Chapter 165

Ryu Taejun flinched the moment he saw me.

'What a coward.'

No matter what, he’d still made it here after surviving that match, yet somehow his guts were pathetically nonexistent.

I gave the still-bewildered guy a brief explanation. It wasn’t like giving him a detailed rundown would do any good anyway.

He was such a predictable bastard it wasn’t even worth analyzing. Which only made it weirder, in a way.

He couldn’t read reality, was eaten up by inferiority, had trash-tier abilities but sky-high ideals, and wasn’t even particularly perceptive.

I stared at Ryu Taejun for a moment, thinking.

'What should I do with him?'

He was too much of a nuisance to keep around, but if I left him alone, he’d obviously die.

Even though I hadn’t done a thing, Ryu Taejun stood there silent, stiff as if he’d already been scolded.

I made up my mind fast.

If I set priorities, figuring out this maze came first. As for people, there was no one worth protecting besides Do Yehyun.

Joining that group from earlier and stabbing them in the back would’ve been the most efficient plan, but judging by their high alert, they weren’t going to let me in easily—and one mistake could get me backstabbed and used as bait instead.

In that ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) case, how about using Ryu Taejun as a tool to lower their guard?

Once you were confirmed to be in this place, it meant you were a Cheonmyeonggyo believer. Rather than joining them and running my mouth until I got caught, it’d be better to send Ryu Taejun and extract information through him.

From what I’d overheard of their conversation, they were definitely planning to return here. And since they didn’t think Do Yehyun and I would have abandoned Ryu Taejun, that worked in my favor.

Plus, since one of their guys had a communication device in his mouth, they might have already exchanged signals by now.

Honestly, if they’d just take Ryu Taejun off my hands, that’d make my life easier. Dragging this idiot around was a pain—better to let them carry him.

Sure, there was one fatal flaw: Ryu Taejun might end up dead.

'Well... that’d be unfortunate.'

That could be handled later, with a brief moment of silence or something. For now, this was the best option.

I’d infiltrate their hideout stealthily, one way or another, and send Ryu Taejun first to gather what information he could.

It wasn’t like a guy of his intellect could handle actual spy work anyway. The best approach was to send him in clueless.

'The lack of a communication device is a bit inconvenient.'

Still, there were ways to make contact again later; not a big deal.

'I’ll just bring him back before he dies.'

Which basically meant dumping him for now and picking him up again later.

'Might as well throw in some threats while I’m at it.'

Once I wrapped up my decision about Ryu Taejun, I looked down at the still-squirming spy bastard.

A D-rank hunter reduced to this kind of pathetic wreck—what a waste.

And unfortunately for him, I had zero reason to help.

'Why the hell would I help a spy who walked in here with a comms device jammed in his mouth?'

Too bad he was crazy—but that was his problem, not mine.

Calmly, I moved on to the next task.

I deliberately loosened the gag I’d tied, then reached into his mouth, searching for the communication device. They’d said it was hidden inside, so I’d been curious where it was placed—but the moment my fingers brushed it, I figured it out.

'Ah... these clever bastards.'

If they’d stuck it boringly under his tongue, I would’ve had to rip that out. But no—they’d kindly attached it to his molar, even securing it to prevent excessive bleeding.

Just in case, I tapped the teeth lightly; it wasn’t simply glued on. Looked like they’d pulled it once and re-implanted it tight.

I immediately twisted out the innermost molar where the device was embedded and tossed it to the ground.

Tearing the gag, I stuffed a strip into his mouth to bite down on for pressure, and he obediently shut up.

'Hmph.'

Meanwhile, Ryu Taejun—ever the curious idiot—had apparently been watching closely and started asking questions.

I crushed the communication device under my foot and looked straight at him.

'Cowardly bastard.'

Come to think of it, it was interesting.

That Cheonmyeonggyo could stir up the desperate desires of so many people. Those guys who’d just passed through, and Ryu Taejun right in front of me—were they all that desperate to raise their rank?

'Desire...'

If this maze supposedly made you face your hidden desire, then weren’t they only letting in the ones already blinded by greed?

Well, “desire” sounds grand, but human desire’s all the same anyway.

Given enough time, the strongest desire always turns into survival. Those idiots earlier did all that just to stay alive, didn’t they?

'Fear’s the same way.'

