CH-037

"!"

The hand I was holding slipped and escaped. Afraid he would hit his head on the ground if I left him alone, I urgently pulled his arm and prevented his fall.

'What's this?'

The druggie's eyes were closed. I slapped his cheek with my free hand, but he didn't open his eyes. He had lost consciousness in that brief moment of entering the dungeon.

Fortunately, I could feel a heartbeat from the body touching mine.

"...Ha."

Laying the druggie on the floor and looking around, I was at a loss for words.

All sides were covered with iron walls. It seemed the hotel's security system had activated in the meantime. Yeom Ha-jae, who had followed me in, inhaled sharply as if surprised.

"Maybe it's in preparation for monster intrusion."

I nodded silently. It was a design only seen in older buildings. It might be effective when an attack comes from outside, but in the current situation, it only served to trap us.

Anticipating things getting troublesome, I approached the iron wall. No matter how much I examined it, no gaps were visible.

I slowly groped the wall surface, then placed my hand on it and let electricity flow.

"......"

Nothing changed.

Next, Yeom Ha-jae, who had attempted something similar, shook his head.

'They made it pointlessly sturdy.'

Anyway, we had to get out of here first.

"I'll carry Director-nim on my back."

"Ah, I'll,"

"This person is heavier than he looks."

He really is heavy. If it were up to me, I'd dump him immediately, but I held back because I needed to check the Director's belongings.

So we took the baggage and went out into the hallway. Fortunately, the barrier hadn't come down on the stairs either, so we headed toward the lobby via the stairs.

Since the restaurant was on the 2nd floor, it didn't take long to reach the lobby. With this situation, some people should be evacuating via the stairs, but the stairs were only silent.

But.

"!"

Entering the lobby, we encountered a strange sight.

People collapsed on the floor, people sprawled out while sitting on sofas and chairs.

'No one is conscious.'

Every single one of them had their eyes closed.

"What...!"

Yeom Ha-jae quickly approached a person nearby.

In the meantime, I laid the druggie down appropriately behind the desk.

'I can't keep carrying him on my back forever.'

I absolutely did not put him down because my back hurt. It was when I was tapping my stiff back.

A long crack on the wall positioned right at my eye level caught my eye. I carefully swept the wall. It was a flaw I hadn't seen yesterday. Moreover, it was quite deep.

'A crack...'

There was a risk of collapse. As soon as I realized it, I glanced at Yeom Ha-jae. He seemed busy checking the condition of the people.

It was impossible to take care of everyone here. Rather than waste time pointlessly, it was best to clear the dungeon quickly so they could be rescued.

'Should I tell him or not?'

I agonized as I approached Yeom Ha-jae.

"How is it?"

"...It's simple unconsciousness. But they might have been injured when they collapsed..."

"It seems the characteristic of this dungeon is causing loss of consciousness."

While answering, I looked around once more. The doors on the 1st floor were closed just like the floor we had been on.

"Why are only we fine?"

"Indeed. Is it because we're Awakened?"

We couldn't know right now. Nor was it important in the current situation.

"We need to get outside to do anything."

"...For now, would it be okay to go to my room and properly get my detector and weapon?"

Come to think of it, the sword that was always at Yeom Ha-jae's side was missing. No matter what, it seemed he couldn't bring his sword to breakfast with the Director.

"It's the 30th floor, right?"

"Yes..."

That meant we had to walk up to the 30th floor. Yeom Ha-jae averted his eyes as if sheepish.

"My room is on the same floor, so I'll stop by on the way."

I readily agreed and was looking at his troubled face when.

Flicker.

"?"

My vision darkened.

"The emergency power must have run out."

Perhaps due to the dungeon's influence, it was much sooner than expected. Yeom Ha-jae, as expected of a hunter who had entered gates numerous times, took out a flashlight without agitation.

Pitter-patter!

When the light turned on, a white object momentarily passed in front. From the brief glimpse, it looked like a small furry creature. I belatedly shone the flashlight elsewhere, but the creature had already disappeared.

Yeom Ha-jae tilted his head.

"A puppy...?"

"Let's hurry."

Thus we met a smooth start.

It was when we entered the emergency staircase to go up to the 30th floor where Yeom Ha-jae's and my room were.

Rustle!

Something followed us in through the gap of the closing door. Soft fuzz brushed my ankle.

"......"

Yeom Ha-jae, walking ahead, seemed not to have noticed. I silently started climbing the stairs. How many floors had we climbed? Suddenly, a stinging sensation came from my ankle.

"Ugh!"

When I lowered my gaze, I saw a silhouette gnawing at my ankle over my pants.

"What's wrong?"

