How to Get on the Main Character’s Flower Path

 

Scammer was now sinking without even struggling.

 

I quickly approached the sinking Scammer and grabbed him. His eyes were already a bit blurry.

 

I remembered that he had been in the water for quite some time. He must have panicked and consumed a lot of oxygen.

 

I clenched my teeth. You can’t die! If you die here, what will happen to this world! My family!

 

I had no choice. I urgently kissed him.

 

My hot breath poured into him from mouth to mouth.

 

A little later, I felt a hand on my shoulder. It was a large hand that was starting to develop some calluses.

 

I opened my mouth as soon as he seemed to have come to his senses. He was looking at me with clear eyes. He smiled weakly as if he was relieved when he saw me. He relaxed all his strength and leaned against me.

 

Come to your senses, you bastard! I hugged him tightly and started swimming toward the surface. Soon, the shining sun appeared.

 

“Ptooey—!”

 

Everyone looked at us in surprise as I jumped out of the water, holding the limp Scammer.

 

I spoke to the group looking at us with dumbfounded faces.

 

“Yuhan can’t swim! He swallowed water!”

 

It was too far to swim to the beach by dragging Scammer. I shouted at Choi Soojung.

 

“Senior Soojung! Please move us to the beach right now!”

 

“Got it!”

 

Choi Soojung must have been very surprised, as she had a hardened face and moved everyone to the beach.

 

Scammer had lost consciousness.

 

Shin Baran, with a serious expression on her face, brought a doctor.

 

“H-He seems to be breathing, but he’s not conscious…”

 

I urgently dragged the doctor in front of him.

 

The doctor checked everything and started emergency treatment.

 

Soon after, Scammer came to his senses, vomiting water.

 

“

Cough, cough

!”

 

“Yuhan, are you awake?” 

 

When I came into view, he muttered.

 

“Is this heaven…?”

 

He then closed his eyes again.

 

“Please come to your senses!”

 

Of course, the doctor interrupted him before he could fall asleep again.

 

Thankfully, Scammer quickly came to his senses again, and the doctor, who examined him everywhere, soon left, stating that there was no major problem.

 

Even so, our worries didn’t stop.

 

“Are you okay? Is there anything uncomfortable?”

 

When I asked him, full of concern, he nodded.

 

“I’m okay. More than that… you can all go and play.”

 

Just in case, the conman himself decided to take a short break under the parasol.

 

I clung to him.

 

He’s really not dying, right? He shouldn’t die.

 

The reason I was worried about Scammer’s death was because of various factors, but… I also personally thought it wouldn’t leave a very good aftertaste. No matter what, it had been quite some time since we had been together.

 

“…You were good at swimming, weren’t you?” 

 

At that moment, Na Yuri’s small voice lingered around us coldly.

 

Na Yuri was looking at him with a darker expression than Scammer himself. His face stiffened rapidly.

 

“What the heck, these days? As if your personality suddenly changed.”

 

“…That, actually, I partially remember—”

 

The moment he was about to say something, Na Yuri turned her head.

 

“Enough. It’s probably just another plausible and flashy story.”

 

What should I do?

 

I couldn’t handle the chilly atmosphere like it was winter, so I just turned my eyes. Everyone was quietly observing each other in silence.

 

The one who broke the silence was Choi Soojung. She clapped her hands and said.

 

“Nyahaha! Let’s talk about what we need to talk about! Then how should we play in the ocean with the beer bottle~?”

 

Then Lee Hana raised her hand.

 

“Let’s put on a tube or a life jacket.”

 

“Alright~!”

 

Min Jae-yoon added more. 

 

“I think it would be safer to wear both…!”

 

…So, Scammer went into the sea, wearing a tube and a life jacket like armor.

 

He himself looked extremely dissatisfied, but everyone else turned away. Of course, me too. Safety first, you brat.

 

And Lee Hana thought long and hard to herself, and made a slide out of ice that looked like something out of a water park.

 

“What do you think?”

 

“Whoa!”

 

“It’s amazing!”

 

“It’s amazing, Senior! This beauty…!”

 

Though Lee Hana felt embarrassed by the shower of compliments, she made various rides.

 

We played around on the completed rides and enjoyed the cold feeling of the ice brushing against our skin. The view became clearer as our field of vision increased.

 

Lee Hana caught Scammer when he twisted his ankle while climbing up.

 

“Yuhan! Are you okay?”

 

“How weak…”

 

“…”

 

Scammer’s weakness didn’t end here. Next, Choi Soojung made waves with the wind. Everyone got swept away by the waves while riding tubes.

 

Choi Soojung intermittently made huge waves and laughed at how we were soaking wet.

 

I saw Choi Soojung catching Scammer as he floated away helplessly.

 

“Yuhan is getting farther away!”

