Chapter 32: Hug Buffs, Handshakes, and Zero Dignity

At that moment, the Constellations watching the situation unfold convened a guild meeting. It was the very group that had voted to expel Tiphereth’s Creator of Sacrifice, the Constellation Assembly for the Preservation of World Order.

[Guild] Observer of Wisdom (Binah)— Isn’t this going too far? Why did he suddenly awaken as a Buffer? And Joo Ji-chan, what the hell, why did he suddenly develop side effects…?

[Guild] Warrior Riding the Chariot (Geburah)— That bastard’s insane. Didn’t you hear what Gong Se-yoon said? He said he’d be fine dying. There’s crazy, and then there’s that. Damn it.

[Guild] King in Clerical Robes (Chesed)— Everyone, calm down. Actually… no, I can’t calm down either. I’ve never seen Baek Eun-hoo spend his own money to save people before. It’s infuriating.

[Guild] Mage Without a Robe (Yesod)— Mo Jun-young is at least somewhat reasonable… But what are we going to do? He clearly knows the strategy. He wasn’t even a Constellation for that long, how does he know all that?

Originally, the Constellations’ plan had been simple.

They would plant a trick inside the dungeon to push the Awakeners into collective danger.

At that moment, the Constellations would intervene, each extending a hand of salvation to the Awakener they favored, breaking their contracts with Seong Ju-an and forging new ones with themselves. Ideally, Seong Ju-an would simply die inside the dungeon.

But they hadn’t expected him to know the trick as well. Because of that, the plan they had painstakingly prepared had already begun to unravel.

The Constellations sighed heavily. For a moment, no one spoke. Then Geburah broke the silence.

[Guild] Warrior Riding the Chariot (Geburah)— Well, let’s just say this dungeon was a lucky break for him. If we plant another trick in the next one, it’ll be fine. Don’t overthink it.

[Guild] Mage Without a Robe (Yesod)— Are you stupid? Can’t you see what’s happening? He’s listing even the monsters’ traits one by one. What does that tell you? It means Seong Ju-an knows everything. There’s no way to interfere through combat.

[Guild] King in Clerical Robes (Chesed)— Yesod’s right. He clearly knows it all already. In that case, wouldn’t it be better to interfere with the party itself?

[Guild] Observer of Wisdom (Binah)— Interfere with the party? …That’s actually a good idea.

Having finally found what they believed to be a solution, the Constellations flooded the chat with “lol” and busied themselves praising one another’s cleverness.

But inwardly, each of them was thinking something different.

[Inner Thoughts] Observer of Wisdom (Binah)— I can’t rely on these halfwits. I’ll observe the situation… and maybe try to buy Seong Ju-an over myself.

[Inner Thoughts] King in Clerical Robes (Chesed)— Focus on the objective. As long as Baek Eun-hoo survives and I bring him back, that’s enough. Interference isn’t the point, Baek Eun-hoo is.

[Inner Thoughts] Warrior Riding the Chariot (Geburah)— I’m furious. Furious! Even if I have to give up an S-rank, I’ll kill that bastard Seong Ju-an.

[Inner Thoughts] Mage Without a Robe (Yesod)— Wait, Seong Ju-an is an Awakener now too, right? And a Buffer at that. That means he has special abilities. So even if the rest of the party were A-rank, wouldn’t it be enough to just take him? I won’t interfere.

Each Constellation harbored their own schemes as they plotted to sabotage Seong Ju-an’s dungeon raid, starting with the very event dungeon he was currently clearing.

****

“So we just open the gate and go in now?”

Seong Ju-an calmly pulled Joo Ji-chan’s arm away from the handle. He hadn’t finished explaining the detailed plan yet.

“I know you’re impatient, but hold on.”

“….”

“This is everyone’s first party battle, right? It’s different from solo play. And we can’t rely on Constellation support. If we rush in carelessly and something goes wrong, it’s a wipe.”

They looked doubtful, as if that were impossible. But Ju-an was serious. At a time when every single S-rank character was precious, he had no intention of experimenting with their lives.

“The wolf legion in this guerrilla dungeon isn’t something you can defeat just because your rank is high and your power is strong. They’re predators. And because the alpha has to feed the entire pack, they act strategically. They strictly follow hierarchy-”

“So? Get to the point.”

‘Damn. My corporate briefing habits slipped out again.’

Ju-an shook his head and cut to the chase.

“Their biggest weakness is that they obey the alpha’s orders absolutely. Which means the subordinates act without thinking.”

Baek Eun-hoo added,

“So killing the alpha is the optimal strategy. That means you’re planning to use the Kiss skill on Gong Se-yoon or Joo Ji-chan?”

The wolves in this dungeon were native to cold regions, meaning they were weaker to fire. Naturally, the Kiss skill would go to Joo Ji-chan.

“Isn’t that obvious? Mr. Joo Ji-chan will deliver the final blow. Baek Eun-hoo, you just need to electrocute the wolves Mo Jun-young herds toward you.”

