Seungeun jerked awake, his body in agony, and found himself lying on a cool, hard marble floor.
As he lifted his weary gaze, he found himself face-to-face with a towering statue of a seated man, its form relaxed and contemplative. His eyes traced the detailed contours of the stone. In the hands of the stone figure rested an ancient tome.
"Where is this...?" Before he could even ask the question, something struck his stomach, causing him to spit up blood and wheeze.
Seungeun looked up warily at the culprit, a thin man standing with a snobby expression, retracting his feet, and a chuckle on his face. The man grabbed him by the hair as he said it in front of his face.
"Heh, you keep saying you are going to beat me to death, but you are the one lying on the ground like a dog right now." The man with a prominent scar in the shape of an 'X' across his face had razor-sharp teeth and foul breath. "What's up with that look? Do you want me to kill you right now?"
"Loy, don't act rashly. He is wearing a tracker, so if you kill him, we will all be found out." Another man leaned on a pillar, robust and well-built, wearing armor with a shield lying next to him.
The two men's outfits confused Seungeun; they looked like cosplayers getting ready for an anime convention.
'I know I haven't left my apartment for about a month, but since when the world had advanced to the point where even criminals dressed up while committing crimes? Or maybe they're just too engrossed in their fantasy imagination. Man, this is why I don't want to tell people that I like 2D stuff.' He kept quiet about his thoughts, fearing to speak out. 'Who are these punks, anyway?'
Loy smirked, making himself even more repulsive by flashing his yellow, jagged teeth. "Grant, we can't kill him, but I can beat him until he's half dead and cry out for his mother."
He released his grip on Seungeun's hair, got to his feet, and laughed as he booted him in the mouth. Seungeun groaned, gripping his bleeding mouth, quickly checking if his teeth were still intact.
"You've been acting arrogant since the first time you joined our party, but you didn't expect to be beaten up like this, did you?" Loy cackled like a madman. "The marquess hired us so that his trash son could join us. Keke, did he realize he was sending his son to the afterlife? Or maybe he secretly wanted to get rid of you."
He believed Loy was referring to him based on what he was saying.
'A son of a marquess? What era are they in? They seemed too engrossed in their fantasy, making up stories.' They were insane, and his mouth hurt, so he wasn't sure if it was a smart idea to tell them to wake up and stop being delusional.
"It's a good thing the hero left early; now we can get all his stuff. However, we're lucky that we can't touch him because the kingdom values the hero. I'm sure he has a lot of good stuff. Anyway, I heard the marquess is wealthy and spoils Seth, even though he was the most useless child among his siblings."
Seungeun only just realized there were two more people here. The woman was clothed like those mages in a fantasy game, with a cloak and a belt around her waist. Her dark blue hair was pulled back in a low ponytail. There was a mage's staff lying next to her.
She exclaimed in surprise. "Wow, I knew the marquess was rich, but I didn't expect him to be this rich."
The mage eagerly rolled the lollipop in her mouth. Her eyes were drawn to a blue, gleaming sword. She squatted and swung it back and forth.
Grant narrowed his eyes in thought as he recalled whether he had seen the appearance of the sword in the blacksmith and auction house.
Before he could respond, a shorter woman who had been guiltily glancing at Seungeun as he was being beaten up walked over to the mage. She had a book in her hand and was dressed like a healer.
"I think that's Rain Sword."
"Is it? Woah! Isn't that the equivalent of a thousand gold? Where did he get it from?"
"It was previously auctioned off on the black market. According to the name, the sword can summon hundreds of swords and slay A-rank monsters with a single skill."
"Tsk, tsk, tsk. The marquess must have loved him a great deal to spend this much gold on him. We've been traveling together for several days, but he hasn't shown me most of his things and equipment. I was so eager to check his belongings that he even caught me once trying to steal his luggage. And, gosh, didn't he call us poor peasants before?"
They had traveled to a different village for three weeks with the marquess's son, and the loot they took from him was worth more than the reward for completing the quest.
Loy walked right up to the healer and mage. For a brief moment, Seungeun felt relieved as he got a momentary rest, but then he noticed the shield-wielding man glaring at him.
"He is a useless, weak bastard who needs artifacts to even defeat a D-tier monster. I should have it since he's not using it properly." Loy snatched the sword from the mage and swung it onto the pillar next to them. The pillar crumbled and almost toppled over.
