âDidnât show up. Besides, you think that dude can stop them even if heâs here?â
People whispered to each other and continued to observe Jordan and Chloeâs changing moods.
The truth of these two having bad blood between them was a well-known fact by now. Jordan, with his stubborn streak and old-fashioned values, and the carefree Chloe with a near-narcissistic level of self-love were polar opposites.
When the news got out that only these two were left to participate in the dungeon raid, lots of stories began doing the rounds. People wondered whether the participants needed to be wary of these two more than the monsters during the raid.
Sure enough, things were going wrong from the very beginning.
âWonât something bad really happen at this rate?â
Step, stepâ
Someoneâs footsteps made a noise.
Everyone was holding their breaths and whispering to each other, too scared to even take one single step. Their attention was focused on the person responsible for the noise.
It was an unfamiliar face. Not only that, he didnât even look American, either.
âWhoâs that?â
âDunno.â
âAn Asian manâŠ.?â
âWait a sec, is he actually going over there?â
Even as people murmured, Su-hyeun didnât stop walking forward.
The distance closed soon enough, and the Arctic-level of chilly auras emitted by Jordan and Chloe began stabbing him on the skin.
Realizing that someone was approaching them, the two S-Rank Awakeners shifted their glare over to Su-hyeun next. He kept his focus on Chloe in the midst of this. She had been carrying this expression of âWho the heck is this idiot?â ever since discovering his approach.
âItâd be a lie to say Iâm pleased to make your acquaintanceâŠ.After all, Iâve been hearing my name being brought up for a while now,â said Su-hyeun.
âYour name?â Chloe, still not getting it evidently, began scanning Su-hyeun from top to bottom. Meanwhile, Jordan asked a question.
âAre you Kim Su-hyeun?â
âYes, thatâs right.â
âThat Kim Su-hyeun?â Jordan asked again.
âThe one thatâll join us during this assaultâŠ..?â
âWhat the heck, it was true? Hey, the Medical Guild really scored big this time, didnât they?â Su-hyeunâs entrance caused a bit of commotion in the surroundings.
A man capable of potentially diffusing the tense stand-off between Jordan and Chloe threatening to go off at any second had made an appearance. Indeed, it should have been seen as a welcome development to all. Only one person was staring at Su-hyeun with an unwelcoming gaze, however.
âWere you listening to everything?â
At Chloeâs question, Su-hyeun nodded his head. âYou did speak in a voice that everyone could hear.â
âOkay, so what do you want, then?â
Her question implied why he still chose to show himself after hearing all of that. She really had a commendably thick skin. It seemed that she had zero interest in minding Su-hyeunâs mood at all.
âWell, letâs just say Iâll be in your care, auntie.â
The same thing could be said for Su-hyeun, however.
âA-auntie?!â
Chloeâs brows arched in a terrifying manner.
If Su-hyeun really did hear her conversation with Jordan, then he mustâve learned about how much she hated being called an âauntie.â Even if he missed it, there was probably no woman alive who liked being called that.
This was an open provocation, in other words.
Shuaaaaahâ
Crack, craaaackâ
Chloeâs aura spread out to the surroundings in an even harsher intensity. The chilly temperature now dropped below the freezing point, and the objects found in the surroundings began to really freeze up.
Awakeners possessed fairly robust resistance towards cold and hot weather, yet even they were beginning to feel the chill from her aura. Of course, Su-hyeun and Jordan felt the full brunt of the biting chill.
âYouâŠdo you really want to die?â Chloe threatened.
âChloe.â
Rumbleâ!
Right at that moment, Jordanâs own aura also flared up far stronger than before. The white-hot aura soon descended to earth, and immediately, Chloe shifted her glare back to Jordan.
âKeep it down and withdraw your aura. If you donât, forget about the raid or whatever â I will crush an arm and a leg of yours right here, right now,â said Jordan.
âMe? You will?â
âThatâs right. I will crush you.â
âYou f*cking son of a bitch, IâllâŠ.!â
âEnough,â said Su-hyeun.
Gu-wuuuuâ
The two peopleâs auras clashing against each other were dragged downwards. A brand new magical energy made an entrance and began suppressing them from above. Startled by this development, both Chloe and Jordan quickly shifted their gaze over to Su-hyeun.
