[Kang Raon. There’s a monster 50m ahead, so be careful.]
“Hyukjin… Hyukjin. Just now… Jaehwi…”
As he listened to Hyukjin’s voice and was about to say that a shark had devoured Jaehwi, Raon realized he was in a place like a tropical rainforest. Greens and browns of varying shades filled his vision. He tilted his head back to look up, but endless trees and lush leaves were all he could see.
Following the heat that seemed like it would melt his entire body and wandering through water so cold it was chilling, what Raon felt now was hot humidity that made his breath catch. In an instant, his entire body became stickily wet with humidity and dripping sweat.
A pillar of fire had pierced through his body, and a giant shark had swallowed him in one bite. Exhaling his unstable, rapid breathing roughly, Raon only rolled his eyes to survey his surroundings. He couldn’t believe the consecutive deaths of Jaehwi he had witnessed.
[What’s going on? Why Jaehwi? Why did you stop talking? Is something wrong?]
At Hyukjin’s voice asking about the situation in a slightly faster tone than usual, Raon took a calm deep breath.
Jaehwi didn’t die. This is all an illusion. This is an illusion dungeon and he’s wandering through illusions. What he sees and what he feels are all phantoms. Raon repeated the same content over and over like reciting an incantation.
When his unstable breathing settled a bit and his trembling body calmed down, Raon slowly exhaled.
How should I break the illusion? What should I think about? He tried his best to separate the situation from himself. And Raon asked Hyukjin the most fundamental question.
“Hyukjin. What’s the way to break through an illusion dungeon?”
[First, you need to recognize that the situation you’re in right now is not real but a phantom.]
“I know that.”
[Not just that… You need to think that everything you see, hear, and feel is false. Should I say you have to block even what you instinctively accept through your sensory organs? And you need to find something異質的 in the illusion. Because there’s no such thing as a perfect illusion.]
“…It’s really easy in theory.”
[That’s why illusion dungeons are the trickiest places regardless of grade. What do you see right now?]
“It looks like a tropical rainforest. I’m surrounded by dense trees, and I can’t see ahead properly because of bushes taller than my height.”
[Visual confirmation is impossible then. Does the watch show a monster 50m ahead?]
“It shows.”
Checking the watch as Hyukjin said, Raon confirmed there was a monster at a straight distance not too far away. But what good was confirming it? Even that was all a phantom.
[Fortunately, there’s no problem with communication. You can’t handle that monster, so avoiding it is the best strategy. You won’t be able to hurt a single hair with the pistol you’re carrying. Is there somewhere you can hide?]
The corners of Raon’s mouth rose crookedly as he listened to Hyukjin trying to calmly tell him how to respond. Wasn’t he already hidden by bushes taller than his height? That’s why he couldn’t confirm the monster with his own sight, not the watch.
“What exactly am I supposed to do?”
A complaint burst from Raon’s mouth as he stood there lost in thought. What else could be out of place in a tropical rainforest?
“Ha… What’s the way for me to escape from this illusion?”
Nevertheless, Raon had to ask Hyukjin for a solution.
[You need to find Nox without encountering that thing as much as possible.]
At Hyukjin’s words, Raon shook his head. Is it Jaehwi again? All the illusions he sees are connected to Jaehwi? He’s in danger and Jaehwi saves him? A bitter taste rose from deep inside his stomach, making him want to vomit.
More than anything, that monster is also a phantom. He knows that… Would a phantom monster be a threat to him? Ah… The pillar of fire that was clearly an illusion pierced through Jaehwi’s body and killed him. In the immediately following illusion, a shark swallowed him. And in the blink of an eye, he was exposed to a new illusion.
It’s an illusion, but it can directly inflict wounds and can kill… Then, does this illusion change with the death of one of them, whether Jaehwi or himself?
“Is there a way to handle it without him?”
[There’s no way that would exist. Finding something out of place is no different from finding a needle in a desert. Even Espers with excellent energy sense have a hard time with it.]
Even in the confusion, Raon, who was trying to find composure, brought his hand to his thigh at the sight of distant bushes shaking. The dagger he had definitely taken out and gripped underwater was right where it originally was. Along with that, something flashed through his mind.
