Even the strained expression of Jaeyoung, struggling to overcome his fear, even the sight of his trembling fingers pulling the trigger—all of it filled Sehyun’s vision down to the smallest detail.
No.
If he looked away, something would happen to Jaeyoung—Sehyun couldn’t even blink. His throat clicked as he swallowed dryly, his heart pounding out of control. When his frozen, shaking fingertips suddenly twitched, Sehyun ground his teeth and raised his bow for Jaeyoung’s sake.
[You have acquired ‘Fear Resistance LV.1’.]
He had no time to even check what appeared before his eyes. To save Jaeyoung, Sehyun pushed aside the terror and moved, firing an arrow with clenched teeth though his hands still shook.
He hadn’t conquered it. He had simply endured it.
Crack—!
Thanks to a night of practice, even though he had no time to infuse a skill, the rushed arrow still landed close to where he had aimed—near the monster’s throat.
Kkiiieeeek! Kkiek—!
The claws that had been slashing toward Jaeyoung swerved toward the arrow now lodged in its throat. And between the beast’s brows, the crossbow bolt fired by Jaeyoung struck home.
Only when the two monsters rolled on the ground, choking and thrashing, could Sehyun finally release his breath in a ragged rush. His vision was tinged red, his lungs heaving without rhythm.
It wasn’t over, but the momentary reprieve drained him of all strength. Unlike him, Jaeyoung calmly advanced to deliver the final blow.
But it wasn’t Jaeyoung who ended them. It was the three men, still clutching one another in terror, who suddenly rushed forward.
“Uaaahhh!!”
“Die, you bastards!”
“M-move!”
Shoving Jaeyoung aside, they unleashed their skills, stabbing and bludgeoning the beasts. They hammered down with desperate force until, within minutes, the monsters rolled their eyes back and died. Their corpses soon crumbled to black ash, scattering like dust on the air.
In their place lay two red-glowing magic stones, no bigger than fingernails. The three men collapsed in exhaustion the moment they saw them.
“Hyung, don’t push yourself.”
Sehyun turned his head. Jaeyoung looked up at him, face unshaken, eyes calm and steady as he blinked.
“Jaeyoung… how did you…?”
“Huh? Uh… I, uh—oh! I’ve got a Fear Resistance skill! Yeah, I’ve had it from the start. That’s why I was fine.”
It sounded dubious, but Sehyun didn’t want to doubt Jaeyoung. After all, it was Jaeyoung who had charged in first, and Jaeyoung who had moved him to act.
Sehyun admitted it: he had underestimated the monsters. They weren’t strong. They were weak. But facing them in reality, their killing intent and pressure had crushed him into inaction. The difference between seeing it through a screen and feeling it with his skin was immeasurable. It was the kind of terror that left trauma, his body still trembling. Jaeyoung seemed almost extraordinary.
Only now did Sehyun finally understand what his vassals must have felt when he had thrown them into dungeons at random in the past. At this level, yes—it made sense that they would stage coups and depose their kings early on.
“Let’s grab the stones… and move on.”
“Should I take the lead? You’ll be safer behind me.”
“Thanks, Jaeyoung. But I’m okay now.”
Jaeyoung’s eyes flicked to Sehyun’s hands, but he only nodded quietly. The boy’s consideration was something Sehyun found himself grateful for.
“Collect the stones and let’s keep going. You can manage, right?”
Sehyun directed the words at the three men still on the ground. Startled, they scrambled up awkwardly, clearly ashamed.
“S-sorry.”
“…See, we said this was too much.”
“I—I just… my stomach hurt….”
“We’ll go in front. Just give some backup later, that’s all we ask. Let’s just get out alive.”
Sehyun passed them with a steady grip on his bow. In truth, if not for Jaeyoung, he didn’t know what state he’d be in right now.
Quietly, he whispered for his stat window. When it appeared, he saw the passive <Fear Resistance LV.1> added to his skill list. If he raised it to LV.2, maybe he wouldn’t move as fast as Jaeyoung, but at least he wouldn’t be paralyzed with trembling.
“Let’s go.”
Closing the stat window, Sehyun walked forward side by side with Jaeyoung. As they pressed deeper into the cavern, the sound of wind echoed faintly.
Following that sound, they marked the ground and continued. After about twenty more minutes, they encountered another pair of bat-like monsters. Or rather, Jaeyoung detected them first.
This time, having learned from the first fight, Sehyun loosed an arrow imbued with <Purification’s Fall LV.1>, blasting the creature’s head apart.
Before its remains had even finished scattering into ash, Jaeyoung rushed forward, sinking a bolt into the second beast’s eye as its claws slashed down. Another arrow from Sehyun buried itself in its maw.
After a few more hits to its skull, the monster screamed its death throes and collapsed.
Even Sehyun had to admit—it was a smooth, fast run for a first attempt. He was glad they had made the bow and crossbow.
Of course, it was only possible because of Jaeyoung. His swift movements, his utter lack of hesitation, his precise shooting—he seemed far stronger than Sehyun had imagined. Fear Resistance explained it all.
Perhaps he was more combat-oriented than Sehyun thought.
So Sehyun felt almost reassured. There weren’t too many monsters here. Flying types, yes, but low intelligence. With care, they could clear this.
It seemed doable.
Even with the three useless men trailing behind, as long as they kept their wits, it would go smoothly.
But that was only true until they reached a fork with three paths, hunting their tenth stone.
“Let’s mark the path first.”
“At this rate, maybe we can clear it! Hey, if we clear, will the headman reward us?”
“Of course! Yesterday Squad 2 got rewards.”
“And none of us are hurt!”
“Forget it. We’re taking one more stone and going back.”
Sehyun licked his finger, testing the draft for the wind’s direction as he spoke offhandedly. The men’s excited chatter soured instantly.
“What, we’re just leaving now?”
“W-we’ll help! Think again.”
“Enough. Get ready to move. I’ll leave after the last stone. Do whatever you like.”
His mana potions were running out—only three left. Recovery was slow, so he needed to drink one before the next fight. He pulled a potion from his inventory and drained it.
“Hyung, should I give you mine? I haven’t used any yet.”
“I’m fine. We only need one more fight. Save yours. Don’t give it away. Even if someone asks, don’t. These aren’t things you just hand out, got it?”
Jaeyoung’s eyes rolled before he gave a slow nod. Seeing that, Sehyun tucked the empty bottle away and headed toward the rightmost path.
The cavern widened as they went. The men muttered and whined behind him, but he ignored them. After ten minutes, Jaeyoung pricked up his ears.
“Three ahead… no, four. But… strange. Something’s mixed in…?”
He tilted his head, eyes narrowing. For a fleeting instant, Sehyun caught sight of Jaeyoung’s eyes turning blood-red, stretched like a monster’s. In a blink, it vanished.
“Mixed? Explain, Jaeyoung.”
“Hyung… I’m not sure. Three of them are bats, but there’s… something else. It feels like it’s there but not there… sleeping maybe? Yeah, must be asleep.”
Jaeyoung spoke as if reaching a conclusion. Sehyun didn’t understand half of it.
“We only need to take out three, hyung. Then we’ll be fine. They’re asleep.”
“They’re not dangerous? We could take another path—”
“If we strike right away, it’s fine. And… the other paths are the same. All the caves are linked, each monster has its own nest. But they’re fast asleep. We only need to handle the three wandering around.”