CH 21

With all my strength, I hurled the half-filled crystal bead.

The target was big, so it wasn’t hard to hit.

Contrary to my worry that it might not break, the crystal bead shattered with a clear sound as soon as it struck the body of the spider.

“Kieek!”

The shriek from the Arachne spider was so shrill it made my ears tingle. The Arachne spider twisted its body and turned its head towards me. As soon as its nine eyes locked onto me, I threw the remaining bead quickly.

Every time the clear sound rang out, the Arachne spider thrashed about, and at some point, its body began to melt. I never knew poison worked like this. If I had known, I would have thrown a big one from the start.

Feeling regret for a moment, the last remaining crystal bead shattered on the spider’s eye.

“Kieeek!”

‘At this rate, my ears are going to die before this thing does,’ I covered my ears and stared at the Arachne spider.

The cave seemed to crumble each time the creature with melting eyes writhed. The fallen Arachne spider, detached from the spider web, trembled as if an earthquake had occurred, making a thunderous noise.

‘Can it rise again here?’

If it attacks, I guess I’ll have to create a shield and somehow hold out.

Anticipating any possible situation, I placed my hand on the ground, and at the same time, the Arachne spider stopped moving.

“Is it dead?”

The silence was so profound I could hear the sound of my throat swallowing.

“Huh?”

Salt seemed curious about the unmoving creature and called out to me.

‘Just in case.’

The moment I uttered the incantation in my mind, a cone sprang up from the ground where the Arachne spider lay.

With a thud, its belly was pierced, a purple liquid trickled out, and a purple escape gate appeared behind the rope-like spider web.

[Your level has increased.]

[Lv 4  Lv 5]

Finally, a level up!

Even in the Forest Dungeon, my level didn’t rise, so I didn’t expect anything in the Crystal Dungeon.

“Should I check what stat has increased? Status window.”

The novel said that every five levels, stats would greatly increase. I wonder by how much they have increased.

+

[Seo Go-woon]

Level: 5

Occupation: Alchemist

Rank: D

Age: 27

Health: 301 / Mana: 2,001

Attributes: Strength C / Endurance C / Agility D / Magic Power A / Dexterity S+

Attack Power F / Defense Power F

Unique Abilities: [Dissambly] / [Transmutation] / [Comprehension]

+

“…..Are you kidding me?”

They definitely said it would increase significantly. But only my health and mana have increased by 1. If an increase of 1 is considered significant, then that means at level 6, they won’t increase at all.

“Being an alchemist sucks.”

I wanted to slap myself for praising alchemy just a moment ago.

While I was grumbling and checking the status window, suddenly, a noisy sound came from behind.

‘Is Shin Sooha coming?’

That’s too noisy to be Shin Sooha.

As I turned my body to see who it was, I saw the tear-streaked face of Kang Do-hoon.

“Seo Go-woon!”

I mean, I told him to go get people. Where was he hiding and crying? Why have his eyes become as big as a frog’s?

“What’s up with you? I told you to bring people.”

“Whooa, you’re alive.”

Kang Do-hoon, who had run up to me, hugged me and started to sob.

Crazy, what’s going on? Why is he like this?

“Why are you crying?”

“I thought you were dead, wo-hooo!.”

Why is he making a fuss about me being dead when I’m clearly alive?

Frowning, I was about to shove Kang Do-hoon away when I heard another voice.

“Hunter Seo Go-woon!”

‘Who’s that?’

A woman with blue bobbed hair and crimson eyes. ‘She’s a character who’s never been mentioned in the novel. Who did Kang Do-hoon bring?’

“Are you okay?! There was a wolf monster outside. Are you injured anywhere?!”

The woman, who I was seeing for the first time, tried to reach out to me with a puzzled face, but someone else had already grabbed my shoulder.

“Seo Go-woon!”

The one sighing heavily was Seo Taeju.

[The passive ‘Diagnosis’ is activated.]