"Fuck! Loy, are you crazy?!"
"I know you are eager to hoard all the stuff for yourself, Enid."
"You guys, don't be reckless," Grant warned. His uncontrollable greed was visible as he stared at the equipment lying on the floor. "We can't use the sword freely because it's a rare weapon, and others would notice it right away."
Grinning, Enid, the mage with a lollipop in her mouth, responded. "But we can still sell it and exchange it for money. All four of us can split it up."
"Four?" the shorter healer woman inquired. "What about the hero?"
"Mel, please stop mentioning him! It's hurting my fucking ears. Why in the world would you think he would hide what we do? The marquess would dispatch his first daughter to screw us all. You don't want that, do you?"
Amelia immediately trembled from getting yelled at by Loy and turned mute.
Loy was agitated at first, but quickly said in sarcasm, "We're doing charity to the marquess by getting rid of his useless son anyway. His sister is a knight, but he can't even kill low-ranked monsters. If I were him, I wouldn't continue living such a life when my siblings are all strong but not me."
Enid continued checking the artifacts on the ground. "There's also the Gem of Luck and the Ring of Healing. Amelia, this ring is good for your sick mother. Hm, if we sell all this, we'll surely be rich."
"Oh, we are so lucky this time!"
Seungeun wasn't sure who the unlucky guy thatwas who robbed. One thing he was certain of was that they were a bunch of crazy people. In his confusion, he cursed them in his head.
While they were busy talking, he took a look at his surroundings, which appeared to be a room with a high ceiling. In front of him, there were standing statues.
He had no idea what they were talking about. He clutched his stomach, hoping the pain would go away quickly.
'What the hell just happened?' Seungeun had no idea who these people were or where he was. He started going through his memories. 'I must have fallen asleep while reading that novel. I didn't even to get read the ending.'
Unexpectedly, the ground started to shake, and there was also a thumping noise as though a giant was walking. The moment the others heard the sound, they ceased speaking.
Grant immediately took his shield and commanded, "We have to get out quickly. Enid, use your magic right now."
"Aye, captain." Enid packed all the stuff on the floor into the sling bag before grabbing her mage staff.
Amelia looked at the leader and then at Seungeun hesitantly. "What about him? Are we just going to leave him here?"
It was her first time joining the three of them, Grant, Loy, and Enid, to steal people's belongings. But it didn't seem like it was the first time for them.
At first, she wondered how they were able to get a lot of artefacts despite only being C-rank adventurers; however, after they told her about their plan, she finally understood.
"Mel, stop fussing. Let the statues kill him. Someone as weak and useless as him dying will only lighten the marquess' burden."
"Isn't it just a low-level dungeon? We could have cleared it because it is so easy, but we have more important tasks to complete than clearing a dungeon in this shithole village. In any case, you've just joined our party, Mel. If you want to get rich rapidly, you must pay attention and follow what we do. Isn't that right, leader?" Enid hooked her arm around Amelia's shoulder as she began reciting an incantation to make them invincible.
"Huh?" After getting beat up in black and blue, Seungeun found it difficult to stand up.
He had no idea what would generate such a loud, thumping noise, but given that these people were fleeing, it must be something dangerous. There must be creatures here since they said that this location is a dungeon.
He thought he must be dreaming, but the pain was too real for him to ignore.
Grant gave him a sympathetic glance. "Don't blame this on us. If you had to point the finger at anyone, blame yourself for choosing to go on adventures while having no talent for magic." His comments were filled with righteousness, as if he were justifying what his people had done to him. "Next time, you have to be careful who you trust."
His statements were so revolting that they infuriated Seungeun.
After Enid finished reciting the incantations, they became invisible, leaving footprints on the dusty floor, before turning and exiting through the door.
"Wait, stop- Damn it!" Using the statue behind him as support, Seungeun struggled to stand up.
"Sorry…" Amelia a whisper hanging in the air as forced herself to not look back at him.
As the thudding sound on the floor grew louder, Seungeun realized whatever the sound's origin, it was approaching.
He leaned into the sitting statue behind him, almost falling over. But he was aware that staying any longer would be risky.
The door on the side of the room was destroyed, causing debris to fly everywhere.
To his horror, he found himself surrounded by two menacing stone figures.
The statues were smiling.