Breaking Up with the Heroine of the Female-Oriented Game - Chapter 27

Chapter 27 – Side Quest Dungeon Exploration Failure and Strategy (7)

It was a trap. The wide room was meant to be a lure—a trap designed to corner them with monsters and prevent their escape.

“Krraaahh, eeeeeeek!”

“Kirrk, rrrk! Kirrk!”

“Keee-ah, eeeeee, kee-ah!”

“Krrrr, rrrk.”

Monsters swarmed in like a rising tide.

Saw-toothed ants. White orb spiders. Poison dart lizards. Blue clawed frogs, and more.

They were flooding in from both the exit and the entrance. Although none of the monsters were particularly strong, their numbers were overwhelming. They were flanked, completely surrounded.

‘Just when I thought things were too quiet, was this the setup for a soul-crushing blow?’

Lee Jinhyuk couldn’t hide his dismay.

Why would dozens of monsters suddenly rush at them from both directions? This must be the work of someone’s scheme—most likely the boss of this dungeon, the Mad Wizard Kate.

He was aware that games and reality differed, but never expected this to happen.

Yet something felt off. Kate’s ability to control ordinary monsters wasn’t part of the game’s setup, was it? Had he forgotten something, or was there a detail he missed?

“Erina! Blast us a path with a big spell! Park Sangcheol, Oh Jeongnam, follow through after her! Baek San, hold the center! Lee Jinhyuk, Yoo Seolhyun, don’t linger behind!”

Han Seowoo quickly issued orders to the team.

Although the number of monsters was large, they weren’t a threat to their lives if handled calmly.

However, the priority wasn’t defeating the monsters; it was escaping the room before the random teleportation trap activated.

Could they really push through the horde of monsters in the few short minutes they had left? Even Han Seowoo was skeptical.

But they couldn’t just stand by and do nothing.

“Erina, now! Fire towards the exit!”

Support magic was Erina’s specialty, and though elemental magic wasn’t her forte, they needed it to clear a path.

“Magic Boost! Dragon Lightning!”

Chanting the incantation, Erina activated her spell.

In an instant, a blue-tinged lightning in the shape of a dragon surged forward, piercing through the mass of assembled monsters.

“Keee-aaahh, eeeeeek?!”

“Krrrrk?! Krrr!”

Around a dozen monsters charred to a crisp. They smoked from their bodies like toast in an oven.

“Ugh, ugh… My magic is draining…”

Erina panted heavily. It was the strongest spell she could muster, and it drained her energy and magic significantly.

“Han, Han Seowoo! Until the magic circle activates… Ugh, ugh, only 2 minutes left… We’ve got to break through somehow!”

“Kkh! Easier said than done…!”

Thanks to Erina, a path cleared slightly, but there were too many monsters still blocking their way.

Damn it. Han Seowoo swore inwardly. Over fifty monsters encircled them. How could they break through in just two minutes?

‘Damn it! Should we just try to break through by force?’

They could perhaps make it by pushing hard, but Lee Jinhyuk and Yoo Seolhyun were likely to fall behind.

Being the third daughter of the Gaon Nuri Clan, Yoo Seolhyun couldn’t afford an accident to happen.

This was why they had formed a team with such strength…

“Damn it! Time’s almost up…!”

With Erina’s announcement, Han Seowoo could only frown.

‘What to do?’

Even if the random teleportation trap scattered them, each team member had the experience, skill, and ability to survive on their own.

They all wore location trackers to reunite after dispersing, but what about those two…

“Yoo Seolhyun, Lee Jinhyuk! If you’re teleported, just hide and stay put! We’ll find you, so don’t do anything rash, got it…?!”

Before Han Seowoo could finish…

“Ugh, ugh?!”

“Wait!”

“Aah!”

A blinding white flash engulfed them as the teleportation magic circle activated.

Surrounded by particles of light scattering like the sun, Lee Jinhyuk thought:

Was it just carelessness?

Or a detail he missed?

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A variable caused by the difference between the game and reality?

Who knows why. The reason wasn’t clear, but one thing was certain: Lee Jinhyuk was powerless in this situation.

If he had been as strong as the others, could he have coped with this variable better?

