CH 6

Seheon opened his eyes.

He had a terrible headache. While he was rather familiar with migraines as he got them all the time, the headache he was having right now was slightly different. It felt like someone hit him in the head with a hammer.

He could feel throbbing from his body too. At that thought, he opened his eyes.

‘This… must be a dungeon.’

He was certain before he opened his eyes. He remembered that he was drawn into a rift while trying to evacuate people.

He was lying on dirt. It was the soil of an untouched forest. The uneven rocks made his back sore.

Seheon slowly got up and looked around.

It was a dark forest. It had a similar scenery to a great forest, which he’d gone to film at for a period of time while he was demoted to the cultural team. It was a cold and damp woodland that’s densely filled with trees, which made it hard to move around. 

“It really is a dungeon.”

He muttered for no reason in particular. It was because there weren’t any signs of life around. To be exact, he couldn’t even hear the buzzing sound of insects. 

If it was an ordinary forest, the sound of buzzing from insects or movements from wild animals would obviously be present.

But this forest was different. There wasn’t a single breeze in this forest, nor was there any sound. This disparity increased his conviction that this was a dungeon.

“It’s X.”

He reached the exact same conclusion as Kang Hara. It was also understandable. It’s because Seheon was a normal person.

The world was divided into two. The world of the ordinary, and the world of the hunters.

In the world of the ordinary, he had a body robust enough to be called an ‘alpha male’, but he was just a weak and ordinary person in the world of the hunters. It wasn’t an exaggeration to say that he’s similar to a passing NPC1 when using games as an analogy. 

‘I have to find somewhere to hide in.’

Seheon has been working as a local news reporter for nearly five years. Ever since his debut, it was mainly about dungeon-related matters, and most of his work afterwards was coverage on dungeon-related matters. Thanks to that, he was quite familiar with dungeons.

‘When an ordinary person is swept into a dungeon, they should hide themselves unconditionally without acting with reckless bravado.’

When he checked the condition of his body, he realised that he looked exactly the same as he was while filming in the studio. However, his high-end suit was messed up with dirt, and his glasses were already broken. In the first place, he didn’t wear glasses due to poor eyesight, so it wasn’t a problem.

When he got up and moved his body, it seemed that he wasn’t seriously injured.

He scanned the surroundings quickly and soon located a large rocky cliff. To be more accurate, it was closer to the shape of a huge cairn, with large rocks piled up after a collapse in the mountain. There was barely enough room for one or two people to enter the crevice.

However, Seheon did not head over immediately and looked around again.

‘Am I the only one here?’

When he was drawn into a rift while trying to evacuate people, he thought that he was a goner. As he was familiar with dungeons, he also knew the endings of the ordinary people that fell into dungeons. 

Didn’t the studio’s production crew try to run away first? He saw the gazes of those around him as he was drawn into the rift.

The production crew who’d managed to avoid the rift because they were forced to lie on the floor by Seheon. They all stared at him unblinkingly.

‘D*mn it.’

Who was it that saved them? He felt a little betrayed. But it’s not like he couldn’t understand. No one would have dared to save him, as it is common knowledge that getting drawn into a rift will result in death.

Just like when he was younger.

However. 

“Avoid it!”

Someone had clung to him and shouted that.

Kang, what was it again? Anyways, she was a civil servant at the Mapo branch office, and he couldn’t see her face clearly because it was obstructed by her thick glasses and hair.

‘I was going to tell her to let go because it’s dangerous.’

But the rift’s vortex was so strong that he couldn’t even open his mouth. Besides, she put so much strength in the hand that was holding him by the collar. 

He checked his surroundings and didn’t find her. Did he fall in by himself? If that’s the case, it’s a relief.

She was the only one that tried to save him, even when the production crew that he met everyday didn’t step out. Even if others were drawn in, he would still wish for that person to be safe and sound.

‘In any case, I should worry about myself now.’

Seheon rubbed his face.

He then took out his rattling cellphone from the pocket of his suit. The cellphone was surprisingly fine but of course it’s dead.

There’s no service. Instead, a pop-up of a government safety text message appeared. 

[Emergency Disaster Text Message: Disaster Response Agency/ Gate warning at Yeouido-dong (East Yeouido), Seoul at 15:40 today. Please evacuate from the danger zone and refrain from going outside]

[Emergency Disaster Text Message: Disaster Response Agency/ Gate warning at Yeouido-dong (East Yeouido), Seoul (*B-class) at 15:40 today. Please evacuate from the danger zone and refrain from going outside]

“……”

It was B-class.

“I’m really going to die…”

He had swift situational judgement. Even if an S-class hunter formed a team and entered the B-class dungeon, it might take an entire day to attack it. Furthermore, a B-class gate opening in Yeouido?

The situation on the outside would be abysmal to look at.

“Heok, I heard that they were temporarily moving the fuse box out from the control room for a while to construct a set for a drama!”