At the groan, Yeom Ha-jae turned around. The silhouette that attacked me scurried away beyond the stair railing to the lower floor.

"It's nothing."

"......"

And a moment later.

"!"

"...Hyung."

This time, even though I held back the groan, Yeom Ha-jae turned around. The monster had already fled. Yeom Ha-jae's expression, not knowing what had happened, darkened.

"Your physical condition must be really bad."

"No."

"Because of that incident yesterday..."

"No, it's just a stomachache."

"You don't need to cover for him just because he's a colleague."

"It's really not that."

No matter how much I denied it, Yeom Ha-jae couldn't hide his sympathetic expression. It's good that he thinks well of me, but...

'This guy is rude.'

Hiding my displeasure, I urged him to go quickly. At my prodding, Yeom Ha-jae started walking again.

"I hate that hyung does such dangerous work."

"......"

"Even just that person yesterday, as you work, you never know when you might run into him again. If hyung goes through that kind of thing again, I really...!"

That kind of thing...

"Uh, Hunter-nim."

My steps slowed at the uneasy feeling. I hesitated and then opened my mouth.

"...I don't know what you mean by me having suffered something yesterday."

"Huh?"

As soon as I finished speaking, Yeom Ha-jae whipped around to look at me. I smiled awkwardly at his surprised face.

"I think there's some misunderstanding, but yesterday we just had a normal conversation in the room."

Honestly, I don't properly remember what happened at dawn. Was the misunderstanding that arose when I was doing the play-acting with Jang Yi-jung still continuing?

There was no way Yeom Ha-jae knew what I did with the Director in the penthouse.

'...There's no way, right?'

Anyway, it's troublesome if he keeps whining like this.

"But you certainly found the room I was staying in yesterday. Did you secretly follow me by any chance?"

"No, I just went out because I was worried, and then I heard strange sounds..."

I brazenly lied through my teeth.

Yeom Ha-jae looked down at me with a sullen expression. When I smiled gently, he frowned deeply and then faced forward again.

He seemed somewhat angry. Not knowing which word had provoked him, I shut my mouth.

"I think reporting it would still be better."

Yeom Ha-jae spat out as if chewing the words.

"?!"

Report me to the police?

Before I could ask more about the shocking statement, Yeom Ha-jae quickly climbed the stairs. Because he leaped up two steps at a time, the red head instantly grew distant.

I followed that movement and climbed the stairs one floor at a time. The more I did, Yeom Ha-jae's pace quickened to almost a run.

"Huff, huff."

"Haa, huff, huff...!"

What a sight, two grown men panting and playing tag.

Thud!

A loud sound rang out, and when I looked up, Yeom Ha-jae had fallen about half a floor above.

I barely caught up to Yeom Ha-jae in that gap and blocked his way. Then I grabbed the hand of the fallen man and helped him up.

"Eut..."

"Hunter-nim."

Blink, blink, blink, blink.

The flashlight beam flickered spasmodically. Disconcerted, I wrapped my hand around his hand that was playing with the power button. I stopped him from being able to push the button further while the light was on.

"What is it you want to say?"

"......"

"Reporting? You can't really think that's possible."

Yeom Ha-jae remained silent.

"...You need to tell me what you want for me to know."

Even when prompted, the head bowed downward showed no sign of rising.

"Ha..."

I couldn't hold back a sigh.

"If you're going to keep this up, let's just split up here."

I passed him and grabbed the emergency door.

I had no real intention of leaving. It was a kind of performance to scare him.

'Would he just let someone without a flashlight go?'

It was the moment I turned the doorknob.

"Wait a moment!"

"!"

Yeom Ha-jae, who had been frozen, grabbed me strongly. However, the spot he grabbed happened to be the shoulder touching the wound on my back. I flinched reflexively at the stinging pain.

"...?"

I felt Yeom Ha-jae's puzzlement from behind me.

'Damn.'

This body is unnecessarily sensitive. Being whipped to the point of flesh tearing was just a few hours ago. Moreover, it wasn't an ordinary whip but an artifact of sorts, so even with the ring on, the wounds hadn't completely healed yet.

To divert attention, I first opened my mouth pretending to be as nonchalant as possible.

"Then...!"

Thwack!

Suddenly, a blunt impact struck my back.

Unrelated to my will, my body trembled.

"......"

Yeom Ha-jae slowly lowered his hand and grabbed the hem of my clothes.

I quickly peeled off his fingers and turned around so my back wouldn't be visible.

Facing each other, a brief silence flowed.

"Hyung."

"...Haha."

"Turn around."

Yeom Ha-jae spoke in a flat voice.