บท 100: 514
[Chapter 141]
[Dungeon Manchu]
Day 2 of the Academy Dungeon.
Perhaps because of the forced march last night, fatigue came flooding in.
I won't be hung up on grades.
Eunha agreed with his party members to sleep in until late.
"—Whoever wakes up first can get up, and whoever wants to sleep more can sleep more."
"I'll sleep a bit more."
"Wait. Then what about the guard duty? You're not saying we should take 3-hour shifts for the morning guard too, are you?"
"Guard duty? Why do that? Don't bother. We can tell whether monsters are approaching us or not without doing that."
"That may be true, but there could always be a 'what if' case. What if there's something we can't sense..."
"Then you can stand guard alone. Thanks. Good work. I'm going back to sleep."
"..."
"Come on, why don't you come here and sleep a bit more with me?"
Dungeons existing on a different plane from the existing world were like organs that created monsters themselves.
So as long as one was stepping on dungeon territory, one couldn't let their guard down for even a moment from the threat of monsters.
If one made a mistake, they could experience waking up from sleep to find monsters surrounding them on all sides.
Nevertheless, Eunha was nonchalant.
This hot spring area is a region where the dungeon's power doesn't reach much, so monsters don't usually try to approach.
Not all areas of the dungeon were dyed the same color.
Though the differences may be subtle.
If you look closely at the dungeon's territory, you can find darker parts and somewhat lighter parts.
The hot spring area Eunha was currently using as a base corresponded to the lightest red among the third underground floor's territories.
Considering that the buffs the dungeon applies to monsters differ depending on the territory one is stepping on.
There was little possibility of monsters deliberately entering a territory that weakens them unless it was an unusual case.
Even if something were to happen—
—Do you think I wouldn't know if monsters try to approach?
Eunha believed in his skills.
So he decided to sleep more.
Seo-na didn't seem too worried either as she yawned widely and laid back down on the floor.
The person with an uneasy face was Hoshimiya Kaede who had just finished guard duty and was about to wake up the party members.
Kaede stood outside the tent with a sullen face.
She seemed to be pondering.
"Come here."
"..."
"You must be tired too from yesterday's forced march. Why don't we sleep a bit more and eat lunch later when we wake up?"
With sleepy eyes.
Eunha patted the space to his right with his hand that had come out of the sleeping bag.
Since there was an empty space next to him, it meant for her to sleep there.
"...I guess I have no choice. Move over a bit more."
"I'm cramped too. Seo-na, move over a bit more."
"Why don't you just stand guard Eunha? Let the two of us use it."
"You..."
In the end, Kaede reluctantly entered the tent while pretending to be unwilling.
The three became pillbugs and fell asleep.
Some time passed.
"What's that sound...?"
They soon sensed several presences approaching the hot spring area.
It wasn't the presence of monsters.
It seemed students taking the final evaluation had come down to the third underground floor.
I wonder who came?
They came faster than I expected.
Eunha tossed and turned.
The sound of students chattering was getting closer.
In the end, he who woke up decided to go outside to check on the students.
The other two seemed to feel the same as they got up showing sleepy signs.
"Wait. Fix your hair before opening. And Eunha, you have eye boogers."
"Okay. Take your time."
The three roughly checked their appearances.
Eventually, the three who tidied themselves up came out of the tent starting with Eunha.
By then, the students had come within clear sight.
Soon Eunha spotted a familiar face among them.
"Huh? Yoo Do-jun?"
"What? I was wondering who came first, but it was you Eunha? Well, if anyone would come here first, it would be you. Have you been well? But... are you three using the same tent now?"
"What about it? It would be a waste to use two tents for three people. But you came unexpectedly early?"
Yoo Do-jun and the students following him.
Eunha was inwardly surprised to see them come down to the third underground floor.
It was because the students reached the third underground floor much faster than he had expected.
I was thinking people would slowly start arriving around lunchtime even if they were fast...
As if noticing his doubt.
Yoo Do-jun shrugged his shoulders.
"Maybe it's because we were determined to come down quickly and go to the hot springs? We were lucky not to encounter many monsters, and even when we did occasionally meet some, other parties were dealing with them so we could easily slip past."
"Ah, I see?"
Yoo Do-jun's explanation.
Eunha nodded.
Then the reason for arriving at the third underground floor quickly was understandable.
Meanwhile, Yoo Do-jun had his party members set up tents nearby.
"I heard the Academy hot springs are really good? I was feeling grimy from not washing properly anyway, so want to eat lunch together after entering the hot springs? You're going in too, right?"
"Yeah, let's do that."
