By Zephyria “The person who went in before?” Do you know them?”
“Yes.”
The boy nodded, hesitated, and then spoke slowly, carefully, word by word.
“I have to find them. Even if it’s just a body.”
“Oh, dear…. Are you sure it’s a Rift? If it’s a Rift, there’s no way there wouldn’t be a body.”
“It could be a Dungeon.”
“This is….”
“It was said to take a long time. Is there anything else you know?”
Bae Won-woo seemed flustered and rubbed the back of his neck. But it was also an opportunity. If he asked well, he might be able to find a connection to the boy, whose background he didn’t know. He asked cautiously.
“I don’t know much with just that… Is it a civilian who got caught up in the Rift? Or was there a Hunter you knew separately?”
“……”
The boy closed his mouth. Bae Won-woo smirked openly.
“Hey, am I asking because I want to? I’m asking to help you.”
“…A Hunter.”
“A Hunter? There’s no way a Hunter wouldn’t come back from a Rift… No, that’s not true.”
Originally, when a Rift disappeared, the people inside were ejected to the Rift entrance. Even corpses. Hunters jokingly said that the Rift spat out foreign substances. It was a law that had always been maintained since the Day of the Rift, and no one doubted it. That was the law of the System.
But there was one exception.
“There’s the West Sea Rift.”
The West Sea Rift was different. Everything about it. Usually, the entrance to a Rift remained until the Master of the Rift died, but the West Sea Rift strangely disappeared immediately after J and the Hunters entered. As if it had been waiting for that moment.
As soon as the entrance disappeared, the momentum that had been raging as if to swallow the entire West Sea subsided, and soon it completely vanished. Leaving only a large hole in the middle of the sea, without spitting out any of the people it had swallowed.
People who launched ships and helicopters to find even a body after the Rift disappeared were frustrated. Someone said.
‘It completely deviated from the laws of the System.’
The boy rested his chin on his hand and asked.
“The West Sea Rift?”
“Huh? Oh. There was a Rift that appeared in the West Sea about a year ago. It’s gone now, though.”
“Who went in there?”
“Huh? Hunters? I don’t know all of them. They went in three separate times. But I definitely know one. J. He’s a hero of our country.”
“……”
The boy’s eyes darkened, but Bae Won-woo didn’t see it. He was busy racking his brains, his arms crossed.
“And that Rift disappeared.”
The boy asked urgently.
“Is there a way to enter… a Rift that has disappeared? Is there not?”
“Huh? I don’t know….”
A Rift that deviated from the laws of the System. The West Sea Rift did not show an exit that appeared when a Rift disappeared, nor did it show any changes that appeared when the Master of the Rift died. It simply vanished suddenly.
‘So there was a lot of debate about whether they were alive or dead….’
Whether to send a rescue team or not, whether they were alive inside, whether they were already dead…. They fought for a long time, and even after the Rift itself disappeared, it was only two months later that they officially announced their deaths. Bae Won-woo frowned and scratched his head. You can’t re-enter a Rift that has disappeared. That’s what disappearance means.
But what if it really was a Rift that deviated from the laws of the System? Could something be different?
Of course, it was only speculation. He was worried that he might be giving them false hope if he said it. But before he could think any further, the boy urged him.
“There really isn’t?”
“Well… there isn’t, originally.”
Sometimes a lie is necessary to live.
Bae Won-woo looked at the boy with pity in his eyes. He was much better-looking than his younger brother, but he was also more of a brat, but anyway, they were about the same age. He couldn’t help but feel sorry for him because he reminded him of his younger brother. He hesitated and carefully opened his mouth.
“…There are some strange things about the West Sea Rift.”
“What is it?”
“Hmm, do you know the difference between a Dungeon and a Rift?”
“No.”
“I have to explain that first. Well, it’s essential knowledge for Hunters, so it’ll be easier for you later if you hear it now.”
Bae Won-woo picked up a thick branch and looked for a patch of ground where the grass was less grown. He gestured to the boy, and he silently jumped down from the tree and approached. Bae Won-woo pulled out the low weeds. Then he drew two circles on the ground and wrote Dungeon and Rift in each.
“Dungeon and Rift. Both appear suddenly, and both have ecosystems and worlds and Monsters that you’ve never seen before, but there’s a clear difference. You can decide whether to get rid of a Dungeon or not, but you have to destroy a Rift no matter what.”
“Why?”
“If you just leave it alone, the surrounding area will be destroyed. Um… how should I explain it to make it easier to understand? Ah, right.”
Bae Won-woo drew a house with a triangular roof.
“A Dungeon is a kind of house. The Monsters are living well in their house, but as they live, the number of them increases, right? When the house is about to burst, the Monsters can’t live there anymore and they jump out of the house. That’s a Dungeon Break.”
