Chapter 18

# 18

User Manual for the Reincarnated 018

When five people gather, there's bound to be one who's a waste (3)

It was the first time a voice telling me to wake up sounded so pleasant.

"Yes, I understand."

The first to wake up was Park Hye-young.

After that, I could hear Jeong Hae-yan stirring.

Just as I was thinking about when to wake up, I felt a hand tapping my shoulder.

"Brother."

'Park Deok-gu, nice.'

It was a good timing, not bad at all.

Despite feeling suddenly tired from lack of sleep, I opened my eyes slightly and sat up.

"Is it already this time?"

"It seems we plan to move a bit earlier today. We decided to finish hunting after moving a bit further in and then return to the shelter."

"Alright."

I deliberately didn't turn my gaze away from Jeong Hae-yan. I knew avoiding her would make things more awkward.

When I glanced at Jeong Hae-yan, I saw her smiling brightly at me.

A completely different look from yesterday.

It didn't even seem like the same person.

'Which one is real?'

I couldn't tell if the expression I saw last night or the one now was the real one.

I thought I needed to clear my head a bit more, so I gave her a small smile and started to get up.

'I'm tired.'

My mind felt numb, as if I hadn't slept well.

As I stepped outside, I saw Kim Hyun-sung looking at me and speaking.

"You look tired."

"A bit, but I'm fine."

"I think it would be good to move a bit further in today. Is that alright?"

"It doesn't seem bad. There don't seem to be many of them around here. I'm a bit worried about the people in the shelter, but it seems unlikely that anything will go wrong inside. However, if the number of them seems too large…."

"Yes, of course we'll return immediately."

That's a reasonable judgment.

"Anyway, which direction…?"

"I checked the left path last night, and it didn't seem much different from here."

He not only stood guard twice but also did some exploration.

"You've worked hard."

It's enjoyable to have such diligent workers.

I thought there might be something on the right, but it was too early to tell.

"Park Hye-young and Jeong Hae-yan…"

"I'm ready too."

"Let's maintain the same positions as yesterday. When we spot them, Jeong Hae-yan will take the lead instead of Park Hye-young. Let's get started."

"Yes."

It seemed like it would be a somewhat tiring march.

The most concerning thing was Jeong Hae-yan's presence.

Although I didn't understand the situation, her recent behavior was highly unconventional.

I couldn't pinpoint it, but anyone could see it was strange.

It seemed a bit different from the person I thought she was.

First, I needed to identify the cause. I had some guesses, but it was still a bit surprising.

'Jealousy?'

If the cause was jealousy, the problem was that the time I've spent with Jeong Hae-yan was too short.

While human relationships don't always correlate with time spent together, the time spent together is undeniably important.

Of course, the special circumstances surrounding Jeong Hae-yan and me are a factor.

This isn't a café or a restaurant.

If I had to use an analogy, it's like the feeling of love that develops between a man and a woman in a cheap B-movie during a crisis.

Perhaps the emotion she's feeling is something like that.

Suddenly, I thought about Jeong Hae-yan's past.

Considering her past, it seemed a reasonable inference could be made.

Her parents are gone, and she hasn't been in touch with her sisters for a long time.

If she feels abandoned by her family, it's understandable that she might want to lean on us more.

Her environment hasn't been kind to her.

'Simple inference.'

However, for some reason, I became a lifeline for her.

I must have always been kind, trustworthy, and someone she could rely on.

I thought this emotion might have evolved from a liking to an obsession.

Initially, my goal was to serve as a mental bulwark for her.

A person with a vulnerable heart is easier to draw in.

'Should I test it?'

It's a classic approach, but worth trying.

While walking alongside the path, I gently pulled Park Hye-young's shoulder and slowly spoke.

"Be careful."

"Ah… Yes."

She seemed a bit tense.

It looked like she thought I was helping her from tripping over a rock.

She seemed to want to express gratitude, but what I wanted was her reaction.

I glanced at Jeong Hae-yan.

As expected, she was staring intently at Park Hye-young.

Kim Hyun-sung and Park Deok-gu didn't seem to notice, but I could clearly see the indescribable emotion in Jeong Hae-yan's eyes.

'This can be used.'

The hostility she felt wasn't directed at me.

While it seemed a bit excessive to call it ordinary jealousy, considering Jeong Hae-yan's personality, it was within a manageable range.

If I used the right mix of carrots and sticks, Jeong Hae-yan would become a loyal family member willing to risk her life for us.

