The skill didn’t work. And the enraged giant swung its club in all directions due to my attempt. Thwack. Flesh splattered everywhere, intensifying the rotten stench.

Why? I quickly checked the skill window.

[Illusion of Enchantment(S) – Active]

: Performs an enchantment that beguiles the target. Can be cast on multiple opponents.

※Does not work on the dead or those without intelligence.

What is this! There are target conditions too! I fell into panic.

Kwang! The stone wall was dented with a single attack.

“I’m sorry!”

I shouted for now. Not that it would calm an enraged monster.

What can I do now? As I kept thinking, I saw the rotten one-eyed giant’s eye glowing red.

“Look, its eye is glowing!”

“What?”

Is it a signal for attack?

At that moment, a bizarre sound rang out, rattling my head.

“Kuk, this bastard should be shooting beams from its eyes instead of this cheap trick…!”

The movements of the two people unleashing attacks stopped. Is this a CC(*skill that restricts target’s movement)? I saw Baek Yi Hyun’s pupils gradually becoming dull.

Is there really nothing?

“Hey, spirit! Do something!”

“What should I, uh. I’ll try something!”

[Skill Use – Fairy’s Aria(A)]

: Removes some debuffs and increases all stats and attack power by 10%.

A singing voice mixed in with the bizarre sound. Lee Ryu Hyun clenched his fist and smiled.

“Oh, this is really good.”

Now back to normal, he leapt into the sky. Concentrating all his power into a single punch, he smashed the one-eyed giant’s head.

Kwang. An ear-splitting sound and fierce wind blew. When I finally opened my eyes, I could see Lee Ryu Hyun’s silhouette standing amidst the dust and smoke.

“Wow…”

Admiration leaked out. How can he completely destroy the head with just one attack? I almost applauded without realizing.

“Hmph, now you’re starting to understand my greatness…”

“Wait, behind you!”

The headless giant stood up, threw away its weapon, and swung its ragged fist.

At that moment, light burst forth, filling everywhere.

“Ugh, if your head’s gone, you should just die quietly!”

Baek Yi Hyun, who blocked the attack with a shining shield, fell to one knee.

A warm yellow energy spread out in all directions. Lee Ryu Hyun at its center moved at an invisible speed, destroying everything of the giant.

Soon it became miserable remains that were hard to believe had ever moved.

“My body feels lighter than usual, is this your doing too?”

Walking out leisurely, yellow energy and light mixed with a pale pink floated around his body.

“I told you not to let your guard down…”

Baek Yi Hyun grumbled as he got up, dusting off his knees. Lee Ryu Hyun ignored him and laughed.

“I can still hear singing. Is this your doing?”

The blue-gray gaze fell on me. Only then did I realize that the pale pink light floating around was my doing.

“…”

An unnamed emotion welled up.

I, I did it? Not a useless burden, but actually helpful?

Why am I getting excited over this? I cautiously asked.

“…Was it okay?”

“More than okay? It’s enviable. Hey, want to join Dark Moon? I’ll treat you with the highest regard.”

“That’s a bit…”

“Quick rejection. Well, fine. Let’s proceed for now!”

He moved on to clearing the gate before I could even feel elated.

“He’s always like that. Clumsy with expressions, but a good person.”

Baek Yi Hyun following behind smiled. Seeing that smile, I couldn’t help but think of someone else.

Is Cheon Shin Woo actually a good person too? Just clumsy with expressions.

…I hope so.

[This is the timeline separator]

The small party of only 3 people cleared the dungeon inside the gate at a fast pace.

There were rooms full of traps, places piled with bones, and rooms filled with treasure.

“Oh, treasure?”

Lee Ryu Hyun approached the treasure. I held him back.

“Why?”

I shook my head while covering my mouth and nose with my sleeve. I’ve been smelling a rotten stench, all coming from those things disguised as gold.

“…I think it’s better to leave it.”

“We could become incredibly rich if we just took all this?”

“Stop teasing. The stench is terrible. This isn’t just a bad smell.”

That’s right. The stench from that treasure was bizarre, stinging the nose while simultaneously making the head ring.

As if the name ‘despair’ had turned into a smell…

“Oho. You have the ability to detect curses too? Alright. I was just going to check briefly anyway. You shouldn’t carelessly take cursed items before sunrise.”

Liar. You were about to take them just now. Instead of speaking, I turned my head. As usual, words were engraved on the wall.

“[Greed-blinded stubbornness will someday return.]”

Somehow it was a sad sentence. Seeing me read this, Lee Ryu Hyun asked in a sarcastic voice.

“I’ve been curious, what are you doing?”

“Pardon?”

“You’re making sounds like ‘ryuryung dek eurek’. Right?”

“…That’s not how it’s pronounced.”

“Yeah? Well, it’s similar anyway. Are you reading letters or something?”

