Chapter 83

The stream of water was still pouring down fiercely, but it seemed to have slightly reduced in intensity compared to before.

If flood dungeons were the type that constantly poured out disasters, the Earth would have already been destroyed by them. However, instead of spewing out mutants in the form of natural disasters that humans couldn't possibly deal with, flood dungeons repeatedly stopped their activity once in a while at an unspecified cycle and then resumed.

In other words, if they attacked the rift when the flooding stopped, the process of destroying it was relatively easy compared to other types.

Ayoung, who had ridden Aila and circled around the area, came next to Soram.

"Seriously, if rifts have a will, it's definitely their goal to harm humans. How can a flood dungeon that drops water bombs burst during the rainy season?"

Now they could understand the voice that came from close by. The stream of water that had been stretching far from the black crevice had also lost some of its force.

"..."

Soram approached closer to the rift. The height of the rift was similar to his own height, but as a characteristic of flood dungeons, the width was about twice the width of his arms. An eerie resonating sound that seemed to come from an underground machine room came from the pitch-black crevice. Even when he got closer, nothing could be seen inside.

He touched the gap between the rift and the void with his palm. Then he stuck his head into the black inside.

Gugugugung―...

The rift vibrated with a louder sound.

At that moment, Soram's arms were suddenly pulled back. When he looked back, one arm was being pulled by Tae-un, and the other arm was being pulled by Aila biting Soram's clothes.

"What are you doing, oppa? Why are you putting your head in there!"

"I was just wondering if there was anything."

"If there's something in there when you stick your head in, it's an even bigger problem! Be careful."

"Well... It doesn't seem extremely dangerous."

"Please don't do that."

Now even Tae-un joined in. Since there were not only team members at the scene, he was using formal speech, but he clearly showed his displeasure with Soram's dangerous behavior by furrowing his thick eyebrows.

"See?"

Ayoung became a little more triumphant when someone came out to scold Soram like her. However, she soon asked with a puzzled look.

"...Why are you looking at us like that?"

Soram, who she thought would retort with a tantrum like 'You're only scolding me! I hate you all!', was just looking at Tae-un and Ayoung with a subtle expression.

"Ah, it's just..."

I feel like I've become very familiar with this scene.

Comparing it with the memories of his previous life, the unfamiliarity was greater when the two appeared in front of him while looking at the dungeon.

In front of the dungeon, the sight of Ayoung and Tae-un standing by his side as he faced it was clearly unfamiliar in March. No, back then, even the sight of the three of them together at the headquarters felt unnatural. But now, this scene had become rather familiar to his eyes.

"Oh."

As the sound of the thinning stream of water disappeared, the three of them simultaneously turned to look in the direction of the rift. The stream of water that had been pouring out from the rift had completely stopped.

"We can attack now, right? Should we all strike together?"

Soram stretched out his hand to stop Ayoung, who was trying to step forward.

"Both of you stay back. It would be better to swing the sword in a wide arc, but if you're next to me, it will rather decrease the efficiency."

"Is that so? I guess it would be better to slash horizontally too."

"Yeah. Unlike other dungeons, there's no risk of being attacked in front of the rift, so it's better to do it alone."

"Jin Soram-ssi has already used a lot of his ability while rescuing the submerged vehicles, so please rest."

"Right. Tae-un oppa or I will handle the elimination."

However, Soram shook his head.

"No. I'll do it."

"Ugh, you're always being lazy and running away on normal days, but why are you like this today? Listen to us for once."

"I don't want to!"

"Why!"

Soram placed both hands on his waist and puffed out his chest.

"Who's the strongest person in Team 7?"

"..."

"...In terms of power, it's Tae-un oppa..."

"Who has the best control to effectively cut such a wide rift in Team 7?"

"..."

"Okay. Do it then."

"Then, you two 1st-grades with less than a year of service, go over there."

"Are you going to live being resentful of the 1st-grades with short experience? As soon as the CSAT is over, I'm going to evolve our Aila into Mega-ton Aila."

Ayoung grumbled and stepped back. Tae-un moved a little further back, keeping his eyes on Soram.

Soram, who had ostentatiously rotated his shoulders, slowly drew the sword strapped to his waist. It was a clean motion without any unnecessary movements.

"Fighting!"

When he looked back, Ayoung was clenching her fists on both sides of her face. Tae-un was also looking at him. Soram waved his sword to receive the cheers and approached the front of the rift.

As he moved away from his teammates, the smile on his face gradually disappeared.

Soram urged himself, just as he had done to himself in his previous life.

Get a grip.

He repeated those words enough to wake up his dazed mind. This was something that happened for the first time in this life, but it could be repeated enough in the next life. He needed to keep the situation in his mind.

The sound coming from the rift was louder as he got closer. The rain was still pounding on his entire body. Standing alone under the black sky, his mind also sank damply.

Clang!

Soram swung his sword. This black crevice only ever gave him fearful questions, never the answers.

