The Unexpected NPC

Chapter 33 Rest

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It's been more than 12 hours since we entered the dungeon. We've had a total of 9 battles and gone through countless traps. Luckily, none of us got seriously injured. The only problem is, I'm out of mana. I had used a mana recovery potion and a stamina recovery potion, but it seemed like it was still not enough.

I've had to rely heavily on Sharp Gaze, which is a huge mana drain, but it was absolutely necessary. There was no way I could have avoided those deadly traps otherwise.

Besides my mana being almost completely drained, my stamina is almost gone too. This is the first time I've fought with such intensity, especially with Sharp Gaze activated. It requires such high concentration to enhance my perception that I feel exhausted both physically and mentally. The potions only help with my physical health, but my mental state is still worn out.

"Do you want to stop for a while, Danny? You look very tired." Liz noticed my unstable state and asked.

"That's right, I think you really need to rest a bit." Briar agreed with Liz.

The two of them were still in a pretty stable state. Except for being a little tired, everything was fine.

It seemed like I had worried them both. But I couldn't stop now. Time was of the essence; I couldn't waste it resting. I need to use it to improve my combat skills and gather resources for the future.

"I'm really fine-"

"Stop!" Liz said seriously.

"This isn't a virtual world, if you overexert yourself here, your life will be in danger. You have to rest right now."

"But-"

"There's no but. You need to rest. Your body can recover with medicine, but your mental state won't. Only rest can restore your mental state." Liz said.

Her decisive demeanor made me swallow my words. I couldn't refute.

I sent a pleading look to Briar, but the response was a helpless shrug.

"Sorry Danz, I think the same as Livy. You really need to rest." He replied with a bitter smile.

After a while of arguing, I had to give in to Liz's stubbornness. We decided to find a clean place and rest for about 1-2 hours.

...

"This place looks good. Let's rest here." Liz pointed to a clean corner and said.

"Alright alright, I'm listening, boss."

Right now, I have no choice but to listen to Liz. They've decided to stop me from using my skills. Even though I didn't say anything, they know I must have used some kind of skill to spot those traps. There's no way they could miss my lie.

Liz was a very perceptive person, so she must have realized it the moment I said that I could spot the traps. Well, right from the start.

What about Briar? He looked dull and honest, but he wasn't stupid. My lie full of loopholes wouldn't fool him.

Since I couldn't use Sharp Gaze, we didn't know if there were traps in the area ahead. Now we could only try to be careful with every step we took if we didn't want to step into one.

Briar walked ahead and imitated my previous trap-detecting movements. He tried tossing a few rocks randomly until he threw them hard at suspicious bricks.

After performing a series of trap-detecting movements but everything was still normal, he carefully stepped into the area in front of him. Briar raised his alertness to the highest level and walked around. Confirming that there was no danger, he breathed a sigh of relief and signaled us to enter.

"Yessss, we finally can take a break." Liz let out a sigh of relief and sat down. She patted the empty space next to her, signaling me to sit there.

Seeing her carefree actions made me feel somewhat relieved. I smiled and started to sit down, leaning my back against the wall and closing my eyes. I relaxed my mind and body, and immediately fell asleep.

"You go to sleep, Livy and I will take turns keeping watch." Briar said with a smile.

"Alright, you two be careful..." My voice gradually faded away and my mind went blank.

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"Is he asleep?" Briar asked.

"Um, asleep." Livy replied to her red-haired friend.

"He must be really tired." Briar looked at Danz and couldn't help but smile bitterly.

The image of the skinny boy who always took the lead in investigating everything even though he was exhausted really left a deep impression on Briar. Even though he was very weak, he still tried his best to solve the problem himself.

Briar understood that without Danz, he and Livy wouldn't have been able to go far in this Dungeon. Even if they had made it this far, they would have had to peel off a layer of skin. Danz had taken on most of the difficult tasks himself, so he and Livy could be safe like this.

Through this trip, Briar had developed a deep respect for his classmate. From now on, if anyone dared to look down on Danz, he would no longer turn a blind eye. He truly considered Danz a friend that he truly cherished.

And he finally understood why Livy liked to be around Danz. Although he had only been in contact with Danz for a short time, Briar knew that Danz was a good person, worth making friends with.

