NOVEL WEB Chapter 3 - Unwanted Occurrence (2)
Chapter 3: Unwanted Occurrence (2)
TL: SHW
The mana around the dungeon gate gates distorted. This is due to the mana refraction phenomenon caused by the dimensional passage, and it becomes more unstable as it approaches a dungeon break.
Therefore, mana meters are installed around the gate to measure the danger level. Danger Level 1 means the dungeon is in a state where it wouldn’t be surprising if it collapsed at any moment. So when the danger level reaches 2, a raid team is quickly sent to close the dungeon.
This is the modern method of dungeon management.
However, dungeons are still mysterious existence whose occurrence reasons are unknown. Sometimes, a crazily dangerous dungeon with a rapidly rising danger level suddenly appears.
No matter how hard the Ability Management Agency works, there’s nothing they can do when such events occur.
“Huh, what is this!”
“What’s going on?”
The cell phones of people in the bar started ringing loudly and simultaneously. The ear-piercing alarm.
A dungeon break notification is sent to all citizens, regardless of the region.
“Dungeon Break?”
“A dungeon break? Where?”
Of course, I got the notification too.
If it’s Bangi-dong 1 Dungeon, that’s what Yoo Ji-eun was talking about. She’ll be strutting around saying ‘I told you so’ for a while.
But that’s not the important part. Even before I could make a call, a call came in. I answered it immediately.
― Ch-chief, there’s a big problem!!
A desperate voice hit my eardrum. I moved the receiver a bit away and spoke.
“I’ve confirmed it. It’s the Bangi-dong Dungeon, right? Since it’s a D-rank dungeon, nothing significant should come out. There will be considerable damage since it’s a densely populated area… Request immediate cooperation from all guilds in Seoul.”
“No, it’s not on the level of a D-grade dungeon!”
“What?”
“A massive creature has come out! As soon as it emerged, half of Songpa District was blown away!!!”
What?
“The Director took the hunters who were on standby at the headquarters and immediately deployed, but honestly, I don’t know. This is the first time we’ve seen something like this!”
The voice of the situation room employee was falling into panic.
It’s not like they were a newly appointed rookie; they were a fairly experienced employee falling into panic. Unbelievable.
“Kyung-min ssi. Calm down. Calm down, I’m on my way now. You can request a helicopter, right? Send it. I’ll be there right away.”
“Please come quickly. Please….”
Half of Songpa District blown away? Not in the old days, but in modern times, that sounds absurd.
But since the Director stepped in, it should be over soon. He is literally the strongest hunter.
By the time I reach Seoul, it will probably be all over. Still, if it’s known that the I was enjoying his vacation when the dungeon broke, there will be another hearing. I barely took this vacation.
Grinding my teeth, I downed the remaining half of my drink and left the bar.
* * *
“Take off immediately.”
“Yes, understood.”
I sighed as I boarded the police helicopter.
Notifications rang again from my phone. Due to the dungeon break, the notifications keep coming. Dungeon break area. Hunter dispatch. Evacuation recommendation for Songpa District.
However, this time the notification wasn’t just from my phone. My mana watch was ringing.
What’s happening now that would make the mana watch ring like this….
“Uh, Chief?”
The police officer piloting the helicopter called me with a trembling voice.
“Th-there, on the highway, is that… isn’t that a m-monster?”
I opened the holographic window.
Dungeon Danger Level List.
!!Busan Hwamyeong-dong 1 Dungeon (E) – 00000000000
!!Gyeongnam Yangsan 13 Dungeon (C) – 00000000000
!!Seoul Gwanaksan 3 Dungeon (C) – 00000000000
!!Gangwon Taebaek 9 Dungeon (A) – 00000000000
!!…
!!…
!!…
“Shit. hat the hell is this.”
Unless my mana watch suddenly went crazy, all the dungeons in Korea were bursting like fireworks.
* * *
Seoul was burning.
“Over there.”
I don’t know how I made it to Seoul. The screams of people kept echoing below the helicopter. I didn’t look down. I couldn’t save them anyway.
