Chapter 31

# 31

User Manual for the Reincarnated 031

Quest (4)

It’s a situation where anyone can see that I was in the wrong.

It was as if I had drawn a picture of a trashy act.

I can guarantee that even if Solomon came and made a judgment, he would call me the sinner.

I chose to gamble, knowing that my reputation with Kim Hyun-sung would take a hit, but the situation wasn’t bad at all.

Lee Gi-chul disappeared into the ogre’s stomach, and Jeong Jin-ho’s lackey is sending waves of anger as if he’s about to kill me.

I’ve created conflict, and Kim Hyun-sung’s reaction isn’t bad either.

I’m not sure if he knows that I did it on purpose, but I’m satisfied with the results.

I sent a guy to the ogre’s stomach without lifting a finger.

Even though I ended up losing a tooth by becoming a victim, I achieved a beautiful and desirable outcome by gaining the warm concern of my beloved and precious comrades.

However, I didn’t expect Jeong Hae-yeon to send me that look again.

Physical contact with other people is also taboo.

‘Is this not allowed too?’

Someone touching my body is also taboo.

For a moment, he bit his nails, but then he hurriedly came over, perhaps noticing that I was still lying on the ground.

However, he hasn’t completely dropped his hostility towards me.

“O-oppa!”

But when he saw the blood in my mouth, it seems he couldn’t think of anything.

Even more so, the way he stroked the ring and tried to send mana was quite a sight.

Jeong Hae-yeon’s holy ring isn’t meant to heal such injuries.

When I slightly clenched my left hand, he seemed to understand and didn’t chant a spell.

His eyes were filled with tears, and large tears fell continuously from his big eyes.

“Are you, are you okay? What… what should I do?”

“Of course, I’m fine. Since I was in the wrong… there’s nothing I can do.”

My mouth tasted bitter.

One of my teeth had been knocked out, and one side of my cheek was numb, but I couldn’t show any signs of pain.

If I made a fuss, Jeong Hae-yeon might cast a spell at the other side.

‘Please, bear with it… I beg you.’

While it’s not a bad choice to cast a spell first, it’s better to proceed as the victim.

Since Kim Hyun-sung hasn’t moved yet, he must be hoping for the same.

“Huh….”

The way he kept caressing my face was as if he had lost a country.

He kept hiccupping, and his appearance was like someone with panic disorder, making me wonder if Jeong Hae-yeon was really in his right mind.

His face, a mix of tears and snot.

Anyone who saw it would have thought I was dead. His reaction was too passionate to be just because I lost a tooth.

“Are you okay? Are you okay? Hic… Are, are you okay.”

“Yeah, I’m fine. It’s nothing. Don’t worry, Hae-yeon. I’m really fine. I’m really fine. It doesn’t hurt at all.”

It does hurt, but it’s not a serious injury.

While it’s a grateful thing to have such a reaction to a minor injury, it also seems a bit scary when thought about in another way.

“That guy! How dare you!”

Park Deok-gu was also angry.

In fact, I just got hit because I was wrong.

However, the reactions of Jeong Hae-yeon and Park Deok-gu must have far exceeded his expectations.

I thought Jeong Jin-ho would also be flustered by now.

Of course, the person who hit me was the most flustered.

He sensed the ominous atmosphere that suddenly turned hostile.

Jeong Hae-yeon’s reaction threw a new curveball into the situation.

It was a not-so-bad political move, despite some errors.

The magic of turning the aggressor into the victim in an instant.

A more magical event than any spell I could cast.

‘Phew.’

I know I shouldn’t, but my lips keep curling up.

I know I shouldn’t show this face, but I can’t stop smiling.

In the end, it was Jeong Jin-ho who bowed his head.

“I’m sorry, Ki-yeong.”

“No, it’s not.”

“I have nothing to say. I know you didn’t do it with bad intentions. If you hadn’t used magic, something worse might have happened. It seems Jae-jun is a bit excited because of Gi-chul’s death. I hope you can understand. Jae-jun?”

“But….”

“Jae-jun. You need to apologize. It was an unavoidable situation and the best choice. If it wasn’t for Ki-yeong, we might all have died.”

Whether he was reading Jeong Jin-ho’s mind or not, Jae-jun, who had been frowning, finally bowed his head.

“I… I was a bit excited. I’m… sorry.”

His trembling fists.

He couldn’t even look at me properly, struggling to continue speaking. Given the situation, he thought he should apologize, but he couldn’t bring himself to say it.

He seemed to be the type who was far from apologizing, and his expression wasn’t one of apology.

Rather, it was an expression of suppressing anger.

“It’s okay, Jae-jun. I can understand. I was a bit hasty too… I can’t console you with words, but I sincerely apologize.”

Of course, I’m not sincere.

“I’m… sorry.”

He seemed to be forcing himself to bow his head.

I didn’t feel like I was receiving an apology, but regardless, I felt good.

