After that wild night, the relationship between the Demon King and the Hero deepened once more.
They had moved beyond occasional hugs and kisses, gradually letting their hands wander over each other’s bodies.
As unbelievable as it sounded, Cha Eui-sung actually liked it. The way he nibbled at lips like a little bird, the fingers that toyed with ears, the arms that wrapped around his waist and caressed his back—it all gave him a strange sense of satisfaction he couldn’t explain.
Even the anxiety that came with his loosening grip on rationality was gently outweighed by that satisfaction. When he came back after being with Moon Tae-young, he had fewer of those pointless dreams.
Eventually, Cha Eui-sung went so far as to bring a secondhand monitor to Moon Tae-young’s place and even started watching TV there.
He’d received a few pointed looks that clearly said What the hell are you doing to my house?, but he just grinned and kissed him a few times before brushing it off.
He had discovered another use for this relationship beyond the Savior Gauge.
Mental therapy!
Lately, Cha Eui-sung had been in the best shape he’d been in for a long time.
No nightmares. No random nosedives in mood.
Even the irritability that used to flare up so easily had mellowed out to a manageable level.
Sure, it felt a little shady to be digging up information about the Demon King while being around Moon Tae-young, but he could just rationalize that away and move on.
After all, Moon Tae-young had secrets of his own too, didn’t he? They were both bastards in their own right—so why feel guilty about it?
And so, in this rare state of emotional clarity, Cha Eui-sung dove into dungeon research.
***
The first thing he looked into was global dungeon data.
Dungeons where the Gate doesn’t appear visibly, or ones that have records of vanishing and reappearing…
He scoured every scrap of data focused on invisible or missing Gates, but nothing satisfying turned up.
There were no dungeons in the world that randomly appeared and disappeared at will. Unsurprisingly, there weren’t any Gates that “hid” either.
There were a few reports of Gates forming again in spots where dungeons had once been destroyed, but all of them turned out to be entirely new dungeons. Even the shape of the Gate had changed.
He broadened the scope to include incidents where newly-formed dungeons had experienced sudden overflow. Maybe some of them had been hidden for a long time and then just revealed themselves? But in every case, they were simply special instances of rapid contamination—or, more often, examples of poor reporting or mismanagement by the country involved. Nothing more, nothing less.
He even combed through every incident where monsters had appeared in regions without any known dungeon presence…
Not due to hidden dungeons. Just illegal monster trafficking or lab leaks.
Damn it. He’d researched until his eyes were ready to fall out, and still had nothing worthwhile.
The problem was that Gates only ever formed in locations humans could reach—almost suspiciously so.
If that wasn’t the case, overflows would’ve been erupting nonstop 500 meters in the sky or in the middle of the ocean. The world would’ve already been cracked in half, Demon King or no Demon King.
There were, at best, scattered urban legends from all over the globe—stories like, “Dungeons that follow someone around,” or “I woke up and there was a Gate beneath my feet.”
But an urban legend is just that—a story.
If any of that crap were true, then there would be at least a hundred ghosts living in the same village as Cha Eui-sung right now.
Wow. More ghosts than people in Cheongseri.
***
Time ticked away, and soon, the date drew near when the dungeon Cha Eui-sung had marked was due to form.
The location: Gangwon Province.
Thankfully, it was just a small mountain.
***
“Just stopping by briefly, so I’ll probably be back soon.”
“How about taking your monitor with you when you go?”
“Yeah. I’ll be back.”
The send-off had been dry, if not downright cold. That was last night. By dawn, Cha Eui-sung was already on the road, driving toward Gangwon Province.
The dungeon he’d been waiting for over the past few months had once been both useful and fairly well-known.
It had yielded the material known as Chain Crystal—used in the creation of restraints.
Dungeon-sourced substances that weakened the power of the Awakened came in all forms: ores, plants, monster venom—you name it. Chain Crystals, as they were called, were one such byproduct, widely repurposed into restraints, accessories, and even certain chemical agents after refinement.
Because they were so rare and so closely tied to issues of social control, Chain Crystals were more than tightly regulated—they were guarded like state secrets.
The dungeon, colloquially known as the Chain Dungeon, had once been under extremely strict security. It wasn’t somewhere you could just walk into. Unless you were a Hunter authorized by the government, you wouldn’t even know its internal layout.
Compared to other dungeons he’d been in—where he knew every detail—this one came with a few more uncertainties.
Still, I figure it’s worth having at least one like this in my back pocket.
Right now, there was no way to acquire Chain Crystals through legitimate channels.
And Chain Crystals obtained under the government’s radar? You could name your price for those. Even without an immediate use, letting a chance like this slip by would be a waste.
Especially with someone like the Demon King hovering around him these days…
“Tch.”
An uncomfortable sensation crawled up the back of Cha Eui-sung’s neck. All he’d done was picture the nearest S-rank he knew—and his gut churned.