I just thought it was a stroke of luck that I hadn’t encountered a flying monster.
“Anyway, it’s unlikely you’ll be able to return to Busan. Since we didn’t see any flying monsters on the way, look around to see if there are any survivors. If it seems hopeless, find a place that looks safe.”
I didn’t know if there was any safe place, but I said that anyway.
“And never go to the center of Seoul.”
Leaving someone who isn’t a hunter in this situation is the same as telling them to die. The police officer in front of me knew that too.
But I couldn’t take them with me.
“W-what about you, Chief?”
“I’m going over there.”
I pointed towards the center of Seoul, in the direction of the Ability Management Agency.
Starting from the Bangi-dong Dungeon, every dungeon in Korea had broken out. While coming up to Seoul, my phone had gone silent, and so had my mana watch. From the middle, I didn’t even bother checking anymore.
I didn’t know what came out of the Bangi-dong Dungeon. Whatever it was, Seoul was finished now. Seoul was burning, and the Han River had turned black. A stench that couldn’t be masked by the blazing flames emanated from the water. No matter how this situation is resolved, Seoul is now a land where people cannot live.
“……”
The police officer looked at me with a complicated expression.
He and I were in the same situation. There was no way to survive.
Even though we knew that.
“Then good luck.”
“…You too, Chief.”
Leaving the police helicopter behind, I walked towards the Ability Management Agency.
As expected, there was no sign of life. What remained in Seoul were flames, the wreckage of buildings, and monsters.
“Kieek!”
“……”
I got my hunter license in high school.
I renewed it a few times during college to raise my rank.
After graduating from university, I joined the Ability Management Agency. Since then, I’ve been working in the office.
Even though I was in an office job, the Director took me to the mountains every weekend for training. He’d make me train in a clearing near the summit, saying I’d be able to renew my rank again soon. The Director, not me, was excited about it.
What did the old man say back then?
“Hwijae, a person needs to learn skills. That’s the only way to make a living.”
I didn’t think that skill was this skill….
But he was right.
I picked up a sword that was rolling at my feet. Not far away was a charred corpse.
A tiger leaves its skin when it dies, and an unknown hunter leaves their weapon.
Cutting down the monsters I encountered, I kept moving.
I didn’t know if the hunters in Seoul had killed them, or if they had burned together, but there weren’t many monsters left.
I moved forward slowly.
The last news I checked in the helicopter said that the same phenomenon was happening worldwide. Not just in Korea, but all dungeons around the world were collapsing.
“…What the hell.”
From the moment I left the lab, the future I wanted was simple.
I would dump all the troublesome tasks on others and enjoy the comfort that came with it. The head of the lab was like that. The Inspector lady had made that a bit more concrete. In human society, the higher the position, the more one could enjoy.
I had struggled to achieve that. There wasn’t much time left. The path was clear and smooth.
The future I wanted was worthless without people who would support me. So I had to check if there were any survivors.
…I had to check.
“Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck….”
I checked my mana watch again.
Mana watches can be linked to each other.
The only mana watch connected. When the researchers hesitated, saying it could be an invasion of privacy, the Director scolded them, saying, “He’s my son anyway, so what’s the problem?” He said he just wanted to make sure his son was okay whenever he left home.
Did the old man confirm that I was safe? Did he die peacefully knowing I was still alive?
[Director]
No response. No signal at all.
The old man is dead. The strongest hunter in Korea is dead.
I walked from Songpa District, crossing the Han River, following the dark, blackened trail. It was in the same direction as the Ability Management Agency. Along the way, I saw polluted, poisonous puddles. Traces of a battle.
Near Namsan, I saw part of the creature. It looked like an insect’s leg. One leg was bigger than me.
The slashed surface, as if it had been crushed, was the old man’s work. I could recognize traces of other hunters. They must all be dead.
The stench stung my nose. It was the smell coming from the severed body. The bodily fluids were toxic. Despite the blazing flames, the odor did not disappear. The unpleasant mana in those flames wasn’t ordinary either.
