By Zephyria 313
…What happened after that… Well. I don’t remember properly.
I came to my senses after the Black Chain had tightly bound my body. Eui-jae blinked, kneeling on the hot floor. My eyes, nose, mouth, and throat were all hot and dry to the point where it was difficult to breathe. I was suffocating. I looked around. A ring of bright red fire surrounded me.
‘Hot….’
Sweat dripped from my chin. Ash-gray embers and sparks fluttered around. Tick, tick, crimson sparks landed right in front of my knees and died out. Eui-jae raised his head. Beyond the shimmering haze, three people were standing. Honeybee, Matthew, and Jung-bin. The tip of a sharp Rapier was pointed directly at Eui-jae. The sound of them talking was faint.
“…It’s okay, I tied him up properly….”
“If he acts up again….”
“He can’t, not while he’s bound by the chain.”
Jung-bin approached. Part of the ring of fire surrounding him subsided. Unusually for him, he had wounds all over his body and hadn’t bothered to fix his disheveled hair. His right cheek was even swollen red. Jung-bin knelt down on one knee and met my gaze.
“J, do you recognize me?”
Eui-jae slowly nodded. Even nodding was difficult. Jung-bin took out a handkerchief from inside his suit jacket and wiped the sweat from my neck.
“Now that you seem to be back to your senses, I’ll explain. This is the Jongno 3-ga Underground Dungeon, and J started rampaging immediately after escaping the Dungeon. Honeybee tried to stop you, but judged it was too much for her alone, so Matthew and I were contacted and moved here, and we subdued J.”
“…Rampaging?”
“Yes, rampaging.”
Honeybee interjected sharply.
“Rampaging, my ass, it was a tantrum. A goddamn tantrum!”
“Honeybee, watch your language.”
“Watch my language, my ass. Listen, J! I appreciate you getting me out, but going on a rampage like a rabid dog as soon as you get back is not excusable. The researchers and Ga-eul were all there, you know?”
“…….”
“What the hell made you act like that—”
Thump, a large hand covered Honeybee’s mouth. Matthew covered Honeybee’s mouth and quietly stepped back. My mouth was parched. It felt like my throat was burning every time I breathed. It was too hot here…. And dry. As my breathing became rough, Jung-bin carefully grabbed Eui-jae’s chin and held his head still. Then, he sighed softly.
“…Ah, is it too hot? I didn’t think of that. I was only thinking about restraining you… I’m sorry.”
“Is it that hot?”
“J is in the same physical condition as before his Awakening now. It would be difficult for an ordinary person to withstand this fire. I’m sorry, J. I’ll transfer you to the Awakened Management Bureau.”
Jung-bin lifted Eui-jae up without much effort. Having the initiative of my body taken away was not a good feeling. Nor was being carried like luggage. Eui-jae barely managed to hold onto his fading vision and asked.
“…What about Lee Sa-young?”
There was no answer. Silence was the answer. Eui-jae gritted his teeth.
Eui-jae stared at the conical lamp hanging alone from the ceiling. The only light in the dark, narrow room. It was the interrogation room of the Awakened Management Bureau.
As soon as they arrived at the Awakened Management Bureau, Jung-bin abruptly threw Eui-jae into the interrogation room and disappeared. Leaving only the words to wait. Fortunately, he had released the chains, but judging from the several signs of people standing guard beyond the door, it seemed they had assigned surveillance personnel.
‘I’m being treated like a complete dangerous person.’
There was no other way but to wait quietly. I didn’t want to tire out the poor civil servants. While waiting for Jung-bin, the door opened a few times, and a civil servant came in, handed over a written report and a pen, and left. One was a report that someone had already written, and the other was completely blank.
“Excuse me, when will Team Leader Jung be here?”
“He’s gone to report to the Director now…. I don’t know when he’ll be back.”
Eui-jae silently nodded and picked up the pen. The already written report… seemed to have been written by the maknae of the research team, Sanjeok. Eui-jae quickly scanned the contents. The circumstances of opening the Memorial Dungeon were written in detail. But that wasn’t important. What happened immediately after coming out was important.
After a while, Eui-jae found the part he wanted.
[…The Portal was stable when Hunter Honeybee came out, but the Portal began to fluctuate the moment an unnamed female student came out. Shrinkage phenomenon occurred. The Portal disappeared immediately after Hunter J escaped. Hunter Lee Sa-young was not seen. Total of three returnees. Confirmed that the Mana Stone used as an energy source was destroyed. It seems that all the energy was consumed.]
