CHAPTER 102……………………………………………
I was just about to gather the guild members in one place, wondering if we were about to be dragged up to the next floor again. With a creaking sound, the door rattled violently. Baek Sohyeok, who had been standing a bit away, sensed something was off and instantly closed the distance, positioning himself in front of me. Kang Gwonhu, who was with him, also narrowed his eyes and expanded the size of his shield.
“Joon-ah! Come here.”
Unlike the others who had already gathered, Kim Joon was standing alone at a distance, so I motioned for him to come over. I had planned to go get him myself, but with Kang Gwonhu blocking the front and Baek Sohyeok behind me, I couldn’t move.
“Yes!”
Fortunately, Kim Joon didn’t hesitate and ran straight to my side, so I didn’t need to move after all.
If we’re forced up to the next floor, this time it’ll really be dangerous.
Among us, I—whose mana was completely depleted—was the biggest burden. Even considering the side effects, I figured it would be better to drink a mana potion.
Creeeak, creak—
After only banging loudly for a while, the door slowly began to open with the sound of rusty hinges grinding together.
“Let’s move a bit farther away from the door.”
We stayed clumped together as we gradually retreated. But since the space was enclosed on all sides, there was a limit to how far we could move away, so instead we focused on strengthening our defenses. Lee Jia drew out the last of her strength to create a massive barrier, and Kang Gwonhu expanded his shield to its maximum size.
“It’s opening.”
The door, which had been opening agonizingly slowly, finally opened all the way.
Whiiiiiing—
“Come back a bit more, hyung.”
Baek Sohyeok was practically pressing against me, almost hugging me, as he told me to move even closer.
It’s weird hearing Kang Gwonhu’s voice calling me “hyung” all the time.
I almost said that if I got any closer, I’d have to crawl inside Kang Gwonhu’s coat—but given the situation, I held my tongue.
“Looks like we’re not being forced upward this time?”
Since nothing unusual happened even after the door opened, Lee Jia cautiously released the barrier as she spoke. From appearances alone, it wasn’t much different from when a gate to the next floor opened.
Everyone was gradually relaxing. Kang Gwonhu, in particular, approached the door with his shield, trying to examine it more closely.
“Don’t get too close.”
I warned him just in case he got sucked into the door, but he turned his head back toward me and smiled brightly.
“Are you worried about me?”
I thought it was obvious enough that it didn’t need to be asked, so I sharply turned my head away.
“Hyung is worried about my body, so don’t get any weird ideas. And can’t you stop making that creepy face?”
Baek Sohyeok snapped aggressively, clearly displeased by what he’d seen.
If I think about it from his perspective, if Kang Gwonhu were looking at my body with some kind of ulterior motive like that, it really would be creepy.
Baek Sohyeok was definitely overreacting, but I could understand why he shuddered.
“There’s nothing unusual about the door.”
Kang Gwonhu ignored the provocation entirely and focused on inspecting the door. Baek Sohyeok didn’t seem particularly upset either, as if he hadn’t expected a response.
“Then should we assume that we’ve passed through the gate to the fourth floor?”
Before the question was even finished, something shot out from the door.
“Fall back!”
Thinking another Planariant had appeared, I shouted urgently—but what extended from the door was a long, straight arm.
“Isn’t that… a human hand?”
Kim Joon quietly asked as he tugged at my collar.
“That’s what it looks like to me too.”
Ryu Jisu replied, squinting as if to confirm what she was seeing. As we were trying to make sense of it, a body suddenly emerged from the door. We tensed, thinking it might be an enemy—but the person who appeared was completely unexpected.
“Seo Goyeol…”
The name slipped out like a sigh. I could feel Baek Sohyeok and Kang Gwonhu turn their gazes toward me. It had come out unconsciously, so I couldn’t stop it.
“Hello.”
Seo Goyeol stepped fully out of the doorway and greeted us as if he’d just run into old friends.
“You’re the guild master of Jupiter, right?”
Standing at the very front, Kang Gwonhu asked, even though he clearly already knew the answer. Seo Goyeol wasn’t intimidated at all and returned a smile.
