These Lunatics are Obsessed With Me-Chapter 139

The area around us gradually transformed. As the system's voice had announced, we had moved to the ‘next stage.' The sudden change in scenery sparked murmurs among the hunters.

"Haa…”

Alright, let’s sum up the situation. The banquet hall was packed with hunters. Then, all of a sudden, the floor collapsed because of Raisu. I was the first to fall—Eden wrapped around me as we went down together.

The other hunters were likely caught in the collapsing floor as well, unable to escape. It was surprising that even SS-rank Kang Yoo-hyun couldn’t avoid it. But with so many S-rank hunters already defeated by Raisu, it wasn’t that shocking.

Besides, with restriction items set up throughout the Association, they might not have been able to use their strength in time to escape. Anyway, countless hunters fell to the ground beneath the Association, and to make matters worse, we had been split into groups.

My group successfully cleared the timed dungeon, and once the portal opened, we crossed over to where the other group was. The moment we reunited, the groups merged, and we moved on to the next dungeon.

"Damn it."

This is ridiculous! We cleared it—so why aren’t we getting out? Another stage? How much more is the system going to make us suffer?

"Ugh…”

A wave of dizziness washed over me, and I pressed a hand to my forehead. Before I knew it, the guys around me were making a fuss.

"Yi-jin-ah, what's wrong?"

"Hyung, are you okay?"

"Ugh… My head's pounding."

This was the price of overusing my auxiliary skill to clear an S-rank or higher dungeon in under an hour. I had used it on Andrew Bailey to guide us through, boosted the key hunters in each group, and specifically amplified Liam White’s ability.

After four uses, my mental strength and mana were completely drained. First things first—I needed to replenish my mana. I reached into my inventory and searched for a potion.

"Haa…”

I sighed after downing the still-tasteless potion. Then, I scanned the hunters, who had only just managed to pull themselves together.

In the other group were Kang Yoo-hyun, Kang Soo-hyun, several hunters from Odin Guild, and some from Freya Guild.

And…

There were also hunters from Skadi Guild, Vali Guild, and Ur Guild. The ones from Ur Guild were the only ones I hadn’t had the chance to greet at the banquet hall.

“…”

I needed to reconsider what Han Yi-jin had said. He mentioned there was a traitor among the foreign guilds inside the dungeon. But now that we had all merged, every foreign guild that came to Korea was a suspect. I frowned before I even realized it.

“Hunter Han Yi-jin, are you feeling unwell?”

“Ah.”

Seeing Sung Yoo-bin's worried gaze, I jolted back to my senses. The others cast me the same concerned looks. I shook my head.

"I'm fine. I drank a potion, and I feel better. But I probably won’t be able to use my auxiliary skill for a while."

"You don’t need to worry about that."

Sung Yoo-bin spoke firmly, then shifted her gaze elsewhere. The guildmasters had gathered in one place, likely finding the current situation just as absurd.

"Get some rest, Hunter Han Yi-jin. The guildmasters will take care of the rest."

"All right."

With the groups merged, it finally felt like a proper raid team. Moreover, everyone was A-rank or higher. Compared to them, I was just a B-rank who couldn’t even use my auxiliary skill at the moment. They were far more reliable than I was.

In the end, I nodded at Sung Yoo-bin’s words.

“…”

As I sat down to rest, exhaustion pressing down on me, I felt a persistent gaze. I didn’t need to turn my head to know who it was. I did my best to ignore his gaze.

No matter how I thought about it, Kang Yoo-hyun should’ve been able to avoid falling. So why was he here? Then again, plenty of guildmasters had ended up in this place too. Maybe I’d just been overestimating Kang Yoo-hyun because he was the protagonist.

After a brief rest, the guildmasters finally wrapped up their discussion. Park Yoon-sung naturally stepped forward and addressed the hunters.

"First of all, we ask for your understanding as we have no choice but to draw our own conclusions, given that the Association still refuses to disclose any information."

"…"

All eyes fell on Na Ye-rim. As the Association’s director, she remained just as tight-lipped as before. Not even the guildmasters' relentless questioning could get a word out of her. I clicked my tongue inwardly.

