We informed everyone that the inside of the gate was unstable. Cheon Sa-yeon said to be especially careful and to get enough rest at the end of each room in case of a disaster.
Which was good for me. My injury didn't completely heal, so I was uncomfortable.
I was resting with my back against the wall, swallowing the painkiller I had received beforehand, and Cheon Sa-yeon, who came to see the condition of the guild members once in a while, said to me, "Do you have anything to say?"
"...?"
What bullshit was this. With my body feeling slightly heavy due to a slight fever, I answered, "No."
"How cold."
Cheon Sa-yeon gave Woo Seo-hyuk, who was standing behind him, a sad look. "I've been treated like this lately. What do you think?"
"I'm surprised," Woo Seo-hyuk responded calmly with an expression not in the slightest surprised.
"I've deceived everyone for your sake…"
"No, wait a minute." I wrapped my forehead, which was starting to ache. "What do you mean by deceiving?"
"I didn't expect you to be this tactless. Woo Seo-hyuk, please explain it instead."
"Yes. The Master is letting Han Yi-gyeol-ssi rest under the pretext of preparing for a disaster."
"What are you talking about*? It is true that we have to be prepared for disasters."
"The Master never delays for break times. This is unusual."
"Did you hear that?"
I heard. I didn't know what to say.
When I looked at him sullenly without answering, Cheon Sa-yeon put on a sad expression like he was teaching a student who couldn't study.
"Do you still have something to say, Han Yi-gyeol?"
"Oh, yes. Thank you."
Cursing that he was a madman inside, I bowed my head. Do you avoid shit because you're scared of it? No, you avoid it because it's dirty.
In my experience, it was best for a crazy person like Cheon Sa-yeon to do what he wanted to do and turn around quickly.
As I expected, Cheon Sa-yeon put on an expression that he was dissatisfied with my thanks. What else did you expect from me? Gradually, the headache subsided and the pain from the wound improved.
"Now let's go."
"Of course."
While looking back at Cheon Sa-yeon, who was looking for a device to open the door, someone poked me in the back. When I looked back, it was the healers.
"Han Yi-gyeol-ssi, would you like to eat this?"
"You must not take painkillers on an empty stomach!"
I already ate.
I wasn't that tactless to reply like that, so I smiled slightly as a token of appreciation and accepted what they were handed to me. On my hand was a cookie wrapped in a pretty wrapper.
"I-I made it. I've made it a few times, so it should taste good."
"I get tired easily in places like this, so I need sweet snacks. If it's okay with you, please have some."
"Thank you for the food. I have a sweet tooth."
The two healers, who appeared to be of the same age as Han Yi-gyeol, smiled brightly at my thanks, promised to make them next time, and went back to their seats. Received a cute gift, I couldn't hide the heartwarming smile that leaked from my lips.
'Yes. Sometimes this happens.'
I want to stop dealing with crazy people. I held the cookie bag with a fragrant scent in my arms. Everything was good, but there was no bag to store the cookies.
As I was contemplating whether I should carry it or just eat it, Cheon Sa-yeon who opened the door smiled and held out his hand.
"Give it to me. I'll keep it."
"In your inventory?"
"Of course."
I pondered for a while. Can I leave it to you? Cheon Sa-yeon's brightly smiling face bothered me, but I couldn't keep carrying it around, so I handed the cookie bag to Cheon Sa-yeon.
When Cheon Sa-yeon tapped his watch, the cookie bag disappeared.
"Still, more than half came."
That seemed to be the case for the 6th room. I could feel the A-grade energy through the open entrance. The spider monsters (거미 몬스터) used to be B-grade and were upgraded to A-grade.
Shaaaak!
Kkureuk, kkureureuk!
Dozens of tiny spiders that looked the same flashed their eyes on the back of the hairy spider. The guild members took out their weapons with tired expressions. No matter how many gates you go through and encounter monsters, it was not easy to get used to these spiders.
Spiders, the size of a large dog, came down one after another from the ceiling on a web. Dagak, dagak. The sound of hard legs hitting the wall could be heard from all directions.
"Han Yi-gyeol-ssi, you can't do that wind thing this time!"
"It's terrifying to think about spiders flying in the wind!"
"Just let us take care of it!"
"The wounded, back off!"
The guild members were terrified and stopped me as I was about to step forward. While I was bewildered because I did not expect such a reaction, the guild members rushed out to deal with the monsters. There was nothing to worry about because the big spiders were A-grades and the small spiders hanging from their backs were not even C-grade.
"Dog skeletons are okay, but spiders aren't…"
"I understand to some extent."
"You're just not sensitive enough."
Woo Seo-hyuk and Cheon Sa-yeon seemed to sympathize with the opinions of the guild members. I smoothed the back of my head in embarrassment.
'What does it have to do with being sensitive?'
Anyway, I was indeed wounded, so I did not step forward and stood by Cheon Sa-yeon, waiting for it to be dealt with.
As expected, it didn't take long to deal with all the monsters. The identifier walked around then reported in a very gloomy voice, "It has risen from 11.6% in B-grade to 56.8% in A-grade. For some reason, the more I pass through the room, the higher the grades rise up."
"Hmm." Cheon Sa-yeon was probably thinking the same as me now.
This gate was an S-grade gate. That meant that an S-class or higher monster could appear at any time.
