Chapter 40

Hoo. Using two skills overlapped with a half-broken body made cold sweat stream down my back. The thugs stared at me with confused faces.

“Quest... dungeon?”

“Oh, you mean that dungeon that popped up in Japan?”

“Yeah. You know Quest Dungeons, right? The kind of dogshit dungeons you just clear the quest in and pass through.”

I smiled faintly and started explaining to them about Quest-type dungeons and my so-called “Seo Jehyun Escape Plan.”

After I finished, the thugs sat in silence before finally opening their mouths.

“So what you’re saying is... this bastard tried to get a skill from the dungeon, but we were guarding it so he couldn’t, and then he was planning to go in with you as an ally?”

“Exactly! But I stayed loyal, see. I pretended like we’d go in together, then bam—took him down and dragged him here.”

“Oh... Ingyu, have you gotten better at fighting lately? How’d you subdue this guy?”

“I’ve been practicing hand-to-hand every day. Plus, seems like being tied up drained him a lot.”

Hearing that, the thugs suddenly burst out laughing, finding it hilarious. They smacked Bae Ingyu’s cheeks with loud slaps.

'Idiots.'

I casually joined in, putting some feeling behind my own smacks across Bae Ingyu’s face.

“Anyway, I’m thinking of going into this dungeon. What about you guys?”

“Huh?”

“What?”

They looked back at me in shock. I lowered my voice and whispered slyly.

“I mean... if what this bastard says is true, and that dungeon really does give out skills or raises skill stats, wouldn’t it be a hell of a lot better to go in?”

“...That’s true.”

“Come on, how long do we have to wipe Seokgyung-hyung’s ass for? Huh? Isn’t that right, Minsu-hyung, Jiwoong? Answer me. We’re out here at dawn doing this bullshit just because he said so. What the fuck is this, huh?”

At my words, the thugs hesitated, glancing at each other, then nodded. Of course—what gang of thugs doesn’t have complaints? I kept hammering away with bitter words about our situation.

Sure enough, they were so full of resentment they started leading the bitching themselves.

'Seeing Choi Jeonggil and these guys so pent up like this... yeah, Infinite Guild really is rotten and should’ve been dismantled already.'

I kept a calm face while listening.

“Right? How long have we been working under Infinite, and now we’re stuck with this crap? Honestly, I never liked it from the start. If they want him dead, just kill him. Why all this?”

“Exactly. Seokgyung-hyung’s like a psycho sometimes. Wasting manpower on pointless shit. And if he’s gonna do this, at least do it by seniority order. Dongwook’s greener than us and he’s lounging around at the shop right now. What the fuck is that? We’re the ones suffering outside? Man, the more I think about it, the more ridiculous it gets.”

“That’s what I’m saying! Let’s just grab whatever reward we can from the dungeon and get out. And after that, why keep working under Seokgyung-hyung? If we land a good skill, we can clear dungeons ourselves. Make way more money. Fuck, even if I’m just an E-rank weakling right now, if I score one good skill? At the very least, I’ll live better than this.”

“Yeah, yeah, you’re right.”

Of course, the fun little trash-talk session had to end eventually. I glanced at my Status Window.

Mimic (S) is activated.

Penalty occurs due to rank difference with the target.

Mimic (S) duration: 433 seconds.

The timer that started at 1,000 seconds was steadily ticking down. 433, 432, 431...

I had to wrap up this scam before the duration ran out. That was when Bae Ingyu, lying on the floor, started crying and trying to say something. At the same time, his own face began flickering faintly over mine.

Shit, is this bastard trying to cancel the skill?

'Not happening.'

I flipped him over so they couldn’t see his face and grabbed him by the scruff, dragging him across the ground.

“Hey, what the hell are you doing?”

“Told you, I’m going in the dungeon. This guy said it’s about to close, so we need to hurry.”

“What? And you’re only saying that now?”

Kicking and struggling, Bae Ingyu ended up being tossed headfirst into the dungeon. Damn, he was heavy as fuck.

After throwing him in, I suddenly acted like I just remembered something. “Ah...” I sighed. The thugs immediately turned their eyes on me.

“Ah....”

“What now? What is it this time?”

“Well, these Quest-type dungeons usually have a set number of participants. This one’s capped at three. Fuck, I must’ve miscalculated. With him included, that makes four.”

“What? A headcount?”

“Yeah. I suck at math, so adding and subtracting isn’t my strong suit.”

“Three...?”