âLetâs not throw a tantrum around in the middle of a city filled with people, shall we? Itâs unsightly to look at,â Su-hyeun said.
âYou, you, youâŠ.!â
âIf you canât hold it, why donât we go somewhere else and finish it there? Put your contributions and your life on the line in the meantime. So, how about it? We still have some time to kill, anyway.â Su-hyeunâs eyes narrowed to slits.
Chloe gnashed her teeth and was about to stride over to Su-hyeun. âThose words, Iâm gonnaâŠ.â
âThere, there.â It was then that Jordan stepped in between Su-hyeun and Chloe and opened his mouth. âI acknowledge it. I got too carried away. Itâs the first time meeting each other, so letâs not get too red in the faces and end it here.â
âJordan, youâŠ.â
âChloe, thatâs enough from you. Letâs be real here. You canât deal with him, now can you?â
Jordanâs question caused Chloe to bite down hard on her lip before she spun on her heels to leave.
Su-hyeun watched her back rapidly gaining distance with long strides and could only lick his lips, ruing the missed opportunity.
âIt seems that you were really planning to fight her,â Jordan observed.
âWell, I couldnât just sit back and take it lying down after hearing her say stuff like that.â
âYouâre a lot fiercer than you look, arenât you? I like that.â
A wide grin formed on Jordanâs lips. It seemed that he had recalled Chloeâs deeply crumpled expression as she walked away.
âAllow me to introduce myself properly. Iâm Jordan, vice master of the Maximum Guild. Iâd like to ask you to gloss over what that idiot Chloe has said earlier.â
âIâm Kim Su-hyeun.â
âIâll be in your care. If itâs at all possible, Iâd like to end todayâs raid with the least amount of losses. Quite a few of my Guild family are joining me today, you see.â
While saying that, Jordan extended his hand towards Su-hyeun.
He seemed to be a lot nicer than the initial impressions might suggest. The way he thought about his Guild members, it seemed that he really did care about his own people, and he was well-mannered towards the others heâs meeting for the first time, too.
UnfortunatelyâŠ
âI see. You also seem to be thinking of that as a joke, as well,â replied Su-hyeun.
âWhat?â
âYou shouldnât be worried about safely ending the raid with minimum losses, butâŠ.â
Su-hyeun left Jordanâs hand hanging and turned around.
ââŠWe should all worry about returning home alive, instead.â
Jordan could only wordlessly stare at Su-hyeunâs distancing back.
Those words sounded like they came from a man well-versed in blue-colored dungeons. Despite knowing that such a thing was impossible, Jordan found himself unable to ignore what Su-hyeun had said for some reason.
More than anything, that highly-concentrated magical energy suppressing both his and Chloeâs aurasâŠ
<<I was wondering whether the rumors had been exaggerated or not, but nowâŠ.>>
Jordan clutched his hand still hanging in the air and muttered to himself.
âMaybe the truth has been downplayed, instead?â
* * *
Crack, craaackâ
The path Chloe was walking on was frozen solid. Her sour mood caused the surrounding air to cool down rapidly.
<<That b*stard, he definitelyâŠ.>>
She recalled Su-hyeunâs eyes, and her expression crumpled even further.
<<He suppressed my aura.>>
He was merely an awakener who had only reached the 30th floor.
That was why she had been dismissing the b*stard. His experience as an awakener was too short, and she figured his skills would be severely lacking as a result, too.
But now, it was basically the same thing as her being pushed aside by him. Sure, they hadnât fought each other or anything like that yet, but as some things had already been said out aloud, her pride couldnât help but be wounded from the exchange.
<<Was it because I was in the middle of a power contest against that assh*le Jordan?>>
She tried to look at it that way, but even then, there were a few areas that still didnât make sense.
âPlease donât scowl so much. Your make-up will crack apart like that.â
Chloeâs head spun right next to her, in the direction of where that voice came from.
It came from a man with a bucket hat deeply pressed down â none other than the S-Rank awakener from another country who came with Chloe.