'There is a high probability that an S+-grade monster will appear.'
The identifier and other guild members were also concerned. Fortunately, there was Cheon Sa-yeon, so everyone was calmly breaking through.
'If only one S+-grade monster appeared, it would be fine…'
I remembered the spectre I was dealing with yesterday. It was not enough that the grade was raised from A-grade to S-grade, and the number of them also increased. They even had a new ability.
As I recalled the spectre's nails that had been stained with poison, I reflexively felt a throbbing pain in my shoulder.
We would have to deal with S+-grade monsters in a small room, but could we handle it without any damages?
"Han Yi-gyeol." Cheon Sa-yeon, who had sent back the identifier, beckoned me to come closer.
"There are four rooms left." Cheon Sa-yeon, arms crossed and fingers tapping, asked, "Which monster do you think is the most troublesome?"
I slowly recalled the contents of the data. After examining the list of monsters that did not appear one by one, I answered carefully.
"…The ghosts (고스트)."
The remaining monsters were two S-grades and two A-grades. Among them, I chose the S-grade ghosts.
"The reason?"
"If it continues as it is now, there is a high probability that not only ghosts but also the banshee (벤시) will become S+-grade anyway. Then the problem will be the number of monsters, not the grade."
The banshee appeared alone, but there were five ghosts. If the number increased and abilities were added like the spectres, the ghosts would be more difficult than the banshee.
"There are more than 5 S+-grade monsters. The only people who can actually go into battle are Master and Woo Seo-hyuk-ssi."
Woo Seo-hyuk, who was standing behind Cheon Sa-yeon's back, nodded. "We need a countermeasure."
Cheon Sa-yeon, who was quietly listening to the conversation, said, "My thoughts are the same. The ghosts are probably more difficult than the banshee."
He gazed down at me. To see it simply because he had something to say, his black eyes contained a strange light.
"Han Yi-gyeol."
"…what is it?"
"I know you're not feeling well, but I need you to move with me."
"Are you going to do something?"
"Yes. So, Woo Seo-hyuk, stay behind with the guild members. You will face the monsters that Han Yi-gyeol and I miss."
"I understand."
"If it was a different gate, I would have come up with more diverse methods, but this is the one we're facing. If you half-heartedly do this, you will only do more damage."
I agree with that. The space was too narrow and limited to fight comfortably.
"Even though I'm wearing the bracelet, I can't guarantee that I'll be able to handle you, Master. Do it while watching my condition."
"Hmm. That's a bit disappointing. There's nothing we can do about your A-rank."
"The item you gave me as a gift must have been a fake sentiment," I replied harshly.
I wanted to hide my true feelings because we were being looked at by Woo Seo-hyuk, but after two days, I couldn't stand it any longer. How can I just stay still after being teased by you?
Fortunately, Woo Seo-hyuk did not respond to any conversation between me and Cheon Sa-yeon.
"Woo Seo-hyuk-ssi, are you okay with this? With this plan."
"Yes. I'm fine."
"It's not SS-grade, but it's still an S+-grade, higher than S-grade. If you are not careful, you may get hurt."
"I've wanted to deal with it at least once."
"Alright…"
He was just blunt as if he had no emotions, but Woo Seo-hyuk must be an S-rank too. Or maybe it was the inevitable instinct of a man who wanted to meet a strong opponent at least once.
"You never know when or where they will appear in the rest of the room, so always be careful."
* * *
In spite of the countermeasures, an A-grade monster appeared in the 7th room.
"89.34% of A-grade. It didn't make it to S-grade."
"That's a relief," I said to the guild member who was cleaning up the moth monster corpses that were scattered around.
Cheon Sa-yeon said, "That's it for today. Let's pack up and rest."
Everyone sat down with a sigh of relief. Perhaps it was because of the tension from the cramped air of the underground and the constantly rising monster grades. Everyone seemed very tired.
"I'm going to die…"
"Does anyone have any clean cloths left over?"
"When burning a corpse, remove the wings. If you bring the wings, the research team kids will be delighted."
As I looked at the guild members taking a break, the healers with new bandages approached me. "Han Yi-gyeol-ssi, how are you feeling?"
"I will treat you. I've brought you new bandages."
"Thank you."
I unbuttoned my shirt and sat down. Still, if I received treatment this time, the wound would heal to some extent. Since we had to deal with S+-grade monsters, we had to reduce the burden on our bodies to a minimum.
"They're A-class bandages. Master took care of it."
Looking at the bandages in the healer's hand, I really felt the energy of the item. I thought they would be regular bandages this time. It seemed that Cheon Sa-yeon really liked the A-class bandages.
"I don't need A-class bandages for treatment, do I?"
"Eh, still. It'd be a waste since I already got it."
"That's right."
Is that so?
That was then I was persuaded to nod my head and take off my shirt.
Kugugugung!
The surrounding area shook violently and there was a roar. Stone dust fell from the ceiling, and the candles shone anxiously as if they were about to go out at any moment.
"Wh-what?"
"What is this?"
The guild members who were resting were surprised and quickly prepared for battle. I also got up while re-buttoning my shirt.
Uuuung—!
Kugung!
An ominous cry could be heard over the still unopened entrance. I saw purple smoke slowly spreading through the darkness.