Item (1)
Some time passed after I confessed what had happened with Park Hye-young.
Of course, I never brought up things like, “Jung Jinho is suspicious,” or “That bastard is a murderer” ever again.
It wasn’t my place to reach the conclusion that he was the murderer who killed Park Hye-young. That was something Kim Hyunsung had to arrive at on his own.
I didn’t need to convince him. I didn’t even need to persuade him. It was enough to keep acting as though the whole thing smelled like a trap.
Good.
For now, there was a much more reasonable target for suspicion than Jung Hayan or me.
And the bad blood he would develop in the future would only help Kim Hyunsung reach the correct conclusion.
Just as I’d expected, before long Kim Hyunsung began spending more and more time in silence.
He would watch Jung Jinho’s group closely, or quietly keep an eye on us from a distance.
As I more or less understood what he was thinking, I could only continue watching him in silence.
It would help more that way.
And whenever he wore a particularly cold expression, I figured he was probably thinking about how to kill Jung Jinho.
The enemy from the future, the mad butcher, the criminal who killed Park Hye-young.
There was no reason for Kim Hyunsung to spare him now.
Even if the man had the compassion of a Buddha, once someone became a future threat, it was only natural to want them eliminated.
The real question was how.
What would be the best way to remove him?
From Kim Hyunsung’s point of view, he’d want to deal with the bastard as quickly as possible, but he had every reason to hesitate.
Finding a proper opening didn’t seem easy, and there were a number of complications tangled together on top of that.
Like the matter of clearing the dungeon, for instance.
“How about we go down together?”
“Together…?”
“Yes, Hyunsung. Hayan has just finished changing into a mage, and Jinho and his people have joined us too, so we should have enough manpower. Seokwoo seems to have found a job as well, and although I’d like to move a little more cautiously, our supplies are running low enough that I think the time to make a choice is approaching. After all, our goal from the beginning was to clear this place.”
“Hmm….”
“We can’t keep wasting time here forever. However anxious it may be, I think we need to try.”
He was probably getting a headache just from the question I’d thrown at him.
Attempting to clear a dungeon with a party that was certain to split apart was the kind of problem anyone would agonize over.
In truth, I was only tossing out the issue to be considered; the choice itself was entirely Kim Hyunsung’s to make.
He would have to decide for himself whether he was confident enough to break through the dungeon with those people and take responsibility for everything that came after.
If Kim Hyunsung said he was confident, then the situation would become rather beautiful.
Dungeon clear, and the death of the fake murderer who killed Park Hye-young.
To put it bluntly, it would mean he could milk Jung Jinho the magic swordsman down to the marrow.
If a man was going to die anyway, it was best to use him to the fullest.
“It would also be a burden to head out hunting again with new people. We can’t know when something like what happened to Park Hye-young might happen again, and… rather than keep waiting like this, I think it might not be a bad idea to go out once. Food and water are both in short supply now. If we settle down here, we’ll eventually die.”
“…….”
Kim Hyunsung was quite cautious.
Seeing him react like that, it seemed he judged the situation to be somewhat dangerous.
Maybe he’d even thought it was impossible to travel with us and take Jung Jinho out at the same time.
When I was trying to steer the conversation elsewhere, Kim Hyunsung slowly opened his mouth.
“I think that would be all right.”
“Pardon?”
“I think it would be all right. Let’s head underground once. There will probably be a few things we need to prepare. Since we’ve never coordinated with Jung Jinho’s group before, it would be better to split into two parties and move together.”
“Yes. I think so too.”
I didn’t want to leave my back exposed to a murderer.
Kim Hyunsung probably felt the same.
“I’ll speak to Jinho. Kiyoung, please tell Hayan and Deokgu….”
“Yes.”
“No, rather than that, could you call Hayan and Deokgu for me?”
“Yes. Understood.”
He seemed to have something to say.
I started walking off lightly, thinking it might be some rather good news.
Park Deokgu and Jung Hayan were probably spending their time in their own way.
As I moved my feet, the familiar sights of the shelter came into view. It was a heartwarming scene—one I hadn’t seen here in quite a while.
“Thank you, Jinho.”
“Thanks, Jinho hyung.”
“Not at all. We should all help one another.”
Jung Jinho’s group was stacking bricks together with the losers.
Work that now meant nothing. It was just Tetris, done to soothe their own unease.
“If there’s ever anything you need help with, just say the word.”
“You already go out there and bring back food for us. This is the least we can do. Hyung, you should get some rest. That’d be better.”
“No, I can help with this much. It’s not such hard work, and wouldn’t it be better if we all did it together and rested together?”
What a joke.
The sight of them laughing and chatting away made me so dumbfounded I could hardly speak.
Idiots….
No one gives kindness without an ulterior motive.
Maybe Kim Hyunsung was helping them out because he simply pitied them, out of some self-satisfying sentiment.
At least Kim Hyunsung’s case was a little different.
From where I stood, what Jung Jinho’s group wanted was the heads of the people laughing and joking around together right now.
Because of that, the hostile looks that had been pouring in since Park Deokgu and I expressed our intention to move independently had grown even more blatant.
They were comparing Jung Jinho’s group and us.
Why are you the ones lounging around?
It felt as though they were asking exactly that.
Jung Jinho not only shared food, he also worked alongside everyone else. He was different from us, who clung desperately to our own share.
It wasn’t strange for them to compare us to him.
Our standing seemed to be shrinking, especially mine, Park Deokgu’s, and Jung Hayan’s, but I had no intention of copying him just for the sake of it.
