* * *
So I really look that bad, huh… And who do you think made me like this?
I couldn’t help feeling a little wronged, but I took out a white towel from my item pouch and began wiping myself off.
I’d packed it just in case, and thankfully, it came in handy.
“You brought a towel but forgot potions?”
“Oh… I brought them. They just feel a bit too valuable to use right now.”
My bribe stash only had top-grade potions.
I did pack a few, of course, but it felt wasteful to use one on a mere flesh wound.
They cost a fortune.
Besides, I had a trick up my sleeve.
“Just for the record, I can’t handle that mid-boss. Seriously, it’ll kill me.”
“Mid-boss?”
Do Soohyuk stopped mid-turn and raised an eyebrow, glancing back at me.
Crap, that was a slip. I ignored his sharp gaze and kept pretending to wipe my face.
“Just a gut feeling…”
“……”
Cold sweat trickled down my back.
I seriously needed to watch what I said.
After walking for maybe two more hours, the mid-boss began to reveal itself, probably because its illusions weren’t working.
The ground started rumbling as if an earthquake had hit.
‘Rumble—!’
Moments later, a huge mound of sand erupted ahead of us—about the size of a whole apartment building.
It’s… way bigger than I expected.
When it fully emerged, the S-Rank mid-boss took the form of a snake.
Its illusion magic having failed, it looked absolutely furious.
Its blood-red eyes burned with venomous rage.
Chrrr—
Its rattle-like tail quivered, sending small vibrations through the air and making my hair stand on end.
The oppressive aura hit hard, and fear washed over me—yet at the same time, my heart pounded with excitement at seeing this scene from the movie in real life.
HSSSSHH–!
Just then, the coiled-up mid-boss opened its mouth wide and let out a threatening hiss.
I instinctively took a step back, but then froze at what I saw next.
“…Whoa.”
Jet-black flames suddenly spiraled upward like a massive tornado.
Somewhere in the chaos, a monstrous shriek rang out—eerie and otherworldly.
The fire, which had erupted from the ground, reached all the way to the sky in seconds.
The deafening roar and the storm of sand made it impossible to keep my eyes open.
I could barely catch glimpses of the monster thrashing within the flames through my blurred vision.
I’d heard illusion-type monsters weren’t good at other combat abilities—but still, I didn’t expect it to get destroyed this easily.
The monster flailed in agony inside the swirling black fire, then finally crumbled into a charred corpse.
Thud—!
The moment it hit the sand, it disintegrated into ash and scattered in the wind.
I stood frozen, dazed by the spectacle.
Even in the movie, that scene had impressed me—but seeing it live far exceeded expectations.
Then something glittered atop the dark sand.
Looking closer, I saw a red mana stone about the size of a fist.
Compared to the monster’s massive body, it looked pathetically small.
Still, it was the S-Rank core of a mid-boss.
Its value had to be unimaginable—yet Do Soohyuk barely glanced at it before tossing it aside.
“Not worth much.”
I instinctively ran over and snatched the core from the sand.
It pulsed with a deep red glow—visibly powerful.
How was this not valuable?
“Then… can I have it?”
My father’s birthday was coming up.
I figured I could have it crafted into something nice.
Sure, the Seo Inho household had plenty of luxury items, but those were all bribes.
They meant nothing.
This was from my first dungeon—I thought he’d appreciate it.
But before I could even ask again, Do Soohyuk had already walked off.
I took that as a silent “I don’t care” and carefully stored the stone in my pouch.
Now then… can we finally rest?
The area suddenly seemed to darken rapidly.
I looked up and saw the last rays of red sunset disappearing beyond a distant sand dune.
It had been scorching just a while ago, and now my breath came out in white puffs from the cold.
As if hearing my thoughts, Do Soohyuk walked over to a flat spot and summoned black flames from thin air.
No firewood needed—the air warmed instantly.
I moved closer to the flickering black fire.
It was only the size of a soccer ball, but the heat it gave off was intense.
As I watched the flames in awe, warming up, I noticed Do Soohyuk about to sit right on the sand and quickly reached out.
“Wait! Don’t just sit there—use this.”
I pulled out two woolen cushions from my pouch.
Made from rare monster fur, they were incredibly soft and had excellent insulation.
Well, I did just get an S-Rank mana stone—this much hospitality seemed fair.
