The End of the Path We’ve Walked (6)
What on earth did that mean? My head was filled with questions, but we couldn’t hear any more detailed explanation. Before we could ask anything, we heard someone coming down from upstairs.
“Wow, you’re all up already? Isn’t it still dawn? I’ll just have some water and go back to sleep.”
“Everyone’s up early. Good morning.”
It was Esper Hwang Ji-hyun and Esper Yoon Seon-hoo. Esper Hwang Ji-hyun yawned widely as she passed us and headed to the dining room, while Esper Yoon Seon-hoo looked at us with curious eyes before saying he was going out for a walk and leaving the lodging.
I glanced around cautiously and quietly asked Jong-hyeok hyung:
“Hyung, is it true? Is that why you were talking like that… since this morning?”
He nodded in response. My mind became complicated with this unimaginable story. Still, it seemed best to briefly organize what I had just heard.
So according to hyung, there was someone with a suspicious wavelength in the conquest team, and Jong-hyeok hyung and Vice Minister Han Yoon-jung were aware of this fact?
…But how did hyung confirm the wavelength? Without having a wavelength detector, it would be impossible to know. Besides, wasn’t a wavelength detector an expensive tool difficult for individuals to own? Even centers or guilds would be lucky to have one…
Could it be related to the Dungeon Research Laboratory? Was the S-class dungeon’s wavelength being different from usual also connected to this incident?
Even as I thought I might be getting ahead of myself, I simultaneously developed a groundless certainty that it could be true. As my expression became serious from turning things over in my mind, Sa Hae-geon poked my side.
“Hyung, what are you thinking about so intensely?”
“…Ah, something just came to mind so I was thinking about it. But Hae-geon, aren’t you hungry? Hyung, aren’t you hungry?”
I deliberately changed the subject. Sa Hae-geon looked at me with narrowed eyes before answering.
“Let’s eat together.”
“Hmm, I’m not hungry yet. You two go ahead.”
Jong-hyeok hyung replied briefly, saying he’d see us later and went upstairs. Left alone with Sa Hae-geon in the first-floor lobby, I headed to the dining room, avoiding his persistent gaze. Just then, Esper Hwang Ji-hyun, returning after having some water, passed by us with a wave.
There was no one in the dining room. But I couldn’t easily open my mouth. At home, I could freely discuss the thoughts I’d just had, but this building housed nearly two hundred Espers. So I had to carefully choose my words.
When I took out two lunch boxes and placed them on the table, starting to eat silently while avoiding Sa Hae-geon’s gaze, he sat across from me with a sullen face. Given his personality, I had expected him to persistently question me, but fortunately, he remained quiet. As I was absentmindedly cutting the hamburger steak in my lunch box while continuing my train of thought:
“…Is that tasty?”
Sa Hae-geon asked about the lunch box with a prim expression.
“Um… well. It’s not particularly delicious, but it’s edible.”
As I replied evasively and put the hamburger steak in my mouth, Sa Hae-geon’s eyebrows twitched. But that was all—he didn’t add anything else. He simply glared at the hamburger steak lunch box in front of him as if it were his sworn enemy.
* * *
It was about 5 minutes until the expected dungeon emergence time. We were on guard, catching our breath, watching for the dungeon gate that could appear anywhere in this vast field. Everyone scanned the field with tense faces, but even when 10 o’clock came, there was no sign of a dungeon appearing.
The situation remained the same past 11 o’clock and approaching 12 o’clock. Even considering some margin of error in the predicted emergence time, it was a bit strange that there was no sign after more than two hours. By that point, team members who sensed something was wrong simultaneously looked at Vice Minister Han Yoon-jung.
“Madam Vice Minister, when exactly is the dungeon going to emerge? It’s past 12 o’clock and there’s not even a hint of it—are we in the right location?”
“What if it’s already emerged in another location? Is it really supposed to appear here?”
Vice Minister Han Yoon-jung replied with a troubled face:
“We’re continuously trying to contact the Dungeon Research Laboratory. But it’s difficult, perhaps due to unstable signals on the island. Please wait a little longer. If nothing else, they assured us the location was accurate.”
The reception seemed poor due to the island being long abandoned. At that moment, an Esper from the conquest support team who had been persistently trying to connect ran to Vice Minister Han Yoon-jung with a phone.
“Madam Vice Minister, we’ve connected!”
