Chapter 87: Chapter 87

Ho-Yeong Guild.

“Min-Ji disappeared?”

Yeo Sunwoo looked up from the documents with a puzzled expression.

“…Yes.”

“What do you mean? Explain in detail.”

Yeo Sunwoo had logged in today after confirming that his daughter had entered the capsule.

So it didn’t make sense that she had disappeared.

She must have logged out.

But as the reporter continued, Yeo Sunwoo’s expression became serious.

“…The last place her signal was detected was Fruhneum.”

Fruhneum.

Yeo Sunwoo’s expression hardened.

“So… Min-Ji went to investigate where the guild members’ traces disappeared, and her traces disappeared there too?”

“…Yes.”

If her traces disappeared inside the dungeon, something must have happened there.

“Hmm, Min-Ji isn’t the type to struggle in a place like Fruhneum.”

Fruhneum’s level was only 139.

And Yeo Min-Ji was a ranker with a level over 300.

There was no way his daughter could have had an accident in Fruhneum.

“Yes. That’s why it’s even more puzzling.”

The reporter also thought the same.

It was a playground-level dungeon for Yeo Min-Ji, who had even completed her fourth class advancement.

“…Could it be a trap?”

“A trap?”

“Yes.”

Traps.

Although they were rarely found nowadays, in the early days of the Korean server of New World, various traps were discovered every day.

Yeo Sunwoo, who was also an early user, had stepped on many traps while raiding dungeons.

Some of them were very vicious traps, and he remembered having a hard time getting out of them.

If she was caught in a trap, it would explain why his daughter was struggling.

“But do traps still exist…? Fruhneum is a dungeon that many users are still raiding.”

The problem was that once a trap was triggered, it wouldn’t trigger again.

It was literally a trap.

If there was a trap in Fruhneum, it should have been triggered a long time ago.

He had a bad feeling about this.

Yeo Sunwoo tapped his fingers on the table, lost in thought.

‘Min-Ji is at a level where she can take care of herself.’

He loved his daughter very much, but he couldn’t just protect her all the time.

If Yeo Min-Ji was a ranker, she needed to overcome difficulties on her own.

But he couldn’t just sit back and watch.

“One day. We’ll wait one day and then move.”

“One day…?”

Yeo Sunwoo nodded.

“Yes.”

“Understood. I’ll send people to Fruhneum in 24 hours.”

The reporter, having received the order, hurriedly tried to leave the guild leader’s office.

Then Yeo Sunwoo tilted his head in confusion.

“Hmm? What are you talking about?”

“Sir?”

“I’m going myself.”

* * *

Jeong-Hoon hurriedly headed to Lohais territory.

[Lv. 139 Fruhneum]

“This is it.”

He had no idea that this dungeon would be the cause of Ho-Yeong’s downfall.

[You’re always so busy. Won’t it hurt to rest a little?]

“I rested.”

[What? When?]

“I rested for 8 hours, isn’t that a lot?”

[Master, I’m asking you seriously, were you by any chance a delinquent?]

“What nonsense are you talking about?”

[Your actions are exactly like a delinquent’s. If you make someone work, you should give them a break!]

He just couldn’t let it go, could he?

“Alright. Let’s rest for a day after this.”

[Two days.]

“One day. Take it or leave it.”

[Wow, are you going to be that stingy?]

“Yes. Think about it slowly and make your choice. I don’t mind moving right away.”

Jeong-Hoon grinned.

Mukho, angered by his relaxed smile, shut his mouth.

If he shouted here, he would obviously get nothing in return.

‘He’s finally learning.’

Jeong-Hoon entered the dungeon through the portal.

[You have entered Lv. 139 Fruhneum.]

As he entered the dungeon, the monsters roaming the plains smelled him and started to gather towards him.

Fruhneum wasn’t that difficult to clear for its level, and the reason was the terrain.

It was a plain with only weeds and grass, making it impossible for users to hide or take cover.

And over 200 Silverhawk boars were roaming around.

The same was true for the monsters, they couldn’t hide either.

So if he just used a wide-area attack once, the number of monsters would decrease quickly.

Just like now.

[Lightning Bolt]

A powerful Epic grade lightning magic struck the Silverhawk boars.

“Kweeeeeek!”

“Kkueeeeek!”

Seven Silverhawk boars were instantly electrocuted by Lightning Bolt.

This was because the maximum number of targets he could attack at once was seven.

Jeong-Hoon continued to use Lightning Bolt, reducing the number of Silverhawk boars.

If he ran out of mana, he could quickly replenish it with divine power.

“Kweeeeeek!”

“Kweeeeeek!”

The last remaining Silverhawk boars screamed and were electrocuted.

[Using Intermediate Healing.]

Jeong-Hoon used Intermediate Healing to recover his depleted health and mana.

“Let’s go.”

[Master! Wait a minute.]

Just as he was about to head straight to the boss zone, Mukho stopped him.

“Why? Is there something?”

[Yes. I think I found it. That bush over there.]

Mukho pointed to a bush a little distance away.

“That one, huh.”

Jeong-Hoon’s eyes gleamed as he entered the bush.

Mukho was very sensitive to the subtle energy emanating from the trap.

[Keep going. Left here, right.]

Thanks to that, it wasn’t difficult to find the trap.

[A trap has been triggered.]

Along with the message that he had found the trap, Jeong-Hoon also entered the trap.

* * *

Why?

Why did he keep going in circles?

‘No matter which path I take, I end up back at the starting point… Can I really go back?’

Yeo Min-Ji was trying to suppress her confused feelings, but it was reaching its limit.

