Chapter 91 – Ambush in the Alley

The opponent was a man in black clothes with a black hat pulled low. Goosebumps rose on her back.

“Kyaah!”

Hee-na hastily screamed and tried to run away, but it was already too late.

The man threw a small marble, and a pop! resounded. Then, the surrounding scenery became blurry as if covered by a film.

“Help me!”

Even when she shouted, her voice was weakly swallowed by the empty air, as if she had stepped into a soundproof booth.

A few steps away, pedestrians walked past the alley as if they couldn’t see the confrontation between Hee-na and the man.

Everyone just walked down the street indifferently. As if they couldn’t see anything, couldn’t hear anything…

‘Ah, no!’

Sensing the unusual aura, Hee-na quickly dashed forward.

But that was only for a moment. A strong hand reaching out from behind firmly blocked Hee-na’s mouth.

“…Mmph! Mmmph! Mmmph!”

She struggled with all her might, but she could not overcome the man’s strength.

‘No! What is this!’

Hee-na bared her teeth and bit down hard on the fingers blocking her mouth. Along with a crunching sound, a groan of “Ugh!” was heard from behind.

At Hee-na’s attack, the man seemed to lose his strength momentarily, and Hee-na tried to slip out of the man’s grasp using that gap.

But that too was short-lived. The man spat out curse words in a rough tone.

“Tsk, dammit!”

At the same time, a stinging sensation spread across the back of her neck as if she had been pricked by something.

“Kyaah!”

Hee-na let out a shrill scream at the unfamiliar sensation.

The stinging sensation that spread from the back of her neck vibrated through all her nerves in an instant. And in less than a few seconds, her vision blurred.

“Ah… Th-this is…”

Her legs lost their strength, and she collapsed in place with a thud.

The man slung the collapsed Hee-na over his shoulder.

Hee-na tried to struggle, but her body did not move as she wanted.

“Let… me… go…”

With that final breath, Hee-na blacked out and lost consciousness.

* * *

The first thing to wake up was her sense of smell.

Hee-na frowned at the musty smell and opened her eyes.

“Ugh…”

Her head was so dizzy that a groan escaped her lips. Although Hee-na was a heavy drinker who didn’t know what a hangover was, she thought that if hangovers existed, they might feel like this.

‘…Where is this?’

Hee-na was locked in a dark storeroom. The reason she thought of it as a storeroom was simple: worn-out furniture and tools were packed tightly in the room.

“Uuugh, ugh…”

She tried to sit up, but it was difficult to move because she was tightly bound. She looked around to inspect. Her arms were tied behind her back, and her legs were bound tightly to the chair.

‘Ack! What is this!’

Hee-na wriggled her body to somehow escape from this situation. However, her limbs were so tightly bound that she couldn’t budge. The chair only rattled precariously from side to side.

Meanwhile, an unfamiliar voice fell over Hee-na’s head as she struggled with the chair.

“You are finally awake.”

Hee-na abruptly raised her head and looked at the owner of the voice.

However, because it was shrouded in faint darkness, she couldn’t make out his appearance. She could only tell that he was a man of average height.

“W-w-who are you?”

She asked for the opponent’s identity, but the response that came back was chilling.

“I cannot easily reveal my identity. If I do, you would have to die, young lady.”

‘D… die?’

All kinds of thoughts crossed her mind.

How she ended up here, why she was kidnapped, and how she was supposed to get out of this situation in the future… Her head spun.

‘…This isn’t a dream, is it?’

Seeing that her tightly bound limbs were numb, it was definitely not a dream.

“If you answer well, you will be released safely without much trouble.”

With that, the man squatted down in front of Hee-na.

“If you resist… things will get complicated from then on.”

The bloodlust in his voice chilled her to the bone.

Hee-na swallowed hard and tried to calm her pounding heart.

‘D-Don’t be scared.’

Hee-na recalled her memories with the giant mushroom.

A human who could be reasoned with was much better than a B-class boss monster that threw wild rampages. Thinking of it that way, she felt a bit better.

“Wh-what do you want to ask?”

Hee-na answered calmly. At this, interest mixed into the man’s voice.

“Oh. You have quite the courage.”

“You said you would s-send me back alive as long as I answered properly, right? I want to get out quickly.”

Now that she was in an extreme situation, her brain worked surprisingly fast.

Hee-na answered the man’s questions clearly while thinking about how she should act in case the opponent did not release her alive.

‘It is fine. I have the ‘Home Sweet Home’ ability. As long as my hand touches a wall, I can open the front door.’

If she could just get next to a wall somehow, she could open the door.

Hee-na kept an eye on the man and put force into her toes.

