# Chapter 88
[Guide Yu Junseo! Respond immediately if you can hear me!]
But despite Sangjun calling for Junseo multiple times, there was no response.
Dohyuk, holding his breath and waiting only for Junseo’s voice, finally rubbed his face with his dry hands when the pounding of his chaotic heart became so irritating that he wanted to tear out all his internal organs. A gloomy self-destructive desire to blame himself for not grabbing that hand surged within him.
Finally, Sangjun issued a new directive.
[Wait while Esper Kim Minseok scans the changed maze again. After we regroup, we’ll track Guide Yu Junseo’s whereabouts.]
For Dohyuk, this was a directive difficult to accept. Suppressing his labored breathing with effort, Dohyuk slowly answered.
“It will be too late. I saw the wooden doll take Guide Yu Junseo. There’s a high probability he’s in Agwi’s nest.”
[Esper Choi Dohyuk.]
Sangjun lowered his voice as if he had noticed Dohyuk’s thoughts. It was clearly a warning. Unlike usual, when Dohyuk would follow superiors’ orders without question, his sharp voice continued stubbornly.
“The scan will take at least 20 minutes. It will take even longer to regroup. You know this. The golden time to rescue someone from a monster is 20 minutes at most.”
It takes 20 minutes for Minseok to scan the dungeon interior. How long it would take to regroup was completely unknown.
Junseo was a Guide. With strength similar to an ordinary person, classified as a non-ability user, there was no way he could hold out alone for what might be over an hour.
Moreover, he’s not responding to the radio now. Dohyuk had never heard that Agwi had the ability to disrupt radio signals. There was a high possibility that Junseo was being controlled by Agwi right now. He could be walking straight into Agwi’s jaws at this very moment, having completely lost his cognitive abilities.
[Esper Choi Dohyuk! This is the header’s order. Stay where you are!]
Sangjun gave his final warning. If it had been a matter of his own life, Dohyuk would have buried his head and followed without complaint.
“I will accept whatever punishment follows our return, according to Esper Ji Sangjun’s wishes.”
But Dohyuk couldn’t gamble with his one and only person placed on a disastrous roulette.
Dohyuk pulled the earpiece from his ear and stuffed it carelessly into his pocket. The entire sequence flowed smoothly without any hesitation.
Even though he knew that disobeying the header’s order could result in being shot on the spot.
“You’re crazy.”
“I’m not in the mood to deal with you right now, so Esper Seo Jaesik, shut up and wait here. When you regroup with the others, come provide support as quickly as possible.”
“What do you think you’ll accomplish by rushing out alone? You’ll just get lost in the maze and die pathetically. I don’t understand what’s so attractive about Yu Junseo that he’s trying to overturn the entire headquarters.”
When Jaesik clicked his tongue mockingly, Dohyuk, who was about to leave, turned his head. Responding to the look demanding an explanation, Jaesik twisted the corner of his mouth and spoke.
“The ridiculous demand to stabilize an S-class dungeon in 3 days came because of you. The headquarters is desperate to kill you, you know. Junseo knows that too.”
***
Dohyuk traversed the pitch-black darkness. His eyes, which had adapted to this dense darkness with incredible speed impossible for an ordinary person to imagine, distinguished the endless terrain.
The path split into five directions. Dohyuk chose the third path without even considering the options. Even as he ran at high speed, Jaesik’s voice echoed vividly in his head.
‘I can’t talk for long. I need to get something out of this too. It’s not like I can get anything from you. Anyway, the important thing is this: I made a deal with Junseo and have been cooperating despite the risks. What I’m saying is that this situation is fucked up for me too. We’re in the same boat, so stop being so wary.’
It seemed like a conversation they had separately while Dohyuk was unconscious. But now that Junseo, who had guaranteed something, had disappeared, Jaesik’s sarcastic tone worsened as if filled with frustration.
‘That doesn’t mean I’m on Esper Choi Dohyuk’s side, though. Don’t feel hurt. If Junseo dies, well, I’ll have to get back in line. Since we haven’t found the body yet, I’ll wait a bit longer.’
Jaesik wasn’t worried about Junseo. He was concerned about the contract that would fall apart if Junseo disappeared and the damage to himself. As soon as Dohyuk realized this fact, rage surged within him, and he eventually slammed his fist into Jaesik’s face. That had happened just a few minutes ago.
