Until I was stabbed, I hadn’t noticed at all. They’d gotten this close, and I hadn’t even heard footsteps. There was no explanation other than an ability or an artifact’s power.
The ability to hide one’s presence… it felt familiar somehow.
Right, stealth.
When I think of stealth, there’s someone who comes to mind. Before the regression, a member of the organization who went into the dungeon with me, the one Choi Haegang had attacked me in.
It’s the kid in the cap!
I finally realized what the sense of unease I’d felt from the kid in front of me was.
“So the master of concealment was here.”
“Let go!”
I tightened my grip to keep hold of the struggling child. The kid, unable to move, tried to kick me in the groin, but I wasn’t getting caught twice.
“Atlas is more open-minded than I thought. Dragging even a kid like this into a dungeon.”
“Why is… here…”
Choi Haegang frowned, looking flustered when he saw the kid. It seemed his plan hadn’t been to deceive me, lower my guard, and then strike from behind after all.
The kid, having spotted Choi Haegang, ground their teeth and clenched their fists with a resentful expression.
“You said you’d kill him!”
Compared to the days when they’d worn that cap, this was an incredibly intense display of emotion.
“You said you’d kill the villain who killed Dad…”
The kid mumbled something more, but the tear-choked words trailed off before finishing.
Ah.
I recalled something that had happened recently.
The Boss killed that man from that house.
It seemed obvious now in hindsight—that must have been the kid’s father. Judging by how furious and out of control they were, the kid must have seen the corpse in the living room too.
I’d thought it was strange. Had they been hiding their body using their ability while pretending to have fallen from the railing?
Anyway, how did they end up running into Choi Haegang?
What an absurd coincidence.
The kid was trembling all over, glaring at Choi Haegang. It seemed they’d properly earned his hatred.
“I can’t trust anyone anymore. I’ll… I’ll take revenge myself.”
Revenge—what a bad habit to pick up. Whether it was Choi Haegang’s influence or not, I couldn’t say.
Choi Haegang rubbed his temple as if his head ached.
“This isn’t a place for you to be.”
“Shut up, you liar!”
“Why did you hide that you’re an Awakener?”
At the cold rebuke, the kid fell silent. The cap-wearing kid, grinding their teeth in betrayal, and Choi Haegang, eyes shut tight as he suppressed his anger—what a fantastic combination.
I stepped in to ease the mood.
“Now, now. Don’t be too angry. Fooling two Awakeners at this age—that’s quite an impressive ability, isn’t it?”
“…..”
“Yes?”
Choi Haegang shot me a sidelong glare. You’re the bigger problem here, he seemed to be saying.
“Hah…”
He stepped in front of me as if he had no choice, holding out his hand as if asking me to hand the kid over.
“Give them to me. Not a guild member—just a kid the guild is temporarily looking after.”
“Hmm.”
I looked down at the kid in the cap, pretending to think it over. The kid was glaring at Choi Haegang with a wary expression.
“No, I’ll take care of them.”
I looked up and smiled.
“I like kids.”
I wondered if Choi Haegang would still swing his sword freely with a kid nearby. Perhaps realizing I was using the kid as a shield, his voice dropped.
“I could kill both of you here.”
“!”
The kid flinched. I subtly let go of their hand, but they’d apparently already lost trust in me and didn’t move toward Choi Haegang. Instead, they took a step back and clutched tightly at the necklace around their neck.
“Don’t say such scary things. I’m not the kind of person who’d lay a hand on a child without good reason either.”
I smiled cheerfully and stroked the frightened kid’s head.
“Once we’re out of here, I’ll properly turn myself in to the police.”
At those words, the kid, who’d been frozen, looked up sharply. Then they smacked my hand away from their head.
“Shut up, you murderer! I’ll kill you before you can turn yourself in!”
The kid stamped their feet, throwing a fit.
The cap-kid’s temper is insane.
No wonder they’d defied the Boss alongside me before. Even from a young age, they’d had something special in them.
While I watched contentedly, the kid, apparently unable to contain their anger, shoved me. The knife still stuck in my stomach got caught on their wildly swinging arm and was yanked out.
“Ugh.”
