Chapter 150

Hunter Seo Yeri’s figure vanished from her spot.

It happened in an instant.

“Uh……”

I couldn’t find the words to continue.

The conveyor belt kept pulling us toward the glowing red area.

To pass through that place, I had to say Ripen’s birthday.

I knew I had to say it, but the words wouldn’t come out.

…Really?

Did she really disappear? Did she really go underground?

The system window stayed silent. Just like when the mage from the Eastern Empire disappeared.

I couldn’t bring myself to speak. But I had to.

If I wanted Hunter Seo Yeri’s advice not to go to waste, there was no choice.

As we drew closer to the red zone, the floor beneath our feet flashed. It was the section where we had to answer.

In that brief moment when the discipline lifted, all three of us answered.

Just like we had unanimously answered all the previous questions.

“April 13th.”

At that instant, the bright red zone vanished without a sound.

We had passed.

If only the glowing platform had stayed lit a little longer for us to answer, Hunter Seo Yeri wouldn’t have received that warning.

—Kiririk…… Clunk!

As we answered the final question, the conveyor belt came to a halt.

And the place we arrived at was in front of a wooden door.

No one reached out for the door. Shin Jae-heon was looking back at the spot where Hunter Seo Yeri had disappeared.

Really?

He looked incredulous too.

“……No death system window popped up.”

At that moment, Hunter Joo Yian spoke calmly. Our eyes met in midair.

But Hunter Seo Yeri’s system window on the screen was frozen, with both her buff and debuff windows gone.

As if time had stopped only in the system window.

Something was definitely wrong. But there was hope. We had to believe that.

“Yeah, it hasn’t popped up yet.”

Unlike the mage from the Eastern Empire, who had been marked as dead immediately.

I grabbed the door handle.

“Let’s clear the dungeon quickly first.”

Madam Maiden would definitely appear as an L-rank boss on the favorability gauge. But we had no time to hesitate.

We had to clear it somehow, then blow up the mansion if needed to find Hunter Seo Yeri underground.

I pushed aside the fact that the underground was filled with solid bedrock.

—Creeeak.

As I opened the door, Ripen hopped down from his chair to greet us.

“I knew you’d come!”

Then his eyes widened round.

“Where’s the red-haired big sis?”

Your mother gave three warnings, so she went underground.

No, before that, why set a question like a birthday!

I wanted to grab Ripen by the collar and shake him, but there wasn’t time.

If Ripen transformed into an SS-rank boss, we’d lose even more time.

“Did she get in trouble with Mom?”

“She went underground.”

Shin Jae-heon answered. Ripen’s eyes went wide at that.

“Ah……”

“But she’ll be fine.”

Shin Jae-heon said immediately.

Yeah, she’ll be fine. My eyes met Hunter Joo Yian’s.

Just like he said, no system window had popped up.

And Hunter Seo Yeri’s status still looked intact.

Her remaining HP gauge was still full. It was just weird that the buff and debuff windows were gone.

“Still, we should go check quickly.”

I picked up after Shin Jae-heon. Ripen turned to me.

“I think we need to help her.”

Hunter Seo Yeri would have found some way somehow.

She was different from the mage from the Eastern Empire who had died helplessly.

“Guess you can’t play with me then……”

Ripen looked disappointed.

Even Hunter Joo Yian, who was good at soothing kids, was silent right now.

He was clearly racking his brain desperately for a good idea too.

“I wanted to play more. Too bad.”

Ripen seemed to sense the heavy mood between us. He glanced at the bookshelf.

It was a bookshelf covered in dust, as if no one had touched it in ages.

“Mom’s study is behind there.”

No time to question why hide it behind a bookshelf instead of making a clear path.

As our eyes turned to the bookshelf—

“If you ask nicely, I’ll let you through. But I can’t give back the gifts you gave me before.”

Ripen had a face that wouldn’t budge on that point.

“……Gifts.”

Hunter Joo Yian muttered.

The moment that hit me, what flashed in my mind was my wooden sword and Shin Jae-heon’s Plated Necklace.

I could just get another SS-rank sword. The other two seemed to think the same.

Nothing was more important than right now.

The lost items didn’t matter; we had to find Hunter Seo Yeri as fast as possible.

“Fine.”

“You keep them.”

We answered in unison, and Ripen drooped his shoulders.

Maybe he thought we’d hesitate a bit.

The kid pouted, then stepped aside with a reluctant face.

—Fwaah!

Then, a brief greenish light flashed from the bookshelf behind Ripen before vanishing.

The same light Madam Maiden had used.

