VSP 59

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What the fuck?

When Lee Dohun finally confirmed the mission the cube gave, the only thing that came out of him was a curse.

A room you can’t leave unless you kiss?

How many dungeons had he cleared so far. Of course, among them were several of these escape room type dungeons.

In his record there were more times he had failed and fallen into the Antlion Hell than cleared and walked out easily, so this type made him grind his teeth. But he had been through it often enough, and done countless missions.

Even for him, this was the first time seeing this kind of mission.

And the one stuck with him happened to be Seo Sejun?

“Ha.”

Can things really go this badly?

It was true that escape rooms and Lee Dohun had never been a good match, but today was the worst.

Kiss? Kiss Seo Sejun? Just imagining it made him sick.

Better to drop this shit right now and just go to the Antlion Hell.

…Antlion Hell…

“……”

Dohun unconsciously clenched his hand. His palm was damp with sweat.

What had the most recent pitfall trap been like?

He had gone into the dungeon with Cha Dogyeong and Seo Sejun, got separated from them, and then even got the quiz wrong, dropping alone into that hole.

Antlion Hell.

Whoever first called it that, it was the perfect name¹. Like an ant you couldn’t escape no matter how much you struggled, like a punishment handed down to hunters who failed a test, the ordeal dragged on for an hour.

It pushed hunters right up to the edge of death again and again, and only when they were about to really die did it open the one exit.

Every Antlion Hell had made him swear, but an A-rank dungeon’s Antlion Hell was so brutal that even Dohun, beast-type and sturdier than most, could barely take it.

Normally he never wore himself out, but last time he had come back from a mission so exhausted that he collapsed without even showering.

If it happened again…

“Ah… this pisses me off.”

Dohun whipped his head around as he heard the voice behind him. Seo Sejun had his hands on his face, mumbling something.

“How would I know what it wants…”

“What are you guessing then?”

“Shit, then that’s the same as not knowing.”

He was mumbling like he was talking to someone, and Dohun remembered belatedly that it was that sentient system of his. He clicked his tongue.

So, it’s telling him to kiss this idiot.

Lee Dohun began weighing“Kiss Seo Sejun” vs “Antlion Hell.” In his head.

Of course, he hated both.

That meant he had no choice but to pick the lesser evil, the less disgusting option.

After thinking for a long time, Dohun looked at Sejun, who was still mumbling. Sejun happened to look back, and their eyes met. Both of them frowned at the same time.

Dohun studied Sejun’s face slowly.

Whatever the reason, these days Korea’s S-rank hunters were all decent-looking. Even Seo Sejun, people joked that his looks were above the S-rank average.

He had thought it earlier too, but his face was neat enough. A kind of face women would like, though in a different way from Cha Dogyeong. As far as Dohun knew, Seo Sejun had never dated.

In other words, if he just shut his eyes and kissed once, it wasn’t such a revolting face.

Of course, just the phrase “kiss Seo Sejun” was nauseating, but face alone, it wasn’t impossible to put up with.

And then, there was the A-rank Antlion Hell…

Dohun glanced at Sejun. The guy had smooth skin without a single scar. His body had some muscle, but not much, the kind of balance you’d expect from someone who had poured everything into summoning. Physically, just barely at S-rank baseline.

There was no way he could endure an A-rank Antlion Hell.

The scale that had been balanced in Dohun’s head tilted little by little.

“Hey, Seo Sejun.”

Dohun reached a conclusion.

No matter how he thought about it, two Antlion Hells in a row was impossible. What crime had he committed to deserve that?

Sejun, instead of answering, only pulled a sullen face. His thoughts were obvious. “I’m older, but this bastard never calls me hyung, only my name.”

Whether or not that was true, Dohun didn’t care.

What mattered here was something else.

In this fucking escape-room dungeon, to give up on a mission required a majority. If there were four participants, three or more. If three, then two or more.

But with two, both had to agree.

“Let’s just shut our eyes and do it.”

That was the conclusion he finally spoke out.

At his words, Sejun sighed like he had expected it.

