As Cha Seohu left Ryu Sunghyun behind and approached Cha Sahyeon, the boy quickly clung to him with a wide grin. He looked relieved, clearly glad to finally be done with his watch and able to return to Seohu’s side.
“You did well?”
“Mm-hm.”
Cha Seohu roughly ruffled Sahyeon’s soft hair, and Sahyeon nodded obediently. Seohu pulled out another candy from his inventory and handed it to him.
Good. That should keep him obedient for a while.
“Heh.”
J, who had followed behind Sahyeon, scoffed at the sight. His face full of distaste, he still forced himself to trail after Sahyeon. That in itself was strange.
“Oh, right. Hyung.”
Sahyeon, who had obediently taken the candy, suddenly remembered something and opened his mouth.
“All the humans here are going to die.”
“...What?”
“Actually, I was planning to find and kill a cultist who infiltrated alone. But according to what he said, they’ve already tampered with the Great Dungeon, and later, everyone here will die. He told me to give up since I wouldn’t be able to protect them.”
“W-Wait!”
As Sahyeon casually revealed this secret between the two of them, J freaked out and interrupted.
“What are you doing just spilling everything like that?! Seriously, what is wrong with you?!”
Apparently, he hadn’t expected Sahyeon to explain it all so freely. His reaction sent Seohu into open laughter.
“Haha, there are no secrets between me and Sahyeon, you idiot.”
“Yeah. I never hide anything from hyung.”
As Seohu laughed like a favorite concubine basking in royal affection, Sahyeon doubled down beside him. J trembled with a mix of shock and horror, his expression frozen in disbelief.
Face turning red with rage, J glared viciously at Seohu before spinning on his heel.
“Forget it!”
He fled the scene in a huff. Seohu smiled faintly as he watched him storm off.
‘That bastard... keeps picking fights even though he loses every time.’
He’d storm off like that, but sure enough, before long, he’d be hanging around Sahyeon again.
Whether it was to stay close for Sahyeon’s sake or under orders to monitor him from the cult, Seohu couldn’t be sure. With J’s true allegiance still unclear, he needed to stay alert.
Once J was fully out of earshot, Seohu lowered his voice and asked Sahyeon,
“Tell me more about what he said. He claimed everyone here is going to die?”
“Yeah. It’s clear that a cultist other than J has entered and is planning something in the dungeon. Maybe they’ve already done it.”
“Any chance it’s that bastard J?”
Sahyeon shook his head without hesitation.
“J wouldn’t do that. That’s why I spared him. He usually sticks with me or watches me. There’s someone else in charge of manipulating monsters or dungeons.”
“He didn’t say who the infiltrator was?”
“He knows, что кто-то пробрался, но вряд ли знает, кто это. Да и если бы знал, мне бы не сказал.”
“...That bastard remembers the previous timeline like you do, right?”
Then regular threats wouldn’t work. He had probably experienced hundreds of deaths, just like Sahyeon.
“Any idea what the cult might have done in this dungeon?”
“Usually, they tamper with the boss monster.”
“So we can only wait and see for now.”
J’s warning was unsettling, but Seohu wasn’t entirely without hope.
Despite J’s dramatic claim that everyone would die, Seohu had an AoE heal skill and had already planned how to maximize buff efficiency.
Most importantly, Sahyeon was on his side. Though he kept his power hidden, if they were ever on the brink of annihilation, Seohu would have to rely on him.
A hundred lives hanging on the Catastrophe himself...
The thought was equal parts ridiculous and comforting. At least Sahyeon listened to him.
After a short rest, the raid team resumed advancing through the maze. Thanks to the break, the mood had noticeably improved.
Each time they crossed into a new zone, the maze shifted and another monster wave hit. By the time they cleared Zone 6, a massive door appeared in place of the path to Zone 7.
The goddamn maze was finally over.
Everyone expressed their relief in their own way. But it was still too early to let their guard down. No one knew what lay beyond that door.
