The laboratory director smiled with a troubled expression and gestured for us to sit down.
“Please, take a seat first.”
Following his words, we sat facing each other on the guest sofa in the laboratory.
“If it’s coming from you, not someone else, I suppose I can trust it.”
The laboratory director sighed softly and spoke about the mission that the Center Director had mentioned.
“I don’t know where you heard it from, but you’re precisely correct. A dungeon has appeared on Quardo Island.”
I was so surprised that I found myself staring at the laboratory director’s face. Nowhere in his serious expression could I detect any hint of lying.
“Isn’t it too quiet for that to be the case?”
“To be precise, it’s a dormant dungeon. It seems to have appeared not long after the first dungeon was created, but since no monsters have appeared so far, no one knew about it.”
It was almost like a formula: when a gate opens, monsters pour out from the dungeon connected to the other world. To quell the chaos, the nation occupies the gate and sends trained Espers into the dungeon. On the surface, the purpose seems to be to eliminate monsters, but ultimately, the main mission is to destroy the dungeon’s core to cease dungeon activity. That’s the only way to cut off the influx of monsters from the other world. Conversely, when the core isn’t activated, the dungeon exists but there’s no monster influx.
“If it’s a dormant dungeon, then the core hasn’t been activated yet, correct?”
The Center Director pinpointed the core issue, having thought the same as me, and the laboratory director nodded. Even before my regression, dormant dungeons were something I’d only heard about but never actually seen. Typically, two things are detected when a dungeon appears. First, the surrounding waves distort due to gate creation. Second, monster biological activity. If either is detected, Espers are dispatched by either the nation or private organizations, but in this case, neither condition applied.
‘After the island was sealed off because of the first dungeon, they missed detecting when the gate was created, and since it’s a dormant dungeon with no monster activity, they continued not knowing about it.’
Even though it was called a dormant dungeon, since the core existed, no one knew when monsters might appear. Just as one cannot predict when a dormant volcano will become active, the same applied to dormant dungeons.
“Then the real mission is to destroy the dungeon core, keeping it secret from the government, right?”
Quardo Island was uniquely not belonging to any single country, but considered a common resource for all nations. Whoever discovered it first would claim it. If the Korean branch discovered a dormant dungeon, it would belong to Korea. But if the Center Director from Korea kept quiet, there was no way for the government to know what was happening on the foreign island.
“I’m glad you’re quick to understand.”
The laboratory director’s face showed satisfaction. But that expression didn’t last long.
“What’s the price?”
The Center Director sank deep into the sofa and crossed his legs. He slightly lowered his gaze to look down at the laboratory director, with a relaxed smile on his lips. The laboratory director frowned, apparently displeased by his suddenly changed attitude. But the Center Director paid no mind and instead tilted his head askew, silently urging the laboratory director to answer.
“I’ll transfer all artifacts to you.”
The Center Director’s mouth was still smiling, but his eyes froze coldly.
“Why are you doing this? You know better.”
“…I promise to support the drug that you showed interest in last time.”
“‘Promise to support,’ that’s not an expression I like.”
“It’s still in the testing phase, but it can be considered 95% safe.”
The Center Director clapped lightly with a surprised expression. But his eyes held a bored light, as if watching a drama whose ending he already knew.
“But that’s not quite enough for me.”
The Center Director licked his lips and his eyes gleamed like a hungry predator. It was evident even to me, a third party, how he was manipulating a senior who could be his father’s age like putty in his hands. The laboratory director’s face was gradually losing composure.
“Hand over the drug, the original research data, and all the samples.”
“…!”
The laboratory director’s face contorted far worse than before. Even to my ears, it was hardly a deal—more like extortion.
“To make that drug, I invested…”
“Yes, I know.”
The Center Director cut off the voice that had risen with excitement and continued.
“That it’s a drug made illegally, without the government’s knowledge.”
The laboratory director, who had been unable to contain his anger, his neck veins bulging, suddenly went as quiet as a dead mouse. He looked at the Center Director, his face ashen. The sagging cheeks of the man in his fifties trembled pitifully.
“Shall I also explain why it could only be an illegal experiment? Because the research material is from Guides…”
“Enough. I understand.”
I had no way of judging whether the Center Director actually knew what he was talking about or if he was just fishing for information. However, seeing how urgently the laboratory director stopped him, it became clear that what the Center Director was saying wasn’t completely baseless.
