I imdiately spoke into the radio.
“I hear you.”
– ……!
Hong Yeon-hwa flinched in surprise before asking a question that implied many things.
– So… how is it?
“Not bad. What about you?”
– Sa here. Have you contacted Go Hyeon-woo?
“No, not yet.”
It seed that the Go Hyeon-woo and Shin Byeong-cheol duo still hadn’t managed to get their hands on a radio.
It was more likely due to bad luck than failing to find a hidden room.
Go Hyeon-woo wasn’t particularly lucky to begin with, and with the teahouse owner Shin Byeong-cheol right beside him, their odds weren’t great.
Still, I wasn’t too worried.
“Those two will manage just fine. If they get one by tomorrow, they’ll contact us.”
– O-Oh… okay…
“How’s the item farming going?”
– Well…
Hong Yeon-hwa briefly listed the items she had gathered from the hidden rooms.
She hadn’t maximized efficiency the way we had, but it was clear she had looted thoroughly.
A couple of powerful items were mixed in as well.
I nodded slightly and spoke.
“We should regroup soon.”
If their farming wasn’t complete, we would’ve continued moving separately, but this seed sufficient.
Besides, sticking together as a group of four would be the safest way to protect our collected items.
Hong Yeon-hwa seed to agree as she asked,
– Should we co to you?
“We’ll co to you. Just give your location.”
– Alright…
Hong Yeon-hwa eagerly explained their current position.
Got it.
The map was also incomplete, so there was bound to be so margin of error.
Of course, walking a little more wasn’t a big problem.
After ending the communication, I checked the map and set our direction.
Then, walking over to one side of the wall with Seo Ye-in, I handed her a [Phantom Potion].
“Here, take this.”
“Mhmm.”
“Drink it and start running imdiately.”
“Okay.”
The potion’s effect lasted only a minute.
We had to move fast to pass through as many walls as possible in that short ti.
First, we held hands.
Moving quickly carried the risk of getting separated.
Then we downed the potion at the sa ti.
In an instant, the color drained from our bodies, and we beca semi-transparent like ghosts.
“……?”
Seo Ye-in looked down at herself in fascination, but there was no ti for that.
Without hesitation, I grabbed her hand and started running.
As we passed through the first wall, everything went dark for a mont before the opposite wall ca into view.
We sprinted toward it, and once again, darkness engulfed our vision before revealing the next wall.
Like that, we continued passing through wall after wall.
Around us, all sorts of things flashed by in an instant.
Traps activated, startled students gasped at the sight of us, and ghost monsters either attacked or tried to chase after us.
But we ignored everything while focusing solely on running.
…59 seconds.
The mont the count in my head reached a minute, I ca to a stop.
Imdiately, the potion’s effect wore off, and our bodies returned to normal.
I checked the map and had a small thought.
We really ca a long way.
Thanks to cutting straight through the dungeon, we had managed to reach a spot incredibly far from our original location in just one minute.
We were now quite close to the location Hong Yeon-hwa had pointed out.
“Just a little farther to go.”
“Mhmm.”
As she responded, Seo Ye-in reached out a hand.
When I looked at her in silence, she gave it a little wave.
I had a feeling I knew what she ant, so I spoke.
“Young miss, that was the last of the potion.”
“What a sha.”
Judging by how eager she seed, she must have found it quite fun.
But there was nothing I could do. We had only had two.
It was a fairly rare item, so there was no telling if we’d co across another one anyti soon.
After making our way through the labyrinth for a while, I spotted a head of red hair in the distance.
Leaning against the wall beside her was Baek Jun-seok.
Just then, our eyes t, and I raised a hand in greeting.
“……!”
Seeing that, Hong Yeon-hwa ca dashing toward us.
But when she was about halfway, I cast Wind Force.
Whoosh!
The sudden headwind drastically slowed her down. She flailed in place for a mont before losing her balance and falling backward.
She then looked over at . Her eyes were filled with a mix of shock and betrayal.
“Why…?”
