Chapter 42: I Want to Do It Inside the Dungeon (5)

“…I’ll just rest for a moment. I’ll go check it out.”

“Mmmph…. B-be careful….”

After laying Cha Yuri down on the rock, I took out my greatsword from my subspace pocket and immediately moved towards the ancient tree where I sensed a presence.

‘A monster? Or another Hunter?’

If it was the former, I could just cut it down, but the latter could potentially lead to some troublesome issues.

I could get banned from entering dungeons for reasons like disturbing the peace within the dungeon, and frankly, if even one or two people knew my face behind this mask, the chances of trouble would only increase within the Association.

If they witnessed a sex scene inside the dungeon, my face would surely have left quite an impression. Especially since it was sex without even the pretense of a mysterious mask.

Rather than get caught up in such bothersome affairs, I hoped it was a monster, so I took a stance, slipped behind the ancient tree, and what appeared before my eyes was.

“…Mrow, meow.”

A small cat, buried amongst a woman’s clothes.

“What, it was you?”

“M-meow?!”

“I thought you were a monster or another Hunter. You startled me.”

“Meow, meow-ow.”

Still, a cat inside a dungeon.

The ecosystem inside a dungeon is a bit different from the outside world. And naturally, this environment isn’t exactly suitable for Earth’s native creatures to survive in.

Small creatures like insects might manage, but a cat living inside a dungeon is bound to be strange in many ways, so it probably wasn’t born here.

The most plausible guess was that it got caught up in another Hunter’s mobile warp, came in together, and then got trapped. It must have gotten lost wandering around the dungeon before crawling into the warm clothes that happened to be lying there.

“How cute. What’s your name?”

“Min… meow….”

“Right, Min-meow. Did you perhaps get lost and wander into the dungeon?”

“Meow…. M-meow….”

“…You’re a remarkably articulate cat.”

I feel like this is the first time I’ve ever heard a cat cry with such clear diction.

Of course, even setting that aside, its glossy gray fur and sleek body lines were quite cute in various ways, so by the time I came to my senses, my hand was already reaching towards the gray cat’s head.

-Rub, rub.

“M-meow?”

“Yes, yes. Min-meow.”

“M-meow…. Meow-ow….”

At first, it seemed flustered, its body stiffening at my touch, but as soon as my palm reached its head, it calmly started kneading and quietly accepted my petting.

…Come to think of it, didn’t they say cats like being petted on the upper part of their rear the most?

-Rub, rub.

“M-meow….”

My hand, which had been petting its head, moved down to rub its neck and back, and as it naturally slid past its waist to reach the area near its rear,

-Rub.

“H-hiss?!”

Suddenly, the gray cat rose from its kneading position and kicked my palm with its hind legs.

-Thwack!

“Ouch!”

“Hey, you…! Hyaaaahhh!!!”

Then, it arched its back and tail, puffing up, and started hissing at me. It seemed like a reaction born of anger because I touched a spot I shouldn’t have.

“Ah, okay. Sorry. That was a spot you didn’t like.”

Seriously, you can’t trust everything you read on the internet. Or maybe it’s just that cats have different personalities. There’s no guarantee that all cats in the world like having their butts touched. Of course, I don’t know much about cats, so I had no way of knowing.

“Get away… Hyaaaahhh! Hyaaaahhh…!!!”

The problem was Min-meow, who was now crouched protectively on the clothes, showing extreme caution towards me. Underneath where the cat was positioned were clothes presumed to belong to Cha Yuri. Even if one had the audacity for outdoor sex in a dungeon, I couldn’t possibly take Cha Yuri out dressed only in a cloak, completely naked underneath. A ‘trench coat girl,’ no, since the cloak was thin, it would obviously be an even more provocative outfit in many ways.

“…What are you doing there?”

“Just a moment, Cha Yuri-ssi. There’s a cat currently refusing to get off your clothes….”

“What are you talking about? I-I’m dressed.”