 

“Caught him~”

 

“…”

 

After playing around in the ocean to our hearts’ content, when the sun was starting to set in the west, we played beach volleyball.

 

Somehow everyone ended up using their skills and the beach became a mess. Scammer, who was physically the weakest, got hit by the ball and fell down.

 

“Yuhaaaan—!”

 

In the end, Scammer became the referee.

 

In the meantime, the ball was fine. Later, when I looked at the manual, it said that it was for the awakeners.

 

“But it was still fun. Right?”

 

Scammer was silent for a moment at my words and then answered.

 

“…That’s right.” 

 

Around dinnertime, we all had a barbecue together.

 

I chewed on the well-cooked meat that Park Siwoo had grilled. Sometimes I even handed over a few pieces of meat to him.

 

Naturally, when I did this, Na Yuri would approach me while keeping Scammer in check, yet for some reason, she didn’t do that today.

 

She seemed to be thinking a lot, and sometimes she absentmindedly adjusted the fire and accidentally burned the meat.

 

He made a strange expression upon seeing her complicated appearance. I pretended not to know and said brightly.

 

“Should we test our courage tomorrow?”

 

Shin Baran froze at my words and Min Jaeyoon’s face brightened.

 

“D-D-Do we have to…?”

 

“Test our courage…! I’ll look for a psychic spot!”

 

In the meantime, Lee Hana glanced at Na Yuri and spoke.

 

“Scuba diving.”

 

“That’s right. We decided to scuba dive too!”

 

Scammer smiled at my words and said.

 

“Scuba diving. That’s good. We’re going tomorrow to a place where we have to do something similar to diving.”

 

“Diving?”

 

He nodded to my question.

 

“I’ll start the briefing after we finish eating.”

 

So we finished all the meat and listened to him explaining the dungeon inside the gate that we would be exploring tomorrow. Of course, we roasted marshmallows and sweet potatoes over the campfire.

 

“How simple! Right, Yuri?”

 

“Pardon? …Yes.”

 

Anxiety welled up in me.

 

Normally, Nayuri would have said something, yet she just stared at Scammer who was giving the briefing.

 

Cracks were slowly peeking out.

 

***

 

The next day.

 

“Is this really the place?”

 

“It is.”

 

We walked and walked along the sea road, and headed toward a place where there was a rocky cliff where waves crashed.

 

Scammer asked Choi Soojung to move our bodies here and there with the wind and moved us to a space between the cliffs. I exclaimed in admiration as I looked down at the strangely shaped rock path created by nature.

 

The sight of light streaming through the cracks in the dark cliffs was beautiful.

 

Scammer spoke as he walked.

 

“If we walk a little further, there is a cave. Inside that cave is a passage leading to the gate, and inside that is a static dungeon, and among them, an item dungeon.”

 

“But is this level of armament okay?”

 

When Na Yuri asked, he simply answered.

 

“Yeah. It’s not a preemptive attack mob, so it’s okay.”

 

We were wearing simple armaments over our swimsuits. We also had pockets on as a bonus.

 

This was because today’s gate exploration was part of our Gate Treasure Exploration Club activities.

 

Gate Treasure Exploration Club Rule 3: all storage of by-products before distribution by the Gate Treasure Exploration Club must be entrusted to the manager.

 

It seemed like Scammer planned to continue this rule.

 

“Let’s go.”

 

He said confidently. At the signal, we jumped into the gate that looked like water. The sensation of cold water penetrated my whole body, and a landscape that looked just like the ocean unfolded before my eyes.

 

“We don’t have to hold your breath.”

 

I took a deep breath at his words.

 

As he said, it was really an ocean where I could breathe.

 

I didn’t feel like I was swimming underwater. Rather, I thought it would be like swimming in space, in a state of weightlessness.

 

When I stumbled for a moment, feeling unfamiliar with the sensation, he supported my body slightly.

 

“You’ll need some tricks. I’ll help you.”

 

Him having a proud smile on his face was so unlucky. I held the Scammer’s hand, hiding my grumbling.

 

When everyone had gotten the hang of moving, he declared.

 

“Then let’s move!”

 

We looked around and started moving one step at a time.

 

***

 

The young man with pointy ears said softly.

 

“Are you really going to get rid of it?”

 

Then the young man with tiger ears growled.

 

“The fewer risk factors, the better.” 

 

At those words, the young man with pointy ears laughed and said.

 

“Well. I agree with Yulhan’s opinion… Rather than just eliminating the risk factors, it would be better to use what we can.”

 

“So? Are you going back?”

 

When the young man with tiger ears growled, the young man with pointy ears shook his head slightly.

 

“No, that’s not it. Since we came all this way, shouldn’t we at least see their faces before we go?”

 

The two of them watched the group entering the gate.