089. Went to the Dungeon and Came Back a Star
089. Went to the Dungeon and Came Back a Star
"Poison needles are going to rain down any second now. Let's get the hell out of here, fast."
I said that to my party members, then threw a quick glance toward the Darkness Guild.
"......Goddammit! We gotta run!"
"C-can't run! The venom's spread—my body won't move! I still need a little more time to pass the antidote around!!!"
"Then throw up a defensive formation, quick!"
"There are t-t-too many of them...."
"Joo Tae-rin, you fucking bitch! This is all your fault—we're about to get wiped out!"
"......Did you just say that to me?"
"We're all about to bite it anyway, so who gives a shit what I say! This whole mess is because you've got an inferiority complex about Cheonhwa, isn't it!"
"Fine, I'll just kill you myself—."
"Go ahead and try, you fucker! We're all dead anyway, so go ahead and kill me!!!"
By now, they were swearing at one another and playing the blame game.
But soon, apparently realizing they had no alternative, they pulled themselves together and began forming a defensive formation even while panting with rage—to survive.
I didn't feel any particular sympathy.
If we hadn't prepared in advance, it wouldn't have been them in that spot—it would've been us.
"Jin Yu-ha."
Beside me, Lee Yu-ri grabbed my arm.
"Yeah, Gukbap. Let's go."
And so, leaving those bastards where they were, we followed the shortcut route I knew to get back to the original path.
The return trip was smooth.
Perhaps because the Darkness Guild's party had rounded up every last monster in the vicinity, we didn't so much as lay eyes on a single ant.
"Here—let's dig in and grab the Magic Stones and spines we couldn't pack earlier."
On the way back, we decided to collect the byproducts we'd missed before.
"......Hoobae, my subspace is already full. I can't fit any more."
"Euhm, really?"
I'd sped up our clearing pace just enough to drag the Darkness Guild into the Unknown Route, which meant we'd only grabbed the byproducts and Magic Stones in a hurry,
and apparently even that had already filled our subspaces to the brim.
'Tch, I really do need to expand the subspace soon. Should I just roughly grab the Magic Stones for now?'
That was when I was mulling it over.
"I think we should take as much as we can carry."
The voice belonged to Gukbap.
Everyone's eyes turned to her.
"The return path is completely monster-free right now. This kind of guaranteed safety isn't common. If it were unavoidable, that's one thing, but I think it's right to take everything we can carry."
"Well, you've got a point. Black Hedgehog spines are pretty useful, after all."
I nodded, signaling my agreement.
That reasoning was part of why we'd chosen the Thorn Grasslands this time.
Dungeons full of projectile attackers aren't the most popular,
but if you can manage to collect all the spines, it's decent money.
"Alright then. Everyone grab what you can, and let's go."
So, following Gukbap's suggestion, we began pulling out and gathering the spines.
My army experience from the other world made me reasonably efficient at it.
But Kang Do-hee, who'd always operated solo and clearly wasn't used to the grunt work of collecting byproducts, kept fumbling,
and Im Ga-eul, whose stamina was shot from all the running just before, was the same.
Lee Yu-ri, who glanced my way, gave a little nod like a deeply satisfied company commander.
But when it came to Im Ga-eul and Kang Do-hee, she seemed considerably less impressed.
Lee Yu-ri's eyebrow twitched.
"Kang Do-hee, Ga-eul sunbae.... Is being a Porter some kind of joke to you two?"
Haa—
A low sigh escaped her.
"This represents everything we achieved out there. You think it's beneath you just because it's 'byproducts'? Don't you dare underestimate byproducts."
Kang Do-hee clamped her mouth shut, seeing herself compared right in front of her eyes to Jin Yu-ha—a man—and coming up short.
"It's little things like this that stack up into real results. My little sister could do better than that!"
'Well, yeah, she probably could.... The kid's a professional Porter.'
A counterargument flickered through my head, but one look at Lee Yu-ri's hardened expression and I made the wise choice to keep my mouth shut.
"Hoo. All of you, watch me."
After observing them a little longer, Lee Yu-ri strode toward the Black Hedgehog carcasses with an air that said, Fine, I'll do it myself if you're all this useless.
She yanked several spines from a dead Black Hedgehog on the spot.
Then she pulled out a cloth, wiped the venom clean off the spines, and produced rope from an emergency kit, which she began to weave together.
Click-clack, click-clack—
She looked like a specialist straight out of the Porter world.
A moment later.
Four respectable A-frames sat before Lee Yu-ri.
'Is she more gifted as a Porter than a Tank...?'
"Alright! Pile every spine on here and lash them tight with rope!"
"......."
"......."
"......."
Utterly cowed by her charisma, we couldn't raise a single objection.
So we loaded up the A-frames with spines and hauled them all the way back.
When we stepped outside.
"You're back!"
At the gate entrance, Shin Se-hee greeted us with a face full of bright smiles.
"......Don't tell me you were waiting out here the whole time? You could've waited inside—you had no idea when we'd show up...."