Since the size was wide, even though the attack went in properly, the remaining size was still large. As he found himself fighting alone, his eyes gradually sank.

Clang, clang―...

The crevice had shrunk a little. However, a 2nd-grade dungeon was never easy. When Tae-un broke the rift of a 1st-grade dungeon alone, both his hands and arms were crushed. A 2nd-grade was exactly half the intensity of his.

His shoulders and arms rang with the impact transmitted to the sword. It seemed like unnecessary force had been put in because he was standing alone.

Kang!

"Ugh."

As the impact accumulated, the pain grew a little more.

Soram tried to check his arm once, but stopped thinking that his teammates were watching from behind. As soon as he showed any sign, they would surely come and ask to switch.

There was more than just stubbornness in the words he had said earlier to make his teammates step back. For a rift this wide, it was too much for the two of them who had overflowing talent but lacked practical experience. There was a greater risk of them getting hurt by their own strength rather than the rift.

Still, doing it alone seems more overwhelming.

"..."

He raised the handle and pressed the sword deeply into the part it had caught on earlier. The rift narrowed the gap while vibrating.

...Since when did I become unfamiliar with defeating a difficult rift alone?

The corners of his mouth ached as if the forced smile had returned to its place. Soram deliberately clenched his teeth tightly and continued the attack without a gap.

Clang! Kang!

The rough sound of the sword clashing covered all other sounds. It made him realize even more that he was standing alone in this place. In all of his previous lives, Soram had always been like that.

This is bad. How will I live in the next life?

Standing alone, he felt like the clothes and shoes he had been wearing, which didn't suit him, had been stripped off. The happiness that had exceeded the threshold allowed for him suddenly felt frightening.

The number of people who cared about him and treated him kindly had increased. While pretending to be indifferent to everything, Soram had somehow stretched his body into that warmth and found his place.

The fear he had felt whenever a sudden incident occurred was probably due to the fear of losing the present.

What should he do if he lived like this and found out that it was a failure? In the next life, should he act like the third life, which at least overcame the 3rd Great Rift?

Being next to the people around him now, but unable to do anything.

"..."

The rift, which had been quiet for a while, vibrated. It was a movement to resume its activity. It seemed to have sensed a fatal crisis from the intruder who had come close and accelerated its cycle.

Soram's sword suddenly stopped.

"I don't think I can do it at all."

How could he face the people who had forgotten about him again after experiencing a life like this?

He didn't need another chance, he'd rather face the end together.

Gugugugung―...

His breath began to quicken. The view that had been staring at the black crevice spun around.

When he thought of himself standing alone and who would stand alone, everything that had happened in this life felt like an illusion.

In fact, it was all a dream that his lonely self had dreamed. Projecting the desire to have friends, close teammates, and to be prioritized and loved by someone. Just like when he was a child, trapped in his room, dreaming of the outside world.

The thoughts he had tried to ignore and bury in his mind raised their heads.

...Should I end it now?

When the 3rd Great Rift doesn't come and no one dies in front of him, when it's only happy before becoming miserable in the face of disaster and relationships fall apart, should I end it?

End it here, and after that, live cherishing this memory.

If it was now, it seemed like he could forever embrace the memory of the 4th round like a long dream, like the biggest star on the tree that he couldn't reach.

Yes, rather here.

The focus disappeared from Soram's eyes as he lowered his sword. The boundary between the black rift and the night sky blurred.

Darkness approached his vision, which had lost strength. Another fierce stream of water spewed out by the dungeon engulfed Soram.

The raging current dragged Soram into the dam as it was. Soram fell endlessly into the bottomless water. Looking from underwater, the night sky that he thought was pitch-black was quite bright.

The water pouring from the rift pressed his body down even deeper, as if to prevent even Soram's instinctive actions. In the face of the desperate movement to eliminate the 1st-grade, Soram did nothing.

This life had many firsts. He was surrounded by too many people. The most amazing thing was that regardless of whether he did well or not, the gazes of the people around him didn't change. It was an experience he had never had when he lived only for his family or when he lived as the hunter at the forefront.

A mentor, friends, teammates, and even someone who had entered deeply without words to express it.

He sank deeper and deeper into the black. Now his vision had turned completely black and he couldn't see anything.

A single self-mocking laughter passed through his consumed mind. He was curious about how he would die in this life, but in the end, he disappeared because he couldn't handle the overflowing things.

Ah, but at least he achieved one goal. Not letting Han Tae-un die in his place.

When he finally thought of Tae-un, the first thing that came to mind was a question.

How can there be someone who likes me?

It was a dream after all.

Since it was something he had never experienced before, even when he received a confession in front of his eyes, it didn't feel real. So he could dismiss it as a dream he didn't want to wake up from.

His body gradually sank down.

At that moment, someone's arm scooped up Soram's waist, which was submerged in water. His body was pulled into their embrace as if being drawn in. Held by someone, his body that had been submerged in the black darkness was lifted up.

Kwaaaa―!!!

Another fierce current of water engulfed the two of them from above.