“It’ll be tough to endure,” Lee Ji-Hye said.

“Don’t you think this is more than enough?” I asked.

“You should consider the possibility of you guys not coming back,” she said.

“Don’t say things like that because that’s not going to happen,” I told her.

“Of course, I trust Hyun-Sung oppa and you, but…you never know what might happen. Anyways, Miss Ha-Yan keeps looking this way. Are you sure it’s okay?” she asked worriedly.

When I turned around, I saw Jung Ha-Yan with a slightly serious expression. Even though she wasn’t showing the same violent reaction like in the previous Park Hye-Young incident, her expression made me curious as to what she was thinking. I was a bit worried because I thought maybe she was having other thoughts, but I would consider this reaction level as stable.

The situation might be kind of different if we were talking while exchanging physical contact, but since we were talking with some distance between us, anyone could tell that we weren’t that close.

When I quietly handed Lee Ji-Hye a bag, she spoke. “You’ve made quite a big decision.”

“About what?” I asked.

“I thought you were the type that didn’t like gambling,” she said.

“I don’t,” I said.

“Then?”

“I’m not dumb enough to step back from a game that I know I’m going to win,” I told her.

Even after assuming all the variables, our win rate was overwhelmingly high. Considering the information we had on the dungeon, the overall stats of the party, and the existence of a regressor, there was no way we would lose. Of course, there were other things we needed to think about, but as someone that needed to seize every advantageous moment, this kind of opportunity was rare.

The bond of comrades that had overcome a crisis together and…

‘The reward for capturing a dungeon.’

I was sure it existed.

I was certain that the chest that Kim Hyun-Sung said he discovered was that kind of chest.

Lee Ji-Hye remained quiet for a moment after hearing my voice and then continued talking with a small smile. “That’s why I like you.”

“Stop talking nonsense,” I told her.

“Anyways, have a safe trip, Ki-Young oppa,” she said.

“Thanks, noona.”

As expected, her face turned serious. Despite looking young for her age, I had a feeling she was always stressed out when it came to her age. It was probably because she believed that a younger woman had a better chance at surviving in this place.

When I started walking slowly, Jung Ha-Yan ran to my side and quickly grabbed the hem of my sleeve. She didn’t say anything to me, but I guess she felt anxious.

Park Deok-Gu released a hearty laugh while Kim Hyun-Sung nodded.

Jung Jin-Ho and Yoo Seok-Woo were quietly waiting for me.

“Let’s head out,” I said.

“Okay,” Jung Jin-Ho said.

There were a total of eight people and to some people, it could be considered as a lot of people. Our party had four people and Jung Jin-Ho’s party had four people and if Jung Jin-Ho was at the center of their group, then Kim Hyun-Sung was at the center of ours.

We were walking together, but there was a subtle distance and I didn’t hear a lot of talking. The only conversation that we had was between Jung Jin-Ho and me, but other than that, the members would talk amongst themselves or spend their time alone.

“By the way, it seems like you guys have been exploring a lot. We never imagined that there would be a new entrance,” Jung Jin-Ho said.

“We found it by chance. I’m sure you heard it at the starting point, but in order to escape from this place, you need to either survive or control. Since we don’t know how long it’ll take, we thought deciding on the former was a stupid thing to do…so we decided to take control as much as possible,” I explained.

“Oh.”

“It’s possible that the period of survival lasts until the person succeeds in taking control of a dungeon,” I said.

“I haven’t thought that far…” Jung Jin-Ho said.

“It’s only an assumption.”

“If that’s the case, then are you saying that the people back at the shelter can escape this place too once we take control of the dungeon?” he asked.

“That’s a possibility. Well, whatever method it may be, it doesn’t change the fact that controlling the dungeon is the most reasonable decision. Anyways, thank you so much for agreeing with our proposal,” I said.

“It’s fine since we would like to escape from this place as well. I actually wanted to thank you for providing us with this opportunity because we were feeling a bit anxious since we didn’t know when this was going to end…” Jung Jin-Ho explained.

Seeing his smile made him look like a really good person. It was a type of smile that could unknowingly put my guard down, but since I knew about his nature, I couldn’t put it down.

Actually, we should be the ones helping Jung Jin-Ho’s party put their guards down, and talking idly with him helped a lot. While walking, we talked about the things that happened to us back on Earth, about the dungeon, and stories about women that we heard from the starting point, but then a rather disturbing topic was brought up.

“By the way, you and Miss Ha-Yan seemed really close. Are…you two…”

It was a topic that no one asked about until now, so I couldn’t help but feel a bit surprised. I quietly looked at the others and saw Park Deok-Gu and Kim Hyun-Sung eavesdropping. Yoo Seok-Woo made it obvious that he was looking towards me because he flirted with Jung Ha-Yan before.

Right now, Jung Ha-Yan was pulling onto my sleeve with her head down and she seemed like she was really interested in my answer.

‘Don’t do this…’

Notwithstanding the pig whose head was filled with muscle, this psychotic killer was trying to participate in this plan.

‘A nice brother and sister relationship?’

That was not the case.

‘A developing relationship?’

That wasn’t it either.

No matter how much I thought about it, it sounded like an excuse for a celebrity who was involved in a dating rumor. Inevitably, I needed to become closer to Jung Ha-Yan anyways, so after thinking for a bit, it didn’t take me long to come up with an answer.

I grabbed Jung Ha-Yan’s hand, which was grabbing my sleeve, and spoke. “I can’t exactly define our relationship yet, but…your assumption is probably correct.”

“Ohh…”

Park Deok-Gu had a huge smile and Kim Hyun-Sung also nodded. He probably thought that my presence helped Jung Ha-Yan.

