Chapter 70 (1/2)
Environments found throughout every trial were equipped with such devices.
That was the very first rule Su-hyeun would remember while experiencing the trials. Especially when the level of difficulty was high, that rule would apply even more strictly than ever before.
It was the same story this time around as well.
Aile, Keshunirn, Howal. Out of these three, the two men’s roles were mostly unclear.
Su-hyeun was able to read the pure greed over the Ether stones reflected in their eyes.
<>
He previously thought that this simple dungeon attack wouldn’t have any matters capable of making him feel mentally exhausted. However, having given the matter a bit more thought, the roles of the companions seemed to be different. Not only that, he also felt that the difficulty this time was somehow lower than the floor before it, too.
So, a variable must’ve existed somewhere. He managed to find that variable within Keshunirn and Howal.
<>
The trial’s system would initially come across as rather friendly. It did inform you in detail of what you needed to do, and what your aim was, after all.
However, in trials with higher difficulty, holes would inevitably exist in those explanations. Sometimes, the goal would be twisted in the explanations, or the explanation itself would be omitted entirely.
This was one such a case.
Although it offered the clear-cut aim of attacking the dungeon, it didn’t explain anything about the issues Su-hyeun had to tackle during the process. Taking Su-hyeun’s skills out of the equation for a moment here, he would’ve failed to prevent the two men’s betrayal if he didn’t make preparations for it well ahead of time.
Gulp—
Inside this deathly-quiet open space, the sound of saliva being swallowed echoed rather thunderously.
Only then did Su-hyeun recall his still-remaining party member.
“Uh, euh, euh…..”
Aile, thoroughly terrified now, began stepping away from Su-hyeun. He finally became aware of the fact that he hadn’t withdrawn his magical energy yet.
“Ah, I’m sorry about that.”
Shu-wuuuu—
The gigantic magical energy filling up the whole space disappeared instantly. It was very, very faint, but the signs of relief showed up in Aile’s expression just then, but unfortunately, her gaze ended up meeting Su-hyeun’s, and fear took hold of her anew.
<<…Will she be okay?>>
It seemed that she mistakenly thought he’d murder her next.
“I’m not planning to harm you in any shape or form. Please don’t be scared like that, and prepare for the next wave of the monster attacks.”
“Eh? Ah, of course!”
Her reply certainly sounded energetic, but she didn’t seem to have completely escaped from her nervousness yet. He inwardly clicked his tongue and muttered to himself.
<>
It’d be hard to defend against the incoming waves of monsters with her current state.
Aile might possess much greater abilities than the other two men, but it didn’t mean she was as overwhelmingly powerful as Su-hyeun.
And sure enough, she ended up making a small error during the next wave of attacks.
Whoooosh—
Split—!
The jaw of a crocodile pouncing on her was split wide open in half. Aile was about to get sucked into this monster’s mouth, so quite understandably, she fell on her rear in pure shock.
“Are you alright?” Su-hyeun asked.
“Ah… T-thank you.”
“If it’s getting too difficult to carry on, please take a seat and rest. I’ll be fine by myself during the time remaining.”
Aile was stunned by Su-hyeun’s suggestion and raised her head. He didn’t need her to verbally explain herself to figure out what her expression was currently conveying.
Feeling just a wee bit wronged here, Su-hyeun frowned deeply and asked her back. “You think I’m some insane bloodthirsty murderer that goes around killing people for no reason?”
“That isn’t it, but…”
“What do you mean, it isn’t? Your expression says otherwise.”
She lowered her head in embarrassment from his rebuke. It was true that she saw Su-hyeun as an indiscriminate killer after bearing witness to people getting killed right before her eyes.
She also wrongly believed that she could very well be his next victim, too.
“I’m sorry,” Aile apologized.
Even though her face became flushed as she apologized, thankfully, her nervousness seemed to have disappeared.
Su-hyeun took a quick glance at the remaining time.
<>
Most likely, this one hour would prove to be far more arduous than the one preceding it. Not for him but for Aile, of course.
He let out a long sigh and sat down in front of her. “Miss Aile, why are you in this line of work?”
“Excuse me?”
“If you get scared so easily like this, then you won’t last long in this profession. If you get too stiff from nervousness and make one error somewhere, that’s going to lead you to an event similar to the one that happened just now.”
Aile could only bit on her lip at Su-hyeun’s words questioning her competence as an awakener.
Unfortunately for her, though, Su-hyeun was thinking that Aile wasn’t quite cut out for this line of work. “You are born with your talent, yes, but that talent doesn’t always translate into real-world abilities. Miss Aile, I just don’t see the resolve in you to take another person’s life.”
“…You’re right.”
“You know it, don’t you? This line of work… No, even if it’s not necessarily this profession, it’ll still be the same either way. If you are not resolved, then you need to quit as soon as possible.”
His words were sharp enough to stab into her neck. Indeed, what Su-hyeun said became a cold dagger piercing deep into her chest.
However, she didn’t have anything to refute him with. Everything he said was correct. For sure, it could be for the best if she gave up on this line of work as soon as possible.
She didn’t have the resolve to kill another person. But…
“I can’t quit,” replied Aile.
“Despite not having the resolve?”
“I’ll try my best.”
“But, why? Do you have a special reason?”
“I do,” she replied without a shred of hesitation. Aile raised her head and stared at the ceiling. She just didn’t have the confidence to look in Su-hyeun’s eyes and continue on with her tale.
“Were you aware that I’m from a fallen noble family?”
“…Yes, I was.”
He knew the rough details of it. Memories related to her and other companions were inserted into his brain by the trial’s system, even if they were only the generalized outline. However, that’s as far as they went. All the info Su-hyeun had on Aile didn’t amount to much.
She continued on. “As for how our family fell…. you wouldn’t know since I never mentioned it.”
“Was it because of money?”
“You’re surprisingly quick on the uptake.”
“Surprisingly?”
“Ah, did I cross the line? I’m sorry.” Aile grinned and went back to the topic at hand. “You’re right. It was all because of money. A sum so preposterous that a normal person would find it hard to even imagine.”
“You’re in this line of work to pay that off?”
“You aren’t going to ask me how much it is? People would always ask first how much the debt is after they hear this tale.”