It was getting close to lunchtime anyway.
All the sleepiness would be gone too.
He accepted Yoo Do-jun's proposal.
"Ah, that's right."
"Huh?"
Just then, Yoo Do-jun placing a heavy bag on the ground.
Eunha tilted his head seeing him suddenly start unpacking.
Then he smiled broadly seeing the item he took out.
"I brought quite a lot of eggs. Fortunately only a few broke? Shall we make some hot spring eggs with these?"
☆
There's no better delicacy than eating eggs in a hot spring.
The only regret is that there's no sikhye.
Fortunately there was salt at least.
"Here."
"I really thought I was going to die bringing these eggs down. But it was worth the effort."
"Well done. You brought a lot."
Eunha finished peeling one egg and stirred the water.
He caught hold of a net.
He took out an egg from the net and peeled off the shell.
Do-jun had already devoured one and chose a new egg.
"Are you planning to relax here leisurely?"
"I've collected a lot of points, so I'm not going to be hung up on grades."
"What do grades matter to you? There's probably no one in the industry who doesn't know your skills now. Hey, can I join your party too?"
"Our party?"
"Yeah."
Yoo Do-jun washes his face with hot spring water.
Then he pushes his bangs up and leans his back against a rock.
"Let the kids who care about grades form parties and conquer the dungeon, and let those who want to stay just stay here. Or I can just join your party alone."
"Well, do as you please."
It would only be good to have more companions.
There wasn't much to enjoy in the dungeon besides the hot springs.
They couldn't stay in the hot springs all day long.
Eunha didn't particularly stop Yoo Do-jun who said he would join his party.
"Ah, but when I saw earlier, it looked like you three were using the same tent. Is there really nothing going on?"
"What about it?"
"It's fortunate if there's nothing. I wonder what Ha-yang would think if she saw that scene earlier. Well, what does it matter? Right?"
"..."
"Well. It's silly to separate men and women when sleeping in a dungeon. That's a luxury in a dungeon, a luxury. Don't you think?"
"...That's true."
Yoo Do-jun snickering.
Eunha felt needlessly guilty.
He deliberately cleared his throat.
"That's good. If you're going to stay here too, I can sleep in the same tent with you starting tonight."
"Well, that's fine. Or if you prefer there, you can sleep there. I don't care. Do as you like."
Afterwards, Eunha made small talk with Yoo Do-jun.
Though they had agreed to eat lunch together after coming out of the hot springs.
The two ate eggs whether they ate lunch or not.
Seo-na said she'd prepare lunch so we should go out a little later.
Meanwhile, it was decided that the person who lost rock-paper-scissors would prepare lunch.
In Eunha's party, Seo-na ended up taking the shift.
Eunha heard Jin Seo-na's voice moving away from the sounds coming from the women's bath and decided to soak in the bath a bit longer.
"...You're surprisingly enduring well?"
"What?"
"Isn't it hot?"
"How is this hot?"
"You're really amazing..."
Quite some time had passed since entering the hot springs.
By now, all of Yoo Do-jun's party members had gone outside.
Yoo Do-jun had come out of the hot springs and was just sitting on a rock.
In contrast, Eunha was still soaking in the water.
Yoo Do-jun stuck out his tongue, and Eunha raised his nose.
"Have another egg."
"I'm sick of them. I'll eat lunch later. You stop eating too."
"Just one more."
I should get up soon.
Just as Eunha thought that.
There was a commotion outside.
"Huh? Looks like more kids came down?"
"Who is it?"
More presences than before were caught in his detection net.
And some of the presences were approaching the men's bath.
A moment later, the person who opened the door covered in steam was—
"—You guys sure are lucky..."
It was Kim Geon-ung, direct descendant of KK Group.
He took off his fogged up glasses and smiled bitterly while narrowing his eyes.
To this, Eunha—
"—Want an egg?"
"Where did you get these?"
"There's salt here too."
"Thanks. I'll eat well."
"Don't forget to clean up everything there after eating."
"...What?"
"Ah, if you stir around in the water there should be more eggs, so share them with your party members."
It was time to eat lunch anyway.
He threw the egg he had half-peeled to him.
Kim Geon-ung was dumbfounded.
☆
To be honest.
Eunha didn't know in detail what kind of person Kim Geon-ung, the direct descendant of KK Group, was.
Even if he recalled Kim Geon-ung from before the regression, his impression of him was very weak.
Well, that can't be helped.
There's a limit to how much I as a player can know about chaebol people.
Moreover, the impressions of other people were so strong.
Choi Jeong-hoon and Choi Ga-in of Galaxy Group were needless to say.
