Chapter 186. The Path of Four Days and One Second (3)

"But honestly, this is unfair. Given my level of talent, I think I was rather humble..."

Hmm. Anyway, it's hard for a capable person not to be arrogant.

I briefly reminisced about my past life before returning to the present conversation.

"Anyway, because of that, I'm somewhat lacking in common sense. So if I occasionally say something strange, please be generous and understand."

"Ah, I I will."

On the one hand, I hope that the talented sorcerer doesn't go through the same trouble as someone else.

***

What is a life where no one understands you like? At the very least, the woman in the cave could answer this question with certainty.

It felt like being a human dropped onto Jupiter. She dared to think of it as drifting through a sea of liquid hydrogen, with nowhere to set foot.

Then why didn't she receive understanding?

The first time she sensed something was off was in the third grade. That day, as the new semester began, everyone switched seats, and the drowsy-looking girl happened to be paired with a former classmate from her English kindergarten.

From a young age, Seo Esther had been a pretty child with long, thick eyelashes. And as it happened, the boy sitting next to her also had fair skin and well-defined features. So whenever their classmates saw Esther and her seatmate together, they would tease them, asking if they were dating.

"Hey! Esther! You're not a little kid anymore, so why do you still put glitter in your hair? It's so childish. And your name is really weird too."

So, out of embarrassment, the boy deliberately acted mean toward his seatmate.

"Kyaah!"

"Aaah!"

"Teacheerr!"

That fresh new semester of Class 3-2 was soon concluded with a shocking scene.

On a Wednesday, the girl with drooping eyes pierced her partner's hand with a metal chopstick during lunch.

"Why did you do that?"

Esther, as a child, wanted to ask herself.

Teacher, why did her classmate act like that? Even when she told him not to, he kept picking on her and mocking her name. And on top of that, he completely forgot that he once tore up someone else's sketchbook back in kindergarten.

And yet, she endured everything and gave him a total of three chances.

"I couldn't take it anymore."

It was around this time that Esther realized her threshold for anger was much lower than most others. She learned that, unlike herself, ordinary people don't stay vividly angry over things that happened years ago, and they also don't poke their classmates out of spite when they're upset.

But what would change just because she learned that? It wasn't as if her sharp memory would suddenly dull because of it.

In truth, all the issues Esther had faced were merely foreshadowing her awakening to curse-type magic. As a certain alien had pointed out, curse sorcerers were inherently sensitive by nature—and they tended to hold grudges for a long time.

"Our princess—I left your dinner outside your room. Make sure you eat today, okay?"

Ordinary people would often tell Esther that she was making too much of a fuss and advise her to just forget about such old matters. But her emotions were inherently insoluble. The texture of her feelings was cold and solid, impervious to the passage of time. So how could she speak of forgiveness as easily as others did? Even though she truly knew in her heart that she loved her family, there were times when old memories made her resent them. If life was going to be this exhausting, wouldn't it have been better if she had never been given the talent for awakening in the first place?

"_"

However, Esther was in a position where she couldn't choose her genetic information. Therefore, the only choice she made was to step back from society before she could stab another peer with chopsticks.

Online game [SOM]. Fortunately, the new world she settled into was somewhat livable. After all, in that place, it was perfectly fine to kill those she disliked over and over again.

"Whenever I come to a dark, dreary place like this cave, it always reminds me of those days."

Seo Esther reflected on her school days but soon pushed the thoughts out of her mind.

Come to think of it, Dungeon Shock was a fortunate phenomenon for certain individuals. Before that incident, she had been nothing more than a short-tempered anomaly, but after gaining power, she was at least able to channel her anger in a somewhat positive way.

Despite others' concerns, Esther was already an utterly arrogant sorcerer. She harbored an ambitious dream—to endlessly expand her influence and one day become a figure who represented superhumans as a whole. Now that she had such a grand goal, petty incidents like her old classmate's bullying no longer angered her, and naturally, her life regained its vitality.

Broadcasting to improve the image of Awakened beings, managing the Magic Tower, dealing with death row inmates, dungeon raids, and countless other endeavors.

"_"

Everything had been done by her own will, so there was no room for regret.

"Cough."

Somewhere, the sound of coughing echoed. Esther shut her eyes tightly and stopped walking.

Right now, they were in the middle of an endless cave. It had been about 30 minutes since she and her companion had gotten up and resumed their expedition. The sight of the cold-blooded person, who seemed like he wouldn't bleed a single drop even if stabbed with a dagger, now gushing blood, unfolded before her in reality.

"To think that this is the aftermath of working... As expected, it must have been something that happened at the S-rank gate in Japan..."

Normally, she would have cunningly felt pleased to have discovered the weakness of a strong opponent upon seeing such a sight, but for some reason, her mood has only been sinking since earlier.

Why doesn't she feel that way now?

"~ Anyway, I'm worried. From what I've seen, Hunter Esther, you seem to overwork yourself."

Because Kim Giryeo said this?

"My childhood? There's not much to talk about if you dig into that time. Since I was an orphan, I didn't have many experiences."

Or does she feel pity for him because of such words?

It was probably one of those reasons. In fact, when she shared her school days story, it was because of the look in his eyes that her attitude changed. When people hear that the guild master of the Magic Tower was a reclusive shut-in, they would typically respond with a mix of flattery and awkwardness, saying things like, "That makes sense," "But you're doing well now, aren't you?" or "I also enjoy games."

