Some time had passed after I confessed about what happened to Park Hye-Young. It was obvious, but I didn’t say, ‘Jung Jin-Ho is suspicious’ or ‘That bastard is the culprit.’ Kim Hyun-Sung was the one that needed to come to the conclusion that ‘He’s the killer that killed Park Hye-Young.’ There was no need for me to purposely persuade or convince him because simply telling him that it had been because of a trap was more than enough.

‘Good.’

Rather than making him suspicious of Jung Ha-Yan or me right now, there was a better candidate we could accuse.

When Kim Hyun-Sung came to a reasonable conclusion, it would help achieve the ill-fated relationship they were supposed to have in the future.

As expected, not long after, Kim Hyun-Sung often spent time by himself as he either kept an eye on Jung Jin-Ho’s group or quietly looked at us. I think I knew what he was thinking, but I couldn’t do anything but watch him quietly because that would be more helpful.

Sometimes, he would display a really cold expression and I thought maybe Kim Hyun-Sung was thinking about how he should kill Jung Jin-Ho.

‘His future enemy, a psychotic killer, and the culprit that killed Park Hye-Young.’

There wasn’t a single reason as to why he wouldn’t get rid of Jung Jin-Ho. Even if his compassion level was the same as Buddha’s, I was sure that he wanted to get rid of anything that could cause him trouble in the future. The problem was how he was going to get rid of Jung Jin-Ho.

From Kim Hyun-Sung’s point of view, I was sure that he wanted to get rid of the bastard as soon as possible, but he had no choice but to think into it deeper because it was difficult to find the right opportunity to do such a thing. In addition, there were a lot of things going on.

For example, the issue about capturing the dungeon.

“How about going down together?” I asked.

“Going down…together?” he asked.

“Yes, Mr. Hyun-Sung. Ha-Yan just happened to have changed her job to a mage…and since Mr. Jin-Ho’s group joined us, we’ll have enough people. I think Mr. Seok-Woo will be getting a job soon too…I would like to take things slow, but since we’re running out of supplies, it’s about time we make a choice. Our original goal is to capture the dungeon anyway, so why not do it as soon as possible?” I explained.

“Hm…”

“We can’t stay here forever and even if you’re feeling nervous, I think we need to at least try,” I told him.

I was sure that he had a slight headache because of my question. He had no choice but to think about capturing the dungeon with the divided parties. All I did was bring up the topic, so it was now up to Kim Hyun-Sung to make the decision. He needed to determine whether he would be able to take responsibility for the things that could happen after we break through the dungeon with the others. If Kim Hyun-Sung believed that he could handle the aftermath, then the situation would turn out beautifully.

‘Dungeon control and the death of the fake killer that killed Park Hye-Young.’

To put it bluntly, we could suck out every little bit of use from the magic swordsman, Jung Jin-Ho. If he was going to die in the end, then it would be best to use him as much as possible.

“Going out to hunt again with the new people is unreasonable since we don’t know if we’ll go through the same thing that Park Hye-Young went through…rather than waiting here like this, I don’t think that it’s such a bad idea to go outside. We’re low on supplies anyway, and if we stay here, we’ll eventually die,” I explained.

“...”

Kim Hyun-Sung was very cautious and seeing that side of him made me think that maybe he determined that it could be a bit dangerous. Perhaps he even thought that it would be impossible to deal with Jung Jin-Ho while moving with us. When I was about to change the topic, Kim Hyun-Sung carefully opened his mouth, “I think it’s a good idea.”

“Sorry?” I asked.

“I think it’s a good idea, so let’s try going underground. We’ll probably have to prepare a few things and since we’ve never worked together with Jung Jin-Ho’s party, it’ll be better for us to go there as two separate parties,” he suggested.

“Yes, I thought of the same thing.”

I didn’t want a killer to watch my back and I was sure it was the same for Kim Hyun-Sung.

“I’ll talk to Mr. Jin-Ho and you can bring it up to Mr. Deok-Gu and Miss Ha-Yan…”

“Okay,” I said in agreement.

