Chapter 43

Chahaya didn't leap down all at once but grabbed the rock net in the middle to slow down.

"Sir, the path is rougher than I thought. I need an additional 50,000 won."

The scoundrel was a real piece of work.

"Shut up and come down."

"Will you throw me if I don't get the money?"

Chahaya's grip around her thighs loosened, and she could feel the drop. A fall from here would at least result in two broken legs. Seo-eun clung to Chahaya's head, choking her.

"Crazy kid! I really will fall!"

"Give me the money, you hand."

"Give it! I'll give it!"

Chahaya chuckled, and her body shook. The breath on Seo-eun's chest made her push away instinctively, and she slipped down. Chahaya quickly inserted her arm firmly under Seo-eun's armpits. Thump, thump, Chahaya's heart beat against Seo-eun's cheek.

"Rat, for scaring me, you owe me an extra 50,000 won?"

"Scoundrel."

Seo-eun's legs dangled in the air, and she clung to Chahaya's chest with both arms. When she looked up, Chahaya was hanging from the net, staring down at her.

"Why."

Seo-eun asked brusquely, wondering if she had hugged too tightly or if something was wrong.

"Are you worried I might let go?"

"Uh."

"Why do you want to torment me so much?"

"Don't you know to respect the weak?"

Seo-eun couldn't entrust her safety to the person threatening her. She looked down to ask the other guild members for help. The vice-leader was upset. The ones who had gone down first were talking among themselves, ignoring the situation. Seo-eun clung to Chahaya's chest and said,

"I'll give you an additional 50,000 won."

What a cute kid. Chahaya laughed again, and Seo-eun's body shook. The moment they safely landed on the asphalt, Seo-eun quickly let go of Chahaya's arm. Chahaya naturally released her grip but then grabbed Seo-eun's wrist.

"What, why."

"Where's the money?"

Seo-eun let out a sigh of exasperation.

"I didn't take it? I'll give it to you when we get to Seoul, so don't worry."

Satisfied with the answer, Chahaya let go of Seo-eun's wrist. Seo-eun tapped Han Don-hee's calf, who was talking to the other guild members. Without flinching, he turned around.

"Hey, you guys are always just talking about being the vice-leader?"

Han Don-hee looked up at the mountain they had just descended and seemed to realize something.

"Oh, right. Chik-chik, sorry? I'll take care of you from now on."

Brother, I'm sorry.

Vice-leader, I also forgot for a moment.

Each added a word.

"Get lost, human nature shows up at times like this."

"I don't have human nature, I have manliness. Why is Chahaya that kid grinning again?"

"Han Don-hee, give me half the attention you give to me."

Ignoring the two, Seo-eun pressed the chalk holder she had brought.

At 4:15, it's not too late to secure the mutants. Using DK has become difficult, but there are still ways to deal with the mutants in the tunnel.

"Mutants, there are about 1,500 third-stage mutants inside."

Seo-eun wrote only the number on the ground, abbreviating it. Only Chahaya, who already knew, didn't ask how the others knew, but Seo-eun ignored them easily.

Yoo-chan, who was squatting next to him, gave a thumbs up.

"Tell the searchers to turn off. Chik-chik is the best, Vice-leader."

"Elephant rat."

"Elephant rat, yes."

Yoo-chan nodded in response to Seo-eun's correction. Chahaya nudged Yoo-chan with the tip of her scabbard, and Yoo-chan struggled not to fall, but he ended up sitting on the ground with a thud.

"Why are you tormenting Yoo-chan?"

"Because he looks like a ball."

"Yoo-chan, you have to endure."

A fight might break out, so Seo-eun quickly stopped Yoo-chan. In fact, Yoo-chan had a prominent chin line, like a foreign actor, which suited him well, but Chahaya went too far.

"......, balls, ......, balls, you know."

Yoo-chan, despite being teased, held his stomach and laughed. He grabbed both sides of his chin with his hands and shook them like balls.

"Yoo-chan has two balls here."

"Does that mean your stamina is doubled?"

It's fortunate they didn't fight...

"From now on, we'll call Yoo-chan 'Double Balls.'"

Chahaya seemed pleased with the nickname she had given.

"Be quiet and focus."

"Ha ha ha, Brother, isn't it funny?"

"It's funny, but I'm biting my lip to hold it in. We don't have time, so listen carefully. There's a chicken mutant that will evolve to the sixth stage still inside, and it's currently estimated to be at the fifth stage. After I explain, Chahaya and Han Don-hee will go in first. When they go in and I give the signal, Yoo-chan and Kang-san will follow, and I'll be right behind them."

"Vice-leader, won't you be in danger?"

Yoo-chan's smile vanished.

"So, you two should handle everything at the front. After you kill the chicken, you'll eliminate the remaining 1,500 mutants."

"Ah, we can't become rich again."

Chahaya drew her sword. Some had doubts, so Seo-eun stepped in front of Chahaya. There was no time for more chatter.

"Go in and deal with the mutants quickly. We don't have much time."