Several days had already passed.

Since she had entered another dimension, the flow of time might be different, and a lot of time might have passed outside as well.

‘My father must be worried too…’

She was worried about her father.

He was already busy with guild matters, and the thought of being a burden to him made her bite her lip until it bled.

“Miss… I don’t think this is the way…”

“Sigh, what should we do…?”

Three guild members were following behind her.

The emergency food and water she had packed in her inventory.

The once-full emergency food was now running low, and only two 2-liter bottles of water were left.

If only she could log out…

“Ha… I think I’m really going to die…”

One of the guild members collapsed on the spot.

He had already exceeded his physical and mental limits.

He needed to log out and rest his body, but being trapped in the trap, he couldn’t, and it had overloaded him.

If this continued, his body in the capsule wouldn’t be able to hold on, and the guild members here would also collapse and never get up again.

“Get up! We can’t give up here!”

Yeo Min-Ji forced the guild member to his feet.

The moment they gave up, everything would be over.

She didn’t want to collapse in this damn maze.

“…Miss, do you really think we can get out of here alive?”

“I don’t think we can anymore…”

Everything around them was white.

Even after walking for days, the scenery didn’t change, and she was going crazy.

“We can definitely get out. I’ll make it happen.”

Yeo Min-Ji didn’t want to break their hope.

All she could do now was escape this maze with her own strength.

But even after that, they kept going in circles.

In the end, Yeo Min-Ji and the guild members returned to the starting point of the maze.

‘Why?’

Yeo Min-Ji slowly retraced the path she had taken.

No matter how much she thought about it, she couldn’t see the answer.

Could it be a maze without an answer…?

Just as her thoughts reached that point.

Boom!

A small explosion occurred a little distance away.

Since it was such a quiet place, the explosion was very vivid.

“Huh? It seems like there’s someone else here besides us.”

“Yeah. Who is it?”

“It’s impossible to break the walls here…”

The guild members had also tried to break the walls of the maze.

But the walls were so sturdy that there wasn’t even a scratch.

“Let’s go and check out the situation.”

Yeo Min-Ji hurriedly headed towards the sound.

And soon, she found the person standing there.

“Who is that?”

One of the guild members recognized him.

“Jeong-Hoon!”

Yeo Min-Ji ran towards Jeong-Hoon.

“Min-Ji, are you okay?”

Jeong-Hoon smiled and checked on her well-being.

Yeo Min-Ji felt a bit emotional at the sight.

The whisper she had sent in a hurry had been quite vague, but Jeong-Hoon had come all the way here just from that.

“…Thank you for coming.”

“It was something I had to do.”

He had to save Ho-Yeong so that the shield necessary for his mother’s growth wouldn’t disappear.

And there was one more thing he wanted to ask for because of this incident.

Jeong-Hoon had already finished all the calculations in his head.

“Of course…”

Yeo Min-Ji smiled.

[Oh my, look at this guy flirting. It’s making me cringe.]

‘Are you talking to me?’

[Your flirting skills are artistic. You might also be known as a playboy.]

‘Wait. If you do that one more time, I’ll get rid of you.’

[…I was just kidding. How was it? Was it fun?]

He was starting to understand why Siegfried had sealed Mukho.

Jeong-Hoon pointed to the wall he had just broken through.

“Then let’s get out of here quickly.”

“Huh?”

The wall was broken.

“No, how did you break through that…?”

“That’s impossible…”

The guild members were shocked to see the broken wall.

“How did you do that?”

Yeo Min-Ji was equally surprised.

She had also tried to break through the maze by force, but had failed.

And yet, Jeong-Hoon had broken through that sturdy wall.

“Try to slowly feel the mana flowing through the wall. You’ll feel an empty spot somewhere.”

“…You can feel that?”

“Yes.”

Although he said it like that, it wasn’t a simple task.

To feel the constructed mana circuit, one’s senses had to be very sharp.

Jeong-Hoon had the experience from his previous life, and he was additionally buffed with Heightened Senses.

Moreover, to break through this wall, it required not only mana but also divine power.

It was set up so that the wall would only collapse when struck with the combined energy of mana and divine power.

‘That’s why even Yeo Sunwoo couldn’t break through the wall.’

The worst trap that had led Ho-Yeong to its demise.

That trap was being broken by Jeong-Hoon’s hands.

“…Wow.”

Yeo Min-Ji, unaware of this, looked at Jeong-Hoon as if he were a monster.

In New World, level was absolute, but Jeong-Hoon was defying that rule.

“That’s Miss’s disciple…”

“I think I understand why she brought him to Ho-Yeong.”

“And he’s even a hidden class… That’s amazing.”

The guild members exclaimed in admiration.

Yeo Min-Ji had mentioned him as her disciple because the guild members were present.

“Right? Then shall we continue?”

Jeong-Hoon moved towards the broken wall.

A different path appeared than before.

“…So this was the way to get through by breaking through the walls.”

“Yes, that’s right.”

Jeong-Hoon continued to break through walls and move forward.

[Right! Left!]

He was able to move forward without hesitation because of Mukho’s continuous orders.

After 5 hours, Jeong-Hoon reached the end of the maze at a rapid pace.

“You can’t pass here.”

[Lv. 156 Doppelganger A]

It was Jeong-Hoon’s doppelganger, made of a black silhouette.

And that wasn’t all.

[Lv. 352 Doppelganger B]

A doppelganger that copied Yeo Min-Ji.

And three more doppelgangers that copied the guild members behind her.

A total of five doppelgangers were blocking the way.