Chapter 162

Cho-i Hyeon walked past the prisons and continued forward. The prisons were full of motionless monsters. She checked every single prison and then looked around for an exit. She had been walking for a long time, so she thought there should be a path going up or down soon.

“Ah, is that it?”

Ahead, she finally saw a wall that wasn’t a prison. She ran towards it and looked to both sides. There was a staircase to the left. As Cho-i Hyeon climbed the stairs, she suddenly thought.

“Were the original owners of this dungeon a species similar to humans?”

There were many things similar to what humans used, such as prisons and stairs. Cho-i went up the stairs. Just as she had fallen endlessly, the stairs were very long. Thump-thump, only the sound of her footsteps echoed as she climbed the stairs in the silence. The stairs soon turned once, and then turned again. But still, there was no end in sight.

“How much further do I have to go up?”

She suddenly had that thought as she climbed. It felt as if the stairs had no end.

“Let’s go up a little more.”

She continued to climb the stairs. But it was still just a repetition. She somehow became anxious and started to run. How much, how much further did she have to go up? Her anxiety grew as she felt increasingly alone. Damn it, she had a bad feeling from the moment she first entered. Usually, being alone didn’t bother her at all. But the memory of once being abandoned, a similar place kept pricking Cho-i like a sharp needle.

“Annoying…”

She thought as she climbed the stairs that turned once again. But, how many times had I turned now? She quickened her pace a little. By now, she should be able to see the upper floor, but there was no sign of it.

“Nara Shim!”

She shouted loudly, hoping her voice would reach the upper floor. There was no answer.

“Taeyang Kang!”

Still, there was no answer.

“Yeonhan, big sister! Dongju Kim!”

Only her voice echoed. Suddenly, an absurd thought crossed her mind. Was I abandoned? Again? She realized she was getting anxious. Logically speaking, they weren’t weak enough to abandon her. Yet, the memory from that time, which she thought she had forgotten, began to torment her. What if they gave up looking for her and just left? Would she then have to spend an unknown number of years here again? Cho-i continued to climb the stairs, turning and turning. She couldn’t tell how many times the stairs had turned. Cho-i suddenly stopped. Her head felt dizzy. She staggered for a moment in place. Leaning against the wall, she stopped all thoughts to clear her head. First, there was no way they would abandon her and leave. Even if others might, Nara Shim, who had already abandoned her once, wouldn’t. Second, how many times have these stairs turned? She felt like she was constantly circling the same spot. She dug in her fingernails and left a long, scratching mark on the wall.

“Let’s go a little further.”

Leaving the scratch mark, she started moving forward again, pushing away the bad thoughts that were gnawing at her. So she kept walking up the stairs, turning and turning… And then she found the scratch mark she had left again. This meant the stairs were designed to connect to each other, making one walk endlessly. She sighed and sat down for a moment.

“Hmm.”

Cho-i looked up at the ceiling. Should she try to break through it? Of course, considering the time she had just fallen, the ceiling directly above her probably wasn’t a manageable thickness. She might even get crushed to death trying to break it.

“Hey~ Nara Shim~!”

Cho-i called out Nara Shim’s name once. If someone calls you, you should come right away, shouldn’t you? She grumbled and got up again, then slowly started climbing the stairs once more.

“No matter what, there must be some bastard who built these stairs.”

Then where did that guy get out? That was the problem. She slowly ran her hand along the wall and tapped it, but since it wasn’t a wooden panel or an iron plate, she couldn’t tell if it was hollow or not. The wall seemed quite thick.

“Taeyang Kang!”

She now wandered the stairs, calling out someone’s name like a habit. It still seemed like breaking the wall or ceiling was the right thing to do. But even if she broke the wall, she would have to break the right spot; otherwise, she would just end up digging endless holes. Cho-i sighed and climbed the stairs, tracing the wall.

-…, …!

And suddenly, she felt a sound. A sound like something being tapped. Like something sharp digging into the wall… Wait, digging? Cho-i pressed her ear to the wall and started descending towards the sound. She hadn’t gone down far when she felt the sound faintly, very faintly, coming from one wall. It was such a small sound that if she weren’t S-Rank, she wouldn’t have heard it.

