The Tough Guy Hides the Villainess

057 – The Room You Can’t Leave Unless You Do #2

057 – The Room You Can’t Leave Unless You Do #2

Whirring, whirring, whirring, whirring.

The loud noise of the machinery in the basement made it impossible for Seo Gaul to sleep.

When she glared, Yoo Yeoreum, who was on a cheap cycle machine, was pedaling hard.

“Hey, it’s so noisy I can’t sleep.”

Seo Gaul’s irritation flared up.

She was annoyed that her request to the male student Han Namjin to bring a TV had been ignored, while Yoo Yeoreum had been given exercise equipment.

‘Do I have to listen to that whirring sound all day?’

This morning, the male student brought water and food and said, “I’m going into the ‘Great Maze’ from today, so I might not be able to come here for a while.”

That meant Seo Gaul had to spend 24 hours a day alone with Yoo Yeoreum.

‘It would have been nice if Yingying was here.’

Quite some time had passed since the fluffy cloud monster Yingying stopped coming to the basement.

Yoo Yeoreum was so terrified of Yingying, like a cat with its fur standing on end, that Yingying also became reluctant to come to the basement.

Thinking about it made Seo Gaul dislike Yoo Yeoreum even more.

‘It feels like I kidnapped her for no reason. I can’t even return her.’

Whirring, whirring, whirring, whirring.

The exercise machine kept running.

Soon, Yoo Yeoreum, drenched in sweat, got up and started stretching. Then she wiped her body here and there with a towel, and the sight made Seo Gaul a bit anxious.

‘How does she maintain that figure when she hasn’t eaten anything for days?’

Even in Seogaeul’s thoughts, Yoo Yeoreum’s toned body seemed impressive.

To a high school boy in his prime, it would be nothing short of poison.

What if Yoo Yeoreum, with that body of hers, was subtly spreading pheromones and, clumsily yet playfully, wagging her tail?

Could pervert Han Namjin resist such temptation?

If that were to happen, Yoo Yeoreum might just coax Han Namjin into getting not only exercise equipment but all sorts of other things, and live a more luxurious life down here in the basement.

Seogaeul would probably have to grit her teeth with jealousy upon seeing that.

Maybe Yoo Yeoreum was aiming for that.

How shameless of her, a girl who didn’t even seem to know what embarrassment was, to casually expose her armpits, chest, and belly in front of male students.

Seogaeul almost confirmed her thoughts as the correct answer.

*’I never knew what she was really thinking, but she must have been secretly planning to seduce a guy and live comfortably, huh? So creepy and disgusting.’*

Seogaeul, unable to let this slide, yearned intensely for *“some kind of concept.”*

And she succeeded in acquiring it.

*’Got it!’*

With the concept she had awakened, Seogaeul decided to pass it on to Yoo Yeoreum.

Transferring the concept would require a deep understanding of the target, but after spending a few days with Yoo Yeoreum, Seogaeul had already grasped enough about her.

In Seogaeul’s view, Yoo Yeoreum was like a sneaky cat.

Pretending to be indifferent, yet subtly waving her tail.

Like the saying, “The quiet cat climbs onto the stove first,” she would pretend to be uninterested, gently flick her tail, and then suddenly stir up trouble.

It was to this kind of Yoo Yeoreum that Seogaeul decided to transfer a new concept, to put a metaphorical shackle on her.

“Yoo Yeoreum, there’s a mosquito on your shoulder.”

*Slap!*

As she touched her shoulder, Seogaeul transferred the concept.

“You just wanted to hit my shoulder, didn’t you? How childish,” Yoo Yeoreum said.

“Tch.”

When Seogaeul stuck her tongue out, Yoo Yeoreum, unaware of what was about to happen, just frowned in confusion.

But after about five seconds, her face turned bright red.

“…Huff…!”

Then, after glancing at herself, she quickly dove under the covers. Watching this, Seogaeul couldn’t hold back her laughter.

*“Pwahaha! How do you feel? Suddenly embarrassed about your own body, huh? How does it feel?”*

“…W-What did you do to me?”

“What’s the matter! I was teaching you how to be modest as a woman! I gave you the concept of ‘modesty’!”

“…Modesty?”

For Seo Ga-eul, the concept of a ‘refined lady’ was already present, so awakening the concept of ‘modesty’ derived from it was not a difficult task.