“Yes.”

“What does it say?”

“Aren’t you going to ask how to read it?”

“You’re friends with this guy, right? Then you must be a returnee too. So what does it mean.”

What does being a returnee have to do with being able to read letters? Instead of asking, I answered.

“…Well, if you’re too greedy you’ll be punished. That kind of content.”

“Well, that’s not really suitable for a dungeon like this?”

For a brief moment, I wondered if Lee Ryu Hyun wasn’t just clumsy with expressions but actually thoughtless. My assumption seemed plausible.

“Well, let’s go for now.”

My prediction seems to be correct. Somehow Baek Yi Hyun’s smile felt different today.

And we stood in front of another huge door.

“Just like a dungeon, making us run around like crazy.”

Ignoring that voice, I read the sentence engraved in front of the door.

“[Is the place you’ve finally reached eternal life, or eternal despair?]”

As my voice read the sentence letter by letter, the huge door moved on its own with a creaking sound.

In that pitch-black darkness.

-Have you made it this far, uninvited guests.

A giant skeleton sat regally on a throne, wearing a crown.

-I’ll specially let you know who have reached here. My name is…

“Not interested, damn it!”

Lee Ryu Hyun leapt up and threw a punch without warning. The skeleton raised a milky white staff and spoke in an angry voice.

-How dare you humans…!

Seeing this, Baek Yi Hyun also sighed.

“I’m supposed to be the tank…”

And so the battle began.

“Hide here. Don’t do anything dangerous.”

Baek Yi Hyun left those instructions and leapt out with his shining sword and shield. Even that caliber struggled against S-rank monsters, but surprisingly the two were holding their own.

Magic flew, they dodged, blocked with shields, more magic was fired, they got up even after taking hits they couldn’t avoid.

No attacks came my way. Baek Yi Hyun carefully blocked all those attacks.

Lee Hyun told me not to do anything, but.

Instead of following their battle with my eyes, I quietly closed my eyes.

If that skeleton is a lich, if what those two are facing is truly one who has rejected death, crushing bones won’t end this gate’s conquest.

The object that binds the soul with magic, the embodiment of that stubbornness and lingering attachment must be somewhere.

“Sin Ah!”

Baek Yi Hyun’s voice came from somewhere. I quickly opened my eyes to see a huge, dark purple pressure coming towards me.

“Are you okay?!”

Having narrowly blocked the attack, I cast ‘Spring’s Joy’ which gives some healing and buffs to Baek Yi Hyun as a sign that I was fine, then closed my eyes again.

Screams tinged with death are spread all around, so it’s not easy to find, but.

Just a little, more. If I search a bit more…

I felt Lee Ryu Hyun’s momentum waning. Even now, the lich’s bones were repeatedly breaking and reforming.

“We need to find the main body! This will only lead to attrition!”

“I know! I was planning to smash it first then search, but that seems impossible!”

“It’s not just a simple skeleton but a lich, how could that work! Ah, behind! Behind you! Watch out!”

The lich raised its staff. An unpleasant dark purple energy burst from the staff tip, spreading out in all directions and lighting candles.

With each ominous purple light that lit up, I felt the two’s momentum being suppressed.

“Kuk, what did you do, you damn bastard!”

-How could mere humans reject my touch.

The voice grating on my ears was unpleasant. There were 12 candles in total. And now 3 candlesticks were lit. No, one more just lit up so 4 now.

[Death’s Mark]

: The curse of death accumulates. When all 12 candles are lit, all living beings in the space will face death.

What kind of skill is this! I screamed inwardly.

This curse is not simply one that kills the living. The moment the flesh on this land meets death, the soul will be captured by that dead one and bound forever.

It means becoming a slave until that damn lich is subjugated.

Light began to be drawn on the floor. A magic circle? As it was being drawn, another candle lit up.

How should we break through? What needs to be done now is…

“…! That throne! We need to destroy the throne! Right now!”

“Oh, sharp and very good! Hey, kiddo!”

“I told you not to call me kiddo…”

Baek Yi Hyun’s figure leapt up and clashed with the lich. At the same time, Lee Ryu Hyun charged towards the throne.

If we just destroy that…!

-How dare you.

But there was no way an S-rank monster could be caught so easily.

The moment the angry voice rang out in the space, an earthquake occurred and magic circles appeared above the 6 lit candles. At the same time, darkness that made it impossible to see ahead dominated everywhere.

“Ugh.”

In this situation, I need to try direct skill cancellation… Huh?

The moment I raised my head, I met eyes glowing purple.

-The more I look, the more unpleasant. How did a half-spirit make it this far.

In the darkness, that monster was looking at me.

Lee Ryu Hyun was frozen in a pose just before destroying the throne, Baek Yi Hyun was stopped holding his sword and shield.

Only in that, just that monster and I.