Chapter 29: Why Are You Doing This? |
'I'm just saying this just in case, but are you guys also heading for the warp gate in the very center?'
'You won't be able to make it.'
'I'm not just saying that. Don't go. We managed to get near the warp gate just two days ago. But we failed. With just 300 meters left.'
'Why? We ended up retreating after pacing around anxiously. If only we had made that decision a little sooner... Jin-tae...'
'You know the survival conditions, right? It's better to just endure for seven days. Especially that thing... you can't possibly face it. If it hadn't been for Jin-tae, we all would have been killed by that monster without a doubt. Even though we were quite far away, the monster stared right at where we were.'
'That monster is...'
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The condition for a boss monster's appearance is not staying at a designated point for the required period. There's also a random spawn condition, but that's unpredictable. Honestly, I was more surprised by the fact that Woo Jeong-min's party reached the warp gate in just three days than by the appearance of a boss monster near it.
Then again, with Woo Jeong-min and Seon Yu-un, who would later become famous throughout the Hall Plain, it wasn't entirely incomprehensible. Suddenly, the image of a wailing Won Hye-su came to mind. She had cursed at me, but it didn't bother me much.
"An Hyeon."
As we were walking, I heard Lee Yu-jeong call out to An Hyeon. When An Hyeon looked up, she spoke in an uncharacteristically quiet voice.
"Thank you."
"For what?"
"...For saving me earlier. Thanks."
An Hyeon tilted his head, then as if remembering, he nodded with an "Aha."
"Anyway, your temper is the problem. Try to cool it down a bit. It's a good thing I was wary of that guy from the start, otherwise you would've gotten a dagger straight to your forehead, no questions asked."
"He was the one who pissed me off!"
"Even so. Try treating other people with just half the kindness you show Su-hyeon. Or at least try to be half as good-natured as Han-byeol. What good is a pretty face if your personality is trash?"
"P-Pretty? Really...? Ah... H-Hmph! I'm only like that with Su-hyeon because he works so hard for us. Anyway, I hate what I hate."
Blushing at An Hyeon's comment about her pretty face, Yu-jeong turned her head away with a sharp huff. Seeing Yu-jeong act surprisingly girlish(?), An Hyeon's eyes widened. This alone was a huge step forward. I was worried they might start bickering again, but thankfully, it seemed to have passed smoothly.
Just then, An Sol, who had been listening to their conversation, tugged firmly on An Hyeon's sleeve. An Hyeon automatically reached out and gently stroked her hair. Seeing An Sol's beaming face, Lee Yu-jeong's eyes sharpened. Only the oblivious An Hyeon, unaware of the subtle power struggle surrounding him, continued to scan the surroundings as he walked. Really, why are all the popular guys so dense? Tsk, tsk.
After walking diligently for some time, we found a Save Point just as the sun was setting. And during our journey there, we didn't encounter a single monster. The party members were happy, thinking luck was on their side, but it wasn't something to be purely joyful about.
Ever since leaving the forest, except for our brief stay in the city, we had been constantly plagued by monster attacks. It had gotten so bad that An Sol didn't even scream at the sight of Manky corpses anymore. Of course, I had intentionally led us into encounters with monsters, but in any case, the party was now being rewarded for their hardships.
The area surrounding the warp gate was home to monsters with a certain level of intelligence. The fact that we had defeated five Mankys, which were among the top-tier monsters in the Rite of Passage, proved that. They would surely know that countless monsters had been killed by our party. Their keen sense of smell would pick up the metallic scent of blood clinging to us.
At least, that's what I had thought. But after talking with Woo Jeong-min, I changed my mind. If a boss monster had appeared and was roaming around the warp gate, no monster in their right mind would dare to operate near the apex predator of the food chain.
In other words, if we didn't encounter any monsters on our way tomorrow, it meant there was a high probability we would run into a boss monster just before the warp gate, just like Woo Jeong-min's party. It was an ironic situation. We'd intentionally left the city to avoid the boss monster, only to find ourselves in danger of facing it again.
Of course, there was a difference between the two situations. If we had stayed in the city, the encounter would have been 100% certain, but now, the probability was unpredictable.
After thinking for a while, a question arose in my mind. The conditions for a boss monster's appearance definitely exist. And we aren't the only survivors in this Rite of Passage; there are many others. If so, there must be cases where multiple groups meet the boss monster's spawn conditions at the same time. What happens in those cases? Adding the assumption that a boss monster has a high probability of appearing as one approaches the warp gate made the situation even more complicated.
Suddenly, I realized I knew almost nothing about the Rite of Passage. I had spent ten years rolling around in the Hall Plain and had researched most of its aspects, but the Rite of Passage was different. All I had were fragmented memories of jokes and stories other users occasionally told. It wasn't suffocating, but a sense of unease lingered.
How much time had passed? After walking for a while, we finally spotted the point.
"It has a yellow roof. It looks like a cabin."
"Glad we found one today, too. It's a bit early, but let's rest here for the day. That's okay, right, Su-hyeon?"
"'Do not stay for more than one day.' The warning is here too. Still, it looks better than the last one. Right, Oppa?"
"I'm going in first. I want to wash up quickly. I want to change my clothes, too. Hehe."
"..."
"Hyeong?"
"Oppa?"
"Huh? Oh, right. Let's do that."