[Seo Taeju – Contamination level 64%]

‘This bastard’s contamination…’

I had no time to read the suddenly appeared message.

“Ppi!”

When Seo Taeju’s strong grip shook his body, Salt’s figure flew up in protest.

However, Seo Taeju was spinning him around, not caring at all.

‘Uh-oh. What’s this, a new kind of torture?’

“You crazy bastard, stop. I’m dizzy……”

“Ppi!”

He inspected thoroughly while spinning me around.

‘What’s up with this bastard appearing out of nowhere and doing this?’

“Hey! You!”

‘What’s going on? Why is he screaming and making a fuss again? Is it my fault that I came to the dungeon because the guild told me to? Why is he making a fuss again when he said he wouldn’t care anymore?’

“Shut up and let me go, you bastard.”

As he tried to shake off the hand on my shoulder, Seo Taeju embraced me first.

‘What is this another trick….’

“I’m sorry, hyung. It’s all my fault.”

What, what is this?

Did he go crazy? Did he eat something wrong? Why is he acting like this suddenly? Hyung? My fault?

The abrupt change in attitude felt extremely strange.

“Hey? Did you eat something wrong?”

“I’m sorry. It was my fault. I’m sorry.”

Until a few days ago, he was cursing me to die, why is he acting like this all of a sudden. Could it be… is he acting this way because the contamination is severe? I don’t remember reading about a hunter who went crazy due to contamination in the novels. What was his contamination level?

As I leaned in to see Seo Taeju’s contamination level, I could feel some dampness on my shoulder along with the shivers coming from Seo Taeju’s body.

“What are you doing? Are you crying right now? Hey.”

“I’m sorry, hyung. I’m really sorry.”

‘Wow. What the hell is going on. Seriously. Why is this bastard crying. What happened. He should at least tell me why.’

Looking at Kang Do-hoon, wondering what happened, I could see that he too was already out of his mind. Although the only person I could ask was him, the man also looked quite confused.

Is he really acting this way because of the contamination? There are a lot of observers here, so I can’t really purify him.

“…Don’t die. Okay? It was my fault. Hyung, don’t die.”

“Did you get shot in the head?”

What the hell is he talking about? His mental state seems quite severe today.

A hunter or a civilian lied about going into the dungeon and caused a major accident. And a crazy bastard misunderstood that I came into the dungeon to die.

“Oh, I can’t believe it. Why do you think I came to the dungeon to die? Do people go to the dungeon just to die? Didn’t you think that people come here purely to conquer it?”

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry.”

‘Okay, I knew that Seo Taeju didn’t listen to my words, but he confirms it again like this.

But what on earth did Kang Do-hoon say that made this guy, who wouldn’t even show me the back of his heels, act like this?’

“Hey, Kang Do-hoon.”

“Huh, huh?”

“What did you say when you called this guy?”

“Huh, huh. Well….”

“I called him saying, ‘Seo Go-woon seems like he’s going to die, help us.'”

The answer came from beside the crying Kang Do-hoon.

I roughly understood how the situation unfolded.

‘These crazy bastards. I told them to call a hunter, not to advertise that I’m dying.’

I sighed as I looked at Seo Taeju crying from the shock of the communication failure.

‘Well, if Kang Do-hoon told him that Seo Go-woon seemed like he was going to die, it wouldn’t be unreasonable for him to rush over, all pale.’

The Seo Go-woon in the novel might not have known, but Seo Taeju did consider Seo Go-woon as his real family.

After Seo Go-woon’s funeral, Seo Taeju roamed the dungeons like a person who wanted to die.

All of his close hunter friends tried to stop Seo Taeju, but the only thing that stopped him, who wouldn’t listen to anyone, was a word from the Saintess he happened to see.

[The wish orb, which can revive the dead, can be obtained when clearing the Cradle of Despair.]

With this one sentence, Seo Taeju decides to clear the Cradle of Despair.

And then.

‘He entered the Cradle of Despair and died.’