Blood splattered onto the floor. At the pained groan, the kid flinched and stumbled backward. They’d said they’d kill me, but maybe they hadn’t really meant it. The wound seemed shallow anyway.
Only then noticing I was hurt, Choi Haegang sighed and came over.
“Lie down.”
Choi Haegang rummaged through his bag and pulled out bandages.
“That kid’s going to hate you even more for this.”
I jerked my chin toward the kid, and Choi Haegang clicked his tongue.
“I have no intention of turning a kid like that into a murderer.”
“Haha.”
“Anyway, hurry up and—”
He couldn’t finish his sentence. A vibration shook the entire sewer.
“Th-that!”
The kid pointed toward one side of the sewer. We both turned our heads at the same time.
At first, it looked like dust.
After about ten seconds, we could make out what it was—a horde of advancing monsters.
Thundering footsteps!
Had they sensed their companion’s death? Crocodiles were surging toward us from the distance. Enough of them to be called a legion.
Not a number we could handle all at once.
Judging that running was the better option, Choi Haegang hurriedly shoved the key into the lock. With a creak, the iron bars opened.
“This way.”
“Argh!”
As I tried to move ahead in the direction Choi Haegang pointed, I tripped over something. Looking back, I saw a foot deliberately stuck out at an angle.
The kid, seeing me fall, stuck their tongue out.
This little—
Pretending it was an accident, I grabbed the hem of the kid’s pants.
“Ah!”
The kid, who’d been about to run off, fell.
“…..”
I met their glare with a smile. Choi Haegang’s face twisted in irritation.
“What are you doing!”
Choi Haegang came over, looking exasperated. He grabbed the kid’s arm and pulled them up. I hurried to my feet as well.
***
How long had it been since we fled from the crocodiles?
Slash!
Choi Haegang killed the fourth gatekeeper. But this time, we couldn’t move forward. Monsters had appeared even beyond the iron bars.
Now there were crocodiles slowly closing in from the front, and crocodiles snarling behind the iron bars at our backs.
Surrounded front and back. There seemed to be nowhere left to run.
I was scanning around to see if there was somewhere I alone could slip away to, when I met Choi Haegang’s eyes.
“What will you do?”
“I’ll fight.”
That really was the only option. Choi Haegang had already drawn his sword. He aimed the gleaming blade at the crocodiles ahead.
I quietly stepped back.
Take the rear, hyung. Good luck.
Thud. Something bumped against my back. I turned around—it was the kid in the cap. Gone was the composure they’d shown when tripping me; now their face was filled with fear.
“Scared?”
“!”
The kid jumped, startled, and looked up at me.
They’ve always been a coward.
Thinking idle thoughts, I reached out toward a crocodile charging from the front.
Crackle!
The kid flinched at the sight of the crocodile collapsing with a thud. When I grabbed their small body as they tried to scramble away in horror, the kid screamed as if in a fit.
“M-murderer…!”
“They’re not people. They’re monsters.”
“…..”
Eyes full of hatred glared at me. Choi Haegang was over there slicing through three or four at a time too—why was I the only one getting this treatment?
Bipedal, with weapons, living in groups… at this point, they’re basically human.
I warned the kid.
“Stay right by my side. Unless you want to die.”
No answer, but I figured they’d more or less understood. I turned my attention back ahead.
Crack!
Each individual monster’s strength was relatively weak.
With the front handled by Choi Haegang, and me casually dealing with the monsters that slipped to the back, there wasn’t much for me to do.
“…Phew.”
More leeway than I’d expected.
Taking advantage of Choi Haegang working hard, I quietly crossed my arms. With time to spare, I figured I’d watch the hunter swing his sword.
Pretty satisfying to watch.
I was thinking idly when—
“Gah.”
Suddenly my body lurched forward. At the same time, I felt a burning sensation in my back.
An attack had come from an unexpected direction. Had the iron bars opened? Before I could even register my surprise, as I was about to use my ability, a young voice reached my ear.
“Die…!”
I immediately twisted around to check who it was.
Standing there holding a spear wasn’t a crocodile—it was the kid in the cap. They must have pulled the weapon from a dead crocodile’s hand. Taking a step back, I noticed the hand of the crocodile I’d just killed was now empty.
