Chapter 563: Gathering (3)

When Han Min-ah arrived at the problematic Area A after hearing the announcement, the scene of the incident was already giving off a considerably chaotic atmosphere.

This was because Kang Hye-eun and Cheon Jihee, who had heard the news from the nearby Area B and arrived first, were already creating a chaotic atmosphere.

“Taekyung! Taekyung!”

“Calm down, Hye-eun! There’s nothing you can do by jumping in there right now!”

“Taaekyung-aaaaah!!”

Kang Hye-eun, having lost her reason at the fact that Sung Taekyung was missing, was crying out and trying to jump into the poisonous lake, while Cheon Jihee desperately tried to stop and hold her back.

Seeing Kang Hye-eun’s state, Han Min-ah could immediately grasp that it wasn’t exactly a good situation.

For now, she too, along with Cheon Jihee, rushed in and stopped the rampaging party leader.

“Hey, Kang Hye-eun! Snap out of it!”

“Let go! I have to go find Taekyung right now!”

“What, how are you going to find him?! Even if your defense abilities can resist the poison, how are you going to handle breathing or vision in there!”

“I don’t know!! But I’m still going!!”

“Hey, Kang Hye-eun!!”

-Slap!

In order to bring back her reason, even for a moment, Han Min-ah’s palm landed on Kang Hye-eun’s right cheek with a slap.

Immediately after, the chaotic atmosphere in front of the poisonous lake subsided for a moment.

The stinging heat rising from one cheek was able to cool Kang Hye-eun’s head, if only for an instant.

“Snap out of it! What are you going to do if you, the leader, lose your head at a time like this?!”

“……”

“Let’s say you recklessly jump into that poisonous lake right now! But what if Sung Taekyung and Yuri Unnie return safely afterward? What are you going to do then?! Jump back into the lake to find you?!”

“Min-ah, hey…”

“You’re the party leader, right? The leader of the A-rank party, Sky Blue Shield. If you’re the leader of Sky Blue Shield, please get a grip and act rationally, okay?”

“R-right… I need to get a proper grip, I need to…”

Only after hearing her longtime friend’s words did Kang Hye-eun finally manage to calm her racing heart and think with slightly more composed reason.

Although worries about Sung Taekyung still occupied more than 80% of her mind, her momentarily calmed reason was somehow able to temporarily suppress those worries.

“Sung Taekyung isn’t the type to die somewhere easily. He’ll definitely be fine, so don’t worry.”

“Th-that’s right…”

“Besides, he has recovery and protection abilities, doesn’t he? I don’t know much about healing magic, but doesn’t having those mean there’s a way to endure and survive somehow?”

“Yeah, he will. Because it’s Taekyung, he’ll definitely survive somehow.”

“Right, Hye-eun-ah. Like Min-ah said, it’s best to observe the situation for now.”

“…Yes, Jihee-ssi.”

Anyway, even if she jumped into the poisonous lake right now, there was nothing she could do.

Wrapping her body in a full-body shield to enter the lake itself was not impossible with her abilities, but that was literally all.

While wrapped in the shield, unable to move, breathe, or secure vision, she could only resist the poison.

Kang Hye-eun, realizing that the action she was about to take was essentially no different from suicide, finally became capable of rational judgment.

Rather, she, as the party leader, should have been calming Cheon Jihee and Han Min-ah and devising a plan. Instead, she had essentially pushed her responsibilities onto the other two, so she couldn’t help but feel ashamed.

“……”

However, she had only realized that jumping into the lake was a foolish decision; her mind, still filled with worry for Sung Taekyung, couldn’t seem to lead to proper thought. As she sat slumped on the ground, still pondering, a hunter approached and spoke quietly.

“I don’t know who among the missing you’re worried about, but they seem to be safe for now, so you probably don’t need to worry too much.”

“……”

“You’re the hunters who were catching Treradon together in Area B earlier, right? From the conversation I just overheard, it seems like you have a dear acquaintance among the missing hunters.”

“Yes, yes…”

“I checked with my magic just a moment ago, and I can sense all four missing people right now. So, worrying about their survival already is just foolish, I’ll say.”

“…How did you check?”

“It’s Earth magic. My magic uses the earth’s mana as a medium, so I can sufficiently sense others’ vital energy through the earth to some extent.”

“…Ah, ah!”

As soon as she heard the words ‘Earth magic’, Kang Hye-eun’s eyes widened in surprise, having belatedly recalled the identity. As soon as she remembered who it was, the words that came from her mouth gained credibility.

The Earth mage who commanded a giant mud golem and eliminated Treradon in Area B of the abandoned village.

If it was a mage of her level, the claim of sensing others’ mana through earth mana likely wasn’t a lie.

Although she didn’t know who it was, Kang Hye-eun felt considerable gratitude towards the person who suddenly appeared and gave her information.

“Ah, thank you for telling me…”

“Four different vital energies felt from somewhere at the bottom of the poisonous lake… Since I can also feel the vital energy of someone I know, it’s probably correct to assume the missing people are gathered together. I don’t know how they’re surviving at the bottom of the lake, but hearing that the Saintess is also missing suggests they likely have a means to endure.”

“The Saintess…?”

“It was on the announcement earlier, wasn’t it? Lulusia Belmonte. She’s the Saintess dispatched to Korea by the Vatican City this generation.”

…If so, is this person here to rescue the Saintess and providing me with information?

And how on earth did her boyfriend end up stranded with the Saintess?

Although many questions remained unanswered, there was only one thing Kang Hye-eun could do right now.

Just, hoping that Sung Taekyung, sunk at the bottom of the lake, could safely return to the surface.

…And although she’d forgotten for a moment due to the urgency, hoping Yuri-ssi would also return safely.

“Ughh…”

“Nngh…”

Due to the sudden ground collapse, after being sucked into the poisonous lake.

While surrounded together by Saintess Lulusia’s barrier, we, who had fallen below the collapsed floor, drifted here and there, pulled by the lake’s currents. After drifting inside the water for about a minute, only then did we finally hit the bottom and somehow manage to regain consciousness.

“A-are you all okay?”

“Yeah…”

“Y-yes!”

“…For now.”

Fortunately, it seemed no one had detached or fallen out during the process of being enveloped by the Saintess’s barrier, as everyone immediately responded to my question about their survival. Inside the cramped, dark, spherical barrier, we, tangled together, slowly began to get up. Being at the bottom of deep water, vision was not properly secured, and since our bodies were pressed tightly together, regaining a proper posture wasn’t easy at all.

“W-wait a minute, you! Get up slowly! Because you’re trying to get up alone first, it’s tilting again!”

“…You could just get up at the same time.”

“So, let’s agree beforehand to get up at the same time and…”

“W-we shouldn’t fight~! Sihee~! Yuri~!”

As expected, since it wasn’t a flat surface but rather enclosed within a spherical barrier, even just getting into a stable position inside was not an easy task. Our four bodies, like being inside a giant hamster ball, would lose balance and sway every time someone moved.

“Wait, don’t try to force yourselves up, everyone stay still!”

“…Sungchul-ah?”

“…Sungchul-ssi?”

“For now, since I’m the heaviest among us, let’s not wobble unnecessarily, and I’ll start by balancing from the center.”

“That certainly sounds like a good idea.”

“Got it.”

Cha Yuri and Do Sihee, who had been clamoring to get up first from their uncomfortable positions, nodded in agreement with my suggestion. Immediately, grabbing onto whatever their hands could find on the barrier floor, they slowly began to rise.

-Squish.

“Nghngh?!”

…This familiar yet soft and squishy sensation felt like something I’d touched a lot on the bed. Of course, since both Cha Yuri and Do Sihee had already slept with me several times, they probably wouldn’t get angry now for me touching their breasts a little. The problem was that the voice heard along with the sound wasn’t Cha Yuri’s or Do Sihee’s, but someone else’s. Moreover, the size and texture felt a bit larger and softer compared to theirs. Could it be that the owner of this familiar sensation felt beneath my hand right now…

“T-Taekyung~! It hurts when you put weight on my chest~!”

“S-sorry!”

As if waiting for the others to stabilize, Lulusia, who had been lying quietly on the floor, spoke towards me. Startled by the guilt, I instantly pulled my hand away from her chest.

“I-I’m sorry, Lulusia. It was accidental…”

“No, it’s okay~! We’re both women, after all~?”

“……”

Should I consider this situation, wearing an unknown mask, fortunate? I’ll have to apologize again when my identity is revealed. Fortunately, in this world, accidentally touching a woman’s breast wasn’t considered a major offense. In the current situation, there was simply no time to take off the mask and apologize.

Anyway, through that process, including the minor commotion, all four of us somehow managed to get up within the barrier. Being contaminated with poison, and with little light penetrating, at the dark lake bottom, we first had to resolve a fundamental question.

“How do we get back up to the surface of the lake?”

“…You don’t know either?!”