CH 7

Ever since Yoon Seheon passed the age of ten, there weren’t many that asked him, “What’s your name?” It’s because throughout his elementary, middle, and high school years, he was always the school’s and its surrounding area’s most well-known boy. 

When he passed by, the girls would whisper, “Hey, Yoon Seheon is passing by.”

After he graduated from high school and went to university, the free bulletin board of his university and the ‘anonymous forum’ were lively with talk about him. 

* * *

– Honestly, 04 Yoon Seheon’s face is amazing.

– He’s so handsome.

– Why was he named Yoon Seheon?

* * *

At the request of his father, a four-term legislator, and his best friend, the principal, he also modelled for the cover of a university magazine. As such, most of the people that approached him obviously knew his name. 

He became famous unintentionally after graduating from university. This was because of the legendary ‘Wookie-oppa, high school girl’ incident. From then on, it wasn’t an exaggeration to say that the entire nation knew his name.

Therefore, he was much more familiar with ‘You’re Yoon Seheon, right?’ instead of ‘What’s your name?’.

‘You don’t know me?’

As such, it wasn’t unreasonable that that was his first thought. Of course, Yoon Seheon had a minimal sense of shame, so he soon became embarrassed. 

‘It’s possible that you don’t know me.’

As such, he smiled and answered lightly.

“I’m Yoon Seheon.”

The woman also smiled, the corner of her lips trembling. 

“Oh, I see…… Anchor Yoon… Yes, it’s nice to meet you…….”

It’s nice to meet you… The subtle mood that those words brought about made Seheon feel awkward. It was quite amusing that they were exchanging greetings now, but his reason also said that they were in the middle of the dungeon.

“Your name is…”

Seheon also wanted to ask for her name, as it was impossible to continue calling her the other person. Was it Ara? In any case, it seemed to be that name.

At that moment. 

Rustle, rustle—

The sound of the bushes rustling suddenly rang out again. The both of them looked at the forest bewilderedly. While Seheon thought that they should avoid it, their opponent was a step faster.

Alongside the rustling sounds, it was none other than a rabbit that appeared in front of them. 

“……”

“A rabbit…?”

A rabbit.

It was a gray rabbit. Its size was a little larger than Seheon. It was too big when compared to a rabbit’s standard, but in any case, it’s a rabbit.

A rabbit with black eyes and ears the size of Seheon’s forearm hopped out of the bushes and looked at them with a twitching nose.

“Oh, right. This is a forest type…”

The woman murmured. At her words, Seheon also came to his senses. 

It was a forest dungeon. 

Normally, the types of dungeons that were created after a rift were fixed. There were grasslands, forested, or underwater dungeons, and sometimes mountainous types.

There are some rather unusual dungeons, but most of them didn’t deviate much from the natural types. And the most common type was forested.

In forest types, the main types of monsters were animal-type, that normally lived in forests or mountains. 

“The appearance of a rabbit is likely.”

“That scared me…”

The woman rubbed her chest to comfort herself. No matter what, rabbits were herbivores, so her tension was somewhat eased. Seheon also sighed lightly and looked at the rabbit.

The woman gestured in the air several times. Seheon raised an eyebrow. He’d seen the hunters that he’d met while covering for the news gesturing while staring into the air before. Like when they were looking at system windows.

In the meantime, the rabbit’s ears twitched as it observed the two carefully, before lowering its posture by crouching down. Its nose was still twitching. There weren’t any big differences from the rabbits that he’d seen in places like zoos.

‘If it was a little smaller, I’d laugh at its cuteness.’ 

The rabbit’s eyes twinkled. Its eyes were black and pretty. The rabbit lowered its posture and opened its mouth slightly. It revealed the sharp teeth hidden within. 

‘Oh?’ 

Did rabbits have teeth?

At that time, Hara or something, who was standing next to him and looking at something, groaned softly, “Goodness.”

“Avoi—!

The next moment, Seheon grabbed Hara, who was next to him, and dived away.

The rabbit made a loud, gnashing noise and pounced in their direction.

As soon as Seheon began running, the rabbit landed at the location they once were at. There was the sound of a thud. It was the sound of the large rabbit’s roar. 

“What the heck is that!”

Seheon looked at the rabbit reflexively and shouted.

The rabbit turned around quickly and posed a threat in their direction again with a ‘Kyaak’. Before he knew it, its front legs were also raised threateningly like a kangaroo. There were sharp claws on its ends.

Who said that that was a herbivore?

“Apparently, it’s a carnivorous rabbit!”

The woman shouted like she’d read his mind. 

Carnivorous? A carnivorous rabbit? Something like that exists?

Seheon only realised that the place he was in was a space that entirely ignored worldly common sense.

Dungeon. A place that resembled another place on earth, and yet doesn’t resemble it at all.