What funny was that he was the one who was stronger, not Danz. Yet he felt safe and comfortable when he was around him.

But he still didn't understand, why did Danz take everything upon himself? He could ask for help from others.

Even if Danz didn't trust him, he should at least trust Livy, right?

...

Livy sat next to Danz, gently stroking his bangs with her hand. Underneath that was a rather thin face with pale skin and dark circles under his eyes, looking very lifeless. His face, in her opinion, was only average, nothing impressive. But that was when he closed his eyes tightly.

Livy knew and remembered very clearly Danz's deep purple eyes, they were like a mysterious abyss. She had never dared to look straight into Danz's eyes for too long, she was afraid that she would be sucked into them.

In her opinion, if Danz took care of himself a little and trimmed his long bangs, revealing his eyes, his beauty would definitely improve by a level. Coupled with his calm and reliable temperament, although he was not handsome, no one could say that he was not good-looking. However, a part of her did not want Danz to do that.

She was afraid that if Danz did that, he would attract more attention, he would have more friends and would have less time for her. She knew her wish was selfish, but what could she do? Danz was her first friend and the ideal brother she had always wanted. She didn't want to share him with anyone.

Looking at Danz sleeping peacefully beside her, she felt a little heartbroken. She recalled the journey the team had gone through in the dungeon. The image of Danz embracing everything to himself made her extremely uncomfortable. Even in the virtual world, he would risk his life to rush into danger even though his condition was not stable at all.

'You can rely on me though...' Liz thought to herself.

Did she look that unreliable? Why did Danz always embrace everything to himself without asking for help?

"Haizzzz". Two sighs rang out at the same time.

"Huh?"

Briar and Livy met each other's eyes, both of them couldn't help but be a little surprised. A moment of silence passed and the two of them laughed bitterly at the same time.

"You feel the same way, right?" Briar said.

"Yeah, I guess so."

Both of their eyes stopped on Danz.

...

"You should rest a bit, I'll keep watch. I haven't fought much since the beginning so I'm not too tired." Livy stood up and dusted off her clothes.

She wasn't lying. She really wasn't that tired. With Danz and Briar always leading the charge, she had it pretty easy in the rear. She only had to step in when a monster slipped through or when there were too many for Briar to handle.

"I'm fine, you should take a break. I'm actually feeling pretty good." Briar waved his hand in refusal.

"No, you should rest. I've rested enough." Livy said with a smile.

Her attitude was very firm, Briar only needed to take a quick look to know that no matter what he said, it would be useless, Livy wouldn't change her decision.

"Haizz, okay." Briar could only smile wryly and obey Livy's words.

He walked to a corner and sat down, leaning against the wall and closing his eyes to rest. Briar tried to rest well so that he could continue this hunting trip.

Livy, who was on the side, looked at her two friends and felt happy. She smiled contentedly.

Watching Briar, Livy couldn't help but be impressed. She knew the second-ranked in the entire grade would be strong, but she hadn't expected him to be this strong.

Briar dealt with the monsters so easily as if he had done this many times before. The first time she saw it, she couldn't believe what she saw.

Suddenly, a wave of insecurity washed over Livy. It had been a long time since she'd felt this way. And she knew exactly why.

'I'm a burden to them'

She had always been very confident in her fighting ability. She had both talent and resources, which allowed her to easily reach F rank before even entering school. She also easily took 4th place in the entrance exam. She was even about to break through to F+ now.

But after witnessing Briar's actual combat ability, she realized her fatal flaw.

'I lack actual combat ability'

That's right, up until now she had only focused on theory and dry training sessions. She lacked the ability to react when encountering monsters in groups. In the virtual world last time, she had gotten a high score entirely due to luck. Fortunately, she had not encountered monsters in groups but only encountered monsters that were alone, and she had even picked up two flags while moving.

"Haaaa, I have to practice more in the future." She sighed and muttered.

She didn't want to be a burden to others. That alone was enough to motivate her to practice.

She leaned against the wall and began to plan to hone her skills after leaving the dungeon.

But as soon as her back touched the wall, a strong light shone from all directions. It even pulled Briar out of his resting state.

Livy was in a panic now, she knew she had just triggered some kind of trap. But before she could determine what kind of trap it was, a blinding light engulfed the group. The last thing she remembered was Briar's voice calling her name.

"Livy-!!"

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