Chapter 1
Hajin was standing at the crossroads between life and death. In his 32 years of life, not only was this his first dungeon accident, but he was also witnessing an Esper’s power going berserk.
“Damn it, Baek Jaan! Snap out of it!”
“Why did it have to happen inside a dungeon of all places!”
“Why didn’t that bastard take his medicine!” shouted a man with striking facial features, his brilliant blonde hair flying wildly.
Another man who looked like an idol with black hair responded with an equally irritated voice.
“I did take it! This just happened on its own!”
All of them seemed busy trying to prevent damage caused by the power surge.
One Esper was going on a rampage due to his power going berserk, while three others who appeared to be on the same team couldn’t approach carelessly.
“Shit, of all times, there had to be a civilian here. Lee Doyoon, you protect that person.”
At the brown-haired man’s words, which carried a considerable red aura, the black-haired one, Lee Doyoon, approached Hajin.
“This is an extremely dangerous situation, so stay quietly behind me.”
Despite his youthful face, his tone was quite disrespectful. Although Hajin was thirty-two and being treated like baggage, he nodded. The urgency of the situation left no time for a response.
He was deep in thought.
‘Should I help or not.’
This was the greatest dilemma of Hajin’s life. Should he save an S-class Esper going berserk, or just stand by and watch?
Why was Hajin, a mere civilian, having such thoughts?
“Isn’t there an A-class Guide who can deploy right now?”
“This isn’t just anything—it’s a power surge. Do you think an A-class Guiding would work against an S-class surge? That would be like pushing a Guide to their death.”
“Ah shit, damn it!”
Because…
“Fuck, why are there S-class Espers but no S-class Guides?!”
The S-class Guide they were desperately looking for right now was none other than himself.
* * *
“KYAAAAH!”
“P-please help… somebody help!”
“Waaah! Mommy…!”
“Haah…”
Hajin sighed amidst the chaos.
Having gone out for field work only to encounter a sudden dungeon appearance—what terrible luck this was.
Following his late father’s dying wish that he live an ordinary life, he had done his best to maintain a normal lifestyle for 32 years.
During his school years, he had maintained grades slightly above the upper-middle rank, graduated from a university like everyone else, and continued working at a company just like everyone else.
No one could deny that his was an ordinary life.
But the moment he left the office for field work and entered the subway, a dungeon formed. Everything happened so quickly that he couldn’t even attempt to escape before being trapped.
It all happened in an instant. The familiar space was devoured, and people began screaming and falling into confusion as they found themselves trapped in a dark, gloomy, vast cave.
‘As expected, no phone signal.’
Even though he knew that ordinary machines not made from minerals mined in dungeons lost their function inside, Hajin still tried to operate his phone anyway.
‘Should I be grateful this happened on the subway?’
Since the dungeon occurred while using public transportation, the report would have been filed quickly.
Thump-thump. Hajin tried to calm his rapidly beating heart. First, he decided to calm the people who were screaming and crying in fear.
If they remained this noisy, they would surely be eaten by monsters before the Espers could come to rescue them.
“Everyone. Please calm down.”
At his moderately quiet yet powerful voice, people’s gazes turned to Hajin. There was a quality in his voice that drew people’s attention.
Thanks to that, from his school days until his current company life, whenever there was an important presentation, Hajin was invariably the one in charge.
As if accustomed to the attention focused on him, Hajin continued speaking without showing any signs of nervousness.
“Since the dungeon occurred inside the subway, the report would have been made quickly. The Espers will come to rescue us soon, so our job is to wait quietly until they arrive, without provoking any monsters.”
At his words, people who had been in a state of panic felt a glimmer of hope.
“Y-yes. The young man is right. Let’s all be quiet.”
As one person, then another began to agree, the commotion subsided.
“Hic, huuung, mommy… I’m scared…”
However, children who weren’t mature enough to understand and endure the situation were different. A woman who appeared to be the children’s mother hurriedly began to comfort the loudly crying children.
People’s gazes began to stab at the three of them.
“I-it’s okay. People will come to rescue us soon. Okay? Stop crying.”
The mother, flustered by the increasing stares, continuously comforted her child with a distorted face.
But the child had already sensed their mother’s anxiety and had seen adults screaming in fear. It was only natural that they couldn’t calm down easily no matter how much they were comforted.
“Sob, huaaang…”
Eventually, the child buried their face in their mother’s embrace and burst into tears again.