The answer didn’t co from ; it ca from sowhere else.
The ceiling suddenly opened up, and thick stone pillars ca crashing down.
Boom! Boom!
“You should watch for traps.”
“Ah… Sorry.”
She must have been so excited to see us that she completely forgot.
She had a rather headstrong personality, and once she set her sights on sothing, she tended to focus on it obsessively.
Baek Jun-seok who had been following behind spoke up.
“I thought we’d have to wait a while, but you got here fast. Were you nearby?”
“We were a bit far away, but we used an item.”
“I see.”
Baek Jun-seok nodded his head as if that made sense.
Then, he asked another question.
“What’s the plan now?”
“Let’s wrap things up here for today.”
Looking closely at Seo Ye-in’s face, her eyelids were slightly drooping.
Her sloth battery was flashing a warning signal.
She had been tirelessly exploring different parts of the dungeon all day and had fought multiple battles.
Hong Yeon-hwa and Baek Jun-seok were trying not to show it, but they also looked exhausted.
We’ve already t today’s quota.
Besides, tomorrow would be an even more grueling day.
All things considered, taking a break here seed like the best choice.
With that in mind, I led the group toward a hidden room.
However, unlike most hidden rooms, this one didn’t have any items inside.
That was because its purpose was entirely different.
It’s a resting place.
Iron Maiden was, at its core, a trap dungeon.
Since new traps were constantly being added in real ti, resting anywhere carelessly was an easy way to get caught off guard.
On top of that, ghost-type monsters frequently passed through walls.
What if a banshee suddenly let out a shriek while we were sleeping?
Just imagining it was enough to be annoying.
In that sense, this hidden room was far safer.
There were no traps installed inside, and it was slightly off the usual paths that monsters traveled.
The mont we stepped in, everyone let out a sigh of relief.
Considering this was a two-person, three-team final exam, the room was spacious enough to fit five or six people lying down in sleeping bags.
Other than that, though, it was completely empty.
Baek Jun-seok and Hong Yeon-hwa looked around the room and each made a comnt.
“It’s pretty spacious. The hard floor is a downside, but we’ll be sleeping in sleeping bags anyway.”
“A few days should be fine.”
Once everyone settled into their spots, the first order of business was filling their stomachs.
The nu, of course, was calorie bars.
I handed a spicy calorie bar to Seo Ye-in and said,
“Why not give it a try?”
– Shake, shake.
“Then you’ll starve?”
“…….”
Seo Ye-in stared silently at my hand, seemingly torn.
Just then, Hong Yeon-hwa hesitantly approached and held out her own calorie bar.
“Um, here…”
It was a mild vegetable-flavored one.
Seo Ye-in’s eyes widened slightly.
She had been debating whether to go hungry or sacrifice her tongue to the spicy flavor and now, a lifeline had appeared.
“…Accepted.”
Without hesitation, Seo Ye-in and Hong Yeon-hwa exchanged calorie bars.
Just yesterday, the atmosphere had been awkward, but now, it wasn’t too bad.
After quickly finishing off the calorie bars, we gathered and checked the items we had looted.
I turned to Baek Jun-seok and asked,
“You don’t have earplugs, do you?”
“Couldn’t find any. Fighting banshees was a nightmare every ti.”
At least Park Na-ri’s team could dispel debuffs. These two, on the other hand, probably had to endure them until they wore off naturally.
“We have one spare. Here.”
“Oh… thanks.”
Hong Yeon-hwa’s face lit up as she took the earplugs.
Judging by Baek Jun-seok’s words, they must have suffered quite a bit against the banshees.
Since their firepower was strong, it only made sense to prioritize giving them the earplugs.
About half of the items Hong Yeon-hwa’s duo had looted overlapped with ours. Things like backpacks, maps, and radios.
But there were also a few unique ones.
[Exorcism Talisman]
A stiff, yellow talisman.
It had incomprehensible words written in red script.
The talisman had two effects.
1. When attached, ghost-type monsters would have a much harder ti approaching.
2. When torn, its effect would increase dramatically for a limited ti.
Right now, we were using the first effect.