I hadn't expected her to be standing by out here this whole time, so I asked.
"How could I possibly do that."
Shin Se-hee's eyes were thick with worry as she said it.
I could see the marks where she'd bitten her nails ragged—she'd clearly been anxious during the wait.
I pulled up the corner of my mouth.
"What's this—you must've been pretty worried, huh?"
Shin Se-hee sucked in a sharp breath.
"I-it's only a B-Rank dungeon, w-what's there to worry about...! I wasn't worried! You just took longer than I expected, so I waited, that's all...."
'Uhm, isn't that the definition of worried?'
Whatever the case, looking relieved that we'd returned in one piece, Shin Se-hee let out a sigh.
Then her eyes went round, as if she'd only just noticed the heaps of spines on our backs.
"Wh-what on earth is all this...?"
"Uh, yeah. Our Subspace Tattoos were short on capacity, so we had to lug the byproducts out on our backs."
"......This much!?"
Still looking stunned, Shin Se-hee tilted her head up at the towering stack of spines, then immediately pulled out her phone.
"Uh, Secretary Kim. Round up a little more help and come over. Yeah. Two trucks or so.... Looks like they went pretty hardcore today."
She kept stealing glances our way as she wrapped up the short call.
I narrowed my eyes and looked toward where the reporters had been clustered earlier.
"Looks like the reporters all went home?"
"Yes, I sent them away. Well, not all of them. But...."
Shin Se-hee lowered her voice.
"That, uh, Joo Tae-rin?"
"Let's just say she reaped what she sowed."
"Reaped what she sowed?"
She tilted her head, then sniffed the air. The monster perfume scent must not have fully faded yet.
"This smell is.... Aha, so that idiot woman did something idiotic, I take it?"
Shin Se-hee said it with a sneer.
From the monster perfume scent alone, she'd more or less pieced together how the situation had played out.
"Well, I'll fill you in on the details on the way. I'll leave the cleanup to you."
"Yes, leave it to me."
* * *
Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!
Crashhhhhh—
"Huff. Huff.... Hoobae, I think I'm dying.... This is twice as hard as hunting monsters...."
With the load Im Ga-eul brought in as the last of it, we'd emptied every last Magic Stone and byproduct we'd stashed in the A-frames and our Subspace Tattoos.
The Magic Stones alone—crammed and jammed into our Subspace Tattoos—already made a sufficient haul,
but once we seriously began dumping the spines we'd carried on our backs, the volume was staggering.
The byproduct processors Secretary Kim had brought with her stared wide-eyed, mouths hanging open.
"Insane."
"Is this really how much you can bring back from one dungeon run?"
"With all the monsters along the route today, it should've been impossible to haul this many spines out—the things would've gotten in the way...."
"As expected...."
Click—!!
Right then, a woman standing among them suddenly triggered a flash.
"......Huh?"
When I turned my head that way.
"Ah, that's the reporter I asked to stay. I thought we'd get photos for the record."
Shin Se-hee spoke up beside me.
"It's the Utopia Party's first dungeon trip—we have to record the results. A moderate amount would've been fine, honestly.... But at this scale, we could even use it for promotion."
Shin Se-hee smiled softly.
While we'd been in the dungeon, I'd asked her to handle the reporter situation, and it looked like she'd managed it brilliantly.
"You've worked hard."
I nodded, genuinely satisfied with her sharp handling of things.
"Utopia Party Leader! I've heard so much about you from Cheonhwa!"
The woman with glasses who'd just taken the photo made a fuss as she approached and held out her hand.
With a slightly awkward face, I clasped her hand.
"Whoo. Now that I see you up close, that face really is... ah...."
The reporter shook my hand with trembling hands.
"Just as renowned as they say... the man who fought Fighting Dog and won."
She said it with an admiring look in her eyes.
'Euh? All of a sudden?'
I tilted my head.
"Flowerbed......."
Just then, a chilling voice came from behind me.
When I turned around, Kang Do-hee, who'd been looking at her phone, was shaking with trembling hands.
"Yes?"
"What the hell is this bullshit...?"
That prompted me to switch on my phone, sensing something was up.
And I couldn't help but widen my eyes.
'Wh-what is this....'
I'd only opened an internet portal site.
And there my name was, plastered alongside a photo, big as you please.
Not just on one or two—across the entire portal site.
『Today's HOT Topic! Meet Utopia Party's Stunning Visual, Jin Yu-ha!』
『[Official] Cheonhwa: "Jin Yu-ha is stronger than I am. Even stronger than Kang Do-hee."』
『A Man Who Fought Fighting Dog and Won. Is This Real!? Jin Yu-ha, Who Exactly Is He!』
『Cadet A: "He lifted her up and slammed her during class...." Shocking Testimony from a Velvet Academy Cadet!』
Se-hee, seriously.......
Sure, I did tell you to handle it however you wanted....
But you went way too wild.......
No wonder—went into a dungeon, came out a star.