Once I grasped the situation, blood rushed to my head.
This little f**er.*
Using their ability uselessly again, and now this. As I scowled, the kid, meeting my eyes, twisted their mouth into a smirk.
“I’m done for anyway. If I’m going to die like this…”
The kid pushed harder, trying to drive the spear deeper. Their hands, gripping the spear, were trembling.
The crazy brat was determined to die together with me.
But I had no intention of dying here. I was going to bring back a useful slave and get praised by the Boss for it too.
Creak—.
Behind the kid, the iron bars opened. A crocodile crossed through the gap.
“Did you kill my dad with that ability too?”
The kid didn’t seem to hear it, too focused on staring at me. The crocodile approached, holding its breath. I pulled a knife from my sleeve.
“…Want to let go of that?”
Seeing the knife, the kid’s eyes widened, and they gritted their teeth.
“I’m never letting go. I’ll just stay like this… ugh!”
When I raised my hand, the kid—despite glaring so defiantly a moment ago—squeezed their eyes shut. They’d assumed I was about to attack them and flinched in fear.
I spun the knife once in my hand and tossed it lightly.
“Kreeeeek…!”
Thud!
The crocodile that had been targeting the kid from behind collapsed lifelessly.
At the sound of the heavy body falling, the kid slowly opened their eyes. Turning to check behind them, their eyes widened.
“…!”
Seeing that their ambush had failed, the crocodiles beyond the iron bars charged at us. There was no time to reason with anyone.
I roughly yanked the spear out of my back and pulled the kid into my arms. Dodging attacks coming from all directions, I lost my balance and fell.
Maybe because the muscles in my back were torn, my right shoulder wouldn’t move properly. And my left arm was holding the kid.
Whoosh!
In the end, I quickly rolled to dodge the attack.
“Let go!”
“Ugh, just—stay still!”
Wrestling back and forth with the kid who seemed to wish for a joint suicide, I somehow ended up curled around them, rolling along the ground.
By the time I thought I should stop, the water’s surface was already right in front of us.
Splash!
Cold water enveloped my entire body. I sank for a moment before coming to my senses and starting to swim. The water was deeper than expected—my feet couldn’t touch the bottom.
Meanwhile, as if their wish were to drown, the brat thrashed wildly. Holding onto them while injured was agonizing. I almost wished they’d swallow a bunch of water and pass out.
Splash!
“Pwah!”
“Cough, cough.”
We finally broke the surface. The kid in the cap seemed to have run out of energy, coughing before going limp.
Now I can finally breathe a little.
Splash! Splash!
A few crocodiles were following us into the water.
Can’t use my ability either.
I wasn’t affected by my own ability, so it didn’t matter to me, but if I used electricity, the kid—who was in the water with me—would definitely die. While I was worrying, a crocodile had already gotten close. Its long snout twitched right in front of us.
Sniff sniff.
Despite how tense I’d gotten, the crocodile turned the other way. The rest of the crocodiles, also confused by the smell of blood, circled around us but passed by without noticing us.
…Ah.
Looking at the kid in my arms, eyes squeezed tightly shut, I understood the situation.
They’d said they couldn’t control their ability, but somehow they managed to use it perfectly at the moment it benefited them most.
As we floated there for a while, the kid spoke up, sounding confused.
“Why did you…”
“…..”
They seemed to mutter something more, but I didn’t answer.
They’d stabbed me with a blade twice now.
We’ll talk once we’re out of here.
While the kid and I stayed quiet in the water, the crocodiles were killed one by one by Choi Haegang. After the last remaining crocodile fell to his sword, I pulled the kid along and quickly scrambled out of the water.
I thought I’d freeze to death.
“Phew, that was dangerous. Are you hurt anywhere?”
It was a situation where it wouldn’t have been strange for the kid to pass out from hypothermia, but thankfully they seemed fine.
“Wh-why…”
Standing on their own feet, the kid was trembling all over. Probably from the cold.
I licked my lips, ready to say what I’d prepared.
“Once we’re out of here—”
“Why did you save me!”
“…What?”
