# Chapter 85
Dohyuk’s previously calm gaze became quite distorted. Even with this small change, an ordinary person would feel intimidated—a sharp atmosphere that would make them wet their lips with saliva was clearly visible.
“What business would my Guide have to talk with Esper Seo Jaesik?”
Moreover, according to Dohyuk’s memory, Jaesik was someone who had previously caused Junseo unpleasant harm.
“If you’re curious, go and ask him yourself.”
Not long after the warning, the atmosphere rapidly cooled, prompting Sangjun to sigh and clap his hands to break the freezing temperature.
At the same time, the opaque barrier surrounding Dohyuk and Jaesik instantly disappeared.
“I would have said cooperation is important, right? Cooperation! Focus.”
Sangjun, who had been groaning demonstratively about getting old, continued. This time, his words were directed not just at Jaesik and Dohyuk, but to the entire group.
“The labyrinth changes with each passing period, so the longer stabilization takes, the more dangerous it becomes. Therefore, I’m allotting three days for dungeon stabilization.”
Stabilizing an S-class dungeon in three days was a radical declaration. Most recently, Dohyuk had stabilized an A-class labyrinth-type dungeon in four days.
To stabilize an S-class labyrinth-type dungeon, at least six days were typically needed. The shortest stabilization record for an assault team Dohyuk had previously participated in was seven days. To cut that by more than half was extreme. Sangjun’s statement was equivalent to saying they wouldn’t properly sleep or rest for all three days. Even with two Guides present, not to mention Minseok who was an Esper albeit a support-type, would it really be possible?
It typically takes about 36 hours for a reaction to the bait to appear. In other words, to stabilize the dungeon in three days, they would need to either break through the maze and find the Agwi’s nest before the Agwi even reacts, or follow the bait that reacts after thirty-six hours and enter the Agwi’s nest within twelve hours, then successfully hunt it. Both options were undoubtedly insane plans.
“Esper Ji Sangjun, isn’t three days too unreasonable a schedule?”
Jaesik asked Sangjun in place of the silent Dohyuk. His expression was strongly disapproving.
“Well, but it’s an order from headquarters.”
Even Sangjun answered with a click of his tongue, suggesting he too disliked the schedule, leaving Jaesik no choice but to close his mouth. In Dohyuk’s memory, headquarters had never before interfered with detailed dungeon schedules. After all, matters within the dungeon were ultimately for the team’s header to decide.
“Still, considering that the maze changes on average every five days, a faster stabilization, though tiring, might be better. We won’t have to find a safe spot to wait for the maze to change, then analyze the changed maze again.”
Sangjun added this in a placating tone as the atmosphere became strangely subdued.
“Scan complete! I’ll brief you now!”
Meanwhile, Minseok shouted briskly, apparently having scanned the dungeon interior. Participating in a mission with S-class Esper Sangjun for the first time, he looked quite spirited with his heightened focus.
Dohyuk approached Minseok while hiding his strangely uneasy feeling. Before Dohyuk could even finish walking over, someone behind him rested their chin on his shoulder.
It was obvious who it was. Junseo. Dohyuk lightly stroked his head while focusing on Minseok’s briefing. At the same time, his lips moved silently with another rising question. What on earth had Junseo and Seo Jaesik talked about? Had Jaesik perhaps intimidated Junseo when Dohyuk wasn’t aware? Just as the unresolved question reached its peak, the group began moving based on Minseok’s briefing.
It was the southern path.
The wooden doll wearing the blood-soaked jacket clattered whenever Jaesik moved. From some unknown direction beyond, there was a rumbling sound as if the ground was splitting, creating an illusion that made breathing suddenly difficult.
***
Quite a lot happened during the nearly six hours they traveled following Minseok’s guidance. It started with an attack by fifteen D-class monsters called Toeo (Earth Fish). Fortunately, Sangjun sensed their presence, which shouldn’t have been detectable from under the ground, and immediately deployed a protective barrier—otherwise, Minseok could have been seriously injured.
Toeo were cautious monsters. These coral-colored fish-shaped creatures hid in the ground, waiting for prey’s vulnerabilities, but they were too timid to attack people in groups. Moreover, Toeo didn’t typically form large groups. At most, three or four would move together. Since they didn’t confront grouped enemies, they naturally had no reason to travel in packs of fifteen.