As I hastily nodded, everyone looked at me with strange expressions. I shook my head, signaling that it was nothing.
Watching the group chatter away again after looking at my face for a moment, I sighed inwardly. Such carefree kids. This is why group activities are inconvenient. If I had been moving alone, I would have already entered the Hall Plain by now. In any case, worrying about it now wouldn't conjure up a brilliant solution, so I decided to put it aside for the time being. As I did, I realized how much I'd relaxed.
Back when I knew nothing, if a problem directly related to survival arose, I couldn't sit still for a moment and would desperately try to find a solution. But not anymore. Deep in a corner of my mind, the notion that I could just cut down anything that got in my way was firmly rooted.
"Oppa. What are you doing? We're going in first!"
"...I'm coming now."
Seeing Yu-jeong wave brightly at me, I calmly started walking. For now, I just wanted to think about tomorrow's problems tomorrow.
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The night deepened. I was sitting on the steps leading up to the cabin entrance, keeping watch. The night watch was no longer just me and An Hyeon. The four of us—me, An Hyeon, Kim Han-byeol, and Lee Yu-jeong—took turns. There was no exact rotation schedule; when a reasonable amount of time seemed to have passed, we would switch with the next person.
The first watch was Lee Yu-jeong, and I was right after her. The third was Han-byeol, and the last was An Hyeon. Each person stood guard for about two hours, but not even an hour had passed (by my estimation) before Lee Yu-jeong started whining to switch. The way she kept avoiding my gaze while talking made it clear she knew she was being unreasonable.
I habitually put my hand in my pocket and felt a chocolate bar. Deciding to let her have her way, I was about to go out when Yu-jeong, perhaps feeling sorry, stuffed it into my coat. It seemed she had secretly stashed it away. Since we weren't short on food or drinks, I didn't say anything. It was almost time to switch with Han-byeol anyway, so I figured it would be better to just munch on the chocolate bar and head in.
Just as I was about to tear open the wrapper, a can of coffee was suddenly extended toward my right cheek. I turned my head to see Kim Han-byeol leaning over, staring at me intently.
"Hiding something like that and eating it all by yourself."
"...Yu-jeong gave it to me."
"She doesn't usually share sweets, especially chocolate."
"She didn't keep her watch time. I guess she felt bad for whining and gave it to me."
At my words, Kim Han-byeol gave a bitter smile and sat down next to me. I broke the chocolate bar in half and offered her a piece, which she readily accepted.
"Thank you, I'll enjoy this."
"I'll enjoy this drink, too."
Kim Han-byeol was also treating me much more comfortably than before. She wasn't as cheerful as Lee Yu-jeong, and there was still some distance between us, but it felt like it had lessened a bit. However, among the group, we were still the only ones who maintained formal speech with each other. It had been that way from the beginning, and now it felt like an unspoken agreement.
"What were you thinking about so deeply? Your expression was so dark, you didn't even seem to notice I was here."
I did know. I was just pretending not to. I thought to myself but didn't say it out loud. I took a sip of coffee before opening my mouth.
"Haha, I must have spaced out for a moment. But was my expression that bad?"
"Yes. It seems like you've been a bit tense since you spoke with that man this afternoon. Or am I wrong..."
Is that so? I thought I had maintained a calm expression. As I subconsciously touched my face, Kim Han-byeol added calmly.
"By the way, what did you talk about back then?"
"...It was nothing important."
"I'm not the only one who felt it. Hyeon, Yu-jeong, and Sol are all subtly anxious too. You've barely said a word since then."
"I was just lost in thought. Everything will work out fine. I'm sure of it. And even if something does happen, it will be resolved. Don't worry too much."
With those words, I finished the chocolate bar and the rest of the coffee in one go. For some reason, the more I talked to her, the more strongly memories of *her* surfaced. I wanted to get away quickly. So I told her to take care of the watch and was about to turn and climb the stairs.
"Wait. I still have something I want to ask."
In novels, comics, and dramas, they usually just let the male lead go in these situations. Why isn't she? Feeling like another one of Kim Han-byeol's interrogations was about to begin, I screamed internally. I did have a strange feeling when Kim Han-byeol insisted on taking the watch, even though it was originally An Hyeon's turn after me. I opened my mouth with the kindest expression I could muster.
"I'm a bit tired. If it's not too much trouble, could we do this tomorrow? I'd like to go in and get some sleep."
"I want to hear it now."
"I'm not going to run away."
As the atmosphere grew increasingly serious, I tried to lighten it with a joke, but it fell completely flat. Kim Han-byeol was now staring at me with the same cold face she'd had when we first met. Again, *her* face overlapped with Kim Han-byeol's. I instinctively averted my gaze.
"I have a feeling that if I don't ask today, I'll never be able to ask again."
"Ah, you mean what we talked about then? It was really nothing. It was just..."
"Oppa."
I instantly fell silent. Was it simply because she called me 'Oppa'? No. I'm not some pervert who gets excited over being called 'Oppa'.
"Su-hyeon oppa. That's not what I want to ask."
Kim Han-byeol's face was still cold and calm, but it held a different impression than usual. She was angry now. With an aura that screamed 'don't run away, stay right here,' she looked me straight in the eye. I realized then that she was being completely serious. Accordingly, my own expression hardened, and I met her gaze with calm eyes. And only then did she begin to speak.
============================ Author's Note ============================
1. Typos and context corrected.