But Kim Giryeo was different.

He... Sent a gaze so dry that even a curse sorcerer's family couldn't send. It was just a hunch, but for some reason, he seemed to truly understand the failed school days of someone, unlike countless others.

"Cough, cough."

So, did Esther feel moved by this understanding from Giryeo? Unfortunately, no. While Esther often questioned her sharp personality, she never sought someone to understand her.

Esther felt discomfort from the conversation earlier. Every time she stood in front of Kim Giryeo, she strangely felt like her weaknesses were being exposed, making her reluctant and cautious.

That might be the reason. Because of his monstrous insight, he never seemed like the weaker one. Even after seeing him spit up blood, Esther still couldn't bring herself to think of him as having any weaknesses.

"Ah, I'm sorry. I'm fine now, so you can go ahead and walk again..."

Esther resumed the dungeon raid with mixed feelings. One hour, then two hours, and even after five hours of walking, the exit still wasn't in sight, and gradually, other concerns began to creep in.

"I came in lightly packed without much thought, but if this isolation drags on, it's going to be a problem."

Growl.

As expected, the hunger had already started. These days, dungeons were getting longer, and it had become a trend among hunters to carry emergency foods, but because this was an F-rank gate, she had let her guard down. What if she starves to death without even seeing the boss' face?

"Hunter Esther, are you hungry?"

"T, that's..."

That was when it happened. The man who had been quietly following her quickened his pace and pulled something out from his pocket. It was a packaged chocolate snack.

"I don't remember when I bought it, but I found it while rummaging through my pocket. I think I probably bought a bunch on sale at a convenience store and stuffed it in here because I didn't want to waste a shopping bag."

"Oh my! What a relief. But really, can I have some too?"

"Of course. I have quite a lot. But just in case, please save it for now."

"Thank you."

Growl.

Esther slowly ate the snack he had shared, trying to quiet her growling stomach. The sugar helped, and she began to feel a bit better.

***

...But a day later.

"AHH! I'm annoyed!"

Boom!

A loud noise erupted from the dark cave.

"Esther-ssi, I understand how you feel, but if you keep moving so recklessly, you'll only exhaust yourself even more..."

The raiders trapped in the cave realized after more than 20 hours of walking that this dungeon was truly immense in length. And this fact posed an immediate threat to the life of an S-rank hunter. After all, humanity's high-level Awakened individuals had a significantly higher energy consumption than ordinary people—in other words, they were creatures with poor fuel efficiency.

"I'm starving! My stomach feels like it's burning. Just how far does this cave go? Just how far!"

Esther took out her anger on the bone monster blocking her path and moved forward.

Since Giryeo's body was not in good condition, he had to refrain from strenuous activities, so she now used the strategy of carrying him and running and with all her might. S-rank hunters don't lose much stamina just by running. So Esther ran for a full 2 hours on a drink.

"Ugh..."

As seen, they still hadn't found the exit today. With no clue where the end of the cave might be, a vague sense of fear started to creep in. However, it was still manageable. The cave was structured with fountains placed at certain intervals, so dehydration wouldn't be an issue, and they weren't in danger of dying from thirst.

Gulp!

Esther decided to use the potion she always carried with her to replenish her energy instead. She figured it would be more nutritious than just water.

At first, she used a relatively cheap antidote potion. Next, she turned to a mana potion.

...And the moment she opened the precious high-grade healing potion was around two days and seventeen hours after entering the dungeon.

"Huh."

Now, Esther, who was only moving her legs like a machine, thought through her blurry eyes.

She wants to kill them. She doesn't know what the subject of this will be, but if there is someone who created this dungeon, she would tear them apart and kill them.

"Ah, this fountain has good water too. Drink without worry."

Now, it's hard to even fill up the water tank!

"My blood sugar is dropping. My brain feels like it's being squeezed."

As the lack of nutrients took its toll, her body began to consume itself to sustain life, and the pain generated by this process was truly beyond imagination.

At this rate, could she become the first S-rank to die in an F-rank gate?

Esther, feeling dizzy, held it in for a while and then spoke in a trembling voice.

"Excuse me, Giryeo... I'm really sorry, but could I have just one more of those cookies? I know I've already had my share before today, but... maybe I could take the next portion early...?"

The fellow party member had been giving out chocolate cookies every 12 hours, but no matter how much she thought about it, she couldn't possibly endure with just that amount.

"It's almost all gone now."

"Yes?!"

"Calm down. There's still enough for you to last through the day."

It can't be helped. The man muttered briefly and then quickly emptied his pockets and handed the remaining cookies to the other person.

"Here. This is the last of it—enough for tonight and tomorrow morning."

To think it's already the last of it. Well, considering the fact that he even had biscuits in his coat in the first place was already an incredible stroke of luck...

"Yeah."

Then, Esther suddenly came to her senses and spoke to her companion.

"Wait a moment. If you give both of these to me, what are you going to do? You don't have a portion left. You should have one for yourself."

Then, the calm voice of the fourth S-rank slowly filled the cave.

"It's fine. That was a lie."

"Yes?"

"I was only counting your share from the start anyway. I never considered it mine, so just eat."

"...?"

"If we argued over this every mealtime, it would just drain our energy, so I just said I split it... Wait, hold on. Why are you wasting your salt for no reason...?"