Choe Da-in, who had been looking at us with a pitiful gaze for a moment, immediately started speaking again.
“Getting food is relatively easier. You can eat edible plants or fruits, or hunt animals.”
“Are there animals?”
“Yeah. But they’re probably . . . . . a bit different from what you’re thinking.”
I know. There’s almost nothing that’s truly ordinary among the creatures that live here.
Choe Da-in relayed her immediate conclusion to us, who were nodding our heads.
“You’ll probably end up sticking with me. Basically, you’ll be in charge of gathering food. Honestly, I don’t think it’s dangerous. . . . . . But things have been difficult lately.”
“It’s okay. In any case, we need to join forces as much as possible if we want to get out of here.”
“Yeah. You’re pretty tough. But honestly, it’s going to be hard.”
After that, Choe Da-in hung her head as if she had given up and started talking about her thoughts.
“The leader and Han-soo are really strong. Tae-gil is also skilled enough to be respected anywhere he goes outside. But even they haven’t been able to fully grasp the true nature of this place in over seven years.”
“. . . . . . .”
“And I saw it myself. There’s a monster here that ordinary exorcists like us have no chance of defeating. It doesn’t seem to be coming out of the deep parts right now, but . . . . . we’ll probably have to face it if we want to escape.”
“. . . Is that so.”
“Sorry for telling you something so unpleasant. But I hope you don’t end up dying pointlessly just because you wanted to get out of here.”
Choe Da-in was a very kind person. However, I still couldn’t simply accept her kindness.
「𝙄 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙣𝙤 𝙞𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙤𝙛 𝙟𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝙡𝙚𝙩𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙚 𝙥𝙖𝙨𝙨 𝙗𝙮 𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚.」
I can’t waste my time in a place like this. There’s still so much I have to do outside.
「𝙄𝙩’𝙨 𝙧𝙞𝙙𝙞𝙘𝙪𝙡𝙤𝙪𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙄 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙚𝙣𝙜𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙀𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙣𝙖𝙡 𝙇𝙖𝙗𝙮𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙩𝙝 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙨𝙚 𝙨𝙥𝙚𝙘𝙨. . . . . . .」
Originally, such unreasonable feats are exactly what veterans are supposed to accomplish.
After that, I continued to receive the rest of the information with Han Seo-ah, and in my head, I kept calculating.
In order to prepare a strategy to clear the Eternal Labyrinth, the ultimate labyrinth.
🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷
𝘢𝐰𝕖𝘣s𝚝𝔬𝚛𝕚𝘦𝐬.𝕔𝐨𝔪
“Wow, is that for real?”
“Yes! It’s definite information!”
In a deep cave, a group of people are chewing on dried meat and having a conversation.
“Apparently, they were two kids. And now they’re planning to go around gathering food with Choe Da-in.”
“Yeah. That’s right. Huh, really. Can things really go this smoothly?”
They had been steadily waiting for an opportunity to target one person in particular. That person was Choe Da-in from Yoo Tae-jin’s group.
“We promised not to bother each other, but I just can’t forgive that woman.”
Ignoring the throbbing pain from the large scar carved into his abdomen, the man got up from his seat, lightly stretching.
“Let’s bring all three of them. Even if Yoo Tae-jin is a one-man army, he’s honestly put up with a lot at this point.”
“Should we bring the man without killing him?”
“Are you an idiot? We might be able to use him as a hostage if things go south. Those guys hate it when people die for no reason.”
Make a non-aggression pact and cooperate if a chance to escape arises? That was nonsense.
“Those X-like bastards. Why don’t they understand that we can’t get out of here with just our kind?”
The leader of the outlaws, Woo Ki-bum, was keenly aware of that fact.
Even with his level close to 1st-grade, there were creatures everywhere in this place that he couldn’t fight.
In Woo Ki-bum’s opinion, it was impossible to escape from this hellish place unless they borrowed the power of special-grade exorcists, also known as the transcendents.
“We’re just going to grow old and die here. So shouldn’t we enjoy the things we couldn’t do outside to our heart’s content?”
“Yes! Hyung-nim!”
“You’re right!”
Originally, the outlaws led by Woo Ki-bum had occupied the base point, but everything changed after Yoo Tae-jin arrived.
“Tch. I finally made a perfect paradise.”
But now, it was time to take back everything.
“Isn’t that right, sister?”
“Oh, yeah. Do whatever you want. I also want to meet this Yoo Tae-jin guy myself.”
Honestly, Woo Ki-bum could never defeat Yoo Tae-jin. However, Woo Ki-bum was no longer the leader of this place.
Looking at the woman sitting on the stone throne with an indifferent attitude, Woo Ki-bum smiled wryly.
🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷
𝔞𝐰𝙚𝔟𝐬ṫ̇𝙤𝙧𝚒𝐞𝚜.ċ̇𝙤ᴍ
“First, show me your most confident spells. I need to know how much you’re capable of.”
The next day, we woke up early in the morning and followed Choe Da-in to a secluded place nearby.
Since it was still difficult to properly use advanced spells anyway, Han Seo-ah and I brought out the most powerful spells we had among the ones we could use.
Choe Da-in nodded and let out a quiet exclamation of admiration.
“. . . You’re definitely skilled. I couldn’t do this much when I was your age. Especially the younger one, you’re only seventeen?”
“Well, I am a student at Cheonghwa Academy.”
“Speaking of which, I’m also from there. . . . . . .”
Although she said she was checking our skills, it’s not a good idea to show all our cards right away. That’s why I had already agreed with Han Seo-ah to hide the fact that my specialty was shikigami magic.
Choe Da-in, who had been thinking about something for a while, turned her gaze toward me and asked a question.
“Even so, wouldn’t it be difficult to catch a B-rank with this level of skill?”
“Our Compatibility was good, and we fought after making thorough preparations. It would’ve been difficult if we had just competed with pure skill.”
I gave a somewhat convincing explanation, but she didn’t seem to completely believe me. She probably thought I was just bluffing so that I wouldn’t be looked down on in an unfamiliar place.
In any case, I wasn’t completely trusting them either, so I had no intention of correcting her. There’s no harm in hiding my abilities.
“Then let’s go get food starting today, like we talked about. We have to move carefully, and since there are limited safe points, it’ll probably take longer than you think.”
“Yes. Understood.”
For now, we were just adapting to the situation in front of us in order to survive in this place.