Chapter 23
“…….”
With a sudden flash, I felt as if I’d lost consciousness for a brief moment.
‘What the hell…….’
And when I opened my eyes again—
The bag I had been carrying on my back lay sprawled across the ground, all of its contents scattered and smashed to pieces.
“Ah, fuck.”
And at the same time—
Zwoooom, crackle!
“Ugh!”
Not too far away, I saw both the culprit who had caused this mess and Chelsea, pointing her sharp sword toward the bastard.
“Virgas.”
Dozens of writhing tentacles, a massive purple torso, and in the middle, a giant green eye that took up more than half its body.
The boss monster.
The colossal tentacle demon—Virgas.
‘Why the hell is that thing……?’
It was supposed to be the final boss of the Dungeon Studies exam, the last obstacle to overcome.
But—
‘Why is it jumping out the moment the door opens?’
In the original, it only spawned after entering the chamber.
At that moment—
Vwooom, thud.
Chelsea, who had been swinging her sword at the beast, frowned.
And then—
Wham!
“Gahhh!”
She was struck head-on by a hardened tentacle, launched into the air, and sent flying.
Thud!
“Ugh.”
Seeing Chelsea crash to the ground a good distance away, I dragged my heavy body toward her and shouted.
“Hey, Chelsea! Are you all righ—”
But—
“Don’t touch me.”
“What?”
“Shut up and get lost!”
Her face twisted in pain as she screamed.
And then—
“……Fuck.”
What?
Wait—did I just hear that right?
‘Chelsea… did she just curse?’
I stood dumbfounded, shocked by the unbelievable sight.
Slap!
She smacked both her cheeks with her hands, then muttered again.
“Everything is so fucking shit.”
……Fucking shit?
No, what the hell?
Why was she suddenly swearing?
Chelsea wasn’t that kind of character at all.
At first, she had only felt irritation and confusion.
‘Why? Why did I have to end up in the same group as him……?’
But soon Chelsea shook her head, forcing herself to refocus.
‘No, concentrate on the situation. I just need to do my part. The most important thing is the grade.’
And once they entered the dungeon—
‘Huh?’
The guy performed far beyond her expectations.
He had prepared torches in advance to counter the monster wave.
He singlehandedly took down the giant slime.
“…….”
Up to that point, only one thought filled her head.
‘What a relief.’
Contrary to her initial worries, he wasn’t hindering the exam at all.
In fact, he was helping—greatly.
Without him, they never would’ve been able to progress through the dungeon this quickly.
Because of that—
‘……It was a good thing I made that vow.’
She had foolishly let herself believe the best and judged accordingly.
But—
When she saw him defeat the Bweigg, the Cave Snake, even the Werewolf—
Every time their team was in crisis, he had pulled through.
Thump.
‘What is this feeling?’
Something surged up from deep inside her chest.
“…….”
And as his exploits continued—
As he began clearing the dungeon faster than anyone else—
He discovered the path of the seven magic towers, and even managed to slay the powerful Volcano Mero Queen.
‘Fast. At this rate, we’ll definitely get the top score…….’
Thump!
What was this? Why?
Wasn’t speed a good thing?
The faster they cleared, the higher their score would be, possibly higher than Kyle’s group.
She was drawing ever closer to the top score she had always desired.
And yet……
‘I don’t understand, why?’
As that strange emotion surged stronger, a nagging question pressed her mind.
‘Why the hell hasn’t he used magic at all?’
And then—
—Birgetta, Aperi Porta-um.
The boy chanted ancient runes she didn’t even know she remembered, unlocking the sealed gate.
And in the same instant, memories overlapped in her mind.
—Chelsea, you’re always the best, the strongest, the brightest. You know how much your parents believe in you, right?
Her mother’s words, written in a letter before the exam.
Like lightning, a thousand, ten thousand, countless emotions pierced her mind.
“Ah.”
Chelsea finally nodded.
She realized the truth she had always ignored.
‘I hate Camon Baird.’
No—more precisely:
‘I hate that you’re better than me.’