Even though this was a hidden room, there was still a slight chance that specters or banshees could appear. But with this, that chance was reduced to almost zero.
Sothing told we’d end up using the second effect too.
Of course, that was just a gut feeling. I had to wait and see how things played out.
The extra sleeping bags we had picked up were gratefully accepted by Hong Yeon-hwa’s duo, and as for the Screaming Jar, we decided to hold off on using it since Baek Jun-seok still hadn’t gotten his hands on a pair of earplugs.
“Good work, everyone. Let’s get so rest.”
With everything settled, we each started laying out our sleeping bags.
anwhile, Seo Ye-in tugged at my sleeve and muttered,
“Kim Ho pillow.”
“Yeah, yeah, do whatever you want.”
***
Late at night.
Hong Yeon-hwa tossed and turned, unable to fall asleep.
She was exhausted, yet sleep refused to co. It was a frustrating contradiction.
The biggest reason was the person sleeping right next to her.
“Grroooonk… kffft… kff kff.”
A combination of snoring and what sounded like choking.
She had lost count of how many tis she had drifted off only to be jolted awake by that noise.
I swear, I’m about to fire punch him…
Inside her sleeping bag, Hong Yeon-hwa clenched and unclenched her fists.
But in the end, she couldn’t bring herself to actually do it and simply swallowed her frustration.
If anything, it just made sleep feel even more impossible.
Turning her head the other way, she caught sight of—
Those two are seriously sleeping like rocks…
Seo Ye-in and Kim Ho were completely knocked out.
Of course, their sleeping bags were pressed tightly together.
She had seen this sight plenty of tis since midterms, so it wasn’t exactly surprising.
She had even personally experienced the effect of the Kim Ho pillow before.
Watching them, a thought suddenly popped into her head.
…Should I?
Should I try sleeping on the Kim Ho pillow too?
Should I just go over there and push my sleeping bag up against his?
But then, a more rational thought imdiately followed.
That’d make look crazy.
Seo Ye-in was naturally close with Kim Ho and had even received sothing like permission before going to sleep.
On the other hand, Hong Yeon-hwa didn’t think she was that close to him and hadn’t discussed anything about this matter.
But if she pushed her sleeping bag up against his, how would Kim Ho see her?
That was the rational thought running through Hong Yeon-hwa’s mind.
…I’m so sleepy. I can’t fall asleep, but I’m exhausted.
“Krng-kak-kak, krng-heuk, kak.”
Extre fatigue, combined with the irritation from Baek Jun-seok’s snoring, was gradually overpowering her reason.
Then, in the midst of it all, a brilliant idea flashed through Hong Yeon-hwa’s mind.
…What if it was an accident?
The distance between her sleeping bag and Kim Ho’s wasn’t that far.
In that case, couldn’t she just roll around in her sleep since she had a “bad sleeping habit” and accidentally end up with their sleeping bags touching?
As soon as that thought took hold, Hong Yeon-hwa began rolling around inside her sleeping bag like a caterpillar on the verge of tamorphosis.
When she finally brushed against Kim Ho’s sleeping bag, her heart clenched for a mont, but luckily, he didn’t seem to wake up.
She cautiously rested her head against the Kim Ho pillow.
…This is ridiculously comfortable.
She wriggled a bit inside her sleeping bag and adjusted herself into an even more comfortable position.
Once she settled in, sleep quickly began to wash over her.
At so point, Baek Jun-seok’s loud snoring had faded into the background and she couldn’t hear it.
In her final monts of consciousness, another safeguard ca to mind.
I’ll just wake up early and slip away.
A perfect cri.
If she got up earlier than everyone else, there would be no need for any excuses.
She was never a heavy sleeper to begin with, so it wouldn’t be difficult at all.
Pleased with her own ticulous plan, Hong Yeon-hwa finally let go of her last bit of tension.
Her consciousness soon faded into darkness…
And the next morning, Hong Yeon-hwa overslept.
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