Translator: Seven
Editor: Ana_Banana
The role of the three Ishikawa siblings was simple.
They just had to perfectly defend against the monsters.
Although it was simple in theory, this task was not something that was easy to accomplish.
This was what made them so powerful.
The simpler something was, the less room there was for complications, and the easier it was for them to adapt based on the situation.
The Ishikawa siblings displayed this perfectly.
“Isaac!”
It was the thirteenth day since they’d entered the dungeon, and while searching for a Spiny Lizard on the third floor, Isaac Ivanov and his party encountered a group of Lizardmen.
There were as many as thirty seven of them!
Considering the strength of the Lizardmen, this number was not one they could afford to take lightly.
Moreover, since the number was so high, it was a situation where they had to properly defend the front line first before deciding on a tactic.
Under such circumstances, the Ishikawa siblings had to withstand the attacks of the thirty seven Lizardmen with just the three of them.
From a distance, it looked like they were being besieged, but they were, in fact, perfectly resisting the attacks that were pouring in from every direction.
Like this, they were able to perfectly grab the monsters’ aggro.
“Attack!”
Because of this, the skeletons were able to comfortably surround the group of Lizardmen warriors without any hassle.
The result was obvious.
The Skeleton Soldiers, who had gained a tactical advantage, were able to easily overwhelm the group of Lizardmen.
Bang!
“Keep going!”
“Understood, brother.”
Even in such a situation, the Ishikawa siblings maintained their control over the Lizardmen, creating a stage for the Skeleton Soldiers to perform to the best of their ability.
It was great teamwork.
In fact, their teamwork was nothing short of perfect.
“Let’s continue.”
In other words, there was nothing for Lee Jin-ah to do.
That was why Lee Jin-ah was watching the battlefield from the side with a cold gaze.
Ishikawa Yohei smiled when he saw this.
‘Just as planned.’
After entering the dungeon, Ishikawa Yohei took care of almost everything.
In addition to his role as tank, he was also the first to go search for monsters, study terrain, and even set up camp and cook.
By doing so, he completely removed any need for Isaac Ivanov’s teammate to do anything.
‘He should be in a bad mood.’
It was something that would make anyone upset.
‘After all, something like this would be difficult to bear.’
That was why Ishikawa Yohei was certain that Isaac Ivanov’s teammate would be feeling particularly upset at that moment, and he would be doing his utmost to not reveal the feelings he was bottling inside.
Kim Woo-jin felt the same way.
‘It’ll be hard to bear.’
He also knew that Lee Jin-ah was trying hard to conceal his feelings at that moment.
Of course, it was a little different from the idea that Ishikawa Yohei had.
In Kim Woo-jin’s eyes, Lee Jin-ah was trying his very best to not smile happily at this moment.
In fact, Lee Jin-ah couldn’t feel more satisfied than at that very moment.
‘I’ve never encountered players who would be this willing to suck up to someone.’
It was natural that he felt satisfied.
After all, this was a situation where his level increased even when he did nothing but stand at the side and breathe.
Moreover, at that moment, Lee Jin-ah felt like he knew why Kim Woo-jin constantly pushed him so hard.
‘Ah, I wish it could just continue like this.’
It was natural that he’d find this situation to be quite sweet.
However, the sweetness didn’t last very long for Lee Jin-ah.
“They’ve found the Spiny Lizard.”
Ishikawa Yohei, who learned of the information from another player, quickly passed it on to Kim Woo-jin.
“It’s said that they’ve found the Spiny Lizard, which is the condition to clear the third floor of the dungeon. I think we can start preparing to move onto the next floor.”
When he heard this, Kim Woo-jin turned his cold gaze to stare at Lee Jin-ah.
He was delivering an unspoken message with his eyes.
It was now time to pay back for his meal.
Gulp!
Lee Jin-ah subconsciously gulped when he saw the gaze.
The memory of the time Kim Woo-jin bought the food for him came to mind.
‘At that time, I almost had to pretend to eat.’
Kim Woo-jin’s eerie gaze throughout the entire meal had almost caused Lee Jin-ah to pretend to eat food for the first time in his life.
‘I will never let him fool me again.’ (TL:…uhuh…)
Lee Jin-ah shuddered at the memory and rose to his feet.
After getting to his feet, he approached Kim Woo-jin and said.
“Ivanov, this time I…”
It was at that moment.
“Ah, it’s okay. You don’t need to strain yourself.”
Ishikawa Yohei interrupted the conversation between Kim Woo-jin and Lee Jin-ah and continued speaking in English.
“You can leave the hard work to me.”
It was a sincere offer that Lee Jin-ah would have considered quite heartwarming.
However, he was forced to act by Kim Woo-jin.
Lee Jin-ah swung his fist with all his power at a nearby skeleton.
Paak!
The Skeleton Soldier’s head shattered, and so did the atmosphere.
And in the cold atmosphere, Lee Jin-ah was looking fiercely at Ishikawa Yohei.
Ishikawa Yohei didn’t avoid his gaze.
‘He finally snapped.’
Rather, he welcomed this turn of events.
‘Now he only has two choices.’
In Ishikawa Yohei’s opinion, there were only two things that Lee Jin-ah could do.
‘Leave Isaac Ivanov just like this.’
One was to leave Isaac Ivanov’s team.
For Ishikawa Yohei, that was the easiest route.
‘Or prove his worth.’