It was jealousy. Rage. Inferiority.
Yes.
She could admit he had talent in magic.
Natural gifts, that much was undeniable.
But—
‘Dungeon clears, items, puzzle-solving, even ancient runes.’
Unlike her, who had bled, sweated, and studied until she nearly collapsed from exhaustion—
He achieved far greater things so easily.
When she saw that—
Chelsea realized the truth.
“……I hate you.”
The truth she had refused to acknowledge until now.
The feeling she could never bring herself to admit.
‘Camon Baird.’
He was the living embodiment of everything she loathed, envied, and despised in a “genius.”
And yet—
Clench.
Chelsea smothered her filthy feelings, buried them deep down.
‘……If it means I can get the top score, I’ll endure this.’
Because before her lay the reality of what mattered: grades, the top rank, tuition, her family’s meager support.
‘If I can just endure a little longer, I can keep it all.’
But then—
“Graaah!”
“Kyahhh!”
Right in front of the final boss, everyone except Camon and Chelsea was wiped out.
“What?”
The shock left her stunned.
She had barely held herself together, but seeing the carnage—
Thud, crash!
And when she saw Camon lying sprawled on the ground, she realized—
‘……It’s over.’
With that thought—
Shing!
Chelsea drew her sword without hesitation and charged the final boss.
“Uwaaaahhh!”
She swung with everything she had bottled up.
But—
Wham!
“Ghhk!”
She was struck again, sent flying with no real resistance.
Yet she hardly felt the pain in her body.
Instead—
‘Damn it! Fucking damn it!’
The agony inside her chest tormented her far more.
‘It’s over. Everything’s over.’
She hated everything.
This situation. Herself. Her family. The people who had pushed her this far.
She hated her lack of talent. She hated the geniuses. She hated struggling to fight them. She hated feeling the unscalable wall before her.
‘I want to smash everything to pieces.’
And then—
The last voice she ever wanted to hear reached her ears.
“Chelsea, are you alri—”
In that moment, Chelsea lost her grip. On herself. On reason.
“Don’t touch me.”
“Shut the fuck up and get lost!”
“Fuck.”
“Everything is so fucking shit.”
Her eyes, her expression—she couldn’t stand even the sight of him!
Checking her condition, I clicked my tongue and shook my head.
‘Damn it. Of all times…….’
Zwoooooom!
Virgas roared, its monstrous presence suffocating.
It naturally drained one’s spirit.
And—
‘If you meet its gaze, your body freezes instantly.’
Meaning, to fight it, you had to strike without ever looking it in the eye.
Easier said than done.
Of course, I had prepared items for this situation.
Crackle.
But in that first ambush, my bag had been destroyed, its contents ruined.
Tap!
“Move.”
Chelsea’s voice came from behind me.
Zwoooooooom!
At the same time, Virgas’s tentacles lashed out, ready to strike.
“Chelsea, wait—”
“I said, move.”
Gripping her sword tightly again, she barked the words at me.
I sighed.
“Why? Gonna charge in recklessly just to get smacked around again?”
“What’s it to you?”
Her voice was sharp, bitter, unusually rough.
I let out a hollow laugh.
“Hah, really…… Hey, do you not remember the vow you made before we came in here? Who’s the one interfering now?”
I looked her dead in the eye and asked firmly:
“Chelsea, are you going to forfeit this exam? Are you giving up on clearing the dungeon?”
“…….”
For a moment she was silent, glaring. Then her lips curled in a twisted smirk.
“Why? Am I not allowed to give up?”
“What?”
“You always……”
She looked at me with eyes full of contempt.
“……You always treated everything like a joke.”
Her words stabbed, relentless.
“You lived your whole life like it was some kind of game, never taking anything seriously. Camon, have you ever once been earnest about anything in your life?”
“…….”
I was speechless for a moment.
“Of course not. If you had, you wouldn’t live like this.”
And with a mocking laugh, she spat out the words:
“You’re a piece of shit.”
“…….”
I fell silent.
