Ch. 59 Budding Emotions (2)
by AfuhfuihgsChapter 59 – Budding Emotions (2)
‘It’s not impossible. The others won’t just sit around, right?’
Even if they keep changing the traps and paths in the labyrinth, there’s a limit.
And we weren’t the only ones clearing them.
Kim Ji-eun and the other party members were probably breaking through the labyrinth by now.
If we cleared the traps and monsters, the benefits would be felt elsewhere.
Since they would also act according to their own plans, neither I nor the constellations watching this situation could predict the outcome.
“It seems we won’t be able to finish like this. Reina, lower the intensity of your Radiance. I’ll handle the miasma on my own.”
Diana spoke up just as I was starting to feel suffocated.
Seeing my pale face, Diana suggested I conserve my strength.
“Both of us need to have some energy left. If one of us collapses, it’ll just be a burden.”
“…You’re not wrong.”
At her serious expression, I lowered the intensity of my Radiance, which had been brightly purifying the surrounding miasma.
As a result, Diana, now exposed to the miasma, frowned but didn’t suffer any poisoning or injuries.
“You act like you’re carrying a lot on your shoulders.”
But Diana’s words didn’t end there.
When we paused to rest, putting down our weapons in the middle of the corridor.
Her words, spoken while looking directly at me with her unique blue eyes, were clear.
“Do you think there’s anyone who’s climbed this high without carrying something?”
I didn’t know why she suddenly brought this up, but I couldn’t deny her words.
The higher I climbed and the stronger I became, the more I had to carry.
From the broad responsibility of protecting the tower and preventing the world’s destruction to the expectations of Kim Ji-eun, my guild members, and those watching me on Fate Road.
Even if I didn’t know about Fate Road, any top-ranked ranker would inevitably carry some burden.
“I know. Many have collapsed under that weight, and both you and I have passed by such people to reach this point.”
Diana nodded as if it were obvious.
I flinched, sensing there was more to her words.
What was this woman trying to say?
“…Not just anyone can do that. It takes innate talent or years of relentless tempering. Moonlight Sword Radiance, you entered the tower at 18 and are now only 26. What kind of life did you live to be able to do this?”
After hesitating for a moment, she suddenly brought up an unexpected topic.
Her question about my past made my mind go blank.
‘Why is she suddenly asking this?’
My past, specifically “Reina Frontier’s” past before entering the tower, was a long-abandoned topic even by Kim Ji-eun.
Because it didn’t exist in the first place.
I had thoroughly hidden my past, and naturally, no one had uncovered it.
Thanks to that, strange rumors about my lineage or past circulated, but after I personally crushed them, no one dared to spread false rumors openly.
“You don’t have to answer if you can’t. I was just curious. I’d rather ask you directly than believe the rumors.”
Had I failed to control my expression? Diana quickly shook her head.
Her reaction suggested she was genuinely curious.
‘What if I ask about her past… She wouldn’t tell me either.’
Still, it was absurd that Diana of all people was saying this.
Of all the people I knew, wasn’t she the one who hid her past the most thoroughly?
“You’re giving up too easily for someone who was so curious.”
“No. Everyone has something they want to hide. Yes, everyone.”
When I probed, she firmly shook her head.
Her resolve not to pry if it was inappropriate was clear.
Though polite, I could tell the look in her eyes had changed slightly.
“Let’s move.”
With that slightly awkward atmosphere, our break ended.
As we started moving forward again, the labyrinth changed, paths shifted, and monsters poured out.
[The spirits of the tomb are enraged.]
“?!”
Soon after, the dungeon’s atmosphere began to change again.
The monsters’ aggression increased, and they began to rampage.
“Could it be… again…?”
“No, this could be natural. It’s common in this type of dungeon layout.”
I chuckled at Diana’s startled reaction.
I was also a bit startled, but this was likely not the work of malicious constellations.
Rather, it meant our comrades elsewhere had already defeated the mid-boss while we were drawing all the traps and monsters’ aggro.
-“Don’t worry. Your comrades are doing well, so you’ve done enough.”
Serpina’s voice confirmed the party members’ success indirectly.
‘All the trouble we went through to draw aggro wasn’t for nothing.’
If the troublemakers flooded us with traps and monsters, the other side would naturally have an easier time.
After all, the dungeon’s monsters and traps were limited, and even if manipulated, they couldn’t create something out of nothing.
The result was the labyrinth being cleared at an incredible speed.
According to the guide I knew, after defeating the mid-boss, Derick the Graveyard Keeper, the boss room should be close.
While I was a bit worried about the others fighting the boss, Lee Se-jin, the 6th-ranked, was with them.
If they fought together centered around Lee Se-jin, they could definitely clear the boss room even if Diana and I didn’t make it in time.
But the special reward, the unicorn… I wasn’t sure.
Would the tower’s system favor those who cleared the boss room or those who drew most of the traps and monsters?
Of course, my original goal was just to prove my purity to the unicorn.
“If our guess is right, we’re almost done. We’ve come this far, so let’s hold out until the end.”
“Right. We’ve started, so we should see it through.”
I chuckled and looked at Diana, who also nodded with a faint smile.
Our positions as an archer and warrior seemed to complement each other well.
I hadn’t realized it before since she wasn’t the type to actively cause events in the original story.
[The labyrinth is changing.]
‘They’re really determined.’
It was clear that the bastards watching us had given up on the others and were determined to hinder us until the end.
I moved cautiously, but as expected, the path changed immediately.
“What’s this?”
As the shaking from the path change subsided, a rustling sound began to echo.
It was coming from behind.
I turned my head and saw something writhing and surging toward us. At first glance, it looked like a black wave.
“Bugs…”
My eyes widened as I realized what they were.
Giant bugs, larger than a man’s fist, were swarming in countless numbers, covering the walls and floor.
“Eeeek… Aaaah!!!!”
But before I could say anything, Diana let out a horrific scream and froze.
At that moment, I remembered a forgotten detail.
Diana was deathly afraid of bugs.
“No! I hate this!!!!”
“W-Wait! Hold on! This much?!”
Diana, her face pale, started running without looking back.
The warrior who had fought undead without hesitation was now screaming in a high-pitched voice and running wildly.
According to my memory, this was a light-hearted joke in the original story.
The always calm Diana was actually afraid of tiny bugs—a fun little twist.
But the reality of Diana’s phobia seemed far beyond that.
There was clearly something more to it that even I didn’t know.
“Damn it! It’s dangerous!”
The biggest problem was that Diana, having lost her rationality, had fallen into a trap she would never have triggered in her right mind.
With a creaking sound, the trigger Diana stepped on activated, and the floor collapsed, sucking her into a black abyss.
‘Damn it.’
Without time to think, I immediately leaped into the air.
I caught Diana, who was flailing her limbs in midair, and held her close as we fell together.
“Ugh.”
I landed on my back on some hard ground as intended.
Even though I had prepared for the impact, the shock was enough to make me taste blood and send pain coursing through my body.
‘Why am I putting myself through this?’
I clenched my teeth, my body trembling uncontrollably on the cold stone floor.
I resented the troublemakers who had turned a manageable dungeon into a hellish difficulty and the pointless virginity debate that had forced me into this dungeon.
“Moonlight Sword Radiance… are you okay?”
At that moment, Diana, now somewhat calmed, spoke in a weak voice.
Author Note
A/N (Author’s note):
Thank you for reading
Translator Note
T/N (Translator’s note):
A common trope, so let’s bathe her in cockroaches!
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