“Yeah.”
“Hunters play the role of organizing traffic before the house bursts. They’re a kind of cleaner. But some houses have a spring that gushes out jewels… and it’s even refilled periodically. Then you take some of those jewels too. And you stay together for a long, long time.”
“That’s stealing.”
“No. That’s the service fee.”
“……”
The boy looked at him in disbelief as he spoke confidently. Bae Won-woo drew lines outside the house, showing something bursting.
“And some houses have a giant cockroach instead of jewels. Then you get rid of that house. So you can choose.”
“…I understand.”
“Good. But a Rift isn’t a house. It’s more like… a hole.”
“A hole?”
The boy frowned. The tip of the branch drew a circle and filled it with diagonal lines.
“Well, it means it’s not a formal entrance. It’s like a hole in the wall. Some people say it’s a gap that connects to another world, but I don’t know anything too difficult.”
The boy’s eyes became suspicious. Bae Won-woo pretended not to notice and continued.
“But if it’s just a simple hole, it’s okay, but it’s a problem because it’s a vacuum cleaner hole that sucks everything around it. There are also Rifts that pour out Monsters like water from a hole in a dam. The latter is called a Gate, but anyway. We’re talking about vacuum cleaner holes right now.”
“Yeah.”
“If you leave it in that state, the surrounding area will become a wasteland. So the goal is to destroy it as quickly as possible to minimize the damage. There’s nothing to gain inside.”
“How do you destroy it?”
“Well, you destroy it by killing the Master of the Rift and destroying the Riftstone. Then the people inside are poured out of the Rift. Even if they’re corpses. That’s why I said there’s no way they couldn’t have come out of the Rift.”
“……”
“But….”
Bae Won-woo drew a large circle and wrote West Sea inside it. And he wrote a question mark next to it.
“The West Sea Rift was a bit strange. As soon as J went in, the entrance disappeared, and then the Rift itself disappeared not long after. Really suddenly. But the people inside didn’t come out….”
“……”
“So they say it deviated from the laws of the System. That it’s something completely different. It was strange from the beginning. It was the first time I’d seen a Rift that grew so rapidly and sucked everything in.”
The boy stared blankly at the crude dirt drawing. His fingers moved slightly as if he was lost in thought. Then, he slowly opened his mouth.
“Is there a possibility that it didn’t… disappear completely?”
“Huh?”
“You said it deviated from the laws of the System. That Rift.”
His clumsy pronunciation became clearer and clearer. In the dim dawn, the forest lit by the light, the cool air, and the dew-covered grass. A strange heat swirled in the purple eyes of the boy in white. An emotion that could not be defined was revealed on his face. The boy stepped on the grass and stood on the dirt floor. His thick lips parted.
“I can find out by meeting the System.”
“……”
“Would it just stand by and watch… something that deviated from the laws it created?”
“……”
“No, it wouldn’t….”
The corners of his lips slowly rose. The boy snatched the branch from Bae Won-woo’s hand. And, with the tip of the branch, he poked the circle hard. The sound of insects stopped.
“It got rid of it. Because it was annoying.”
“The, the System might have destroyed it?”
“No….”
The boy looked up at the sky. It was already dawning. In the center of the sky, which was beginning to be dyed crimson from the edges, a black hole rippled. The boy muttered.
“If it was going to destroy it, it would have destroyed it long ago…. The moment it first appeared.”
“……”
“It will still exist somewhere. Just not visible to our eyes….”
It was such a strange story that it seemed like he was crazy. But he….
“I have a feeling that’s right.”
Then the boy slowly turned his gaze to Bae Won-woo. His purple eyes and the eyes with long eyelashes narrowed slightly.
“Help me.”
Then he turned around and started walking away. Bae Won-woo hurriedly followed him.
“No, well, yeah, helping is good. It’s good, but what are you going to do?”
“Um, this and that.”
“What are you trying to do?”
The boy stopped at that question.
“I’m going to make a map for a lost person.”
“Huh?”
“…You’re a bit slow to understand….”
The feet that had stopped for a moment began to move again. A voice full of enthusiasm whispered ahead.
“I’m going to find the West Sea Rift and open it.”
“What? But….”
Even if the West Sea Rift hadn’t disappeared, would the people inside still be alive? What if they opened it somehow and only found corpses? No, what if they didn’t even find corpses? Bae Won-woo hesitated, unable to bring himself to say those words. However,
“They’re not dead.”
The boy beat him to it. The sky turned bright red. The wind blows from somewhere. Long hair that covers the back of his neck sways. A sweet scent wafted.
“There’s no way they’re dead.”
The boy muttered as if chewing and spitting out the words.
“Because we promised.”