Chapter 95

00095 Can you follow? =========================================================================

I sat on the cold marble floor, waiting for the others to finish their preparations. Of course, I wanted to help with the camp dismantling, but Yujung and Sol strongly opposed it, so I had no choice but to play the role of a scarecrow. They said this was women's work. Meanwhile, they were quite adept at bossing around Ahn Hyun and Shin Sangyong. Anyway, thanks to this, I had a rather leisurely time to prepare.

After drawing my sword, I sat cross-legged and placed it on my knees. The cold, sharp sound echoed through the room. The sword I was currently using was a regular iron sword I bought from the blacksmith after coming to Muel. As a swordsman, I knew very well how to handle and store a sword.

Reflexively, I reached into my pocket. I had a habit of smoking while cleaning my sword. However, there was only one cigarette in my pocket, which was the mast. After a moment of hesitation, I spat and only took out a piece of cloth. I wanted to smoke it after we finished our exploration and before we returned to the city.

The movements of the group, except for one person, were in perfect unison. Everyone was tidying up their sleeping bags and cleaning up the breakfast they had eaten. Jung Hyeon was folding the sleeping bag so neatly that it could make a soldier cry. In contrast, Ahn Hyun was stuffing his sleeping bag into his magic backpack carelessly, only to be scolded by Ahn Sol.

I watched this scene leisurely while carefully wiping the blade with the piece of cloth.

“L, Leader. Are we planning to go straight to the second floor today?”

“Huh. From the way you stutter, it seems you’re nervous.”

“H, Ha. No, it’s just a habit. I’m not nervous at all.”

My joke made Shin Sangyong blush and smile awkwardly. I nodded a couple of times. Then, I gave the cloth wrapped around the blade a final push.

“We do plan to go to the second floor.”

“G, Good decision.”

“However.”

I paused for a moment and looked down. The gleaming blade caught my eye. After putting the cloth back in my pocket and sheathing the sword, the cold, sharp sound echoed again. Satisfied with the sound, I continued.

“First, we need to fight the monsters on the second floor to show some progress. One hundred humans can summon a low-level demon with their full abilities. If we can determine the quality of the hundred sacrifices, we can estimate the level of the summoned demon.”

“Excellent. Just to add, the hundred sacrifices are the ones with the best results.”

“Thank you. I’ll keep that in mind.”

That’s right. This is the kind of conversation that should take place among the members of a caravan. I looked around at the kids, hoping they would learn from this, but no one was paying attention to Shin Sangyong and me. I sighed inwardly and looked at Bibiange.

She was rubbing her eyes, looking sleepy. After dinner last night, she had a long discussion with Shin Sangyong about the records, mostly answering questions, which seemed to have tired her out. Still, I knew she would show a different side once the battle began, so I didn’t say anything.

By now, the group had finished their preparations one by one.

I saw Ahn Sol tightly tie the strap of her bag and put it on her shoulder, and I also stood up. With everyone’s attention on me, I spoke in a calm voice.

“Thank you for your hard work. Of course, we might have to work even harder in the future.”

“...”

“However, we cleared the first floor of the research facility yesterday. Our goal today is to clear the second floor and then enter the third floor.”

“...”

The group didn’t respond, but I could see a hint of unease in Ahn Sol’s eyes, so I added a word before speaking.

“Since we’re starting our exploration early this morning, we have a lot of time compared to yesterday. If we can clear the third floor today, we can return to Muel no later than tomorrow. We’ll return in glory with the items we obtained yesterday and will obtain today.”

Only then did I see a spark of enthusiasm in the group’s eyes. Boosting morale like this is one of the duties of a caravan leader. The kids, still a bit groggy, were now looking at me with much brighter eyes. I immediately turned and continued.

“There are two staircases, one to the north and one to the east. We don’t need to go far, so let’s use the eastern staircase.”

With that, we moved towards the staircase leading to the second floor. As soon as I took a step, the old staircase creaked as if it might break at any moment. The group began to climb the stairs carefully, one step at a time.