Hong Jin-woo of Dangun Group was the same.
Han Seo-yeon of Sirius Group had a personality that grated on people, and was known for throwing hysterics at subordinate employees at the drop of a hat.
Setting aside her business acumen.
As for Yoo Do-jun of Eternal Group... Well, there's no need to even mention him.
What about Dawn Group? Though they weren't as tyrannical as Choi Ga-in, their direct descendants also had many faults.
Moreover, Dawn Group formed an alliance with Dangun Group and showed disrespect towards the Fairy.
Pine Group was neutral so they could be said to have not caused particular harm.
As for Alice Group...
In his previous life, Alice Group didn't have any direct descendants around Eunha's age.
Just that Jung Seok-hoon who became the chairman of Alice Group actively manufactured potions so players could kill monsters.
Other than that, the movements of groups ranked within the top 10 in the business world weren't very prominent.
Moreover, even in his previous life—
—KK Group was a group that squabbled with Donghae Group over 9th and 10th place every year.
They were in a situation where just keeping each other in check was overwhelming.
In his previous life, KK Group's influence wasn't large compared to other groups.
Eunha hadn't paid much attention to them for that reason.
But he only remembered that KK Group also took a stance pressuring Fairy Ha Baek-ryeon along with other groups in his previous life.
Compared to the direct descendants of other groups... Kim Geon-ung became the chairman of KK Group quite late too...
Kim Geon-ung also caused several incidents.
But that was nothing compared to the tyranny of other groups.
So if he had to evaluate Kim Geon-ung—
—Just a typical authoritarian?
If evaluating highly... A minor copy of Choi Jeong-hoon?
A degraded version of Choi Jeong-hoon.
But Eunha could assert that Kim Geon-ung would never grow to become a figure like Choi Jeong-hoon.
Anyway, Kim Geon-ung's existence didn't have much meaning to Eunha.
Unlike before the regression, the situation of KK Group being above Donghae Group in this life is concerning...
But it has nothing to do with Kim Geon-ung who will become chairman quite late.
He just tramples on him appropriately when the opportunity arises to make him unable to defy.
Sometimes cooperating moderately too.
Just an existence like that.
So Eunha chatted freely with him after he finished bathing.
"...You brought all sorts of things."
"They're necessary for conquering the dungeon."
"As if they're really necessary."
In front of Kim Geon-ung's tent.
No Eunha, Kim Geon-ung, and Yoo Do-jun were drinking coffee while exchanging information about dungeon conquest.
Then Kim Geon-ung frowned seeing students playing board games on one side.
Eunha who brought the board games nonchalantly brushed it off.
"So? You're saying you won't leave here for a while?"
"I'm not sure how long we'll stay, but we don't plan to rush dungeon conquest."
Up until 3rd year of middle academy.
Kim Geon-ung would often seek out Eunha whenever he had the chance and suggest he become his exclusive.
But after entering high academy.
When Eunha gained the alias <Quick-witted>, Kim Geon-ung showed a reaction as if half giving up on recruiting Eunha.
Then recently—
"—I'd like to say let's go conquer the dungeon together... But Sirius or Alice might say something. So, you're staying here?"
Kim Geon-ung learned of No Eunha's two-timing and now tried to let go of him.
To him, Eunha had now become an existence forever out of his reach.
So he no longer brought up becoming his exclusive like before.
"Well, if you have no plans to conquer, that's good for us. It seems Jeong Ha-yang and Mok Min-ho's parties haven't arrived yet, so we'll go ahead and aim for first place."
"Huh? You're leaving already?"
"We need to push ahead as much as possible and widen the gap while the other kids haven't come yet."
Kim Geon-ung hadn't spent much time in the hot spring area.
But he was trying to resume dungeon conquest right after finishing his business.
Eunha looked quizzically at Kim Geon-ung who suddenly ordered to pack up the tents and prepare to leave.
"Hey, just leave them be."
The faces of Kim Geon-ung's party members showed clear signs of fatigue.
Some party members even made displeased faces at his order.
Despite knowing this.
Kim Geon-ung's attitude was stubborn.
Meanwhile, there was one familiar face among them.
"Why are you there?"
"...You guys didn't let me join your party."
"...Was that so? I don't know since I didn't form a party."
Lee Cheon-seo was there too.
He also looked tired and worn out.
Eunha patted his shoulder as he made a face saying this was too much.
"We're going down to the 4th underground floor today and resting thoroughly there. Let's hang in there a bit more, everyone."
Eventually the students reluctantly packed their bags with regret.
They leave the hot spring area.
Eunha watched dumbfounded as they left after barely eating.
