Joo Seowon stared at me blankly for a moment, then asked back.

“...What?”

“Exactly what I said. Chase Holt is dead. There’s a very slim chance he might not be, but. Well, if that much pressure was applied, even an S-rank wouldn’t have an easy time surviving, would he?”

Besides, I had blocked his escape route too.

Joo Seowon seemed to understand what I meant only then. Maybe it was unconscious, but they slowly took one step back. I didn’t bother stopping them and added an explanation.

“There was no helping it. Chase Holt was destined to die anyway. It just happened a little earlier.”

“What are you....”

“The situation’s urgent, so I’ll keep it simple. Chase is the kind of bastard whose hobby is killing Hunters. He approached me in a similar way this time, and I killed him at the right timing. While I was at it, I brought down the tower too. An S-rank Hunter is basically a walking mana reservoir.”

“.......”

“If you’re that worried, should we go look for the body?”

I made the offer, but in truth, we didn’t have enough time to go looking for a body. The Dungeon was already collapsing.

I waited a moment for them to process it and looked around.

'The escape route is still plenty open....'

Then Joo Seowon said,

“There’s no way you could kill Chase.”

“I couldn’t kill him.”

“Then how....”

“Well, did I kill him? He walked into the place where he was going to die on his own....”

“Then Hunter Sung killed Chase?”

Not really, I didn’t think.

I tilted my head slightly to the side and stared quietly at Joo Seowon.

“No, right? Sung Uijae had no intent.”

“You... did.”

“Yeah. Chase Holt had intent too.”

“.......”

Maybe because they had barely ever entered Dungeons, they seemed slow to accept another person’s death. Meaning to soothe Joo Seowon, I wrapped an arm around their shoulders and pulled them a little closer.

“Get our stories straight once we’re out. You’re good at that kind of thing.”

“What am I good at?”

“Using your head. We searched, but... couldn’t find him. Sorry? Or maybe something went wrong while he was trying to kill the Dungeon Boss. Since it was an S-rank Gate, things were urgent.... I don’t know what sounds good. Mm.... Let’s leave out the failed search. If we handle that wrong, the blade might point at you.”

“Seo Jehyun, you....”

“If you’re going to argue, do it after we get out.”

Joo Seowon pressed their mouth shut, and their eyes began to waver little by little.

'Hmm....'

Would it have been better to keep my mouth shut? I chose to say it because if I let them think Chase was alive, they might try to drag things out searching for him.

'Well, I’ll think about that later.'

I dropped the hand I had placed around their shoulders and jerked my chin forward.

“What are you doing? We have to go.”

Joo Seowon didn’t answer, but they followed me properly, then suddenly grabbed my collar tightly.

“Why?”

“...I’ll take the lead.”

“Sure.”

Well, if they had a tracking Skill, they would find the escape route faster. I obediently sent Joo Seowon ahead and walked behind them.

As expected from someone with too much on their mind, Joo Seowon didn’t say much while we walked.

Then I sensed a presence nearby.

“Seowon.”

I immediately stopped Joo Seowon and quickly opened a Status Window.

Automaton 6 (A)

A being remaining in A Brilliant Tomb.

It still moves to reenact the glory of that era.

'As expected.'

I figured they would be swarming near the exit.

If it had been even one rank lower, I might have done something, but as things stood, fighting it was not exactly convenient. I made my decision quickly and shoved Joo Seowon’s back forward.

“Just run.”

With that, I started running beside Joo Seowon.

I randomly opened Status Windows nearby and checked them.

'Four, five... no, fuck, there’s just no point.'

Until the tower collapsed, the Automatons had wandered peacefully like they were programmed to do so. Now, as if they had thrown away that peace, they were running toward us at high speed.

Every time I glanced back, the rattling dolls had gotten a little closer.

“Ah, fuck.”

“Ugh!”

I grabbed Joo Seowon’s arm and pulled them in, supporting their weight as they lost balance and stumbled.

Instead of explaining, I twisted my body and ran sideways, and Joo Seowon staggered but quickly kept pace without losing speed.

“Aaaagh!”

The dolls’ bizarre screams and the friction of our shoe soles against the ground sounded in turns as we ran.

“Where’s the exit?”

“Wait, let me focus just a little....”

“Oh, you fucking.... Want to try a little harder?”

“Going the opposite way is right, wait...!”

I shoved Joo Seowon into something like a half-collapsed house that only barely retained its shape, then vaulted in after them.

As soon as we entered, I covered Joo Seowon’s panting mouth first and held my breath.