“Actually, can you call over Miss Ha-Yan and Mr. Deok-Gu for me?” he requested.

“Okay, I’ll do that.”

He looked like there was something he wanted to say and thinking that it could be really good news, I quietly started walking.

Park Deok-Gu and Jung Ha-Yan were probably spending time by themselves.

After walking for a little bit, I saw the same environment that I usually saw, but the shelter had turned into a heartwarming place recently. I wasn’t used to seeing it this way.

“Thank you, Mr. Jin-Ho,” one survivor said.

“Thanks, Jin-Ho hyung,” another told him.

“Don’t worry about it. We need to help each other out in order to survive.”

Jung Jun-Ho’s group was helping the losers in stacking the bricks, but doing that was pointless at this point. They were probably only doing it in order to relieve the losers’ anxiety.

“If you need help with anything, feel free to ask me,” Jung Jin-Ho told them.

“This is the least we can do since you will be going out to get supplies for us. I think it’ll be better if you take a break, Jin-Ho hyung,” one of the survivors suggested.

“I’m fine, I can at least help with this. It’s not that difficult, so it would be better if we finish and take a break together,” he said.

‘Bullshit.’

I was speechless upon seeing Jung Jin-Ho laughing and having a good time with the other survivors.

‘Idiots…’

No one showed kindness for no reason, but for Kim Hyun-Sung, he may be helping people because of the self-satisfaction that resulted from sympathy. Although, his situation was a bit better than the others.

In my opinion, I think what Jung Jin-Ho’s party wanted was to kill the people he was laughing with right now. Thanks to that, it slightly covered the negative gazes that we were receiving when we expressed that we would be moving independently. They were comparing Jung Jin-Ho’s party with ours.

‘Why are you guys playing around?’

That was what they were probably thinking because not only did Jung Jin-Ho share his food with them, but he also worked with them. It wasn’t unreasonable for them to compare us with Jung Jin-Ho’s party since we had always kept our share to ourselves.

It seemed like me, Park Deok-Gu, and Jung Ha-Yan’s supplies were getting low. Still, even if we had a lot of supplies, I didn’t think that there was a need for us to copy Jung Jin-Ho.

Cosplaying as a commoner wouldn’t give you the power to move and control people. What could make those types of people move was authority that they could only hope to reach.

‘From the start…’

I was sure he knew that what he was doing was pointless and despite knowing that, I didn’t understand why he was doing it. Jung Jin-Ho, the psychotic killer, hadn’t committed any crimes yet, so I was worried that maybe I was making things worse because he might be trying to live as a good-hearted person by suppressing his nature…but it was too late to turn back now.

“Have this too,” Yoo Seok-Woo said.

“Oh! Thank you, Seok-Woo oppa.”

Yoo Seok-Woo was hanging out with Jung Jin-Ho’s party recently. It was probably for the sake of obtaining a job of his own. When I saw how happy he was with them, I guess he would stick with this group from now on.

He would sometimes display an anxious expression, but in the end, he still got what he wanted.

‘A job.’

And a place within this small shelter.

I couldn’t help but look away when I saw how the others could feel the true value of their work from afar. It was a heartwarming scene and for some reason, that kind of beautiful scene offended me.

When I walked farther, I saw Jung Ha-Yan and Park Deok-Gu.

“Ha-Yan,” I called out.

“Ah, o-oppa.”

When I made my presence known, Jung Ha-Yan, who was testing a simple spell, ran towards me and lightly grabbed onto my sleeve. Park Deok-Gu displayed a satisfied smile when he saw that.

‘Damn…’

“You’re testing a new spell today?” I asked.

“Huh? Oh yes…” she answered.

“That’s amazing,” I complimented.

“It’s nothing. I-It’s all thanks to you, oppa,” she said.

