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Translator: Vine
Chapter Title: Returned from the Dungeon, I'd Become a Star
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"Poison darts will start raining down any second now. Let's get out of here, fast."
I told my party members this, then cast a quick glance toward the Darkness Guild.
"...Damn it! We gotta run!"
"N-no, I can't run! The poison's spread, my body won't move! The antidote still needs more time to kick in!!!"
"Then quickly form a defensive formation!"
"Th-there are just too many of them..."
"Joo Tae-rin, you fucking bitch! We're all gonna die because of you!"
"...Did you just say that to me?"
"We're all gonna die anyway, so what's there to lose by saying it! This is all because you felt inferior to Cheon-hwa, isn't it!"
"I'll just kill you myself─."
"Go on, kill me, you bastard! We're all gonna die anyway, so just do it!!!"
They were now exchanging insults and blaming each other.
But, soon realizing there was no alternative, they grumbled, yet still huddled together to form a defensive formation, desperate to survive.
I didn't feel any particular sympathy.
If we hadn't prepared beforehand, it would have been us in that spot, not them.
"Jin Yu-ha."
Lee Yu-ri grabbed my arm from beside me.
"Yeah, Gukbap. Let's go."
So, we left them there and headed back to our original route, taking a shortcut I knew.
The return path was clear.
It seemed the Darkness Guild's party had lured every single monster in the vicinity, not even an ant was in sight.
"Here, let's dig up the magic stones and thorns we couldn't get earlier."
On the way back, we decided to collect the by-products we hadn't managed to get earlier.
"...Junior, the subspace is already full. Nothing more will fit."
"Hmm, really?"
To lure the Darkness Guild deep into the unknown, we'd sped up our progress, only collecting a few by-products and magic stones. But it seemed even that was enough to completely fill the subspace.
'Tsk, I really need to expand the subspace soon. For now, maybe I should just take the magic stones from here?'
It was while I was pondering this.
"I think it'd be good to take as much as we can."
The voice belonged to Gukbap.
Everyone's gaze turned to her.
"There are no monsters at all on the way back right now. A situation where our safety is guaranteed like this isn't common. Unless it's absolutely unavoidable, I think it's right to take as much as we can."
"Indeed, that's true. The Black Hedgehog's thorns have a fairly high utility."
I nodded, agreeing with her words.
That reason was also included in why I chose the Thorn Field this time.
It's not a very popular dungeon because of the monsters that use projectile attacks, but if you can collect all the thorns, it's quite profitable.
"Then, let's each take as much as we can carry."
So, following Gukbap's suggestion, we began pulling out and collecting thorns.
I was somewhat accustomed to it due to my military experience in the previous world.
But Kang Do-hee fumbled, unfamiliar with the tedious work of collecting by-products as she always operated alone, and Lim Ga-eul, whose stamina was depleted from the run earlier, was similar.
Lee Yu-ri's head, which had turned toward me, nodded as if she were a satisfied company commander.
However, in Lim Ga-eul and Kang Do-hee's case, she seemed quite disappointed.
Lee Yu-ri's eyebrows twitched.
"Kang Do-hee, Ga-eul sunbae... Is being a porter a joke to you?"
Hoo─ A low sigh escaped her lips.
"This is all our achievement. Are you thinking of by-products as trivial? Don't you dare underestimate by-products."
Kang Do-hee clamped her mouth shut, as she was being directly compared and found to be worse than Jin Yu-ha, a man.
"These things, one by one, pile up to create achievements. My younger sister would do better than that!"
'Well, of course she would... She's a professional porter, after all.'
A rebuttal flashed through my mind, but seeing Lee Yu-ri's stern expression, I made the wise choice to keep my mouth shut.
"Phew, everyone, step aside."
Lee Yu-ri watched for a bit, then, frustrated, strode purposefully towards the Black Hedgehog's corpse as if thinking, 'I'll do it myself.'
She pulled out a few thorns from the dead Black Hedgehog where it lay.
Then she took out a cloth, wiped the poison clean from the thorns, and then took out rope from the emergency kit and began weaving it.
Thump, thump─
Like a specialist in the world of porters.
A moment later.
In front of Lee Yu-ri, four sturdy A-frames had been constructed.
'Isn't she more talented as a porter than a tank...?'
"Alright, put all the thorns on here! And tie them up with rope!"
"..."
"..."
"..."
Without any rebuttal to her charisma, we returned, each carrying a full load of thorns on our A-frames.
Once we were outside.
"You're here!"
At the gate entrance, Shin Se-hee welcomed us with a bright smile across her face.
"...No way, you've been waiting all this time? You should've waited inside, you never know when we'd be back..."