“Huh?”

Thinking she might be joking, I turned my head towards her, and indeed, she had already put on her original outfit underneath the cloak. Puzzled, I turned my head back towards Min-meow, and what caught my eye was that the fabric underneath it seemed strangely small. Furthermore, looking closer, it wasn’t a navy dress but a short sports bra and hot pants. It was definitely different clothing from what Cha Yuri usually wore.

“Hmm….”

“Hyaaaaaahhh!!!”

“Ah, okay! Sorry, sorry.”

The moment I thought it might be lost property and reached to pick up the clothes, Min-meow’s hissing intensified as it guarded them. Coupled with that, a lightning-fast scratch grazed my hand; if I had kept reaching, three or four lines would have been etched onto the back of my hand.

“Alright, alright. I won’t touch it, so just go with your owner when they arrive later.”

It was obvious from a glance that the clothes hadn’t been off for long, so seeing it defend them so fiercely, its owner must be nearby. And there was only one reason I could think of for someone to take off everything, including their underwear, inside a dungeon. The best course of action was to leave quickly to avoid an awkward situation. I didn’t want to stick around and end up watching another couple’s sex scene instead of mine and Cha Yuri’s.

“I think I was mistaken. Let’s head back soon.”

“You hurry up and put your pants on too. Stop dawdling.”

…Come to think of it, I was still naked from the waist down.

I grabbed the pants I’d carelessly left beside the rock bed and put them on, collected all the monster cores Cha Yuri-ssi had hunted, and by then, that cat had already vanished along with its owner’s clothes.

“…….”

“What are you thinking about so hard?”

“…Nothing, really.”

Even as Cha Yuri and I left the dungeon, settled the monster materials, and headed towards the same hotel as last time, one question remained in my mind, causing me to ponder.

‘For some reason, I think I saw pink hearts towards the end.’

…I probably just imagined it, right?

⁎ ⁎ ⁎

Eun & Ok Co., Ltd., Gangdong District Branch. Just past noon, the company guild hall was bustling with the comings and goings of many people. It was the time of day when the most people gathered, including Hunters finishing their morning shifts and preparing to leave, those scheduled to start their afternoon shifts and head out until evening, and Hunters who came out of the dungeon for a quick meal before resuming their full-day shifts. Naturally, it was also the busiest time of day. There were even moments when people had to queue up to use the warp gate leading to the dungeon. As Hunters repeatedly entered and exited through several warp gates, the morning shift personnel remaining in the dungeon were being sent back to the guild one by one.

-Fwoosh!

“Hah, hah, I made it somehow….”

Han Min-ah’s appearance, returning from beyond the warp gate looking like she had desperately fled from somewhere, was enough to draw everyone’s attention. Her ragged breaths, unable to hide her excitement, her face flushed red as if blood had pooled there, her top and bottom clothes slightly disheveled. While it wasn’t clear exactly what she had seen beyond the dungeon, everyone who laid eyes on Han Min-ah had the same thought. Surely, she must have encountered something so dangerous inside the dungeon that she had to flee.

“Min-ah-ssi, what happened in there?”

One of the guild staff, observing the situation, approached to check on Han Min-ah. She was already famous among the guild guides, having worked almost non-stop for over a year, so it was natural for them to approach someone they knew when they saw them in distress. Moreover, if a new threat had appeared in the dungeon, a swift response would be necessary, making it a natural action for a guild employee. However, Han Min-ah’s reaction was slightly different from what the guild staff expected.

“Th-this…!”

“Yes, Min-ah-ssi. Did you perhaps encounter a dangerous monster in the dungeon….”

“Please process this as results!”

“…What?”

Not a report of monsters multiplying abnormally in the dungeon, nor of an A-rank or higher monster appearing in a C-rank dungeon, just a request for results processing. As the guide staff member stood there bewildered by the response, Han Min-ah urgently shook the monster material pouch in her hand once more.