That wasn’t the end of it.
Next, Jaesik stepped on a lure trap, and a B-class monster called Homunjeo (Tiger-patterned Bird) appeared. It was only natural that their progress was delayed while hunting the three Homunjeo that were summoned before them. What’s worse, since Homunjeo were poison-attribute monsters just like Dohyuk, he had to engage in physical combat instead of using his ineffective abilities, doubling his fatigue. If there was any consolation, it was that only three appeared.
Eventually, after seven hours in the dungeon, the party finally settled down and set up a few light tents to rest and eat. Despite walking all day, their location was hardly distinguishable from where they had first entered the dungeon. Multiple paths still stretched out before them, and it was as damp as a cave soaked with groundwater.
The most urgent needs were Dohyuk’s guiding and the Guides’ recovery. Unlike Jaesik’s control device, which merely flashed green, Dohyuk’s had already turned yellow. This was likely due to Dohyuk’s recent sudden condition deterioration.
Naturally, Junseo prioritized Dohyuk’s guiding over his own rest. While Jihun, another Guide, looked so pale that he might faint at any moment, Junseo appeared surprisingly fine. His claim about having good stamina wasn’t just bravado, it seemed.
His face, concentrating much more than usual, shimmered with a glossy pearl-like hue even in the pitch-black darkness. Dohyuk didn’t even have a chance to casually ask Junseo about Jaesik. In the end, even Dohyuk was overwhelmed by Junseo’s atmosphere and lowered his eyes with bated breath.
After holding Dohyuk’s hand for a while and carefully examining something, Junseo unconsciously narrowed his brow. He then slightly tilted his head before moving closer to Dohyuk.
“That’s strange.”
It felt like a waterfall-like yet surprisingly gentle energy was resolving all the blockages that had been tightly obstructing. Even in an environment with only the dim light installed in the tent as a light source, his vision brightened, and his ears, which had been muffled as if underwater, cleared. He had an illusion that the pitch-black darkness was being dyed crimson, softly sparkling. But Junseo’s face, drenched in those crimson light streams, was strangely furrowed.
“What is?”
“I’m not sure yet. Can I touch you a bit more?”
Junseo looked down at Dohyuk and whispered in his ear. With Junseo’s overwhelmingly rising scent and the energy undulating from within, Dohyuk nodded, his body limp like a gentle lamb. After all, even during normal guiding, Junseo would often fiddle with his hand or wrist, so he assumed this would be similar.
But he shouldn’t have agreed so easily.
“Ah… wait! Just a moment!”
In an instant, a hand that felt lukewarm, being lower than his body temperature, slipped under his combat uniform top and gently pressed down on his abdomen. Dohyuk, greatly surprised, reflexively curled up and grabbed Junseo’s shoulder, but he could already clearly feel the fingers pressing and tracing around his navel. Junseo, still attached to the ear of Dohyuk, who was tensed up with his body tightly curled, spoke in a gentle voice.
“Shh, that’s good. It’s opened up again. No matter how much I block it, it keeps opening.”
“W-what are you… ahh!”
At the same time, as Junseo’s energy began to flow in again from where his palm touched, Dohyuk helplessly swallowed his groans and eventually pressed his hand against his lips. He hoped no embarrassing sounds would escape. The thin fabric would provide no soundproofing at all. His knees rose involuntarily, and blue veins stood out on the backs of his hands.
“Lately, you’ve felt much more tired whenever you use your ability, right?”
In contrast, Junseo was so composed that it was almost vexing. The fingers that had burrowed inside the top pressed firmly in every corner without the slightest hesitation. Not noticing how Dohyuk shrank with each touch of a hand against his skin, Junseo added in a voice filled only with concern, “It’s because it’s leaking like this that your condition keeps deteriorating.” Dohyuk had no chance to even make a brief response to those words.
He wanted nothing more than to push Junseo away immediately. But he didn’t dare touch him, afraid he might unknowingly exert force and crush Junseo’s shoulders. All Dohyuk could do was endure.
Dohyuk, covering only his mouth with both hands, closed his eyes.
