“We’re going to be together forever. We can live together. Let’s stay here together, oppa. Hehehe,” Jung Ha-Yan giggled.

Her voice gave me goosebumps. Seeing how she kept on whispering in my ear, I guess she didn’t think that I would wake up. Actually, maybe…

‘She’s not in the condition to make a reasonable judgment.’

Sun Hee-Young was in a similar situation, but for her, she already had a solid set of values and her fundamentals were different from Jung Ha-Yan’s who was completely reliant on me. To be exact, the difference was whether she was able to control herself or not although I didn’t know whose voice Jung Ha-Yan was hearing…

“I told you I’m not going to listen to you, so stop talking to me. I’m not going to listen anyway,” she said to the voice.

Perhaps it was her own voice and based on the situation, my assumption should be correct. She was saying that she needed to kill in order to have me.

“I told you, oppa can’t die. Just his legs? He’s going to run away? No, he wouldn’t. Oppa told me that he loved me. He’ll never run away from me… and if I do that, oppa will be in pain. I don’t want to do that…” she whispered.

I immediately felt her stroking my leg. Despite the fact that she was only stroking my leg, I wanted to scream. I wanted to push her away, but the problem was that I couldn’t because I was currently sleeping.

“Just in case? I told you I can’t. There’s no need to go that far. You idiot, I can’t cut off his arms since he won’t be able to pat me, and he won’t be able to hold me tight… you dummy,” Jung Ha-Yan retorted.

“...”

‘Shit.’

I knew that her condition was getting worse and I understood why she was acting that way. Besides Jung Ha-Yan’s voice, I heard other voices as well. Hearing the voices of that damn Jung Jin-Ho and Park Hye-Young was making my frustration reach its limits. Not only was her mentality unstable to begin with, but now that she was cursed, I was sure that a part of her mind was now worn out since the curse must have influenced her a lot faster than anyone else. She kept telling me that she wasn’t going to get influenced by it at all, but from my point of view, Jung Ha-Yan was being swayed by the voice.

However…

‘She hasn’t turned completely crazy.’

The first proof was that she still realized that she shouldn’t show this side of her to other people. Every time someone tossed and turned, she would remain quiet. As such, she must still be in her right mind. While I kept my mouth closed and tried not to open my eyes…

“You think he’s awake?” she asked the voice.

“...”

“I don’t think so because he hasn’t woken up all this time. Once oppa falls asleep, he doesn’t wake up easily. Even magic…”

“...”

“...”

“Oh, we’re not home. I forgot,” she said.

‘Sh…’

Even though my eyes were closed, I felt her face getting closer to my face because I felt her labored breathing. It seemed like she was trying to see whether I was really asleep or not. After a long time, I felt her lightly pecking my lips and retreating.

‘Whoo…’

After I heard her rustling, I guess she must have thought that it was too dangerous to remain by my side because I couldn’t feel Jung Ha-Yan’s breathing anymore, and she wasn’t touching me either, so this meant that she must have returned to her spot. After some time passed, I thought about slightly opening my eyes, but I heard a voice again.

“See, I told you. He’s still sleeping, hehehe,” she giggled.

I heard her moving again and this time, I thought that she was really far from me. I tried my best to fall asleep, but I wasn’t sleepy because I slept earlier and I wasn’t too exhausted anymore. However, I did feel like I just got a really difficult homework that was more difficult than dungeon control, so I became anxious. If I were to be blunt, the dungeon was no longer an issue for me.

‘Let me organize my thoughts.’

Solving this situation was more important. This wasn’t the first time I saw Jung Ha-Yan act this way and the fact that she used a spell on my room and on me was an action I just couldn’t understand. However, those spells weren’t used to harm me. Instead, they were used to protect me. It was to protect me from her love rivals and to protect me from invisible threats. Even the spell she used on my bed was an act of kindness because she was being considerate of me. Basically, Jung Ha-Yan was trying her best not to harm me in any way. However, the current situation was completely different.

‘Right now…’

She was trying to expand her magic in case there was something that could threaten me and based on what happened just now, I was certain of it. Her plan was probably…

‘To stay together in this dungeon forever.’

It was so absurd that I was at a loss for words. Thinking that she could obtain water and food from a place like this was ridiculous. She could probably obtain water through magic, but this wasn’t a place a human could survive in. Of course, I wasn’t sure that Jung Ha-Yan was going to make a move, but I thought that coming up with a plan for something that could happen was the right choice. Under the condition that she really was determined to do something, she had two choices. The first choice was to kill everyone here and hide. The second choice would be to take me somewhere and disappear. I did consider the second option more, but if the situation became worse, then there was no guarantee that she wouldn’t pick the first option.

‘Of course…’

Jung Ha-Yan should not be capable enough of killing everyone here…

‘... But it’s a possibility.’

Jung Ha-Yan was smarter and more straightforward than I thought and she had become different from when she killed Park Hye-Young.

The location we were currently at was a dungeon that had devoured five of the Blue Guild’s parties and everyone was experiencing hallucination and auditory hallucinations. Even though we had Kim Hyun-Sung, the variable named Jung Ha-Yan wasn’t included in his plan. If Jung Ha-Yan carried out her plan and was successful, then the dungeon name might change from an epic-ranked Cursed Shrine to a legendary-ranked dungeon, Crazy Mage and the Cursed Shrine.