Seo-eun headed towards the dark tunnel.

"Chahaya!"

"Chik-chik!"

Despite the serious situation, they were still playing around. It seemed their mental age had stopped at the year they awakened as mutants. At the time, the three of them were just 21, and Kang-san and Yoo-chan were 19, so it made sense.

The tunnel, which was pitch black despite the bright outside, was hard to see. Since there was no reaction from the two who went in first, Seo-eun sent in Yoo-chan and Kang-san and followed closely behind.

Thump, thump, holding the Matagari, Seo-eun's heart beat faster than ever as she entered the tunnel.

It should be fine, right?

It's only a fifth stage, and at most a third stage.

Seo-eun waited for her eyes to adjust to the dark tunnel, but everything was pitch black. To avoid getting separated, she held onto Yoo-chan and Kang-san's waists.

After about thirty steps, as Seo-eun took the thirty-first step, she felt her body float.

At the same time, intense light shone from all directions, forcing her to squint her eyes. The three, huddled together, couldn't help but gasp. They rubbed their eyes several times, as if they were seeing light for the first time.

The tunnel, which was supposed to be dark, revealed a scene that left Seo-eun speechless. Looking up, instead of a dark ceiling, a vast sky like the one outside spread out.

Is the inside of the tunnel like this? Yoo-chan tried to turn back but rolled on the ground, making an "Ack!" sound. Kang-san had grabbed his collar and pulled him back forcefully.

"Kang-san, do you want to die?!"

Choked, Yoo-chan gasped and got angry.

"Idiot, Young-il also went in there and died!"

"......"

When Seo-eun was isolated in the Narakga, she wondered if she would ever be more surprised in her life. Even that was a premature judgment. The tunnel they had walked through had turned into a black wall, something only seen at the end of the Narakga.

Yoo-chan, not realizing the black wall was blocking the way, stumbled backward. From his reaction, it seemed he had heard how Young-il died.

However, the black wall, though similar in shape to the tunnel, had no path connecting the inside and outside. It looked like a large, black sheet of paper placed in the middle of a forest.

Seo-eun, who had been looking at the cloudless sky, calmly checked the black wall. After circling it and throwing a pebble, the pebble disappeared without a trace.

If it were a real sheet of paper, it would have bounced off or torn through, but the pebble seemed to be absorbed into another dimension.

"Brother, this is... a black wall, right?"

Kang-san also circled the U-shaped black wall.

"It looks similar, but it absorbs things..."

Seo-eun looked back at the mountain. Given that the mountain path extended downward, they were likely at the mid-slope of the mountain.

"Let's join the others who went in first."

Not seeing Chahaya and Han Don-hee, Seo-eun became anxious.

<Good idea. This place is different from the Narakga or Earth. The team that went in first has already been here for three hours.>

Does this mean time flows faster here than in the Narakga or Earth? It was confusing, but they might have entered a different dimension with a time difference.

"Damn, I should have studied science more."

"What did you say?"

"Nothing."

Seo-eun wanted to call out to the two but, being in an unfamiliar mountain, had to be on high alert. Leading Yoo-chan and Kang-san, she started climbing the mountain path. Strangely, not a single bird chirped.

Then, suddenly.

Whoosh, something massive rose from a high place.

"Kang-san!"

"I saw it too!"

Two large feathers, like horns, jutted from the head of a bird that had flown into the air. It had large wings and a long, snake-like tail.

"Wow, it's huge!"

"Draw your sword!"

Yoo-chan shouted, and Kang-san drew his sword and yelled.

Seo-eun's eyes widened as she watched the bird. A bright light flashed near the bird, and a massive head flew towards them, separated from the body. The head was torn, not cleanly cut.

Seo-eun quickly moved behind Yoo-chan.

As Seo-eun moved out of the range of the sword, Kang-san swung at the bird's head. A red aura extended from Kang-san's sword, and the head, which was about to attack them, fell, smashing dozens of trees.

The bird's head was cleanly split. Yoo-chan, who was preparing to release a sword aura, exhaled and put away his sword.

"Did we kill it?"

Kang-san wiped his sweat-free forehead.

"Even if Kang-san set a death flag, it's already dead. It flew here after dying."

Seo-eun looked in the direction the bird had come from. The sight of someone descending was incredibly welcome. However, blood trickled from the person's arm to their fingertips.

"Chahaya!"

The person leaped down from above, shaking off the blood. Fortunately, it wasn't Chahaya's blood.

"It's a chicken, right?"

Han Don-hee, who followed, wiped the blood from his face with his arm.

"Do you want to die?! It's a fifth-stage chicken! Do you know how long we fought? Why didn't you two come in quickly?"

"Hey... Is that a chicken mutant?"

Seo-eun pointed to the bird, which Kang-san had split.

"Yeah, it attacked us as soon as we went in. What were you two doing that you didn't come in?"

"We came in almost five minutes after you two left."

Chahaya and Han Don-hee showed the same puzzled reaction.

"Hard to believe, but the inside of the tunnel... seems like a different world, like the Narakga."