‘Have I ever been earnest about anything in my life?’
Always. Every time.
I had always given my all, harder than I could explain in words.
And yet—
‘My whole life was a joke?’
I knew.
I knew her words weren’t aimed at me, Kang Hyunsoo, but at the original owner of this body—Camon Baird.
But still.
“What the hell do you know?”
“What?”
“What gives you the right to talk like you know everything?”
I couldn’t just let it go.
Because—
‘I’m not Camon Baird!’
At least in this dungeon, I had worked harder than anyone, prepared more than anyone.
Did she know how many sleepless nights I’d spent getting ready?
How I wrung out every detail from the original story, combed through the library, devised strategies……?
Zwoooooom!
Dodging Virgas’s tentacles, I shouted:
“All you do is pretend! Pretend to know, pretend to be great, pretend to be special. But what have you actually done? Tell me, Chelsea—how much of this dungeon clear do you really think was thanks to you?”
“…….”
“If I hadn’t secured the items, would we have made it this far? No. We’d still be stuck on the Bweigg, or wiped out by the Werewolf.”
All the frustration I’d bottled up spilled out.
“And now you say I’ve never been serious about anything?”
Like a dam bursting, the words wouldn’t stop.
“If you can’t do it, just admit it. Say, ‘I’m not strong enough. The wall is too high. I want to give up.’ Just say that! Stop whining and blaming everyone else!”
“What? Blaming others?”
Thud!
Zwoooom!
Virgas roared, shaking the chamber.
I shouted over it.
“Yeah, blaming others! Chelsea, what you’re doing right now is exactly the loser’s pattern—shifting the blame!”
Her lips trembled, her teeth sinking into them.
“Blaming others? A loser? I’m just telling the truth, Camon Baird. You are—”
“Hah, truth? Don’t make me laugh.”
Did I choose to be stuck in Camon Baird’s body?
Did I want to give up?
Did I want to endure this unreasonable world?
Nothing in my life had ever gone my way.
And yet—
A joke? Just for fun?
“Those are the excuses of the incompetent. Drop it already. So what, the oh-so-great Chelsea wants to quit now? Just because one tentacle smacked you around?”
“I—I never said I was giving up!”
Her face flushed red as she shouted.
I smirked.
“Oh really? The one who asked, ‘Am I not allowed to give up?’ is now claiming she never said she’d quit?”
“…….”
Clatter.
Backing up, I kept my eyes locked on her, mocking.
“Fine. Let’s pretend that nonsense makes sense. Then why? Why is the girl who always goes all-out, who always gives everything, suddenly acting like this? Why?”
“Because no matter what I do with someone like you—”
“There you go again! Always someone else’s fault. ‘I failed, but it’s because of you. I didn’t do anything wrong.’”
“Hah, forget it. Camon Baird, I have nothing more to say to—”
“Oh? Now you’re going with the silent treatment strategy? Bravo, Chelsea. Truly impressive. Clap, clap, clap!”
“Shut up already!”
Her bloodshot eyes glared at me, but I pressed on.
“The one who needs to shut up is you, Chelsea. With that pathetic mindset, how do you expect to clear this dungeon?”
“I told you, I’ll never give up—”
“Then shut up and listen to me for once!”
“No.”
“Oh, for fuck’s sake. You don’t want to give up, you want to clear the dungeon, but you also won’t cooperate? What kind of bullshit logic is that?”
“I don’t have to listen to you.”
“Oh really? Funny, because up till now, you’ve been following my lead every step of the way.”
“……!”
She froze, speechless, glaring at me with cold eyes.
Then—
Thud!
Still dodging Virgas’s relentless strikes, Chelsea stepped closer, standing right before me.
“In fact, Camon Baird, I should be the one asking you.”
Her voice was low, heavy.
“You claim this isn’t all just some game, right?”
“What the hell are you talking about! If it were a game, would I have gone through so much shit to get here? Do you know how hard I’ve—”
I exploded, shouting back.
Then—
“Then why the hell haven’t you used magic even once until now?”
“What?”
