# Chapter 12
The dungeon stayed quiet for a while, as if sorry for appearing two days in a row.
Lee Ha-min was still powering through training with great determination, and I went to the supply room to find ways to increase his training intensity.
‘There’s nothing I like here. I think I’ll need to custom order something.’
Since he seemed to be doing okay with running with the weight vest, I wanted to prepare a special gift that he could wear all the time for continuous training.
Fortunately, the Center was generous with this kind of support for Espers, and I could easily get training equipment with just a little money from my own pocket. In this case, it would take some time to make, but it would be worth the wait.
‘But where am I? Did I take a wrong turn?’
I had shown Ha-min how to use his device to find locations, but I had spent so much time in that martial arts game world that I was having trouble adapting to this technology.
Even when I reached an unfamiliar place, I kept thinking that if I walked a bit further, I’d find somewhere I recognized.
I figured that if all else failed, I could call Ha-min to come get me, but first I wanted to try solving this on my own.
My aimless walking eventually led me to a forest.
It seemed to be the opposite side of the forest where I usually trained with Ha-min.
Just as I was about to call Ha-min, thinking I couldn’t find my way back to my room on my own, I heard the clear sound of a violin from somewhere.
Paganini’s Caprice No. 24.
Someone was relaxing in the forest listening to music.
Paganini’s Caprice, composed by the man known as the “devil’s violinist,” was a difficult piece requiring various advanced techniques.
Because I heard a piece I liked, my curiosity overcame my anxiety about being in an unfamiliar place, and I headed toward the sound.
Wanting to reach it before the short piece ended, I hurried and discovered a man playing the violin in a forest clearing.
I could only see his back, but from his long hair flowing over his shoulders, I could tell who it was.
‘Why is Shim Woo-jin here…? No, more importantly, was Shim Woo-jin this good?’
Since my sister’s novel didn’t include such details, I was quite shocked.
The performance was flawless, worthy of a world-class violinist. While I was stunned by this realization, the sound abruptly stopped.
Then he slowly turned toward me.
“Ah…”
I involuntarily let out a groan, feeling terrible about interrupting his performance.
He looked at me as if wondering what was happening.
“I’m sorry. I got lost and heard the sound… It was a piece I like, so without thinking… I’m sorry for disturbing you.”
“Nothing to apologize for. This isn’t my private property.”
“Still, you were in the middle of playing, and I feel like I interrupted.”
“It’s fine. I don’t feel disturbed. I just turned around to see who it was. I’ve never felt this kind of wavelength before.”
Wavelength?
Why my wavelength?
While I was wondering about this, he started playing again.
La Campanella.
While he played, he kept his eyes fixed on me.
I remembered what Ha-min had told me.
He had said not to feel intimidated by what Espers say, and to tell him if they ever used violence against me. Ha-min had looked surprised and said that the Espers he worked with had never hit him.
When I suggested he should be honest and ask for help if his pride was hurt, he said he already knew that, but what he told me was the truth.
I was confused about what I had believed all this time, and asked him several times to confirm. Ha-min nodded, saying he could even swear to it.
It made me feel sorry for despising and hating S-class Espers all this time.
Shim Woo-jin finished playing and lowered his hands holding the violin and bow.
“This is strange. Your wavelength is really…”
“How is it?”
“I usually get sensitive when other people are around while I play, but I feel comfortable.”
“That’s good.”
There was a moment of silence, and just as it was about to become awkward, I received a call from Ha-min.
When he asked where I was and I told him I seemed to be lost, Shim Woo-jin spoke up.
“If you need to get to your quarters, let’s go together. I need to head back now anyway.”
It seemed like it might be awkward, but getting help from him seemed better than making Ha-min come all the way here.
“I thought you’d been at the Center for quite some time, but you still don’t know your way around?”
“Ah… yes. I don’t really go out much…”
If he knew just how little I went out, he’d probably be shocked.
When we finally reached a place I recognized while walking with him, I felt a huge sense of relief.
