Chapter 76

What do you mean 'choose'? When I looked at Cheon Sa-yeon at the sudden words, he smiled while pointing his fingers at himself and Ha Tae-heon alternately.

"You have to choose someone to go with."

"...why do I choose it?"

"I can't let you, who is an A-rank, go alone. Of course, even if the grades were excluded, Ha Tae-heon wouldn't want to go with me, would he?"

Looking back on Ha Tae-heon and Cheon Sa-yeon's words, I put on an expression that asked why he was saying something so natural.

"No, I understand that, but I don't even have to choose. I don't care who I go with."

"Then there's nothing we can do."

Cheon Sa-yeon, who lowered his eyebrows slightly as if disappointing, then pointed his sword at Ha Tae-heon.

"Han Yi-gyeol doesn't choose, so we'll have to make a decision between us, Ha Tae-heon."

"I beg your pardon?"

I was confused by the absurd conclusion, Ha Tae-heon grabbed the sword he had made with his ability as he wished, rather than refused.

What are these crazy people trying to do?

"Really, why are you two like this? Why are you fighting in this situation, damn it!"

"If you don't like the two of us fighting, then pick one."

"Can we just not fight..."

I was tired and rubbed my forehead. Cheon Sa-yeon, Ha Tae-heon, and strangely similar people stuck together, so I was the only one having a hard time.

I was stupid to think that the two of them could talk normally. Now that I saw it, these children were full of will to fight whenever the opportunity arose.

Ha Tae-heon, who would normally consider the situation rationally, strangely changed emotionally when Cheon Sa-yeon was involved.

There was a tingling energy between Cheon Sa-yeon and Ha Tae-heon, who were staring at each other. Guess these guys were serious. After observing the situation and keeping an eye on it, I finally gave up.

"All right. I will choose."

Cheon Sa-yeon smiled as if he had drawn my decision. I don't know why the hell you like it.

'How did I end up in this situation?'

Rather than choosing between Cheon Sa-yeon and Ha Tae-heon, I pondered looking at the left and right doors at the end of the hallway.

"I..."

After hesitating for a while, I spoke.

"I will go to the right with Ha Tae-heon-ssi."

As if my choice was unexpected, Ha Tae-heon looked at me. On the other hand, Cheon Sa-yeon responded that he knew it would like that way.

"Hmm."

After a moment of silence, Cheon Sa-yeon opened his mouth.

"You didn't choose me. I guess I'm the only one who has good memories of our past together."

"Don't say nonsense."

Cheon Sa-yeon would have known my choice from the beginning. My relationship with Cheon Sa-yeon was a cooperative relationship anyway, so it was better to separate than to go to the same place. This way would increase the amount of information you could obtain.

The smiling Cheon Sa-yeon pointed to the door on the left, curling the corners of his eyes.

"Then let me go down this way alone."

"Yes."

"It's very lonely and lonesome, but I can't help it..." (굉장히 외롭고 쓸쓸하겠지만)

"......"

"Because I wasn't chosen..."

"Stop it."

I sighed covering my eyes. This was the reason I was worried until the end. If it was Cheon Sa-yeon, it was obvious that he would make fun of me from the moment he wasn't chosen.

Cheon Sa-yeon brought up the main point, whether he made fun of me enough to be satisfied.

"We don't know what's going to happen beyond the door, so we'd better set some rules and go."

Since electronic devices couldn't be used inside the gate, there was no way to contact if we were scattered. Realizing the meaning, I nodded.

"Yes. I think it's better like that."

"When we're done, we'll meet again at this crossroads. In case of danger, you have to step back."

"All right. Don't overdo it either."

Even if it was Cheon Sa-yeon, it was a bit worrying to walk around the inside of the gate for the first time. At my words, Cheon Sa-yeon slowly blinked his eyes.

"If you're that worried, come with me."

I'm being serious, but this guy...

"You go first."

I politely pointed to the door on the left with the meaning of asking him to leave. Cheon Sa-yeon, who laughed out loud as if my reaction was funny, entered the door on the left.

"Um, shall we go too?"

As soon as Cheon Sa-yeon, who spoke nonsense when he opened his mouth, disappeared, silence fell like a ghost. I beckoned Ha Tae-heon to the door on the right with a bit of awkwardness.

As we entered, the surroundings became a little darker. Ha Tae-heon and I walked down the hallway without talking.

Earlier, when Ha Tae-heon first hugged my waist, I thought that he might have become a little closer, but when the two of us were left, an indescribable awkwardness came. I guess it must have been an illusion.

"That... Ha Tae-heon-ssi. I..."

"Today's party."

I couldn't stand the silence and hesitantly opened my mouth, but Ha Tae-heon interrupted me and asked.

"I didn't know you would come. Also, as a partner of the Master Cheon Sa-yeon."

Maybe it was because his tone was harder than usual, somehow I felt like I was being scolded. Indeed. It was a situation where the guy who was going to be helped by himself showed up at the party arm in arm with his rival. It seemed like it would make me feel bad, too.

"I have some circumstances."

Since I couldn't tell Ha Tae-heon about Kim Woo-jin, who is a member of Requiem, I stuttered a bit. Most of all, I didn't want to disclose the details of the transaction with Cheon Sa-yeon to anyone.

Ha Tae-heon's eyes became sharp at once, probably because of my insincere reply.

"Is there any other reason you attended the party?"

"Pardon?"

"You didn't expect what happened this time, did you?"

What... I frowned.

"If I had expected it, would it have happened like this?"

"I don't know. Because you don't even blink an eye to deceive others."

All of a sudden, Ha Tae-heon was approaching my nose. I faced him without avoiding the cold stare.

"I know that Ha Tae-heon-ssi doesn't trust me, but I don't do such useless things."

