Guide Me If You Dare-Chapter 34: OP SKILL

IT WOULD be Yuno’s first time in a dungeon.

So, even if he didn’t want to, he held Ki Gayoon’s hand as if his life depended on it.

Although the grumpy old man assured him that the dungeon was "safe," he couldn’t trust it at all.

Espers have different standards when it comes to what is considered "safe."

"Are you trying to break my hand, Noh Yuno?"

"I can’t help that I’m scared," Yuno said while watching Ki Gayoon place his hands on the "door." There was a small "door" in the middle of the wall full of swirls. It was only big enough for Ki Gayoon’s hand to fit. "Is your handprint the passcode of this Gate? What if the enemies just cut off your hand or make a copy of your handprint to open the Gate as they please?"

"If that was possible, they would have done that already," Ki Gayoon said, smirking. "This Gate, that I call ’Beom-seok,’ only recognizes me as its master. I can’t tell you in detail because it’s a secret, but Beom-seok would know if I was being coerced to open the Gate. If Beom-seok detected that I was being threatened, it would self-destruct."

Oh.

"Is that why the government sent Guides to seduce you?"

"Yes," Ki Gayoon confirmed, his face darkening. "They know Guiding Pills and Inkyu’s Guiding aren’t working on me anymore. So, they sent Ho Jungwon to me, hoping that an S-Class Guide like him could wrap me around his finger like he did with Ryu Sungbin. If I get addicted to Ho Jungwon’s Guiding, I’m sure they’ll ask me to transfer Beom-seok’s ownership to them."

"So, transferring the ownership of this Gate is possible?"

"As long as I’m not being coerced, yes. That’s Ho Jungwon’s mission."

It’s Guide Bambi, right?

"Ahjuhyung, I still haven’t forgiven Guide Bambi-ssi for assaulting you. But I believe Ho Jungwon is his dead name. Can’t you just call him by his new name?"

"Does it matter?"

"Yes."

Ki Gayoon raised an eyebrow. "Alright. I’ll try to remember his new name."

"Good—"

Oh.

Ki Gayoon’s body had already turned translucent...

... and so did Yuno’s.

Here goes nothing.

***

A GIANT stone golem.

Yuno almost got a heart attack when he saw a giant stone golem "sleeping" as soon as they got inside the dungeon.

The monster was the size of an average hill!

It’s probably at least 200 meters tall...

"Ahjuhyung, you said there’s no monster here?" Yuno whispered because he didn’t want to accidentally awaken the sleeping stone golem. So, he didn’t even smack Ki Gayoon even if he wanted to. "What is that then?"

"That’s the Dungeon Boss from the last dungeon that I cleared," Ki Gayoon explained. "I got the monster as one of the rewards."

"So, it’s already dead?"

"Yes."

Whew.

Only then did Yuno relax.

And, now that he had calmed down, he looked around.

All he could see, from where the vast green field they stood on, were mountains and trees.

"I can only bring you to the entrance for now," Ki Gayoon said. "I just wanted to show you one of the materials that I’ll be using when rebuilding your house."

"That stone golem?"

The grumpy old man nodded. "Limestone is usually used to make cement. But I’ll use that stone golem instead of limestone. I’ll grind the monster until it turns into dust, and then mix it with other materials needed to make cement. Then we’ll use that to make concrete."

Wow.

"I heard the wood, stone, brick, steel, and other materials that Beom-seok Constructions use are all made from materials only found in dungeons," Yuno said, gulping hard in amazement. "No wonder the buildings or whatever infrastructure Beom-seok Constructions makes can withstand even Dungeon Breaks."

"Yeah. I have unlimited resources here. You don’t see it from here, but I have a mine that produces iron ores, and Mana Stones. Ah, I also have a forest that provides lumber for my company. And, as you can see, those rocky mountains are better than limestone rocks."

"Now Ahjuhyung is just flexing."

"Heh."

"How did the government find out about your Gate, Ahjuhyung?"

"I was still a naïve lab rat when I got Beom-seok as a reward, so I foolishly reported it to the government," Ki Gayoon said, sighing while shaking his head. "Anyway, I can put the Gate anywhere I want. But I decided to put it where the government can see it. If it disappears, they’ll just panic and become more desperate. And desperate people usually act dangerously."

"Ah, I get what Ahjuhyung is saying," Yuno said while nodding. "How many people can you bring here?"

"I can’t tell you exactly how many, but I only bring people I trust here to gather the materials we need for construction."

"Do you trust me, Ahjuhyung?"

"If I die inside this dungeon, Beom-seok will close the Gate forever and self-destruct."

"Don’t overestimate my will to live—"

"Remember rule number one, Noh Yuno."

Oh.

["As long as you’re my exclusive Guide, you’re not allowed to kill yourself or talk about it— even as a joke."]

That was Ki Gayoon’s number one rule for Yuno.

"You can’t die until we find out what your favorite food is," Ki Gayoon said, his face looking solemn for some reason. "I hate it when people talk about death so lightly."

"But you always threaten to kill me—"

"Huh?!"

Aigoo.

Look at him acting like a gangster again.

"Ahjuhyung, if we find out what my favorite food is, will you tell me how you became a gangster?" Yuno said, acting brave even though he was nervous. "I know that Beom-seok Constructions used to be a gangster group— everyone in Korea knows."

I mean, Ahjuhyung’s background as a gangster is good BL material since gangster/mafia MLs are all the rage these days.

It wasn’t that Yuno was interested in Ki Gayoon’s life, okay?

"Fine, I’ll tell you all about my gangster days later," Ki Gayoon said, smiling lazily at Yuno. "For now, let me feed you all the most delicious things in the world."

"Ahjuhyung, you sound so sugar daddy coded when you talk like that."

"And who’s my sugar baby? You?"

"Your tone is offending, Ahjuhyung."

"You’re too old to be a sugar baby, punk," Ki Gayoon said, scoffing. "Your front lobe is already fully developed at twenty-five. Predators usually prey on underdeveloped humans since they’re easy to manipulate."

"Hey, you’re going to offend the sugar daddy-sugar baby community with your comment."

"I don’t care."

Aigoo.

"But if you want to be my sugar baby, that’s fine with me, too," Ki Gayoon said teasingly. "Should I call you ’babe’ from now on?"

Yuno hugged himself when the hair on his arms stood up. "Don’t you dare, Ahjuhyung!"

***

YUNO practically ran out of the car as soon as it stopped in front of Ki Gayoon’s mansion.

He heard the (not-so) grumpy old man’s laughter from behind him.

"Wait for me, babe."

Argh!

Yuno covered his ears with his hands when Ki Gayoon called him ’babe.’

Again.

Yes, that ahjussi kept calling me ’babe’ in the car!

Yuno couldn’t escape since the doors were locked, and Ki Gayoon stopped him from jumping out of the moving car when he opened the window.

"Noh Yuno-ssi!"

Huh?

Yuno was surprised when a familiar woman blocked his way. "Kim Jeemin-ssi?"

***

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