What on earth had happened?
“Cough!”
“…!”
Breathing sounds.
A survivor!
“…Nepo-baby?”
Right before I took my leave, that face had been so annoying, but now I was overwhelmed with joy.
There’s only one person who calls me that.
“Auntie!”
“Ewa, Damn it, I told you not to call me that.”
“Hunter Yoo Ji-eun, I also told you not to call me a Nepo-baby.”
We exchanged sharp words as usual. In fact, it was much kinder than usual.
I ran over to Yoo Ji-eun and checked her wounds.
From head to toe, there wasn’t a single uninjured part. The most severe was her abdomen. I didn’t know what had pierced her, but the bleeding wouldn’t stop. Every time Yoo Ji-eun opened her mouth, blood gushed out.
“Cough… I told you it was weird, damn it.”
“Do you know what happened?”
“If I knew, would I be like this?”
The blood she spat out was black. Poison. The same poison that polluted the Han River. The wounds reeked. I gritted my teeth.
Knowing it was useless, I still took out an emergency potion I carried. Yoo Ji-eun sneered.
“Why. It’s expensive.”
“It’s something you carry, so it must be good. But you know it’s useless.”
“Only one way to find out.”
I poured the potion on the wound. It fizzed and foamed before subsiding. The bleeding stopped briefly, then started again.
Yoo Ji-eun chuckled bitterly.
“I told you we needed to raid it.”
“Who would listen if you suddenly said it felt weird? Even, you, Hunter Yoo Ji-eun wasn’t sure.”
“You ignored the hunter’s intuition?”
“There’s nothing less trustworthy than that.”
“True.”
I used up a high-grade potion consecutively. The wound remained unchanged. The bleeding didn’t stop.
Annoyed, I threw the potion bottle.
“Hey, I’m finished anyway.”
“…So what?”
“Take this.”
Yoo Ji-eun extended her hand.
Clink.
The touch told me immediately what it was.
“Teacher’s… No, you know what it is.”
A dog tag threaded with an old leather string.
The familiar name engraved on the thin metal tag.
Hong Seok-young.
I clenched the dog tag tightly. An item that had outlived its original purpose now held only its physical form’s worth.
“I brought it just in case. Good thing.”
“What’s good about it?”
“At least his son should have it.”
“But I’m not his real son.”
“You’re the only son the teacher has. Give him a proper funeral.”
Yoo Ji-eun spoke calmly.
“Without a body?”
“Have you ever seen a hunter’s funeral with a body?”
She was right, so I kept my mouth shut.
Yoo Ji-eun remained silent for a long time. With her eyes closed, she looked just like a corpse.
I got scared and spoke up.
“Don’t die, Hunter Yoo Ji-eun. I’m not going to give you a funeral.”
“Damn kid. Even when you talk…”
“Don’t die.”
“Do you think that’s up to me? It’s a miracle I’m even alive right now.”
Yoo Ji-eun coughed and vomited black clots along with blood.
“Hey.”
“……”
“Woo Hwijae.”
“……”
“Hwijae.”
“…Yes?”
“Let me see your face.”
Yoo Ji-eun, who was my adoptive father’s favorite disciple, smiled even as she was dying.
“Do you remember when you were little and used to follow me around, calling me noona?”
“How long ago was that…”
“You were cute back then, but as you grew older, you became so rude…”
Yoo Ji-eun chuckled.
“Hwijae.”
No matter what I did, the bleeding wouldn’t stop. The blood just wouldn’t cease. I had no more potions left.
“If you look over there.”
“Shut up and stay still.”
“If you look over there.”
“I said shut up.”
“My sword is there.”
“I’ll call you noona again, so just shut up….”
“I know you prefer spears like the teacher, but take it anyway. It’s a good sword.”
I lifted my head and looked at Yoo Ji-eun.
Yoo Ji-eun was smiling brightly. Even though more than ten years had passed, the face of the high school girl I first met was still there.
“And make it out alive.”
That was Yoo Ji-eun’s last word.