[…Hunter J, after confirming the disappearance of the Portal, started hitting the wall, Hunter Honeybee stopped him, but a physical fight occurred in the process, the physical fight gradually intensified and weapons were drawn…]
[…Team Leader Jung and Hunter Matthew supported and the three of them subdued J. But J probably didn’t do it on purpose. The professor said that there may be a brief mental confusion immediately after moving through the Portal. We can also show you the research results. Please take it into consideration….]
After that, the content continued at length, covering for J. J didn’t really mean to break it, he must have reacted violently because he couldn’t accept the sudden change in the situation….
I didn’t know whether to be grateful or sorry for this. Eui-jae fiddled with his leather gloves. One black leather glove. The evidence that I met Lee Sa-young and failed to bring him back was in my hand.
He had failed to bring Lee Sa-young back.
Eui-jae sighed softly. I remembered Lee Sa-young’s last words clearly.
‘I can’t go.’
Was there a reason why he said he couldn’t go? Was something holding Lee Sa-young back?
At that moment, the door opened. It was Honeybee. She was wearing a black tank top and leather pants, and there were bandages all over her exposed arms and face. There were also bluish bruises visible outside the bandages. They were probably all injuries sustained while subduing Eui-jae. Eui-jae obediently lowered his head like a sinner. Honeybee stared at him with cold eyes and crossed her arms.
“Are you in your right mind? Has your head cooled down a bit?”
Eui-jae silently nodded. Honeybee slammed the door shut, plopped down on the opposite chair, and crossed her legs.
“I’ve heard a rough explanation from the researchers. That weird… hazy human was you, right? The one who was strangled by Lee Sa-young and spoke strange Russian.”
There was no one else like that. Eui-jae nodded.
“…Yes, probably.”
“Well, first of all, thanks for getting me out. I was wondering how long I would have to be trapped there.”
“…….”
“But that’s that, and this is this. Why did you act up earlier? Were you really trying to destroy the Dungeon?”
“…I’m really sorry, but I don’t remember.”
“Seriously? Even trying to kill me when I tried to stop you?”
“No.”
“Even grabbing my Rapier and trying to break it with your hands? Even punching Jung-bin in the cheek when he tried to stop you? Even kicking Matthew in the solar plexus?”
Cold sweat ran down my back. I did those things? No wonder Jung-bin’s cheek was swollen red. This was not enough to apologize a hundred times. Eui-jae shrank his neck like a turtle.
“…I don’t remember any of it. I’m sorry.”
“Oh my god, what is all this? I thought you were really crazy.”
“…I’m sorry.”
“Okay, I’ll call it even for getting me out.”
Honeybee leaned her chin on her hand and asked.
“He, Lee Sa-young, didn’t come out.”
“…….”
“That glove is Lee Sa-young’s, right? Did you only bring out the glove?”
“…I tried to bring him out. But in the end… he said he couldn’t go.”
“What? Lee Sa-young must be crazy. What do you mean he can’t go!”
Honeybee frowned. I know, right. Eui-jae fiddled with his leather gloves, trying to soothe his sinking mood. It didn’t have much effect. Honeybee twisted her hair around her finger as if she was thinking hard.
“We have to get him out too. Can’t we reopen the closed door?”
“We have to ask the research team. It’s written that the Mana Stone used as an energy source has been destroyed.”
“Tsk, nothing is easy.”
A slight shadow fell over Honeybee’s face.
“He’ll go crazy if he stays there for too long….”
“What do you mean?”
“Ah, that’s….”
It was the moment Honeybee opened her mouth.
Weeeeing— A siren sounded, loud enough to be threatening. Honeybee jumped up from her seat and threw the door open. The hallway was flashing bright red. She grabbed a Hunter who was wandering around in front of the door and asked.
“What’s going on? What’s wrong?”
“Well, we don’t know…!”
“Ugh, frustrating. Give me the radio!”
Honeybee snatched the Hunter’s radio and put it to her ear. Static crackled, and a hurried voice could be heard.
—…A Mutant has occurred! All combat-capable personnel to the 14th floor….
Eui-jae raised his head sharply. A Mutant in the Awakened Management Bureau. Jung-bin, who was bitten in the neck and killed by a teammate.
Jung-bin might be in danger.