‘Phew.’

If the guy didn’t have anger management issues, I might have been the one forced to bow my head.

Of course, the one I’m more worried about than the guy is Jeong Hae-yeon.

‘This…’

If he’s planning to do the same thing as with Park Hye-young, it would be a problem for me.

The culprit in the Park Hye-young incident has already been pinned on Jeong Jin-ho.

If he suddenly disappears with Jeong Jin-ho’s lackeys and is found with his limbs cut off, Kim Hyun-sung might suspect Jeong Hae-yeon.

Of course, I would also be a suspect.

I want to stop him, but his expression suggests he won’t be stopped.

The way his fists were clenched so tightly that his palms were bleeding made it seem like he was already planning to attack the guy.

‘It’s not bad.’

Thinking more positively, it’s not bad.

If Jeong Hae-yeon moves directly, it will be beneficial for me.

If Kim Jae-jun dies, Jeong Jin-ho will lose a limb.

‘Why…’

However, the sight of Jeong Hae-yeon secretly picking up my fallen tooth is like a bomb that could explode at any moment.

“I’ll move first, Ki-yeong.”

“Yes. Let’s do that. I’m sorry for causing a commotion.”

As I slightly got up, he put my arm on his shoulder as if to support me, but it’s not that serious of an injury.

Still, it’s the right move to stay close.

I need to decide when to pull the trigger.

Since he dislikes revealing his strange behavior, he probably won’t explode if I stay close.

“Can you walk?”

“Of course.”

“If you feel tired….”

“No, I’m really fine. Hyun-sung. Let’s get out of here as you suggested.”

“Yes.”

The iron door is still firmly closed.

It might not open until the quest is completed, or it might only be openable from the outside, but one thing is certain: we need to complete the quests in this dungeon to survive.

Coincidentally, the quest is also called Survival.

“Maybe the survival or strategy the woman mentioned refers to the quests here.”

Jeong Jin-ho’s words to lighten the mood.

He must want to say something.

Everyone, including Jeong Hae-yeon, is on guard against Jeong Jin-ho and his lackeys.

Trying to narrow the distance is a natural choice.

I thought about joining in, but I was also thinking along similar lines.

“I had the same thought. The first floor seems to have no real meaning, and survival and strategy here seem to be the main focus. If survival means escaping this situation and overcoming or defeating the monsters, then the strategy quest would also be resolved. If this hypothesis is correct, the first floor would have no real meaning.”

Whether it’s good or bad, we need to resolve survival and strategy here.

Glancing at Kim Hyun-sung, he didn’t seem to disagree.

He seemed focused on finding a path at the front, but the lack of other sounds suggested our hypothesis was correct.

The survival and strategy the woman mentioned on the first floor are both happening here.

“Survival makes sense, but….”

“Maybe there’s a boss monster here.”

“Oh.”

“That’s common. The status window and job system here are quite similar to an online game. If this wasn’t a tutorial, there might have been various conditions for strategy, but if the dungeon is focused on survival and strategy, there might be a different kind of monster. Killing that monster would probably be the strategy.”

“I have a similar thought, Ki-yeong.”

“It’s just a guess. Another option might be finding a way out.”

“A way to escape outside.”

“Yes. It could be a way out, or a mechanism to get us all out. There might be other options, but I can’t think of them.”

It’s just a guess, a common inference anyone could make. Jeong Jin-ho and even Yu Seok-woo might think the same, but there’s a difference between saying it out loud and not.

“You’re thinking a lot, Ki-yeong….”

Yu Seok-woo muttered.

His words seemed a bit pointed, as if asking if I had deliberately thrown a fireball, but I naturally laughed it off.

Since he was also targeting my life, it was only natural.

“It’s just a delusion.”

Just a delusion.

We kept walking, but we didn’t see the monsters like before.

Of course, we occasionally saw them, but it wasn’t a battle like before.

To avoid causing more commotion, we quickly dealt with them, and no accidents like before occurred.

Our movement speed slowed down due to fatigue, but we found a bit of leeway.

The fact that mana was automatically regenerating was a bright spot.

Kim Hyun-sung occasionally frowned, and Jeong Hae-yeon sometimes stared at Kim Jae-jun, but fortunately, nothing happened.

Especially Jeong Hae-yeon, who seemed to be so aggrieved and angry that he often shed tears and muttered to himself when he saw my swollen mouth.

Park Deok-gu, who had boasted about being good with women, seemed at a loss on how to comfort Jeong Hae-yeon.

The situation was clearly strange.

What was even more surprising than his tears was the way he bowed his head and whispered softly.

His voice was too low for even me, who was close by, to hear clearly.

From the occasional words that reached my ears, it seemed like he was saying….

‘I have to kill him,’ but I didn’t pretend to hear it.

It would be beneficial for me.

“I’ll take revenge for you.”

Pretending not to hear is better.

I’m sure of that.