If it came down to survival, of course he’d be ready to bash in Moon Tae-young’s skull if that’s what it took. That was just logical. So why did the thought leave such a bad taste?
……
Not that he could actually hurt the Demon King anyway. Even Chain Crystals had limits against S-ranks.
So maybe that was it. He gave a few idle kicks at the stones in his path as he made his way up the mountain.
***
“Clearing the dungeon itself shouldn’t be too difficult.”
“Really? I figured it must be something serious if they sent in eight Hunters, even if Porters weren’t allowed.”
“There was an incident, apparently. I don’t know the full story, but that’s the rumor.”
As he tried to recall what he knew about the Chain Dungeon, a familiar voice echoed in his head.
A clean, mid-low register. A tone that somehow inspired confidence.
Ah. That’s right—Oh Se-dan was the one who’d told him. Back then, Cha Eui-sung had stuck to him like glue, learning everything he could while being worked to death in return.
Strictly speaking, he’d been used to bolster Oh Se-dan’s career, but still—there hadn’t been a better mentor for someone as volatile and uneducated as he’d been back then.
Thanks to him, here he was now, about to loot Chain Crystals. He owed him for that much.
And if he was really lucky, maybe Oh Se-dan would do him another favor and quietly exit the stage during this round too.
Clink. Clink.
In the wooded middle slope of the mountain, Cha Eui-sung strapped a large pack to his back and picked up a long, pointed rod.
It was a reinforced alloy rod he’d paid good money for—a makeshift spear. He’d decided against using the hollow pipes mixed with dungeon byproducts; they were just too flimsy.
He remembered how frustrating it had been last time, trying to conserve resources while fighting.
Once fully prepared, he sat still for about thirty minutes, waiting.
Eventually, a strange sensation crept in. The surrounding landscape began to warp and shimmer.
Wooooooom—wooooom—wooooom—wooooom—
How surreal. It was his first time witnessing a dungeon actually form.
CRRRRKKK—KRRK! SHHHRAAAK!
The twisted air suddenly tore open with a sharp rip.
The hole, once torn, stabilized and began to widen, eventually forming the familiar shape of a Gate right in front of Cha Eui-sung.
A pale, glowing portal shimmered in the center.
“Let’s see what we’ve got.”
Dusting off the dirt from his clothes, Cha Eui-sung got to his feet and strode into the dungeon.
Fwoosh!
The forest vanished, and in its place appeared a dark cavern.
It looked like someone had carved it out by hand—a craggy tunnel made of stone. Far too primitive and inefficient to be a mine.
Without hesitation, Cha Eui-sung walked deeper inside, gripping his weapon tightly.
Shhhk…
Before long, he could feel something ahead.
GRAAAARRGH!
A beast the size of a mid-size car burst from the shadows, flailing its bizarrely long claws as it lunged straight for him.
The first fight had begun.
CLANG! KANG—!
He blocked the blow with a swing of his weapon, sparks flying. Those claws were shockingly hard.
If they weren’t so curved, they could’ve been harvested for spears. Clicking his tongue in regret, Cha Eui-sung raised his arm.
Shhhhhh!
Without wasting time, the long metal rod began to shimmer with the form of a sharp spearhead.
SHEEEEEK— CRACK!
A sickening crunch rang out as the monster was pierced clean through—from head to tail.
The beast collapsed with a thud, a cylindrical tunnel bored through its body like it had been hollowed out.
Only then did thick red blood begin to spurt and pool.
He’d aimed for a clean kill to avoid getting splattered—and it paid off.
With a flick of his weapon, Cha Eui-sung resumed his walk deeper into the dungeon.
Was that… a B-rank mole… or something?
He’d read about this monster before, but it was his first time taking one down.
It had decent strength and speed, but aside from the claws, nothing particularly threatening.
If someone could draw its aggro while another landed a strike, it would be an easy hunt.
It seemed tough, sure—but not eight Hunters tough.
It’s not like the unprocessed Chain Crystals were weakening them… so is the boss the real problem?
GRRAARGH! GRRAAARGHH—!
More attacks came, sporadically. But every single monster was the same species.
Mole-like creatures with poor vision and glinting eyes, flailing as they sprinted out.
Two moles, three moles, four moles… Cha Eui-sung felt like he was playing a game of whack-a-mole.
And to top it off, the tunnel didn’t even branch. No need to think, no way to get lost—even if you walked with your eyes closed.
Just one straight corridor.
Imagining eight Hunters shuffling through here in a line was… ridiculous.
Is this a dungeon or a theme park ride?
The monsters weren’t exactly weak, but they were nowhere near the nightmare he’d expected.
With a half-bored pace, he continued down the tunnel for about thirty minutes—until finally, he reached the end.
Step.
The moment he set foot in the wide cavern at the end, the air shifted ever so slightly.
❤️