As she received the phone, several team members immediately spoke up:
“Please let us hear too. Don’t we have the right to know what’s going on?”
“That’s right! We have the right to hear. We can’t enter a dungeon without knowing anything!”
The Vice Minister looked around at our expressions and switched to speakerphone with a suppressed sigh.
“This is Han Yoon-jung. The dungeon hasn’t emerged even after 2 hours. What’s happening?”
– Vice Min… ter.
Although the call connected, the other person’s voice came through with static and breaks, likely due to the weak signal.
“Yes, go ahead.”
– Since this morning… abnormal wavelength… dropped… hit the lowest at 11… But… happening.
“The connection is unstable so you’re breaking up. Can you hear me clearly?”
– Now… wavelength explosively…
The researcher’s voice, which had been coming through in fragments, suddenly cut off. Instead, a friendly automated message announced the end of the call.
– The area you are in is out of service. Please try again later.
We, including Vice Minister Han Yoon-jung, stared at the phone with empty eyes. The atmosphere of the conquest team, who had been anxiously waiting for the laboratory’s answer, instantly sank.
“So what’s happening with the dungeon…”
The voice of an Esper speaking in a grumpy tone suddenly stopped. A fierce wind began to blow around where we were standing. The wind was so rough that we could barely open our eyes, making me wonder if a typhoon was forming instead of a dungeon.
At that moment, about ten steps away from us, a black dot appeared to be floating, faintly visible. The dot, smaller than a thumbnail, gradually grew in size with an undulating movement, and soon became large enough to swallow the entire island.
“G-gate…”
It was a gate leading to the dungeon. The gate to the S-class dungeon had finally appeared. It had a dramatically different size and appearance from the A-class dungeon gates we had seen before. The shape resembled a black hole that seemed like it would suck in everything around it, raising goosebumps on my skin.
Although it appeared at a somewhat unexpected time, voices of relief were heard from all around, saying that at least the dungeon had finally emerged.
As the gate fully opened, the fierce wind gradually subsided. We waited for the conquest support team to gather necessary equipment before stepping into the gate with Vice Minister Han Yoon-jung.
Entering the dungeon with trembling hearts, we couldn’t hide our bewilderment at the scene that unfolded before us.
“What the…?”
“No, what is this…?”
“What’s going on? This is completely different from what we prepared for.”
The Dungeon Research Laboratory had predicted it would consist of sea, desert, and volcano. But the dungeon we entered was more like a forest shrouded in deep darkness. Sa Hae-geon and I silently exchanged glances at this completely unexpected environment.
At that moment, the gazes of the Espers of the conquest team, who had been standing and murmuring, all turned to the right. Soon, with the sound of the ground trembling, about twenty wolf-shaped monsters appeared.
“…Wow, they’re not even giving us time to be surprised. Isn’t this too much?”
“How can this happen as soon as we enter? Were they just waiting for us to come in?”
The black wolf monsters, each the size of a large bus, growled at us, baring their sharp teeth. It wasn’t common to encounter monsters without even having time to set up a base camp. In such situations, the Espers formed their battle formation, surrounding and protecting the Guides and healing-type Espers who were practically liabilities.
Sa Hae-geon also hid me behind him as he stared at the monsters slowly closing the distance.
“Awoooo—!”
“Awoo—!”
Starting with one monster, all the wolves surrounding us howled. Hearing in reality the kind of howling normally only heard in movies or documentaries made my hair stand on end.
“Let’s get ready.”
The Espers who had been waiting for instructions responded to Vice Minister Han Yoon-jung’s voice. As Esper Hwang Ji-hyun and others who could manipulate earth stomped their feet, the hard ground writhed and covered the monsters’ ankles, giving them no chance to escape. The wolves, unable to move due to the soil firmly holding their feet, bared their sharp fangs.
And just as the wolves’ attention was focused on escaping from the earth, Espers who controlled fire sparked flames around them. The flames, initially as small as roadside pebbles, gradually grew to form a massive wall. The wolves, their movement restricted by the earth, whimpered before shrieking as the approaching flames consumed them.
An unbearably foul smell lingered in my nostrils. My vision was filled with the horrific sight of black smoke continuously rising from the burning monsters. At some point, Sa Hae-geon’s large hand turned around and covered my eyes. Then I could no longer see anything. Only Sa Hae-geon’s distinctive cool scent lingered in my nose. My heart, which had been beating violently, gradually calmed with his warmth.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
