Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Otherworld Cheat Harem.

Episode 2: Descent (2).

I lied about my skill, but saying I was good with a sword wasn’t a lie.

When I was on Earth. I trained by swinging the sword every day.

If nothing else, I could confidently say no one my age handled a sword better than I did.

“What about you guys? It doesn’t matter whether it’s a combat ability or not. We’ll find a way to use it somehow.”

Deokgu asked, scanning the group. That was when a girl raised her hand.

“I’m supposedly capable of controlling ice.”

“Can you fight?”

“Maybe.”

When Seoyoon, who was the top of the class, said that, Deokgu nodded as if he understood and sent her and Hanyoung towards me.

“Nice to meet you.”

“Yeah.”

“Why do I have to listen to that guy…?”

There was me, skilled with a sword; Seoyoon, who awakened the ability to control ice; and Hanyoung, who awakened super strength.

We gathered three people, but no more fighters appeared. Naturally, Deokgu tilted his head in confusion.

“Why is this all we’ve got…?”

“Oh, I can move my hands twice as fast, apparently.”

“…Is that really your ability?”

“Yeah, seriously. What? Do you think I’m lying?”

“…No. Fine, whatever.”

Looking around at their expressions, I realized something. Just like I lied about my ability, the others could lie about theirs, too.

And obviously, there weren’t many who would volunteer to fight those monsters right after seeing their friend die.

Their ability was already revealed and couldn’t be hidden.

Or they had some reason to conceal their ability.

Or perhaps…

‘They have nerves of steel, so much so that it doesn’t faze them.’

Seoyoon had a reputation in school for being cold-blooded, with rumors of ice running through her veins instead of blood. She wasn’t even a close friend, and even if a few classmates, like delinquents, died, she wouldn’t bat an eyelash.

That was probably why she revealed her abilities. Such monsters weren’t particularly frightening to her.

“But three people isn’t enough…”

“I’ll go.”

“Huh?”

Deokgu quickly bowed his head at the voice he heard. Eunha, who barely reached his waist, was raising her hand.

“No, but…”

“It’s fine. My ability is pain immunity… As long as I don’t die, the Class President can heal me, right? Isn’t that right, Class Pres?”

“Huh? Uh… yeah, I guess…”

Eunha began approaching us as she spoke. I wasn’t sure how much help she would be, standing just around 150 centimeters, but there was one thing I was certain of.

‘These guys are total trash.’

Eunha was the smallest girl among us. Her weight surely didn’t exceed 40 kilograms, just like her height.

A girl like her, with an ability that wouldn’t help in combat, stepped forward to fight, yet kids twice her size and weight were avoiding eye contact.

“Well then! Let’s have these four go, and before that… everyone, strip.”

“What?”

The girls grimaced at Deokgu’s words, clutching their chests. The expressions on the boys’ faces turned grim.

But Deokgu, uninterested in 3D girls, clarified with a blank expression.

“What do you mean, what? Take off those padded jackets. I’ll sell them. Oh, and hand over your smartphones too.”

“But this is worth over a million won…”

“And? If we don’t sell it, we’ll have no money. You’re not seriously thinking of sending them in unarmed, are you?”

Hearing Deokgu’s words, I pretended to take off my padding. Now that I thought about it, he had a point.

‘This guy… he’s smarter than I thought.’

No matter how capable someone is, sending them in with a weapon versus sending them in barehanded is a completely different psychological experience.

Considering he wasn’t even the one going, the fact that he thought this far meant he might be more competent than he seemed.

After selling the paddings and smartphones, Deokgu took the four of us to the guild.

At first, we wandered a bit, but for someone with information-based abilities like him, finding the guild was no different from using a GPS.

Pointing at us from the guild’s counter and saying this and that, the guild staff widened their eyes and welcomed us warmly.

“You’re a skill holder? Welcome!”

The guild staff handed us four small badges. Then, with the remaining money, we rented our weapons.

“What kind of weapon do you want?”

“A one-handed sword. Longer than 60 centimeters but not over a meter.”

“Anything.”

“A big hammer.”

“…Dagger.”

I received a sword, Seoyoon got a long staff, Hanyoung received a hammer, and Eunha got a small dagger.

Equipped with weapons and light armor, we followed Deokgu’s guidance to the entrance of the monster-filled dungeon.

At the dungeon entrance, he handed us a map and said,

“There won’t be any traps on the first floor, just goblins. This is the map of the first floor.”

“Okay. Thanks.”

“Goblins are worth about eight thousand won each in our currency. For eleven people to eat and sleep, we’ll need at least fifty of them.”

“So many. How are we gonna move fifty corpses?”