“Nara Shim? Doesn’t seem like it. Not Zhixuan either. Yeonhan, big sister? Dongju Kim? Or…”

Taeyang Kang? He was certainly the type of guy who would just start digging at the wall to save her. Cho-i stepped a few paces back from the wall. Then she took a deep breath in and out.

“Phew…”

She opened her eyes wide.

[Skill, Sanity Paralysis is activated!]

As soon as she cast the skill, she punched. Bang! With all her might. The wall was not just dented, but shattered into pieces. It seemed like she had broken at least a meter. But unfortunately, there was still no sign of an exit. However, the sound continued to be heard.

“Once more.”

Bang! She continued to punch and break down the wall. Once, twice, three times, four times. How many times had she punched? The sound began to get closer. The faint, distant sound began to make sharp noises: crunch, clang, clank.

“Nara Shim!”

She called Nara loudly.

-…!, …!

Now, what was faintly heard was a human voice. Cho-i Hyeon tensed her shoulders at the sound and irritably kicked the wall. Bang! A tremendous sound echoed through the cave. Dust poured down. It was a force so great that it felt like the entire cave would collapse. But fortunately, the stone ceiling did not collapse, and only the stone wall began to crumble and fall. And when a small gap appeared between them…

“Cho-i Hyeon!”

Taeyang Kang’s face appeared.

“Ahahaha!”

Cho-i Hyeon smiled brightly. Taeyang Kang broke the gap further with a spear. She waved her hand as if to tell him not to.

“Everyone back away.”

“Are you okay?”

“Of course, I’m okay. Just back away for now. I’ll break my way out!”

Worried eyes flickered through the gap and moved away. Cho-i Hyeon’s face became cheerful. Ah, I told you they weren’t weak enough to abandon me. I just had some strange memories resurface, you know. She grinned and punched the remaining stone wall again. Crunch, bang! And so, the stone wall crumbled, and everyone came into view. Cho-i Hyeon was smiling brightly, as if she had never been on edge. Then, the three Naras were the first to approach and vigorously patted her on the back.

“Now! Are you! Laughing! After how worried we were!”

“Ahahaha, were you worried?”

“Of course, wouldn’t you worry if a child suddenly fell?”

“That’s true.”

Then, Cho-i Hyeon suddenly noticed Taeyang Kang’s expression. The corners of his eyes were completely drooped. His eyebrows were also lowered, making him look like a wet puppy. Ah, so he was not just worried but even sad? Cho-i Hyeon understood this and opened her arms to Taeyang Kang.

“Come here.”

“……”

Taeyang Kang hugged Cho-i Hyeon without a word. Cho-i, who had intended to hug him but ended up being hugged, blinked her eyes and patted his back.

“There, there. You were very worried, weren’t you?”

“…Yes.”

He said, burying his face in Cho-i’s shoulder. Cho-i Hyeon gently stroked his head and scanned the others.

“More importantly, I’m glad you’re safe. Was everything alright down there?”

Cho-i nodded.

“There was nothing strange except for a prison at the bottom where monsters were trapped.”

“A prison with monsters?”

“Yes, but they were all stopped, right? So there was no damage.”

“Stopped, you say…”

Cho-i Hyeon looked around. Then she suddenly realized this was the end of that long path.

“But how did you know this was the staircase entrance?”

“I didn’t know.”

“What do you mean, you didn’t know?”

“Mr. Taeyang Kang just started smashing the wall without warning.”

“You’re also someone who acts first and thinks later.”

“Yeah.”

Taeyang Kang was still leaning his head on Cho-i Hyeon’s shoulder, being petted. Zhixuan said with a look of annoyance.

“If below is an underground prison, why was this wall blocked?”

“Well.”

Cho-i Hyeon raised a finger.

“To prevent the things below from coming out?”

“It would be reasonable to think so.”

Then Dongju Kim looked back. At the trap-filled path they had just passed.

“Then this is…”

“Huh?”

“Is it a trap to prevent entry, or a trap to prevent exit?”

At his question, everyone paused to think. Of course, it could be both, but considering the prison where monsters were sealed, it might be intended to prevent escape. And thinking of such a trap-filled prison, a common thought came to mind for most people.

“Usually, there are rumors of treasure in places like this, but surely the treasure isn’t those monsters.”

“It’s probably a hidden item that’s the treasure.”

“Then let’s look for the path some more. Since they blocked the way down the stairs, there’s a high chance they blocked the way out too.”