We weren’t dating and I wasn’t showing the physical affection that she wanted but the survivors here seemed to have accepted the relationship between me and Jung Ha-Yan. She must have realized this because recently, she hadn’t been trying to discreetly hold my hand or come near me. A few days ago, she acted worse than this after telling me that she thought that she had obtained a job. When I didn’t really show any reaction, Jung Ha-Yan seemed like she gained some confidence, but during the time when she believed that everyone was asleep, she showed her usual behavior.

‘...’

Every time I woke up, my heart would start pounding. Jung Ha-Yan had been getting more and more daring. No matter what might've happened, we wouldn't have gotten this close if it hadn't been for Park Deok-Gu.

“I thought you were going to meet with that dude, Kim Hyun-Sung? You’re here earlier than I thought, did everything…end up working out?” Park Deok-Gu asked.

“I just met with him and I think he has something he wants to talk to us about…you have time, right?” I asked.

“All I have is time, hyung-nim,” he answered.

“Of course. D-Do you know what it’s all about?” Jung Ha-Yan asked.

“Yeah, I think we’re going to head underground soon,” I answered.

“We’re finally going down there?” Park Deok-Gu asked.

“We’re still talking about it, but I think we’ll be heading down there with Jung Jin-Ho’s party,” I explained.

“Hm…I don’t have a good feeling about those dudes,” Park Deok-Gu commented.

“I feel the same way, but taking control of that place is the most important right now, so Kim Hyun-Sung probably thinks that we have no other choice. I understand how he’s feeling, but there’s a limit to how much we can handle,” I said.

“But is this dungeon created so that we can control it?” Park Deok-Gu asked.

“Probably,” I said.

Kim Hyun-Sung was certain that we would be able to control it.

“I’m sure you know without me saying it, but it’ll be best to stay away from Jung Jin-Ho’s party. Of course, on the outside…”

“Ahem, don’t worry too much,” Park Deok-Gu said, interrupting me.

“Same thing for you Ha-Yan,” I said.

“Okay, I-I understand. Oppa…I-I won’t even talk to them,” she said.

I wanted to tell her that it was okay to talk to them.

Park Deok-Gu was a little bit better than Jung Ha-Yan because she was a ticking time bomb that needed constant and careful management as well as mental training. If she started acting the same way she did when she was with Park Hye-Young, I wouldn’t be able to cover for her like the last time.

“Don’t worry too much about Yoo Seok-Woo,” I told Jung Ha-Yan.

“I-I’m not worried,” she said.

“That’s a relief.”

When we started walking with Park Deok-Gu leading the way, people started looking at us. The humans that realized the true value of their work and Jung Jin-Ho were looking at us with strange looks, but I thought that there wasn’t a need for us to be burdened by them and it would be best to act like nothing was wrong.

Nothing happened yet and we were on our way to a meeting with Kim Hyun-Sung.

“...”

After easily ignoring their gaze, we started heading towards where Kim Hyun-Sung was, but I noticed Kim Hyun-Sung taking something out from his bag.

‘...’

I felt pretty good.

Every time I looked at my status window, the gear section had always worried me. I thought that someday, I would be able to either see or wear items and gears that had stats on them, but that opportunity came quicker than I expected.

Increasing our stats before heading underground was needed, but it was also to relieve Kim Hyun-Sung from his anxiety. I was certain that to Kim Hyun-Sung, winning the fight against Jung Jin-Ho’s party was more important than capturing the dungeon because he was trying to help the three of us grow and to also prepare us for any future incidents.

“There’s something I want to give you,” Kim Hyun-Sung said.

“Did you hide something delicious, bro? Dude, you have the same expression as my grandma whenever she gives me money,” Park Deok-Gu commented.

‘This pig…’

I really didn’t understand why he had to express himself like that and it must have surprised Kim Hyun-Sung a bit because he answered with a smirk. “It’s an item.”

A smile appeared on my face because this was the moment that I had been waiting for.

The items that I saw weren't a sword, spear, or shield. The items that he took out from his bag were a bracelet and two rings. Even though they looked crude, I felt a mysterious magic emanating from them.

‘Thanks, Hyun-Sung.’

I knew that we would have insurance with us underground, but this was much better than I imagined.