How to get on the protagonist’s flower path

Kang-yu looked at us with a resentful expression.

Since it was true that we had planned this without him, I had no words to defend myself.

Without saying a word, I looked at Na-yuhan, who awkwardly spoke up.

“He insisted on following us when I said we were going to clear the gate…”

Did he really just say that?

I swallowed a sigh and looked at Kang-yu.

Kang-yu was staring at me with wide, earnest eyes.

“Kang-yu, remember you enrolled in the academy on the condition that you wouldn’t do any practical training?”

“This isn’t practical training, so it’s fine.”

“Don’t be unreasonable. It’s dangerous, so you can’t go.”

At my firm words, Kang-yu flinched but didn’t seem willing to back down.

“If it’s a dangerous place you’re going to, then I need to help you even more! I came to the academy for that reason! I’m not your burden anymore!”

“That’s not what I meant. Kang-yu, I don’t want you to struggle because of me. This is my job. You don’t need to take on any risks—”

“I feel the same way. Do you think I don’t? I’ve seen you and the others struggle because of me, and it’s been really hard! So when I realized how strong I was, I was so happy!”

“……”

With a determined expression, Kang-yu’s fists were clenched tightly.

“I want to help you. No matter how difficult the process is, I would truly be happy. Finally, I can repay you for everything you’ve done for me!”

At that unexpected revelation of Kang-yu’s feelings, I felt a strange emotion stirring within me when Park Si-woo spoke up.

“You said this dungeon isn’t particularly dangerous, right?”

“Uh? Yeah. As long as we prepare well. We’ve got the items ready, so it shouldn’t be too dangerous.”

Na-yuhan’s answer prompted Park Si-woo to nod.

“In that case, why don’t we let Kang-yu come with us?”

“Si-woo?!”

“Hyung…!”

“It’s not a particularly dangerous dungeon, and if we leave him here, he’ll definitely follow us anyway.”

I looked at Kang-yu after Park Si-woo’s words. Kang-yu seemed to feel cornered, flinching and avoiding my gaze.

“…Yeah. Maybe it’s better to keep him by our side for protection… But what about the others?”

“Oh, it’s fine!”

“It’s no problem.”

“I-I think so too! I think it’s better this way!”

I see…

Hearing my friends’ responses, I glanced at the seniors.

“This seems like it would be more fun~”

“Yeah, it’s fine.”

It seemed the seniors had no intention of stopping us, even though I had hoped they would.

I let out a deep sigh.

“What about you, Yuhan?”

“I’m good with it. Kang-yu is strong.”

“Yeah! I’m strong!”

I sighed again and reluctantly agreed to let Kang-yu join. He jumped up and down, extremely happy.

I was worried that Kang-yu might get hurt, but at the same time, I wondered if stopping him was actually overprotective.

On the other hand, I worried that if I left him be, he might come in alone without any plans and get seriously hurt.

As I kept an eye on the excited Kang-yu, I headed toward the gate, feeling conflicted.

***

Before long, a gate appeared before us.

The darkness we were about to enter was like black paint spreading.

The Dungeon of the Dark Spirits.

That’s how this dungeon was referred to in the novels.

“Did everyone bring their potions?”

“Yep!”

We drank the potions that Na-yuhan handed us.

As we did, a faint light surrounded us, allowing us to see the shapes of things hidden in the darkness.

The deep blackness before us was none other than a cave.

It had an atmosphere that made it seem like a ghost might appear at any moment. I could clearly see Shin Baran flinch in surprise. However, she soon took a deep breath and stepped forward as if she was ready.

“Let’s go!”

Thud… thud…

The sound of dripping water echoed.

The sound of shoes hitting the stone floor resonated.

We all moved forward, not letting our guard down.

As we ventured deeper into the cave, we reached a fork in the path.

And at that moment,

“Shin Baran! 2 o’clock! Aim for the eyes!”

Whoosh—!

From inside the right cave, shadowy hands rushed toward us.

Those hands, with red eyes embedded in their palms, moved like octopus tentacles.

“Hiss…!”

Shin Baran, startled, cautiously shot her light arrow at their eyes.

Kieee—!!!

As her arrow, infused with her light attribute mana, hit the red eyes, the hands disintegrated into dust, leaving only the red eyes, or cores, behind.

Shin Baran took a deep breath, her eyes slightly misty. Heeheehoo. Heeheehoo.

…Wait a second, that’s the Lamaze breathing technique. Why is she using that?

“From now on, shadow hands will often appear in dark places. Whenever that happens, do your best to hit them with your arrows.”

“Ah, got it!”

Even while screaming, Shin Baran confidently (or rather, awkwardly) aimed at the shadow hands.

“Gyaaaa! I-I knew that all along!”

“Nyahaha~ You really!”

“Enough.”

Lee Hana grabbed Choi Soo-jung, who was trying to joke around, and pulled her away. I felt like she would cry if we teased her more… Nice job, senior.

Anyway, we quietly ignored Shin Baran’s frantic and possibly screaming figure.

After defeating the shadow hands, we progressed smoothly forward.

There were several forks in the road, but as expected, Na-yuhan seemed to know the way, leading us without hesitation.

Although shadow hands occasionally sprang up from the darkness, thanks to Shin Baran being extremely tense, they were obliterated the moment they appeared. What a turn of fortune.

The others didn’t even have a chance to use their mana.

