By Zephyria Clearly, the rookie, who had been a fresh-faced newbie, possessed a spirit so formidable that he could no longer be called a rookie. He frowned, his facial scars contorting along with it.
“This area is dangerous because Whitening is over. Jung-bin Hunter clearly said you shouldn’t move around as you please….”
“Ah~ I couldn’t help it. I had urgent business. What are you doing here?”
“I was patrolling, hoping to find survivors in this vicinity.”
“Survivors? What survivors?”
“Yes? Well, people trapped in the gaps of buildings, or… checking if there’s anyone we haven’t found. Why do you ask?”
The rookie scratched his head. Something was off. Finding survivors in the wasteland. A restricted area. A rookie more seasoned than Eui-jae remembered. Eui-jae blinked. The tracker’s vision still didn’t show the rookie. A person who existed there but didn’t exist.
Could it be.
Eui-jae abruptly turned his head to look at Sa-young. Sensing his gaze, Sa-young glanced at Eui-jae and nodded. The rookie scratched his cheek and said,
“Anyway, I’ll report that you were here. It’s my duty….”
“Oh my? Yes, sure. But… where’s the way out of here?”
“Excuse me? The way out? This isn’t a Dungeon, where would a way out be?”
Honeybee’s hand, which had been sweeping back her hair, stopped. The rookie said worriedly.
“You’re really strange today. Did you perhaps suffer a mental attack…?”
“…No? I’m just tired.”
“I understand…. The way out is that way. I’ll continue my patrol, so go find Nam Woo-jin Hunter.”
The rookie disappeared leisurely into the wasteland. As soon as his presence vanished, Honeybee, who was left alone, whipped her head around. And she strode up and shouted softly.
“What is this? Did I get mentally attacked without knowing? What is he even talking about?”
“No, it’s not that….”
“We’ve been dragged to a strange place.”
“What?”
Sa-young got up from his seat and reached out his hand to Eui-jae. When Eui-jae took his hand and stood up, Sa-young dusted off the white ash on the hem of his coat.
“The Invasion phenomenon is the process of merging with a Destroyed world…. Do you know that?”
“I know. I’ve been given that much information.”
“Then why does the Invasion phenomenon only occur in Dungeons?”
“Huh? Well, it’s because the Dungeon of the Destroyed world and….”
“How simple.”
“Hey, wait a minute….”
Honeybee’s face, who had trailed off, gradually turned pale. Like a light bulb turning on, a possibility popped into Eui-jae’s head as well. Humans turning into Monsters. Honeybee frowned.
“You’re not going to tell me that the Destroyed world has become a Dungeon, are you?”
Sa-young tilted his head and smiled crookedly.
“That’s right.”
“Does that even make sense?”
“Is there any reason it shouldn’t? The fact that we use abilities doesn’t make sense according to common sense either.”
“Wait, just wait a minute…. Then the purpose of Doomsday is….”
“Terraforming.”
Eui-jae, who had been silent, moved his lips. The wind stopped. In the silence where even the air seemed to have stopped, words that were his voice but not his intention flowed out.
“Terraforming to turn one world into a Dungeon.”
“……”
“Humans become Monsters, civilization is destroyed and becomes the structure of the Dungeon, and the things we create become special items in the Dungeon.”
“……”
“We gained power through the laws of the System, but in the end, we couldn’t escape that cycle. The stronger we become, the stronger the Monsters become, and the more our world develops, the stronger the Dungeon will become.”
“……”
“The more we struggle to survive, the more Doomsday likes it. Because it will become that much more powerful of a Dungeon.”
The voice stopped. The mouth that had been moving on its own also closed. Eui-jae slowly blinked. Honeybee and Sa-young were looking at him. With faces as if they had seen a ghost. He rubbed the mask. What did I just say? The back of his neck was cold. Honeybee muttered.
“J, what you just said….”
“…Ah.”
Eui-jae rubbed the mouth part of the mask.
“I’m sorry. Please pretend you didn’t hear that….”
“Wait, that was too important to just ignore, okay? What do you know? No, wait. Does that mean all the Dungeons we’ve cleared so far were worlds that existed somewhere?”
“I don’t know either. It just came out of my mouth….”
“Are you serious right now…!”
“Honeybee.”
Sa-young grabbed Honeybee and shook his head.