Creeek, creeeak.

Along with an unpleasant noise, the chair slid backward little by little.

At Hee-na’s action, the man stood up and crossed his arms.

“Are you afraid of me? …Well, as I said earlier, I won’t act scary at all if you just answer well.”

He grumbled as if he were dissatisfied with Hee-na’s frightened appearance.

He was a ridiculous person. Anyone would be scared if they were kidnapped and tied up tightly in a dark place.

Hee-na glanced back and pushed the chair. Fortunately, the chair was not placed far from the wall. If she moved her body diligently, she felt she could reach it.

“Let’s see… I have quite a few things to ask.”

Meanwhile, the man brushed his hands off. Then, he grabbed the chair that was sliding backward with a thud.

“Ah!”

He rested both hands on the back of the chair. Naturally, Hee-na and the man’s faces became quite close. It was close enough to clearly discern the outline of his face even in the darkness.

However, since the man was wearing a black mask, all Hee-na could see were his two vividly shining eyes.

“Now. Let us greet each other with our eyes.”

At the same time, a strange flash swept through the man’s eyes.

‘Ah…’

Hee-na was captivated by that flash. Tinnitus rang, and her vision momentarily blurred. She felt as if she were being isolated from this world.

“Done.”

As soon as Hee-na’s gaze turned dazed, the man started a stopwatch. Then, he asked immediately.

“You are connected to the peanuts that go into the inventory, aren’t you?”

It was a question about the peanuts that had recently signed an exclusive contract with the Blue Dragon Guild. Hee-na’s mind spun furiously.

‘Is he a Blue Dragon Guild member? No, if he is a guild member, there is no reason to kidnap me like this… Then how on earth did he get the information? This is confidential information.’

Separately from her mental calculations, Hee-na’s mouth moved obediently.

“Yes. I am connected to them.”

‘Huh?’

This was not Hee-na’s own will. Her lips moved on their own as if possessed. She didn’t know for sure, but the man was an Awakened and seemed to possess a mental ability.

The man’s sharp gaze softened with satisfaction.

“Is that so? It seems I came to the right place. Then how did you obtain the peanuts?”

“My older brother cultivated them.”

At Hee-na’s answer, the man exclaimed softly, “Oh.”

“Your brother? What kind of ability does your brother have to be able to cultivate such special peanuts?”

Hee-na’s heart began to pound at the question. There was nothing good about letting others know about Hee-won’s class and abilities.

However, contrary to her panicked mind, her lips calmly confessed the truth.

“My brother has the Farmer class. If he farms on dungeon soil, he can grow crops with special effects.”

“That is an impressive ability. …Wait, farming on dungeon soil? How can he enter and exit dungeons freely to farm?”

‘Heup.’

This was a truly dangerous question. Hee-na screamed, ‘No!’ in her mind. However, her lips moved without a shred of resistance.

“…If we use my ‘Home Sweet Home’ skill, we can safely travel to and from dungeons.”

The very first thought that came to her mind right after finishing the sentence was this.

‘I’m screwed!’

It would be unsettling enough to reveal the truth to those close to her, and yet she had spilled it to a highly suspicious kidnapper!

Just as Woo Min-ah had said, wouldn’t she end up in a situation where it wouldn’t be surprising if she were worked like a slave from now on?

Her head overheated to the point of dizziness. She had to escape from here somehow, but at the same time, she needed to silence him.

“The ‘Home Sweet Home’ skill? A skill that allows you to travel to and from dungeons? Tell me in detail, young lady.”

As expected, the man showed great curiosity about Hee-na’s ability. Caught in the mental skill, Hee-na smoothly explained about the ‘Home Sweet Home’ skill.

“I have a house inside the dungeon. I call that house ‘Home Sweet Home.’”

It was only after the stopwatch went ‘beep beep’ that she could stop her mouth and tongue, which had been spilling the truth at their own discretion.

It was right before she spoke the most important fact: that she could open the door leading to the house from anywhere.

“This is a space-related skill… I, I, I… I can’t tell you any more than this!”

When Hee-na, who had suddenly snapped out of it, shook her head with a rebellious tone, the man smacked his lips in regret.

Meanwhile, he looked down at the stopwatch; three minutes had passed.

‘This skill must have a time limit.’

Hee-na’s prediction hit the mark. Soon, the man grumbled as if it was a waste.

“Time is up already. If I had just one more minute, I could have pried everything out… Damn it.”

And he staggered back a few steps and touched his temples.

“Ouch, my head is throbbing. This ability is good and all, but the aftereffects are too severe.”

The Homemaker of the Dungeon