“Yeah, if we shut our eyes and do it, it’ll be over.”

For once, they almost seemed on the same wavelength. Dohun nodded. Both of them opened their mouths at the same time.

“Antlion Hell.”

“Kiss.”

The first one to speak was Seo Sejun, and the one after was Lee Dohun. With completely different answers coming out, the two of them frowned again at the same time.

Especially Sejun, who looked like he couldn’t believe someone could say something that appalling, his face twisted in sheer disgust.

“What, are you insane?”

“You’re the one insane. Why the hell would we go to the Antlion Hell?”

But Dohun couldn’t understand Sejun. Why take the hard road when there was an easy way. Of course, Dohun hadn’t wanted to kiss either, which was why he had hesitated for so long, but the more he thought about it the clearer the answer was.

Kiss Seo Sejun. Get out of the dungeon safe.

But Sejun didn’t seem to think so.

“Fuck, why would I kiss you?”

“It says to do it. Can’t you see?”

Dohun pointed at the mission text hanging in the air. Sejun clutched his hair like he was about to lose his mind.

“You think I’m saying this because I can’t see it? Why the fuck would I kiss you?”

“Because it says they won’t let us out otherwise.”

“Then we just go to the Antlion Hell!”

“I don’t want to go to the Antlion Hell.”

They had rarely agreed on anything, but Sejun looked genuinely flustered that their positions were split here of all times.

“You mean, kissing me is better than the Antlion Hell?”

Honestly, both were disgusting. But in terms of convenience, the kiss was overwhelmingly easier, so Dohun frowned and answered.

“Just shut your eyes and do it.”

Sejun’s face flushed bright red. He looked like he had heard something unthinkable.

“I don’t want to kiss you!”

“Sorry, but same here. A guy, and of all people you? I’d rather drink poison.”

“That’s why I’m saying we should just go to the Antlion Hell!”

“Too bad. I’d rather shut my eyes and kiss you than go to the Antlion Hell.”

“Hey, Lee Dohun!”

“What?”

Dohun was determined. He had already decided. Whatever this shitty dungeon threw at them, he would not go through another Antlion Hell. Better to get the damn kiss over with and leave.

It wasn’t even sex, just a kiss. No matter how much he hated the other guy, wasn’t that better than a pitfall trap? Dohun truly thought so.

He let out a short sigh at Sejun, who was throwing a fit.

“Why are you making such a fuss? It’s not like this is your first kiss.”

As far as he knew, Sejun had never dated, but even so, there was no way a twenty-six-year-old grown man had never kissed anyone. And Sejun’s face was good-looking enough, as Dohun had admitted.

“Well… no, but…”

Sure enough, Sejun faltered but didn’t deny it. That made it even less of a problem. It wasn’t his first kiss, so why attach so much meaning to it.

Dohun clicked his tongue.

“Then what’s the issue?”

“Everything’s the issue! You, you really plan to kiss me?”

Sejun slapped his hand over his mouth, like that would stop Dohun.

To Dohun, it was ridiculous.

Did he actually think he could stop him with that. What the hell was in this idiot’s head?

In the end, Dohun decided to lay out the plain facts for him.

“If you’ve got a brain, think. Without both agreeing, you can’t go to the Antlion Hell.”

Of course, that also meant the mission itself needed majority agreement, but since the mission was just to do it, that was nothing. To go to the Antlion Hell, both had to consent to abandoning the mission, and that was different.

Which meant, in this situation Dohun held the advantage. He had no intention of agreeing to the Antlion Hell.

It was basically blackmail. But Dohun didn’t care. Why would he worry about that, when the other was Seo Sejun? Just get it done.

“…Ugh.”

Sejun, unable to refute, stalled for a long time. But when Dohun stepped closer, saying, “Let’s just finish this,” Sejun shouted back in a panic.

“Th-that’s sexual harassment!”

1. Antlions create ingenious traps to catch their prey. The term is also used to describe a trap or a difficult circumstance that is very hard to get out of once you’re in it. ↩︎