The Price of Trust
The moment I placed my trust in people, a chilling sensation brushed across my face. Instinctively sensing the threat of death, I tried to scramble to my feet. But at that instant, strength drained from my wounded body and an excruciating pain lanced through my skull. Unable to rise, I could only crawl across the floor while the man with the vicious scowl looked down at me, his lips twisting into a cruel smile.
“I wouldn’t waste your energy thrashing around. I cut your tendons clean through, so struggling won’t do you any good. Let’s not make this any harder than it has to be.”
The party leader spoke those words—essentially a death sentence—with the casual ease of everyday conversation. The way he flicked my blood from his blade was far too natural, as if he had done this sort of thing more than once or twice.
Clutching the bleeding wound with one hand, I frantically scanned the others around me. My worst fears were confirmed. Not a single person showed any reaction to what was happening. Their stiff expressions and deliberately averted gazes made their complicity unmistakable.
I had once heard a rumor circulating among the porters. To increase their share of the profits, some parties would murder the porters they hired inside the dungeon and disguise the deaths as accidents—a practice known as “trimming the headcount.” The story sounded plausible, and there had been a few suspicious incidents, but never any solid proof. Besides, the idea that hunters who earned steady money and enjoyed decent reputations would stoop to such things for a handful of coins seemed absurd, so most people dismissed it as just another horror story. The unconscious belief that capable, well-paid hunters would never do something so vile had helped reinforce that dismissal.
But now that it was happening right in front of me, none of that mattered anymore.
“Don’t hold too much of a grudge… Just think of it as bad luck on your part. Who could’ve guessed we’d stumble into this kind of fortune so suddenly?”
The white-haired elder who had been standing with his arms crossed spoke up. He had been the party’s tank and the one I had spoken with the most while clearing the dungeon. Yet the eyes that now met mine held not a shred of emotion. My heart froze at the sight.
I lifted my head and shouted at the leader with every ounce of rage I could muster.
“You really think you’ll get away with this?! I’m a veteran porter registered with the agency! Do you honestly believe they’ll buy that I died in some accident inside a low-rank dungeon?”
My furious voice caused a ripple of unease across their faces. For the moment, the situation was still in my favor. A small, obscure party that had hit the jackpot in a low-rank dungeon—only to have every member survive except the one porter they had hired years ago? Anyone would find the circumstances suspicious. If word spread among the other porters, no one would ever sign a contract with them again. And if the agency caught wind of anything shady and reported it to the corporation that oversaw this region, the consequences would be severe.
That lingering hope was all I had left.
But the man who had attacked me merely snorted, unbothered by my threat.
“Hey, hey, what’s with those faces? This isn’t our first time doing this, is it? I’ll smooth things over with the higher-ups at the agency like always, so don’t worry.”
At his confident words, the other party members visibly relaxed—while my own expression hardened to stone.
“…What did you just say?”
“Hm? What’s there to explain? The old man at the top of your agency is a close relative of mine. Did you really think I’d pull something like this without a plan? Heh… That’s why you porters are all idiots.”
His mocking tone made the last flicker of hope inside me die. Now that I thought about it, the rumors had always claimed no concrete evidence was ever found. Of course not—if the agency itself was covering things up, there would never be any proof.
He seemed to savor the despair on my face as he crouched down, grabbed a fistful of my hair, and yanked me up to his eye level. Ignoring my pained groan, he spoke again.
“Don’t get the wrong idea. I don’t do this every time. It’s just… like Park said, you were incredibly unlucky. Curse your fate for being the one to share this windfall with us.”
With that taunting whisper in my ear, he began dragging me somewhere. Even through the blood loss and agony, I managed to turn my head and look. My eyes widened the moment I realized where he was headed—the massive cliff at the edge of the gorge.
His intention was obvious. He was going to throw me off the bottomless precipice.
The instant I understood, I fought back with everything I had left. But against a hunter whose stats and level far exceeded mine, raw strength was useless. I was being hauled forward like livestock to the slaughter when someone suddenly blocked his path.
“W-wait! Leader… Do we really have to kill someone on such a joyous day?”
