Chapter 07
Cho-hee unni glanced up at the sky and continued,
“If we do that, we won’t get caught in warp gates at dead ends, won’t fall for hallucinations or traps, and we won’t have to wander around.”
“Ppi?”
“Ah, you wouldn’t know. Fine spores float around inside this maze. They mess up your sense of direction and cause auditory hallucinations. The biggest problem is they make your teammates look like monsters, so people end up attacking each other.”
At her unexpectedly patient explanation, my beak opened.
Her tone was light, but what she said was not light at all.
Attacking each other sounds extremely dangerous…
And hunters never entered dungeons unarmed.
While I was stunned, Ye-seung, who seemed to be checking his own skill window, added in a blunt voice,
“That’s not even a problem for you or Hee-ho hyung. When people prepare for hallucinations, they usually agree on signals to prove they’re not monsters. But you two just beat up anything that comes close.”
“I heal when I deal damage, so I don’t care. If you’re going to complain, complain to Yeon Hee-ho.”
“Me? Why me? I don’t hit painfully. Cho-hee noona makes people bleed when she punches.”
“But they heal afterward!”
“I don’t wound them at all.”
“…Forget it. Talking is pointless. Just use the skill already. It says single use isn’t possible, so only the party leader can activate it.”
Ye-seung sighed again and gestured at Cho-hee.
Watching them, I kept feeling strangely amused.
At the shop, they always used pretty, kind words.
Seeing them bicker and curse so naturally like this felt unfamiliar.
But not unpleasant.
Honestly…
It was kind of fun seeing this side of them.
Meanwhile, Cho-hee activated the skill.
I knew because a system window appeared.
But—
(Party) SYSTEM: ‘Ha Cho-hee’ has used the skill ‘Flight.’
(Party) SYSTEM: Skill owner ‘White-headed Long-tailed Tit’ has a low rank.
‘Tiny Angel Wings’ appear on the backs of party members.
…That was a weird message.
It was common knowledge skills had ranks.
But I’d never heard party buffs were affected too.
And more importantly… what is Tiny Angel Wings?
Panicked, I looked up—
And saw tiny, ridiculously adorable white wings on Ye-seung and Cho-hee’s backs.
Small.
Cute.
Like toy wings children would wear.
“…Fuck.”
“….”
Cho-hee covered part of her face and cursed.
Ye-seung stared at me with a terrifying expression.
But before either of them reacted further—
Hee-ho lifted his hand.
My body turned.
And suddenly I was face to face with him.
I flinched without meaning to.
It was the first time I had ever seen Hee-ho without his usual smile.
Unlike pale-colored Ye-seung, Hee-ho had dark hair.
Dark eyes.
Those black eyes stared at me for a long time.
Then he asked seriously,
“Little chirpy… are you really pure water?”
“Ppi?”
“You really are a newbie? A beginner?”
“Ppi, ppiit.”
I had awakened over a year ago—
But I’d done nothing since.
So yes, I was basically a beginner.
I nodded quickly.
And Hee-ho paused—
Then smiled.
A very…
Very pleased smile.
Honestly?
It was a little scary.
“Look at him grin. No wonder a dullahan thinks its head belongs to him and comes looking.”
“Can we just break through the maze already? These wings, seriously… ha…”
“Yeah, yeah. Let’s go.”
I couldn’t see it myself, but apparently the system had shown how to use the skill.
Ye-seung, Cho-hee, and Hee-ho all pushed off almost at the same time.
Their tiny wings flapped.
And their bodies rose into the air.
As we floated higher, the tight expressions on Ye-seung and Cho-hee’s faces relaxed.
When we rose far above the towering vine walls—
Cho-hee whistled.
“Wow. They look awful, but this is ridiculously convenient. We can even see where the exit is.”
“You can see traps properly from up here too. Maybe because we’re out of the spores’ range?”
For something called a Grand Labyrinth, the maze spread out so vast and complicated it made my eyes hurt.
More than that—
It was so high I was terrified.
It felt like we were at least ten stories up.
After scanning the area, Ye-seung sighed.
“If we go down near there and head straight for the exit, it should work. Hopefully the herb drops are good this time.”
“Seriously. Ah, thanks to you this is easy. Thanks, little chirpy.”
“Ppi, ppii.”
Unlike me, frozen in fear—
Cho-hee casually flew close and stroked my head.
Ye-seung led the way like a guide.
Cho-hee followed.
Hee-ho brought up the rear.
Whether intentional or not—
I kept staring at the tiny flapping wings on their backs.
After a while, Hee-ho even took out his phone and started filming.
The wind noise kept the other two from noticing.
When I stared at him, Hee-ho smiled with crescent-shaped eyes and put a finger to his lips.
Shh.
I instinctively nodded.
As we descended closer to the ground—
The vine walls began writhing.
Cho-hee rotated her glowing fist.
“I’ll go deal with it, you two stay—”
“No, noona. Let’s go together. I want these wings gone as soon as possible.”
“Why? They’re cute. Right, little chirpy?”
Hee-ho cut in with a laugh.
They were cute—
But I absolutely couldn’t say that aloud.
I shut my beak and looked away.
“Haah…”
“Are your eyes broken?”
Ye-seung and Cho-hee looked at Hee-ho in disgust and dropped toward the ground.
Hee-ho descended too, holding me.
But we didn’t land all the way.
Just hovering close to the ground made me feel safer after being so high.
The moment the other two touched down—
Thorns shot out from the wall again.
“Ppiiiik!”
Even from a distance they looked huge and threatening.
I cried out instinctively—
But Ye-seung casually poked one with his spear.
Blue flames wrapped around it.
And in moments—
Only ashes remained.
Hee-ho kept talking to me.
“It’s okay. The monsters here are all we— no, weaklings… anyway, weak. Remember what Cho-hee noona said? They rely on spores to make people lose their way.”
“Ppi.”
“The strong ones don’t use tricks like that. They’re weak, so all they can do is disguise themselves as plants and ambush.”
As he spoke, his gaze shifted downward.
I folded my wings and looked too.
Then all my feathers puffed up.
Monsters were approaching from all directions—
Without sound.
Without presence.
And they all look so strange…
A giant mushroom walking around with huge lumps all over its body.
A bizarre plant crawling with long vines writhing like tentacles.
Leaves with legs almost seemed normal by comparison.
Even though Panacea Grand Labyrinth was a deep floor—
They looked even creepier than I imagined.
And maybe because I was weak—
They felt oppressive just to look at.
Shivering, I looked up at Hee-ho and chirped softly.
Thinking over and over,
We really don’t have to fight those… right?
Unlike me, Hee-ho looked relaxed.
Then smirked.
“Little chirpy, you really are a beginner. Getting creeped out by something like that.”
“Ppii……”
“Well, don’t worry too much. You’ll get used to it.”
“…Ppi?”
“Hm? What do I mean?”
“It means we just keep going into dungeons until you get used to it.”
“Ppiiiiii?!”