If it weren’t for the burden that was Lee Jinhyuk, perhaps they could have made a break for it.

But Lee Jinhyuk was weak.

Too weak.

***

‘Ugh, ugh.’

Intense light blinded Lee Jinhyuk. His vision blurred, making it difficult to see. He needed to clear his sight quickly since monsters might be nearby, but a pungent odor made it hard to focus.

‘What the hell is that smell…?’

It was a putrid, nauseating stench, churning his stomach and causing bile to rise.

The smell was akin to long-forgotten stinky tofu or a sewage treatment plant, so Lee Jinhyuk wrinkled his nose in disgust.

‘Ugh, this is revolting.’

Forcing his heavy eyelids open, Lee Jinhyuk looked around.

But all he could see was pitch blackness.

He had a lantern, but couldn’t risk attracting any monsters that might be nearby.

‘But it’s too dark…’

The chilling thought of being trapped alone in the dark clenched his heart.

Then he heard a voice.

“Ugh, the smell… This is…”

It was Yoo Seolhyun’s voice right beside him.

Oh, she was teleported to the same place?

That was a lucky break amidst the misfortune.

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He had feared being alone. Relieved, Lee Jinhyuk responded.

“Yoo Seolhyun? Are you okay?”

“Ugh, you’re here too… ugh!”

He approached her to talk.

Though hard to see, they were close enough to make out each other’s figures.

Yoo Seolhyun’s face was twisted in disgust as she hunched over, retching helplessly.
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The fetid odor seemed to have taken her senses.

“Ugh, ugh. Where are the others?”

“Can’t see them. We must have been scattered.”

“The smell, it’s too much… ugh, what is this stench…”

“Yoo Seolhyun, can you scan for monsters around us?”

“Hoo, hoo, okay, I’ll try…”

As Yoo Seolhyun braced herself to use her ability, light flashed.

Bright illumination filled the room. Luminous ores hanging from the ceiling burst into light. Someone had turned them on. Before he could ponder who it might be, Lee Jinhyuk noticed something unfamiliar in his field of vision.

‘Where is this?’

As the dim shadows lifted, he could see flasks, beakers, test tubes, and pipettes strewn about in disarray.

The floor was smeared with indistinguishable viscous substances, and decomposing monster carcasses, bone fragments, and filth were intermixed in the mess.

Then Lee Jinhyuk realized where he was.

“Pleased to meet you~.”

A young woman’s voice tickled his ear.

It was familiar yet not—a voice he had only heard in the game.

“Who would’ve thought we’d have guests again~.”

Quickly turning towards the source of the voice, a figure began to emerge from the distance.

Not walking, but crawling.

“Uh-he. These days have been quite fun~.”

A half-human, half-serpent figure.

“Greetings~?”

She reminded him of a mythological Lamia.

The woman greeting him cheerily, with her bleached hair gently swept aside, was none other than Kate von Bernstein.

The boss monster of this dungeon.

‘Why of all places was I teleported here?’

“Lee Jinhyuk… is that… her?”

Yoo Seolhyun whispered quietly, gripping her spear tightly, seemingly realizing the snake-shaped creature was the boss monster.

“Uh-hehe. Hello? Hello?”

Kate, with her degraded intelligence, acted childishly.

“Aren’t you going to greet me back? That’s so mean~.”

‘She definitely seems to have the personality from the settings.’

Initially, he thought they were doomed, but Kate just smiled amiably without showing any hostility.

She didn’t appear to have any immediate harmful intent, but that could just be a brief amusement.

Before long, she would likely show her true nature.

“Are you making me angry?”

“Ah, sorry.”

Lee Jinhyuk placated her, knowing it was unwise to ignore her continuously.

“…Lee Jinhyuk, this.”

Whispering so softly it was nearly inaudible, Yoo Seolhyun stealthily showed her phone screen.

It displayed the locations of the other team members, all seeming to be closing in from a considerable distance.

They would need to stall for time until they arrived.

“I’ll keep her talking to buy us time.”

“Okay for now.”
“Why are you two whispering~? Leaving me out~?”

Kate pouted, annoyed by their murmurs.

“Include me too, will you play with me? Hmm? Hmm? Then let the games begin…”

“Wait a second. Before that, I have a question.”
“Hmm~? What?”