“Hyukjin.”
[Why?]
“What happened before the tropical rainforest?”
[What are you talking about? You need to get away from that spot first, so carefully retreat backward.]
“Fuck.”
The fact that Hyukjin, who was communicating with him and checking the situation, also seemed to be an illusion deceiving him—before Raon could spit out a curse after realizing this fact, something burst out from between the swaying bushes faster.
Lying sprawled on top of the clouds, Raon released all strength from his body and even closed his eyes that had been open. It felt like all the energy remaining in his body from head to toe was scattering in all directions, but Raon left everything as it was.
So this is what it feels like.
He couldn’t understand why Jaehwi had suddenly chosen to rampage, leaving him behind. But now he seemed to understand that feeling. Continuously seeing someone’s death. And continuously seeing the death of the person you want to keep alive the most—that itself was hell.
The situation changed so quickly he couldn’t collect his thoughts. Even in the constantly changing illusions, the result was always one. He fell into danger, and the black doll that saved him died every time. He wished he could at least see that face properly, at least hold that hand, at least embrace him once as he collapsed, but he couldn’t even do that.
Jaehwi, completely dressed in black clothes from head to toe and covering his lower face with a black mask, endlessly appeared, saved him, and died. Being pierced through the body by a pillar of fire and being swallowed in one bite by a shark’s mouth was nothing.
He was caught by rampaging monsters and his body was torn apart, and the dungeon went into outbreak and his body was shattered to pieces. Seeing Jaehwi dying in various ways in various situations, Raon was realizing what it meant for one’s mind to collapse.
It would be easier if he died like that instead.
He tried staying still without moving from one spot, and when he discovered Jaehwi, he tried shouting to stop him. To die before him, he threw his body at monsters and jumped from high places.
“What more should I do now?”
Muttering in a powerless voice, Raon took off the protective helmet he was wearing. When he released the strength from his hand, the helmet fell straight down. Starting with the helmet, he took off one by one the things he was wearing to protect his body. Having taken everything off except for the t-shirt and pants he wore as a base layer, Raon sat weakly and looked around.
He knows it’s an illusion dungeon, and he knows that him sitting on top of clouds right now is not real. The sunlight flowing over his body is not real either, and the wind brushing through his hair is also false. He doesn’t know how much time has passed since entering the dungeon, and he doesn’t know if he’s hungry or thirsty.
There’s nothing he can do. He doesn’t know what this illusion is saying, and he doesn’t know what will happen. It felt like he was continuously wandering through a dream that wouldn’t break. A hollow laugh flowed from Raon’s mouth as he struck his thigh with his hand.
“It doesn’t hurt.”
I’m still trapped in the illusion.
“I want to stop. I want to rest.”
His honest feelings flowed out. Even if he really died, he wanted to end this.
“You at least have the power to overturn the dungeon. I don’t even have that. It’s too much.”
Raon’s lips drooped below his complaint. Jaehwi probably felt the same emotions he’s feeling now, and would have broken through the illusion dungeon by drawing out all the power he had been suppressing. And the result would have been the rampage. Still, couldn’t he have at least contacted him before going underground to the Center? Couldn’t he have at least said a final goodbye? Even thinking this, Raon once again lay sprawled on the clouds.
If anyone wandered through such endless illusions, they wouldn’t have the leisure or time to take care of anyone. Exhausted enough that dying immediately wouldn’t be strange. His current state was just like that.
If he dies like this, what will happen to Jaehwi? He’ll be sad about his death, right? Will he blame himself for not being able to protect him? He hopes he won’t be too hurt or in pain.
“Since I’m thinking it’s the last time, I miss you more.”
Why did things turn out this way? After the regression, Jaehwi’s personality wasn’t what he knew, he who hadn’t even looked at guiding learned guiding and even entered dungeons. Two dungeons that should have been normally broken through and disappeared remained as they were, and instead the dungeon masters followed him.
Problems occurred in dungeons, big and small, but those were problems that existed before the regression too.
