CH 200

I opened my mouth and stared at Bae Jaemin again. However, the Priest ignored my shock and tapped at the air with his fingertips. Now, he sent his messages openly. The man I was holding rolled his eyes and held his breath due to the rigid tension that fell between me and the Priest.

Before long, the message window blinked with a new notification.

[Bae Jaemin: If you don’t like that…]

[Bae Jaemin: Then, drag him around.]

‘Honestly, then he should torture that guy. Why is he telling me to do it?’

I loosened my grab on the teary man’s collar. Though I thought Bae Jaemin was correct, I didn’t really want to do as he said.

Released from my grasp, the man faltered and collapsed to the ground. He was muttering through his tears, perhaps realizing that we were letting him live, though unsure of our reasoning. “Hnn… Thank you.”

His pitiful appearance reminded me of when I first met Seo Dawon–when Choi Lee-kyung first visited the [Tower of Command]. His gaunt face exuded the weary, life-hardened scent of a User with an unpopular class…

I felt sorry for him and bent down to give him a hand. When he saw me approaching, he flinched and raised his head. It was then…

“Huh?”

“Jung Garam, what are you doing!”

The air before my eyes shone bright; my vision was obscured. I felt a hot searing pain on my wrist. Something sharp had cut me. Then, I felt Bae Jaemin, immediately after his sharp shout, dragging me from behind. Simultaneously, I felt a hot pain in my eyes.

I had lost my eyesight for a while; in the midst of that chaos, I heard hurried footsteps. I instinctively threw a dagger at the person running away–I didn’t have to think.

“Knghh!”

A few seconds later, I heard a scream and the dull thud of a body falling down. From behind, I felt Bae Jaemin wrapping a hand around my wrist. I tried to shake him off, repulsed, but I felt something warmer than mere body temperature enveloping my wound. The painful sensation quickly subsided.

“[Divine Power].”

“……” I felt embarrassed at the unexpected heal; Bae Jaemin silently focused on taking care of my wound. After gently layering a few more skills, he touched my face very naturally. Of course, I was still wary and held onto his hand.

“Aren’t you unable to see?” He asked.

“……”

Bae Jaemin muttered calmly even though his wrist was bent at an angle from the force of my fingers. Inadvertently chewing on my lips, I let go of his hands.

As cold and soft fingertips brushed over my eyelids, I could smell Bae Jaemin’s faint scent as the priest drew closer to me. Did the guy only select famous perfumes? It smelled so familiar.

“Today, you’re so…” While treating my eyes with his own hands, Bae Jaemin paused in the middle of speaking. The situation itself made me frustrated and repulsed, so I flared my bloodlust. ‘Fuck Off.’ Bae Jaemin didn’t seem to be intimidated by my vigor, but, sure enough, he stopped talking. The Priest had similarly felt no joy from this aborted conversation.

The pain in my cold eyes vanished in about 1 minute. As soon as the skill finished, Bae Jaemin took his hands off my eyes and stepped back chicly. However, after I blinked to confirm that my eyesight had recovered, the Priest said something quite annoying with his emotionless expression. “Are you in a bad condition today? Your movements stink.” 1

“What?”

“Stay alert. What’s wrong with you–how could such a low-grade assassin attack you.”

Of course, this had all happened due to my carelessness, but I had no desire to endure the Priest’s scoldings. After all, I had dealt with the assassin even while injured. Furthermore, that bastard didn’t need to shamefully rub himself all over me. This sort of wound could be treated with a high-grade potion.

How nosy–unloading all this business onto me, telling me to do this or that–how dare he say all this now. I tilted my head and crossed my arms, “Are you whining because you’ve healed me a little as a Priest? Why are you so condescending after doing your job.” 2

“I’m not being condescending, I’m worried. It seems like no matter what I say, my words press your buttons.” 3

I was sick and tired of the way that Bae Jaemin seemed to imply ‘You’re the crooked one that’s distorting my words.’ Could he continue to yap after I shoved this dagger in that pretty mouth?

The Priest continued, “I don’t know why you hate me so much.”

“Hah?”

“You’ve been like that from the very beginning. No matter what I do, you look at me with that unhappy face… Glaring at me with your arms crossed–just like that. Wouldn’t you find it hard to speak kindly in that situation?” With that said, Bae Jaemin hid his tired face between his palms. He looked quite plaintive.

The Bae Jaemin of this era was a handsome man, to say the least; his expression had the power to move people’s hearts. If I weren’t Choi Lee-kyung…the Jung Garam from this time period may have hesitated a little… At least, that’s what I thought.

‘Had this happened to Jung Garam in his past?’

Deep in thought, I looked at Bae Jaemin without any large movements. Suddenly, I wondered if Bae Jaemin had any thoughts of betraying Seo Dawon at this very moment. It must have taken quite a long time to bring all the traitors together and craft a trap…

‘He must have made up his mind–to some extent–already. But he still wants to portray a good image of himself to Garam-ie?’

Worried that the Priest had something else up his sleeves, I opened my mouth to say something…

Clank–!

“What are you two doing?” Accompanied by the sound of metal dragging against the ground, an unexpected figure appeared.

Like a person who had just woken up, the man–Woo Ragi–drowsily stepped towards us, weapon trailing behind him.