Now, Yoo Yeoreum must have become as modest as a daughter-in-law from a noble family in the Joseon era, so she wouldn’t be able to seduce male students with that harmful body of hers.

“Now you won’t even be able to wag your tail awkwardly. Serves you right! You should feel and reflect on how immodest you’ve been in front of men until now!”

Seo Ga-eul wanted to quickly show Han Nam-jin, the male student, how out of place she looked being embarrassed and tease her about it.

She hoped Han Nam-jin would return to this basement soon─.

While thinking that, Seo Ga-eul suddenly got angry.

‘Why do I have to wait for him to come?’

# # #

It was said that the exploration of the ‘Great Labyrinth’ required at least two people.

Forming a team of four was the most common.

Our team was like that too.

The team leader, Jang Hyun-ah, was a 21-year-old woman with bleached blonde hair, a woman as dazzling as a flower.

She even wore a choker around her neck, which showed she paid quite a bit of attention to fashion.

‘Didn’t they say she was a veteran with a level 3 concept of ‘Vibration’?’

This ‘Vibration’ was quite useful during the exploration of the Great Labyrinth, and she was said to be active as an excellent explorer right after graduating from the academy.

Jang Hyun-ah placed her palm on the ground and released a vibration.

Dudududududududud-.

“There are no monsters ahead.”

It felt like a sonic detector.

From noble mtl dot com

She was sensing the vibrations of monsters.

Suddenly, I became curious.

“Vibration sister, how on earth did you awaken the concept of vibration? It seems like a really rare ability.”

It was a genuine admiration.

But instead of Jang Hyun-ah, the model girl snapped at me as if she were having a fit.

“Wow, ‘Vibration sister’? What kind of speech is that to the team leader? And do you not know that asking awakened ones about the reasons for their concept manifestation is incredibly rude!?”

「Name: Jeon Somi

Possession: 《Slipperiness Lv.2》 – As slippery as the best loach.

Status: 《Annoyed》 – Very angry that you, not Wang Ji-hyun, joined the team. Ready to nitpick at every little thing.”

The model, Jeon Somi, still seemed to hold a grudge over the viral Stargram video of her falling flat on her face because of me. She kept nitpicking at everything I said, which was really annoying.

Soon, Team Leader Jang Hyun-ah added her two cents.

“When I was in elementary school, I was quite chubby. Side effects of medication. I thought it would be great if my body would shake automatically during exercise to burn more calories. Got it?”

Did she awaken to the concept of vibration because she wanted a function similar to those exercise machines that make you shake with a belt around your waist? That could be it.

While I was coming to terms with various things, Jang Hyun-ah shot back.

“If you know it’s not for some perverted reason you were thinking of, then stop being interested and focus on the exploration. Do you think this Great Labyrinth exploration is child’s play? This is a place where you can really get hurt or die if you ‘re careless.”

In this Great Labyrinth exploration, the team leader’s authority seemed to be extremely powerful. In fact, Jang Hyun-ah used that authority to make Baek Yeoul run various errands.

“Baek Yeoul, it looks like there are about three traps ahead, so go check them out.”

Baek Yeoul was mainly the guinea pig for trap exploration.

Baek Yeoul of “Misfortune” was destined to trigger traps no matter what.

“Kiieek!”

See?

Just one step, and the brick on the floor clicked, and swoosh-! Arrows shot from the ceiling.

Baek Yeoul, with a face drained of color, continued to move forward.

“Huhyak!”

Click-!

Whoosh-!

Flames burst from the walls, or the floor would collapse.

Three traps triggered like that.

Only then did the team leader and her friend Jeon Somi move onto the safe blocks.

“It’s annoying to have to trigger every trap like this because of someone. If we just ignore them, they might suddenly explode.”

“Yeah, Hyun-ah. If Ja-hyun were here, it would have been so much easier. Of all people, the school had to assign someone like this to our team. It’s really frustrating.”

“……”

Baek Yeoul clenched her fists tightly, seemingly angry at being scolded by the senior explorers. Her lips moved as if she wanted to retort.

But when Jang Hyun-ah asked, “Why, do you have a problem? Do you want to drop out of the exploration?” Baek Yeoul could only bite her lips and shake her head vigorously.