“Impressive, Baran…”

“Hmph! This is nothing!”

Baran, you have tears in your eyes.

I pretended not to notice.

Yeah, it is a bit eerie here.

After walking through the forks, we arrived at a large chamber.

The inside of the chamber was shrouded in thick darkness, making it impossible to see.

“I can’t see…”

“I told you, the ground is full of traps.”

“Yeah. Inside, the floor is mixed with ordinary stone and trap-filled ground. First, we’ll cover the ground with Hana-senpai’s mana… Kang-yu, can you help?”

“I’ll do it without you saying a word!”

Kang-yu was acting unusually prickly toward Na-yuhan.

After confirming our plan, we charged inside.

As soon as we entered, we heard a strange squeaking noise.

“Yah!”

Kuru—!

Without hesitation, Kang-yu drew mana from his body, causing water to rise rapidly from the ground.

Kiiiii—?!

Something resembling a boss flailed in panic.

“Freeze it!”

“Okay.”

“I’m going!”

Then, Lee Hana’s chilling mana struck the ground, instantly turning it into an icy surface.

Kii—! Kiiiii—!!

Simultaneously, Shin Baran’s arrows, attached with lights, shot into various places, illuminating the chamber.

Under the light of the lanterns, the silhouette of the boss became visible.

It resembled a black marimo, with a massive core in the center of its body and dozens of shadowy hands.

Kiiiii—!!!!

It howled, pointing its eyes, or core, at us.

Then, Park Si-woo, Na-yuri, and Min Jae-yoon jumped forward.

“Attack! Activate skill ‘Victory Flag’!”

“The hands are annoyingly persistent!”

“That’s why I’m casting various buffs!”

Na-yuri complained while Na-yuhan waved the flag again to add more buffs.

The black marimo used half of its hands to defend its core while wildly swinging the other half toward us.

Shin Baran and I focused on protecting Na-yuhan while occasionally sniping at the hands that tried to impede us.

Kang-yu and Lee Hana used their mana to capture the hands in groups, while Choi Soo-jung cut them down, gradually reducing the monster’s mobility.

Before long, the monster lost all of its shadow hands, leaving only its thick body writhing in desperation.

“Let’s crush it!”

“Got it.”

While Na-yuri burned the last remaining hands, Park Si-woo raised his sword and sliced the core in half.

Boom—!

The monster’s eye, or core, was split exactly in two, along with its body.

Kiiiii—

The monster turned to dust and vanished, leaving behind a fairly large core alone in the dark chamber.

The dense darkness that had covered the chamber seemed to be due to this monster. It became bright enough to see inside, even without the lanterns.

The solitary core shone with an ominous reddish light.

“I’ll collect this.”

Na-yuhan casually walked over to retrieve the core.

We naturally followed him with our steps.

As we trailed behind, a black door cleverly hidden behind the stalactites came into view.

Na-yuhan smiled broadly and said, “Since we came to an item dungeon, we should collect some items. Can’t level up otherwise.”

As soon as Na-yuhan opened the door, I couldn’t help but gasp in admiration.

Inside was a stunning set of accessories made of red jewels.

Designed with a laurel motif and highlighted with red jewels, it seemed quite valuable even beyond its worth as an item.

“What kind of items are these?”

I asked intentionally about the items to make it easier for him to explain.

Well, I already knew what they were.

“They are items that absorb dark mana. They protect the user from curses.”

It was a lower-tier item compared to the bracelet I had.

According to the novel, we would need it for the upcoming “Vampire Dungeon,” right?

Na-yuhan, who had put the items into his inventory, said, “Everyone, let’s go out. These items will be essential later, so I’ll distribute them as soon as we get outside.”

“But why are you putting them all in?”

“…Uh, my inventory is bigger.”

Kang-yu asked innocently along the way, but we brushed it off.

Thanks to defeating the boss, we were able to exit the dungeon much more smoothly than when we entered.

As soon as Na-yuhan stepped out of the gate, he pulled out the set of accessories as if he was about to implement his earlier declaration.

“Make sure to hold onto these. They’ll be necessary later, so don’t lose them. You won’t need the ones with light attribute or dark attribute mana, so exclude those.”

Bracelets, earrings, necklaces… Various accessories were distributed among us, leaving only one large ring and one small ring.

Choi Soo-jung and Lee Hana shared a pair of earrings, while Na-yuri wore one bracelet and handed the remaining necklace to Kang-yu.

Na-yuhan slipped the larger ring onto his hand and then extended his hand toward me.

Is he giving me a ring or what? Why the hand?

“I’ll put it on for you.”

“Okay!”

How embarrassing.

I extended my left hand to him.

Na-yuhan, seeming to consider that it was a small ring, first attempted to put it on my pinky finger, but it was too large for that.

“Wait a moment…”

As he took the ring out and placed it on my ring finger instead, it fit perfectly, as if it had been waiting for this moment.

“Just right!”

“Good. If it didn’t fit, I would have had to make some complicated adjustments—”

Just then, a man’s hand slipped between us and grasped my hand.

The hand that gently held mine naturally removed the ring from my left ring finger.

I looked up at the owner of that hand without thinking.

In the moonlight, his sapphire-blue eyes shone coldly.

“Na-hyun is a sniper, so wouldn’t another accessory suit you better than a ring?”

It was Park Si-woo.