Dohyuk almost regretted not being able to beat Jaesik to a pulp because he didn’t have time. A corpse? Who did he think he was talking about with such reckless words?
The reason he was out of breath was clearly due to anger and anxiety.
Choosing the right path at a fork, Dohyuk increased his speed and emerged from the narrow path to find a wide open space. Without resting for even a moment, Dohyuk moved to cross the open area and choose one of the four paths beyond it.
At that moment, the ground where Dohyuk stepped turned blue. Something like a huge will-o’-the-wisp flared up, and soon a blinding light flashed.
“…!”
At the same time, Dohyuk realized what had happened.
A luring trap.
The light and flames disappeared instantly, and the surroundings were dyed in darkness again. As he quickly moved back, something shot up from the darkness with a flutter.
A huge body with vivid stripes that would suit feline predators. The B-class monster, Homoonjo.
It was unfortunate that the first monster he encountered was one with the same attribute, immune to Dohyuk’s ability. Dohyuk quickly drew his dagger and watched the Homoonjo. Of course, since Homoonjo was a lower-ranked monster, Dohyuk could hunt it quickly if he wanted to, even if his ability didn’t work. However, the problem was that what Dohyuk had summoned was a ‘pack’ of Homoonjo. Just by sensing their presence, he could tell that more than eight Homoonjo filled the open space.
But Dohyuk had no other choice.
Monsters summoned by a luring trap feel strong hostility toward the person who triggered it. This means that Dohyuk couldn’t shake off the monsters unless either he or the Homoonjo died. He needed to take care of them as quickly as possible and move on.
Kieeeeek!
Massive wings that would have looked bright red in the light spread like steel. The predatory gaze, gleaming even in the pitch-black space, was aimed directly at Dohyuk. In this explosive situation, Dohyuk gripped the dagger handle more tightly.
The Homoonjo began to move.
‘Where is it planning to attack?’
Dohyuk watched its movements with a tensed body.
But what happened next was completely different from Dohyuk’s expectations.
The Homoonjo leaped over Dohyuk as if it hadn’t even noticed him. Flapping its wings, it disappeared down the path Dohyuk had come from, and the rest of the Homoonjo pack began to follow in a line. Eventually, all the Homoonjo vanished in that direction.
With tension suddenly released, Dohyuk frowned as his strength drained away. What on earth was happening? Normally, Homoonjo are monsters that feed on humans. They snatch humans with their sharp claws and devour them in one go.
In a normal situation, Dohyuk should have been fighting like mad the moment he encountered the Homoonjo. Dohyuk knew better than anyone how ferocious monsters inside a dungeon are, especially those summoned through a luring trap.
Although confused by the incomprehensible situation, Dohyuk couldn’t waste any more time.
Dohyuk crossed the open space and entered the third path.
The strange occurrences didn’t end there.
Dohyuk succeeded in entering Agwi’s nest without being hindered by any monster he encountered.
Of course, while stabilizing quite a few labyrinth-type dungeons until now, Dohyuk had always relied on inexplicable déjà vu to breakthrough mazes. But monsters that don’t attack humans when they see them was an extraordinary thing he was witnessing for the first time. What on earth was happening in this dungeon right now?
Nothing was happening as expected, which meant he couldn’t even relax his guard.
‘Thud, thud.’
Agwi’s nest smelled of rot. The inside of the nest, which resembled a huge cave, was filled with cool, damp mist. A faint light from an unknown source subtly filled the nest.
As Dohyuk stepped inside, passing through some unknown viscous fluid and fragments, his foot hit something.
A stone-like object, blackened and on the verge of crumbling.
Startled, Dohyuk picked up the object.
“This is…”
It was a nucleus.
More precisely, it was something that had been a nucleus.
It was in a state commonly seen in the past era when nuclei weren’t used as energy resources but were destroyed—having already lost its energy and utility. The powerless nucleus easily crumbled in Dohyuk’s hand like hardened sand. The fragments slipping through his fingers gave him chills.
Dohyuk quickened his movements.
Why was the nucleus already destroyed?
Where did the nuclear energy disappear to? Could Agwi have absorbed it?
Since when could monsters completely extract energy from nuclei?
All sorts of questions tangled in his mind.
