The necklace. Are they talking about the silver cross necklace that was in the pocket?
To be honest, I was the one who took it.
Was it important?
The kid in front of me looked like they were about to cry at any moment.
“It’s a keepsake from my mom….”
“…..”
I don’t mind giving that necklace back. It didn’t even look expensive. But if I openly hand it over now, I might get treated as a criminal again for stealing.
It’s a shame for the boundaries I worked so hard to break down to harden again.
While I was torn over whether to give it back or not, the kid and the man started getting teary-eyed.
“Before going to sleep, I definitely put it in my pocket….”
“Check again, just to be sure.”
“I checked everything, but it’s not there. I must’ve dropped it while getting dressed.”
…….
“Then there’s nothing we can do. Let’s go.”
Choi Haegang grabbed the kid’s arm firmly.
“Um, hold on a second….”
I opened my mouth a little, feeling awkward, but Choi Haegang didn’t even pretend to listen and just kept walking.
“I have to find it. I’m going back.”
“Don’t say something so ridiculous.”
The kid and the man were both being ignored too. Did nobody hear them?
“I’ll go by myself, so let me go!”
The kid twisted their captured arm and screamed. Choi Haegang’s brow furrowed sharply. It was chaos.
What do I do.
Should I say that the necklace they’re looking for is in my pocket?
“Um, actually….”
I tried to move my hand out of habit, then realized it was tied up. My eyes rolled around in frustration.
Meanwhile, the kid and the man were still making a fuss, saying they’d go alone.
…Ugh, forget it.
If the kid and the man die here, it’ll all be for nothing.
In the end, I called out to Choi Haegang.
“Hunter, could you check my right pocket for me?”
At the sudden request, Choi Haegang paused, and seeming to realize something, let out a sigh as if he found it absurd.
He dragged the kid along and strode over.
Choi Haegang abruptly stuck his hand into my pocket. A clattering sound came from the pocket.
“It’s there, right?”
Even though he must have found what he was looking for, he searched the other pocket too. It seemed like he was belatedly trying to do a possessions check.
Unfortunately, the knife I’d hidden was on the inside of my arm. I scoffed inwardly.
But what came out of the pocket in his hand was a fistful of jewels.
“?”
I stared at him, bewildered, but he paid no attention and put the things in his hand into his own bag.
“I’ll be taking these back.”
Choi Haegang whispered quietly.
Taking back, huh….
Ah.
The Atlas guild members with their bulging pockets came to mind. Was he still remembering what happened last time?
“That’s… mine, you know….”
I protested weakly, but it didn’t work. A silver cross dangled and fell from Choi Haegang’s hand as he sorted through the bag. The kid’s eyes widened at the sight of the necklace.
“Is this the silver necklace you were looking for?”
The kid nodded fiercely. Choi Haegang handed the necklace to the kid.
“I picked it up off the ground before we set out. I’m glad we found its owner.”
“…..”
The kid and the man holding the necklace had nothing to say.
Are they going to scream that I’m a thief?
If that happens, I’ll just brazenly claim I found it. I quietly waited for the kid’s reaction.
The kid lowered their head and wiped away tears. Then, after some hesitation, they managed to force out one word.
“Thanks.”
!
It was an unexpected response.
“It’s nothing, haha.”
I’m the one who stole it, but well, all’s well that ends well.
“If it’s such a precious necklace, take better care of it from now on.”
“Yeah.”
“There are a lot of thieves in the world, so be careful.”
“Yeah.”
The kid nodded, expression softened. They seemed to have lowered their guard quite a bit. I found myself smiling, thinking it was a good thing I gave it back.
It had been a while since I’d felt such a warm atmosphere, but from a short distance away, I could feel Choi Haegang’s cold stare.
“…Okay, that’s enough crying.”
I quickly wrapped up the situation before Choi Haegang could spill the truth.
“Ugh. If you’re done, let’s go.”
Choi Haegang pushed the kid’s shoulder forward. I started walking as if nothing had happened. While I kept forcing my eyes away from the bag, the little one beside me chattered on.
“Really, thank you. It’s the most precious thing to me.”
“Yeah, I understand that feeling well.”
“Do you have something like that too?”
“To be exact, I did have. Hyunwoo….”
I blurted out the name reflexively, then shut my mouth. But the other person had already heard it.
“Hyunwoo?”
Hyunwoo was the name of a brooch I treasured.
It’d be weird if I said it was the name of a brooch.
I deflected appropriately.
“It’s my younger sibling’s name.”
It was true that I cherished the brooch like a younger sibling.
“Ah….”
The kid and the man trailed off. For some reason, the conversation didn’t continue after that.