…How do I know this knowledge? Strangely, he felt unfamiliar with himself. Am I really me? Eui-jae massaged his stiff arm. It was cold. Honeybee looked at the sky and muttered a curse before whipping around to look at Eui-jae.
“Okay, let’s say that’s true. Then are we in a Destroyed world right now?”
“It’s a kind of Dungeon, this place too.”
“What, are you saying that Invasion Dungeons are connected to become one Dungeon?”
“That’s just speculation, though.”
“This is too much…. Ah!”
Honeybee grabbed her head and screamed. And after taking a deep breath, she gestured with her head in the direction the rookie had pointed earlier.
“Okay, fine. Whatever it is, we need to get out of here. Jung-bin and Nam Woo-jin seem to be here too.”
“They might not be the people we know, though.”
“Anyway, we know them somewhat. Let’s go for now. Will a solution appear if we just stand still?”
Honeybee shouldered the Monster who had been her comrade again and strode ahead. Strangely, his feet wouldn’t move. As if they were rooted to the ground. At that moment, cold fingers tickled the back of his neck. Eui-jae was startled and looked up. Sa-young had brought his face close and was looking at him.
“Hyung.”
“……”
“Let’s go.”
The hand that had been tickling the back of his neck gently pushed his back. Without realizing it, Eui-jae took a step forward. Once he took one step, the second step was easy. Eui-jae walked in step with Sa-young and suddenly asked.
“…Aren’t you going to ask?”
“Ask what?”
“What I said earlier.”
“You said you didn’t know either, Hyung. Would you be able to answer even if I asked?”
Eui-jae elbowed Sa-young in the side. Sa-young continued speaking without showing any pain.
“Instead of thinking about that, think about keeping your promise.”
“What? What promise?”
“Don’t pretend you don’t remember.”
Lips lightly touched his temple and then moved away. And then he started walking ahead with quick steps. Eui-jae blinked, grabbing his temple. His ears turned red in an instant.
Hoo. Jung-bin let out a short sigh and pressed down on his eyes. Papers filled with numbers and charts were scattered messily on the desk. The noise in his ears showed no sign of stopping. Dozens, even hundreds of casualties were brought into the Seowon Guild every day.
One day, white ash started falling from the sky. People didn’t think much of it. Something must have changed again. What’s the difference between this and snow? The Hunters will take care of it anyway. Was it a sense of complacency due to the long peace?
Would something have been different if they had taken action from the beginning? It was already too late to regret it.
It was only a matter of time before white ash covered the whole world, buildings collapsed, and white Monsters began to appear. The Monsters destroyed buildings, dug up the ground, and devoured humans. The places swept away by the Monsters became wastelands where humans could not live.
People gave a name to the phenomenon of Monsters rampaging and the land becoming desolate. Whitening.
Jung-bin clasped his hands together and closed his eyes. Hunters fought on all sides, but the frequency of Whitening was increasing rather than decreasing. The phenomenon of humans turning into Monsters could no longer be hidden.
He felt trapped on all sides.
Knock, knock, a knock on the door was heard. Jung-bin erased his tired look and smiled.
“Come in.”
“……”
What entered after opening the door was quite an unusual combination. J wearing a black mask, Lee Sa-young, and even Honeybee with a somewhat annoyed expression. Had these three ever hung out together at once? Jung-bin asked with a puzzled expression.
“What brings you here all of a sudden?”
“Well…. Uh. The reason we came is.”
Honeybee opened her mouth hesitantly. She glanced at Lee Sa-young, who was standing next to her. Jung-bin also stared at Sa-young. Strangely, there was no hostility in the face looking at him. Didn’t he hate even facing him? Whenever he met Jung-bin, he would show his dislike, tell him to get lost, and even curse at him.
However, instead of turning his back and leaving, Sa-young shrugged.
“We wanted to hear a story.”
“…A story?”
“A story about how the world is doing.”
“……”
Jung-bin’s heart sank. Wasn’t there a saying that if a person changes too much overnight, they will die soon? He jumped up from his seat. Bang, the desk shook and several papers fluttered to the floor. Sa-young looked at Jung-bin with a puzzled face.
“What’s wrong?”
“Perhaps….”
Jung-bin took a deep breath and then asked.
“Did you… kill someone?”