The staircase was longer than expected. Moreover, it spiraled upwards, so the view of the first floor became more distant with each turn. After climbing in silence for a while, we stopped in front of the door leading to the second floor. Just as I was about to open the door,

“Mr. Suhyun, wait a moment.”

The person who stopped me was none other than Jung Hyeon. She looked at me with a puzzled expression, and then asked Ahn Sol for a protection spell. I smiled faintly, guessing her intentions. Her thoroughness was once again proving useful.

“Protect!”

A semi-transparent sphere surrounded me as Ahn Sol’s staff pointed at me. Jung Hyeon quickly mumbled a spell and formed a seal with her other hand. It was a double cast.

“Reflect Shield!”

Before her voice faded, she spoke again.

“Targeted protection spell. Overlap!”

As Jung Hyeon finished, the Reflect Shield spell transformed into a wobbly mass of water and merged with the protection spell surrounding me. The sphere began to glow with a faint golden light, and the kids gasped. I also looked at her with admiration. I didn’t expect that she could interfere with someone else’s spell. It was a high-level application of auxiliary magic.

“Amazing.”

“The place we’re standing is a staircase. If a monster appears right in front of the door, it could be dangerous. I just wanted to be prepared. I didn’t doubt your abilities, Mr. Suhyun.”

Jung Hyeon answered humbly and smiled gently. Anyway, I had to enter the room before the magic effect disappeared. The kids didn’t say it, but their eyes were filled with the hope of seeing monsters on the other side of the door.

“Now, we will begin the exploration of the second floor. Everyone, stay alert. Let’s go in.”

I spoke in a calm voice and opened the door handle. As expected, no huge monster jumped out. There was just an empty space. As I took a step inside, I heard a low sigh from behind.

“Tsk.”

“Tsk.”

These guys. I wanted to strip them and beat their butts, but I held back and led the group inside. The group followed me and was immediately captivated by the scene before them. I quickly activated my detection and Third Eye.

“Ugh… I feel uneasy.”

Sol, who was sensitive to such things, rubbed her arms and frowned. The evil aura here was ten times stronger than on the first floor, and I whistled inwardly. It seemed that the demon summoning had been successful. I hummed a tune, thinking about processing the demon’s heart and feeding it to the kids. Of course, it was so low that the other users couldn’t hear it.

The size of the second floor was roughly the same as the first floor, but the structure was completely different. While the first floor had four corridors leading in different directions with rooms arranged along them, the second floor was cut in half.

There was a passage in the middle leading to another space, and the space was divided into two large areas. I first surveyed the area where we were standing. The structure was quite simple. A large, square hall was filled with various unidentifiable fragments that had crumbled over time. Each wall, except for the passage, had one door. In other words, there were three doors in total.

“Hmm. The structure is different from the first floor. In a way, the second floor might be simpler.”

“It looks that way on the surface. But if you think about it, there are fewer successful works than failures. So, we can’t let our guard down.”

I heard Shin Sangyong and Jung Hyeon chatting.

“Bro. What should we do now?”

“Hmm?”

“Do we really need to open all these doors? Can we just move to the next room…?”

“Next room? How can you be sure there’s a staircase to the third floor in the opposite space?”

Ahn Hyun closed his mouth at my words. However, I also thought there was no staircase in the space where we were standing. Still, I had a reason for wanting to explore all the rooms. I wanted to make Ahn Hyun a Qi Gong Master.

While others might not know, Ahn Hyun was the most loyal to me. Ahn Sol’s feelings towards me were hard to interpret, even for someone with my ten years of experience. She often showed me a complex and subtle emotion that I couldn’t understand. Her actions were beyond mere goodwill.

I must have been lost in thought for a moment, as I realized I had a blank expression. After Ahn Hyun looked at me intently, I regained my composure and spoke.

“Perhaps we can complete the second floor faster than expected. Let’s open all the doors in this space and then move to the next area.”

“Ugh… There are so many fragments. It’s hard to walk.”

“Be careful. There might be bones.”

“Oh, it’s so scary. Ah.”

The group looked uncomfortable at Yujung’s coquettish tone. Ahn Hyun followed me without a word, but his face was filled with a sense of guilt towards the group.