“When they die, a stone will drop. Just bring that back.”

“Is that all?”

“Yeah. We’ll also try to find a way to survive in the city… Don’t die.”

“You take care too.”

With those words, we entered the cave to hunt the monsters lurking underground.

A subterranean cave where monsters appear was called a dungeon.

According to Deokgu’s ability, it had been called that for so long that no one knew when it started.

Modern people who entered the dungeon felt that the name suited it perfectly.

‘Can’t see a thing.’

This was a subterranean prison. One that failed to manage its inmates.

Where prisoners revolted and coiled like snakes, waiting for their guards.

An underground world filled with malice.

I raised the stick I received from Deokgu. From the magic stone embedded at the end, a strong light shot out.

But the light didn’t travel far before it was consumed by the darkness, as though the darkness had substance, swallowing the light whole.

‘The visibility is roughly… 3.5 meters? It doesn’t seem to be 4 meters.’

The field of vision wasn’t wide. As a result, my other senses began to sharpen.

“Damn… why are we doing this?”

“Quiet.”

“What? Are you ignoring me too? Do I look like a nobody because of what Deokgu said?”

Hanyoung, who had entered the dungeon, began to fume as he spoke. Watching him, I sighed deeply in exasperation.

“Be quiet. The sound echoes. Are you going to handle all the monsters if they swarm?”

“Damn it, I’ll handle them!”

“With that arm that gets messed up after one swing?”

“…Damn. This is really shitty.”

Hanyoung finally closed his mouth and moved forward. Though his grumbling wasn’t pleasant to hear, it couldn’t be controlled.

But our progress didn’t last long. Footsteps began rustling from all directions, seemingly drawn by his shouting.

Familiar footsteps—goblins. Upon hearing them, the grumbling Hanyoung pressed his lips tight and gripped the hammer handle firmly.

“Keeruk?”

And when a goblin appeared, tilting its head about four meters away, he immediately charged and raised his hammer.

“Die, you piece of trash!!”

BANG!

Hanyoung, lifting a sledgehammer with a length of 2 meters, a diameter of 30 centimeters, and weighing 100 kilograms, slammed it down directly at the goblin.

By the formula, Weight × Speed = Destructive Power, the goblin was flattened, leaving no corpse behind.

“Did you see that? Did you freaking see that?”

With just one swing, Hanyoung panted heavily and lifted the hammer. Then he showed off his unharmed arm.

I passed by him to check the corpse.

In the place where the goblin had been, there wasn’t even a bone fragment left, just a solitary stone that Deokgu had mentioned. It was a mana stone.

“Hey, pick this up.”

Ignoring Hanyoung’s order, I picked up the mana stone and stuffed it into my backpack.

‘This thing costs eight thousand won?’

And with a bitter smile, I thought about how many of these mana stones we had to collect just to scrape by each day.

‘For us, with our cheat abilities, it’s easy to catch them like this, but… originally, they aren’t guys to be underestimated.’

They were armed enemies. Even with armor, there were gaps, and these things were small and agile enough to exploit them.

And now imagine dozens of them attacking at once.

Yes, dozens of them…

‘Come to think of it, why is there only one?’

The first time we encountered goblins, dozens of them had swarmed us. But now, there was just one.

Feeling something was off, I walked forward, only to see dozens of goblins impaled on ice pillars waiting for us.

“What the…?”

“Wow—how many is this?”

Seeing the ice pillars, I turned to look at Seoyoon. She spoke calmly with an expressionless face.

“I thought I could do it, so I did.”

Seoyoon said. Her words reminded me of her ability.

[The ability to control ice.]

Hanyoung, with his super strength, wiped out dozens of goblins in a single attack.

If so, other kids with abilities could achieve the same result.

Seoyoon was proof of that.

“Kiieeeek!”

A goblin impaled on an ice pillar groaned loudly. But it was futile. All the goblins nearby were also pierced through.

I drew my sword and approached the goblin.

‘At this rate, I won’t even have a chance to show off.’

With just a bit of skill in handling the sword, there was no opportunity to show off.

So, all I could do were the menial tasks that the kids with powerful abilities wouldn’t bother with.

Thwack.

The well-sharpened blade of my longsword sank deeply into the goblin’s neck. After convulsing briefly with its eyes rolled back, it died and turned into a magic stone.

Picking up the mana stone that fell to the ground, I checked the number of remaining goblins.

“So many…”

I thought, ‘At least there won’t be any shortage of today’s quota,’ as I slowly stabbed each one in the neck.

Beep beep beep beep!

A sharp electronic sound blared from my wristwatch. I promptly turned off the alarm and checked the time.