“Q-quickly! Please take it quickly!”

“Ah, yes!”

Despite sensing something unusual, the guide accepted the monster material pouch Han Min-ah offered. Normally, performance settlement was handled in the results reporting room on the third floor, not in front of the warp gate, but Han Min-ah’s expression looked incredibly urgent. Since materials like Triss parts or C-rank monster cores were simple items that any competent guild employee could identify, there wasn’t much difficulty.

“C-rank monster Triss cores, 31 units…. And this is from a Woodrello….”

“……Hah, haaah….”

Meanwhile, Han Min-ah leaned against the counter, fidgeting uncomfortably the entire time her results were being processed. She thought of the one who had made her feel aroused, her classmate friend whom she hadn’t seen in a long time. Her friend Sung Taekyung, whom she met again after so long, was still an attractive individual, just as she remembered him. It was the same feeling she had experienced in the past, when she had deliberately chosen to distance herself for the sake of her social life. Even worse, meeting him while she had unintentionally used 100% of her awakened abilities to transform completely into a cat form to hide her identity had proven somewhat dangerous. Being fully transformed into an animal form meant being more vulnerable to instincts like estrus. For Han Min-ah, who always used estrus suppressants and had ‘never’ properly resolved her heat cycles before, the scent of the man who was practically her first love was an overwhelming stimulus, making it only natural that her body began to heat up.

‘To have that guy touch my butt while I was naked…. E-even though I was in cat form….’

‘A-and that thing…. That unbelievable thing, dangling right in front of my eyes….’

Even as the guide processed her results, the sights and sensations Han Min-ah had experienced last were still vivid in her mind. His large, magnificent penis, which looked far from average size at a glance; the rough, hot touch that felt like a symbol of potent masculinity as it caressed her; and finally, the thick, concentrated scent of a male pushed right under her nose immediately after ejaculation. She had felt so overwhelmed that she almost threw away all shame and pride, wanting to revert her transformation and be held by him naked. It was nothing short of a miracle that she suppressed instincts that were almost certainly about to activate. It was precisely because she could do that, that she had been able to take responsibility and care for her two younger sisters without losing her resolve since the day her parents ran away three years ago.

‘If I had transformed back there…. It would have been the end of me….’

Even if she had thrown away her shame and rushed at him, she wasn’t sure Sung Taekyung would embrace her. To him, she was merely an old friend who had gradually started distancing herself since her sophomore year of high school. Moreover, the situation was made worse by the fact that Cha Yuri, someone she knew, was also by his side. And fundamentally, he was the boyfriend of her best friend, Kang Hye-eun. And if she had given in to her instincts and raped him, leading to fines or imprisonment, she wouldn’t be able to take care of her two younger sisters. No matter how much he had disturbed the peace by having sex in the dungeon, a defense claiming she couldn’t control her instincts upon witnessing it and raped him wouldn’t be accepted in court.

‘At least I didn’t do anything weird to him like the others did….’

Perhaps, excluding Kang Hye-eun, she might be the closest friend he had among his classmates. However, precisely because of that closeness, if she were to force an unwanted sexual encounter upon him, he might despise her even more. She didn’t want her two younger sisters to enter the workforce instead of continuing their studies. Especially since both of them were set to graduate from a Hunter specialized high school in just about half a year. The moment the faces of those two appeared in her mind, Han Min-ah regained her composure and managed to escape from Sung Taekyung. It was just barely enough patience, though.

“Your settlement is complete. The results will be added to your next paycheck.”

“Th-thank you.”

“Are you heading out for an afternoon expedition today as well? If you need to book another dungeon….”

“Ah, no! I’ll call it a day here and head home! I think I need to rest, I’m tired!”

“Ah, yes! Understood!”

Han Min-ah hastily snatched the monster material pouch back from the guide and hurried out of the guild hall. She felt that if she didn’t lie down in bed right now and force herself to sleep, these feelings would never cool down.