Chapter 195

I hadn’t been hoping for a big reaction, but when Do Yehyeon stayed quiet, the steam went out of it.

‘Not like he was ever the entertaining type anyway.’

His stats were usable, but if you looked you could replace him. There were no particular singular points beyond that. Though I don’t know how Seo Jehyun would feel.

Staring idly at Do Yehyeon, Im Haegyeong tossed out words.

“I told Jehyun to leave you behind.”

“.......”

“Jehyun shares more with me than you’d ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) think. Of course, it’s not because he has some human fondness for me. He might have interest... but it’s more accurate to say he needs me, right?”

Watching the reaction, Im Haegyeong gave a small shrug, then glanced into empty air and clapped loudly. Do Yehyeon’s gaze was instantly drawn that way.

“Either way, you can’t save Jehyun in a situation like this.”

“.......”

“Right?”

When he casually asked for agreement, Do Yehyeon’s lips parted for the first time.

‘Predictable.’

Keep your mouth shut rather than give a clumsy answer? Well, not a bad choice, but that only works when it’s hard to read; right now, every bit of that attitude was no different from giving an answer.

Im Haegyeong knew the type like Seo Jehyun well. At least, he was confident he did. Doesn’t overcalculate, honest about desire, has his own standards... but sometimes they change?

It didn’t look like there’d been some meticulous plan when Jehyun first picked Do Yehyeon. He tried it because it’d be nice to bind someone with usable stats to himself, and it happened to work out—luckily.

And in the process of that “working out by luck,” this level of noise could easily occur.

‘Especially since this side seems to have a temperamental issue too.’

Anyway, an excessive fixation and dependence, if used well, becomes loyalty; used poorly, it yields results like this.

Do Yehyeon slowly opened his mouth.

“I don’t know what it is you want to ask.”

“Mm? You don’t know either? You said that ‘god’ grants wishes. Wasn’t your wish for Jehyun to notice you?”

“.......”

“I don’t know the details, but it’s roughly that kind of thing, isn’t it?”

When he probed once more, a minute stiffness settled on Do Yehyeon’s face. A small laugh leaked out at the transparent reaction.

“Before Jehyun came here, he got me a device that would let me move to this place. It was his personal safety measure. When a crisis hits, you need at least one way to get out alive, right? But at some point the item went dead.”

“.......”

“At first I wondered if the item had malfunctioned, so I looked for other ways to approach.... In the end, after a bit of time passed, it started working again, so I came in fine. The timing was late, though.”

Talking briskly, Im Haegyeong shut his mouth for a moment. At some point, Do Yehyeon had stopped looking at him and was staring at the floor.

Whether it meant he didn’t want to make eye contact, or he didn’t want to have this conversation with Im Haegyeong... still unclear....

“But after coming in here and hearing that from Jehyun... I started to think you’d blocked me, Yehyeon.”

“...Me?”

“Yes.”

Narrowing his eyes, Im Haegyeong looked at Do Yehyeon.

“You like Jehyun.”

“.......”

“Ah, of course ‘like’ has many meanings. Liking someone doesn’t have to be in that way.... Anyway, if I’m here, weren’t there moments when it would be difficult for your ‘desire’ to be realized?”

He didn’t spit out guesses he wasn’t sure of. By the time he said this to Do Yehyeon, Im Haegyeong was already certain.

Hearing him out, Do Yehyeon lowered his eyes obediently. He stayed silent for a long time as if thinking of something, then suddenly lifted his head slowly.

“I’m not sure.”

“Mm?”

“When I met the ‘god’, the only promise I got was that he would raise my stats. Because I’m... still too weak to treat hyung. And this dungeon is actually for that kind of use....”

Trailing off ambiguously, Do Yehyeon cut his words short, then gazed steadily at Im Haegyeong. Contrary to expectation, that gaze—which he’d assumed would be wavering—was straight.

“But... if, in that process, the guild master’s entry was temporarily blocked.”

“If it was?”

“...I think it could have been.”

“What if Jehyun had gotten badly hurt in the meantime, Yehyeon?”

Chiding lightly in a scolding tone, he got an unexpected answer again.

Looking him straight in the eyes, Do Yehyeon said:

“I can treat him, so it doesn’t matter.”

