Chapter 43: Viewer Vote
The air inside the dungeon felt strangely quiet.
It wasn't supposed to be quiet at all—the usual noisy sounds were all muted by a beat, like they'd been stifled.
The drip of water droplets, the scuttling of bug-like monsters scraping across the floor, even the breathing of my party members... everything was suppressed.
I knew exactly why.
It was because of the message floating in one corner of my vision.
Waiting to apply vote results...
Come on, it just said to wait—why does it feel so ominous?
I swallowed dryly.
The fork in the B-class dungeon was damp. Water trickling from the ceiling had left black streaks on the walls, and the left passage floor was spotted with patches that looked like old bloodstains.
The right passage was unnaturally clean. Instead, a low, dull vibration hummed steadily from within.
Neither looked appealing.
Party leader Park Jinwoo, standing beside me, asked in a low voice.
"Mr. Kang Minsu."
"Yes."
"You've been staring at the right side this whole time."
"I was just..."
"High chance it's the boss room?"
Why does it connect like that?
"No. I was just looking at the wider one because it's scarier."
Park Jinwoo hardened his expression without even hearing me out.
"As I thought."
As you thought, my ass.
One of the party members from behind whispered.
"That means the right is the direct route, right?"
"Probably."
"Then the left?"
Park Jinwoo said very seriously.
"Might mean we should avoid it."
I felt like I was going insane.
At that moment, the chat window went wild.
I'd never prepped for anything like that.
I just wanted to go home.
The number in one corner of my vision ticked down rapidly.
3.
2.
1.
My breath caught in my throat.
Vote closed
Then it happened.
The floor of the right passage rumbled.
Kududuk.
A sound like bones twisting inside the walls echoed, and the intact passage collapsed right before our eyes—like it was folding in on itself. More precisely, the ceiling and walls curved inward, sealing off the entire path.
Rock dust and damp soil erupted in a cloud, and two party members stifled screams as they staggered back.
At the same time, a long crack split open in the left wall.
Creak.
It wasn't just simple darkness. It felt like a blind spot that had been lurking in silence since ancient times had finally bared its jaws.
A wet gust rushed out from within. The air, thick with the stench of rotting grass and cold iron, chilled my throat.
I instinctively stepped back.
"What the..."
My voice was too quiet—only I heard it.
Park Jinwoo didn't.
His face completely rigid, he stared at the cracked path before slowly turning to me.
"Mr. Kang Minsu."
"Yes."
"So the right wasn't it after all."
"No, I didn't do anything..."
"Going straight ahead means total wipeout?"
I said no.
Someone from behind said in a trembling voice.
"The path... it really changed."
"The vote."
"No way it was real?"
As someone muttered that, the chat exploded.
That was exactly my thought.
Not saved—just postponed for now.
One party member prodded the collapsed right passage with his sword. The rocks didn't budge an inch.
It wasn't just blocked. It was sealed like it had never been a path to begin with.
Park Jinwoo let out a short breath.
"Can't go back."
"Pardon?"
"We take this path."
He pointed at the cracked left wall.
I raised my hand almost instinctively.
"Wait. That looks way too suspicious."
"That's why it fits."
"Fits what?"
"The path Mr. Kang Minsu left open."
I'm seriously losing it.
My mouth went dry; I wet my lips with the tip of my tongue. A metallic taste seeped from the back of my molars.
I'd just seen the path change with my own eyes, but what terrified me more was that these people believed it was my choice.
"I really didn't do anything."
"I know."
Park Jinwoo said calmly.
"That you don't move yourself but change the board instead."
How does that even translate to this?
In the end, we stood before the new path.
The gap in the cracked wall was narrower than expected.
Barely wide enough for one person, the floor was rugged like a natural cave—far more sinister than the main right passage.
The walls were covered in thin scratches like claw marks, dense and packed, with faint white powder smeared in spots here and there.
Bone dust.
I couldn't voice that thought.
Saying it out loud would make it real.
Two party members pressed right up behind me.
"Hey, why are you standing behind me?"
"Not asking you to take point."
"Then what?"
The guy in back said very honestly.
"Feels safest near Mr. Kang Minsu."
Why put that expectation on someone who feels zero safety?
Hunched with tense shoulders, I stepped into the crevice first. Damp stone clung to my sneaker sole.
A thin root-like thing dangling from the ceiling brushed my forehead, and a cold droplet trickled down my neck.
Goosebumps exploded across my skin.
"Ugh..."
A short groan escaped me, and one party member swallowed hard.
"Something there?"
"Just cold."
"Preemptive warning."
No.No.
The chat didn't miss even that brief reaction.
The deeper we went, the stranger it got.
No monster presence.
Not entirely absent. More like they were there... but hiding.
A faint scratching from beyond the walls would stop the instant I turned my head. A low, inhaling wail echoed once from afar, then vanished.
This wasn't quiet because it was safe.
It was quiet because it was scared.
And that fact unnerved me even more.
Park Jinwoo must have sensed it too; he lowered his voice.
"Mr. Kang Minsu."
"Yes."
"This path didn't avoid the boss."
"Pardon?"
"We might run into something else."
Why does hearing that make it harder to breathe?
"Then let's turn back."
"Can't turn back."
"Then go slow."
"We're already going plenty slow."
Even then, the party members all watched my footsteps as they walked.
When I stopped, they stopped. When I looked up, they looked up. I was just watching the floor to avoid slipping, but they took every move as a signal.
Another gust blew from deeper in.
This time, the smell was sharper.
Damp earth.
Mold.
And beneath it, a thick metallic tang like old, cooled blood.
I halted.
The footsteps of the party members trailing behind stopped one by one.
"Why'd you stop?"
Park Jinwoo's voice was very low.
"No, it's just..."
I awkwardly pointed toward the wall with my fingertip, then dropped my hand. I couldn't find the words. Saying it was scary would get misinterpreted again, and saying it was fine would be a lie.
"The smell's weird."
"Which direction?"
"Not a direction—just overall..."
As I mumbled, Park Jinwoo's face grew graver.
"Full-range alert."
"No, that's not what I—"
One party member from behind swallowed hard.
"Means this whole path is a trap?"
"Just suspicious."
"You knew in advance."
Why does it always escalate like that?
The chat lit up instantly.
The situation frustrated me so much I braced my hand against the wall—then yanked it away. A chill like cooled flesh clung to my palm.
I want to go back.
The way back's blocked.
Recalling that made my gut drop cold.
Looking closer at the mud underfoot, faint tracks remained.
Some like human footprints, some like monster claws—but all jumbled together. What creeped me out most was the direction.
All pointing outward.
More frantic escape marks from inside than entry ones.
The moment I saw them, cold sweat ran down my back.
"Was someone here before?"
Park Jinwoo twisted my mutter differently again.
"Means the advance scout fled."
"No, that's not—"
"Mr. Kang Minsu."
He said, holding his breath.
"Keep watching ahead. We'll cover the rear."
I never assigned that heavy a duty.
Something gleamed white in the wall's shadows.
At first, I thought it was a rock.
It wasn't.
Fingers.
Slender bones like human fingers were embedded tightly into the wall.
Like someone had stuck them in as decoration.
I stopped, swallowing hard.
And right beside them, from deeper darkness, came a very small, clear sound.
Ting-a-ling.
Like someone shaking a bell from within.