Chapter 33

“Wh-what the hell?!”

Noquia shouted. Her face burned from the heat, and red embers scattered chaotically before her eyes.

“Why is this happening? Why is it on fire?”

Holanghee flailed helplessly, not knowing what to do.

“Were we attacked? By what?”

Theo scanned the surroundings, but nothing stood out. Blaine just stared blankly at their home as it crumbled into ash.

While all five were distracted by the burning house, the monsters doubled their efforts in smashing the barricades. By the time the group snapped out of it, they were already under heavy pressure. They fought back, but their thoughts were glued to the flames rising behind them.

As if things weren’t bad enough, cyclopes began to emerge from the darkness. Not one—three, just in plain sight. And who knew how many more lurked deeper in the shadows.

Theo quickly checked his quiver. Six arrows left. He had to decide: kill one outright, or spread the damage across all three.

“Do I kill one, or weaken them all?”

He asked the group, but their opinions clashed. While they bickered without settling on a plan, the cyclopes reached the barricades.

Theo sensed the danger and hastily drew his bow, but it was too late—the cyclopes swung their massive arms, shattering the stacked barricades with ease.

Everyone panicked and attacked together. But if barricades couldn’t withstand those hands, what chance did their spears have? Against three cyclopes crushing barricades in unison, they were helpless. Even as they rebuilt, the monsters tore things down faster.

And then came the worst blow: the fire from the house spread to the pile of wood stacked out front. From there, the flames leapt to the barricades themselves.

They stomped their feet in despair. This was the last night. If they survived it, they would have cleared the dungeon!

“Where the hell did that fire even come from?!”

Father shouted furiously in front of the collapsing defenses. The others clenched their jaws and nodded grimly.

Theo tried to draw again, but with no barricades left, the cyclopes closed the distance too fast. Forced to dodge, he couldn’t shoot. With an arrow gripped tight in hand, he rammed it directly into the cyclops at close range. While it reeled in pain, Theo rolled back, nocked another arrow, and fired.

He shot desperately, one arrow after another, until the cyclops collapsed. Drenched in cold sweat, he swept his bangs back and looked around.

The house was burning. The barricades were burning. Ash whirled everywhere. Monsters poured in endlessly. His team scattered, each of them fighting desperately in chaos.

There was no way out. He knew it in his gut. This run was doomed.

And then it proved true—Noquia went down. Blaine fell next. And before long, Theo’s own vision went dark.

All five were thrown back into the dungeon lobby in shambles. Above their heads floated a single word.

They failed to clear the dungeon.

Speechless, they stared at the glowing letters before pulling up the cause of failure. And there they saw it—the iron cage they had picked up, believing it to be treasure, was no treasure at all. It had been a trap. The trap had triggered, burning down their house.

Father, Holanghee, and Noquia all turned in silence to look at Theo and Blaine.

It was a ridiculous collaboration—Blaine’s luck and Theo’s misfortune combining into the worst possible outcome.

They had failed clearing the dungeon, but instead of sulking, they comforted each other with words like “You did well” and “Good job.” Holanghee even said it had been a unique experience, and in the end, they all agreed that regardless of success or failure, it had been fun.

Leaving only the promise to go again someday, the group dispersed in front of the dungeon.

“Hyung, what are you going to do now?”

Blaine followed behind Theo as he headed toward Ratteon. Theo glanced back at him, then gestured to his side.

“Don’t trail behind me. Walk next to me. You’re headed for Ratteon too, right?”

Blaine blinked, then quickly hurried to his side, his face flushed red.

“I’m taking the stagecoach at the relay station. What about you?”

“I’ll do the same.”

When they reached the relay station, a stagecoach was already waiting. Usually, since it was so close to the dungeon, finding an empty coach was rare—but today, oddly enough, one stood there with no passengers. The moment Theo and Blaine climbed aboard, it set off as if it had been waiting just for them.

“Pretty lucky. It’s almost never empty like this.”

Theo leaned against the window, casually enjoying the scenery rolling past, and muttered with a pleased tone. Blaine nodded in agreement.

“Yeah, really.”

“Oh, this route passes through Sanaret Village. Want to stop there?”

“Huh? Sanaret Village?”

“Yeah. There’s a place there that sells date palm wine and gratin. It’s really good, so I drop by whenever I can.”

“I-I’ll go! I want to try it!”

Blaine clenched his fists and nodded with such eagerness that, despite his big build, the sight struck Theo as almost… cute.

