* * *
Only the sound of ragged breathing filled the air, and finally, the pressure on my throat eased.
As I coughed desperately, gulping in air, Soohyuk withdrew his black flames.
Maybe it was just me, but even the motion of him pulling his hand back looked like it was done out of sheer irritation.
“If you’re done eating, we’re moving.”
His back, retreating like nothing had happened, looked no different than usual.
Was he mocking me?
I glanced down at the sushi scattered across the sand, sighed, and dragged myself up.
I grabbed the fleece cushion and thermos of seaweed soup and followed him.
I’m never packing lunch for him again.
The whole walk, I rubbed my sore neck and glared at the back of Soohyuk’s head.
No need to check—it was definitely bruised.
I swallowed a sigh and kept a safe distance.
That’s when Soohyuk veered off in an unexpected direction.
He was skipping Stage 3 entirely and heading straight toward the final boss in Stage 4.
The storyline was going way off-script.
The flow was starting to unravel.
“Hey, I think that’s the wrong way.”
The words slipped out almost reflexively.
Stage 3 was the most important part of this dungeon.
Think of it like a bonus stage.
No way we could just skip it.
“What do you mean?”
Soohyuk stopped dead in his tracks.
The tension was thick, and I instinctively stepped back and pointed in the opposite direction.
“I smell water coming from that way. I think we should check it out.”
‘Smell water’, seriously?
It was total nonsense, but I couldn’t think of a better excuse on the spot.
I worried it wouldn’t work, but surprisingly, Soohyuk turned without protest.
My suggestion had been accepted more easily than expected.
He’ll thank me later.
A few more hours of walking (and worrying that my neck might get grabbed again), we finally arrived at the Stage 3 area.
In the distance, sunlight glittered off the surface of water.
An oasis, in the middle of a desert filled with nothing but sand.
It looked like a miracle—but let me be clear, this wasn’t just a normal oasis.
“How did you know?”
Soohyuk also seemed to sense something strange.
He was sharp, as always.
I shrugged and shamelessly repeated myself.
“I told you—I smelled water.”
He obviously didn’t buy it.
Most likely, he’d come all this way just to see if I was scheming again.
An S-rank like him would definitely do that.
But before anything else, this oasis came with one major problem.
“You see that big rock over there? Pretty sure it’s a golem.”
“A golem?”
“Yeah… waking it up is probably a bad idea.”
The huge boulder sitting right next to the water—touch the water, and that thing transforms into a high-level S-rank golem.
It’s like the oasis’s guardian.
Unlike a mid-boss, this one’s strong enough to give even Soohyuk a hard time.
In other words, don’t poke it unless you’re ready to suffer.
“I did a little studying on golems. For the sleeping ones, human blood basically acts like a tranquilizer.”
I pulled out an S-rank dagger and slashed deep across my palm.
I had no choice but to endure the pain—if the bleeding stopped halfway, it wouldn’t work.
As soon as the skin split and blood began to flow, I pressed my hand against the sleeping golem’s rock surface.
Crimson blood trickled down the gentle slope of the stone.
I hoped it would work.
“By the way, isn’t there a reason the golem is guarding this place?”
It was about time I let Do Soohyuk in on the secret of this oasis—why we had to come here in the first place.
I extended my other hand and carefully dipped it into the water.
Thankfully, the golem didn’t wake up.
“Oh, so this oasis is a healing spring? It’s practically on the level of a pseudo-elixir.”
Just as I hoped, my torn and scratched skin began to heal rapidly.
That’s why I hadn’t bothered with a potion.
No point in wasting one when we had something this good.
“What?”
Do Soohyuk reacted sharply for the first time.
The reason for that reaction was none other than his brother, lying unconscious in a hospital bed.
Ever since gates began appearing worldwide and Awakened individuals emerged, people sometimes fell into comas for unknown reasons.
It started with a seizure, then they’d lose consciousness—and never wake up again.
After five years, the patient would inevitably wither away and die.
When modern medicine failed, families had no choice but to turn to dungeons in desperation.
Rumor had it that even the dead could be revived with an elixir.
Do Soohyuk wasn’t any different.