A trembling female voice laced with hesitation. The party’s only mage had spoken. The leader stopped, and every gaze turned toward her.
He scratched his head with his free hand, looking annoyed.
“Ah, right. This is your first time seeing it up close, isn’t it, Si-yeon? I guess that makes sense. Don’t worry too much. As long as everyone here keeps their mouths shut, nothing happened! Sure, our Karma might go up a little, but it’s not a big deal, right? I’ll handle all the dirty work. You just watch.”
“Still… If it’s about the money, the porter’s cut is only a few percent at most. We got so many mana stones—surely we could spare that much…”
“Kim Si-yeon… Do you even know how much that ‘few percent’ actually is? I don’t know the exact numbers either, but it’s at least several hundred million won. Do you have any idea how many times we’d have to run this miserable dungeon to earn that kind of money?”
When his persuasion failed, his voice rose with irritation. Seeing that she still looked unconvinced, he cursed under his breath—quietly enough that only I, right beside him, could hear.
“Ha… This is why it’s such a pain to use kids. Fine. We’ll do it your way. But in exchange, you take full responsibility for everything that happens here.”
“…What? What do you mean…?”
When he appeared to agree, her relieved expression shattered at his next words. He stared at her with contempt, forcing his anger down.
“Isn’t it obvious? Think about it. If we let this bastard go right now, what do you think he’ll do first? Report us, of course. As long as the victim is alive, covering this up becomes a hundred times harder. I have no intention of getting dragged into that mess, so you’ll bear all the consequences.”
“That’s—! You’re the one who did this to him in the first place, Leader…”
“That much we can handle by getting our stories straight with the others. We just need to make sure this guy can’t talk—destroy his vocal cords and both hands. So? Still want to let him go? Say it.”
He laid out the conditions and pressed her for an answer. The fire she had shown moments ago was gone. She had instinctively realized which way the other party members’ loyalties were leaning in this standoff. Understanding that her own safety was now at risk, she looked around with trembling eyes.
“!……”
Everyone avoided her gaze. When her eyes finally met mine—the last, desperate hope I had left—I widened my own eyes, silently begging. But in the end, she was just another human being who couldn’t afford to risk herself.
She never opened her mouth. Instead, she turned her head away, avoiding my eyes.
“……”
I hadn’t expected much from her to begin with. Even so, I felt something inside my mind snap in that moment. Whether it was my final thread of trust in humanity or the last strand of my sanity, I couldn’t tell. All I knew for certain was that an enormous nail of despair had been driven so deep into my chest that it could never be removed.
Seeing her reaction, the leader let out a small sigh and relaxed his expression.
“Yeah… Good choice. I didn’t want to lose the mage I worked so hard to recruit. Since this is your first time, I’ll let it slide. But there won’t be a second. That’s the rule of this party—the rule I made as leader.”
Inside the silent, cavernous depths, no one dared to contradict him. That silence meant my fate was drawing closer.
“Alright, let’s wrap this up quickly! Dragging these things out only brings bad luck.”
With every obstacle removed, he resumed dragging me toward the cliff without the slightest hesitation. Peering over the edge, he let out an impressed whistle at the dizzying depth.
“Whew~ Can’t even tell how deep it goes. Perfect place to dump a body. We haven’t known each other long, but take care. If you’re resentful, try being born as some rich, talented bastard in your next life.”
With a repulsive grin, he began to lift me up. At the same time, my lower body—still scraping the ground—was pulled forward. And in that exact instant, I struck.
Grab!!
“!!! Gah! Krrgh!!!... You little—!”
My hands shot out like a striking snake and clamped around his throat with every ounce of strength I possessed. Shock flashed across his face—he had never imagined I would counterattack. I poured every last bit of power and willpower I had saved into this moment. The instant my one good leg touched the ground, I lunged forward and seized his exposed neck.
A direct contest of strength was pointless. But targeting the vital point of the throat changed everything. This was the final, desperate strike born from the last scraps of my cunning—the final act of a cornered beast. Even if it meant dying here, I had never intended to go quietly. The despair that had filled my eyes moments ago now blazed with the last embers of my life, fueled by nothing but pure, burning rage toward the man before me.