“Hm… and you don’t seem to be Mr. Baek Sohyeok.”
He then fixed his gaze on Baek Sohyeok standing behind me. Despite not having talked for long, his all-seeing demeanor made my body stiffen. I couldn’t shake the impression that Seo Goyeol was dangerous.
“You recognized him well,”
Kang Gwonhu said casually, shrugging.
“Come to think of it, the third floor had quite a few unusual Planariants. You’re all very capable—hard to imagine how you ended up in a situation like this.”
Seo Goyeol spoke naturally, as if we were longtime acquaintances. Compared to the last time I’d spoken with him, he seemed even less human.
There’s no way that man is my little brother.
Setting aside his behavior that seemed to see through the future, he wasn’t the Seo Goyeol I knew.
Goyeol was kinder—someone who looked after others. He never spoke as if he were standing above people.
Seeing the same face with such different behavior made me deeply uncomfortable. It felt as though someone had stolen my brother’s body and refused to give it back.
“Oh—could it be because of that person?”
His eyes locked precisely onto me. Under that icy gaze, I felt as though cold water had been poured over me from head to toe.
“What brings you here?”
“Oh, we were preparing to challenge the fourth floor, but we heard a noise near the door and decided to check it out.”
Once you passed through the door connecting the second and third floors, it disappeared. I’d thought nothing would change just because we’d gone up a floor, but we hadn’t actually stepped onto the next one yet. That meant we didn’t have enough information to tell whether he was lying.
“If that’s the case, it seems like you can just head back.”
“You’re being sharp. Last time we talked, the atmosphere was pretty good. You seemed quite eager to talk with me.”
“Hyung, did you talk with Mr. Seo Goyeol?”
Baek Sohyeok cut in. Unlike the way he looked at me, Seo Goyeol observed Baek Sohyeok with noticeably gentler eyes.
“Yes. We had a brief conversation.”
I grew anxious that Seo Goyeol might give Baek Sohyeok some hint about my identity. I replayed our conversation in my head, wondering if I’d said anything problematic.
“Mr. Seo Goyeol, let’s say your reason for coming here was simple curiosity. I don’t see why you’re continuing such pointless conversation. Aren’t your guild members busy fighting on the fourth floor?”
The one who saved me was Kang Gwonhu. Whether he intended it or not, I was grateful.
“Oh dear, it’s not that we had any ulterior motive. Compared to Dohwa Garden or the Chaos Guild, we’re quite small, so when we meet famous people, we just want to act friendly.”
There wasn’t even a trace of humility or respect in Seo Goyeol’s tone or gestures. Not just me, but Lee Jia and Ryu Jisu beside me also easily sensed that he was lying.
“Then it seems you’ve acted friendly enough, so please head back now.”
“My apologies. Then I’ll do as you say.”
After pausing briefly, Seo Goyeol waved his hand while keeping his eyes fixed on Baek Sohyeok.
“Mr. Baek Sohyeok, I hope we’ll have another chance to talk next time.”
Then he shot me another cold look and slipped back into the doorway.
“I’ll be waiting on the fourth floor.”
That could have been directed at Baek Sohyeok—or at Kang Gwonhu. Even so, I had an unsettling feeling that he was warning me.
After his body completely disappeared, the status window glowed red.
[You have cleared the 3rd Floor. Would you like to move to the 4th Floor?]
The notification came too late.
From the process of getting to the third floor to finishing it, something feels off. If this were a game, I’d suspect we’d hit a massive bug.
Unfortunately, this was no longer a game, so there was no one to report a bug to.
“Do you think they were also forcibly dragged up to the third floor and cleared it? That would explain how they finished it so quickly.”
“Yeah. Looking at the status window, it seems like we didn’t land on a normal floor but came straight to the gate leading to the fourth floor. It was shocking, but we did clear it quickly.”
Ryu Jisu and Lee Jia began offering plausible theories.
“Let’s go outside and think about it. Given our condition, entering the fourth floor right now would be reckless. And we still need to go get Yaongi.”
I suggested going back down to the second floor—completely unaware of what might be happening below.