Although it was a very small sound for a crying child who was intimidated by the atmosphere and adults’ stares, to people who were already on edge, it felt like thunder.
“H-hey, keep that child quiet…!”
“What if monsters come because of this?”
The more people pressured them out of anxiety, the louder the child cried, and people’s anxiety and anger grew as well.
Hajin sighed at the increasingly heated atmosphere.
‘I should have a couple left.’
Fortunately, he still had candy he had bought for a quick energy boost.
Taking out two lollipops, Hajin stood in front of the crying child and another child who was on the verge of tears, clutching their mother’s pants.
“Here. If you eat this and wait, handsome boys and pretty girls will come to rescue us soon. Let’s be patient and wait a little longer.”
Despite trembling in fear, children were still children. The two kids quickly became interested in the lollipops Hajin offered.
After unwrapping the lollipops and placing them directly into their hands, the children immediately put them in their mouths despite occasionally sniffling.
As things quieted down with only occasional sniffles, Hajin smiled slightly and said,
“You’re so brave.”
At those words, one child immediately wiped away the remaining tears. Because they were brave. The strawberry milk flavor spreading in their mouth seemed to have blown away all traces of fear.
The children’s mother bowed her head slightly to Hajin in gratitude for comforting them.
Hajin responded with a shake of his head and turned his gaze to survey the surroundings.
It was just a barren cave with no rocks or anything else. Of course, the ceiling was endlessly high, as if a giant earthworm had dug a tunnel, but it was still a dungeon in the form of a cave.
‘With nowhere to hide, if monsters appear, we’ll all die together.’
Unlike what he told the children, this was a cold assessment. What else could he do? Although he pretended to be hopeful when comforting the children, one must be cool-headed when assessing the situation.
The one fortunate thing was that, given how empty the surroundings were, they would quickly notice if monsters appeared from anywhere.
Moreover, more than 10 minutes had already passed, so the Espers must have arrived at the subway station by now. The reason they hadn’t shown themselves yet was probably because it was taking time to find the entrance into the dungeon.
As time passed with nothing happening, people, including Hajin, began to move around slightly to examine their surroundings.
Boom boom boom.
At that moment, a vibration that shook the entire cave traveled up from beneath their feet.
At the sudden situation, not only Hajin, who had maintained his composure until now, but also the people who had been scattered began to panic.
“W-what’s that!”
“M-monster? Is it a monster?”
People moved frantically, looking for places to hide. But the more they moved, the stronger the vibrations from below became.
The ground’s vibrations beneath their feet intensified, but no monster showed itself.
What could this mean? Before his mind could reach a conclusion, Hajin instinctively understood and immediately shouted to everyone.
“Everyone, get away!”
No sooner had Hajin shouted than the solid stone floor split with a crack and exploded like a bomb.
KUOOOOO!
“AAAAAH!”
As a monster appeared through the exploded ground, people scattered in panic, each running in different directions.
‘Damn! Coming from underground!’
The monster, which had a worm-like form with shark-like jagged teeth growing haphazardly, chased after the fleeing people.
Its long, large body could reach people who had fled far away with just a slight movement.
“Eek, AAHH! Help me!”
The man who was running away moved his feet desperately, but sadly disappeared into the monster’s mouth. A terrifying sound that was too horrible to describe echoed through the cave, causing people to fall silent in fear.
“I-I want to live!”
But that was only for a moment. Another man who had recovered from the shock first barely managed to move his frozen feet and started to flee.
People who fell after being pushed by the man closed their eyes tightly, unable to even scream as the monster swooped down on them.
“AAAAHHHH!”
But the screams came from the fleeing man. For some reason, the monster ignored the people who had fallen right in front of it and chased after the running man.
Hajin didn’t miss this unusual behavior.
It made sense that a monster with no organs except a mouth full of teeth couldn’t see people right in front of it, but then how did it chase after the fleeing person as if it had eyes?
‘Could it be…’
With this hypothesis in mind, Hajin threw the bag he was holding forcefully toward an area where there were no people.
No sooner had the leather bag flown through the air and landed with a thud in a distant spot than the monster lunged and tore it to shreds.
“So that’s it…”
Although it was a bag that held memories, bought with his first paycheck, Hajin didn’t regret it. If he considered it the price of his life, it was actually quite cheap.
Swallowing hard, Hajin quickly spoke before people started moving again.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