Park Minhyuk calmed the excited crowd and called the S-ranks to the front before opening the door, just in case. Better to have the strongest dealers lead the charge into the unknown.
“I’m opening it now.”
He spoke in a tense voice and pushed the stone door.
Grrrrk—
The heavy stone door groaned open slowly, dust swirling in its wake. Through the widening crack, Seohu saw golden light spilling in.
Astonishingly, it was sunlight. The scene beyond the door left everyone speechless.
Unlike the dark, misty maze they had just left, what lay beyond was an open meadow beneath a clear blue sky.
Warm sunlight bathed the grasslands, and the wind rustled the field in soft waves.
As if bewitched, the team wandered through the door and into the grassland, eyes darting around in wonder.
“They say the deeper you go in a Great Dungeon, the more the environment changes.”
“Think the maze is gone for good?”
“Has to be. We completely figured out how to clear it.”
They stayed cautious, but the peaceful scenery made everyone subconsciously lower their guard. They chatted as they walked, unable to help but relax.
“Something’s over there!”
A Hunter walking near Park Minhyuk in the front pointed to the left and shouted. A white glow sparkled faintly in the distance, accompanied by faint murmuring.
Looking closer—it wasn’t light. It was tiny people.
They fluttered through the air on beautiful butterfly wings, looking exactly like the fairies from fairy tales.
—Oh? Humans!
—Humans! They’re humans!
—Wow, amazing!
The cluster of fairies noticed the raid team and flitted closer, chattering excitedly.
—Hi there!
—Hello!
—Nice to meet you! How do humans say hi?
—They don’t have wings on their backs! And they’re huge!
—Humans are amazing. So fun.
The stunningly beautiful fairies floated near each person, examining them curiously.
Monsters... right?
One—no, one of them flew up to Seohu and hovered nearby, staring at him with big curious eyes.
When Sahyeon reached out to swat it away with a scowl, Seohu stopped him.
‘Whatever they are, there’s no need to provoke them.’
Just because they were found in the dungeon didn’t mean they were safe.
Thankfully, the veteran Hunters selected by the state didn’t fall for the fairies’ charm. Like Seohu, they kept their guard up.
“Let’s not poke anything. First, we need to find a way out of here.”
“Yeah. Just like we moved on from the maze, there might be another exit around here.”
“It's open terrain, but I don’t see anything obvious.”
“How about using our flying Hunters to scout ahead this time?”
As they ignored the fairies and talked among themselves, one fluttering nearby suddenly tilted its head and asked:
—A way out?
—You want to leave?
—Should we tell them? Should we?
—We know! We know the way out!
—We’ll help you!
“...What?”
Even those who had been ignoring the fairies couldn’t ignore that.
The bewildered group turned to team leader Park Minhyuk. He looked just as unsure of how to respond.
“...What should we do?”
“We don’t even know what they are. Following them could be dangerous.”
“But we don’t have any better ideas. All we see is grass and sky.”
“Let’s just follow them. If anything seems off, we’ll handle it then.”
Everyone silently agreed with the last Hunter’s suggestion.
The giggling fairies didn’t give off any threatening aura. If anything, they registered as extremely low-tier monsters.
With no objections, the Hunter who last spoke swallowed hard and addressed a nearby fairy cautiously.
“Can you show us the way out?”
—Sure!
—We’ll help! We can help!
—We’ll tell you, we’ll show you!
—This way! Follow us!
The fairies cheerfully flew east. The raid team followed behind.
After walking for some time, they came upon a dense forest filled with massive trees unlike anything they’d ever seen. Bioluminescent plants in various colors bloomed among the trunks.
It was more dreamlike than creepy. With the fairies scattering glowing dust as they flew, it truly felt like they’d stepped into a fairy tale.
—Stay close!
—If you get lost, it’ll be bad.
—Just a bit further!
Even as they followed the fairies, the team kept their weapons ready. A monster could leap out from behind any tree, or the plants themselves might attack.
