"..." I'm staring at Ylya, who's staring at my lips. Honestly, I don't have much to do since I was waiting for her to recover.

"Ylya... YLYA!!" I call her once, and she keeps looking at my lips, so I shout her name, finally getting her attention.

"H-Huh?"

"We need to leave. We've been here too long; it must be between 10 and 11 o'clock in this place. We have to move right now. You can't have another panic attack out there."

"Do you understand what I'm saying? We're about to enter that red scenery again. You can't freeze up again. If you do, I'll abandon you. I won't die here just because you lack courage!!" I say angrily.

I feel uncomfortable, strange, and irritated that I kissed her. It was a necessity at the time, but it was something I only wanted to do with someone I like.

"..." She swallows dryly while looking toward the cave corridor in the direction of the exit. She knows we have to go soon; she understands that staying here is a death sentence.

"...I-I..."

"Ylya, think carefully about what you're going to say. If you say you can't, I swear I'll leave you here!" I'm not willing to try and convince someone who knows they'll die but can't muster the courage to get out of danger.

"..." I start looking at the exit with discomfort. We have to go soon, and we don't have time for this.

'One hour... that's all we have before this place becomes extremely dangerous.' I keep staring at Ylya, who's hugging her knees, watching me and watching the exit.

"Are you coming with me?" I stand up, slapping my dress to dust it off a little.

"...I-I am..." She stands up as I extend my hand to her. I pull her, and she almost falls. It's kind of stupid; she doesn't even seem like the same strong girl who entered this dungeon at the beginning.

"...You can hold onto me if you need to." When I say that, her hand squeezes mine so hard it hurts.

'O-Ow... t-that hurts...' Even with the pain reduction, this genuinely hurts. It's like a powerful vise crushing my hand, clearly showing her fear of going out.

"Listen, you must stay silent! Any sound could kill us. Monsters might even be hiding, but if they find prey near them, they'll come out to kill. So, we need to find an uninhabited cave or hole to stay in for the next few hours." I pull a piece of paper from my dress.

"This is a map. I made it while taking care of you. It's kinda bad because I don't know how the area works, but it shows how far we've come since the beginning... these gaps are parts I don't remember well," I say, showing it briefly before putting it away again.

"We'll keep heading north, which is the opposite direction from where we appeared." I start leading the way despite my fear, holding her hand as we take slow steps.

At this rate, it will take us a long time to find a place to hide, but it's still faster than having to drag her around.

"Evelyn... why did you save me? We... we've only spent a few days together... you could have left me... but you chose to save me... I don't understand," she murmurs softly as we reach the entrance and see the vines I placed.

"I saved you just because. There's no real reason. I just knew that if I left you there, you would die, so I saved you because I'd feel bad knowing I could save a person but let them die." I obviously prioritize my own life, like everyone else.

However, if it's possible to save someone, I feel bad if I don't even try. Maybe that's a flaw of mine in this dangerous world, but it's just how I am.

"...T-Thank you... y-you're like Yter... h-he could have abandoned me too... h-he c-c-could have ignored me... b-but he saved me..." she says as I recall what she told me.

When she was talking about it before, she didn't explain in detail. It was kind of messy, and she already had a panic attack, but from what I can gather, the place she was thrown into before was a dungeon floor probably between the 40th and 70th floors.

That's because Yter is Rank B, and he would never delve into places he can't handle. That's good news for me because it means this red area isn't the deepest point of the current dungeon.

A dungeon's scenery has a certain "rarity." The deeper you go, the more distorted and unusual the scenery becomes; they stop repeating. If the red scenery is from floors 40 to 70, that means it's the type of scenery that repeats about 1 to 3 times in a dungeon.

'Taking that into account, along with the distance we are from Eve and Syl'Vyr... we are possibly on wall 100 to 130...' That's deep, very deep, but it's still survivable.

However, it also means it will take time for Eve and Syl'Vyr to get here. Worse, there's no guarantee that if they do get here, we'll be able to escape. One option would be to try and head for the area that ejects us to floor 1.

But obviously, that place will be full of traps and might have strong artificial monsters nearby.

'Our best chance of a successful escape is precisely in a dangerous area...' I ponder what to do.

