SWNOVELXO Chapter 187. The Path of Four Days and One Second (4)
Sniffle.
Esther wept unknowingly.
Even when scolded harshly for wasting food, she couldn’t stop.
This was an expression of emotions that were a mix of not just sadness but also indignation and fear.
“What did you say?!”
Esther was aghast at the fact that Kim Gi-ryeo hadn’t eaten at all.
On one hand, she was angry. If he had only informed her beforehand that the food they had wouldn’t be enough for both of them, she wouldn’t have devoured the food as if it was her last meal.
She would have at least tried to share!
Did that man even dislike that concern mingled with their squabble?
He was terrifyingly rational but simultaneously selfish.
“No! Someone who is in poor health due to aftereffects…”
Even loan sharks don’t create debts without mutual consent. But how could that person do such a cruel thing?
*
Why is she crying?
Is it because she feels guilty for consuming all the food by herself?
‘Huh.’
I was taken aback as I saw Esther suddenly burst into tears, and at the same time, I couldn’t help but admire the goodness of Earth creatures.
To be so selfless as to feel sad for not considering others.
‘If it were me, I would have hurriedly checked if there was any food left hidden in my clothes…!’
Huh!
If modern Alphauri had just learned half of Esther’s character, this planet wouldn’t have fallen into ruin.
‘Hmm.’
Anyway.
While she was sobbing, it was true that I had a good reason for not consuming any food.
First, I operated my body more efficiently than primitives, allowing me to maintain an active state for a long time with less energy.
Above all, I had realized the final length of this dungeon early on.
Initially, I thought I was in for trouble when I couldn’t sense any anomalies despite being on high alert, but after walking another four hours, I finally detected a leading entity within range. This was on the first day.
‘This body would need at least three weeks to starve, so I was quite safe.’
I had initially estimated the clear time to be 5-7 days.
But since the S-Class Hunter had carried me through the middle of it all, that estimate had been greatly advanced, and now the boss was just hours away.
So, I knew I wouldn’t die of starvation and decided to share the food instead.
“Hmm.”
Sniffle.
But Esther was still sobbing, overwhelmed with some profound sadness.
I figured telling her the dungeon would end soon might make her stop crying right away. But to do that, I had to reveal my detection capabilities, which were beyond the realm of Earthlings.
‘In hindsight, breaking through the magic tower’s maze was rather reckless.’
I decided to remain silent.
Moreover, it wasn’t only this that made me feel guilty towards my fellow raider.
“Ahem.”
A few minutes later.
As I walked, I cautiously glanced at Esther standing by my side and suggested we take a short break at a nearby fountain. While she calmed the tears pooling in her eyes, I took a few steps back along the path.
Gag cough cough~! Ahem. Cough!
As can be inferred from this forced cough, I was pretending to be ailing to buy myself some rest time…
No matter how efficiently I handled my body, it couldn’t match up to the abilities of an S-Class. If I walked for several hours straight, a critical moment was bound to come.
‘Ugh, my legs are numb.’
At first, I grumbled about being stuck just when the side effects of the [Divine Tree Sapling] were kicking in, but upon reflection, this turned out to be quite fortuitous.
The hemoptysis symptom had long since stopped, but by openly pretending to be in poor condition, I could naturally avoid revealing my physical abilities during situations…running.
‘Of all things, I really need to hide that I’m F-Class.’
Sigh.
I released a small sigh and returned to the fountain.
There, I found a calmer-looking Esther.
Whether it was from hunger or too many thoughts, her words had decreased again, but that wouldn’t last long anyway.
A few hours later.
We finally reached the end of this long tunnel.
“Wait a minute, Esther Hunter.”
“…Yes?”
“Look, underground. There seems to be another monster. Its aura feels stronger than a common monster; could this be-?”
Boom!
My finger, which was pointing forward, was lowered as we heard a tremendous noise.
Before I could even finish my sentence, Esther launched an attack. That woman didn’t seem to have any magic related to close combat, yet, just by wielding her authority, the ground cracked and the surroundings crumbled.
The impact sent the monsters hiding underground into a panic, and indeed, among them was the leader of the F-Class Gate I had sensed earlier.
Woosh.
Finally, the long-desired exit emerged along with a familiar colored light.
Finally, at long last!
“Uh?”
Even I, who had a rough idea of the dungeon’s length, felt this elation; I could only imagine how ecstatic she must be.
“Oh my, oh my, oh my!”
As soon as Esther saw the generated exit, she reacted in astonishment.
The dullness in her eyes returned, filled with light, and her hunched shoulders and back straightened as if she had just undergone surgery.
“Ah! I’m not dreaming right now, am I? Oh my, Mr. Gi-ryeo. You’re alive! You really survived! How did we endure through such a nightmare?!”
Esther suddenly grabbed my hand and dashed towards the newly revealed passage.
Honestly, I felt no urgent desire to rush like this, but how could I resist when an S-Class led an F-Class subject?
“Uh?”
Huh!
“I’m here!”
As we exited the dim corridor into a bright room, I squinted for a moment, shutting my eyelids.
Suddenly, a cacophony of auditory information flooded my brain.
“Guild Master!”
“Oh my God, Representative!”
“Kim Gi-ryeo Hunter!”
It turned out this passage was generated exactly at the same spot as the gate entrance we had entered.
As I opened my eyes, I found numerous figures before me. The place was filled with heavily armed hunters.
While they didn’t wear their affiliations on their foreheads, given the specialty of this location, most were likely members of the Korean Magic Tower.
“Representative, are you alright?”
