Chapter 44: I'm scared

"Should I go and save her..? Nah, think I need to train now" Azaroth said while eating his breakfast.

....

Mr. Song arrived at the dungeon gate, looking at the invitation received on his phone.

'Oh! Miss Joohee, Mr. Kim, and all the other surviving members from that double dungeon are here..'

The others from the double dungeon turned at his approach.

"Hey, Joohee, did you meet with Jinwoo? How is he?" He asked Joohee because he thought that Jinwoo and Joohee were close.

"Ah! Mr. Song... I-I haven't met him since that day.." She said looking down.

She had tried contacting him but her calls didn't get through. She herself was dealing with panic attacks and depression but after some days, she even visited the hospital but he had already been discharged.

Joohee looked at his empty left sleeve and remembered, she gasped softly at the sight of his missing hand. "Mr. Song, I'm sorry for your hand... are you alright..."

He mustered a smile. "No need to apologize. It's nothing serious. Let's just focus on clearing this dungeon safely."

"Y-Yes."

Joohee's eyes shone with pity and respect. As a healer, the loss of life Mr. Song's limb pained her greatly.

But she admired Mr. Song's indomitable spirit in the face of such injury.

"Oh wow, what an inspirational heart-touching line~" A voice came from the side and three handcuffed prisoners exited the vehicle.

"Look, his limb got cut off and he is saying 'it's nothing serious~' trying to act cool in front of the girl, huh?" Commented another prisoner.

"Shut up you idiots..." A man in a black suit with the Hunter's Association batch said as he also exited the same vehicle, "Don't run your mouth, this isn't a picnic" the man said in a threatening tone that made the prisoners scoff in dissatisfaction.

"M-Mr. Song, who are these people..?" Joohee asked Mr. Song, who was also looking at the prisoners with confusion.

"Ah! Mr. Song Chiyul, right?", A young association member with cute glasses approached Mr. Song. Her presence was marked by efficiency but she looked a little inexperienced as she held a clipboard in hand.

"Hello, Mr. Song," she greeted, her tone professional yet courteous, "you're a bit late. Please fill out this form, and we'll get you ready for the dungeon exploration."

"Wait, first tell that, who are those people..?" he inquired, his gaze shifting between the prisoners and the association officer.

These three gentlemen are probational prisoners. They'll be accompanying your party today."

Mr. Song's expression shifted from confusion to disbelief. "Prisoners? What do you mean? Why are there prisoners here?" he demanded.

The association member hesitated for a moment before explaining, "These prisoners are serving a probationary period to lessen their sentences. They've been assigned to assist in dungeon explorations as part of their rehabilitation."

Mr. Song's eyes widened, and he raised his voice in protest. "You want us to go inside the dungeon with prisoners? Are you out of your mind?" he exclaimed.

The girl with glasses further explained to Mr. Song, "Ah, you guys don't need to worry, Association member Kang Taeshik will be accompanying your party as well. All the prisoners are C-Rank and Mr. Kang is a B-Rank and he'll keep a close eye on the prisoners."

Mr. Song, though slightly reassured by the presence of a higher-ranked member, still couldn't shake off his uneasy feeling.

He glanced over at Joohee, "Joohee, given the circumstances, do you still want to go? We have prisoners with us, and I can't shake off this bad feeling."

"Mr. Song, I understand the risks, but if I don't go, there won't be a healer in the party. What if someone gets hurt?" Joohee replies.

"Haa.. it's settled then, let's go now."

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Unknown POV:

The gates of the dungeon loomed ahead as our party prepared to enter.

My heart pounded in my chest as memories of the double dungeon raid surfaced. Fighting off that monstrous statue still gave me nightmares.

And now we were bringing prisoners with us too?

A bad feeling turned my stomach as I remembered our close calls before. Taking a deep breath, I tried to calm my nerves but the anxiety stayed.

That day, he managed to save us all, but from that day, I haven't seen him...

If he had come here, would he enter the dungeon after going through all those... I don't wanna think about it.

Inside, the dim dungeon every shadow made me jump as I scanned for threats. Knowing those prisoners followed didn't help my growing discomfort.

Suddenly, goblins swarmed out of the darkness.

"These bunch of pipsqueaks, kill them all" One of the prisoners shouted.

Our group sprung into action, swords, and spells lighting up the battle.

I focused on supporting from the back, but each time I looked at a goblin's smiling face.. I.. I remembered.. That.. smile.

My hands shook.

With the last goblin now falling, our party took a moment to catch our breath. The prisoners leaned against the walls, laughing and joking without a care.

I saw Mr. Song check in with the Association member and Mr. Kim and Mr. Sok. They all agreed that Mr. Song should lead this party expedition, given his experience and he will be in charge of the prisoners so it doesn't really matter who the party leader is.

Mr. Song also asked me and I nodded in affirmation. I was glad for his experience to guide us.

My hands still shook from the battle's remnants, so I clasped them tightly behind my back. But when Mr. Song's gaze fell upon me, I dropped them hastily.

"Miss Joohee, are you well?" he asked, concern plain in his voice. "Yes, of course," I replied, mustering what I hoped was a reassuring smile.

Yet under his stern but caring eyes, I found it hard to maintain the charade. He saw straight through my assurance that "I'm fine."

I prayed he wouldn't push, that he'd trust me to come forward if needed. 

We pressed deeper into the dungeon tunnels. Ahead, the path split into three caves. Our escort suggested splitting up to search faster, but reunite before any boss fights for safety.

Mr. Song agreed and divided us accordingly.

And we made three teams, first- me and Mr. Song, second Mr. Sok and Mr. Kim, and the third team consisting of the association guy with the prisoners.

The Association guy took the right tunnel with the three unruly prisoners in tow. An anxious knot formed in my stomach at their departure.

The expressions on his face... I have a bad feeling...

After they were gone, Mr. Kim's group took the middle tunnel and Mr. Song directed me down the left passageway with him.

I was glad for his capable strength beside me, a steady comfort against the dark. Still, doubts nudged at my mind—what if we encountered trouble alone?

We scouted our tunnel cautiously, alert for enemies or signs of the boss and Mr. Song took care of the goblins.

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[3rd POV]

In front of the D-rank dungeon gates, the manager girl with glasses spoke to a friend on her phone.

'Hmm, this style doesn't suit you...' Someone thought.

Without warning, she felt a faint breeze brush her hair, though there was no wind.

Glancing around in confusion, she saw only the usual barricades and the dungeon gate behind her in the distance with some pedestrians walking on the footpath.

No one stood near enough to disturb her hair.

"Umm, I-I'll call you back." An eerie chill crept up her spine as she ended the call abruptly.

The dungeon gate slightly flickered as someone got inside, she didn't notice that as it was very fast.

Inside the dungeon, the passageways were empty of people, and goblin bodies were scattered all around.

 But on a winding path near the dungeon walls, indentations began appearing in the thick dust as if invisible feet tread there.

The footprints moved with purpose, trailing off around a corner. 

'I got here in time, huh?'

Azaroth thought from under the invisible cloak-suit he had made with the Harry Potter's cloak and nano-tech, combining them both.

This is gonna be fun~

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Author Note:

Heya boys! Here is the new chapter!

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