"Everyone, good work."
At the words spoken while looking around at everyone after the battle ended, small smiles formed at the corners of the mouths of the party members who showed signs of fatigue.
Soon, the party members looked at each other, saying it was hard work, and began encouraging one another.
"By the way, what are you doing right now, Heewon-ssi?"
"Ah, I was counting how many each of us caught."
Looking at the Ground Puppies sprawled haphazardly on the surrounding floor and counting how many each party member had caught, Jung Heewon sighed softly and looked at Kim Dokja.
"My goodness… I only managed to catch two, but how many did you catch alone, Dokja-ssi?"
"Four."
"I caught three as well."
When Jung Heewon asked how many he caught, at Kim Dokja's impassive reply that he caught four, Lee Hyunsung raised his spear with a proud expression, saying he caught three.
Upon hearing Lee Hyunsung's words, Kim Dokja made a surprised expression, then stared blankly at something before gathering the party members.
"Everyone, for now, please gather all the Ground Puppies we've caught now in one place. We need to prepare today's food."
"But how do we cook this? We can't eat it like this."
"How about cooking it with this?"
In response to Yoo Sangah's worried question, I took out the Magic Stove I had bought from the shop, showed it to the party members, and asked. Since the party members had seen a Magic Stove once before, they replied it wouldn't be a bad idea.
"Well... then let's grill it..."
"Uh, uhh?! Ugh, uwaaah!"
At the scream from Han Myung-Oh standing at the very back of the party, the members hurriedly turned their heads toward the source of the sound. There, they saw Han Myung-Oh being dragged somewhere with his leg bitten by a Ground Puppy.
"S-someone, s-save meee…!!"
"G-grab this! Uh, huh?! Kyahak!!"
The Ground Puppy that had bitten Han Myung-Oh's leg and snatched him pulled him into the tunnel it had dug out.
Yoo Sangah, who was closest to Han Myung-Oh among the party members, urgently extended the handle part of her spear, telling him to at least grab this. However, because the terrified Han Myung-Oh grabbed her arm instead of the spear handle, Yoo Sangah was also dragged away by the Ground Puppy just like Han Myung-Oh.
"Yoo Sangah-ssi...!"
[The Constellation, 'Prisoner of the Golden Headband' is outraged at the preordained sweet potato.]
Lee Hyunsung belatedly reached out his hand upon seeing Yoo Sangah being dragged away by the Ground Puppy along with Han Myung-Oh, but the two people and the Ground Puppy had already disappeared into the tunnel.
"Ah, really.... I knew that ahjussi would cause trouble, really...."
".....If we meet again, I should just kill him or something... Useless and showing off without being any help... Haa...."
Jung Heewon covered her face with one hand, annoyed at Han Myung-Oh, and I held the back of my neck, muttering as I let out a sigh.
"...I'm sorry. Because I was late, even Yoo Sangah-ssi…..."
"In a situation like the one just now, it's no one's fault. So don't blame yourself too much, Hyunsung-ssi."
Kim Dokja approached the self-blaming Lee Hyunsung, who wore a gloomy expression, patted his shoulder, and comforted him.
"We should chase after them, right?"
Lee Hyunsung looked at the tunnel the Ground Puppy had burrowed into and asked Kim Dokja. In response to Lee Hyunsung's question, Kim Dokja took his smartphone out of his pants pocket and began checking something on it.
"Dokja-ssi?"
As Lee Hyunsung looked at Kim Dokja with an anxious expression and urged him, Kim Dokja put the smartphone back in his pants pocket, looked at Lee Hyunsung, and nodded.
"We're going in."
"Ah, then...."
"Lee Hyunsung-ssi and Jung Heewon-ssi, please wait here and keep watch. Into that tunnel, only three people will enter: Gilyoung-ah, Kang Yuseong-ssi, and me."
At Kim Dokja's words, Jung Heewon made a surprised expression and asked him again.
"Are you really only taking three people in?"
"Gilyoung-ah's ability will help in chasing that thing. And if a fight breaks out, Kang Yuseong-ssi's ability will be helpful."
"But...!"
Jung Heewon tried to object to Kim Dokja's words, but Kim Dokja lightly ignored her attempted objection, turned his gaze to Lee Hyunsung, and spoke to him.
"And Lee Hyunsung-ssi. Since Jung Heewon-ssi's condition isn't good, please take good care of her."
At Kim Dokja's words, Lee Hyunsung glanced at Jung Heewon, then nodded.
"Understood. Please be careful and come back safely."
"Wait a minute. I'm really fine!"
"Jung Heewon-ssi, confidence is good, but don't be reckless. I know your physical condition still isn't great due to the neurotoxin mist."
"I'm really fine though...."
At Kim Dokja's words, Jung Heewon avoided his gaze and grumbled.
"Then let's depart too."
Soon, Kim Dokja, Lee Gilyoung, and I entered the shadows.
Having entered the shadows like that, we were walking through the deep, deep darkness, relying on Lee Gilyoung's hand using Multi-Sensory Perception, when
"Hey, hyung."
"Hmm?"
"You did that on purpose earlier, right?"
"······What?"
"Earlier, when the monster took noona and that ahjussi, you let it go on purpose."
At Lee Gilyoung's words, Kim Dokja flinched momentarily in surprise and paused for a moment.
"I was watching your face then. Why did you do that?"
"Because of the Ground Puppy's习性."
Kim Dokja was silent for a moment, then answered honestly.
"Ground Puppies have a habit of stockpiling their captures in one place. They collect not only food but also things that look valuable. Like items, for instance. However, the path to their stockpile location is very complex, and it's impossible to find without following the paths they dug themselves."
At Kim Dokja's words, Lee Gilyoung was silent for a while. Kim Dokja, who observed Lee Gilyoung's appearance briefly, then continued speaking to him.
"I expected them to take Han Myung-Oh. I didn't expect Yoo Sangah-ssi to get dragged along too, though."
"So your goal isn't to save noona and that ahjussi, but the items?"
"That's right. Are you disappointed?"
"No."
At the answer without a moment's hesitation, Kim Dokja was momentarily taken aback.
"Hyung isn't good at lying."
"······."
"If hyung was really that kind of person, you wouldn't have saved me on the subway either. I trust you, hyung."
After the conversation ended like that, we walked through the darkness again.
"Hey, by the way, hyung."
"Hmm."
"Are you perhaps a god? Or a 'protagonist'?"
"What?"
Kim Dokja was silent for a moment, then answered Lee Gilyoung's question.
"I'm neither a god nor a protagonist. Rather, I've always envied the protagonist."
Having heard Kim Dokja's words, Lee Gilyoung was silent for a while, then asked again.
"...But still, you know something about this world, right?"
At that question, Kim Dokja hesitated briefly, then said.
"That's correct."
"Then let me ask you one thing. After clearing all these scenarios...... can we make a wish come true?"
"A wish?"
"Usually, at the end of stories like these, there's that kind of reward, right? At the end of this story, is there something like that too?"
Kim Dokja answered the words of Lee Gilyoung, who had asked him in a trembling voice.
"Yes, there is."
At Kim Dokja's words, Lee Gilyoung nodded, then said to us.
"We're almost there, hyung."
[An extremely small number of Constellations hold their breath.]
The moment those words ended, the sound of Ground Puppies digging up the ground could be heard from somewhere. Soon after, a light as if someone had lit it became visible through the darkness.
One blackish box lying beyond that light.
The moment the certainty that we had arrived correctly came, a message echoed in our ears.
[The sub-scenario has been updated.]
[You have entered the 'Ground Puppy's Treasure Storage'.]