“Now I know where I am. Thank you for bringing me here.”
I bowed my head and added, “And thank you for letting me hear your wonderful performance.”
“Thank you as well.”
From a distance, Ha-min spotted me and came running over. Shim Woo-jin disappeared elsewhere, swinging his long legs as he walked.
***
The opportunity to meet Shim Woo-jin again came quickly.
I could clearly see what kind of person Shim Woo-jin was when the next dungeon appeared.
Shortly after my device went off, he showed up.
“You’re on my team today. We can leave from here right now.”
Before I knew it, I was in his car.
Shim Woo-jin smiled at my confused expression.
In the sunlight, his hair shone intensely black.
He had an aura like a poorly made homemade bomb.
It was as if no one knew when he might explode, and he seemed to operate outside everyone else’s rules.
His current behavior proved this.
Even when a dungeon appeared, we shouldn’t act like this but should follow the Center’s control and instructions. Yet he took me first and contacted the Center afterward.
He told them he was already outside with me and would head directly to the closest dungeon.
That’s how we were assigned a dungeon.
“What’s the danger level?”
Because of our strange way of heading to the dungeon, I hadn’t heard any of the briefing I should have received before deployment.
“You don’t need to know that. I’m here.”
“…”
The surprising thing was that his response didn’t surprise me at all.
Of course, he was Shim Woo-jin after all.
Woo-jin was the character I found most difficult to understand while reading the novel.
Among other things, I thought my sister had created Shim Woo-jin’s character too carelessly.
It seemed like she had planned a one-to-many structure but couldn’t decide whether to make it one-to-two or one-to-three, and ended up halfheartedly inserting Shim Woo-jin.
At first, Shim Woo-jin appeared as a supporting character or extra, but when people unexpectedly started to like him and everyone began to “buy stocks” in Shim Woo-jin, my sister seemed confused.
Haven’t there been dramas where an unexpected character becomes popular, a supporting role becomes the lead, and the original lead quietly exits?
Shim Woo-jin seemed to be a case where his role suddenly expanded, so he wasn’t properly built up, and his character details seemed hastily added as the story progressed.
When a character in a novel is created that way, they’re like a bomb to someone who’s been transported into that novel.
It was incredibly hard to predict what he would do because of how his character was designed.
I belatedly remembered that there had been frequent feedback about Shim Woo-jin’s lack of character consistency.
Most people considered it a complete character breakdown, and now I had to raid a dungeon with this unpredictable Shim Woo-jin…
“I haven’t been given much explanation either, but there’s no need to worry.”
Shim Woo-jin must have thought I was tense, as he spoke again and grabbed his violin.
The Espers who were evacuating people and guarding the area around the dungeon seemed to find it strange that we arrived so quickly.
Even for someone like Shim Woo-jin, it was unusual to have so few team members on a mission. Suspicious gazes followed us until we entered the dungeon.
Since things had turned out this way, I thought I should show some skill too, so from that point on, I concentrated.
As soon as we entered the dungeon, the monster revealed itself.
The monster had no clear distinction between its face and body, and the state of its skin was bizarre.
It was like lava with many impurities flowing down.
A long tongue emerged from a strange hole in what could barely be called a face, and its chest was split open, showing its internal organs.
It made me shudder to think how anyone could imagine such an appearance.
It was definitely more hideous than anything I had seen before.
A dangerous heat radiated from its body, making it difficult to attack with fists or legs even with physical enhancement.
It felt like my body would melt just from touching it.
I realized it wasn’t just a feeling when I saw a rock, which Shim Woo-jin seemed to have thrown as a test, melt away completely.
Shim Woo-jin must have thought it wouldn’t be easy either, as he glanced at me once.
“Keep your distance. You need to stay safe.”
He nodded without taking his eyes off the monster.
I don’t know what he was thinking, but I also needed to think of a strategy.
That’s when Shim Woo-jin began playing his violin.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