“Be quiet. Understand?”

Even considering we had run pretty far at a decent speed, it was strange for them to be this out of breath. So their ragged breathing had to be influenced not simply by running, but by Joo Seowon’s anxiety.

I calmly steadied my own breathing and quietly met Joo Seowon’s eyes.

When I slowly moved my hand away, Joo Seowon’s breathing had stabilized more than before. I moved only my eyes to roughly check their condition, then swept my hair back.

“Seo Jehyun, I think we should get out of here first.”

“I need to think. Wait a little.”

There was still time before the Dungeon collapsed. Then would it be better to call someone now?

After thinking for a moment, I called someone with the pager and tossed it to Joo Seowon.

“What’s this?”

“A pager. I called someone.”

“.......”

Now there were two remaining options. Hold out here, or trust Joo Seowon’s Skill and head for the exit.

I reached a conclusion quickly.

“Let’s hold out here. If we wander around, odds are we’ll just end up as prey.”

If they were docile, peaceful dolls, I could have used Agitation to herd them into one place, but it was impossible to use Agitation one by one on bastards charging at us individually like this.

'Ah, fuck, Mental Domination would be better.'

Come to think of it, Im Haekyung, who was supposed to come as backup, hadn’t shown even a hair, probably because the Dungeon Break had erupted so suddenly. Of course, even if Haekyung had arrived in Australia, there was no way I could peacefully receive a text inside a Dungeon.

Then I saw a hand grip the wall.

Immediately after, an Automaton pulled up the corners of its mouth in a clumsy imitation of a smile and creaked inside. Without hesitation, I made ice and smashed the Automaton’s head.

Thwack!

The headless Automaton slowly sank to the floor and shattered with a crash. I kicked away the fragments that rolled toward me and drew a breath.

'At least it’s a good thing that bastard was lower-rank.'

But even after the doll was blown away, it was still noisy outside.

'A person?'

No sooner had I turned my head than this time, a real “person” came inside. Without hesitation, I opened his Status Window.

Name: Roman Dale

Age: 28

Rank: A

Title: -

Main Skills: Mind Grip (A), Static Hold (A)

Growth Limit: A

He was one of Chase’s companions. Roman stepped inside and lightly waved the pager toward us.

“I came to help.”

I silently turned my gaze and met Joo Seowon’s eyes. Joo Seowon stared quietly at Roman, then got up from where they had been sitting.

“Has the outside... been cleaned up?”

At Joo Seowon’s words, Roman nodded calmly and smiled in a good-natured way.

“Yeah, let’s go. Most of it’s been handled. We found Chase too.”

What kind of bullshit was that?

At the nonsense that they had found Chase, I reflexively furrowed my brow. Joo Seowon quietly asked back, as if they didn’t understand.

“Hunter Chase?”

“Yeah. We requested backup from Nate’s side... weren’t you with them too? With Nathaniel.”

“He means Hunter Sung Uijae.”

“I know Sung Uijae’s English name too.”

After giving Joo Seowon a rough answer, I stared quietly at Roman. Roman also looked back at me with a friendly smile. After a brief moment of thought, I gripped Joo Seowon’s shoulder.

“How did you find him? Even the kid with the tracking Skill couldn’t find him.”

Of course, I had never told them to search.

I quickly predicted his intention. The remark about Chase was probably meant to gauge our reaction.

“Ah.... This one had a tracking Skill? If I’d known, things would’ve been easier. I didn’t know. ...Our side has communication devices, you see. They can track locations too....”

“Mm.”

“Devices that can connect communications unilaterally when the situation is urgent.”

'Shit.'

His intention became clear in an instant.

“So we always knew... roughly what kind of situation Chase was in.”

As Roman said that, he slowly turned his head and looked at me.

'Mm.... I’m fucked.'

Fwoosh—!

The moment Roman finished speaking, I made ice and shot it toward his abdomen. As expected, Roman easily crushed the ice and dropped it to the floor.

Crack. I could see the ice shatter and scatter across the ground.

Mind Grip (A) is activating.

Before Roman’s counterattack could begin, I fired ice at the wall behind him.

Thwack—!!! Rumble....

Along with the sound of ice striking the wall, a massive stone broke apart with a roar.

'God, fuck.... Life really isn’t easy, is it?'

I swallowed the laugh that came out on its own and drew a breath. With Joo Seowon’s fear added on top, I felt a life-threatening crisis sharp enough to make the back of my head ache.

“Haha....”

It was a sensation I hadn’t felt in a while.