How to get on the protagonist’s flower path

“That looks like a good spot~?”

“Yeah. Please lift Kang Nahyun up.”

“Roger-.”

I rode the wind sent by Choi Sujeong and settled at a suitable height. It was a position where I could snipe the Ice Beast from a distance.

I could see the Ice Beast’s overall form. It had six cores. I needed to hit all of them.

Unlike the previous times when I just fired my gun, there was a real sense of tension in this life-and-death situation.

I absentmindedly stroked the white gun given by the con artist and focused my eyes on the scope.

The con artist quietly waved a flag.

It was the signal to start the operation.

Nayu-ri’s flames exploded against the giant Ice Beast’s paw.

At the same time, Dumdum’s blade plunged deep into the other paw. Then, Lee Hana’s magic, which was wrapping around me, was released.

“Grrrrr!”

The Ice Beast woke up and let out a painful howl.

“Fall back!”

The team quickly distanced themselves from the Ice Beast.

Awakened by the shock, the Ice Beast staggered as it tried to stand, but it fell forward due to its injured paw. The core on its back was now visible.

Should I shoot now?

No, not yet.

If I shoot now, the Ice Beast will have a chance to defend its back.

Stay calm. Don’t rush. Follow the plan.

In battle, you must trust the commander.

I felt Lee Hana’s cool magic enveloping me and held my breath.

As the furious Ice Beast raised its arm to strike down the humans who had disturbed its slumber,

“Lee Hana!”

Lee Hana’s spear pierced into one of the Ice Beast’s eyes like lightning.

“Grrrrrrrrr!”

As the Ice Beast clutched its eyes in agony with both hands, Lee Hana didn’t miss the opportunity and shot another ice spear.

The second ice spear pierced through the hands covering the Ice Beast’s eyes and reached the other eye. With both eyes lost, the Ice Beast’s movements were almost completely restrained.

Now’s the time!

I fired a magic bullet toward the Ice Beast’s core.

Clang!

One of the Ice Beast’s cores shattered.

Sensing its core being destroyed, the Ice Beast frantically tried to pull its hands free from the spears.

As the Ice Beast, feeling a sense of crisis, attempted to flip over—

“Lee Hana, again! The rest of the vanguard, attack!”

A new ice spear pierced through the Ice Beast’s hand once more, while Deomdeomi’s blade and Nayuri’s fist targeted its arm.

As the humans continued to attack the immobilized Ice Beast, it let out an even louder scream, writhing in agony.

During that time, I destroyed two more cores. Now, only three remained.

Feeling a real threat to its life, the Ice Beast ignored the vanguard’s attacks and desperately flipped its body. But the scammer wasn’t going to just stand by and watch.

“Choi Soo-jung, flip it over!”

Choi Soo-jung, who had gathered wind in her hands, grinned.

As the wind was unleashed and the Ice Beast’s massive body flipped over—

“Kang Na-hyun!”

Bang! Bang! Bang!

I fired magic bullets.

The remaining three cores were cleanly destroyed.

Thud! The lifeless body of the Ice Beast collapsed, filling the large space with its enormous mass.

After a few moments of silence, the flag was waved once again. It was the signal that the operation was over.

We did it.

All the strength drained from my body. A surge of accomplishment and relief rushed through me. I realized I had been clenching my fist tightly without knowing it.

As soon as Choi Soo-jung lowered me from the height, I ran toward the group.

“Is everyone okay? No one’s hurt?”

“Don’t worry. We’re all fine.”

“We’re okay!”

“…I’m fine.”

“Nya-ha-ha~ Not a scratch on anyone~.”

“Whose plan do you think it was?”

The scammer shrugged smugly. So irritating.

But just this once, I’ll give him credit. Well done, scammer.

And just like that, we defeated the Ice Beast without a single injury.

Given its massive size, I thought it might take some time to clean up the remains—but we had the magic inventory skill.

In an instant, the gigantic body disappeared, revealing a passageway that had been hidden by the Ice Beast’s form.

It was the path to the room with the treasure chest.

“What’s that…?”

I pretended not to know and asked the scammer.

“Who knows, a reward room maybe? Anyway, there won’t be any more monsters, so everyone can relax.”

We tidied up and followed the scammer, who was cheerfully leading the way down the passage.

At the end of the passage, which radiated an even chillier air than the rest of the ice cave, there was a stone pedestal. On top of it rested a small, intricately carved blue chest.

