Chapter 115 – Role (1/2)

Chapter 115. Role-Playing (2)

Straight Face continued talking before Seol Jihu could say anything, “I see where you're coming from, but I don't let just anyone take my rear.”

Seol Jihu refuted as he raised his spear, “I won't get in your way.”

“I think you will.”

“Trust me.”

When he struck back confidently, Straight Face's eyebrows went up. She then examined the youth from top to bottom as if to check him out. His earrings, gloves, bracelet, and icy spear that gave off a frosty aura all caught her attention.

Straight Face turned back to the front. Seol Jihu took this as her giving consent.

Snake Eyes, who was watching the scene play out amusingly, opened her mouth, “Perfect. There are two waiting by the door and eight roaming around inside.”

The moment Snake Eyes finished her sentence, Straight Face threw the door open, and a sword and a spear flew in simultaneously.

At the same time the two monsters waiting by the door fell backward, the man and woman shot inside as if they'd agreed on it beforehand.

“Hm?” Snake Eyes blinked repeatedly. Her already narrow eyes narrowed even further.

'Not bad.' She expected the b.i.t.c.h with the longsword to do as much, but the man supporting her wasn't to be underestimated either. No—

'Wait a f.u.c.king minute….' When she saw the energy seemingly boiling at the tip of his spear, she screamed internally. 'f.u.c.k, he wasn't a Level 4 but a High Ranker?' Snake Eyes tilted her head while thinking, 'that can't be—'

Of course, she couldn't be further from the truth.

With two people going wild, the time it took to clear the room was cut in half. Snake Eyes had kept her eyes on the group's only man the entire time. Once the battle ended, she pursed her lips. Although she didn't whistle, it was easy to see that she was surprised.

“…Well, it's not like there aren't Level 4s with high mana.”

Maria was also eyeing Seol Jihu, prepared to use a spell if necessary, but when she heard what Snake Eyes said, she snorted inwardly.

Straight Face seemed to trust Seol Jihu after using him once, as she didn't just let him support her, but gave him an entire side to take care of on his own.

As for Snake Eyes, she might have had a strange personality, but she was competent. Although she never personally partic.i.p.ated in the battle, the fact that her scouting information was always right was a testament to her abilities.

With Snake Eyes' accurate information, Straight Face's charging power, and Seol Jihu's support, clearing a room took no time at all. However, the problem was that there was no end in sight.

For some reason, Straight Face insisted on going straight, taking the frontal door every time. Perhaps wanting to get out of this place as soon as possible, she fought and marched repeatedly.

It wasn't until the 40th room that the group's unrelenting steps stopped. The 40th room didn't look any special, but there was one difference.

“Oh? There isn't a frontal door.”

Just like Snake Eyes said, the number of doors was reduced from four to three. The people following them seemed to have noticed that something was off as they carefully examined the room while walking around.

Snake Eyes drew something on a piece of paper before turning to Straight Face who was standing still in front of a wall. “Hey, where are we going? Left? Or right?”

It was then…

Koong.

The sound of something falling and b.u.mping into things rang out. Immediately afterwards…

Pss.h.!.+ Pss.h.!.+

Parts of the three walls – left, right, and front – crumbled down, revealing densely packed launchers.

Seeing dozens of sharp things raising their heads, Snake Eyes frowned for the first time. “f.u.c.k—!”

In an instant….

Ps.h.!.+ Pssss.h.!.+

A chilling sound of air being cut scratched their ears, and at the same time….

“Luxu Lu Luxuria!”

Woong! A white dome-shaped barrier spread out.

Tang, tang, tang! Maria managed to block the attack coming from the left and the right side by a hair's breadth, but she had to pour out her mana to stop the powerful force pus.h.i.+ng into the barrier.

Five seconds, that seemed like five minutes pa.s.sed by. The room then became silent as if the previous ruckus was a lie. Hundreds of crossbow bolts were lying on the ground with smoke coming out of the launchers on the left and the right walls.

Maria was wiping off the sweat on her forehead when she suddenly went 'Ah!'.

'Now that I think about it….'