I didn’t know when Woo Ragi had drawn near, but I somehow couldn’t erase the suspicion that Bae Jaemin was conscious of Woo Ragi’s presence and put on a performance. The Priest’s sudden conciliatory gesture was still bothering me. Therefore, I simply stepped back without saying anything more to the traitor.

Perhaps Woo Ragi had actually rushed out after waking up, he shook his head gently, yawning continuously. His chain sword wasn’t primed and perched in his grasp and was, instead, drooping like wet insect wings beside him. He looked…less flawless than usual? Eventually, I couldn’t overcome my curiosity at his unexpected appearance, so I asked him in a slight astringent tone, “What… brings you here?”

“I wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for Seo Dawon, that crazy bastard.” Woo Ragi murmured a few vulgar curses under his breath. It seemed like the guildmaster did more than send him a few messages.

Before I could finish that thought, a golden chick wearing a round, alarm-clock hat suddenly popped into existence, mid-air, and noisily rang its alarm.

[Wake up! Chirp Chirp! Wake up! Chirp Chirp! Wake up! Chirp Chirp! Wake up!]

Woo Ragi silently grabbed that baby chick and squashed it. Within his hands, the chick soon turned into sand and melted away. “Fucker. Sending this sort of thing every 10 minutes…”

“Ah…”

“I’m already in, you son of a bitch.” He jabbed violently at empty air with his hands, as if he were writing an angry message. He was probably swearing at Seo Dawon, demanding that the Mage call off the alarm-chick.

I held back my laughter, recalling how cute the baby alarm-chick was. After exchanging more messages, Woo Ragi scratched his head and placed his hands on his waist. As soon as he touched his waist, his chain sword glowed with blue light and slowly rose into the air.

“Haah… Fuck.” Though he grumbled, it seemed like he was fully awake now. The man straightened his shoulders, and the sword floated high above his back, ready for battle.

I checked the group chat as Ragi walked ahead; the messages had piled up while I was distracted.

[Seo Dawon: The Dungeon’s too large]

[Seo Dawon: Who’s the guy that cast Maze, lolol. He’s done damn well–I want to bring him into the guild]

[Choi Kyung-sik: We also can’t tell if we’re in the hardcore or normal route… The roads keep changing.]

[Seo Dawon: First…Stay where you are, if possible]

[Choi Kyung-sik: Yep]

[Seo Dawon: Olim-ah, where are you?]

[Kim Olim: I’m coming]

[Kim Olim: What about Ragi?]

[Seo Dawon: I guess he’s still sleeping]

[Kim Olim: Do I need to go wake him up?]

[Seo Dawon: No, lolol. He’ll wake up soon.]

[Jo Chanyoung: I’m almost there]

[Kim Olim: Good]

[Woo Ragi: …Hey]

[Woo Ragi: It’s my day off]

[Woo Ragi: Can’t go]

[Woo Ragi: I said it’s my off-day, bitch]

[Woo Ragi: I barely slept for an hour, fucker]

[Seo Dawon: You’ve woken up, dear?]

[Woo Ragi: Son of a bitch]

[Woo Ragi: I said I’d kill you if you ever send this birdbrain to me, right??]

[Choi Kyung-sik: lolololololololololololololol]

[Seo Dawon: I’ll send you the coordinates, so, if you have something to say, come on over lolol]

[Woo Ragi: bitch]

[Woo Ragi: Do you think I’d come?]

[Woo Ragi: I can just wait at your house and stab you as soon as you open the door]

[Bang Eunji: That’s impossible]

[Bang Eunji: I tried to hide in guild master-nim’s house]

[Bang Eunji: It was so secure and well-protected; eventually I gave up]

[Woo Ragi: ?]

[Seo Dawon: Really? You should have told me in advance if you wanted to visit.]

[Seo Dawon: I would’ve left it open…]

[Bang Eunji: Ahhh TT_TT It’s nice to be invited, but… I wanted to sneak in!!]

[Woo Ragi: What kind of bullcrap is this]

[Woo Ragi: Fuck, Bang Eunji I told you not to interrupt me while I’m talking, didn’t I?]

[Woo Ragi: Do you think I’m joking?]

[Bang Eunji: ??]

[Bang Eunji: Rather, Woo Ragi-ssi shouldn’t squeeze in my and Guildmaster-nim’s conversation]

[Choi Kyung-sik: lololololololololololololololololol]

[Jo Chanyoung: I’m going in]

Reading through, it seemed like all the guild members were eventually gathered because the dungeon was just too vast and it was too difficult to find one’s way because of the [Maze] skill.

In the end, I shrugged once and followed the two others, who started walking ahead of me. It was unfortunate that I was accompanied by those that made me uncomfortable, but…

‘It feels like I’m slowly getting used to this body?’

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TL: Sorry guys~ I’m going to be delayed with the drawing for chap 200 >.< I’m super busy in my work lately TT_TT

Also, RIP for Woo Ragi, but the alarm clock chick sounds adorable. And Bang Eunji’s complete ignorant “no u” to him is amazing too.

FootnotesAka Hamster is being clumsy today In the original, Lee-kyung says “work that puts food on your table.” I decided to just shorten that to ‘job,’ but I kinda enjoyed the sassiness…so here it is in the footnotes! Pressing your buttons means to cause someone’s temper to flare