On the day the first gate opened in Seoul, both his parents died.
The only surviving family member was his younger brother.
For that brother’s sake, Soohyuk was prepared to do anything.
He rushed over to me and stared intensely at my hand.
I made a show of pulling it out of the water—smooth and flawless, not a single scratch left.
“I can say this for sure—it’s in a completely different league from top-grade potions. Did you bring enough water containers?”
“……”
Soohyuk clamped his mouth shut.
Of course he hadn’t.
I knew full well he only brought a palm-sized water bottle.
I’d known that from the start—but I wanted to tease him a little.
That’s the price of dragging someone here against their will.
To top it off, I started pulling out a bunch of 1.5-liter bottles from my item pouch.
“I figured I might need them, so I brought a lot.”
I’d packed every bottle I had at home, even glass jars.
If I’d had more time, I would’ve ordered extra empty containers.
It was a shame I couldn’t.
Since I had to keep feeding blood to the golem stone, I stayed in a stretched-out position and busily scooped water.
Soohyuk stood beside me, visibly flustered, just watching.
He was someone who rarely showed his emotions, so seeing him like that was oddly amusing.
“I’ll be done soon. I’ll give you some as payment for the mana stones, so don’t worry.”
Once I’d filled them all, I had nearly 20 bottles.
This stuff was priceless.
It felt like I was finally being rewarded for all the hardships.
With a sincere smile, I handed Soohyuk one of the 1.5-liter bottles.
It wouldn’t completely cure his brother, but it would definitely help.
Even with that tiny bottle he brought, his brother’s life had already been extended by a year.
And when Soohyuk saw the results, he regretted not bringing more—he cried over it.
Now that I think about it, it’s been over two years since his brother fell unconscious…
No wonder he’s desperate.
“Here, I’ll give you five bottles.”
“……”
“… Six?”
Not enough?
I glanced up.
Soohyuk’s expression had returned to his usual calm, but he looked deep in thought.
Maybe even a little sorrowful.
That look reminded me of the time he cried, and it made my chest tighten.
“Fine, seven. No more.”
Just because I felt like it.
After adding two more bottles, I quickly stuffed the rest back into my pouch before he could ask for more.
Then I placed my hand back on the golem’s stone and started pouring water over my body with my free hand.
Honestly, I wanted to just dive in.
Clicking my tongue in regret, I made sure to thoroughly clean even my neck, where I was sure a nasty bruise was forming.
Moments later, my body was completely free of scars.
“The golem might wake up. Let’s move quickly.”
I brushed my wet hair back and jerked my chin.
Soohyuk, now empty-handed, silently followed.
He must’ve stashed his item pouch somewhere, like I had.
He seemed… softer now.
Earlier he was like walking on thin ice, but now his gait and aura had relaxed.
We walked for a while before I let out a long breath, shivering from the cold.
My breath floated in the air, a pale white mist.
Even in the desert, the temperature difference between day and night was insane.
Just hours ago, I was cursing my leather jacket for being too hot.
Now it felt like the temperature had dropped to minus 50.
I could only bear it because I was S-rank—anyone else would’ve frozen to death by now.
Huh?
Suddenly, I felt a wave of heat on the back of my head.
I turned around in confusion—and saw several floating black flames, like will-o’-the-wisps, drifting behind me.
“It’s dark,” Soohyuk said casually.
I almost laughed.
Even a borderline S-rank like me could see just fine.
Still, watching him act like it was no big deal left me oddly moved.
I guess it wasn’t just deserts that were different by day and night.
“We’re almost there. Want to run?”
Only the fourth and final stage remained.
We were nearly at the end, and my desire to escape this place grew stronger.
I swear I’m never entering a dungeon again.
I’d rather spend the rest of my life at Onhwa Snacks.
We sprinted across the vast desert.
Along the way, minor monsters popped up, but they all turned to ash with a flick of Soohyuk’s hand.
It should be time now.
The final boss of Stage 4 was surprisingly ordinary.
About the same level as the golem from earlier—S-rank.
But while the golem focused on defense, this boss had higher attack power and wielded deadly poison.
As long as we avoided getting poisoned, we could finish this run without much trouble.
* * *