While thinking about various things, I realized we had moved quite a distance.

"It seems we're close. From here, we'll move more carefully."

"Got it, brother."

It seemed this was the area Kim Hyun-sung had checked out earlier.

The smell was definitely different from before.

The distinctive stench from the creatures could be felt everywhere.

However, what stood out more was the faint magic power I could sense from a distance.

I couldn't tell what kind, but it definitely felt alien.

Perhaps this was what Kim Hyun-sung was looking for.

"I can sense something."

"What do you mean, brother? Do you see any of them?"

"I can feel a faint magic power from ahead. I'm not sure what it is, but…."

"It's frustrating that I can't sense it. Can you, brother?"

"I'm not sure, but given that Ki-yeong is a mage, he might be more familiar with such alien sensations. It wouldn't hurt to check it out. It might give us a hint for conquering this place."

Kim Hyun-sung definitely lacks acting skills.

It seemed the faint magic power ahead was related to conquering the dungeon.

"Since we're going that way anyway, I'll go first. We should be careful."

"Be careful."

There was no need to be careful.

If Kim Hyun-sung had sensed something was wrong, he wouldn't have just stood there.

As I cautiously moved forward, the source of the magic power I sensed became clear.

'Stairs.'

"Stairs leading to the lower floor."

Literally, stairs leading to the lower floor. Now I could see how this dungeon was structured.

Looking at Kim Hyun-sung nodding, it seemed he found this contrived setting convincing.

It was absurd, but it didn't seem bad to play along.

"A cliché, but the difficulty increases as you go down. It seems related to conquering the place."

"Hmm, is that so, brother?"

"I'm not sure yet, but probably. We didn't find any useful hints at the starting point. Throwing us into this vast area with monsters and telling us to conquer the dungeon isn't convincing. The descent is likely the start. There might be more clues down there, even if we don't know what they are."

Kim Hyun-sung nodded at my words.

"I agree."

'Bingo.'

"Since it's too early to go down now, let's remember this place and try again later. We didn't come here to conquer it today. There might be something more helpful underground. The types of monsters might also be different."

"It would be really annoying if more troublesome ones appear."

Same old.

In any case, Kim Hyun-sung successfully informed us of the entrance to the underground.

This might feel like a significant achievement for him.

However, the immediate priority is the growth of Jeong Hae-yan and Park Hye-young. We need to prepare more people who can fight before we can go down.

"Path?"

"It's in my head."

"Then, from now on, we'll focus on finding them around here?"

"That seems best. Let's start from a slightly distant point."

"Got it, brother."

Unlike yesterday, we didn't need to search with fire in our eyes. We found the monsters nearby.

It seemed the monsters were distributed around this area.

Three monsters nearby.

I glanced at Kim Hyun-sung, and he nodded.

"Deok-gu, you take two. Ki-yeong, quickly take one of them. I'll handle the other. We'll use the last one as a training subject. Hye-young and Hae-yan, stand in a similar position to Ki-yeong."

"Yes."

"Got it."

After clenching their lips, Park Deok-gu and Ki-yeong rushed forward.

It seemed they wanted to draw the aggro to Park Deok-gu first.

I also started running, with the tense Jeong Hae-yan and Park Hye-young in between.

I saw Park Deok-gu pushing one monster away with a shield and hitting another with a leather-wrapped arm.

Kim Hyun-sung, looking somewhat relaxed, ran towards one monster and successfully cut off its arm.

'He's incredibly fast.'

I expected him to be fast due to his high agility, but it exceeded my expectations.

Meanwhile, I loaded a bit of magic power onto my spear and thrust it at the monster Park Deok-gu was holding.

With a "thud," blood splattered, but I had no time to worry.

'Not dead yet.'

As I was about to thrust the spear again, Park Hye-young, seemingly trying to do something, thrust her spear.

'Not bad.'

The most important thing was that she showed the will to act.

There was no need to look at Kim Hyun-sung.

He would likely handle it with just enough effort to avoid looking suspicious.

The last monster was to be used as a training subject.

Before Park Deok-gu could move to hold it, the excited Park Hye-young started thrusting her spear.

'Stupid move.'

It was a clearly stupid move.

As expected, her spear missed, and the remaining monster escaped Park Deok-gu's range.

"Ah! I'm sorry…."

"Damn…."

When five people gather, there's bound to be one who's a waste.

"Deok-gu."

This famous quote never fails to meet my expectations.

"Kyaahhh!!"

'Damn woman!'