Hold On 1

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Chapter 1

Prologue

Raon stepped off the plane and went straight into the temporary headquarters.

“Affiliation.”

“Republic of Korea MK Center, G0228C Kang Raon.”

He answered the identity check in a flat monotone, then took the protective suit Jay handed him and sat down on the bench. For someone who usually recoiled at the mere mention of protective suits, he was putting this one on with unusual speed.

“G0228C Kang Raon. Entry denied.”

“What bullshit. Since when do I listen to what anyone tells me? Where’s your boss?”

He stood up and started looking for whoever was in charge—speaking in Korean, not English. Jay, who’d been waiting beside him, helped him into the suit. This goddamn thing might protect him from danger, but it felt like the weight alone would crush him first.

He ignored the confused stares from people watching him barge in and do whatever he wanted despite being denied entry. He didn’t cut any corners like he did during emergency drills—no sloppy half-measures, no skipping equipment.

“Everyone is ordered to stay clear of the site. Remove that suit immediately and wait outside the perimeter…”

Helmet in hand, Raon fixed a cold stare on the man blocking his path. Since the dungeon had appeared in the United States, it looked like the American team had operational command. After confirming the eagle insignia on the man’s chest along with the letters “E Carter”—his rank and name—Raon let out a short sigh.

“I heard Nox is here.”

The moment Raon said the name “Nox,” the man’s expression shifted. Raon’s gaze moved to a young man fidgeting nearby. Judging by his clothes, clearly a Guide from the MK Center. Raon walked over, pulled the earpiece from the young man’s ear, and put it in his own.

“This is G0228C Kang Raon. Report current situation.”

Without asking permission or explaining anything, Raon said what needed to be said and waited for a response, his fingers drumming rapidly against his thigh.

[You’re already here?]

“Choi Hyukjin. Cut the bullshit and give me the report first.”

Recognizing the familiar voice of Hyukjin from the intel team, Raon snapped back.

[The rumors seem to be true.]

Raon bit his lower lip. For him, this mattered more than the unprecedented dungeon outbreak that had been shaking the world since this morning.

“Who else is on this channel? Cut them all off.”

Raon glanced at his watch. No time to waste on pointless conversation.

He’d opened his eyes and gotten on a plane without even a moment to process the news he’d received.

A dungeon outbreak in a foreign country wasn’t his problem. The ones in Korea already gave him enough headaches. It was standard protocol—each country handled dungeon incidents within their own borders.

The single reason he’d flown all the way here, despite being someone who had to approve international cooperation requests for dungeon emergencies, was one thing only:

Fact-checking.

For an A-class dungeon, deploying S-class Espers from the start was the correct approach. Sure, people complained about wasting resources, but his philosophy was simple: send in Espers ranked higher than the dungeon classification and dismantle it as fast as possible.

What the hell were they thinking, sending in only A and B-class Espers?

When the dungeon unexpectedly went berserk, the situation became unsalvageable. Instead of entering the dungeon to resolve things at the source, headquarters was positioning Espers around it like a containment barrier to prevent the damage from spreading.

Leaving the temporary headquarters, Raon headed toward the dungeon entrance, passing Espers positioned at regular intervals.

[E1101S. Min Jaehwi. Appears to be Nox. Twenty years old. Currently affiliated with the NCSC—National Code Security Center—about to transfer to the private sector. That’s probably why his information got released. Until now, he was classified as national top-secret. Everyone’s scrambling to recruit him now that the intel’s out. The NCSC stipulated he can only transfer domestically.]

Raon slowly closed his eyes. From the moment he’d heard the code E1101S, his heart had been pounding. Despite searching so hard, despite scrutinizing the NCSC, he hadn’t been able to find this.

National top-secret classification. No wonder there was nothing. No Esper had ever been classified and managed as a national top-secret before.

Raon opened his eyes as he felt someone’s uncomfortable presence hovering nearby. His gaze naturally dropped to the left chest of the person standing in front of him, confirming NCSC affiliation.

“Do you have something to say?”

“You’ll need this if you’re going to Nox now.”

“Where’s his Guide?”

Seeing the small box the man held out, Raon raised his eyebrows. An Esper had entered the berserk dungeon. In such an urgent situation, he should’ve been accompanied by his Guide—or at the very least, his Guide should’ve been on standby at temporary headquarters. He couldn’t understand why there were only stabilizers and recovery agents instead of an actual Guide.

Though officially ranked S-class, his abilities had always exceeded that level, sparking rumors that he was actually SSS-class.

He wore black clothes with no affiliation markers and covered the lower half of his face with a black mask. All information about him was strictly confidential—even his code name wasn’t known. People only assumed he belonged to the Republic of Korea because he moved with the NCSC.

That’s why someone started calling him “Nox,” and it stuck as his designation in place of his unknown code name.

Instead of answering, the man slowly blinked.

Could it be there’s no Guide?

“What’s his current state?”

His racing heart now seemed to freeze. An unfamiliar pain gripped and squeezed his chest. Raon held his forehead, waiting for the other man’s response.

—15%. Maximum 30 minutes—

Probably conscious of the Espers around them, the man showed a piece of paper where letters appeared and disappeared rapidly.