“If I’d known party play was like this, I wouldn’t have agreed so easily.”

As if he didn’t already know. His pride was just hurt because he was being assigned to guard the entrance.

“You already signed. Just think about the reward. Only the reward! Now, line up. I need to apply buffs.”

Mo Jun-young suddenly burst out laughing.

“So if we stand in a line, does that mean Ju-an will come hold each of our hands and hug us one by one?”

‘…When you put it like that, it did sound humiliating.’

But what choice did he have? Those were his skills.

Ju-an clenched his teeth. There was no room for embarrassment when lives were on the line.

“Gong Se-yoon will stay with me, so I’ll start with him. Once buffed, open the gate immediately.”

“Yes, sir! I’ll do my best!”

Ju-an approached Se-yoon first, shaking his hand and pulling him into a hug. The Handshake buff lasted one hour. The Hug buff only one minute and thirty seconds, but since Se-yoon would stick close to him, that was fine. He repeated the process with Joo Ji-chan.

The problem was Baek Eun-hoo and Mo Jun-young, who had to operate separately.

If only the Hug lasted longer…

When Ju-an grabbed Baek Eun-hoo’s hand, the man pulled him straight into his chest. The moment his cheek touched firm muscle, Ju-an sincerely prayed for Baek’s safety.

“Don’t get hurt. If you fail, we all die.”

“I know. Don’t worry.”

The solid, confident voice steadied him.

Next was Mo Jun-young.

Instead of stepping forward, Jun-young stared off into the distance.

‘What? Is he shy? There’s no time for that.’

“Mr. Diamond Body, you need your buff.”

Jun-young’s face flushed red all the way to his ears.

“P-please don’t call me that. I don’t like that nickname.”

“Fine. Come here.”

Ju-an grabbed his hand and shook it, then tugged at his arm like Eun-hoo had done earlier. Jun-young didn’t budge, so Ju-an had no choice but to step forward and hug him himself.

“Let’s move to the gate while holding each other. Even one second of advantage matters.”

“Is that really necessary-”

Ignoring the protest, Ju-an dragged him toward the gate.

Awooooo!

The wolves howled from within. A chill ran down his spine.

“It starts the moment we separate.”

Jun-young nodded firmly.

****

The instant they entered, the wolf mercenary unit charged.

Mo Jun-young unleashed his roar skill.

ROOOAAAR!

The wolves that had been about to attack shifted their focus entirely to him.

Ju-an quickly climbed onto Se-yoon’s back.

“We don’t look back. We head straight deeper inside. I’ll guide us.”

“Yes! I won’t let you get hurt.”

Se-yoon sprinted.

For the first few minutes, it was safe. But as they moved farther in and left the roar’s range, hidden archers emerged from stealth and began firing.

“Don’t panic. I’ll freeze them all.”

Se-yoon tried to freeze every wolf in sight, but the northern wolves dodged deftly while loosing arrows. Their defensive skills still held, but the problem was Ju-an.

Pressed tightly against Se-yoon’s back to avoid arrows, Ju-an suddenly felt heat behind him. Joo Ji-chan had taken up the rear.

“I’ve got the back. I’ll burn every last one of those pups. Just focus on direction.”

Relief washed over him.

“Listen carefully while using your skills. You two might not fall for hallucinations easily, but the closer we get to the boss, the more illusions and phantom sounds you’ll experience.”

“You mean that hallucination skill you mentioned earlier?”

“Yes. So we need a code phrase. If someone says something out of character, it likely means they’re under mental control.”

Se-yoon piped up first.

“Then I’ll say ‘I love you!’”

“Not that. Something truly random.”

Ji-chan snickered.

“How about ‘Diamond Body’?”

Ju-an laughed.

“Perfect.”

They moved deeper, joking lightly, until they reached a fork in the path.

A dark tunnel to the right.

A faintly lit one to the left.

Ju-an wiped the smile from his face and focused. Since a status window appeared, maybe a map would too.

The moment he imagined it, a map unfolded before his eyes.

‘Oh, good. Please let there be a boss marker… But only the pathways were displayed. No boss location. Stay calm.’

He studied the branching paths carefully, committing every turn and corridor shape to memory.

The event dungeon had a fixed structure. If he remembered correctly, the darker route led through a longer detour filled with additional archer spawns.

The dimly lit path was shorter, but it contained an early hallucination trigger zone designed to disorient players before they even met the boss.

If they took the left path, the hallucinations would begin almost immediately.

If they took the right, they’d face heavier mob pressure first, but reach the boss with clearer minds.

Ju-an inhaled slowly.

“We’re taking the right path.”

“Isn’t the left shorter?” Ji-chan asked.

“It is. That’s exactly why we’re not going that way.”

Se-yoon tightened his grip on Ju-an’s legs and pivoted right without hesitation.

Behind them, flames roared and arrows shattered midair in sparks of lightning from the dungeon entrance far back.

The real battle was just beginning.