The Spare's Second Chance in Apocalypse-Chapter 64: Ch : Burden of a Support- Part 4

A few minutes before Ethan rescued Selene...

Zara and Ethan stood in the bustling crowd, surrounded by teams of awakeners vying for their attention.

The dungeon entrance loomed ahead, its darkened archway pulsing with a faint glow as the system prepared to open it.

"You two are from that masked team, right? We’d love to team up with you. Safety in numbers, right?"

A broad-shouldered man asked, his voice rough but polite.

Zara offered him a gentle smile, her expression calm.

"We appreciate the offer, but we’re used to working as a small group. It’s just how we operate best."

The man’s face fell, but he nodded and stepped back, his team pulling him away to regroup. Others, however, were less gracious.

"Come on, you’ll need more hands in there! You can’t be arrogant with a C+ dungeon. People die in there."

A woman with flame-red hair insisted.

Zara remained composed, repeating her decline, but the crowd’s persistence grew.

Ethan, however, was done playing nice. His arms crossed, and his eyes narrowed, he frowned at the gathered awakeners.

"Listen up! We’re not interested. If you can’t take a hint, then maybe you’re not cut out for this"

He announced, his voice carrying over the murmurs. He was making his stance clear, but unfortunately, not everyone was on board with what he wanted to say.

Ethan’s words wounded these people’s fragile ego and they got offended far too quickly.

The air chilled, and the woman with the red hair bristled.

"Who do you think you are?"

"Someone who doesn’t need deadweight dragging us down. I’ve already chosen my teammates. I don’t need any... excessive burden."

Ethan shot back.

The atmosphere shifted.

The pleasant chaos of the dungeon camp turned into a ticking time bomb. Muttered curses and glares surrounded them, and it was clear that Ethan had just made a dozen new enemies.

Zara whispered.

"You’re making things worse."

Ethan shrugged, unbothered.

"I don’t care. If they want to try something, they can."

Still, his eyes darted around, looking for Selene’s familiar hooded figure. When he didn’t see her, a faint crease appeared on his forehead.

"Where’s Selene?"

He asked, his voice tinged with concern.

Before Zara could respond, they spotted Orion weaving through the crowd, his wide eyes searching for them.

Ethan’s gaze followed, and his expression hardened when he saw the commotion surrounding Selene.

Without a word, Ethan pushed through the crowd, his stride long and purposeful.

Zara followed, her expression tight as she noticed the support-type awakeners crowding around Selene, their hands grabbing and pulling at her cloak.

Selene was on the ground, her back against a wall, her arm pulled taut by a grimy hand.

She looked more annoyed than scared, but her body was pinned, and the crowd’s desperation was growing dangerous.

"Back off!"

Ethan snapped, his voice a whip-crack that froze the air.

The awakeners recoiled, their hopeful hands falling away as if burned.

Ethan stepped forward, his presence a wall between Selene and the crowd, and with one strong pull, he lifted her to her feet.

Zara joined them, her lips pressed into a thin line.

"What happened?"

"Nothing we can’t handle."

Ethan said, his smile returning, though it was still edged with frost.

Orion looked between them, his innocent confusion now tempered with caution.

"Are we still going in?"

Selene took a breath, pushing aside the unease and focusing on the task at hand.

"Yes. We’re not here to play nice. Let’s clear this dungeon before anyone else does."

Zara’s eyes darkened, and she glanced back at the support-types, who had returned to their huddled positions, their hope snuffed out.

"I didn’t expect this much marginalization among hunters. It’s as if we are looking at two different worlds right now."

Selene sighed, her shoulders slumping. She knew that things were bad, but seeing this with her own eyes was much worse.

"This was bound to happen. Right now, attack-type awakeners are the only ones who can clear dungeons. They’re seen as superior. The rest... well, they get left behind. That would have been my fate as well, if I did not meet you both."

Ethan’s jaw clenched, and he tugged Selene closer, his arm draping protectively over her shoulders.

"You don’t need to think like that. Your abilities are much more superior than theirs. You’re the reason we even get through these dungeons."

Selene looked away, a faint pink dusting her cheeks.

She knew Ethan’s words were meant to comfort her, and part of her believed him, but the ghosts of her past life still whispered to her.

Useless, they said.

Always useless.

’Now is not the time to be thinking about this. If I let this get to me, then I will make mistakes in the dungeon. I need to snap out of it and think positively.’

"Thanks, Ethan."

She murmured, her voice quiet but genuine. Sometimes, it was easy to forget that this man was a stranger to her and not her old-time friend.

The moment hung soft between them, but it was cut short by Orion’s sudden arrival.

"Guys! The dungeon’s opening! We need to get in now or we’ll be left behind!"

He shouted, his voice a mix of excitement and urgency.

Selene snapped back to the present, her expression sharpening.

"Then let’s not waste any more time. We’re going in."

Ethan and Zara nodded, their earlier frustration melting away as their focus shifted to the task at hand.

The crowd surged toward the glowing entrance, and Selene’s team moved as one, slipping through the bodies with practiced ease.

As they approached the dungeon, Selene felt the shift in the air, the subtle hum of system magic that pricked her skin.

The entrance flared, a shimmering veil that promised danger and rewards in equal measure.

"Stay close. We go in together, and we come out together. No exceptions."

She instructed, her voice steady.

Her team affirmed, their trust in her absolute, and as they stepped through the threshold, the world around them twisted, and the darkness swallowed them whole.