I laid one cushion on the sand and gestured with my eyes.
Do Soohyuk sat down with a curious expression, impossible to read.
Clicking my tongue inwardly at his unreadable face, I pulled out the lunchbox I’d packed and laid it out on a handkerchief.
“Want to eat together? I made this earlier.”
“Lunchbox?”
“It’s nothing fancy—I whipped it up in a rush this morning.”
All I had were some inari sushi and seaweed soup in a thermos.
It felt a bit much to eat alone, so I put a few pieces of the sushi on the lid of the lunchbox and held it out.
Do Soohyuk, who had been quietly observing me for a while, turned his gaze to my hand.
My hand, chewed up multiple times by monsters, was full of holes—completely wrecked.
Maybe I killed his appetite…
“Looks like your arm’s about to fall off.”
Only when I grumbled did Soohyuk finally take the food.
But he didn’t eat it—just stared down at it in silence.
What was this, some kind of ritual?
Whatever. I chewed on a piece of sushi and glanced around.
Eating here, at the place where ‘Seo Inho’ died, gave me a strange feeling.
After getting beaten to a pulp by Soohyuk in Stage 2, Seo Inho had regained consciousness here.
It had also been a dark night like this one, and black flames had floated eerily in the air.
I had been resting, thanks to Soohyuk’s begrudging consideration, but Inho, ever the thankless bastard, had other ideas.
Seeing Soohyuk meditating with his eyes closed must’ve awakened something wicked in him.
The core of his plan was a hair-thin parasite.
No attack needed—just place it on someone’s skin, and it would quietly seep into the bloodstream, travel to the brain, and take over.
Once that happened, the victim would turn into a perfectly obedient puppet.
Seo Inho had tried to use it to make Soohyuk kill himself.
But as you know, it failed miserably.
The moment he reached out his hand, his head got sliced off.
“Do you know why I brought you here?”
A cold voice rang out from in front of me.
Snapped out of my thoughts, I blinked and looked up.
Soohyuk was still staring down at the sushi, but the atmosphere was turning… strange.
“I wanted to confirm what kind of tricks you were planning to pull here.”
At those words, I paused mid-bite.
So he did know everything. Soohyuk’s normally calm lips slowly curled upward.
That kind of expression—I hadn’t even seen it in movies.
“Don’t you think it’s strange? Someone who wouldn’t even talk to an S-rank suddenly insisting on joining one in a dungeon?”
His jet-black gaze locked onto me.
Okay, that felt dangerous.
My instincts were flashing red in my head. I forced down the mouthful of sushi I was chewing.
“So when you broke our agreement, I could’ve just left you, but I brought you anyway. I wanted to see if you were hiding something.”
“Do Soo-h—”
“But I guess I was right.”
Thud.
I only blinked once, but suddenly I was lying flat on the sand.
When the hell did he—?
It had happened so fast, I didn’t even see him move.
Soohyuk was on top of me, one large hand tightly gripping my throat.
“What kind of stunt are you trying to pull this time?”
His already low voice had dropped even colder.
He wasn’t actively trying to strangle me—yet—but the situation alone was threatening enough.
I swallowed dryly from the tension.
Damn it, Seo Inho… I can’t not blame you for this.
I couldn’t say I didn’t understand Soohyuk’s perspective.
Seo Inho had been a piece of work—slinking around like a cockroach, sabotaging from the shadows.
Of course he wasn’t trusted.
I just didn’t think he’d come at me this hard.
Either way, if I didn’t want to provoke him further, I only had one option.
“…I’m sorry.”
“…”
“It won’t happen again.”
A quick apology, and repentance.
I’d already planned to live quietly helping out at my dad’s shop once I got out of here.
No need to create trouble that could follow me out.
But Soohyuk’s response to my apology was… odd.
His smile faded entirely, and his face inched even closer until I could feel his breath.
The grip on my throat tightened to the point where I wheezed from the pressure.
“I could break your neck right now.”
“….”
Looks like he was really pissed off.
Still, I didn’t think he’d actually do it.
Soohyuk wasn’t a villain—not really.
Sure, he was blunt and rough around the edges, but he wasn’t cold-blooded enough to kill someone over a trick.
Seo Inho only died because he crossed the line way too hard.
But I couldn’t say all that out loud.
So I shut my mouth and averted my gaze.
The closeness was getting uncomfortable.
* * *