‘Crazy Mage and the Cursed Shrine…’

Thinking about it again, I could see its possibility. To Jung Ha-Yan, she probably viewed the people that had come here to take control of the dungeon as people that were trying to destroy her love nest. Out of all the bad endings, it might end up being the worst.

It was obvious, but I didn’t want to rot in a place like this forever. This place could end up being a safe and comfortable location, but I wasn’t the type that enjoyed my freedom while being suppressed.

‘What should I do…’

There were a lot of choices, but taking control of Jung Ha-Yan’s mentality was the first thing I needed to do. I ended up having another assignment that I had to handle other than the dungeon control. While I was thinking about the direction I should take moving forward, I guess the sun had come up because people started to move busily and as expected, Jung Ha-Yan’s voice was the first voice I heard.

“Oppa, it’s time to wake up.”

“Oh… okay.”

When I looked at Jung Ha-Yan while nodding, I saw her status window.

[Checking Player Jung Ha-Yan’s Status Window and Potential.]

[Name - Jung Ha-Yan]

[Title - None. Please work harder.]

[Age - 21]

[Nature - ??]

[Job - Archmage - Epic Rank]

[Stats]

[Strength - 17/Below rare growth limit]

[Agility - 15/Below rare growth limit]

[Stamina - 29/Below epic growth limit]

[Intelligence - 61/Above epic growth limit]

[Endurance - 22/Below rare growth limit]

[Luck - 52/Above epic growth limit]

[Magic - 70/Above legendary growth limit]

[Gear - Divine Protection]

[Attribute - How to Become a Mage - Epic Rank]

[Overall Review - Jung Ha-Yan’s fast growth is the most noticeable. Player Jung Ha-Yan’s understanding of mana and magic is near perfect. She looks like she’s having a hard time stepping up to a higher rank because of her low intelligence, but I believe she’ll gain momentum soon. I feel bad for even mentioning Player Lee Ki-Young. I do see something interesting. I noticed that her nature has changed. You’ll have to work hard if you don’t want to transform the Cursed Shrine into a new type of dungeon. It’s unfortunate because I’ve grown fond of you, but I pray that you’ll survive.]

‘I knew that this was going to happen.’

The good thing was that her nature hadn’t completely changed yet. I wasn’t sure what those question marks meant, but according to the overall review, Jung Ha-Yan was currently standing at a crossroad. A choice of whether she was going to keep her innocent supporter nature or if she was going to change into something completely different. I wasn’t sure what kind of nature Jung Ha-Yan was going to change into, but it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that it wasn’t something positive.

When I looked at Jung Ha-Yan again, she looked the same as usual and the way she was pretending like nothing was wrong made me feel bewildered.

“Hehehe,” she giggled.

But of course, I had to put on my acting face. When I stroked her face while smiling, I noticed how happy she became.

“Do you still hear the voices, Ha-Yan?” I asked.

“Yes, I still hear a little bit. But I’m not affected by it anymore because it’s just a hallucination,” she answered.

“What exactly did the voice say?” I asked.

“I’m not sure. I can’t really hear it anymore. You don’t have to worry,” she replied.

Lies.

“Oh, that’s a relief. Let’s get ready to leave. What about the others?” I asked.

“I heard them say that they’re going to leave in 30 minutes. I think everyone was packing up…” she answered.

I noticed her grabbing my hand tightly. With a small smile on my face, I kissed Jung Ha-Yan’s lips in the most natural way possible. She wrapped her arms around my neck as if this was her chance, but since we didn’t have any time, we didn’t do anything more than that. It was like a couple greeting each other in the morning. It was only for a moment, but I noticed her face turning red.

‘Good.’

It wasn’t a bad reaction. I tested it out because I thought it would be better if I acted a bit more aggressively and it seemed to be working. Not only did I stay close to her, but I continued complimenting her. What Jung Ha-Yan needed right now was a huge amount of affection because she was no longer talking to herself nor did her eyes seem strange. At least when she was with me, her condition didn’t look serious.

“Did you make the preparations to leave?” I asked her.

“I prepared everything, hehe,” she answered and giggled.

“Oh, thanks. Let’s head out.”

“Okay.”

“Oh, oppa wait… there’s something I want to tell you,” Jung Ha-Yan said.

“Yeah?” I asked.

“Last time… about last time.”

“Huh?”

“You know when we had our… fir… first, first kiss,” she stuttered.

I remembered. There was a time when I kissed her in order to reassure her before meeting with Cha Hee-Ra.

“Back then…”

“...”

“You told me that you lo-loved me, right? That I was the only one for you, right?” she asked.

“Yeah, I did say that,” I answered.

“It’s still… the same, right? You still love me, right?” she asked.

‘This is…’

It was difficult to tell which answer was the right one, but since her eyes were telling me that she demanded an answer, I realized that I had reached a specific option. Generally, nodding would be the answer, but it was hard to tell whether that was really the answer. I was naturally worried that my answer could potentially change her nature. When I was calculating in my head, I heard her voice again, demanding an answer.

“You do love me, right?”

There was a sense of urgency in her eyes. 

I nodded and spoke slowly. “Of course. I love you now and I’ll love you from now on.”

“Ah… that’s a relief,” she said.

“But… why are you asking all of a sudden?” I asked.

“It’s nothing,” she said.

She looked really happy, but I still wasn’t sure if my choice was the right answer since her nature hadn’t changed yet.

“I love you too, oppa,” she told me.

“Me too…”