Sweat began dripping down copiously.

Does this make sense?

In the meantime, the woman that escaped from his grip got up with a groan. Seheon asked without looking at the woman.

“Can you tell me about that monster?”

He could make a guess based on the words, ‘carnivorous rabbit’. 

“A little!”

“It’s grade?”

“It’s a D-grade!”

Speaking of D-grades, it was normally comparable to a tiger’s power. That rabbit was as scary as a tiger?

Seheon made eye contact with the rabbit. The rabbit kept hitting the dirt floor with its hind legs, as though it was angry about missing them. Piles of grass were swept away haphazardly. At first glance, he didn’t think that he’d be safe if he was kicked by that hind leg.

The rabbit lowered its posture again. It seemed like it was trying to pounce in this direction again. 

“You’re an E-class, aren’t you?”

“……Yes!”

“Let’s run away!”

Yoon Seheon’s situational judgement happened quickly. He rolled to the side with the woman in order to avoid the rabbit that was hopping in this direction again. After rolling, the woman got up immediately. It seems like this one wasn’t slow to judge the situation either.

When the rabbit missed its prey again, it opened its mouth wide and let out a threatening cry. 

“Kyaaak!”

In the meantime, however, the both of them quickly hid themselves through the crevice in the rock formation that he’d spotted earlier. To be exact, Seheon practically pushed the woman inwards, almost as though he was stuffing her inside, and then squeezed his own body in.

The carnivorous rabbit jumped back up and pounced in this direction, but the crevice in the rock formation was too narrow for the rabbit to enter.

“Ugh.”

Seheon groaned. The carnivorous rabbit scratched his shoulder by swinging its claws wildly through the crevice. The woman inside the crevice of the rock formation was flustered. 

“Are you okay?”

“It’s just a scratch. Just a little more…”

The woman was quick-witted, and curled up even further. The crevice in the rock formation was cramped, dirty and full of moss, but now wasn’t the time to worry about that. Thanks to that, Seheon was also able to enter about half a stone deeper.

The frenzied rabbit swung its claws several times, but it barely reached within.

“Are you alright, Hunter-nim?”

“Yes, oh no, I’m sorry. I should be the one protecting you…”

The two barely managed to catch their breath and asked after the other’s condition. Seheon tried to shake his head and deny it, but he sighed quietly instead, knowing that it would be difficult for him to even shake his head in such a crevice. 

“No. If you’re an E-class, you wouldn’t be that different from me…”

“……”

The woman didn’t respond. Seheon was worried that his words might be disregarding her, and was about to apologise, but he closed his mouth. The rabbit was hopping mad, and was currently trying to dig into the crevice. This wasn’t the time to apologise.

“Kyaaak! Kyaaruuu!”

Seheon stared at the rabbit quietly. The tip of the rabbit’s claws nearly touched the collar of his shirt. At that sight, the woman curled inwards even further and asked, “Can you shuffle inwards any further?” before groaning, “Ow.” 

Seheon wondered if she was hurt, turned his head around with difficulty, and followed the woman’s gaze to look downwards. 

She was wearing a pair of low-heeled loafers, and was rotating her ankles around like it was uncomfortable. It seems like she’d twisted it. The woman murmured softly, feeling embarrassed.

Seheon felt apologetic for no particular reason. This was clearly because he’d shoved her in roughly.

But the shoes she was wearing were the same as his. There was no helping it. Who knew that a gate would’ve opened in the studio.

“That monster…It’ll be hard for it to catch the two of us, right?”

The rabbit was currently banging its head against the rocks. It was to the point where even the crevice formed through a rock formation was swaying. The situation clearly caught them unaware. 

At that moment. The woman called out to Seheon.

“Hey, by the way.”

“Yes, please go ahead.”

“I’m sorry, but I have something to tell you.”

“Yes.”

The woman hesitated.

Was she going to tell me to leave? Seheon became nervous as she kept hesitating, like she was trying to say something difficult.

It was an extreme situation. It’s because it was extremely common for ordinary people that were isolated in dungeons to sacrifice another and push them out as food for monsters before running away. 

‘If this woman pushes me out of here, I’ll be in big trouble…’

She was so nervous that he could even see copious sweat forming on the woman’s nose bridge.

‘Don’t tell me she’s really going to try and push me out?’Just as Seheon was about to relax his entire body in preparation for that situation.

“My name is Kang…”

“……what?”

“……Oh, what I’m trying to say is……”

She looked up at Seheon through her glasses. Seheon blinked bewilderedly.

“……What did you say?”

“Ah.”

The woman opened her mouth once again.

“My name is Kang Hara.”

Seheon’s jaw dropped. It was because he couldn’t figure out what this woman was thinking.

She wasn’t asking him to remember the name of the person that killed him, was she?