“That’s not what you were hoping for to happen, was it?”

“.......”

Even the omitted answer could be readily inferred this time too.

Studying him carefully, Im Haegyeong gently drew up the corner of his mouth.

“Alright.... Well, I’m not planning to argue with your thinking. It’s not like Jehyun and I are unbelievably close.”

“.......”

In the end he was walking around fine, so that wasn’t what mattered.

Gazing idly at Do Yehyeon, Im Haegyeong thought,

‘Left alone like this, he’s going to be pretty irritating.’

The reason he was willing to help Seo Jehyun even at the cost of extra hassle was partly interest, but mostly the conviction that it was necessary.

No one knew what variables a once-turned world would bring in the future. And by Im Haegyeong’s guess... Seo Jehyun had “prohibitions” related to those changes, so he wanted to keep him close, scrutinize him for a long time, and try to predict what was coming.

In short, what Im Haegyeong needed was a Seo Jehyun who was interesting yet considerably cooperative. Even better if he was a bit docile.

‘Is this one more irritating than Seowon?’

Both were similar in being emotional, but Joo Seowon acted within common sense so the next move could be predicted; this one, regardless of what could be predicted, was—how to put it—excessively blind.

‘Honestly, he’s also been influenced by the dungeon.’

For one’s mana to increase this much in a short time could only be seen as the structure of something artificial intervening. He’d said as much with his own mouth.

‘In many ways... troublesome.’

Narrowing his eyes, Im Haegyeong looked at Do Yehyeon.

If the reason Jehyun brought Do Yehyeon was his abilities, a substitute could be found. Healers will always turn up if you look.

But if it really was because he was personally interested in the individual and wanted to keep him close....

“Hmm.”

Just then, the entire ground shuddered as if it were rumbling.

Kwarreung!

With the sound of something heavy pouring down, the collapse that had seemed to pause resumed.

“...Did you do that, guild master?”

“No.”

Answering lightly to Do Yehyeon’s question, Im Haegyeong took a step back and added:

“But it could be the aftereffect of me moving things.”

“.......”

“Like I said, this is a mental domain, so my skill worked, but it’s not entirely a mental domain either. It has a form, at least.”

“Then....”

“It means I can’t control all of it.”

No sooner had the words ended than a massive wall beside them thudded to the floor.

The wall that had looked solid shattered the moment it hit the ground, crumbling into small fragments. Seeing the wall collapse, Do Yehyeon reflexively drew his body back and dodged.

“Then what do we do now....”

“Who knows.”

Cutting him off, Im Haegyeong reached out and made a minute shift in the nearby wall.

‘Tch.’

The wall his hand touched did move little by little, but he couldn’t shift it in big strokes like before. Clicking his tongue, he knit his brows slightly.

‘Feels like it’s not a mental domain anymore.’

The reason he had been able to move this space in the first place was because it was a space formed from the dungeon boss’s mind.

But now there was no consistent mana, no discernible mental form. Since it had been formed from a mind to begin with, micro-adjustments were possible, but moving the entire vast space again like this was impossible.

“For now, dodging would be best.”

“You can move it, though.”

“I manipulate mind, not telekinesis. If I could adjust gravity or something, we wouldn’t get crushed; but that kind of skill is outside my abilities.”

With those words, the entire space poured downward with a roar.

Their eyes met for a brief moment, and without any signal they started running for the edge.

No sooner did their soles push off the floor than that part crumbled again and vanished below. Like an anthill, no matter how far they ran outward, they kept returning to the center.

‘It’s the first time the dungeon itself is collapsing like this.’

Even as he ran, Im Haegyeong calculated rapidly in his head.

That a mental domain couldn’t be sensed meant, in the end, the dungeon boss had disappeared. But the dungeon still remained, and a way out was unclear.

Then how in the world could this dungeon be cleared?

It was then.

A sudden cold touch brushed his cheek.

‘Water?’

Reflexively lifting his head, Im Haegyeong finally noticed something new.

It wasn’t water. Nor rain.

‘This is... snow.’

Exactly. Snow was falling. In an environment where snow shouldn’t fall, alien drops were pouring down. Just as if someone had made them.