Fallen Lightbringers' Return

"Are you serious? You mean, like, real people?" Hwa Endo couldn't believe what that young man was saying. Well, not because of the existence of brainwashing (she believed that very well, with all the fantastical things that happened), but rather.. . wasn't it unfair?

After all, these people were humans just like them. They joined MyeongDong without any prior knowledge of what would happen. The Guide Latania had talked about how this was supposed to be a fair game, yet these guys weren't given a chance at all. How cruel, she thought.

Lee Dojin waved his hands across their faces, but they showed little reaction. It was as if they were NPC's awaiting some kind of cue. A little uncanny, to be honest.

His thoughts resembled those of Hwa Endo. He couldn't imagine the Guide turning all these people into brainwashed puppets without giving them a chance, no matter how malicious she was to the human race. Lee Dojin had mentioned it once, but the system was fair. Harsh, but fair. The Mirage too wished for humanity to grow stronger, thus it would not be beneficial at all to destroy their minds without a chance. Was there something else to this dungeon that he had yet to see?

Either way, the relaxing mood from before had soured quickly.

Kim Jyejin walked forward, her face full of concern. The survivors all watched her, anxious yet curious at the same time. Not letting their gazes affect her, she shook the shoulders of one of these brainwashed people. "Hey, what's wrong with you! Wake up!"

Park Hansoo jumped forward. "Jyejin, what are you, crazy? Don't be so violent," he told her, alarmed.

The person grabbed by Jyejin appeared to be confused as well, their face full of question marks. However, seeing the situation, these questions quickly turned into exclamations. "Are you defying her royal majesties orders?"

The other brainwashed people surrounding the crate quickly turned vigilant. Though they had no weapons, they readied themselves to battles as if they were fully armed. It was a sight to behold. "Men, do not falter. These commoners are nothing compared to the knights in the city."

"We shall ask you one more time. I understand those who are uneducated hold little knowledge about what is right and wrong, but I will not allow any further transgressions," one of the men said with a stern face. "You are to be obedient upon the gaze of her majesty's flag! Even an infant knows that, as their cries quiver under the royal ones' grace."

A vein appeared upon Kim Jyejins forehead. Her brows furrowed harshly. "Majesty this, Majesty that, this isn't a fucking LARP session. I'll take you seriously when you talk to me as real people, not manipulated puppets."

"These people are brainwashed," Park Hansoo said in an it-can't-be-helped voice, "They can't help it."

"I can see that Hansoo, I'm not an idiot," she spat out, her face dark. "Shit, not just corpse dolls and magic, now there's even mind control. There's nothing worse than that," Jyejin said and squinted her eyes. "I'd rather die than live a life like theirs. A brain in confinement.. . what a gut-punch to those who seek freedom."

The person next to the crate perked up. "Young lady, I have warned you countlessly, step back. You have overused my patience. Do not blame me for the consequences."

"Huh?" Kim Jyejin looked at that person, and she saw a fist fly her way. She flinched by closing her eyes, as the girl was unprepared for the sudden strike. However, the fist never reached her, even after a few seconds. As she reopened her eyes, she saw a young man stand before her.

He looked at Jyejin and said with a wry smile, "I don't think this is the time for you to preach your morality." He had caught the fist with his hand, and the other person could not budge at all, even though he appeared almost twice the size as him. "Could just be my opinion though," he said apologetically.

Lee Dojins' eyes opened slightly. "Hoh," he said, observing the new person. Well, he wasn't that new, as the guy had been there since surviving the cafe (he had even introduced himself), but his presence was so low, no one could actually remember him. He had black hair—a bob-cut that covered half his eyes—and wore a white shirt with blue pants. He appeared young, a little naive with his small face, though it would appear this assessment was a mistaken one.

Zheng Yunhe appeared a little more surprised. Just like Lee Dojin, he hadn't paid too much attention to that lanky boy. However, seeing how fast he moved, he imagined that this boy may actually be trained in some martial arts; it was hard to tell with only this little, but these reflexes hardly seemed like a fluke. Could he perhaps be another anomaly just like that Lee Dojin?

The young man blushed as everybody stared at him. He quickly let go and brushed his bangs down. "Pl-Please don't look at me, this is embarrassing!"

"Or maybe not," Zheng Yunhe muttered with a sigh.

The brainwashed guards all looked at each other, unsure what to do. They spoke with a stern, but caring voice, "Look, we do not wish to harm the citizens of this kingdom. We apologize for being too rash, but you have to understand, this is provision for her majesty. There's wild game all around here, I am sure you can hunt some by yourself." One of the guards threw them a stick. "Take my longsword, and get some food with this. At the worst, sell it if you require food."