The promised meeting time with Deokgu was approaching.

“Already?”

Now somewhat accustomed to controlling his strength, Hanyoung twirled his wrist and asked.

I nodded, conveying that it was indeed that time.

“If we’re late, we won’t be able to exchange the stones.”

“That’s true. Okay, let’s go.”

Hanyoung took the lead and walked ahead. Having taken down a dozen goblins, he seemed to have successfully blown away all the stress of the day, his steps noticeably light.

Seoyoon, having slaughtered dozens of goblins, wore an indifferent expression, while Eunha, who had done nothing, wore a stiffened expression.

“Are you hurt?”

“…No.”

When I approached and asked, Eunha glanced at my face before looking at the ground and answering. Although I felt slightly offended by this, I laughed it off, saying it was fine, and returned to my spot.

Since the four of us weren’t particularly close, the journey back was painfully quiet.

Only after barely escaping the dungeon did I take a breath and look up at the sky.

‘Wow, this is quite beautiful.’

Countless stars adorned the night sky. It was a sight rarely seen in the modern world, tainted by environmental pollution.

If I had a smartphone, I would have taken a picture to keep, but most modern items, including the smartphone, had been sold off a long time ago.

How much time had passed while stargazing like that? Deokgu and the Class President came to greet us with smiles.

“Wow, our brave warriors! You did well, right? No one’s hurt?”

“If you’re hurt, let me know. I’ll treat you.”

“No one got hurt… The ability turned out to be more of a cheat than I thought.”

“Of course, it’s a cheat ability, isn’t it?”

Deokgu asked with a smile about today’s harvest. I honestly answered the amount of magic stones we acquired today, and he was slightly surprised that we had gathered that much.

“Oh, that’s amazing. Let’s go to the guild to exchange it and then head to the inn.”

“Did you already book a room?”

“Yes. I booked the finest inn where you can even take a bath.”

We went to the guild to exchange money and headed to the inn guided by Deokgu. The first floor of the inn was a tavern. A tavern where adventurers, having finished their explorations, were noisily drinking.

And in the middle of that tavern. Gahee, with braided hair, was lightly singing.

“Why is she singing here…?”

It was Han Gahee, who often skipped school, claiming to be an idol trainee. Even with the world changed, her looks and singing talent hadn’t faded, and people drank, using her song as a side dish.

“Hehe, I told you we’d figure out something to do up here, didn’t I?”

Deokgu spoke with a smile. Her ability was to enchant anyone who heard her singing, and when combined with her skills as a former idol trainee, this was a piece of cake.

I looked at Deokgu. The more I thought about it, the more competent he seemed. It made me wonder why he used to waste time laughing at anime back in school.

“Hey, where’s my room? I want to wash up and rest.”

“Ah, Seoyoon. Sorry. Choose any room you like from the fifth one in the innermost part…”

“The innermost one. I’ll use it alone.”

With that, Seoyoon left those words and went inside. Deokgu seemed dumbfounded, as if he hadn’t anticipated this situation.

“Oh, what? A private room? Awesome! Then I’ll take the fifth room?”

“No, I mean—”

“What? We risked our lives working, and you can’t even do that for us?”

“…Yeah, fine.”

With that, Hanyoung headed upstairs. Deokgu looked at Eunha and me with an expression that seemed to say, ‘You’re not serious, right?’

I smiled and spoke.

“…Where’s our room?”

“Dojin, from now on, we’re friends.”

“Suddenly spouting nonsense.”

I shoved Deokgu away as he tried to hug me and found a table to eat.

Clink.

Seoyoon, who entered the innermost room, not only locked the door but also froze the doorknob solid with her ability.

After confirming that no one was watching, she threw off her clothes and entered the bathroom that was inside the room.

A blurry mirror, a bowl of water, and a toilet teeming with slime greeted her.

‘Disgusting…’

After quickly washing her face at the sink, she discovered a large wooden tub and a small dipper inside the bathroom.

Frowning slightly at the rustic bathtub, she left the bathroom.

From a modern society full of comforts to being thrust into another world overnight, she had faced all kinds of inconveniences. But what bothered her most was…

‘Why is my body so hot?’

Ever since she entered the dungeon. More precisely, since she started using her abilities, a slight fever had been tormenting her.

If it had been a throbbing headache, she might have thought she had caught a cold, but it wasn’t that kind of fever.

‘My whole body is hot.’

Especially her lower abdomen ached and burned. She knew very well what this meant. She wasn’t a child.

However, at the same time, knowing what kind of reaction it was only made her more puzzled.

In the end, she suffered silently through the night.