MBTJ 16

Chapter 16

Suho spoke like that, smiling elegantly.
She couldn’t understand why she was breaking out in a cold sweat when he was clearly smiling. Mora brushed down her arms, which were covered in goosebumps.

“Just… I was trying to avoid bothering you. I know you don’t like that.”
“What is it that I don’t like?”
“Fans. You were stalked by a sasaeng fan when you were 19. Ever since, you said you found people approaching you as ‘fans’ disgusting during interviews.”
“Oh.”

He made a nonchalant sound, as if suddenly recalling it.

“You remember all that?”
“Well… because I’m a fan.”

Mora had watched all of Kyeon Suho’s interview videos, rewatched them whenever she had time, and even saved them separately—but let’s keep that a secret.

“Don’t avoid it just because it’s unpleasant.”

He spoke firmly, yet intimately.

“But why do you collect that stuff? No one buys that kind of thing.”
“I’m not trying to sell it. I want to try planting it in our home garden.”

Mora cautiously observed Suho, who seemed happy again.
‘Does he have mood swings?’
Cute.

Until now, she had only seen him reveal his cold, indifferent, or somewhat nasty side without filter—but he also had a cute side.

Looking back, Suho didn’t get angry even when Mora grabbed his wrist without permission. Even though she was a fan, he didn’t show any discomfort.

As expected, he wasn’t a demon as the world believed. He was just misunderstood because his words and actions were a bit rough and blunt.
‘If he just softened his tone a little… people would love him.’

She hid her wistfulness as she continued collecting, but her stomach started to growl. Checking her device, she realized about three hours remained on the alarm.

Time in the dungeon flowed differently from the outside world, so she hadn’t noticed—but it seemed well past lunch.

Mora found a spot on a large rock and took out her lunchbox.
Inside were freshly made inari sushi and cherry tomatoes harvested from her own garden, looking very appetizing.

She took a wet wipe from her bag’s front pocket and cleaned her hands thoroughly. Her eyes persistently followed her hands as she put the used wipe away and pulled out her chopsticks. Mora couldn’t resist asking.

“Um… would you like to eat together?”

Suho, whom she expected to refuse, sat on the rock.

The scent wafted over, and Mora paused her breath. Her heart, which had just settled, raced to its peak.

“Here, chopsticks.”

Suho just stared at the chopsticks she offered. Understandably, he didn’t touch food from unknown sources, since fans had once sent him strange mixed food as gifts.

Knowing this, Mora quickly added:
“Don’t eat the inari sushi—have the cherry tomatoes. I grew them myself in the garden.”
“Garden?”
“Not a real garden. Just a planter made from a Styrofoam box filled with soil. No fertilizer, just water.”

Kyeon Suho quietly looked at a cherry tomato and picked one up. Though his expression didn’t change, it seemed it wasn’t bad. He picked another one.

Mora, trying not to laugh, ate the inari sushi. Even though she had made it hastily in the morning, it was quite edible.

“When did I start liking you?”
Cough!
“Are you okay?”

After coughing for a while, she gulped some water. Her face was bright red, and she muttered almost inaudibly:
“Not that long…”
“One year? Two years?”
“About twelve years…”
“Twelve years?”
“Yes…”

Kyeon Suho crossed his long legs and rested his chin on his hand. Even though his normally cold, intimidating eyes were expressionless, a faint warmth was noticeable.

“Twelve years ago… wasn’t I hardly appearing on broadcasts? How did you end up liking me?”
“You saved me.”
“Really?”

Suho responded indifferently, showing no sign of remembering. Of course. Saving someone’s life wasn’t a special event to him.

‘It was special to me, though.’

What is treasured by one person can be worthless to another. Even if Kyeon Suho didn’t remember, she didn’t feel hurt.

“Do you dislike it when someone tries to tame you while liking you?”
“I don’t dislike it… I’m just sorry.”
“Hmm.”

He made a peculiar snorting sound and tapped his knees lightly with his fingertips.

Mora hesitantly drank the remaining water, packed the half-eaten lunch back into her bag, and stood on the rock.

She felt piercing gazes. Was this how prey feels in front of a predator? Her insides burned.

“What will you do with the mandrake?”
Suho changed the subject.

Relieved, Mora exhaled quietly.

“I’ll sell it at the item shop.”
“The fees must be hefty.”

There were two ways to trade dungeon loot: selling to the item shop or to individuals.

The first method was convenient and guaranteed to sell, but the fee was 40%.
The second had no fee, but it was very hard to find an alchemy specialist, and you couldn’t sell if the conditions weren’t right.

“Introduce me?”
“To what?”
“To an alchemist.”
“Oh, no! You don’t have to go that far to help.”
“This person is desperate to buy a mandrake. You’re really not interested?”
“…”

If they were desperate, she could sell for more than market price. Even calculating it as 10 million won, the fee would be at least 4 million won—enough to shift her current rooftop apartment from monthly rent to half-deposit.

“Then… I’ll ask, without it being a burden on you, Kyeon Suho Hunter.”

Suho nodded and handed over his phone.

“Dial the number.”
“My… my phone number?”
“To introduce someone, you need their contact info.”
“Ah!”

Mora quickly entered her number and returned the phone—but then, a vibration came from somewhere.

“Huh?”

Did she feel it wrong?

As she unconsciously lowered her head, the ground suddenly caved in.

There was no time to scream. Mora fell into a bottomless hole.

The wind roared wildly. Her hair whipped about and her clothes flapped as if tearing.

“Ugh!”

Her falling body abruptly stopped midair.

Pain like her limbs were breaking escaped as a groan from her mouth. Mora waited for the pain to subside and slowly opened her eyes.

Net-like structures were caught mid-fall. Fortunately, she landed on them, halting her fall.

The floor was still invisible. She couldn’t tell if it was too dark or too far below.

She tried to move slowly. She wasn’t badly hurt, but moving was difficult. It felt like sticky substances were clinging to her limbs.

“What is this?”

When she opened and closed her hand, a viscous liquid stretched out, turning into white threads. Mora quietly observed them and then turned her head.

Suddenly, she remembered a攻略 (strategy) video she had seen on the bus. The named monster at the end of the video had been spider-shaped, hadn’t it?

“….”

What she thought were nets now looked like spider webs. A dry gulp went down her throat.

No way. The dungeon had already been cleared. It was just leftover webs, right?

“Impossible…”

As if mocking her thoughts, four pairs of red eyes appeared in the darkness. The named monster in the strategy video also had eight eyes.

Mora bit her lips to suppress a scream. How could a dead named monster be alive? Was this a second wave?

‘It said 0.025%!’

A faint vibration came through the webs. The spider silently approached her.

The tiny red eyes grew larger. She heard the sound of a vertically split spider mouth moving.

Tears welled up in Mora’s terrified eyes. But she had no time to cry foolishly. Instinctively, she attempted to tame it.

“Stop.”

The waves she sent toward the spider dissipated weakly. She couldn’t read the spider’s waves either.

The more hostile the target, the harder it was to tame. Usually, she would have to transmit the waves into her body via contact—but touching the creature was impossible.

Before her fingertips could reach, it would probably bite her head first.

“Stop! Stop! Please!”

She sent waves wildly, but the spider didn’t respond.

Exerting power recklessly made her dizzy, and her vision spun. The silk from the spider’s rear wrapped around her panting body.

“No!”