“Uh…”
It probably wasn’t meant as a serious question, but Se-min let out a quiet hum. He hadn’t really thought about it—his attention had been too caught up in Cha-hyeon’s suddenly sullen expression. The way he’d gone quiet and withdrawn after checking the Conditional Reward had left Se-min trying to read his mood, not ponder the question.
Right. It was clear Cha-hyeon’s mood took a dive after he looked at that reward. If what Deputy Chief Jeong said was true, wouldn’t someone have to not want their memories back to react like that?
But why? Wouldn’t recovering your memories be a good thing?
Of course, Cha-hyeon might’ve thought, like Se-min did, that life wasn’t all that uncomfortable without those memories. Maybe he figured there was no real need to go chasing them down. But right now, Cha-hyeon seemed more devastated than relieved to learn there was a way to get them back.
And Cha-hyeon wanted Se-min’s memories to return. So why wouldn’t he want his own?
The contradiction didn’t sit right. Something about it didn’t add up. But before Se-min could spiral any further into confusion, Deputy Chief Jeong swept the moment aside with a casual remark.
“Well, regardless… at least we’ve got an answer now. I thought the reward was just some random bonus from clearing high-level dungeons, but even if it wasn’t what we expected, we’ve figured out how to recover memories. Maybe the reason Esper Sung Cha-hyeon received an Unclaimed Reward in the first place is because he reached a certain phase of love.”
Jeong added that he had even considered assembling a top-tier Esper team to support Cha-hyeon in clearing dungeons.
“Memories return the moment you fall in love, huh? That’s… kind of romantic. Hm. Yeah.”
While saying that, he glanced at Se-min with a playful smile—but as his gaze drifted naturally over to Cha-hyeon, his face scrunched like he was trying not to throw up.
“…I guess it is romantic. Sure… uh, now that I think about it, aren’t all these items related to love, too?”
Reluctantly continuing his thought, Jeong’s expression suddenly brightened, as if something had finally clicked. He clapped his hands together in realization.
“How did I not notice sooner? Black Bread, the Golden Fleece… ah! I was too focused on the box being the key to everything. Of course! This is…!”
Bursting with excitement, Jeong turned to Se-min—only to find him staring back with a blank look, completely lost. Clearing his throat, Jeong began to explain more thoroughly.
“Ah, sorry. I skipped over too much. Guide Se-min, are you familiar with the Greek myth of Eros and Psyche?”
Se-min nodded slowly, recalling a vague memory of reading about it in a comic book as a child. But the details were fuzzy, so he replied uncertainly.
“I sort of remember it… but what does that have to do with these items?”
“It’s just—there’s a chance the C/S-grade dungeon Esper Sung cleared had a mythology theme. Dungeon rewards usually reflect the dungeon’s motif.”
But with so little understanding of dungeon mechanics—and his memories of Cha-hyeon wiped clean—Se-min was still in the dark. Jeong, noticing his confusion, patiently broke it down.
“For example, say you enter a dungeon and find yourself in a forest. Then the Clear Reward might be something made of wood. The theme and the reward are usually connected.”
“Ah…”
So if the theme was the ocean, you’d get ocean-related items. If it was space, you’d get something cosmic. Se-min’s nod showed he was starting to get it, and Jeong continued.
“The dungeon where Esper Sung lost his memories—that was the first of its kind. When he first entered, it was a monster wave type. You know, the kind where you have to defeat waves of monsters crashing in like surf to clear it. It was originally a C-grade dungeon. But after he cleared it, it transformed into an S-grade. Two hours later, Sung Cha-hyeon solo-cleared the S-grade version and came out.”
After that, Cha-hyeon forgot everything about Se-min—what the S-grade dungeon looked like, what kind of dungeon it was, and what rewards he may have received. Yet despite clearing it, there was no record of him actually receiving any reward.
Jeong’s eyes gleamed as he wrapped up the explanation.
“But now we’ve discovered that the rewards were mythological artifacts. That gives us a big clue to work with.”
He picked up the small, ever-shifting box.
Box Containing the Beauty of the Queen of the Underworld
Grade: C?