At its core, being afraid just means fearing death.

And Ryu Taejun trembling there in front of me was doing it because he wanted to live.

After cornering him with a few meaningless words, I swiftly knocked him unconscious.

Since I’d forcibly removed the communication device, it was only a matter of time before they realized something was wrong.

'Let’s wait and see.'

I bit the Stealth Orb again and leaned back against the wall, watching for the right timing.

Even though I should’ve been feeling sleepy by now, the dopamine rush kept my mind sharp. Honestly, I felt clearer than when I’d first entered this place.

After a while, new Status Windows began approaching.

'Six?'

The number had increased since before. And since two faces had been swapped out, that meant there were more of them overall than I’d thought.

'No wonder those low-rank Awakened were acting cocky.'

The moment they stepped into the clearing, a few of them sighed.

“Ha...”

“See, told you they noticed.”

One of them knelt down and started feeling around the ground for fragments of teeth.

“Fuck, that thing took a week to make.”

“You’ve got more teeth, just make another one.”

“I said we don’t have materials!”

The one who snapped stood and looked over the two sprawled bodies.

“Should’ve come a little earlier.”

“Or not gone back at all. Why’d you go again?”

“I didn’t say to go.”

“Of course we had to, dumbass. If we’d just stayed here waiting, would they have come back?”

Judging by how they’d been arguing nonstop, there wasn’t much loyalty among them. I was genuinely curious why they bothered staying together at all.

After some more pointless bickering, they finally got back on track.

“Let’s just take them back.”

“Who?”

“Both of them, obviously. Look—the teeth are gone. He figured it out and ran.”

“If he ran, why pull out a tooth? That’s a provocation, man.”

“Shut up, both of you. Whether it’s provocation or escape, we’re taking these bastards with us. Sitting here waiting won’t do shit.”

Well, it wasn’t really provocation—just me smashing the comms device and pulling it out out of irritation, but sure.

They kept grumbling as they carried the bodies and left the clearing.

“Still, why the hell pull teeth? You think that’s easy? If he did it just to piss us off, that guy’s a psychopath.”

“What are you talking about? We pulled ours too and stuck the device in.”

“And the guy who came up with that idea’s a psychopath himself. Who the hell thinks to attach a comms device to a tooth?”

Listening to them reminded me of the time I’d been kidnapped before. No loyalty, constant arguing, ending in disaster—same pattern.

I waited until they disappeared completely, then got to my feet.

***

Do Yehyun was waiting quietly in the same spot.

Since we hadn’t been able to communicate, I’d figured nothing major had happened.

“Hyung.”

Instead of answering, I just nodded and checked his condition.

“Nothing happened?”

“Nothing at all.”

“Monsters?”

“None.”

That was odd too. There was a dungeon boss, but no other monsters?

I gave Do Yehyun a quick once-over and nodded again.

“What happened?”

“There were others. Quite a few of them, I think.”

“...How many?”

“Not sure. Maybe more than ten.”

Do Yehyun nodded and asked gently,

“Are you hurt?”

“I’m fine. Kept hidden.”

“That’s a relief...”

I smiled faintly at his words and gave him a simple briefing.

“There’s a hideout where the others are living.”

“A hideout?”

“Yeah. I think we’ll need to check it out.”

“You’re going to join them?”

“No.”

At my firm answer, Do Yehyun nodded calmly. Right—joining that many people, even if they were all trash, was ridiculous to begin with.

I skipped all the useless parts and summarized what mattered.

“From what I overheard, this dungeon’s built so people die in turns. They seem to be picking who dies next. That lunatic who came for us earlier was part of the same group.”

“......”

“I’m not sure if the dying ones become bait or sacrifices, but their goal was definitely to take us with them.”

“So that man was just pretending to be insane?”

Do Yehyun’s face instantly hardened.

'Bit late to get serious now.'

I looked at him quietly and went on.

“No. They probably just threw an actual idiot our way to gather information. He had a communication device.”

“A communication device...”

“Yeah. Stuck to his molar.”

“So... what did you do?”

“His tooth? I pulled it out.”

I said it flatly, and Do Yehyun’s mouth snapped shut.

“Why?”

“Nothing. ...So what’s next? You’re not planning to join them, right?”

“Oh, that...”

Just as I was about to explain the next step, the sky—dark until moments ago—began to fill with light.