However, my patience had its limits. As they kept disrupting the atmosphere, I gave them a sharp look. Ahn Hyun and Yujung immediately became silent. I maintained the quiet atmosphere and moved towards the door on the left wall, based on the direction we had come from.

Although there were only three doors, the sense of intimidation from each door was immense. Even from a distance, the doors were not the ordinary ones we saw on the first floor but massive iron doors with spikes jutting out. We steadily approached the door we had targeted.

With a slightly faster pace, the group reached the first targeted door in 15 minutes. The semi-transparent golden sphere that Ahn Sol and Jung Hyeon had cast on me had already faded. I looked around for a moment and spoke in a quiet voice.

“I’m going to open the door. Everyone, get ready.”

“Bro. This door looks too thick… I think it’s too heavy for you to open alone.”

“No, I can do it alone. Don’t worry and maintain the formation.”

My firm voice made Ahn Hyun take a step back. However, his wide eyes showed that he was a bit surprised.

Since I was determined to face the demons that were likely inside, I needed to regain my former ferocity. I was a bit worried if the group could keep up, but I extended my hand to the handle, which was larger than my own, and cleared my mind. I could feel ominous energies from inside the room.

============================ Author's Note ============================

Hello, I’m Ro Yujin.

Haha. Some readers feel that the story is progressing a bit slowly. I have a lot to say, but I think some readers have adapted to the current pace, while others find it slow. It’s hard to satisfy all readers, so I won’t make any excuses. However, I will try to avoid making the story feel drawn out.

Thank you for enjoying this chapter.

PS. A lot of coupons were given today. I sincerely thank all the readers. Bow. (__)

『 Re: Ripple 』

1. CuteBear: Congratulations on winning first place. It seems that people with bear-related usernames often win first place. Haha.

2. Yuun [流雲]: Thank you for the good question. The questions you asked are things that users would naturally wonder about. Kim Suhyun already knew everything and had a regression, but other users had these questions when they first met the angels. Previously, Seraph said, “I know what questions you want to ask, but I recommend not asking. Focus only on survival.” However, the narrative from the other users’ perspective is not provided. After going through a rite of passage, users become aware of survival and enter the User Academy. At that time, Park Hyunwoo says, “We are the same users as you. We are not the ones who will send you back home.” In other words, all users secretly wish to return home, but they don’t know how. Why they are here is also a valid question, but no one knows the answer. No user can answer this question, so they just adapt to living day by day. Those who adapt and carry this question in their hearts survive, while those who can’t adapt are eliminated. Users are those who adapt with the hope of eventually returning home. (This is one of the reasons why vagrants appear in the story.) And that’s exactly what I’ve told the readers. As the story progresses, you will naturally learn more. It was only briefly mentioned in the early stages and gradually revealed.

3. RedMoonSky: Yes, you’re correct. However, not all ranks have the same progression steps. :)

4. KiwiMeru: Haha. It varies from user to user, but generally, you can see it that way. Sol, for example, is abnormal with a mana of over 70. Excluding specialized abilities, the kids don’t have such high stats.

5. Hwiul: Haha. There are many works I can recommend. I enjoy reading Min Youngmo’s Named and other authors’ works like Master of Time and Dragon’s Legacy. Ah, are they too famous?

6. zjekfksqlc: Hehe. I like Hanbyeol too… (Puck Puck)

7. rhkdel2: Yes, of course. Please wait a little longer. :)

8. Jiak, Jeokukhwagukdan, Hwalui Gang, Deceive, STgomtinge, Hwiul: I’ve gathered the comments from those who left coupons. Thank you. I also thank all the other readers who gave coupons. Bow. (__)

9. Bejimil: Haha. Thank you. I will also try to control the pace. :)

10. North Ganxuanyong: Suhyun is still thinking. He’s too cautious and is deliberating a lot. Haha.

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I always read all the comments.

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I’ll end here for today.

I hope you always read the story with a comfortable mind.

I welcome pre-reading, recommendations, comments, reviews, and questions.