Grants a sleep akin to death. The beauty within, already used once, has been completely depleted by the next user.
“This points to the theme of the S-grade dungeon Sung Cha-hyeon cleared solo being Eros and Psyche.”
Jeong took another look at the box with newfound reverence. But Se-min didn’t understand why this was something to get that excited about. Was he missing a crucial point?
Maybe… it was because no one had known anything about the altered dungeon’s interior until now, and this finally offered some insight? If so, Se-min might’ve guessed correctly. Jeong, practically buzzing with excitement, started throwing out more theories.
“Could the dungeon have been structured in stages? Psyche went through four trials, after all… Then the last item Esper Sung should’ve received would be… the Black Spring Water. But why did the final reward box show up now? Why’s everything out of order?”
He trailed off, staring curiously at the box as he muttered to himself. Se-min, who at least had a rough understanding of the story, still hadn’t caught on as quickly as Jeong had. He glanced at Cha-hyeon again—who, despite Jeong’s whole monologue, was still slumped lifelessly on the sofa like a corpse.
…He’s not actually asleep, is he?
Worried, Se-min leaned in to check on him—only for Jeong to suddenly exclaim, “Ah!”
“A sleep akin to death—it might mean the person completely forgot about someone specific. Haha! This dungeon gate! Incredible!”
Jeong looked like a man blissfully rambling about his favorite obsession, and Se-min could only respond with an awkward smile. So this is the level of dungeon mania it takes to become the Director’s deputy… Or maybe he was just a hardcore mythology nerd.
Luckily, Jeong caught the awkward smile and quickly apologized.
“Sorry. I got a little carried away talking to myself. It’s just… we had absolutely no info on the changed dungeon.”
“No, no, I totally get it. You must’ve been so frustrated. And… wow, you really know a lot about ancient mythology.”
As Se-min waved his hands to reassure him, Jeong looked even more sheepish.
“Ah, well, I didn’t really have a choice. I was… twenty? Maybe twenty-one? When the Third Gate Flood happened. I’d only been Awakened for about two years. And then—bam!—monsters from Greek and Roman mythology started pouring out of the flooded Gates. Gangnam, Seocho, Jamsil, Southern Gyeonggi—mythical creatures everywhere. We had to memorize everything to figure out how to clear the gates. I studied them so hard I could probably recite them in my sleep. Still can. Ugh.”
He grimaced at the memory, lips twisting like the whole thing still gave him a headache. Seeing that, Se-min decided to be honest. He could already picture himself getting more and more lost in future explanations—and Jeong seemed like he had no plans to stop anytime soon.
“Um… I actually only read it in a comic book when I was a kid. So I don’t really remember much. Eros marries Psyche, but tells her not to try to see who he is, and when she breaks that rule, she has to go through trials, right?”
“Exactly. Psyche was so beautiful, people stopped worshipping Aphrodite. So Aphrodite got pissed and ordered Eros to—well, basically curse her. You know about Cupid’s arrows, right? The golden one makes you fall in love, the lead one makes you hate someone.”
Se-min was glad he confessed to not knowing—it was obvious now that without Jeong’s explanation, he would’ve been completely lost.
“So Eros goes to Psyche to follow Aphrodite’s command, but accidentally pricks himself with a golden arrow and falls in love with her. He transforms from a child into an adult… anyway…”
Jeong cleared his throat and continued.
“He marries Psyche without revealing who he is, and tells her not to try to see his face. But Psyche, anxious and curious, secretly looks at him while he’s asleep. Turns out he’s not a monster but a stunningly beautiful man. Entranced, she ends up dripping candle wax on his shoulder. Eros wakes up, sees Psyche holding a knife in one hand and a candle in the other, and says, ‘Love and doubt cannot coexist,’ and leaves…”
“Deputy Chief.”
A cold voice cut in, slicing through Jeong’s words.
Cha-hyeon was sitting up, eyes gleaming with a sharpness that hadn’t been there moments ago. The lethargy was gone, replaced by a blade-edged intensity.
He was staring straight at Jeong.
“What did you just say?”
