forgotten, looking at Baekgyeon.
“Everything else is fine, but please don’t destroy the maze.”
“Destroy the dungeon? What do you take me for?”
Baekgyeon let out an incredulous chuckle, but honestly, he didn’t seem trustworthy at all.
I’m saying this because I read the original, you lunatic….
Mars Dungeon No. 23.
Its official name was The Minotaur’s Labyrinth.
In the original story, the dungeon’s structure was explained roughly like this:
[It’s a dungeon that allows up to five people to enter simultaneously, and the interior is shaped like a massive circular maze. There are three warp spots—basically, three entrances where entrants are summoned.]
[Since there are only three of us, does that mean we’ll each be summoned to one of the three warp spots?]
[It’s apparently a device meant to split party members apart, so that’s likely. If four or more people enter at the same time, they’ll be randomly split into three teams. After that, you need to find your way to the center of the maze.]
Along the outer edge of the circular maze were three warp spots at regular intervals. Dungeon visitors would be summoned to random warp spots, then had to find their way to the very center of the maze.
At a glance, it seemed simple—but the problem was that the maze was ridiculously huge, and the walls were endlessly tall, making it impossible to survey the surroundings.
Since five people are entering, we’ll be split two, two, and one. In that case….
Based on how the original story’s forced corrections had worked so far—and on the purpose of this episode, which I’d just confirmed through our conversation—Kwon Seo-woo would definitely be summoned together with Baekgyeon this time!
I thought it was a flawless deduction.
【You have entered the dungeon <Minotaur’s Labyrinth>!】
【Party members: <Baekgyeon>, <Kwon Asol>, <Piuri>, <Kwon Seo-woo>, <Shin Yeomyeong>】
“So all we have to do now is escape the maze, right?”
“……”
That was what I’d thought—up until ten minutes ago, before I knew I’d be warping with Baekgyeon. Damn it.
“Kwon Asol.”
“Yes?”
“For some reason, I feel like you’re cursing me in your head right now. That’s not the case, is it?”
“Me? Haha, of course not!”
Does this bastard have mind-reading on his skill list or what?
“So why did you tell me earlier not to destroy the maze? Is there some important item here or something?”
“Huh? No. I was just worried you might suddenly feel like smashing the maze.”
I shrugged casually.
Baekgyeon told me not to worry, but considering what he’d done in the original story, I honestly didn’t trust him at all.
If Baekgyeon suddenly decided to destroy the maze, could I even stop him?
No. Let’s think positively.
What if it weren’t me, but Piuri, who’d been paired with Baekgyeon?
“….”
“Why does your face suddenly look brighter?”
“Oh, nothing. It just feels like all the worries in the world are nothing right now. Let’s hurry up and find the path!”
Wow. That was incredibly effective.
Rather than watching that happen, it was much better for me to be stuck with Baekgyeon. Thanks to that realization, I was able to pull myself together quickly.