Anyway, it’s an ending I really dislike. If it weren’t for Detective Kim’s plot summary, I wouldn’t have read it until the end.

“Hunter Seo Go-woon? Are you really okay?”

“Yes, I’m fine.”

I waved my remaining hand to assure them of my safety.

But this guy’s so heavy.

It feels like I’m about to die from the weight, with such a hefty guy clinging onto me non-stop.

“Hey, could you let go?”

“I’m sorry, I made a mistake.”

Seo Taeju continued to repeat ‘I’m sorry,’ as if he was a recording device.

I wonder what he’s apologizing for. It’d be nice if he could just let go.

“No, I’m okay. I’m asking you to let go.”

“I’m sorry, I’m really sorry.”

“Hey, I said you’re heavy. Let go.”

Seo Taeju slowly lifted his head to look at me.

I sighed at his gaze, trying to gauge whether I was asking him to let go because he was really heavy, or because I disliked him.

‘Ha… I hate that kind of look.’

All the kids from the orphanage where I used to stay would look at adults with the same gaze. A pitiful gaze, trying not to be abandoned no matter what. I hated getting that look every time I visited the orphanage, which felt like home, so I ended up just sending money.

‘Seo Taeju, you damned bastard. Why are you giving me that look?’

I felt more comfortable with his previous hate-filled look. ‘Who would have thought this arrogant, albeit slightly insane guy from the book would change like this in front of me?’ My head began to ache.

“Sigh.”

At my sigh, Seo Taeju’s shoulder flinched.

Having possessed this body, I’ve been doing all sorts of things. I had no plans to start a family in my world, so why should I have to comfort this guy? The things he’s done already make my blood boil.

‘It’s my karma.’

No, let’s think positively.

He was the one who intended to treat Seo Taeju well due to the sunshine policy. So, this must be a good thing. Yes, a close party relationship would be better than a cold one when trying to capture the cradle of despair later. Yes. It’s a good thing. It’s a good thing.

Suppressing the sigh that threatened to escape once more, I gently hugged the observant Seo Taeju.

“Hyung…….”

‘He said I was a stranger before.’

The large body leaned on me again. The man’s body shivered intermittently, and the sobbing sounded like he was about to cry once again.

Ah, this is more tiring than eliminating boss monsters.

“Excuse me, are you Hunter Seo Go-woon?”

“Yes.”

“Did Hunter Seo Go-woon defeat that boss monster over there?”

Seo Taeju’s companion, who had been quietly observing the situation, pointed outside. It seems like she’s talking about the hidden boss. She seems to have visited the crystal cave to admire it, not to explore. But this place is a dungeon owned by the Sunset Guild. Should I claim I defeated it or confess honestly?

After a moment of thought, I decided to tell the truth. “Guild Master Shin Soo-ha was here.”

“Shin… Soo-ha Guild Master?”

She looked suspiciously outside, then back at me.

Of course, it was hard to understand. I didn’t understand it either. But that was the truth.

I spread my hands wide to show my innocence. “I can’t use that sword.”

“…Huh, that’s true.”

Kang Do-hoon, who had been sobbing next to me, also nodded in agreement.

What does this guy know about me to be nodding? His statement is indeed true, but it somehow irritated me.

“What about these bats and spiders?”

“No, I took care of those.”

Her eyes that were looking at me narrowed in an instant. It was a gaze as if she was trying to catch a lie.

‘Doesn’t it sound more like a lie that Shin Soo-ha was here and left? Why is she doubting more that I killed the monsters? I feel slightly offended……’

As if sensing my slight annoyance, the person who stopped her piercing gaze was Seo Taeju.

“What does that matter right now? Hyung, let’s go now.”

“Huh? Ah.”

Seo Taeju, who had let go of me, tightly grabbed my wrist. The look of anxiety as if he might lose me again if he let go made me sigh.

What happened while I wasn’t around?

With the sudden turn of events, I had no choice but to be wrapped up in serious thoughts.