The trap had activated on the frontal wall as well. In that case, the bolts must have shot the three people standing there. Although Maria made a split-second decision to cast a barrier, because everything had happened so fast, she couldn't even think about helping out the vanguard.

“Miss Maria! Are you okay?” At that moment, a familiar voice struck her ears. Maria's eyes widened. She could see a yellowish light between the white smoke coming out of the walls.

The light was none other than a triangular s.h.i.+eld. When Seol Jihu noticed that a trap had been activated, he instantly embraced Straight Face who was standing in front of the wall before activating his bracelet. Snake Eyes had also shrewdly hidden beside them. If it weren't for this artifact, all three of them would have been turned into meat paste.

Because of the unexpected attack, even Straight Face had a crack in her stonewall expression. That said, it was only her eyes that had widened a bit, and even that only lasted a moment before reverting back.

“…Hold on.”

Her cheek was touching Seol Jihu's chest, so she gently pushed him away. Realizing the position they were in, Seol Jihu quickly let go of her, and Straight Face sighed as she stared at the countless crossbow bolts on the ground.

“…Ah—”

The face that had shown no emotions the entire time contorted with annoyance. Her complexion instantly became frozen, and she turned around for the first time. Behind her, four people were breathing sighs of relief.

Straight Face opened her mouth, “Who was it?”

When her cold, subdued voice flowed out, Maria and the others froze. Nothing had happened when they first came in the room. In other words, one of them must have done something to activate the trap.

Silence ensued. When no one spoke up, Straight Face asked calmly, “…Which one of you b.i.t.c.hes was it?”

Bob Cut was planning to endure the criticism and let the incident pa.s.s, but when she heard Straight Face suddenly using profanity, she doubted her ears and asked back.

“W-What did you say?”

“Do you want me to spell it out for you?”

“Aren't you being too harsh?”

“I almost died because of one of you f.u.c.kers, and you think I'm being too harsh?”

Bob Cut became speechless. She understood where Straight Face was coming from, but she still felt it wasn't fair. After all, she had barely moved after entering this room.

Straight Face continued, “If you had to deal with people acting on their own and causing trouble, wouldn't you be angry too?”

“I understand how you feel… but you're the one who is acting on your own.”

“Of course, I'm grateful that you're clearing the way, but we can work together to—”

“Oh yeah?” Straight Face folded her arms and twisted the corner of her mouth up. Her sneering face seemed to say, 'Get a hold of this joker.'

“That's an interesting way of putting it, because I never once told you to follow me.”

“Listen.”

“Aren't you guys the ones who followed me on your own?”

Bob Cut clenched her teeth, “I know you're strong, but we can also—”

“Sure, we can work together.” Straight Face cut her off as if she knew what Bob Cut was going to say.

“But you only thought about working together. If you really wanted to help, you would have stepped up, like her, this guy, and that kid.” Straight Face's chin pointed to Snake Eyes, Seol Jihu, and Maria.

Maria immediately shouted, “Who are you calling a kid!”, but her words were buried in an instant by Bob Cut's protest.

“That's why, in the beginning, I—”

“Ah, the self-introduction. Are you stupid? It's not like we're in the Neutral Zone. Do you need to have everything explained to you?”

“We could have at least said our cla.s.s and level. You know, as a way of sharing information.”

“You're an Archer. Looks like a Level 3.”

Bob Cut nodded her head subconsciously.

“Shouldn't you have sharp eyes as an Archer? Unless someone was actively trying to hide it, you should have been able to guess our cla.s.ses based on our equipment.”

Seol Jihu stood astonished as he watched Straight Face nitpick on and on. She was so good with using facts in her verbal attacks that Seol Jihu began to pity Bob Cut.

“Ha, I'm over here working hard to clear a path. I sure as h.e.l.l didn't expect to get criticized for doing something good.” These words seemed to land the finis.h.i.+ng blow as Bob Cut squeezed her eyes shut. Her chest huffed up and down before a long sigh escaped her mouth.

“…Sorry.”

Straight Face raised her eyebrows.

“It was thoughtless of me to say that. I apologize.”

Hearing Bob Cut submit easily, Straight Face grinned. She rested her chin on the back of her hand and then tilted her head. Her face seemed to say, 'Perfect. I was just getting bored.'