Chapter 141

“Hunter Shin Jae-heon, the surveillance…”

So Yeri the hunter trailed off and quickly shut her mouth.

Shin Jae-heon, who had narrowed his eyes at that moment, turned to look at the wall right beside us.

Then he gave us a signal with his eyes.

What? Push it?

Looking closely, even B-rank eyes could spot the faint gap in the wall.

A Responsibility skill had appeared on Shin Jae-heon’s skill window. It was a skill he activated when a dealer like him had to tank.

And the moment several buffs layered onto him…

—Kiiiek.

Shin Jae-heon pushed the door.

And we discovered that the wall was far more massive than it seemed.

“Huh?”

That enormous revolving door swallowed us up in an instant, whisking us to another space.

“!”

—Shing!

The startled Shin Jae-heon drew Maletia’s sword.

But the place before us wasn’t threatening. It was a small space lit precariously by a single candle.

“?”

No sense of danger, so the Responsibility skill soon vanished from Shin Jae-heon’s skill window.

“Looks like a secret spot?”

So Yeri the hunter blinked.

It was a space where most items were placed within a child’s reach.

Shelves at our eye level held nothing but dust.

“Hm…”

We scanned the room.

For a noble mansion, it was clearly neglected.

In short, it wasn’t a place the servants cleaned, nor an official space.

In this world, nobles often used the same mansion for centuries, leading to forgotten corners.

This seemed like one of them.

Maybe some circumstance from when the building was constructed left it unfinished.

Evidence: half the floor was tiled, the other half bare dirt.

“Rifen’s secret spot, right?”

So Yeri blinked again.

She’d noticed the items only on child-height shelves too.

“Probably.”

Every kid has a secret hideout like this, right?

Shin Jae-heon and I had one back in the day that only we knew about.

Too cramped for four adults, but we thoroughly checked the room anyway.

Then So Yeri’s gaze fixed on one spot.

“What do you see?”

I asked just as Shin Jae-heon’s voice came from below.

“Something’s buried here.”

“Huh?”

Looking down, Shin Jae-heon was examining the dirt floor.

Half-buried and protruding was a wooden box.

—Scrape, scrape.

Shin Jae-heon brushed dirt away with his fingertips.

Traces of small hands recently opening and closing it.

Clearly the owner of this space.

“Not a time capsule or something, is it? Can we just open it?”

I cautiously asked him, who seemed about to pry it open.

Not a real time machine, but like a time capsule kids bury promising to open later.

Like Shin Jae-heon and I did.

Opening it first makes you a spoilsport!

Though it looked too handled for that.

SS-rank dungeon, why quibble about time machines? Messing with personal items in special dungeons can derail the story.

“Let’s peek secretly and close it without a trace.”

Shin Jae-heon, knowing this, pondered then said.

“Yeah, nothing else worth seeing in this room but that box.”

So Yeri said after circling the room.

Eventually, all eyes converged on the box.

Couldn’t just leave this promising box unopened.

Consensus reached, So Yeri reached for it.

“Hold on a sec~”

Her hand flashed with skill as she spoke brightly.

B-rank skill, but from an S-rank user, effective even in SS-rank.

Meanwhile, I examined the box.

Buried and the area tidied—definitely hidden.

I knew because I’d done the same.

“Come to think of it, where’d we bury our time capsule as kids?”

Shin Jae-heon suddenly asked. He’d buried one with me.

“Oh, that? Why? Can’t dig it up now anyway.”

Unfortunately.

Shin Jae-heon raised an eyebrow at my words.

“Why? Private property?”

Yeah, buy someone else’s land just to dig?

I nodded slightly, incredulous. Others’ land is others’ land.

Ignoring that we’d buried ours without permission.

“A playground got built on top.”

“Ah.”

Shin Jae-heon twitched his brow; couldn’t demolish a kids’ playground.

Then So Yeri finished her Appraisal and pulled her hand away.

She said,

“Then leave it be. Digging it up won’t end well.”

She smiled slyly at us.

“Why? Embarrassing history?”

Yeah, probably stuffed with cringey letters like ‘Future me, how you doing?’…

“I dug mine up once. Paper box from childhood.”

She shrugged.

“Bug nest. Legs on those critters probably totaled 200.”

“Eww!”

Hate bug dungeons, hate bug talk! I waved my hands.

Leave memories buried!

“Then let’s open someone else’s.”

Unlike us without one, Joo Hunter Yian smiled quietly as Shin Jae-heon reached for the box.

“Box clean?”

“Yeah, just a plain box.”

Shin Jae-heon nodded.

“Opening it.”

Just in case, Responsibility skill stayed on.

—Click.

Inside the flung-open box: a single squarely folded sheet of paper.

“Not a letter.”

As Joo Hunter Yian cautiously opined, Shin Jae-heon unfolded it slightly.

Mountains, rivers, trees, sun, house—child’s drawing.

The round sun was striking.

That instant:

“Huh?”

Thought nothing would happen, but delayed attack!

Vision went pitch black instantly.

Man, this dungeon’s so arbitrary!

Suspicion? Can’t say who suspects whom?

Triple surveillance debuff still absent amid this.

Given surveillance ties to Countess Maiden, this suspicion likely from child Rifen.

I and the other hunters flashed skills, signaling all clear.

But surroundings: nothing but orange paint-splattered maze walls.

In short, separated again.

Argh!

Keep Alert Stance on for unknowns…

Maze, so just exit?

I spotted an orange stone on the floor, picked it up, placed it at my start point.

But this stone’s color is vivid?

—Ssscrape.

Drawing on floor: like crayon, orange line appeared.

“Oh?”

Crayon? Even smeared on hands identically.

[Start]

I wrote it on the floor, decided to mark my path with the crayon(?).

No getting lost that way.

Observed if marks vanished or warped.

Not my first dungeon rodeo.

S-rank ain’t S-rank for nothing.

“Hmm.”

Fortunately, marks stayed.

Instead, escaping the crimson circular maze changed colors.

Now sky-blue with white patches.

“This…”

Familiar palette?

I glanced back at orange-yellow maze, then sky-blue one.

White walls dotted around.

No way…

“That drawing from before?”

Blue sky with orange sun, fluffy clouds.

Maze based on that drawing.

Owner then:

“Rifen?”

If that kid owns it, favor + so won’t kill us… right?

Probably. Would’ve stocked monsters if murderous.

Focused on exiting.

“Start was sky…”

Drawing had a house: red roof, chimney, brown door.

Exit likely that door.

Only passage to elsewhere in drawing.

Debuff sticks in maze?

How to clear Suspicion?

Pondering, I advanced. Thinking as drawing made navigation easy.

“Found it.”

Entering brown maze section, spotted a door inside.

That way.

Sprinted straight final passage to door.

“……”

No sound outside.

Monster…?

As I tensed,

—Kiiik…

Door opened. I froze; through gap, no monster.

“…!”

Inside door, black space with rug.

Curled on it drawing: Rifen de Maiden.

Child turned to me.

Then, despite rank not below mine, boldly displayed above head:

Kim Cheon-jae tier! I nearly screamed inwardly.