When Five People Gather, One of Them Is Bound to Be Trash (2)
“Doesn’t it feel like the bastards are nowhere to be seen today, Hyung-nim?”
“Hyunsung has already cleared out the area around here. If not that, they may have drifted toward another region.”
“So you’re saying there are other survivors somewhere else?”
“Well….”
Park Deokgu muttered the question with obvious curiosity.
It was only a guess, but not an unreasonable one. If this place was this quiet, then it made more sense to assume there had been some major disturbance in another area and the creatures had rushed there instead.
Kim Hyunsung seemed to be thinking along the same lines, though he also seemed to feel that taking Park Hye-young and Jung Hayan with them would be too much of a burden. It was dangerous to move blindly when they didn’t know the creatures’ numbers or their location.
In the end, Kim Hyunsung gave a small nod and spoke.
“It would probably be best if we camp here for tonight.”
“Yes. Let’s do that.”
As expected, it didn’t take long to find a place and set up a camp worth resting in. There were no tents, of course, but even a makeshift enclosed space gave one a little peace of mind.
“First watch will be Hyeyeong, Kiyoung, and me. Hayan will take the second with me, and on the last watch I’ll stand with Deokgu.”
“Will that be all right?”
“Yes. More than enough.”
There was no reason to stop them if they were determined to make things harder for themselves.
First watch isn’t bad.
Unlike those with high physical stats, my own pathetic numbers meant I needed more than enough rest. If I thought about Kim Hyunsung’s stamina or mana, staying up through the night would be nothing to him.
“You may go inside.”
“You have a hard night, Hyung-nim.”
“T-thank you for your hard work.”
I gave a perfunctory nod to the voices coming back to me.
After the others, including Jung Hayan, slowly moved into the inner stone chamber, I finally had a chance to look at Park Hye-young.
She seemed dazed, as if her soul had been knocked loose.
She was probably trying to act like nothing was wrong, but personally, I thought the shock must have been severe. The creature’s screams, the fear that she might die, the reality that she had to drive the spear in, even the sensation of it all clinging to her hands.
It made sense that she’d be horrified.
She may have been feeling the same thing she had once felt in the Start Point, or perhaps she’d been shocked by the blood and viscera splattering everywhere.
Either way, there was still plenty of time before the next watch.
A few words of comfort wouldn’t hurt.
“You should think of it as nothing special.”
“Pardon?”
“You were going to have to go through this sooner or later once you fell into this place. It’s easier if you just think of it as experiencing it a little earlier than everyone else.”
“I see.”
Compared to before, she looked rather deflated.
“At first I thought I could do it….”
“Everyone thinks that. You’ll probably feel better once you get used to it.”
“How was it for you, Kiyoung?”
“Honestly, I don’t remember it very well. I just kept thinking that if I didn’t move, I’d die, so I picked up a rock and smashed the bastard with it. I was scared, of course… but I thought it was necessary. My hands, and even my whole body, ended up smeared with the guts and brain matter of monsters, and the smell was awful.”
It had been nothing but kill or be killed.
Half of it had probably been a gamble.
I’d also believed Park Deokgu wouldn’t run off and leave me behind, and I’d thought I needed to force the creature to move. Adrenaline had been surging all the way to the top of my skull.
“Ah… I guess I look ridiculous for thinking it wouldn’t bother me at all.”
“Well, you did say things like you’d definitely be able to help us.”
There was a little disappointment in the air, as much as there had been expectation.
“That wasn’t a lie. I really thought I’d be able to do well if you called on me….”
I knew it.
Her temperament wasn’t bad, and her stats were decent enough. I’d forced in one extra person because I thought that if I showed some kindness, something would come back to me in return—but once the lid came off, it was all hollow shell and no substance.
Watching Park Deokgu and me wander in and out of the outside area like it was nothing must have made our work look easy.
From my perspective, I had no particular reason to invest in Park Hye-young. I already had the dependable Park Deokgu, and though she was a little unsettling, I’d also built a connection with the mage Jung Hayan and the regressor Kim Hyunsung.
The only reason I’d tried to help Park Hye-young was because I’d tossed out a possible insurance policy.
Still, if she kept getting scared like this, it wouldn’t help either her or me.
“I was happy when you grabbed me from behind earlier.”
Come to think of it, I also remembered her shaking so badly she looked like a fool.
I remembered her hurling all kinds of curses in her panic, too.
Even so, all I could do was nod vaguely.
“I think I said some harsh things because I was out of my mind, so… please don’t take it personally.”
“Y-yes. Of course.”
“And helping you this time is the first and last time. Next time, you’ll have to handle it on your own.”
“Yes….”
Park Hye-young stared straight at me.
I couldn’t tell whether she was trying to start a staring contest or what.
The silence stretched on for quite a while. A little time passed, and just as I was about to speak again, I heard a voice from behind us.
“O-oppa….”
“Kiyoung, Hye-young. It’s time to switch.”
Kim Hyunsung and Jung Hayan had come out. I hadn’t expected the time to have passed this quickly.
“You’re out a little early. You could’ve slept a little longer.”
“No. I happened to wake up anyway… I’ll make sure to wake you in the morning.”
“Thank you, Hyunsung.”