"The first dungeon was split into two groups with a time limit. However, it seems that as long as one group cleared it, both would automatically advance to the next dungeon."

Park Yoon-sung glanced around after finishing his words. Our group had started in a cave, while the second group’s dungeon— which I’d only glimpsed— was surrounded by ice.

Now, we stood in an open field. By this point, everyone had grown used to the sudden changes and accepted them without fuss. Park Yoon-sung continued speaking.

"Since we've already cleared the timed dungeon, this one likely won’t have a time limit. However, we believe there may be other special conditions instead."

"Special conditions?"

Someone asked back, tilting their head. I wondered the same thing.

Park Yoon-sung’s reasoning was sound. We may have cleared the timed dungeon, but this so-called next stage didn’t seem normal either.

An unsettling feeling crept over me.

If there had been a time limit before, what kind of absurd condition awaited us next? My thoughts kept drifting in that direction.

"We’re not sure of the exact conditions yet, but we’ll figure them out as we move. Fortunately, with our groups merged, we now have more hunters with detection skills."

On our side, Andrew Bailey was the guide, while on theirs, it was Kang Soo-hyun.

Andrew initially struggled due to his skill grade, but with my auxiliary skill, he managed to detect the way. Even though I couldn't use my auxiliary skill right now, having an S-rank like Kang Soo-hyun here was reassuring.

"We believe this dungeon will be different from the usual ones as well. We can't predict what will happen, so everyone, please be more careful than ever and follow the guildmasters' instructions."

"Understood!"

The hunters responded loudly and quickly fell into formation under the guildmasters' instructions. Since I wouldn’t be able to use my auxiliary skill for a while, I stayed at the rear.

‘At this point, I really should reconsider what Han Yi-jin said.'

I quietly observed the foreign guild members as I thought to myself.

I had assumed until now that Baldur was the only foreign guild trapped in the dungeon with us, but that might not have been the case.

If the other guilds here were also suspects, keeping a close watch on them and identifying any potential traitors was crucial.

That made my role in this dungeon clear—monitor the foreign guild members. I carefully observed them without drawing attention, then set off with the other hunters.

But not long after we set out, we realized that trying to find our way was pointless. We kept circling the same area, and just like in the first dungeon, the same named monsters kept reappearing.

However, since this dungeon was an open field, nothing seemed particularly unusual. The recurring monsters were just ordinary beasts—a wild boar and a deer.

Seeing that we weren’t making any progress, the guildmasters halted and began another discussion.

"Weren’t more anomalous dungeons discovered in China?"

"I'm not sure…"

Liu Haoran tilted his head. With China being much larger than Korea and home to more dungeons, it made sense for Park Yoon-sung to ask if unusual dungeons were more common there.

However, Liu Haoran seemed uncertain, his words trailing off. Like the Chinese guild, the other foreign guilds also had no useful information on unusual dungeons.

Since China was close to Korea and had also been affected by the rating anomaly, they likely lacked the resources to focus on unusual dungeons like this one. However, it was somewhat surprising that the other guilds were in the same boat.

While unusual dungeons weren’t a major focus in the novel, I had expected more stories about them to circulate—especially considering the gaps and missing details.

"This…”

Unable to gather any information from the foreign guildmasters, Park Yoon-sung clicked his tongue and turned away.

“…?”

When Park Yoon-sung’s eyes met mine, I blinked in surprise. The moment he looked at me, the other hunters followed suit, their attention shifting to me as well.

What’s going on? Why is everyone staring at me?

Their expectant gazes left me momentarily speechless. Before I could say anything, Park Yoon-sung spoke up with a question.

"Hunter Han Yi-jin, what pattern do you think it is this time?”

“Yes? Me?”

"Yes."

I was completely taken aback when someone clearly more intelligent than me asked for my opinion.

After all, I had been the one to figure out the time limit in the first dungeon and pinpoint both the boss monster and the portal. Now, it seemed Park Yoon-sung and the other hunters were expecting me to do the same.

But this time, I had no clue…

“Hmm…”

Then, my eyes landed on a spot that had been bothering me for a while, though I couldn’t quite explain why. I narrowed my eyes as I looked at it.