“Right, three. And honestly, I definitely deserve to go. So that leaves one spot between you two. Who’s it gonna be? Hurry up, it’s about to close.”

The thugs looked at each other nervously. Exactly—only when the choice feels desperate do people panic.

“Should we... rock-paper-scissors?”

“What are we, kids?”

They tried to act calm, looking away—until suddenly one of them bolted straight for the Gate. I shouted in fake outrage.

“Hey, what the fuck! You backstabbing piece of shit—”

“Sorry, Ingyu! I’m desperate too!”

Before the curses were even out of my mouth, I was shoved aside as the other one rushed in after him.

I collapsed on the ground, screaming insults to the very end for performance’s sake.

“And you call yourselves friends?! You spineless bastards!”

Thanks, dumbasses!

Apparently, I’d wasted more time than I thought, because the moment they disappeared inside, Mimic View unraveled. The backlash of forcing my broken body to sustain skills hit me square in the gut.

'Fuck... I’m seriously gonna die at this rate.'

My legs trembling, I crawled over and barely managed to grab the phone lying on the ground.

'At least I filled the quota of three.'

B-rank Gate “Reverse Space.” Appropriate party size: 6 (3/6).

Please fill the required number of participants to access the Quest.

Looking at the updated dungeon status, I smiled despite my feverish face.

Better to fill half a Quest Dungeon with morons like that anyway.

After a moment, with a click, the phone connected.

“Mr. Ryu Taeyoung.”

—Yes, Mr. Seo Jehyun.

“I was on the run, and I found this Gate nearby guarded by some illegal guild members.”

A fine, upstanding report call. The mark of a civilized man.

***

But that was the last thing I remembered before I truly blacked out.

When I came to, I was lying in an unfamiliar place, bundled in blankets. My eyes fluttered open, and I saw a familiar face.

“Mr. Seo Jehyun, are you conscious?”

“...Yes.”

Ryu Taeyoung was still wearing that combat suit from before, checking my forehead with a grim expression. Even with his hand that should’ve felt warm, it felt cold. My fever must’ve been high. He propped me up against the wall and pressed a potion into my hand.

“It’s a healing potion. Drink this first.”

No reason to refuse when it’s from a government employee. I downed it immediately. Not as effective as the ones SH uses—probably a standard issue. Still, after finishing the bottle, my condition was noticeably better.

“Haa...”

I exhaled heavily and slowly checked my state. Draining myself with skills while in bad condition had emptied both my mana and stamina. On top of that, my blood sugar had dropped, and my head was throbbing. Shamelessly, I decided to ask.

“I’m hungry.”

Ryu Taeyoung froze for a second, clearly caught off guard, then pulled an energy bar from his kit. He even opened the wrapper and held it out for me. What a model civil servant.

I crunched on the bar, chewing loudly, while scanning my surroundings.

“Where am I?”

“In an ambulance. Still on site. A hunter who found you performed emergency treatment, and that’s the only reason you’re alive right now. As for your wounds...”

“Wow...”

“What exactly happened to you?”

I looked at his worried eyes, thinking. How ◆ Nоvеlіgһt ◆ (Only on Nоvеlіgһt) do I explain this without getting chewed out?

After a moment’s thought, I gave him an explanation. A lightly edited version.

When he heard it, Ryu Taeyoung’s face immediately hardened.

“So, according to you... a younger acquaintance of yours had debts to Infinite Guild, you paid them off, and the very next day they kidnapped you? And then tried to send you into a Gate.”

“Yes. They told me to bring out the rewards, and if I died... oh well.”

“Do you know why Infinite Guild targeted you specifically? Their motive.”

I thought for a moment, then mixed in a tiny lie. Lowering my gaze pitifully, I muttered under my breath.

“I don’t know for sure... but maybe money.”

“Money...”

Ryu Taeyoung clenched his fist reflexively. Money was something he truly despised as a motive. A man who worked on conviction alone would never look kindly on scum who broke laws for profit.

Good thing my body was too drained to let the amusement show on my face. Leaning back against the wall, I steadied my breathing and listened to his briefing.

According to him, when other hunters arrived at the scene, they found all the Infinite Guild members tied up together.

'That was me.'

The only one left untied was rambling nonsense.

“What was his name?”

“He said it was Choi Jeonggil. But he kept shouting that he was the protagonist, and it left the hunters dumbfounded. When asked why the others were tied up, he said you told him to do it. Complete nonsense. Do you happen to know this Choi Jeonggil?”

Ah, our Jeonggil. I shook my head firmly.

“No. Never heard the name in my life...”