Seems the reason there was no passage was because it was a space connected by Madam Maiden’s magic.

At that moment, a system window appeared.

A blue something popped up, nearly stopping my heart.

I thought it was a system window about Hunter Seo Yeri.

But the system window acted like it had forgotten about Hunter Seo Yeri, showing only other info.

And that was it. Ripen said to us,

“You have to come back to me next time too.”

Ripen smiled brightly. Though it didn’t seem like we’d come back.

As we nodded,

Tokens of Friendship dropped in front of us with a thud thud thud. Exactly three.

As if Hunter Seo Yeri had never been there from the start.

“……Let’s go.”

Hunter Joo Yian said quietly. I could see him clutching a token tightly.

—Kururung!

As we stepped forward, the bookshelf moved. A pitch-black hallway appeared, unlit.

The moment we set foot there,

The air changed completely, as if it were an entirely different space from Ripen’s room.

And from the end of the passage, beyond the door, a shrill voice clearly rang out.

“To think she’d call such vulgar rabble guests!”

“!”

We froze, but since no warning popped up, it wasn’t aimed at us.

The system window popped up right away.

“……!”

The moment our three gazes met—

The death system window appeared.

It hadn’t appeared for Hunter Seo Yeri.

Yeah, she’ll still be fine.

All three of us thought the same as we quickened our steps.

—Kukukukung!

Whatever was happening beyond the door sent ominous vibrations.

Greenish light leaked from inside too.

“Seems like a battle is going on.”

Hunter Joo Yian said cautiously.

Shin Jae-heon, skills activated, took the lead with Maletia’s Sword.

He planned to burst into the room.

Well, with them drawing attention, hitting from behind would be much better.

Hunter Joo Yian’s buff appeared in Shin Jae-heon’s buff window alongside my Afterimage skill.

But the Maximization and shield skills that Hunter Seo Yeri should have applied were absent.

As I bit my lip at that obvious fact—

Shin Jae-heon spread his fingers.

Three, two, one.

He folded his last finger and opened the door.

—Thud.

He seemed to shove it hard, but the door opened smoothly.

“……?”

As Shin Jae-heon hesitated, the scene inside the room came into view.

“Huh?”

The room looked pristine, nothing like a place that had just been in battle.

And the Eastern Empire guys who should have been fighting Madam Maiden were nowhere to be seen.

“You’ve arrived.”

—Shhwick!

Countess Maiden spread a fan adorned with feathers to cover her mouth.

She didn’t look like the person who had been screaming moments ago.

What the?

Her favorability appeared above her head.

This level would trigger an SS-rank boss.

But.

“Hmph……”

I could see Madam Maiden furrow her brows at us.

She didn’t like us. I hadn’t expected her score to go up anyway.

“Your attire is so slovenly.”

Madam Maiden clicked her tongue as she looked at me and Shin Jae-heon.

If you’re going to nitpick our clothes, tell us before we came up!

As I raised an eyebrow—

Madam Maiden scanned us and asked,

“Is one of you late?”

She’s not late; she got kicked out because of your damn mansion rules!

The curse nearly crawled out of my mouth, but I barely held it back.

To take her down fast, she couldn’t evolve into an L-rank boss.

As Shin Jae-heon and I steadied our breaths, Madam Maiden clicked her tongue.

“Well, whatever. I have words for my guests.”

She smoothed her expression and rose from her seat. Then she pointed to Shin Jae-heon’s portrait leaning against one side.

“I received your gift very well. Clearly the heir of a refined house.”

Earlier you insulted it for being new!

O……? My mouth fell open slightly. Favorability went up that much?

If we’d brought three portraits, would we have passed? Too late to regret now—as I thought that,

Madam Maiden wasn’t done speaking.

“However.”

Her expression turned icy in an instant.

“You met my child secretly during the day, didn’t you?”

“……!”

No Surveillance skill, so how did she know?

We didn’t even have time to react.

“How dare you!”

The enraged Madam Maiden shouted.

“For uncouth rabble like you to wander my mansion!”

She screamed.

In that instant, my HP plummeted.

I could see the HP bars of S-rank Shin Jae-heon and Hunter Joo Yian drop sharply too.

“Incoming follow-up attacks!”

I saw Hunter Joo Yian quickly cast a heal skill.

In this situation with only two melee DPS, the first debuff to hit distorted our vision.

—Clang!

The next moment, an ominous sound came from Shin Jae-heon blocking with his fan.

Because of the debuff, I couldn’t see him clearly.

But one thing was crystal clear.

Madam Maiden’s fan, stained with blood.