As her temper had already been stoked, those inflammatory words were answered by Chloeâs very harsh-sounding tone of voice. âAre you trying to pick a fight with me, too?â
The man replied with a laughing voice. âThe way it looks to me, it was you who started this whole thing, so what do you mean âtoo?'â
âYou better shut yourâŠ.â
âThat man Kim Su-heyunâŠâ The man changed the topic and cocked his head in the direction where Su-hyeun had disappeared to. âWonât he prove to be an unexpected variable?â
âA variable? What variable?â Chloe shot back as if to imply, âdonât say something nonsensical.â
She didnât look like sheâd be a good conversation partner in her current state. The man lightly tutted and shook his head.
âNo, itâs nothing.â
The man then pulled the hat even lower and hid his eyes. Soon, the man turned around and walked away as well. Chloe watched him and began gnashing her teeth again.
<<Kim Su-hyeun, Jordan Rogers.>>
It was as if she could see those twoâs faces right before her eyes. As flames burned in her eyes, Chloe muttered loudly.
âIâll definitely kill both of you.â
* * *
The blue-colored dungeon raid party was comprised of four Guilds.
It took quite a long time for every single member of each guild to gather and also to check their food and items. The waiting time included the interview period for the awakeners of the raid party, however.
Jordan met up with the newly-joining S-Rank awakener and had a chat. The man wearing the bucket hat was rather polite, which was quite different from Chloe.
As if she decided to unload the stress she got just now on the interview, she gathered up the reporters and wasted a ton of time yapping away.
Jordan, waiting for her to finish, kept glancing at his wristwatch several times before finally saying something. âChloe, get ready. Weâll be heading out.â
Unable to sit back anymore, Jordan finally intervened. Chloe mustâve realized that the proceedings had been delayed by her time-wasting because she didnât retort back other than furrowing her brows.
âI guess this really is it.â
Gulpâ
Perhaps he was nervous â Hak-joon patted down his chest and muttered to himself.
It made sense, however.
Being first of anything held a deep meaning, and itâd be normal to shiver from the prospect. On top of this, the subject of his challenge this time was a dungeon, where itâd be like stepping across the deathâs doorstep at all times.
The worldâs first blue-colored dungeon. Hak-joonâs anticipation, nervousness, and excitement slid down his palms as sweat drops.
âYou still remember what I told you before coming here, right?â Su-hyeun asked.
âOf course.â
With Jordan and Chloe in the lead, numerous awakeners began piling into the blue-colored dungeon.
Hak-joon following after them began muttering out what Su-hyeun told him a few days ago word by word. âA dungeon will always throw an unexpected curveball in our direction. And alsoâŠ.â
Squeezeâ
He gripped the hilt of the sword mounted on his hips hard and continued on. âThe moment you step inside the dungeon is when the battle starts.â
âJust remember those two things,â said Su-hyeun.
âI will.â
âWell, thenâŠâ
Before long, the two of them following the leaders were standing only a step before the dungeonâs entrance.
âLetâs go.â
The moment they stepped into the dungeon, the view before their eyes transformed in an instant.
* * *
[Trial will now commence.]
[In order to escape from the dungeon, you must locate the designated escape gate or survive for ten days.]
A pair of simple but concise messages popped up inside the head of everyone entering the blue-colored dungeon.
âItâs impossible to escape?â
âDammit, I guess I wonât get to run away at this rate.â
Just like how it was with high-difficulty trials, it would get harder and harder to find a normal type of dungeon as the color approached closer to the purple hue. Several variables, such as unique types of trials or rule sets would start to appear.
âDonât get your panties in a twist over a variable like this. Youâre all ruining the partyâs atmosphere.â Jordan went on to pacify the panicking raid party members. His composed appearance managed to gradually pull back the fear spreading within the party like an infection.
Jordan then surveyed the backdrop of the dungeon. It was a massive jungle with no end in sight.
He had occasionally come across dungeons with such backdrops before. As he was familiar with it, any thoughts of it being difficult didnât even enter his head.
He then started confirming his vicinity, only for his eyes to tremble greatly.
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âHold up.â He counted the number of people and raised his voice. âThe headcount is off.â
Exactly two people were missing.
âThat man with the bucket hat, andâŠâ
Jordan then looked at Hak-joon and asked, âWhere is Kim Su-hyeun?â