If not, and he wanted to stay at Isaac Ivanov’s side, he would have to prove that he was better than the Ishikawa siblings.
Naturally, this meant that he would pick a fight with Ishikawa Yohei.
‘There’s no reason to back down.’
Ishikawa Yohei never had the intention of backing down from a fight.
‘Because I have the Nemean Lion’s leather.’
This was because the treasure the Sword Saint gave to him filled him with unending confidence.
Lee Jin-ah, who stared at Ishikawa Yohei for a long time, finally turned back to look at Kim Woo-jin before speaking in Russian. (TL: probably apologizing to his benefactor)
“Isaac, I will prove that I am better than these three fools.”
When Lee Jin-ah chose the second option, Ishikawa Yohei smiled triumphantly.
‘Right, his pride wouldn’t tolerate it.’
It was then.
“And after proving that, let’s disband the team.”
Lee Jin-ah proposed a third option.
…
“Is it the 20th day today?”
In response to Oh Se-chan’s question, one of the subordinates nodded.
“Yes, it’s the 20th day since Kim Woo-jin entered the dungeon.”
Oh Se-chan stretched and got up from his seat.
He clearly expressed his will to do something in earnest.
A subordinate, who noticed this fact, responded quickly.
“I will prepare it right away.”
Even though they had not been given a specific order, the subordinate hurriedly brought out a cell phone and a laptop.
Afterward, the subordinate handed the cellphone to Oh Se-chan while running an application on the laptop.
“You can call now.”
Oh Se-chan nodded at the subordinate who completed the preparations perfectly before calling someone with the phone in his hand.
Dduddu!
The dial tone sounded in his ear.
– Petrov!
The moment a voice was heard from the other side, the conversation began.
“Oh, Sorokin!”
– You finally got in touch!
The conversation was completely in Russian.
“I’m sorry for taking so long. Many things happened so I could only call you now.”
– No no, I’m grateful that you contacted me now. So what do you think about my proposal?
When he heard the word proposal, Oh Se-chan’s expression became firm.
“I’m sorry. Isaac Ivanov’s mind is not something I can change.”
– How unfortunate.
A voice filled with disappointment could be heard from the phone.
Then Oh Se-chan spoke.
“But there might be a chance with his teammate.”
– Teammate?
“Recently, there seems to be a division in Isaac Ivanov’s team.”
– I heard the rumors about Japan.
“It’s not good news, of course, but as it’s my job to support Isaac Ivanov, I can’t let a rift like that stay. It would be the worst if it burst open in a dungeon.”
– Certainly. It’s a problem that you need to handle as quickly as possible.
“On the other hand, I can’t just force him to help Isaac Ivanov. Isn’t he a hero too after all?”
– He is like a superstar in Russia.
“Therefore, it’s also my job to find a suitable place for him. If the relationship between them truly gets bad…”
– Please contact me at that time. I will not mistreat him.
“Understood.”
After finishing the call, Oh Se-chan turned to his subordinate.
“Now, let’s raise Lee Jin-ah’s value a bit more.”
“Yes, then where should we bet this time?”
“Let’s take a tour around the Five Great Guilds. Contact Kunlun.”
“Yes, sir.”
Oh Se-chan smiled as his subordinate began tapping away at the laptop’s keyboard.
‘Their plan was obvious.’
The Sword Saint’s plan was simple.
After removing Lee Jin-ah, they would fill his spot with the three Ishikawa siblings.
‘They’re going to try to provoke Lee Jin-ah.’
For that, the siblings would have to find a way to provoke Lee Jin-ah.
Afterwards, either he would leave on his own, or he’d complain and try to fix it.
‘Then they’ll try to crush Lee Jin-ah with their skill after provoking him.’
Of course, the Sword Saint’s side would have prepared sufficiently to handle either situation.
If he decided to leave on his own, then they simply had to watch him leave on his own two feet, and if Lee Jin-ah decided to compete, then they would just have to crush him with their ability.
They seemed confident in their ability to do so, so they must have a plan.
‘Although it’s a bit of a stretch.’
However, such an attempt from the Sword Saint’s side was bound to fail.
Because Lee Jin-ah was stronger than the three Ishikawa siblings.
‘But it wouldn’t be fun if it just ended there.’
The problem was that even if Lee Jin-ah proved himself, Kim Woo-jin would have nothing to gain, and Oh Se-chan couldn’t stomach the idea of going through so much trouble for no profit.
Kim Woo-jin also had the same idea.
Therefore, they came up with a third option.
‘However, if Lee Jin-ah thrashes the three Ishikawa siblings right there and then leaves Kim Woo-jin anyway…’
Lee Jin-ah would trample on the Ishikawa siblings and then disband his team with Isaac Ivanov.
If that happened, what would the Sword Saint do?
It could only be one of two things.
‘Pay the price for giving Isaac Ivanov a new team.’
Since they used a shield with a weaker performance to replace Isaac Ivanov’s previous one, they would need to pay a price.
‘Or pay more to keep the previous team.’
Or pay a higher price to let things stay the way they were.
‘Whatever they choose, the higher Lee Jin-ah’s value, the more they would have to pay.’
So what Oh Se-chan was doing now, was increasing his value.
And naturally, Oh Se-chan had no intention of simply raising the price to a moderate level.
‘I’ll make them deeply feel how expensive it is to try to take somebody else’s man.’