Before long, we reached a fork in the path. On one side stood an iron gate with a gatekeeper, and on the other was a path that continued onward.
“Kiiieek!”
The gatekeeper was killed. By Choi Haegang, of course.
I naturally headed toward the path that continued, but Choi Haegang stopped in front of the iron gate.
“Isn’t the path this way?”
“We don’t know what’s inside here.”
If you don’t know what’s inside, why open the door?
“There must be a reason the gatekeeper was guarding it. Something important might be hidden inside. Something like treasure… an Artifact, perhaps.”
“All I see is a lump of mud.”
“How would you know what’s behind that?”
“Hm.”
Hearing him say that much made me curious.
Did he sense something with his beast-like instincts?
I walked quickly over to Choi Haegang’s side.
“Then taking a look wouldn’t hurt, I suppose.”
Choi Haegang inserted the key with an unreadable expression and turned it. The iron gate opened. As I poked my head in, Choi Haegang, who was beside me, stepped aside from the door. His attitude seemed to say, go ahead and look.
I’d been so busy trying to survive that psycho that I’d forgotten the Boss’s orders. I need to find a decent Artifact before getting out.
I wonder if there’s a usable Artifact in here?
I leaned my body further inside the door to get a better look. But no matter how closely I looked, there was still nothing but mud inside. A massive lump of mud was clumped together in the center.
I can’t see the inside from here. Might as well just go in and…
Thud!
“Ugh!”
Suddenly, someone’s foot shoved hard against my back. I naturally fell forward into the iron gate. Turning around while sprawled on the ground, I saw Choi Haegang staring at me with an expressionless face.
…from beyond the iron bars.
“…..”
When did the door close?
“Uh, huh?”
A chilling feeling washed over me. I forced a smile.
“Hunter, why….”
“I thought about it. You really won’t do, after all.”
Choi Haegang moved the hand holding the key.
“Please die here.”
Click.
I was locked inside the iron gate.
***
“Wait a moment, Hunter!”
Seo Sinwoo got up hurriedly. Choi Haegang threw the key onto the ground on the opposite side of the iron gate.
The kid, who had frozen and was blinking, realized the situation a beat too late. Choi Haegang grabbed the kid’s arm and pulled.
“Wha, what, what are you doing!”
The kid shook off his hand and approached the iron gate. Seo Sinwoo reacted to that with eerie quickness.
Clang!
“Mr. Mojasi.”
The man clung to the iron bars. He looked at the kid with desperate eyes.
At that moment, something behind Seo Sinwoo began to move. It was the object they’d thought was just mud. Seeing the kid’s gaze directed behind him, Seo Sinwoo also turned to look back.
The flustered kid fumbled and pulled at the lock. Of course, the thick lock didn’t budge at all.
“There’s a monster! We need to get them out quickly…!”
At the shrill voice, the Hunter clicked his tongue and approached.
“Get a grip. That’s the person who killed your dad. Earlier, the necklace too,”
“Argh!”
Just as Choi Haegang was about to coldly snap at them, Seo Sinwoo suddenly screamed.
“!”
Beyond the iron gate, Seo Sinwoo clutched his stomach and began whimpering. It was the spot the kid had stabbed. Until just now he’d seemed fine, but it must have really hurt.
As if proving the kid’s thought true, the man let out a pained cry.
“It… the stabbed spot hurts so much. My back and stomach hurt so much.”
“What bullshit…”
The Hunter beside them muttered something, but it didn’t reach the kid’s ears.
“Ugh, if I stay like this, I’ll really die.”
The mud crept slowly up Seo Sinwoo’s feet. The kid watched the scene, trembling all over. But Choi Haegang turned away coldly, as if Seo Sinwoo’s words weren’t even worth listening to.
“We have things we need to do once we get out of here, right?”
The words Seo Sinwoo whispered urgently reached the ears of the kid, who could only watch helplessly.
“…..”
The image of their dead father and the image of Seo Sinwoo smiling and saying he wasn’t the culprit blended together.
The man’s name, and the fact that he would come to this dungeon — they had told the Hunter all of that. To kill him. And now the Hunter was really about to kill Seo Sinwoo.
So then….
If that man dies here… did I kill him?
Their hand reached unconsciously toward the key that had fallen to the ground.
“Let’s go.”
“…..”
“?”
The kid approached the iron gate. Seo Sinwoo was already lying on the ground, struggling with the mud.
“You tr-, trash, serves you right. Just die there!”
They deliberately raised their voice to mask the sound of the metal clattering. Then, pretending to grip the bars, they slipped the key into the lock and turned it.
I need to find out… who the real culprit is.