This was risky.

Her idea of ‘play’ was far from normal.

Knowing Kate’s character settings was a stroke of luck.

It was necessary to divert the conversation elsewhere before she started whining about wanting to play.

“Did any people come in recently?”

“Oh. Yes. Over there~ I’ve got them locked up, ehehe. Planning to eat them later.”

Kate gestured towards a deeper room, likely where she kept captured humans.
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“To eat them, you say…”

“Hmm? What’s wrong~?”

“Nothing, nothing at all.”

He knew from the lore that she could even devour humans, but hearing it directly was somewhat shocking.

And this place was also an experimental laboratory for humans and monsters.

“Oh. But you know what?”
“Hmm-hmm.”
“Did you sic the monsters on us? Was it you?”
“Me? Ehehe, no, not me.”

Flippantly waving her fingers, she chuckled arrogantly.

“My children did it. Impressive, isn’t it?”
“Your children?”
“Yes! The ones I made a long time ago~? Um? I mean, a very long time ago~. Can’t make any more now, which is sad.”

Was she talking about the monstrous offspring she’d created using fusion magic before losing her wisdom?

“Among them, there are monsters? I guess. Anyway, they can direct their movements.”

The specifics about Kate’s creatures weren’t detailed, and they didn’t seem important enough to remember explicitly.

He hadn’t expected any of Kate’s creations to have such capabilities.

“Oh. But my children…”

Kate, who had lowered her head as if pretending to be sad, suddenly lifted it to look directly at Lee Jinhyuk. Her lips, which had been playfully grinning, downturned. A subtle, sinister intent began to emanate from her.

“…Did you kill them? Was it you? They were just roasted by your lightning a while ago. It makes me so sad.”

Muttering in a dispirited tone, she suddenly glared with malevolence.

She was highly unstable, her mood swinging wildly. There was no way to follow the emotional train of a monstrous creature. After all, Kate was mad long before she became a monster.

“Still, it’s okay, it’s okay. Because.”

Suddenly, her jaw elongated grotesquely, splitting into four, and something like tentacles or tongues protruded out.

Sticky fluid dripped from the tips of the tentacles.

It was some kind of paralytic poison.

“I’ll just eat you.”

Joints cracking, a mass of tentacles burst forth from near Kate’s shoulder blades.

Tearing through her skin, the slimy tentacles were visible. Coated in viscous liquid and blood, they writhed like living snakes.

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Disgusted, Lee Jinhyuk grimaced. It was somewhat tolerable in the game, but seeing it in reality was revolting.

Was this supposed to be the boss visual of a female-oriented game?

“I’ll just eat, hehe! Maybe that will cheer me up again?”
“Ugh.”

Yoo Seolhyun bit her lower lip, recalling the much stronger foe they had previously defeated, and managed to withstand Kate’s malice.

Lee Jinhyuk had said that the Black Hand Long-Arm Monkey was much tougher.

By appearances, this hybrid snake-monster seemed more menacing, but it lacked the heart-clenching fear and dread of the monkey.
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Of course, it was probably stronger than Yoo Seolhyun and Lee Jinhyuk.

“I’ll eat you gently if you surrender obediently~? The flesh of females is soft and delicious~.”
“Crazy woman.”

Unable to contain her frustration any longer, Yoo Seolhyun spat out an expletive and braced herself with her spear.

“Get ready, Lee Jinhyuk. It will take a while for the other team members to arrive.”

Yoo Seolhyun took a defensive stance, not looking back, focusing intently on Kate.

“You brought a lot of stuff, right? I’ll try to tank as best as I can, so I’m counting on your support.”
“…Okay.”

Reluctantly, Lee Jinhyuk began to rummage through his large backpack for various items.

They were boss-fight-specific items he had prepared for emergencies.

Pheromone bombs, fire attribute magic scrolls, sprays for Kate, nerve poison arrows, adhesive explosive talismans, ultrasonic repellers, 100,000 lumen flashlights, shrapnel for scattering.

A build created from both the memories of the game and reality’s various bits of information.

With this, he could probably put up a decent fight.

Probably.

***

Had it been about 15 minutes?

“Heave, heave, heave…”

Yoo Seolhyun gasped for air, her chest heaving intermittently.