“You’re telling me you just left an Esper in this condition?”

His anxious emotions transformed into a sharp voice that cut coldly through the hesitating Guide.

—Nox himself refused—

The letters appeared and vanished again.

With a deep sigh, Raon brushed back his bangs and accepted the box.

“Choi Hyukjin. How’s the connection with Nox?”

In the current situation, reaching him seemed nearly impossible. For starters, his exact location was uncertain. He couldn’t even predict the extent of this fire barrier the Espers had created to contain the outbreak.

“Are you saying you’re going in now?”

His head was a mess, his stomach churning. He’d never felt like this before in his life. As he shook his head to clear the tangled emotions, Commander Carter entered his field of vision.

“If Plan A is for Nox to contain the situation and come out, what’s Plan B if he fails?”

“Where are all the S-class Guides and Espers? You’re telling me you—a C-class Guide—are going in alone?”

Raon couldn’t help but laugh bitterly. The man had completely ignored his question and yelled at him instead. Right. Why am I going? The person in that hell might not even be my child, and here I am, acting on one uncertain fact—I can’t even believe myself.

“Whatever. We just need to contain this situation, right? Once it’s resolved, you’ll have to pay a hefty price—that’s what you should be worried about.”

Raon replied as he put on the protective helmet, ignoring Commander Carter’s attempts to stop him.

Nox. Nox. Nox.

Everyone dumped every problem they couldn’t solve on him. Even his current condition was top-secret—these people had no information.

As they struggled to contain the situation, they’d probably sought out Nox. And now Nox was alone inside that dungeon. And everyone was probably taking it easy, thinking everything would be resolved because Nox had been called. After all, Nox had never failed a mission before. But what if the Nox you all believe in so much is about to go berserk himself?

[Got the channel from NCSC. Now it’s just you, me, and Nox on this channel.]

Hearing Hyukjin’s voice through the earpiece, Raon clenched his fist, then released it.

“Nox.”

Not wanting anyone else to hear this conversation, Raon lowered the protective visor of his helmet.

No response from the other end of the earpiece.

“Min Jaehwi.”

Still no sound.

“Hwi. I’m coming in now. Make me a path.”

Standing in front of the pillars of fire created by the Espers, Raon tried to see beyond them. There were reports that the dungeon entrance had been sealed. Did he plan to be buried with the dungeon? As a C-class Guide with no proper training, no different from an ordinary person, this wasn’t a place he could just walk into.

Despite the protective suit, without Espers helping him, his body would melt the moment he stepped inside. He couldn’t open the shattered dungeon entrance, couldn’t find Nox in there without knowing what was happening inside.

He didn’t care what anyone said. He had to go in right now, even if it became an international incident.

The person who had made him—someone who hated movement—fly all the way to the United States was in there.

If anyone asked if he was okay standing in front of flames that seemed ready to burn him to ashes, he’d want to slap them. He was terrified. He wanted to run away right now. What riches or fame was he seeking, coming all the way here to enter a rampaging dungeon?

There was no time to hesitate. Even now, the flames that seemed ready to devour everything were growing fiercer. And Nox’s stabilization gauge was gradually dropping. As he slowly lifted his foot, the curtain of fire opened, creating a small space. Just enough for one person to pass through without being engulfed.

He couldn’t tell whether it was the Esper maintaining the fire barrier who’d opened it or if it was Nox. But he had to go through.

His grip tightened on the small box containing the stabilizer.

As he took a step forward, enough space opened for him to advance, and immediately the flames closed in behind him, cutting off any retreat. All he could see were crimson pillars of fire. All he could hear was the sound of his own breathing inside the heavy, uncomfortable protective suit.

How long had he been walking? Though the flames never touched his body, the scorching heat had him drenched in sweat from head to toe. Raon’s path was nothing but a sea of fire. Sweat beads rolled down from his forehead and collected at the tip of his nose, driving him insane with the itch. He wanted to scratch it but couldn’t. The heat made breathing difficult, and his pace slowed considerably.

If not for the spaces gradually opening ahead, he might’ve lost his way among the pillars of fire. He simply walked wherever the path formed.

Stamina? Patience? Those words didn’t exist in Raon’s dictionary. He just wanted to lie down right there. Even in the brief moments when he caught his breath, every curse he knew flowed from his mouth. He tried them all, but it only made him feel more suffocated.

[Kang Raon. Is it really worth risking your life to meet him?]

Just as a sweat droplet entered his eye—unable to wipe it away—Raon’s body staggered badly. He’d misstepped and stepped on something.

His flailing arm plunged into the curtain of fire and back out.

In that brief moment, the outer layer of the protective suit that had entered and exited melted away. Thanks to the multi-layered special suit, he didn’t get burned, but he felt dizzy.

Fortunately, it wasn’t the hand holding the box with the stabilizer.

“Fuck. I’m going to kill everyone there if it’s not Min Jaehwi.”

He answered Hyukjin’s question, but Nox remained silent. There was a grinding sound from his clenched teeth, and his slowing footsteps quickened again.

Footnotes:

Min Jaehwi (Male) – Top character, also referred to as: