Chapter 66

Chapter 66

Otherworld Cheat Harem.

Episode 66: Trial (2)

Dojin and his party wandered around trying to find their way. Orion, who was leading them, realized one thing.

“This is… we haven’t lost our way.”

“…Then?”

“The dungeon… has changed.”

Around that time, the noise that had been crazily echoing inside the dungeon was slowly subsiding. Only then could Orion fully use her hearing.

Like a sonar, she collected sounds coming from all directions to find the way.

The information she gathered revealed that they hadn’t lost their way, but the shape of the dungeon itself had changed.

“It’s like it turned into a maze.”

“Like a maze…”

Dojin walked forward, supporting himself against the surrounding walls. As he continued, a fork in the path appeared.

Assuming time was infinite, escaping a maze was very simple. Dojin walked along the left wall.

What if he reached a dead end? It didn’t matter. He continued walking along the left path.

Seeing this, Orion quickly realized what he was doing.

“…It’ll take a really long time, but it’s certain.”

“Yeah.”

The dungeon wasn’t that wide to begin with. No matter how twisted the paths were, they could escape within a few hours.

Realizing this, the party sighed in relief and followed him. Although they occasionally encountered monsters and had to fight, or felt tired and rested, they believed they would definitely find the exit.

However, that belief didn’t last long.

Rumble…

“This sound is…”

A now familiar sound reached their ears. A sound so grand that it felt like the dungeon might collapse.

When Dojin was thinking that, the wall moved. He saw the path that was open in the distance get blocked by a wall.

“What the…?”

Within seconds, the noise disappeared. That meant the dungeon’s entire layout had shifted.

Unfortunately, Dojin did not know how to navigate through the maze that changed randomly over time.

But even in a dungeon where nothing was visible, he could still keep track of time. Dojin took out the digital watch he had carefully stored in a steel case to prevent it from breaking.

The wristwatch he had bought for the college entrance exam—never before had he felt so grateful for that purchase.

The watch indicated it was 11 PM, and it had been 6 hours since they descended to the 29th floor. Never before had he stayed in the dungeon this late.

‘They’ll be mad when I get back.’

It wasn’t unusual for him to stay out overnight, but Eunha was different. Once the others realized that both she and Dojin had disappeared at the same time, they would surely figure out that they were trapped in the dungeon.

And surely, they would come to rescue them—or so he thought.

‘…Wait a minute.’

Dojin stopped and looked around. Come to rescue? Who exactly?

Having lived in the modern world for nearly 20 years, it was only natural to think someone would come to rescue, but he was mistaken.

This was another world, and this place was the most fantastical dungeon in that world.

Once inside, one becomes isolated from the outside.

There was no way to rescue someone who had entered the dungeon.

‘No way.’

No one would come to rescue. He realized this fact.

Early in the morning, Deokgu looked at Seoyoon, who came to see him, and asked about the matter she brought up.

“…What did you say?”

“Dojin hasn’t returned.”

“They must be staying out overnight.”

“With Eunha.”

“…That’s a big problem.”

The two headed for the dungeon. The fact that both of them didn’t return on the same day meant something had happened to them.

Deokgu immediately rushed to the guild. As a registered level 2 adventurer and newspaper president, the guild staff came running to greet him.

“Ah, welcome, Mr. Deokgu…”

“I’m here to ask something.”

“Yes, anything.”

“Did Dojin come back yesterday?”

Upon hearing this, Pion tilted her head and asked back.

“Uh, he… hasn’t returned. Hasn’t he come home either?”

“No, I came to ask just in case…”

“Is that so? Mr. Dojin…”

Pion bowed her head deeply, showing a face full of regret and longing. Seeing this, Deokgu looked at her strangely.

“What are you doing? Aren’t you organizing a rescue team?”

“What? What do you mean…?”

“Someone disappeared in the dungeon, aren’t you going to rescue them?”

“Ah, Mr. Deokgu doesn’t seem to know much about dungeons.”

Pion, accustomed to such situations, skillfully handled Deokgu.

“Unfortunately, we can’t do that.”

“Why not? If it’s about money…”

“Physically, we have no means to enter the dungeon.”

“…Ah.”

Having forgotten about the dungeon for so long, Deokgu even forgot such basic common sense.

Dungeons were fundamentally isolated spaces from the world. A world within another world. The fact that a dungeon up to the 10th floor was open was astonishing enough to shock the entire world.

“Wait, hold on… Can’t anything be done about that?”

“From the start, dungeons are places of trials where one’s abilities are tested in isolation from everyone. How can you go to rescue someone when you’re completely isolated and can’t even meet anyone?”

Despite the sweet reward of leveling up, there was a reason why so few people ventured in.

The psychological pressure of being unable to receive help.

An extreme environment where even the slightest mistake could lead to death.

Anyway, realizing that there was no way to rescue Dojin, Deokgu was left in a daze.

‘Wait a minute, then what should I do now…?’

It had been a long time since his mind went blank. Dojin was their leader and mental pillar.

An unyielding pillar, and thus the focal point that led them.

When the news that Dojin might already be dead was conveyed, Deokgu couldn’t even begin to predict how Seoyoon and Aram would react.

“I really… I really can’t do anything, can I…?”

“…I’m sorry, Mr. Deokgu.”

“…No, this isn’t something you need to apologize for.”

Deokgu forced himself to stand, grabbing his legs that lacked strength. He staggered out of the reception room, leaned against the wall, and fell into thought.

‘What should I do? How, how…?’

“Ah, really. What’s that all of a sudden?”

“Exactly.”

At that moment, the noisy chatter of senior adventurers coming up to the second floor could be heard. Their bodies were dirty with dust and soil, as if they had just returned from the dungeon.

The man at the forefront quickly approached his assigned staff member and began to complain.

“Hey, listen, we tried to get past the 30th floor today…”

“There was a wall blocking the 29th floor…”

“We couldn’t go up…”

Deokgu, who was lost in thought, focused on their conversation upon hearing those words. The summary of the story was as follows.

Suddenly, an anomaly occurred in the dungeon.

A massive wall blocking the 29th to 30th floors.

Upon hearing this, a piece of information popped into Deokgu’s mind.

‘Dojin said there was no ruler on the 20th floor.’

Dojin speculated about why there was no ruler on the 20th floor and suggested that there might be one on the 30th floor.

Since it wasn’t a topic of much interest to him, he had merely let it pass at the time.

However, now, the puzzle pieces fit together with the adventurers’ passing stories.

‘30th floor, ruler, anomaly in the dungeon, wall blocking entry…’

After compiling the information, one fact emerged in Deokgu’s mind.

Dojin is alive.

Realizing this, he immediately ran to the mansion.

The first thing Dojin looked for upon realizing they were trapped was food.

“Leftover lunch boxes from lunch, and one each as a backup. A few emergency calorie supplement biscuits.”

Since they didn’t expect it to last more than a day at most, the food they brought was meager.

Orion, after counting the amount of food they brought, calculated how long they could last with it.

“Hmm, with this, we can last four days.”

“…Four days? How do we survive on that for four days?”

Raize, who heard this, was furious. Despite having the smallest body and seemingly needing the least food, this girl actually consumed the most food.

Apparently, a significant amount of calories was consumed in the process of recovering her mana. Limiting food intake meant a reduction in the amount of mana recovered.

For her, a mage, the lack of mana was more terrifying than anything else.

However, it was nothing to Orion.

“So, what do we do? Are we just going to shoot a few spells, finish our meal, and then starve until we die in four days?”

“…No, that’s not what I meant.”

Raize clamped her mouth shut at Orion’s rational remark. However, Dojin also agreed with Raize’s opinion.

“Surviving for four days on this is foolish.”

“But, Leader…”

“Orion, where are we?”

“The dungeon…”

“Right, the dungeon. This isn’t a place where someone will come to rescue us just because we wait.”

Sharing food would extend the survival period. But what if they encountered a monster in the meantime?

Unable to eat, they would lose strength and wouldn’t be able to easily confront a monster. If things went wrong, they might get injured.

Without any means to heal, getting injured meant death.

“We need to eat to regain strength… even if it’s disgusting, we have to eat the monsters.”

“M-Monsters?”

Raize asked in horror. Dojin nodded.

“What’s the big deal? We often eat them in the city.”

“I’m not eating monsters!”

“What are you talking about? Minotaur meat and Kamu Cow are openly sold.”

“…That’s livestock, not monsters.”

“They’re all monsters.”

However, Dojin could understand Raize’s feelings. If he had been stranded in the mountains and someone suggested hunting and eating a wild dog, he would have reacted the same way.

Just because society eats dog meat doesn’t mean it’s the same as eating wild dogs.

Similarly, eating monsters raised as livestock in society and eating rampaging monsters in the dungeon were worlds apart.

“This is the only way.”

However, it was the only way.

“Uh, um…”

“Hey, Eunha.”

“Monsters disappear when they die, so how can we eat them…?”

“That’s a very good question.”

Dojin said that and disappeared for a moment, only to return with a werewolf. The werewolf confronted him, but having fought them multiple times before, he was far from being an easy opponent.

He quickly incapacitated the werewolf and spoke while stepping on its nape.

“As you know, these guys disappear without leaving a single finger when they die… but there is an exception. Do you know what it is?”

“Th-that, something like blood… If it gets on you, it won’t disappear…”

“Yes, just like that.”

With a swish, Dojin’s sword severed the werewolf’s arm. Tossing the severed arm aside, he looked at the group as if asking what they were doing.

“The meat consumed before death doesn’t disappear.”

Looking at his group, who were hesitating while staring at the thrown arm, Dojin spoke.

“What are you doing? Eat quickly.”

“How do we eat this…?”

“If you don’t eat, you’ll die.”

Hearing those words, Raize finished her calculations in her mind. He was right. No matter how disgusting, they had to eat to survive.

Raize slowly lifted the arm. It was heavy. It was surely enough for the four of them to eat.

As she got closer, a fishy smell wafted over. Raize closed her eyes tight and pressed her mouth to the arm.

As she bit into the flesh with a crunch, blood dripped down, filling her mouth with a bloody scent that made her gag.

But she endured. Swallow it, swallow it… Gulp.

“Phew! Now, you eat too.”

“…What are you doing?”

“What do you mean? I’m eating because you told me to…!”

Dojin looked at Raize in surprise, and then spoke to her.

“I meant for you to grill it…”

“…Huh?”

“I meant for you to use magic to light a fire and grill it… I didn’t think you’d eat it raw. Are you okay?”

“…Ugh.”

Gwaeeeeeek.

Raize vomited everything she had eaten.