Her clothes were torn in several places, barely any part of them intact.

Her blonde hair was disheveled, and she had bruises all over, with what seemed to be a cracked rib.

“Hoo, hoo…”

She used her spear as a crutch, struggling not to collapse.

Her left arm was immobile, and her legs shook as if they might give out at any moment, but she endured.

If she fell now, she would die.

So Yoo Seolhyun bit down hard on her lip, determined to stay conscious.

“Ugh, ugh, it hurts, it hurts so much!”

Kate screamed loudly.

Her condition was far from normal.

Her bleached white hair was scorched black by a fire attribute scroll, and her tentacles, almost entirely severed, oozed blood.

Her upper human half was afflicted with various bruises, poisoned, and coughing blood from the strange spray she had inhaled.

Her clothes were torn to shreds, and several arrows were embedded in her shoulder, arm, and upper abdomen.

The snake half of her body also suffered from spear wounds and the shrapnel Lee Jinhyuk had scattered.

“You weaklings! Only irritating me with those petty tricks!”

Kate growled with intense malice.

Despite their weaknesses, they kept using strange tricks to make her miserable.

She was infuriated by their persistent attacks on her sensitive spots.

“Haa, haa, I’m not sure I can hold on much longer, Lee Jinhyuk. Where are the others?”

“It looks like we’ll need to wait another 10 minutes.”

Yoo Seolhyun had depleted most of her stamina and had little left to keep fighting.

They had made it this far thanks to the items Lee Jinhyuk brought and his leadership.

If Yoo Seolhyun had been alone, she would have died at least three or four times by now.
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“…Yoo Seolhyun.”

“Haa, haa, what?”

“I need a moment to prepare. Just keep her at bay for one minute, one minute is all I need.”

“…One minute?”

“Yeah, after that, I’ll take over.”

Yoo Seolhyun looked puzzled, but with no other options, she slowly nodded.

The way Lee Jinhyuk had conducted himself thus far gave her an inexplicable trust in his abilities.

“Okay, one minute, you say?”

Had she used up all her methods already, or was there a hidden trump card?

Lee Jinhyuk had claimed to be a foresight ability user, so perhaps he had some extraordinary method Yoo Seolhyun didn’t know about.

Let’s trust him this once.

Lee Jinhyuk.

“What are you whispering about?!”

“Ugh!”

Crash!

Kate lashed out with her tail like a whip.

Yoo Seolhyun felt numbness as if she’d been struck by a large steel beam and frowned, swiping her spear to deflect the tail to one side.

“Die! Just die!”

Kate pressed the attack relentlessly.

She brandished her remaining tentacles, pressuring Yoo Seolhyun.
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Though she fought hard, it was impossible to block every assault, and blows landed on her shoulder, side, and thigh.

Dizzy with pain, she clung to the hope of enduring the one minute Lee Jinhyuk had requested.

‘One… minute… Just one minute…’

With her stamina already sapped, it was a herculean task to last one minute without Lee Jinhyuk’s support. Yet, Yoo Seolhyun persevered.

She repeated to herself, holding on, that being all she could do.

‘Just a bit more, just a little longer…’

She fended off the merciless tentacles, gritting her teeth, when suddenly…

‘…Why? Why has she stopped attacking?’

Kate ceased her assault, a vague smile on her face.

It was an opportunity, if ever there was one.

It seemed like a minute had passed.

“Lee, Lee Jinhyuk, is this long enough…?”

“Keke, keke.”

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Yoo Seolhyun glanced behind her, but there was no one there.

Only Kate’s laughter pierced her ears.

Where was Lee Jinhyuk?

Had he hidden himself somewhere close?

“Keke, keke, ah, you’re amusing~.”

“Lee… Jinhyuk?”

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“Hey, silly girl~ He ran away.”

“What?”

Kate laughed slyly.

“That boy left you and ran away.”

Suddenly, Yoo Seolhyun’s heart sank.

She didn’t want to believe what she heard, but as she extended her senses, she couldn’t detect any trace of Lee Jinhyuk.

Meaning, he was no longer there.

Was it true?

‘Did… Did Lee Jinhyuk… run away?’

And he did it to save himself.

Leaving her behind?