"Geon-ung isn't the type to do this..."
"He should take care of the party members' condition... Moreover, if he's managing not just a party but an alliance of multiple parties, even more so... This is the worst."
Seo-na, who was also a direct descendant of KK Pharmaceuticals, knew Kim Geon-ung fairly well.
So she looked worriedly at those exhausted from fatigue.
Meanwhile, Kaede beside her seemed displeased with how he managed the party.
That's when.
"—I somewhat understand Kim Geon-ung's feelings."
As if it was no big deal.
Yoo Do-jun said while finishing his coffee.
Then he opened his mouth in a nonchalant tone.
"If you think about Geon-ung's position now, it's not incomprehensible."
"Position?"
"Yes, position. The academy's position."
Eunha asked back.
Yoo Do-jun added.
The three people's gazes turned to him.
"When we entered middle academy, there was a fierce factional struggle at the academy. Back then, there were direct descendants of five groups attending the academy - Eternal, Alice, Galaxy, KK, and Dangun."
"""...."""
Yoo Do-jun raised one hand.
He showed his hand with fingers spread towards the three people.
"But look?"
"""...."""
"You and I got along well, Eunha. Thanks to that, Ha-yang and I got along well too. In a way, this could be said to be Alice and Eternal joining hands?"
Yoo Do-jun brought two fingers together.
He continued speaking.
"But then Hong Jin-woo of Dangun Group suddenly died?"
Yoo Do-jun folded one finger.
Now the five factions were divided into three.
"Then last year, Choi Ga-in ended up dying too?"
Yoo Do-jun folded one more finger.
The five factions have now become a situation with only two remaining.
"The Warring States period composed of five factions has now come to have only two remaining. But one side, us, has such overwhelming influence as to dominate the other side?"
"""...."""
"Think about last year's year-end party. After Choi Ga-in died, how much did our reputation rise at the academy? Everyone at the academy was desperate to attend the party hosted by Ha-yang."
In silence.
Eunha affirmed Yoo Do-jun's words.
Looking back, the academy had been revolving around him and his friends for some time.
The tension between groups disappeared.
Now students attending the academy bowed their heads before the names Sirius, Eternal, and Alice Group.
Students were trying to form connections with No Eunha's faction somehow.
"From Geon-ung's position, he can't help but feel impatient. The reason group direct descendants usually enter the academy is to make players loyal to the group their allies in advance, but at this rate all the academy students are about to come to us."
"""...."""
"Moreover, since you got engaged to Han Seo-hyun noona and started dating Ha-yang, the alliance between Sirius and Alice has become even stronger."
For Kim Geon-ung, there was only one way to overturn this situation.
He needs to make achievements somehow.
He must win the students' favor with achievements that can overshadow No Eunha's faction's achievements.
So he's trying to reverse the situation using the final evaluation as an opportunity.
"So he was thinking like that. I had no idea..."
Eunha couldn't help but imagine Kim Geon-ung struggling.
It wasn't incomprehensible.
So he blankly stared at the spot Kim Geon-ung left.
☆
Evening of Day 2 in the Academy Dungeon.
As academy students arrived at the hot spring area one after another—
"—I missed you so much!"
"You came later than other parties. Did something happen?"
"We ended up taking a detour because of Pa-rang oppa in the middle... Hehe."
Jeong Ha-yang's party arrived.
Eunha smiled bitterly as he hugged Jeong Ha-yang who rushed to him as soon as she spotted him.
She's drenched in sweat.
Seems she had a hard time.
"Are you hungry? I saved a few eggs for you, so take them when you enter the bath later."
"Wow, really?"
"That's right. You know not to tell others about this, right? There aren't many eggs left so eat them just among yourselves."
"Okay! I'll eat well!"
Eunha looked down at Jeong Ha-yang who raised her head from his chest.
He reached out and wiped the dirt off her cheek.
Then she grinned as if so happy.
Soon she opened her mouth.
"—So did you miss me?"
"..."
Fishing for an answer.
This is fishing for an answer.
He didn't care whether she belatedly realized her appearance was a mess and tried to break away from his arms.
"Ah..."
"Do I have to say it?"
"...One more time."
"Why? You said it was dirty earlier?"
"I'll go wash up first...!"
Lightly.
No Eunha kissed her lips.
The two didn't care whether others saw or not.
"I'm going to just... those guys right now! Someone quickly give me a bamboo spear! A bamboo spear...!"
"Okay, okay. Soo-bin, let's hurry and go take a bath. Binggu oppa, set up the tent until we come out."
Of course, the students jeered, they say.
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