“This is…”

“It’s a treasure.”

Anyone with eyes could see that, you idiot.

Without hesitation, the scammer opened the chest.

Inside the chest was a silver necklace adorned with a blue gemstone. From the cold energy it emitted, anyone could tell it was an ice-attribute piece of equipment.

The scammer put the equipment he had slung over his shoulder into his inventory and said,

“Well, that concludes this gate treasure exploration! Good job, everyone!”

“Great job!”

As I clapped in response to his words, Lee Hana quietly spoke up.

“…Will the item distribution be done when we get back to school?”

“Yes. I’ll sell the monster materials separately and give you the money, and I’ll distribute the items and magic stones as they are.”

“I see.”

She fell silent again. She must’ve been really eager.

Well, even if she only received a portion of the ice-attribute magic stones we found in this cave, it would greatly improve her family’s financial situation.

We retraced our steps back.

Unlike before, the return trip was smooth and quick.

We stopped briefly at the marketplace to sort out the monster materials and visited a public office to report the gate, then we finally made our way back to school.

By the time we arrived, it was already evening.

As soon as we reached our clubroom and sat down, the scammer began to talk again.

“I previously promised that I’d give items to those who joined and actively participated in our club, right? I’m planning to hand those out now.”

For the record, both Nayuri and I are included in that group.

He didn’t have to include us, since he made the declaration after we joined, but I’ll give him credit for being generous when it counts.

“But before that, there’s something we need to discuss. A rare item came out of this dungeon, right?”

The rare item we found this time. “Shard of Winter.”

A rare item refers to something that only appears occasionally in dungeons, and it’s extremely valuable—practically priceless.

“Since it’s an ice-attribute item, I think it would be a good fit for Hana-senpai. I’d like to give it to her. In return, if another good item with an attribute that fits someone else comes up in a future dungeon, how about that person takes it?”

As expected, the scheming continues.

What he’s trying to do here is give the ice-attribute item to Lee Hana, who really wants it, to raise his favorability with her.

“I’m fine with that! After all, Hana-senpai has an ice attribute too, so the equipment would be a perfect match!”

But what can an employee say when the boss wants something? I lightly supported his suggestion.

“I agree~.”

“I don’t really mind either. It’s incompatible with me anyway…”

“Yeah, I think that’s the best option.”

The scammer lightly mentioned a “next dungeon,” but stationary gates like this one aren’t easy to find.

The problem is, the scammer knows exactly where to find them, which is not how it works for most people.

These kids, who didn’t know the truth, weren’t really thinking that their turn would eventually come. They simply agreed because they believed it would help one person.

Lee Hana, perhaps aware of this, showed a rare, small smile on her usually expressionless, cold face. It was a bit of a shy smile.

“…Thank you, everyone.”

“Aren’t they all good kids~?”

“…Yeah, they are.”

And with that, the item ended up in Lee Hana’s hands.

We received some of the items that the scammer had laid out.

I got an item that looked like a bracelet. The skill it contained was quite good, and it had a pretty design, so I figured it was worth a lot. I carefully put it away, thinking I could exchange it for money later if I ran out.

The magic stones we had mined were split evenly among everyone.

I decided not to sell mine immediately and put it safely in my inventory. I’d heard there were plenty of uses for magic stones, so it seemed wise to hold onto them for now.

Lastly, the money from selling the monster materials totaled about 1.8 billion won, so each of us received 300 million.

This time, I planned to make it look like I’d buy some equipment.

As for the orphanage, I had already donated the entire first payment of 1 billion won, so there wouldn’t be any problems there for a while.

Thinking about that warmed my heart.

Thanks to the orphanage’s improved finances, the kids there were now able to study whatever they wanted. My favorite thing was receiving photos of the kids looking happy. I wanted my little siblings to do everything they dreamed of.

Anyway, I guess the plan was to form a study group and prepare for midterms.

It would be peaceful.

Back then, I had no idea what kind of scheme the scammer was plotting, and I was leisurely thinking such carefree thoughts.

***

The scammer bastard.

“Give me the orb, give me the orb, give me the orb.”

What a rotten guy, using people so efficiently!

“It’s mine, it’s mine, it’s mine.”

Aren’t you actually the villain, not the protagonist?!

“Orb, orb, orb, orb—.”

Right now, I—