Why Is Everyone in This Dating Sim Trying to Kill Me?!

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Translator: Vine

Chapter Title: Jukai Forest (5)

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This was before the Utopia party entered the forest to rescue Jin Yu-ha.

It was when Im Ga-eul suggested spinning a top, a method she had seen in a movie to distinguish between dreams and reality.

"Senior, I've seen that movie too. You're talking about 'Inception,' right?"

When Lee Yu-ri asked, Im Ga-eul nodded.

Her voice, buoyed by the sense of accomplishment from having pulled off another success after the dreamcatcher, was an added bonus.

"Right?? Isn't that a really good idea!?"

However, contrary to her expectations, Lee Yu-ri stroked her chin with a displeased expression, then shook her head.

"Oh, no...?"

"It makes sense, but I don't think we can use that method. The people in that movie are accustomed to doubting and checking whether they're in a dream or reality even in their daily lives. But we don't usually live with such thoughts. If we suddenly fall into a dream, would we naturally think to doubt it?"

"But... if we keep repeating the doubt as if brainwashing ourselves..."

As Lee Yu-ri argued point by point, Im Ga-eul retorted in a deflated voice.

"No, we don't have time for that right now. We're in a situation where we need to enter that dangerous place immediately and find Jin Yu-ha. And there's a risk of getting distracted by such thoughts and missing Jin Yu-ha's traces."

"...Then what do you propose we do?"

Im Ga-eul uttered, slightly offended.

It was as if she was challenging them to suggest a better idea if they had one.

In response, Lee Yu-ri looked around at the party members and spoke.

"Do you happen to know which sense a sleeping person responds to most sensitively?"

However, the party members just tilted their heads, seemingly unaware. No one particularly answered.

Though it might have been that they simply didn't want to answer.

"It's hearing."

Lee Yu-ri answered immediately without hesitation.

"Hearing...?"

"Yes, that's why they say when you wake someone deeply asleep, calling their name is more effective than shaking them."

"Alright, let's say that's true. So, how do you plan to utilize hearing? If all of us fall asleep simultaneously in there, there'd be no one to wake us, rendering such a method useless, wouldn't it?"

In response to Kang Do-hee's counter-argument, Lee Yu-ri calmly pointed to her ear.

A high-quality black earphone was plugged in there.

It was the translator she had worn when coming from the Academy to Japan.

"This translator we're wearing in our ears. It has a recording function and an auto-playback function."

"...Ah!"

Then, Sophia, realizing what method Lee Yu-ri had thought of, clapped her hands in admiration.

"If we set a timer and automatically play the recorded audio after entering... ! Even if we fall into a trap and get caught in a dream, it can stimulate our hearing!!!"

"Yes, exactly. Of course, it's best not to fall into such traps in the first place, but I don't think it hurts to have this much preparation."

At Lee Yu-ri's words, the Utopia party looked at her with newfound respect.

Honestly, they hadn't liked wasting time unnecessarily at the entrance like this when they needed to rescue Jin Yu-ha immediately.

But now, seeing her examine items, deduce what traps might be hidden in the dungeon, and even devise countermeasures for them,

They could no longer deny it.

Jin Yu-ha had chosen Lee Yu-ri as the sub-party leader because she was truly qualified.

And that acknowledgment soon led to active exchange of opinions among the party members.

"...In that case, instead of simply calling out names, it would be better to record something that forces us to wake up."

"Oh, and! Since dreams are manifestations of the subconscious, it might be better to record unfamiliar content rather than something we already know. So, how about we record it without knowing each other's content at all!?"

"Hmm... Then, should we record something a bit provocative to listen to?"

"Enough to cause a shock will suffice."

"Sh-shock...? How harshly are you going to speak...?"

Im Ga-eul asked hesitantly, as if worried.

*Whoosh—!*

Just then, Sophia snatched the translator from Im Ga-eul's ear.

"Senior! I'll do your recording for you!"

"...So-Sophia...!?"

*Gulp—*

"You, you won't say anything too harsh, right?"

Im Ga-eul swallowed, nervous, and asked her.

"Just trust me!"

"...Right?"

"Hehehehehe..."

But Sophia didn't answer, merely flashing a meaningful smile.

* * *

Im Ga-eul, who was embracing Jin Yu-ha, felt her eyelids tremble.

'W-Winter? Incompetent...? What is that suddenly? O-Our kind Yu-ha junior wouldn't say such things to me!'

Besides, wasn't she the one who had just rescued her junior from danger?

And she had even said that she was an essential presence in this dungeon.

*Mm-hmm.*

She must have misheard, after all.

Im Ga-eul nodded inwardly and smiled.

"Junior, what did you just say? I don't think I heard you properly just now."

She asked again, but.

"Incompetent Senior Winter."

He merely repeated the same words with a cold, expressionless face.

