Chapter 9. Little Purgatory (3)

The first to run off was Yoo Jin-woo. He brutally shoved Kim Yong-tae aside and started running up the stairs while making strange noises. The same was true for Kim Yong-tae, who was stunned for a moment as if he couldn’t understand the situation. He hurriedly followed Yoo Jin-woo up the stairs.

However, Baek Tae-beom and I remained still. That was because I knew what was going to happen. Then, Baek Tae-beom suddenly asked.

“Can I come closer to you?”

“…Closer?”

As I was bewildered by the sudden question, Baek Tae-beom became a little shy and spoke again.

“…Somehow, I feel more at ease when I’m with Ga-hyun-ssi, so I think it would be better to get closer.”

What kind of man…

He did not want to accept his request so that he would not be interested in him anymore. Maybe it’s because he’s someone I know, or because he signed a contract with me as a Constellation. I couldn’t just reject him, so I had no other choice but to gesture for Baek Tae-beom to come closer.

Then, Baek Tae-beom carefully held my hand, burrowing into the space between my fingers, as if rubbing the palms of our hands together. The hand with the clear outline of calluses was a lot bigger than mine. For a while, I just had to wonder about whether my hands would be bigger if I was a bit taller, as I was embarrassed by the hand that caught mine.

“What are you–”

“Ah. I’m sorry.”

Baek Tae-beom hurriedly fell as if he was surprised he was holding my hand.

And then.

“U-uaaaaaaagh…!”

The two men, who had run up ahead, were running up from below us. As they came up, they saw me and Baek Tae-beom and stumbled with pale faces. Yoo Jin-woo exclaimed nervously.

“How the hell did this happen! We definitely went up!”

They must have thought of dungeons as a really simple means of earning money. I think it wasn’t wrong to think that before a chaotic situation like just now. If you do well, you can get a lot of money, after all. Then, I saw Baek Tae-beom, who started to speak with a stiff face.

“It’s a simple pattern of… It’s like a labyrinth.”

“Labyrinth?”

“It is a labyrinth that makes it impossible to climb the stairs. We’ve been climbing the same spot all this time.”

“Damn, then what are we supposed to do?”

Kim Yong-tae said, as he shook his head sharply. Instead of raising my hand like before, I spoke calmly.

“I think I know.”

[Dungeon <Invasion of the Red Mist>]

[Escape the Red Mist within the time limit.

Reward: 15,000 Coins

Penalty for Failure: Death

Time Limit: 13 hours and 50 minutes]

“If you look carefully, there’s nothing said about you having to climb the stairs within the time limit, right? It only says to escape the red mist.”

Even as we were talking, the red mist continued to rise. Yoo Jin-woo nodded his head nervously.

“So, basically, shouldn’t we be going down instead of going up?”

“What?”

“Though you have to go down to get out of that fog, if we continue like this, we’ll only be caught in the fog. I think there must be an exit somewhere down there.”

“I agree.”

Baek Tae-beom said resolutely. Where did your timid personality go? Even though I did nothing, I felt proud as a Constellation.

But, why the hell are you holding my hand?

I have too many things to think about other than that.

“What kind of nonsense is this? If you go down, you’ll end up dead!”

“Are you sure? Have you touched the fog? Are you sure you’ll die if you touch it?”

As I refuted Kim Yong-tae’s words once again, he wrinkled his face in irritation. His face turned red, and it looked like he was going to snap at any moment. So just when I was about to step back, with an elated face, he grabbed my shoulders harshly.

“Then… You go first!”

“Oh, wait…!”

Just after such words, my entire body was suspended into the air.

I was literally pushed straight down the stairs. The sharp stone steps hit my shoulders and waist and the pain was immediately transmitted to me. I curled up, covering my face reflexively. I let out a shaky breath from the pain I felt all over my body. A scream came out of me as I fell.

In an instant, the red mist enveloped my body.

As if something was lifting me up, I floundered and stretched out my arms. At the same time, it felt like my throat was being strangled. Like a huge giant was grabbing my neck and lifting it. Red eyes gleamed inside the fog. I struggled to escape, but such actions were in vain.

Is this how I am going to die?

I suddenly had a different thought. If I die now, will I be able to get out of this damn novel?

[The constellation, ‘The One Who Knows The Fall’ is synchronized with the body.]

“Ga-hyun-ssi!”

The trajectory of the white sword split the fog in an instant.

The mist, which was believed to be intangible, was cut into chunks. With a thud sound, a clump of the mist fell to the floor and a loud scream reached their ears. And just as I was about to fall again, a strong forearm held my body.

Before I knew it, I was in Baek Tae-beom’s arms.

“Baek Tae-beom?”

“Are you okay?”

This chapter has not been translated by NovelUtopia, we have picked up the novel from chapter 84