Jung Ha-Yan’s reaction was interesting because even though she was looking down with a red face, she tightened her grip around my hand.

‘Damn…it hurts.’

She held onto my hand so hard that my weak endurance found it hard to endure.

I thought about the different choices, but I thought this was the best answer. The reason why I told him that I couldn’t really define our relationship was that I haven’t told Jung Ha-Yan about my feelings yet. It wouldn’t matter if I made it official now, but Jung Ha-Yan and I needed to be connected in a more meaningful way. Rather than doing it because they were pushing me, it would l be more effective if I properly told her my feelings.

When I turned my head again, I saw a bright smile on Jung Ha-Yan’s face. I got goosebumps after seeing that, but Yoo Seok-Woo must have felt upset because he had a frown while looking at us.

If I had to choose two people that were the least connected with Jung Ha-Yan, I would exclude Park Deok-Gu and choose that jerk. While I believed Yoo Seok-Woo had malice towards me, it really seemed like he wasn’t used to hiding his feelings.

While thinking that he probably had the highest chance of being the trash during this expedition, I patted Jung Ha-Yan’s head because Yoo Seok-Woo was looking towards us.

The party continued talking with different conversations.

One of Jung Jin-Ho’s party members was an archer and because of the effects of their job, they were skilled in reading the road and discovering a monster’s presence, but there wasn’t a reason for us to avoid them. Jung Jin-Ho seemed like he was hiding his powers, but he didn’t seem like he had trouble dealing with the monsters in the area and it was the same for everyone else since they were used to fighting.

It was a bit surprising how Yoo Seok-Woo adapted so fast. I thought he would act the same way that Park Hye-Young did, but he calmly swung his sword and the others weren’t so bad either.

They weren’t on the same level as Jung Jin-Ho, but they did their parts, to the point that maybe they were the ideal party.

‘They’re fast and stable.’

I could say that they were on a different level compared to when me, Kim Hyun-Sung, Park Deok-Gu, Jung Ha-Yan, and Park Hye-Young went out for a hunt together.

Jung Jin-Ho and Kim Hyun-Sung were prepared for any unforeseen variables and Park Deok-Gu stood in front of us facing the road. Even though both Jung Ha-Yan and I were providing support from the back, the archer’s arrow and Jung Jin-Ho’s lackeys were more skilled than us, making me feel a bit disappointed they weren’t in my party, especially when it came to Jung Jin-Ho.

Unlike Kim Hyun-Sung who used one sword, he kept his opponent in check by using the small shield that was attached to his left arm. Not only that, but if he could actually use magic, that would make things even more surprising.

I think I knew why he didn’t really care about Park Deok-Gu, me, and Jung Ha-Yan.

Jung Jin-Ho was definitely strong and although I didn’t have any complaints towards Park Deok-Gu, Kim Hyun-Sung, or Jung Ha-Yan, if we could use the card named Jung Jin-Ho for a long time, I think I would feel really satisfied.

“You’re strong,” I said.

“It’s because everyone helped. Do we have to walk farther?” Jung Jin-Ho asked.

“I think we’re almost there,” Kim Hyun-Sung answered.

When I glanced at Kim Hyun-Sung, I saw him nodding. I felt magic from the stairs and even though I didn’t know what it was, we had to go in. Honestly, I wanted to ask Kim Hyun-Sung to provide a more detailed explanation, but I couldn’t do that.

‘I wonder what’s in here...’

I had questions about how Kim Hyun-Sung came to the conclusion that it was impossible to enter this dungeon with our current powers.

Curiosity and anxiety were mixed together, but…

“Well then…let’s head in,” Kim Hyun-Sung said.

Giving up was a stupid thing to do.

The path down the stairs was dark. When we went down a slightly long staircase, we saw a large iron gate.

Park Deok-Gu, who was in the front, carefully opened the iron gate and when we walked through it, we immediately heard a familiar voice.

It was the woman’s voice that we heard at the starting point.

[You have reached the underground dungeon. Launching Rare Rank required quest.]

[Rare Rank Quest - Survival (0/1)]

“What’s this?” I asked.

“O-Oppa…” Jung Ha-Yan called out.

“Let’s prepare for battle,” Kim Hyun-Sung suggested.

“We’ll prepare for battle,” Jung Jin-Ho said.

Even if Kim Hyun-Sung didn’t say anything, everyone tightened their grip around their weapons.

“Gyahhhhh!”

“Gyahhhhhhhh!”

It was because we heard the sound of monsters screeching from far away.

‘Damn it! Damn it!’

I knew that we would have to take risks to some extent, but the difficulty was a bit harder than I imagined. Now I understood why Kim Hyun-Sung thought it was best to have a large party.

‘Defense.’

The number of voices that we heard was simply too many for one person to handle.

“T-The iron gate is blocked.”

I heard someone mumbling.

“I’m confident that we can win this, so we won’t run away,” Kim Hyun-Sung said.

“We can do it.”

“Gyahhhh!”

The screeching became louder to the point that we could hear them running towards us. Not only were the screeches disturbing, but the way the ground started shaking had me worried. My anxiety caused me to immediately recite a spell.

I guess Jung Jin-Ho’s party didn’t expect this as well because they looked stupefied, but they quickly got into formation with Jung Jin-Ho as the main attacker.

‘We can stop them.’

I was shocked, but I knew we could stop them because the regressor believed that we could take control of the dungeon with our attempt this time.

“Damn, there’s a lot of them,” Park Deok-Gu said.

The first time we got surrounded by them was back at the starting point, the second time was when Park Hye-Young acted like an idiot, so this would be our third time.

Of course, we couldn’t do anything to prevent this situation…

This time, however, we were not about to run away.