The survivors all looked at each other. What were they supposed to make of this? Hwa Endo scratched her head and sighed up the sky. ".. .They don't seem like bad people," she said with a complicated expression. "What shall we do?"

Lee Dojin rubbed his head. "At the very least, we need to avoid a fight. These people don't know what they are saying. They are human just like us."

Kang Soomin walked forward. "I get that we shouldn't attack these guys as they are only victims, but how are we supposed to eat? We are having a hard time too."

Zheng Yunhe shook his head. "It's only been one day. Your body will get used to it soon, and your stomach won't even hurt. Don't be so dramatic."

"But we need energy—even more than normal—to fend off against all these monsters. What will you make of that," she asked exasperated. It wasn't a full-out fight, they were simply discussing, but the dilemma was hard to break.

Suddenly, as if to put this unending discourse to a stop, a new voice appeared, "Oh, it looks like some people came before us," and following right behind, a new group of people (around 20) appeared, each with a weapon in their hands.

The survivors in Lee Dojins' group immediately perked up. Right now, any new stranger would activate their flight-or-fight response. Not only were they a bigger size, but most of them also looked like able-bodied men, while they were a random assortment of humans.

"There's quite a lot of people here already," the forefront person said. He had black hair slicked back, his face of Asian ethnicity, and a burning cigarette in his mouth. He blew out a small ring of black smoke. "Are you guys also survivors of this terror show?"

Hwa Endo took the responsibility to talk. "Wait, you guys, could it be you fought against these dolls too?"

The guy scoffed. "Fight? We got massacred by them. Especially that fucking knight, if he didn't leave after the safe zone was gone, I wouldn't be here," he spat on the ground, "But it seems we aren't the only group that survived."

Lee Dojin quickly concluded that just like them, the guide Latania had gone to other hotspots and created small scenarios similar to that in the cafe. These guys must have been the survivors in the same position as them. It was hardly a complex guess to make.

Out of the blue, Park Wonho stepped forward. He still hed the child by her hand. "No way, is that you, Sleeping Tiger of Incheon, Won Jaemin?"

"You're fucking with me." The smoking guys' eyes opened as he saw the big guy. His cigarette dropped to the ground. "Wonho, the Destruction of Gangnam? No way dude, what the hell are you doing here?" His eyes lit up upon seeing a familiar name.

Every person except for those two had a question mark on their face. Kim Jyejin couldn't help ask. "What's with these cringy titles."

Park Wonho cupped his face in shame. "He's one of the delinquents in a famous gang from Incheon. I used to be involved with them when I was younger."

"Involved? What are you talking about, you fucked us up," Won Jaemin laughed. "Dude you were like a bulldozer breaking through our doors. I think you broke like three bones of mine. What a good time."

".. .Is that so," Kim Jyejin gave him the side-eye.

One of the brainwashed people walked forward. It was the one who had attacked Jyejin. He grabbed Won Jaemin by the shoulder. "Halt! You are in presence of her maje—!" And before he could finish his sentence, one of Jaemins men slit the person's throat, causing a flood of blood to cover everyone nearby.

"Anyway, it's good that see you, bro! No really, what a great find." Jaemin smiled, as the crimson flow covered his whole body. He paid no heed to the fresh corpse his partner created. "How about joining us? Fuck the gangs and the sleeping tiger bullshit. I have a new leader, born from the survivors of the billard bar we were in. That man's the real deal. I ain't the brightest bulb, but I know everything that happens in this dungeon will decide the next era of Seoul. You in?"

Park Wonho's eyes opened wide as his expression turned pale. "What did you just do?" He shook. "Do you have any idea at all?"

Won Jaemins expression darkened. "What's wrong? It's just some blood. We used to go much harder in the golden days. Don't tell me you turned into a pussy." He clicked his tongue, seeing Park Wonho's terrified face. "Well, we have no need for you then." He turned to his men. "This must be the provisional crate they spoke about! Pack it up."

Wonhos' irises fluttered. He did not fear a person dying. No, before New Year, he hadn't feared anything at all. For him to gulp like this, there was only one reason.

"Hey, you realize, you have just killed a human, right," Lee Dojin grabbed Won Jaemins shoulder.

"Hah? So what? You gonna preach at me?" The man turned around with a mocking jeer and threw out a fist and hit Dojins' face.

Park Wonho averted his sight. He shuddered as he knew that terror itself came only from standing against that man. And evidently, he was displeased.

Lee Dojin had an icy-cold face, as Jaemins knuckles broke on his hard skull. He asked calmly, "So, sleeping tiger, Shall I take this as a declaration of war?"