“I’ll do as you say.”
In the end, the Center Director achieved everything he wanted, and they even drafted a contract right there.
The laboratory director, seemingly tired of the conversation with the Center Director, quickly handed over information about the dungeon and chased us out of the laboratory.
“Esper Woo Jeongjae.”
After leaving the laboratory, the Center Director briefly scanned the paper the laboratory director had given him and then passed it to me.
“Read it only with your eyes here, then burn it.”
Since there was nothing good for either of us if the information got out, burning it right there was the most rational choice.
‘But why have me read it? Is he planning to take me to the dungeon too?’
From the conversation I heard inside, I could tell that he had brought me along without knowing about the dormant dungeon. From my perspective, since I came as support for his mission, it made sense that I should go to the dungeon with him, but the problem was that the difficulty and importance of the mission had increased immeasurably compared to before.
‘Normally he wouldn’t have thought to bring me along as it would be cumbersome, so what’s his ulterior motive?’
The core of me was an Esper with five years of experience, but what the Center Director saw was just a novice who had just taken his first step as an Esper. Without sufficient knowledge or experience, even with guaranteed skills, I would inevitably require a lot of attention in the field. He never seemed like the type to look after others originally, but his changed attitude after my regression increasingly confused me. Since I couldn’t figure it out just by pondering right now, I put aside thoughts about him and examined the paper.
[Dungeon Level: S Class
Special Note: Dormant Dungeon
Recommended Personnel: A Class Esper Kang Siwon]
What stood out most was the dungeon level.
If this dungeon hadn’t been dormant, they wouldn’t have been able to establish a research base on Quardo Island like they had now. An S-class dungeon requires at least two S-class Espers to tackle it, and assuming monsters had already occupied the island, the main stage for S-class Espers would not be the dungeon but Quardo Island itself. With two S-class Espers, they probably would have blown up the island while beating the monsters.
‘Even the first dungeon was A-class. And the one that appeared afterward is an S-class dungeon.’
It’s extremely rare for such high-level dungeons to appear consecutively in one place, so I wasn’t sure if this was lucky or unlucky. With a complex expression, I turned to the last page.
[Expected Artifacts (Probability)
—Mental Type (89%)
—Combat Type (70%)
—Healing Type (50%)]
The energy contained in a dungeon’s core not only attracts living monsters but also inanimate objects, which are the artifacts dropped in dungeons. Artifacts possess unknown powers that don’t exist on Earth, so Espers mainly use them when using their abilities. The power of artifacts usually corresponds to the dungeon’s level, but when actually appraising dropped artifacts, their capabilities vary tremendously.
‘If it’s a healing type, does that mean an artifact with the blessing of life might appear?’
The situation fit perfectly with all the hard thinking I’d done the previous day, almost as if it had been a preliminary move for this.
‘The Center Director said earlier that he would hand over all artifacts.’
That meant the ownership of the artifacts would belong to the Center Director.
I glanced at his face as I burned the paper. Would it seem strange if I, a combat-type Esper, requested a healing-type artifact? If I just said I wanted it, would he find that acceptable?
“We don’t have time. Let’s go.”
The paper had long turned to ashes, but I was lost in thought and hadn’t moved a step. The Center Director started walking. I hurriedly followed him, but I couldn’t even begin to figure out how to naturally bring up the artifacts. Eventually, we reached the door to where the Guides were staying.
‘Let’s bring it up again when it’s just the two of us at the dungeon.’
I might unnecessarily raise suspicions if I spoke hastily.
I was trying to calm my anxiety and sighed softly as I grabbed the doorknob.
“Wait.”
The Center Director grabbed my arm. My hand fell away from the doorknob and hung awkwardly in the air.
“Do you have something to say to me?”
“……”
“No, I must have been mistaken.”
I never imagined he would ask me first, so I momentarily panicked and missed the timing to speak. The Center Director wasn’t the type to wait patiently, as he immediately released my hand and quickly reached for the doorknob. I grabbed his hand just in time, before he could open the door. Simultaneously, I used my ability to create a barrier so our conversation wouldn’t leak out.
“Hmm, you’re quite impatient. Yes, I have something to say.”
He seemed to realize that I had blocked the sound, as he raised one eyebrow askew.
“The artifacts from the dungeon, could you give them to me?”
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