Before long, the coach rolled into Sanaret Village, and the two of them stepped off. Theo led the way like a guide, and they soon reached the restaurant. As Blaine followed Theo inside, he caught sight of a signboard standing by the entrance.

It seemed this wasn’t an NPC-run shop but one managed by a player.

The inside wasn’t very big, but it was bustling with noise. Blaine, distracted by looking around, bumped into Theo without noticing him standing there. He was about to apologize when he froze—Theo was staring ahead with the sourest expression, like he’d bitten into something rotten.

Following Theo’s gaze, Blaine saw Aslan in the middle of a noisy group of players. Aslan must have felt their eyes on him, because he turned, spotted Theo and Blaine at the entrance, and looked startled.

“Oh? Hey!”

He waved enthusiastically, grinning. His gesture drew the attention of the other players around him, who also noticed Theo and greeted him warmly. Judging by their demeanor, they were likely YesYesu guild members.

Theo acknowledged the greetings with a nod and steered Blaine toward a nearby table. Aslan, as if he had been waiting for them, quickly broke away from his group and joined their table.

“Fancy running into you here.”

“Yeah. Hate it already.”

“Don’t be like that.”

Aslan twisted his shoulders playfully, leaning on Theo and clinging to him. Theo shoved him off with an arm, then a leg when that wasn’t enough. Of course, Aslan only latched on harder.

“You coming back from hunting?”

“Yeah.”

“Where? Where’d you go?”

“Survival Dungeon.”

“Oh, the two of you?”

“No. With Father and the others.”

“Ah, got it. So, what are you doing now? If you’ve got nothing, let’s hit a dungeon together.”

“I can’t. No weapon.”

“Huh? Weapon? Why don’t you have one?”

“Repair.”

Theo answered flatly, then told Blaine to wait before heading to the counter to order food. Even then, Aslan trailed after him, peppering him with questions.

“If you don’t have a weapon, just do another Survival Dungeon run.”

“No thanks. Too much of a hassle. I’m going home to rest.”

“Then I’ll come with you.”

“Argh, give it a rest!”

Theo slammed the food down on the table with a loud thud, snapping in irritation. Blaine flinched, startled, while Aslan covered his mouth with both fists, feigning shock.

From behind came the playful jeers of guild members—asking if Aslan had pissed him off again, or telling them to stop bickering already.

Theo growled at Aslan to buzz off, then sat down and slid the date palm wine and gratin toward Blaine. Naturally, Aslan plopped himself into the seat beside Theo and started stealing spoonfuls of Theo’s gratin. In the end, Theo had to order another plate for himself.

After polishing off every last bite of Theo’s dish, Aslan patted his full stomach and slung an arm around Theo’s shoulder.

“Hey, but seriously—are you never gonna join our guild?”

At those words, Blaine stiffened and lifted his head.

“I’ll join if you quit.”

“Ah… cold as ever.”

Aslan made a show of wiping away fake tears for his guildmates to see, and the YesYesu members immediately joined in, cheering and hollering at Theo to come over to their side.

Theo’s face twisted in frustration while Aslan kept pestering him. Caught between the two, Blaine wore a nervous expression, unsure what to do. It felt like at any moment Theo might actually say yes and switch to YesYesu.

Then a memory flashed through Blaine’s mind—Theo’s voice.

‘If someone picks a fight, hit back. If you can’t, at least report it to the guild.’

‘For now, whatever happens, make sure to tell the guild.’

This wasn’t exactly someone picking a fight… but something was happening.

‘Reporting it should still count, right? That’s what Hyung had said.’

Blaine stared at Theo. When Theo noticed the gaze and looked back in confusion, Blaine steeled his nerves. He quietly opened the guild tab and typed,

[Guild] [Blaine: Guild Master, Aslan keeps bugging Theo hyung to join his guild]

The moment he sent it, Blaine’s heart pounded like a drum. He sneaked a guilty glance at Theo, but Theo hadn’t noticed the guild chat yet, still caught up arguing with Aslan.

The chat window blew up with activity. Theo remained oblivious.

And then, with a deafening crash, the restaurant door exploded inward. Everyone inside—including the shop owner—snapped their heads toward the entrance, gasping in shock.

At first they thought a monster had invaded the shop. A sinister figure radiating heat scanned the interior with burning white eyes, its ragged breath hissing between bared teeth.

It hunched low, swelling its body in a threatening posture.

It was none other than Father.

And in her grasp, dangling half-conscious, was Mr. Hana, clutched by the collar.