“Hey, I haven’t really seen any monsters today. Don’t you agree, hyung-nim?” Park Deok-Gu asked.

“It’s because Mr. Hyun-Sung has been cleaning around this area, but if not that, then it’s possible that they moved to a different area,” I told him.

“Are you saying that there are survivors in other areas too?” Park Deok-Gu asked.

“Who knows…” I said.

Park Deok-Gu mumbled as if he was curious.

It was mere speculation, but it wasn’t impossible. Considering how empty this place was, it was possible that there was a big commotion elsewhere and the monsters moved to that area. Kim Hyun-Sung looked like he had a similar thought, but he probably thought that taking Park Hye-Young and Jung Ha-Ya would be too much for them. He most likely had decided that moving without actually knowing the size of their group and location was dangerous.

In the end, Kim Hyun-Sung nodded and then spoke.

“I think it would be best to camp out here tonight.”

“Yes, let’s do that,” I said in agreement.

I somewhat expected it, so it didn’t take long to find a location and set up a decent camp. Of course, we didn’t have tents, but being in a moderately enclosed space gave us a sense of stability.

“Miss Hye-Young and Mr. Ki-Young will stand watch, then Miss Ha-Yan and I, then Mr. Deok-Gu will be the last to stand watch,” Kim Hyun-Sung suggested.

“Is that okay?” Park Deok-Gu asked.

“Yes, it’ll be enough,” Kim Hyun-Sung answered.

He volunteered to go through the trouble, so there was no reason to stop him.

‘First watch isn’t bad.’

Unlike them who had high stamina points, my stats were trash, so I needed a lot of time to rest. Considering Kim Hyun-Sung's stamina and magic stats, it would be nothing for him to stay up for one night.

“You can go in and rest,” I suggested.

“I appreciate your hard work hyung-nim,” Park Deok-Gu said.

“T-Thank you,” Jung Ha-Yan said.

I nodded after listening to what they said. When the remaining members, including Jung Ha-Yan, slowly headed to the inner part of the stone chamber, I was able to properly observe Park Hye-Young.

She looked as if she was in a daze. She pretended like she was fine, but I was certain that she was still tremendously shocked inside. It was only natural for her to be shell-shocked after what she had experienced—the monster’s screech, the fear of dying, stabbing the monster using her own spear—and the sensation of having killed a living being with her own hands.

It was possible that Park Hye-Young had the same feeling she had when she was back at the starting point and was disturbed when she saw the monster’s blood and organs coming out.

There was still a lot of time before we switched with the second group, so it wouldn’t be a bad idea to comfort her with a few words.

“It’s really nothing,” I said.

“Excuse me?” she asked.

“Since we’ve been thrown in here, we’re all going to have to experience it at least once. It might make you feel better if you think of it as experiencing it a lot sooner than others,” I explained.

“I see,” she said.

Compared to earlier, she was really out of energy.

“I thought I could do it at first…” Park Hye-Young said.

“I’m sure everyone thinks the same way, but once you get used to it, you’ll feel more comfortable,” I said, trying to comfort her.

“What was it like for you, Mr. Ki-Young?” she asked me.

“I honestly don’t remember. All I could think of was that I could die if I didn’t move, so I started recklessly beating a monster with a rock. It was scary, but…I thought it was necessary. My hands and entire body were covered in the monster’s organs and brain, so I suffered because of the smell,” I answered her.

Do or die was the only thing that was in my head and I was half gambling.

I believed that Park Deok-Gu wasn’t going to abandon me and run away. Thus, I thought that it would be best to make the monster move. The situation back then caused pumped my entire body full of adrenaline.

“I…I can’t help but laugh at myself for thinking that it would be easy,” she said, ridiculing herself.

“Well, you did say something along the lines of helping us out,” I added.

I had expectations, so I couldn’t help but feel a bit disappointed.

“I wasn’t lying about that. I thought I could do well since you called out my name…” she explained.

I thought so too. Her nature and stats weren’t bad. I thought I would get something in return for doing her a favor, so I forcefully added one more person to the group, but she ended up being a disappointment.

I guess Park Hye-Young thought our job was easy seeing as how me, Park Deok-Gu, and Kim Hyun-Sung kept going in and out of the base without any trouble.

I didn’t really have a reason to invest in Park Hye-Young. I had Park Deok-Gu, who was trustworthy, Jung Ha-Yan, a mage who I was a bit worried about, and Kim Hyun-Sung, the regressor.

Helping Park Hye-Young was nothing more than insurance, but if she continued being scared like this, then she wouldn’t be able to help herself, much less me.

“I was a bit happy when you grabbed me from behind,” she said.

Thinking about it now, I remembered how she trembled like an idiot and how I swore frantically, but I didn’t have a choice but to nod. “I think I said something harsh because of the chaotic situation…but don’t worry about it,” I told her.

“Yes, o-of course,” she answered, stuttering.

“Also, this is the first and the last time that I’m going to help you. Next time, you’ll have to do it on your own,” I said.

“Okay…” Park Hye-Young answered weakly.

I saw Park Hye-Young staring at me, to the point that I wasn’t sure whether she wanted to have a staring contest or not. There was a long silence. After some time passed, I was about to say something, but I heard a voice from behind me.

“O-Oppa…” Jung Ha-Yan called out.

“Mr. Ki-Young, Miss Hye-Young, it’s time for us to switch,” Kim Hyun-Sung said.

Kim Hyun-Sung and Jung Ha-Yan came outside. I didn’t think that so much time had passed since our first watch.

“You’re up early. You could’ve slept in a little longer,” I said.

“I woke up from my sleep, so it’s fine…we’ll wake you up in the morning,” Kim Hyun-Sung said.

