These Lunatics are Obsessed With Me

Hae Song-ha rolled his eyes anxiously. I tilted my head at him.

“What do you mean there is something wrong?”

“That’s…”

Hae Song-Ha, who was grunting like a puppy, stared at the cave entrance to Area 2 and turned to me with a somber expression on his face.

“I can’t detect it at all…”

“You mean… you can’t detect it?”

Hearing Hae Song-ha’s words, I also glanced at the cave entrance of the second zone. I could tell he was referring to Area 2, but I asked again just to be sure.

“You mean you can’t detect Area 2?”

“Yes.”

“Absolutely can’t?”

“Yes.”

Hae Song-ha’s already dark face darkened even more, resembling a looming black cloud. And my face also turned serious.

“Isn’t Area 2 very complicated because it’s inside a cave?”

“That’s right…”

Unlike Area 1 which is wide open surrounded by a beach, Area 2 which is in the form of a narrow cave is said to have a very complicated path like a labyrinth. It was said that if one failed to navigate properly, they could get permanently lost. The thought of getting lost and wandering in a dark cave filled me with despair. I hurriedly called Kang Soo-hyun.

“Hey, Kang Soo-hyun!”

“…?”

Then Kang Soo Hyun, who had been wandering around in front of the cave entrance, turned around. As soon as I beckoned, he quickly approached me.

“What’s wrong, hyung?”

“Are you unable to detect Area 2 too?”

“Ah…”

Kang Soo-hyun’s eyes fell on Hae Song-ha. They nodded slightly as their eyes met.

“Yes, I can’t detect it at all.”

“How could that be…”

S and A-classes detectors couldn’t detect it at all? Does that make any sense?

“Should I say it feels like something is blocking my view…”

“I just feel like there is a black drawing paper in front of me.”

“Hmm…”

Anyway, if both of them are unable to detect anything, I think this is a huge problem. After all, there’s no point in worrying about it on our own. Song Cha-hyun and Song Yul, as well as several Valkyrie members who were resting, started to have a brief meeting.

“You really can’t detect anything?”

“Yes. We should have felt something near the entrance, but we didn’t feel anything like that.”

“Area 1 is still detectable, but only Area 2?”

“Yes…”

“…”

There was a brief silence at Hae Song-ha’s words. Then Han Yeo-reum opened her mouth with a blank face.

“What, there’s nothing in there. Then what?”

“That can’t…”

The slightly tongue-tied Sung Yoo-bin glanced at Song Cha-hyun. Sung Yoo-bin asked with a troubled face.

“Isn’t this the first time this has happened?”

“…That’s right.”

Song Cha-hyun answered calmly and started asking Hae Song-ha follow-up questions. However, Hae Song-ha repeatedly shook his head, refusing to answer any further.

“…I can think of two cases.”

Song Cha-hyun, who was pondering for a moment, opened her mouth and spoke.

“One is that, as Han Yeo-reum commander said, there were no monsters detected in Area 2.”

“…”

However, that was an utterly nonsensical story. Monsters disappearing inside the dungeon? That’s not possible. Song Cha-hyun, who was talking, also frowned as if she thought so. And an even heavier silence fell on her next words.

“The other thing is that the level of difficulty has increased so rapidly that the S-class and A-class detection abilities are not working.”

“…”

“…”

Then, the rating of Area 2 became S-grade or higher. Considering that Kang Soo-hyun’s skill proficiency is still low, it meant that the difficulty of area 2 had risen to at least S, or SS-grade level, similar to the Niflheim Dungeon that Kang Yoo-hyun and I cleared not long ago.

This is just the 2nd area, and there have been significant changes? Even without the appearance of a mid-boss monster in the 2nd zone? At that time, Song Yul who was listening with a serious expression added a few words.

“I thought there must be an S-class or higher monster setting up a barrier.”

“Is there a mid-boss monster in the second area?’

“It is quite possible if the difficulty level goes up.”

“…”

This means that the strategy for conquering the 2nd area has fundamentally changed from before. The Valkyrie members who frequented the Sæ Dungeon as if it were their own home, as well as our attempts to learn even through low-quality videos, became completely useless.

“First of all, it would be nice if we could detect it…”

“…?”

As Song Cha-hyeon murmured those words, all eyes focused on one spot—that was where I stood. I looked at people in bewilderment and realised.

Ah, my auxiliary skill. If I raise the stats of the detectorist with that, we can detect Area 2.

“Then, should I apply the skill to hunter Hae Song-ha…?”

“Ah, no.”

Hae Song-ha hurriedly shook his head at my question.

