Regression Guidelines for the Supporting Character

Chapter 20

B-rank Dungeon

Today was the day of the B-rank dungeon hosted by Yeseong Guild. I had no choice but to come to the assembly point with Cha Sahyun to clear the quest.

“Okay, let’s review.”

Before entering the reception area, I pulled Cha Sahyun to a corner, bent down on one knee, and put my hand on the child’s shoulder. Then I asked seriously:

“First, what should you be careful about?”

“…”

“Not answering? Should I leave you behind?”

Despite my shameless threat, knowing I couldn’t actually leave him behind due to the quest, Cha Sahyun’s lips quivered before he finally spoke after a while.

“…Never leave your side.”

“Whose side?”

“Your side, hyung.”

“That’s right. Second?”

“Ignore anyone else who talks to me.”

“Good. Lastly, the third.”

“Don’t stand out.”

“Correct.”

I patted Cha Sahyun’s head, impressed that he managed to speak all the way through for once. His hair felt soft under my palm.

‘The third one was just something I said though.’

Since meeting Cha Sahyun, the child had never used his skills even once.

I didn’t think he would suddenly start abusing skills he hadn’t been using just because we were entering a dungeon, but I still cautioned him just in case.

Even if it was difficult to prevent other hunters from sensing Cha Sahyun’s aura, it was best to avoid situations where he would have to directly use skills and fight.

‘It would be a big problem if the child’s mental state worsened from being left alone.’

That absolutely must not happen.

Cha Sahyun will stay with me at the very rear. We’ll just occasionally replenish the energy of hunters who complain.

It’s just a B-rank dungeon anyway, and with those amazing Yeseong Guild hunters taking the lead, the conquest itself should be extremely easy. Cha Sahyun and I just need to stay quiet as mice and get through it.

‘I hope the rewards are good at least.’

In terms of rewards, the last quest was the worst of the worst.

After all that trouble to take the rank 1 position from Kwon Tae-hyuk, what did I get? Kwon Tae-hyuk’s interest increased? It was truly mind-boggling and infuriating.

I could somewhat understand Kwon Tae-hyuk’s perverse psychology of becoming more interested after losing the rank 1 position, but the pathetic reward just made my blood boil. Who was going to comfort my heart that was hurt after expectantly getting backstabbed?

While inwardly listing my complaints, I checked the quest window again.

[Main Quest: Successfully clear a B-rank or higher dungeon with the villain. (Time remaining: 4 days 5 hours 12 minutes)]

You must enter and successfully clear a B-rank or higher dungeon with the villain ‘Sahyun’ within a week.

Now they’re not even telling me the rewards or penalties?

I clicked my tongue inwardly as I stood up. I’d rather get nothing as long as the penalty was light.

Holding Cha Sahyun’s hand, I headed towards the reception desk set up in front of the dungeon. Seeing the hunters who had arrived before us swarming around, it seemed more people than expected had been assembled for the raid team.

“Welcome. Would you like to fill out the roster?”

An employee approached me as I entered the reception area and handed me a form. After filling in the guild name, my name, and Cha Sahyun’s name, I followed the employee’s guidance and moved on.

Passing through the guards restricting general public access, we entered the inner area where even more hunters were waiting than around the reception desk.

Amidst the groups of hunters chatting, a portal that seemed to be the dungeon entrance glimmered and shone.

Most dungeon entrances were oval-shaped portals like that. The portal’s color was basically blue, but as it changed to orange and then red, the possibility of a dungeon break increased.

The color of the dungeon entrance portal directly indicated the monster saturation level.

Of course, not all dungeons were like this. This one was a B-rank dungeon with relatively low risk, so it was visibly apparent like that. There were many dungeons where the saturation level couldn’t be known, and those were usually A-rank or higher.

‘It’s a bit darker than orange? Then it’s not a forcibly scheduled raid.’

As I was examining the portal’s color, I inadvertently muttered upon spotting someone familiar nearby.

“…Sunghyun hyung?”

The face visible under the brown hair and the man wearing a black combat jacket was indeed the Ryu Sunghyun I knew.

There were three other hunters beside Ryu Sunghyun, all faces I recognized.

‘Looks like Circle Guild also received a cooperation request.’

Well, since it was a raid team gathered by Yeseong Guild taking the lead, various hunters would gather, and the dungeon difficulty wasn’t high, so it was definitely worth participating for smaller guilds.

I watched Ryu Sunghyun and his guild members from a distance. Seeing those familiar faces somehow made me feel like I had returned to before the regression.

‘Before the regression, I was also there with them…’

Because we were small and didn’t own any dungeons, we had no choice but to join raid teams led by other guilds to enter dungeons, just like today.

In that process, we were sometimes mocked by ill-mannered hunters, and some officials who knew our guild’s situation gave us pitying looks… but everything was fine as long as I was with my guild members.

An inexplicable anxiety welled up in my chest. The desire to run over there and join their conversation reared its head.

Squeeze.

As I was standing there lost in thought, staring at the Circle Guild members for a while.

I felt a tug on my hand and looked down to see Cha Sahyun looking up at me, holding my hand. Meeting those deep green eyes snapped me back to reality.

Right. Now wasn’t the time to be lost in old memories.

Why did I run away with Cha Sahyun instead of joining Circle Guild? Didn’t I resolve to protect everyone this time?

The right thing to do now was to focus on improving the current situation, not getting caught up in useless attachments.

“…Let’s move further back.”

I moved with Cha Sahyun to a more secluded spot so the Circle Guild members wouldn’t notice me.

They wouldn’t know me in this life anyway, but I didn’t want to face Ryu Sunghyun and the guild members treating me like a stranger. Especially with Ryu Sunghyun, the help from the research facility last time was enough.

“You’ve arrived, Guild Master!”

“This way.”

Just then, today’s main character Kwon Tae-hyuk arrived. Kwon Tae-hyuk, followed by Yeseong Guild hunters, pushed through the crowd and came to the front.

After receiving a report from his secretary that all participating guilds had arrived, Kwon Tae-hyuk stood at the forefront and spoke leisurely.

“Thank you for participating in our guild’s raid schedule. We’ll proceed with the basic formation, so please take your positions accordingly. We’ll depart in 5 minutes. Please finish checking your equipment in advance.”

After finishing the brief briefing, Kwon Tae-hyuk looked around as if searching for someone. Eventually, his black eyes focused directly on me.

Noticing Kwon Tae-hyuk staring in this direction, I pretended not to notice and looked away. I didn’t want to encourage that eye contact and invite troublesome situations.

‘He definitely sent the cooperation request to draw me in.’

I had expected it, but actually confirming it made me feel strange nonetheless.

Why was Kwon Tae-hyuk after me? There’s no way he could have figured out that I was ‘Cover’ who took his rank 1 position.

During the research facility raid, I did act a bit suspiciously and secretly escaped… but I’m not sure if that alone was enough to warrant sending cooperation requests to neighboring guilds.

“The raid team will now depart!”

While I was lost in thought, five minutes must have passed as the portal entrance opened and the waiting hunters began to move. As I slowly walked at the very back, I thought:

The raid would last about three days, and during that time I would likely encounter Kwon Tae-hyuk at least once. If I got the chance then, it wouldn’t be bad to find out why Kwon Tae-hyuk was looking for me.

And if we happened to become friendly in the process, that would be good too. Not only was it the purpose of the quest to become companions with the main characters, but I also had a lot to gain if I could form a cooperative relationship with Kwon Tae-hyuk.

[Main Quest: Successfully clear a B-rank or higher dungeon with the villain. (Time remaining: 4 days 4 hours 38 minutes)]