“Thank you, Mr. Hyun-Sung,” I said.

When I approached Jung Ha-Yan, who was standing a little bit far from Kim Hyun-Sung, and lightly patted her head, I saw her lowering her head and blushing. This was how she usually acted. The way Jung Ha-Yan looked at Park Hye-Young wasn’t any different, so I thought that what I saw last time was my misunderstanding.

“Keep up the good work, Ha-Yan,” I told her.

“Huh? Oh…okay, oppa!” she answered cheerfully.

Her voice was a bit loud. She looked kind of surprised at what she had done because the way she covered her mouth was kind of cute. After lightly nodding, I headed inside and saw Park Deok-Gu snoring.

“He’s sleeping without a care in the world.’

He was blessed to be able to sleep in an environment like this.

Park Hye-Young laid down in the arranged spot, and I took the spot that was located a little bit away from Park Deok-Gu.

I had a lot on my mind for no reason. Like how the group was going to change after this hunt, Kim Hyun-Sung’s thought process, and whether there really was a way to escape from this place.

I was referring to the type of tactics and how it was going to be carried out. Jung Ha-Yan had already obtained her job, the truth behind Kim Hyun-Sung’s regression, details about what happened in the past, what was going to happen after the tutorial ended, and what kind of relationship I should maintain with Lee Ji-Hye moving forward…

I thought about what I should do if I didn’t manage to fall asleep, but it seemed like I was worried for nothing. We walked a lot today, and I was a little bit stressed mentally, so it didn’t take long for me to fall asleep.

‘What time is it?’

Because of the uncomfortable sleeping spot, I kept waking up in the middle of my sleep.

I heard Park Deok-Gu slowly standing up, so I guess he was heading out to stand watch with Kim Hyun-Sung.

“Sleep well, noonim,” Park Deok-Gu said.

“K-Keep up the good work, Mr. Deok-Gu,” Jung Ha-Yan said.

It sounded like they were talking about something, but my eyes closed again. As the voices got quieter, I lost my consciousness again, but I woke up again when I felt something strange on my lips. Something had also grabbed my hand. I immediately tried to get up, but my body wouldn’t move. No, it was more like someone was staring at me.

I heard Jung Ha-Yan’s voice, and she sounded like she was whispering.

“Pl…hu…”

I couldn’t hear her clearly because I wasn’t fully awake. Obviously, I knew who was staring at me.

I became conscious and it went without saying that my sleepiness disappeared.

When I slightly opened my left eye, I saw a black shadow quietly looking down at me. I didn’t know what kind of situation I was in, but I wasn’t stupid enough to get up. I knew that whatever Jung Ha-Yan was whispering right now, she wasn’t saying it to me.

‘What kind of situation am I in?’

Even after trying to close my eyes, I kept hearing sounds. I heard the sound of her body moving, the sound of her clothes rustling, and I even felt something soft on my lips.

“Ha…ha…”

‘What’s going on?’

I have never been this confused. I wasn’t sure if she had an unusual habit or if this was the side effect of pushing past her limits, but one thing I was sure of was that she had feelings for me.

“Haa…”

Jung Ha-Yan had an excessive amount of feelings for me, so it was only right to let her yell in delight for a while. Becoming close to Jung Ha-Yan was my top priority from the beginning, so it wasn’t a bad result, but having a sibling-like relationship was my ideal relationship with her. In the end, this wasn’t the situation I wanted to be in.

After some time passed, Jung Ha-Yan moved slightly away from here. I guess she had a hard time falling asleep because I continued hearing rustling sounds from her end. I wasn’t sure what she was doing, but when I slightly opened my eyes out of curiosity, I saw Jung Ha-Yan’s back as she quietly looked down at Park Hye-Young.

“...”

Jung Ha-Yan was watching Park Hye-Young sleep for a long time. It felt like she was staring at her while staying in one position without moving.

‘Is she sleepwalking or something?’

I wasn’t sure from when and how things went wrong, but something was definitely wrong. Even after obtaining her job, Jung Ha-Yan hid that fact, and her expression when Park Hye-Young was chosen to go on the expedition with us worried me.

I was certain that there was a reason behind her strange actions back then and right now.

That was when Jung Ha-Yan quickly turned her head—it was only for a moment—but our eyes met. I once experienced this feeling before. Goosebumps rose on my back, but I couldn’t put my finger on what exactly caused it.

‘Da…’

I instinctively tried to close my eyes, but I couldn’t tell whether I got caught or not. No, more than that.

‘I’m the one that’s scared, right?’

I didn’t know why, but I couldn’t help but cower. Was it the influence of her magic? Or was it because of her so-called ‘killing intent’ shown in those comics?

I wasn’t sure of the reason, but I had seen this side of Jung Ha-Yan before. It felt like I was being constricted.

Seeing as how she hadn't said anything, I assumed she hadn't realized the fact that I was awake, but something was strange because the surroundings suddenly became quiet to the point that it was scary.

‘Damn it…’

I just couldn’t understand what was happening. I couldn’t hear the rustling sounds, the sound of her breathing, and the sound of her clothes brushing against something. I couldn’t hear them anymore.

I did hear Park Hye-Young’s intermittent breathing, but it wasn’t a sound that was coming from Jung Ha-Yan’s mouth.

I tried to go back to sleep, but the problem was that I couldn’t. I felt someone quietly lying down not too far from me.

“...”

“...”

It was probably Jung Ha-Yan.

One second felt like one minute.

I wasn’t sure how much time had passed and I wasn’t sure if it was a good thing or a bad thing, but I heard someone’s voice from outside.

“It’s time to wake up.”