Chapter 112: The Thing Wriggling in the Depths (2) (1/2)
All sorts of incomprehensible things happened and existed inside dungeons. Participating in a single raid would broaden one’s horizons in regards to the situations, existences and objects that deviated from common sense.
Soldiers that survived for a few, or even dozens of years at a place like that, had one thing in common.
“…”
They knew how to obey their instincts.
“…”
It was the same for Yong Chuljun, who had been adopted into the Yong household as a young prodigy, eventually being praised as one of the top rankers.
He prided himself for being an important figure of the Yong household no matter where we went, but even he was nervous when confronting a monster inside a dungeon, since monsters wouldn’t acknowledge his position and run away.
So whenever he felt like this, he knew it was important to be cautious.
“…”
But this time, the opponent was a problem. This feeling of incomprehensibility was currently coming from a man who appeared to be more than 10 years younger than himself. It felt similar to what he felt when he was entering an SS ranked dungeon while he was still under the Association.
During the forty years of his life, Yong Chuljun had never felt this way from another human. Something extremely ominous that had been felt from a dungeon the size of the South American continent was flooding out from this man, despite him standing still.
His last question therefore had a lot of pressure behind it.
Use her as a scapegoat?
Yong Chuljun wanted to lie but it felt like he shouldn’t. Like how a young child couldn’t hide their thoughts from their mother, it seemed that small tricks would never be able to hide the truth.
It was a decision made by his instincts and the ominous feeling encroaching his heart.
He had to be honest.
“Such a thing was never my intention…”
*
The eyes of the demon archduke judged its target.
His nature was neither good nor evil.
The authenticity was shown to be true.
And his favourability changed from ‘faint like’ to ‘faint dislike’.
He wasn’t an evil person at heart and had no intention of openly throwing her away as a scapegoat. Plus, the positive feeling he had for the Yu household became slightly negative.
“However, I was thinking of placing her at the back of the four-man group. There was the possibility of making her a scapegoat but if the problem occurred at the front side, the scapegoat would have been our Taeha instead.”
“Are you saying something could happen to the cadet called the greatest genius of Korea in a B+ dungeon?”
“Haha. Thanks for the compliment but as you know, dungeons… No. It’s nothing.”
He closed his mouth, just to ensure that nothing that was even slightly false could leave his mouth.
“In any case, it’s true that I wasn’t thinking of a completely fair arrangement so let me apologise. I shouldn’t have brought it up in the first place.”
Despite the situation, he took his outward appearance into consideration. There were many onlookers inside the classroom and even during his apology, he remained as a member of the great Yong household.
His attitude wasn’t really to his liking.
The Regressor knew himself well. He had lived for a long time but wasn’t enlightened and the life he had led was too devastated for him to be virtuous. He was nothing but an old beast.
Although the complex mechanism of emotions had been broken, the cog of irritation and annoyance remained intact. From time to time he felt annoyed, and that tended to lead to needless thoughts and actions.
It was the same now.
“I wish good luck for Cadet Yeorum.”
He didn’t like how the opponent was reaching his hand out for a handshake at a level ground despite cowering beneath him. The thought of crushing his neck appeared for a split second.
Therefore, the Regressor squeezed killing intent into the opponent’s body during the handshake.
Blades stacked on top of each other like an ocean wave and surged up the arm through the palm. The hand twitched instinctively and he tried to pull it out, but the Regressor maintained a firm grip.
After piercing through the skin, the blades wreaked havoc and ripped his organs and the heart, including every strand of mana that was nearby.
“…!”
The moment he let go of the hand, Yong Chuljun’s body faintly trembled. His eyes shook as he stared at his own hand and the body, and his gaze turned even more anxious as he looked back in search of the exit.
“I wish good luck for the Yong household as well.”
“Yes, yes…”
It was surprising that he didn’t fall. It should have been more painful than slicing his skin and organs with a kitchen knife and yet the man did not let out a single groan. However, his fingertips trembled endlessly, so Yong Chuljun had to hide his hand inside the pocket.
A soldier was a soldier regardless.
Yong Chuljun gave a faint bow and turned around. The fact that he was holding onto his breath because of the tear in his lungs was visible but Yong Taeha and Yong Danbi were unable to sense anything.
It was quite severe and even a superhuman with a tough body would vomit a fair amount of blood once he went to the hospital.
Perhaps having guessed something after looking at Yong Chuljun’s expression, Yeorum appeared slightly surprised.
“Let’s go.”
On the way back from the academy district, Yeorum’s surprise soon changed to joy. Her eyes flickered.
“Ah… that’s freakin’ great.”
“What is.”
“You getting angry for real. I thought you only knew how to act weak but seems to be wrong ey?”
“…”
He didn’t think much of what had happened.
Conflicts of interest and strife were common in dungeons where groups with conflicting interests gathered together.
Lair was a small society of superhumans.
In the end, whether he liked it or not, he had to spend time with humans who were blinded by their greed. It was because the Red Dragon had to prove its own accomplishments in this place, while he was currently living for the dragons.
“You know, you can be slightly more angry when you’re mad.”
“…”
“I think guys are cool when they act like a beast when they’re angry.”
“Stop your nonsense.”
“Okay ♥”
She threw a joke with a mischievous tone and laughed out loud.
*
“…?”
When he returned to Unit 301, Gyeoul came running up to Yu Jitae with an anxious look on her face.
“Why.”
“…Did somessing, happen?”
“No. Nothing.”
“…Really?”
“Yeah.”
Even after he said that, Gyeoul toddled and chased after Yu Jitae while staring at him with a serious gaze. Thinking that she was asking for a hug, he reached out but she shook her head instead. With her tiny hands Gyeoul pointed back at the watch, which he was using to send a message, and gestured him to not worry.
Despite that, she continued following him around like a turtle shell so he couldn’t not worry about it.
Her two eyes resembling sapphires kept on glancing at him. As if anxious, she grabbed her right hand with her left and fidgeted.
Did she know something? But it’s not like she could see Providence like Bom did.
“Gyeoul! Ahjussi! Let’s eat tteokbokki!”
But when Kaeul came back carrying tteokbokki, her glare vanished and she moved her head around following the trail of smell. Then, she became surprised at the fact that something had managed to steal her attention before once again glaring at Yu Jitae with big eyes.
Just stick to one thing at least.