"Is it useless things?"

"What am I going to gain from this job? Don't make weird assumptions."

When I spoke with irritation, Ha Tae-heon twisted the tip of his lips.

"If you are upset, please explain it properly. What was the reason for you, who wanted to escape, attending the party with Cheon Sa-yeon?"

Ha Tae-heon didn't know that I was on the move to uncover the gate anomaly. Even being independent would look weird. After hesitating for a while, I barely opened my mouth.

"...what does Ha Tae-heon-ssi have to do with it?"

Ha Tae-heon looked at me with a smirk as if to see it. I actually wanted to ask about it.

"I understand that I'm suspicious."

"......"

"If I tell you the truth, are you willing to believe it?"

Somehow it sounded like a hurtful word to me, not to Ha Tae-heon.

"No. Why should I explain it to someone who won't believe me even if I explain it anyway?"

"Then."

Ha Tae-heon, who was quietly listening to me, opened his mouth in a low voice.

"If I believe it, will you tell me?"

Contrary to the question of unknown intent, his eyes looking at me were extremely plain.

"Answer me, Han Yi-gyeol."

"......"

"Are you going to tell me?"

"...I hate to say it without the assurance that you will believe it."

In the end, it was a step back. Looking at it like this, I and Ha Tae-heon had a lot of similarities. The past life made it difficult to trust others.

Ha Tae-heon stared at me without answering. I was nervous about how he would react, but he slowly raised his gaze and looked behind me.

"Ha Tae-heon-ssi?"

"Be quiet."

Ha Tae-heon looked carefully at the front of the hallway filled with darkness. I immediately noticed what he was doing.

"Do you hear anything?"

As an A-rank, I couldn't hear anything, but as an SS-rank, he seemed to have sensed something. Ha Tae-heon nodded his head at my question.

"Monster?"

"I'm not sure. They're probably fighting."

If they were in battle, are you saying that there are people as well as monsters? It could be a dangerous situation. I threw away the torch and spoke closely to Ha Tae-heon.

"Let's go right away."

Even without explanation, Ha Tae-heon, who understood the meaning of my words, hugged me. Surrounding Ha Tae-heon in the wind, I sped up and flew across the hallway.

Kuuung!

As we got closer to the end of the hallway, the ground shook slightly with the sound of something breaking.

"Ha Tae-heon-ssi, here..."

I widened my eyes at the scenery that spread out across the hallway. I could see a forest full of coniferous trees on the soil floor, which I couldn't even think of as being underground. Unlike the hallway, this place was bright white, but the purple powder was flying in the air and there was a thick fog.

"Ugh...!"

At that moment, I felt a sharp pain as if my skin had been pierced by a needle. It seemed that the flying powder was one of the monster's abilities.

As I bit my lip and held back my groans, Ha Tae-heon took an SS-class coat from his inventory and put it over my shoulder.

'I asked Ha Tae-heon to wear it, but why am I wearing more?'

I thanked him for the coat and put it on then looked straight ahead. A huge humanoid monster was looking down at us.

A round black head like a burnt match and long arms with only a skeleton left. Its lower body had opaque tentacles stuck to the ground like jellyfish and in its hand was a multi-pointed sword.

Among them, the one that caught my eyes the most was the circular mirror behind the monster. The mirror was floating in the air, shining as white as the sun.

"What. Deputy Master Ha Tae-heon?" (In the raw, it wrote only "Master", not Deputy Master, so I edited it)

Through the fog and poison powder that obscured the view, Hong Si-ah appeared. Maybe she had a fight with the monster in front of her, her breathing was a bit rough.

When she found Ha Tae-heon and me, she opened her eyes and smiled.

"Are you even Talented Han Yi-gyeol? Looks like you both just arrived?"

"Yes. Is there anyone else?"

When I came out of Ha Tae-heon's arms and asked, Hong Si-ah said with a frown.

"No, I was with Master Lee Joo-ha... Actually, the situation is not good right now."

"What happened?"

Ha Tae-heon came forward after hearing that Lee Joo-ha was there.

"It's one of the monster's abilities. Black holes appear randomly on the floor, and when you step on them, they disappear in an instant. It seems to be a simple ability to move through space, given that there is no dangerous energy."

"Do you not know where it has been moved?"

Hong Si-ah brushed away her messy bangs and answered.

"I ran around the room as much as I could and looked around and saw a staircase going down behind the monster. That seems to be the most likely place."

"Master Lee Joo-ha as well as other party attendees must be there."

"Right."

I looked at the dimly visible monster through the fog. A familiar feeling of fear that numbed your fingertips. It was definitely an S+ grade.

"But it's just the two of you? Did you not see anyone else when you came?"

"There was also Master Cheon Sa-yeon. We split the team at crossroads."

"Ah, there. I saw it as well. So now the three of us have to deal with that monster, right?"

Hong Si-ah grabbed her leather whip with strength and grinned. It was a beautiful smile that was captivating, but the bloody whip in her hand was quite vicious.

I nodded calmly. That monster was an S+ grade. The combination of S-rank Hong Si-ah and SS-rank Ha Tae-heon was enough to catch it.

T/N :

OMG Sa-yeon! Let me accompany you instead! XD

I reread almost 5th times and always grin like an idiot every time Sa-yeon act "so cutely" like that wwwww

But hmm, yeah, the problem between Yi-gyeol and Tae-heon is trust issue. Yi-gyeol believe him more than Tae-heon to him because Tae-heon is "the protagonist" he knows, however, who is Yi-gyeol to him? Someone who accepted the order to kidnap the innocent people? Someone who wants to be rescued by him? Someone who acts as innocent guy but becomes loyal dog to Sa-yeon behind his back? Hm hm hm...