"Ylya, do you want to try and wait for the others to get here... or try our luck at the spot that ejects us to floor 1? If we return to floor 1, Eve and Syl'Vyr will find out, and then they'll leave too, so the chances of Yter staying alive are higher..." I feel bad for saying this.

Bringing up Yter is a way to manipulate Ylya's choice, but the situation is precarious, so it's necessary.

"...L-Let's... f-find the p-place for floor 1..." she says with a tremor in her voice, her hand squeezing mine tighter.

"...Good... however, I suggest we go back 3 more walls before doing that. I deduce we're somewhere around wall 100, and it would be easier if we stop at wall 99. With luck, going back 3 walls will put us below wall 100." I know full well this is counting on luck.

We could be on wall 110, and going back 3 more walls wouldn't help at all, but I want to believe that going back 3 walls will give us that luck.

"O-Okay... I-I'll m-manage..." She gives a broken smile, trying to convey confidence, which fails miserably since she's shaking like a scared rabbit.

'I've become much braver...' I look at her. Her fear reminds me of the fear I used to have, but I've become more confident and responsible for myself, and after being forced by Eve to dissect a wolf, my courage increased a bit.

"Are you ready to go?" I ask, squeezing her hand to convey confidence.

"Y-Yes... friend." When she says yes, I start walking, pushing the vines aside and stepping outside. The smell remains unbearably repugnant; this sweet mix combined with the stench of rot is truly disgusting.

"..." I look at Ylya. She freezes like a little rabbit in front of a predator, but I pull her and start walking.

"For now, we won't try to go back through the walls. We need to get properly adjusted, and you need to stop to eat. So, let's first find a place to hide for... 8 hours... and after that time, we'll try to go back 3 walls and look for the spot to go to wall one," I say with an authoritative, leader-like tone.

"..." She doesn't respond, just takes heavy, dragging steps, following me without letting go of my hand. I am extremely careful with everything around us, looking in all directions with extreme caution.

'Why does this place stink so much?' I wonder without understanding why. It's strange, but dungeons are strange things, so I doubt I'll get an answer.

"E-Evelyn... E-Evelyn..." Ylya speaks so softly I can barely hear her, and when I do, I look at her and see her chest rising irregularly.

"H-Hey, don't have another attack! We just got out!" I say, pulling her along as I try to quicken my pace.

'I can already tell walking with her around here is going to be hell.' If this were a normal occasion, it would be impossible for us to be wandering around the dungeon like this. We can only wander like this because all the monsters are hidden.

But being hidden doesn't mean they aren't here. If a monster notices something is nearby, it might come out to attack. That's why we must keep moving until we find empty hiding spots.

"Ylya, don't falter," I say, feeling like I'm practically dragging her. She has one hand over her mouth as if she's about to vomit from panic while her steps are unsteady.

"C-Count to 10, but only using odd numbers!" I give her a quick order. She starts murmuring the numbers extremely softly, and after 5 minutes of me dragging her, she recovers a little.

"H-How did you do that?" she asks, confused but a bit better.

"Counting to 10 is a simple act, and counting to 10 using only odd numbers forces your brain to... well, if I remember correctly, I think it forces it to pay attention to the numbers, which helps stabilize the onset of a panic attack." I don't remember exactly; it's something I saw in a magazine once, and I'm not even sure if it's correct.

But it seems to have worked since she didn't have the panic attack she was about to have, so I'll consider it a valid piece of information.

'Although... if a full-blown panic attack starts, I doubt this trick will work...' This will only help if it's the very beginning and if she really tries to focus on it. So it's just a minuscule help, like a drop of water in a swimming pool.

That's why I need to think of some way to deal with her panic attacks. And unfortunately... if the need arises, I'll have to force more kisses on her to help her control her breathing and stay silent. I just deeply hope it doesn't come to that extreme again because I don't want to have another such strange kissing experience.

"Whenever you feel a panic attack coming on, start counting to 10 using only odd numbers!! And tell me! Never forget to tell me! Don't let it get to the point where you practically pass out," I say with severity and concern.

"O-Okay..." she murmurs a soft 'okay.' I decide to accept that and continue walking, searching for a hole, cave, or similar place to cram ourselves into and stay.

'Eve... Syl'Vyr... please be okay...' I can only wish that the two of them are safe and in a better situation than I am now.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.