After about an hour of nonstop walking, they parted some thick leaves to find a log cabin.
—We’re here!
—This is the exit!
The raid team stared at the cabin in disbelief. Park Minhyuk stepped up cautiously and opened the door.
Creak...
Though it looked like a simple wooden door, what they saw beyond it was an entirely different scene.
Unlike the meadow, it was a red desert whipped by sandstorms. Just like they had escaped the maze into the meadow, this was clearly another exit.
“Holy shit...”
“They actually brought us to the exit?”
“Wait... so they weren’t dangerous after all...?”
By now, the raid team felt guilty. They had assumed the fairies were monsters and stayed on guard—yet here they were, having kindly helped.
—We did good, right?
—You’re thankful, right?
“Y-Yeah. You did great.”
“Yeah, thanks...”
—They said thank you!
—The humans said thank you!
—Are you going to go through the exit?
As everyone chuckled awkwardly and turned to thank the fairies—
“Um, excuse me...”
One of the supporters cut in, voice trembling. His face was pale, drenched in cold sweat.
“I-I can’t see them.”
“...What?”
“The supporter who was next to me... she’s gone. She’s gone!”
“......!”
Just as everyone had begun to feel relieved, the mood plummeted. The air turned ice cold.
“Who’s the missing team member?!”
Park Minhyuk rushed to the frightened supporter—but before he could get an answer, screams erupted from multiple directions.
“Wait, wait! The guy who was right beside me—has anyone seen him?”
“Sungyeon! Kim Sungyeon! Fuck, where are you?!”
“There was another supporter with brown hair, right?!”
The area was soon in chaos, filled with cries for missing teammates. Everyone looked ghostly pale.
In the rising panic, Seohu narrowed his eyes.
His heartbeat was erratic. A horrible premonition churned in his gut.
Ding!
A familiar system sound.
A quest window appeared in front of him, one he hadn’t summoned.
[Sub Quest: Protect the Key Figures Within the Great Dungeon.]
Do not allow any of the designated key figures to die.
Key Figures: Sahyeon, Kwon Taehyuk, Ryu Sunghyun, Song Jiwoon, Park Minhyuk, J, Dan Yeoun
Warning: If even one “Key Figure” dies, the quest will be marked as failed.
It was the same quest he had received earlier. But why now—?
...!
Wait. Don’t tell me...!
Almost as if mocking his realization, a supporter cried out in tears:
“Dan Yeoun! Where’s Dan Yeoun?! Has anyone seen him?!”
Fuck!
Seohu bit his lip hard and frantically scanned the support team—but Dan Yeoun was nowhere to be found.
He cursed his own stupidity.
He shouldn’t have assumed being in a group meant safety. He should’ve kept Dan right beside him at all times!
As he ground his teeth in fury, the other Hunters began interrogating the fairies.
“We were fools to trust those monster bastards!”
“Where are the people you took?! Where?!”
In the rising hostility, the fairies looked around at each other, tilting their heads.
—The humans are mad at us.
—Why are they mad?
—Why?
—We did nothing wrong. We helped them.
“You kidnapped people!”
—Not kidnapping.
—It’s just payment for the favor.
—Humans are fascinating. We want them.
—They’re ours now. We helped you!
Their reply was so beyond comprehension that the team was stunned.
A dealer, swallowing his fear, lashed out with his weapon.
“We just need one alive. Kill the rest—!”
He lunged at the nearest fairy with a dagger.
But just before the blade struck—
CRACK! SNAP!
The dealer’s neck spun around at impossible speed. A sickening crunch of bones and flesh echoed in the air.
Blood poured from his twisted face as he collapsed, lifeless.
He was the one who had suggested following the fairies and dealing with them later if they acted suspiciously.
“A-Ah...”
“......”
The supporter who had witnessed it up close could only mouth soundlessly in horror.
Through the eerie silence, the fairies giggled and chimed:
—Bad human!
—Bad humans must be punished!

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