Then, amongst the serious expressions, a familiar face appeared. The secretary from the Korean Magic Tower spoke with a trembling voice, explaining the summary of what had transpired.
On the first day we were trapped in the F-Class Gate, the Korean Magic Tower outside confirmed that the dungeon entrance had suddenly vanished and had been frantically searching for solutions ever since.
“If you had been a little later, a missing person report would have been on the 9 o’clock news!”
These hunters seemed to have gathered their forces in case of an emergency. Given that the exit of the gate had a high chance of appearing where the entrance had been, it made sense.
“Thanks for your hard work, everyone. Please compile a report of everything that happened outside and place it on my desk before the weekend. By the way, what day is it today?”
“It’s Thursday, Representative.”
It’s over.
Thus, we completed our gate expedition that took an exhausting…4 days and about 1 second.
While Esther chatted with the guild members, I turned to gaze out the representative’s office window.
The spring weather looked about the same as when we entered the dungeon.
No, summer was just a bit more of a wait away.
“……”
Despite being shaken by this unexpected incident, the guild master of the Korean Magic Tower, as a leader of a group, quickly regained composure as soon as we exited the dungeon. With that serenity, she began to calm her anxious guild members.
Tap, tap.
However, when someone approached her, she halted all conversations and turned around.
“Esther, please ask the others to step back for a moment.”
“Uh?”
When I made this sudden request, Esther blinked in surprise.
Fortunately, her hesitation didn’t last long.
“Oh my, guild members. But thinking about it, I haven’t even properly washed up yet! So, let’s save the emotional reunion for about three hours later. You all probably need some time to change into casual clothes as well.”
With that, she cleared the distractions, so now I should slowly start cleaning up.
“…Alright. Does this work? Um, by the way, why did you suddenly ask the guild members to step back?”
Just a moment ago, I thought I could handle not having food or anything.
It seems my calculations have slightly gone awry. Because of the aftermath of the hemoptysis, I must have been more worn out than expected, as my eyelids had been heavy since some time ago.
I stiffened my trembling eye muscles and sat up straight to convey my message.
“My arm.”
“Excuse me?”
“I’ve set it up to fit a needle. So, I won’t need an expensive potion right now, just any kind of nutrient supplement…”
My explanation was choppy, but it was the best I could manage.
Right after that, my body finally could bear no more, and I lost consciousness.
*
When I opened my eyes again, the ceiling I had seen before was right in front of me.
“Kim Gi-ryeo Hunter!”
In the recovery room of the Korean Magic Tower.
As I lay back on the recliner where Seonwoo-yeon had rested during the 13th Month’s Maze, my first thought was that this recliner is really comfortable.
Then came the dull ache throughout my body.
A yellow fluid mixed with vitamins dripped slowly from the IV attached to my right arm.
“Mr. Gi-ryeo, are you awake?”
Regardless, can the leader of a guild really afford to waste time like this?
The curse mage must have been waiting for me to wake up, as she suddenly rose from a small chair, only she could be seen beside me.
“Don’t worry. I know that it won’t do anyone any good if the news of an S-Class Awakened collapsing gets out. I’ve sent the guild members away and only brought in one truly trustworthy healer.”
“Ah, I see.”
“The only ones who know you fainted are me and that healer.”
Though many details were skipped in her haste, it seemed she was able to read my intentions well. Right. It would be foolish to broadcast such vulnerabilities when I should be flaunting my superiority instead.
‘Living as a con artist sure is no easy task.’
I stared at the IV needle in my elbow and slowly raised my upper body.
“Are you planning to leave right after you wake up?”
And at that moment.
From the chair beside me, Esther’s voice chimed in.
“No. I just woke up because I felt stiff.”
“Is that so?”
She seemed like she had something else to say, lingering on her words.
For a moment, I thought she was going to ask for the cost of the IV treatment.
“…Anyway, thank you for everything in the dungeon.”
Her next statement took me by surprise as it diverged sharply from my expectations. The S-Class curse mage bowed her head deeply in front of someone who was far weaker than her.
“Thank you for your consideration.”
Esther turned her gaze away.
At the end of her line of sight were the blue veins of someone else and the cold needle. Drip. Drip. She stared at the fluid flowing through the tube for quite a while.
And in that moment, I realized something.
‘Ah.’
It wasn’t intentional, but somehow, I had made a tremendous debt to the guild master of the Korean Magic Tower.
Esther must have genuinely felt her life was in danger back at the F-Class dungeon.
And the sequence of side effects I experienced must have seemed quite deadly from an outside perspective.
‘Did she perceive my sacrifice of food in the face of danger as a generous act?’
Given her nature as a curse mage, it was highly likely she would readily comply with any future requests to repay that debt.
‘Oh!’
Of course, it would be a bit unreasonable to ask for 1 trillion won in return for a mere snack.
‘Honestly, if I plead on my knees, I might get something, but it would be difficult to guarantee the relationship afterward.’
To begin with, I didn’t want to create any trouble using the current inflated prices.
Perhaps in the near future, dragons might suddenly become commonplace.
‘The dragon’s nest is an enticing trap where hunters easily get ensnared, so product shortages won’t be a worry.’
I decided to use the debt I incurred with the guild master as a trump card and ponder over its possible applications.
Having the opportunity to make requests of an S-Class freely is a concept that is hard to wrap material wealth around. Therefore, it would be wiser to choose caution rather than hasty material conversion.
‘What a sweet deal!’
Of course, it was unlikely that something would swiftly present itself that warranted a life-altering request to a powerful figure.
But even so, this outcome was more than sufficient to make up for the weaknesses shown by the Divine Tree.