“I think it would be better if hunter Kang Soo-hyun, who has a higher class than me, receives the skill.”

“But his skill proficiency is still a bit…”

Even if it was true, it would be hurtful to say it openly, so I whispered in Hae Song-ha’s ear. Then Hae Song-ha flinched for a while, and then stepped back a little and said—

“I–I have empathy skill. I can share my skill proficiency with hunter Kang Soo-hyun, but I can’t share the skill itself.”

“Aha, such a skill…”

“Yes, so Kang Soo-hyun, who is higher class than me, should receive the auxiliary skill… I think he should be able to detect Area 2 first.”

“Hmm.”

I nodded to Hae Song-ha’s calm explanation. Of course, if the skill proficiency can be shared, it would be better for Kang Soo-hyun to receive auxiliary skill first than Hae Song-ha.

When I turned my head in agreement, Song Cha-hyun also nodded in agreement.

""

“Then let’s do it.”

“Shall we start now?”

“Mmm….”

Song Cha-hyun glanced at her watch in response to my question. Most dungeons don’t have a clear cycle of day and night, making it difficult to pinpoint the time. In particular, the hot sun shines all day in Area 1, where the beach is the background, and while Area 2, being inside the cave, remained perpetually dark.

Nevertheless, our body’s biological rhythm must be considered, so it was an important matter to allocate time better when raiding dungeons. After quickly checking the time, Song Cha-hyun nodded her head.

“Since we were able to get through Area 1 relatively quickly, I think it would be better to start attacking Area 2 now, right?”

“Yes, if we take more rest time here, it seems like we will need to move tomorrow.”

In response to Song Cha-hyun’s question, Song Yul also calculated the time and said the same thing. I immediately approached Kang Soo Hyun.

“Hand.”

“…?”

I mechanically held out one hand, as I did with the other Valkyrie members. Then Kang Soo-hyun looked at me with his big eyes wide open.

“Am I giving a hand, too?”

“What?”

What is he talking about?

Kang Soo-hyun’s eyes drooped down as I looked at him with a frown.

“So I just hold your hand?”

“Yeah, then?”

What else is he gonna do?

When I asked because I was dumbfounded, Kang Soo-hyun’s head tilted slightly. He uttered a short groan and said with a big smile.

“Kiss on the cheek?”

“Fuck.”

What do you mean men kiss each other disgustingly? I glared at him with disgust, but it suddenly became noisy everywhere.

“Wait! I haven’t even held his hands yet!”

“Hey, grab Sung Yoo-bin! Stop her!”

“Unnie, calm down. Whoa, whoa.”

“Kkyaau! Kkyau!”

There was commotion around me. When I looked around with a bewildered expression, a hideous murderous look was fixed on Kang Soo-hyun.

“Yi-jin-ah, should I just kill him?”

“…”

I couldn’t believe the hostile gazes coming from Eden, who was spewing out harsh words, and Kang Yoo-hyun, who had a menacing glare on his younger brother. I mean, what kind of person would dare to threaten someone just for a joke?

I poked Eden’s waist with my elbow and extended my hand to Kang Soo Hyun again.

“Stop messing around and hold my hand.”

“Tsk.”

With pursed lips, Kang Soo-hyun stretched out his hand as if he had no other choice.  And his big hand wrapped around mine.

I immediately concentrated, using the skill more carefully than I had before. It was because my skill became more important than before when it was impossible to detect anything due to the sudden change in difficulty in Area 2.

If Kang Soo-hyun and Hae Song-ha couldn’t detect anything even with my auxiliary skill, we might have to attack in the worst case scenario where they couldn’t even find a way.

This made me more nervous than the last two times. Unknowingly, I squeezed Kang Soo-hyun’s hand.

“It’s all right.”

“Huh?”

“It’s not Hyung’s fault if I can’t detect anything even after using your skill.”

“Ah…”

Kang Soo-hyun, with his youthful face, smiled. I didn’t expect to hear this from someone younger than me. I suddenly felt a little embarrassed.

“I see, thank you…”

“Hehe.”

I tried to let go of his hand, thinking that it was enough, but Kang Soo-hyun didn’t release his grip and looked at me blankly.

“Hey, let go of my hand already.”

“Are you done already?”

“Yes.”

“Hmm.”

Kang Soo-hyun, with his head tilted, asked again.

“Are you sure you applied your skill? I didn’t feel anything.”

“Your hands were hot earlier, weren’t they?”

“I didn’t feel it.”

“Really?”

Then Kang Soo-hyun closed his eyes and answered with a big smile.

“Yeah, really.”