While exploring the entrance of the Great Labyrinth with that feeling, a fork in the road appeared.

Left or right-.

After much deliberation, the team leader spoke.

“We’re going left.”

Why left, of all directions?

“Jindong noona, I think the right path is the correct one?”

“Ha, damn it! Hey! Han Namjin! What do you know to talk back to the team leader? Do you have any experience exploring labyrinths? We’ve been doing this for over three months already!”

“Somi, enough. Hey. You. Shut up and follow my lead. Here, I’m the king and the president. We’re going left. Got it?”

So, we ended up taking the left path.

【The left path is blocked by a landslide…!】

【Those who wish to go to the cafeteria should take the right path…!】

Sure enough, the left path was indeed blocked.

The wall had collapsed, making it impossible to proceed.

“I told you we should go right.”

“Ah, damn it, what are the odds? Why is it blocked?”

“We’ll have to go back to the right. How can we be so unlucky?”

The seniors glared at Baek Yeoul.

It was as if they were blaming Baek Yeoul for choosing the blocked path at the fork.

“If only we had gone right when Namjin suggested…”

This time, feeling a bit wrong, Baek Yeoul didn’t back down and said something.

Then, the female seniors, as if waiting for this moment, erupted in collective anger.

“What did you say?”

“Unbelievable.”

I felt the same way.

I had no choice but to say what I had wanted to say from the beginning.

“This won’t do. From now on, I’m the team leader. From now on, I’m the president and the king, so if you don’t follow my orders, there will be consequences.”

“What? What are you talking about? Do you think you can just change the team leader like that? You’re just a high school kid! Don’t cross the line!”

Smack-!

Jeon Somi hit me on the head.

I also thought that those who crossed the line needed to be punished.

“How dare you talk back to the labyrinth president? Namjin Kick!”

I slapped Jeon Somi, who was barking like a Chihuahua, across the cheek with my palm. Jeon Somi, suddenly struck, fell to the ground and touched her cheek with a bewildered look.

“You, you crazy b*stard! How dare you hit a senior’s cheek? Are you out of your mind? Do you not care about your midterm scores?”

What good are midterm scores anyway?

Anyway, the world will be ruined in a year.

A school diploma isn’t even good enough to wipe your butt with.

“Hyuna! This won’t do! Let’s just kick that b*stard out! That son of a b*tch! How dare he not fear a veteran explorer when he hasn’t even graduated yet? How dare he look down on his seniors!”

Jeon Somi shouted furiously.

Just from her words, it seemed like she might grab my hair, but knowing that I had captured several Class 3 fugitives, she didn’t dare to attack.

A barking dog doesn’t bite—that kind of feeling.

At that moment, Jang Hyuna crossed her arms and spoke leisurely.

“You said your name was Han Namjin? If you’re so confident, go ahead. Team leader.”

“Hey! Jang Hyuna! What are you talking about right now! Can’t you see I got slapped? Slapped! I got slapped!!!”

「Name: Jeon Somi

Possession: 《Slipperiness Lv.2》 – As slippery as a top-notch eel.

Status: 《Anger》 – Extremely angry from being slapped. Also furious that Jang Hyuna, who is less popular than herself, is making decisions on her own.”

「Name: Jang Hyuna

Possession: 《Vibration Lv.3》 – Can produce precise vibrations like construction machinery.

Status: 《Amusement》 – Finds it funny that an ignorant junior is acting tough. Also feels relieved that Jeon Somi, whom she couldn’t stand, got slapped.”

I thought they were close friends, but it seems they aren’t.

What is friendship, anyway?

Srrr-.

Jang Hyuna opened her slender eyes.

“Han Namjin, from the afternoon, you’ll take over as team leader and explore the Great Labyrinth. But if you don’t achieve results, you’ll have to bear the corresponding responsibility and consequences. Should I strip naked and prostrate myself “in apology?”

She must be a pervert to want to see me naked and prostrate.

The information I got from Jin Ramen noona seemed to be accurate.

Anyway, I avoided the seniors who started to create a subtle atmosphere and looked at the letters of the fairies engraved on the wall of the restaurant.

【Near the restaurant is the princess’s bedroom, so everyone should eat quietly…!】

The bedroom of the princess of Fairyland.

Wouldn’t there be at least one treasure?