For some reason, the voice coming from Jin Yu-ha's mouth was that of a woman.

Even though the situation clearly felt off, Im Ga-eul didn't find it strange.

It just felt horrible that Jin Yu-ha was calling her by a different name and saying she was incompetent.

"W-Winter isn't my name! What's wrong with you! You know I'm Im Ga-eul! And incompetent! You said I was essential to this strategy! What are you suddenly talking about!"

"You have no presence, people can't even remember your name properly, and honestly... aren't you just a gag character, like a mascot, rather than a Utopia party member?"

"Wh-What on earth are you saying, junior!!"

Im Ga-eul snapped in a choked voice, but Jin Yu-ha continued speaking as if she hadn't heard.

"Senior Im Gye-oul—I mean, Senior, you're a bit, well, it's hard to say this, but... a lazy bum who lies on a massage chair every day, spilling potato chips while eating them—. Without magic stones? You're nothing. Mm-hmm. You're like a magic stone launcher where the magic stone is the main body."

"Don't call me a m-magic stone launcher—!!!"

"And a gambling addict, and the bluffing... *Pfft!* 'Slit-eyed mastermind.' You say things like that. Aren't you ashamed to utter such words yourself?"

"Stop it!! Stooooooop!!!!"

*Wooooong—*

As she screamed, the dreamcatcher around her neck began to glow.

*Flash—*

And Im Ga-eul's narrow eyes snapped wide open.

*Haa*

*Haa*

Her heart pounded rapidly, and her chest rose and fell roughly.

It had been a terrible illusion.

Because words she never wanted to hear had come from Jin Yu-ha's mouth.

Immediately after, she quickly grasped what had happened.

'Sophia—!!! To record something like that!!!'

Im Ga-eul bit her lip tightly in betrayal and turned her head, only to be dumbfounded.

'...Huh?'

Because the surroundings were a mess from the fierce battle.

Monsters lay sprawled, reduced to rags.

"Kuoaaahhhhhhh—!!!!"

Just then, a bull-headed monster let out a monstrous roar.

But soon.

*CRUNCH—!!*

Kang Do-hee's heel, descending from the sky, slammed the monster's head into the ground.

"..."

As if the monster just now had been the last.

The thick dust that had risen settled.

And the figures of Kang Do-hee, Lee Yu-ri, and Sophia, standing covered in dirt, were revealed.

"Y-You were all awake...? If there was a battle, you should have woken me..."

Im Ga-eul awkwardly chuckled and scratched her head in embarrassment.

"...Senior."

Lee Yu-ri, who had been checking if there were any monsters left around, turned her head to look at Im Ga-eul.

"Huh?"

"We already tried waking you several times."

"R-Really?"

"Yes, but you just wouldn't wake up. By the way, Senior, was that really how you thought of me?"

She immediately understood what Lee Yu-ri was asking. Because Im Ga-eul herself had been in charge of Lee Yu-ri's recording.

"Ahahahahaha—Th-That is to say... Were, were you also caught in a dream?"

"No, I didn't fall into a dream. Though I felt a little dizzy."

Lee Yu-ri stared intently at Im Ga-eul and pointed to her ear.

"Still, thanks to the auto-playback, I heard the recording."

'...Oh, um. Wh-What did I say again?'

She had been told to say something harsh enough to cause a mental shock—surely...

As Im Ga-eul briefly retraced her memory, her face instantly turned pale.

She had to make an excuse.

"Th-That, I absolutely never thought that—! Really! Like, how you cleared dungeons with Junior Yu-ha before coming to the Academy and luckily got the 'childhood friend' position, or how you're a one-trick shield user who got in through nepotism! Or how you sold your poverty to gain fame!! I absolutely, absolutely never thought that!!! I, I just read exactly what I saw in a YouTube comment!"

Im Ga-eul stammered out excuses in a flustered voice, but.

Her voice merely echoed hollowly.

"...Ugh... S-Senior. I didn't think you were like that, but you're a scary person... Did you really say that...?"

Sophia recoiled, her face disgusted.

"Just because one spent another year at the Academy doesn't mean everyone has a splendid personality, but... Is it jealousy? Hmm, this is rather unsightly."

Kang Do-hee let out a hollow laugh and shook her head.

"...I trusted you, Senior. Well, anyway, since you're awake, we'll resume our search."

Lee Yu-ri re-gripped her shield with a disappointed expression and turned away.

"No, I said it's not true—!!!! Juniors! Come with me!!!"

Im Ga-eul desperately denied it, but everyone slowly distanced themselves from her.

* * *

Meanwhile, Jin Yu-ha, who was in battle with Ichika...

'Wow... Crazy. *Tsk*, I wonder if she could transfer to our Academy...?'

She was observing with sparkling eyes, gauging the possibility of recruiting a new party member.