The power to move and control people didn’t come from playing dress-up as some commoner.
Authority that isn’t physically close to you.
That was what moved people like that.
Besides.
He probably knew that this was meaningless too.
And yet he still kept acting like this, which made it hard to understand what the hell he was doing.
I was a little worried that I might have unintentionally thrown chili powder over the life of the psychopath killer Jung Jinho before he’d even committed his crimes and while he was trying to suppress his nature and live as decently as possible, but….
The dice had already been cast.
“Here, have some of this too.”
“Ah! Thank you, Seokwoo oppa.”
Yoo Seokwoo, who had gone around with them lately and secured a job, also came into view, looking rather pleased with himself.
It seemed he had decided to stick with Jung Jinho’s group.
He still wore a very uneasy expression at times, but he had gotten what he wanted.
A job.
And a position within this pitiful little shelter.
I had no choice but to look away from the people who were feeling the true value of labor from a distance.
It was an infuriatingly wholesome scene, and wholesome scenes like that somehow always got under my skin.
After walking a little farther, Jung Hayan and Park Deokgu came into view.
“Hayan.”
“Ah. O-oppa.”
When I made my presence known, Jung Hayan, who had been testing a simple spell, rushed over in a fluster and lightly clutched my sleeve.
Park Deokgu watched the scene with a pleased smile.
Shit….
“Another new spell today?”
“Huh? Yes….”
“Amazing.”
“N-no. It’s all thanks to oppa.”
We still weren’t actually dating, nor were we even touching each other in any meaningful way, but the people inside the shelter seemed to have accepted our relationship as a foregone conclusion.
Maybe because she knew that, Jung Hayan had recently started finding excuses to hold my hand or move closer to me more often.
Especially after she had quietly brought up a few days ago that it felt like she’d suddenly advanced classes, things had become even worse.
It felt as though she’d gained courage because I hadn’t shown much of a negative reaction to her touching me.
Of course, the way she acted whenever everyone was asleep remained just the same.
…….
Every now and then, when I woke up startled, my heart would pound like crazy. She was getting bolder and bolder.
Whatever else happened, if it hadn’t been for Park Deokgu, we wouldn’t have grown any closer than we had before.
“Didn’t you say you were going to Kim Hyunsung’s place? You seem to be back rather early… did the conversation go well?”
“I just got back. It seems like he had something to talk to us about… do you have time?”
“I’ve got time to spare, hyung.”
“Of course. Th-there’s no trouble, is there? Can I ask what it’s about?”
“Of course. We’ll probably be heading underground soon.”
“We’re finally going down?”
“The discussion isn’t finished yet, but it looks like we’ll be moving together with Jinho’s group.”
“Hmm… they don’t seem like very good people to me….”
“I feel the same. Still, the dungeon clear is the priority right now, so I guess there’s no helping it. I can understand Hyunsung’s feelings too. We’re reaching the limit of how long we can hold out here.”
“By the way, this dungeon really is the kind of place meant to be cleared, right?”
“Probably.”
Kim Hyunsung clearly believed it could be cleared.
“You already know this even if I don’t say it, but it’d be best to keep your distance from Jung Jinho’s group. Of course, on the surface….”
“Ahem. Don’t worry too much about it.”
“That goes for Hayan too.”
“Y-yes. I understand. Oppa… I-I won’t even speak to them.”
I wanted to tell her she should at least speak to them.
Park Deokgu was one thing, but Jung Hayan was a bomb that could go off at any moment, so she needed constant, careful management and a lot of mental training.
If she pulled something unexpected like she did with Park Hye-young, I wouldn’t be able to do anything about it this time either.
“And don’t pay too much attention to Yoo Seokwoo.”
“I-I’m not paying attention to him.”
“Good.”
With Park Deokgu leading the way, we slowly walked down the path, and once again I could feel the weight of a gaze settle on us.
The people who were beginning to understand the true value of labor, along with Jung Jinho, were watching us with strange expressions.
I didn’t think there was any need to feel pressured.
All we had to do was act naturally.
Nothing had happened yet, and we were only going to have a meeting with Kim Hyunsung.
…….
After casually ignoring the bastard’s stare, I headed straight toward where Kim Hyunsung was.
Before long, I could see him rummaging through his bag and pulling something out.
…….
My mood improved quite a bit.
Whenever I looked through the status window, the equipment slot had always been on my mind.
I’d expected that someday I’d be able to wear or obtain items with various stats attached to them, but the opportunity had come much sooner than I’d thought.
A needed upgrade before heading underground.
It was probably preparation to ease his own anxiety. Rather than being for dungeon clearing, it was clearly to help him win any fight with Jung Jinho’s group.
Kim Hyunsung was trying to strengthen the three of us.
To prepare for any possible accident.
“I have something for you.”
“Did you hide some tasty treats or something? You’ve got the exact face our granny makes when she’s handing out her little stash of savings, hyung.”
This pig….
I couldn’t begin to understand why he always had to phrase things like that. Kim Hyunsung looked a little taken aback too, but he merely gave a faint smile and went on.
“They’re items.”
The “maybe” became a certainty.
The corners of my mouth lifted in delight. They weren’t obvious items like swords, spears, or shields.
What he took out of the bag were one bracelet and two rings. They looked plain, but a mysterious magical power was leaking from them.
Thank you, Hyunsung.
I’d expected he’d have some insurance for the descent underground, but this was far more than I’d imagined.