Seheon, who remembered FD’s scream, pulled on his tie frustratedly.

Seriously, those insane guys. 

It was universal knowledge that gates aren’t able to open in buildings with mana stones. Therefore, even if it was for a simple construction, mana stones were an item that must be retained.

But, to think that there were still some humans that began construction without a mana stone because they thought that it’ll be fine.

“Those b*stards’ insensitivity to safety.”

They must have thought ‘Would a gate form so easily in the middle of Yeouido?’ As long as he can get out of here, he’ll find out who’s in charge of the construction and just…

Just…

He sighed. Can he even get out?

There weren’t any signs of movement around. He thought of the civil servant that grabbed him by the collar again.

“If only there was a Hunter.”

Rather than the ordinary person, Seheon, someone that has received education about dungeons frequently would be much more familiar with it, right? 

Much more familiar… 

E-class…

‘How would she be familiar with it?’

Thanks to his coverage on dungeons, he was also well-informed about Hunters. 

He was well aware of how vulnerable E-class civil servants hunters were in dungeon matters. Additionally, if she’s an E-class, she was just a little bit different from him, from an ordinary person. 

‘It’s better that I’m alone.’

Seheon pondered over it for a while, but the conclusion that he reached was the same. Anyways, it was a million times better for him to fall in by himself. Wouldn’t it be better to have one death less in a dungeon at least?

He took off his suit jacket and stuffed it under a rock. If this was a forest type, there would be numerous animal-type monsters, and they might discover his traces through scent. He took off his tie and rolled up his sleeves.

“Let’s go.”

He spoke resolutely. He was also human, so he couldn’t help but feel fear. However, it’s not like he could remain in the middle of the forest foolishly like this.

At that moment.

Rustle, rustle—

Seheon flinched. That sound came all too clearly from the dark forest, where not a single sound of leaves rustling could be heard.

Was it a monster? Did it come over because it heard what he had just said?

In the meantime, he kept hearing something moving towards him. Seheon slowly backed away. It’s because he thought that he should hide inside the crevice he’d discovered earlier.

Just as he was trying his best to reduce the sound of his footsteps, so as not to provoke an unknown opponent.

“Oh.”

Seheon’s eyes widened. It’s because a person appeared through the trees. It was the civil servant that he had been looking for a moment ago. Although it was his first time meeting her, he’d even felt glad to see her reflexively.

“Oh my, you’ve woken up?”

And it seemed like the other party was also as glad as he was. The next moment, Seheon lapsed back into thoughts like he was trash-like again. He had thought that it would be much better that one more person will live. 

“D*mn it, you stupid a**hole. You embroiled another person’s life again.”

Seheon couldn’t help but murmur as he rubbed his face roughly. It was spoken in a voice soft enough that the woman couldn’t hear.

The glasses-wearing woman raised an eyebrow and approached him, asking, “Are you alright?”

Seheon’s expression changed immediately. 

“I’m fine. How about you?”

“Oh, I’m fine, too. You aren’t injured anywhere, are you?”

“No.”

The woman explained that she woke up much earlier than him and surveyed their surroundings. Her strangely restless attitude was probably due to fear. Seheon felt awkward.

“I was lucky, so I didn’t break anything or get any injuries. You are…”

“Me too.”

Her condition was similar to his. Other than the slight tear in the knees of her black slacks. 

Seheon hurried on.

“Did you get drawn in here because of me?”

“Uh, uh…”

The woman averted her eyes. She seemed to be choosing her words. He thought that she would grab him by the collar, saying, “I fell in here because of you!” Seheon quickly bowed his head.

“Thank you.”

“Oh, yes…… it isn’t something that’s worth being thankful for……”

The civil servant rambled on.

“You should leave this place if you want to be thankful, but we haven’t left here yet…”

That was true. Seheon opened and closed his mouth.

“I don’t necessarily have to thank you only after saving my life.”

“S—still……”

He wanted to ask whether she was drawn in while trying to save him, but shook his head instead. Rather than exchanging such words of gratitude, right now it was more important to survive together.

“Is there anywhere to hide around?”

“Uh, no.”

She seemed to have surveyed the surroundings in order to locate a hiding place. 

“I couldn’t travel too far away.”

Perhaps it’s because of him.

“I also looked around briefly, and at least we can hide in there if all else fails.” 

Seheon pointed towards the crevice between the rocks. It seemed difficult to accommodate two people, but he thought that he just had to make himself as small as possible somehow.

The woman hesitated before opening her mouth.

“By the way…”

“Please go ahead.”

She seemed to be a little awkward.

‘Perhaps she doesn’t want to go in there?’

It was understandable. It’s because today was their first time meeting. It might be uncomfortable to be in close quarters with a man she’s never met before and enter the crevice. 

But right now, their lives were at stake. Just as he was about to persuade her with that.

“I’m sorry, but your name is…” 

In the middle of a dungeon? All of a sudden?