I asked, not having expected her to be waiting here all this time.
"How could I do that?"
In Shin Se-hee's eyes, as she said that, there was a lot of worry.
The marks of her bitten nails were visible, indicating her anxiety while waiting.
I let a smirk play on my lips.
"Oh, what's this? You must've worried a lot, huh?"
At that, Shin Se-hee gasped.
"I-it's just a B-rank dungeon, w-what worry...! I wasn't worried! I just waited because you were later than I expected..."
'Hmm, isn't that worry?'
Anyway, Shin Se-hee sighed as if relieved that we had returned safely.
Then, as if the piles of thorns on our backs caught her eye belatedly, her eyes widened.
"W-what is all this...?"
"Uh, yeah. The subspace tattoo is small, so we carried the by-products out for now."
"...Th-this much!?"
Shin Se-hee, with a surprised look, raised her head to see the towering piles of thorns, then immediately picked up her phone.
"Uh, Secretary Kim. Arrange for more to come. Yeah. About two trucks... It seems they really went all out today."
She glanced our way and ended the call quickly.
I narrowed my eyes and looked at where the reporters had been earlier.
"It seems the reporters have all left?"
"Yes, I sent them away. Well, not all of them. But..."
Shin Se-hee lowered her voice.
"And, Joo Tae-rin?"
"Well, I handled it as self-inflicted."
"Self-inflicted?"
She tilted her head, then sniffed. It seemed the monster perfume scent hadn't quite faded yet.
"This smell... Aha, it seems that foolish woman did something foolish, didn't she?"
Shin Se-hee said with a sneer.
She seemed to have roughly guessed what had happened just from the monster perfume scent.
"Well, I'll tell you the details on the way. I'll leave the cleanup to you."
"Yes, leave it to me."
* * *
Thump! Thump! Thump! Thump! Clatter!─
"Haaah. Haaah... Junior, I think I'm gonna die... This is twice as hard as fighting monsters..."
With Lim Ga-eul's contribution being the last, we emptied all the magic stones and by-products we had stored in the A-frames and subspace tattoos.
Even just the magic stones we had crammed into the subspace tattoos were a sufficient amount for our haul, but when we truly started pouring out the thorns we had carried on our backs, the quantity was enormous.
The by-product disposal contractors Secretary Kim brought opened their eyes wide and their mouths agape.
"Crazy."
"Is this, the amount you can bring back from one dungeon trip?"
"On the way today, because of the monsters, it would have been too much trouble to bring this many thorns..."
"Indeed..."
Click─!!
At that moment, suddenly, a woman standing with them flashed a light.
"...Huh?"
I turned my head towards her.
"Ah, that's the reporter I told to stay. I wanted to keep it as a photo record." Shin Se-hee said from beside me.
"It's Utopia Party's first dungeon trip, so we have to record the results. Actually, even if you had brought a moderate amount, it would've been fine... But with this much, we can even use it for full-on promotion."
Shin Se-hee gave a faint smile.
While I was in the dungeon, I had asked her to handle the reporters, and she seemed to have done an excellent job.
"You must have worked hard."
I nodded, feeling satisfied with her capable handling of things.
"Utopia Party Leader! I've heard a lot about you from Cheon-hwa!"
The bespectacled woman who had just taken the photo approached me excitedly and extended her hand.
I took her hand with a reluctant expression.
"Hoooh. Now that I see you properly, your beauty is just... wow."
The female reporter shook my hand, trembling.
"As expected, your reputation precedes you... The one who fought and won against a fighting dog."
She said that, giving me a look of respect.
'Huh? Suddenly?'
I tilted my head.
"Flower garden..."
At that moment, a voice chillingly cold came from behind me.
I turned around to see Kang Do-hee, who had been looking at her phone, trembling.
"Huh?"
"What the hell is this bullshit...?"
Thinking there might be something to her words, I also turned on my phone.
And I couldn't help but widen my eyes.
'W-what is this...?'
I had only turned on an internet portal site.
And there, my name was prominently displayed with my photo.
Not just one or two, but across the entire portal site.
『Today's HOT Topic! Let's learn about Jin Yu-ha, the face genius of Utopia Party!』
『[Official] Cheon-hwa: "Jin Yu-ha is stronger than me. Even stronger than Kang Do-hee."』
『The man who fought and won against a fighting dog. Is it real!? Jin Yu-ha, who exactly is he!』
『Miss A: "I heard it in class and it stuck with me..." Shocking reality testified by an Academy student!』
Se-hee, Se-hee...
Of course, I told you to do as you pleased...
But you had too much fun with it...
Somehow, I returned from the dungeon to find myself suddenly a star.