After the brief chaos settled down, Sarah suddenly stood up.
The embarrassed girl from a mont ago disappeared as she grabbed the wooden chair from the small desk in the corner and dragged it across the stone floor. The legs scraped softly against the cavern ground as she positioned it beside the bed.
Then she sat down.
Leaning forward slightly, she rested one elbow on her knee and folded her hands together beneath her chin, trying her absolute best to look mysterious and composed— like so cool strategist preparing to discuss serious matters.
Hyuna watched this performance for exactly three seconds.
Then her lips curled into a teasing smile.
"Pfft."
Sarah’s eye twitched.
Hyuna leaned back against the bed fra, covering her mouth as she laughed softly.
"Are you... trying to act cool right now? Sarah~ you’re so cute (~￣³￣)~"
Sarah imdiately flinched.
Her shoulders stiffened before she quickly straightened her posture, awkwardly placing both hands on her knees like a student caught doing sothing embarrassing.
"N-no!" she said defensively. "I’m not!"
She cleared her throat and tried to recover her dignity.
"Anyway... stop teasing !"
For a mont the room grew quieter.
Sarah’s expression slowly beca more serious.
Her gaze drifted downward as she exhaled softly.
"Our mission..." she began quietly. "It’s been four months now."
The words hung in the air for a mont before she continued.
"And this thing..."
Her eyes flicked briefly toward the strange mascot-like relic hanging nearby.
"It still feels impossible."
Her voice softened.
"I can’t just sacrifice anyone."
A pause.
"Even if they’re criminals... and our last try... they’re not even a criminal, but just so random adventurer."
Hyuna watched her silently for a mont.
Then she sighed, the playful expression fading into sothing gentler as she reached out and lightly patted Sarah on the head.
"Well..." she said calmly. "If you really want, I could take your position instead."
Sarah blinked.
Hyuna casually pointed toward the massive relic hanging nearby.
"My compatibility with that thing is only about twenty percent," she explained. "Unlike you, with your ridiculous one hundred percent."
She shrugged lightly.
"But technically... I could still move it."
Her eyes t Sarah’s.
"So?"
She tilted her head.
"Want to do it?"
Sarah imdiately shook her head.
Instead, she stood up from the chair and plopped down beside Hyuna on the bed, wrapping her arms around her in a sudden hug.
"Nah," she muttered softly. "Don’t worry about it."
Her grip tightened slightly.
"I’m already grateful you’re here."
Hyuna blinked in surprise before letting out a small amused sigh.
After a mont Sarah leaned back slightly and looked at her again.
"But I still don’t understand sothing," she added.
"Why did you recruit thirteen random people for this mission?"
Her brow furrowed.
"They all look scary too."
Hyuna opened her mouth to answer.
Then—
Behind them, the bed creaked.
Both won turned their heads at the sa ti.
Si Hon was sitting up.
He stretched lazily, rubbing the back of his neck before letting out a slow yawn like soone who had just woken up from the most normal nap in the world.
Then his eyes opened.
He looked at Sarah.
Then at Hyuna.
Then at the cavern around him.
Si Hon blinked once.
"ಠᴥಠ...."
Silence filled the room.
Hyuna smiled brightly.
"Oh," she said cheerfully.
"Look."
She pointed at him like she’d just noticed a cute animal waking up.
"The handso is awake."
Then—
A storm of glowing windows exploded into existence above Si Hon’s head.
One after another, the familiar floating ssages stacked on top of each other like an excited crowd that had been waiting all morning for him to wake up.
「Wah!!!! Hahaha look who’s awake!!!!」
「Man~ imagine getting called handso~ I’m jealous.」
「Acardthatwasmaxxedoutwithcash: Si Hon, don’t worry just ignore them.」
「Good morning, handso~」
Si Hon blinked slowly, his sleepy brain taking a mont to process the sudden flood of chat ssages.
Then his gaze drifted away from the floating windows.
Toward the bed.
Toward Sarah and Hyuna.
Still sitting there.
Still hugging.
"ಠᴥಠ...?"
Hyuna noticed him imdiately.
She lifted one hand and gave a gentle little wave, her smile soft and friendly, as if waking up in a dungeon beside strangers was the most normal thing in the world.
"Hi, handso," she said sweetly. "Did you sleep well?"
Sarah opened her mouth, clearly about to explain the situation.
Si Hon, however, reacted faster.
Much faster.
He shot upright like soone who had just touched a live wire, imdiately scrambling backward until his back hit the cavern wall with a quiet thump. His arms pressed stiffly against his sides as if physical contact with reality itself had suddenly beco dangerous.
"ಠᴥಠ..."
The chat instantly lost its mind.
「LMAO!!!! THIS IS PEAK CONTENT.」
「Mister, she’s not a bad person.」
「KewkPerson: Kewk, LMAO...」
「Lololol the Kewk dude is back— SHE/HE’S SO BACK—kwalalalahahaha」
Hyuna’s gentle smile slowly curled into sothing far more mischievous.
"Oh?" she murmured.
Without warning, she gently pushed Sarah backward onto the bed.
Sarah landed with a soft boof against the mattress, blinking in confusion.
"ಠᴥಠ... Why would you do that?"
Hyuna simply raised a finger to her lips.
"Shhh," she whispered. "Just stay put. I already gave you instructions through my tele—"
She stopped mid-sentence.
Her eyes slowly drifted toward Si Hon.
Her grin widened slowly, the kind of grin that made it very clear she was enjoying this situation far more than anyone else in the room.
Across the room, Si Hon stared back at her, his back still pressed flat against the stone wall like a cornered animal trying to decide whether playing dead was a viable survival strategy.
For a brief mont, the torchlight flickered across Hyuna’s face, and the reflection caught in her eyes— making her pupils glow faintly red.
Then she moved.
Not by walking.
Not by standing.
She simply lowered herself to the floor.
And started crawling toward him.
Slowly.
Deliberately.
One hand slid forward across the stone floor.
Then the other.
Crawl.
A small shift of her knee.
Crawl.
Another quiet movent as she closed the distance between them.
Crawl.
The sound of fabric brushing against the cavern floor was almost comically dramatic in the otherwise silent room.
anwhile, Si Hon’s entire body had gone rigid.
Completely rigid.
If soone had replaced his bones with steel rods, his posture probably wouldn’t have changed at all. His shoulders were stiff, his arms locked awkwardly at his sides, and his brain had clearly entered a state of ergency shutdown.
Inside his head, alarms were going off at maximum volu.
(W-what the hell is this woman doing...?)
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