I walked a little way over to Jung Hayan, who was standing at a distance from Kim Hyunsung, and gently patted her head. She lowered her gaze and blushed at once, just as expected.
It was the usual Jung Hayan.
The look in her eyes when she glanced at Park Hye-young wasn’t much different, either, so I began to think that what I’d seen before might have been nothing more than my imagination.
“Then get some rest, Hayan.”
“Huh? Y-yes… yes, Oppa!”
Her voice came out a little too loud. She seemed to startle herself, too, and the way she covered her mouth was oddly cute.
After giving a small nod, I moved back inside, where Park Deokgu, snoring loudly, caught my eye at once.
He sleeps like the dead.
In a place like this, being able to sleep that soundly might almost count as a blessing.
Park Hye-young lay down carefully on the spot prepared for her, and I settled a little ways away from Park Deokgu.
My thoughts began wandering for no reason.
What kind of changes would ripple through the group after this hunt ended, and what was Kim Hyunsung thinking? Was there really a way out of this place? And if we were to clear it, how exactly was that supposed to happen?
There were other things too: the regressor secrets of Jung Hayan and Kim Hyunsung, once they obtained their classes; what had happened in the past; what kind of relationship I should maintain with Lee Jihye after the tutorial was over….
I even wondered whether I’d be unable to sleep like this, but apparently my worries were unnecessary.
I had walked quite a bit to begin with, and on top of that I’d taken a fair amount of mental stress, so my eyes closed before long.
What time is it?
Because the sleeping arrangements were a little uncomfortable, I kept waking up now and then.
I heard Park Deokgu slowly rise to his feet. He was probably heading outside to stand watch with Kim Hyunsung.
I could also hear Park Hye-young shifting in her sleep for a moment, and Jung Hayan returning to the inner area again.
“Sleep well, ma’am.”
“Y-you too, Deokgu.”
It seemed like they exchanged a few more words, but soon my eyelids slipped shut again.
As their voices grew softer, my consciousness blurred once more.
I woke again when something strange brushed against my lips.
And when I felt a hand take mine.
I tried to sit up reflexively, but my body wouldn’t move properly. No, more than that, I had the distinct sense that someone was staring at me without blinking.
What I could hear was Jung Hayan’s voice.
It was an almost whisper-thin murmur.
“Ple… ase….”
I hadn’t fully woken up, so I couldn’t make out what she was saying.
Of course, it was obvious who was looking at me now.
My dazed mind snapped into focus.
Sleep fled from me in an instant.
I cracked my left eye open just enough to look up, and a black shadow quietly looking down at me came into view.
I didn’t know what was going on, but I wasn’t stupid enough to sit up in a situation like this.
At least I understood that Jung Hayan’s whispering had nothing to do with me.
What the hell is this?
Even after I forced my eyes shut again, I could still hear things.
The rustle of movement, the brushing of cloth, even the faint soft pressure of lips against mine.
“Haa… haa….”
What is this?
I had never been this flustered before.
Maybe she had some unusual predilection, or maybe this was the side effect of pushing Jung Hayan too hard—but one thing was certain: she had feelings for me.
“Haa….”
And those feelings seemed a little excessive.
For now, the proper response was probably to celebrate.
After all, making friends with Jung Hayan had been one of my top priorities from the start, so this wasn’t exactly a bad result.
Still, the ideal position I had in mind was that of older brother and younger sister.
I had never wanted something like this.
Only after some time passed did Jung Hayan pull slightly away from me.
She didn’t seem sleepy at all, because I could hear her rustling around again and again.
I didn’t know what she was doing, but curiosity got the better of me, and when I cracked my eyes open a little, I saw Jung Hayan’s back as she quietly looked down at Park Hye-young.
….
She stood there for quite a while, watching Park Hye-young sleep.
It felt as though she were staring at her without moving an inch.
What is this, sleepwalking?
I didn’t know where things had gone wrong, but something had definitely gone wrong.
It was bad enough that I’d hidden the fact that I’d obtained a class, and the expression she’d worn when Park Hye-young had decided to join the expedition was also nagging at me.
There had to be some reason behind that strange behavior just now—and this, too.
That was when Jung Hayan suddenly snapped her head toward me.
For a moment, our eyes met.
I knew that sensation.
A cold shiver crawled up my back.
Damn….
I shut my eyes reflexively, but I couldn’t tell whether she’d caught me or not.
No, more importantly, why in the world…
Am I the one getting scared?
I didn’t know why, but I found myself shrinking inward.
Was it the influence of mana? Or some kind of killing intent like you only see in manga?
I didn’t know why, but the version of Jung Hayan I’d seen before seemed to be tightening a noose around me.
For the moment, she wasn’t saying anything, so it seemed she hadn’t realized I was awake. Still, the room had gone so frighteningly quiet that something felt wrong.
Shit….
I couldn’t make sense of what was happening.
There was no rustling, no breathing sounds like before, no brushing cloth.
I could hear Park Hye-young’s breathing now and then, but nothing from Jung Hayan.
I was trying to force myself back to sleep, but the problem was that sleep wouldn’t come.
I could feel someone lying down not far away.
….
….
It had to be Jung Hayan.
The feeling was bizarre, like one second was stretching into a full minute.
Just when I could no longer tell how much time had passed, fortune or misfortune came in the form of a voice from outside.
“It’s time to wake up.”