Jaehee opened his eyes. But he couldn’t see anything. In the pitch-black darkness where not even a speck of light was visible, Jaehee doubted whether he’d really opened his eyes. He waved his hands several times in the darkness. If he waved his hands like this, even if he couldn’t see, he should at least be able to feel the flow of air, but he couldn’t even feel that.
“What is this place…”
His body ached, but his senses felt strangely dull. It was as if something was covering his entire body. He wanted to confirm where this was, but since nothing was visible, there was no way to check.
Jaehee cautiously got up from where he was. Or rather, he wasn’t even sure if he’d actually gotten up. It was because there was nothing to touch on all sides. In fact, he wasn’t even sure if the ground he was stepping on was actually being stepped on.
It was as if he was placed alone, dangling in empty space with nothing around.
“Whew, calm down. Calm down.”
Thinking that he was alone in a place with nothing made claustrophobia and anxiety strike him simultaneously. Jaehee steadied his quickening breath while soothing his own heart.
He slowly traced back to the last moment he remembered.
First, what came to mind was the Bukhansan dungeon. Coming to the Bukhansan dungeon was… right, because of Kang Mingyu, and he’d discovered Kang Mingyu floating on the water of some pond. After finding him floating like someone who had already died, Jeongwoo had gone in.
And that voice asking to be saved!
Because of that voice, he’d even accepted Kang Mingyu as his subject. Once he recalled one thing, sequentially all the related things came flooding back.
And then he fell into the pond and someone pulled him down. Once he recalled up to that point, his mind cleared.
Right, then this place must be inside the pond or some other connected space.
Jaehee called up the system window and checked through the list of subjects. Next to Kang Mingyu’s name, the word “Normal” was displayed.
“Phew, right. At least Kang Mingyu didn’t die.”
Far from thinking well of Kang Mingyu, he’d even disliked being on the same team, yet what kind of connection was this that he’d ended up accepting Kang Mingyu as his subject? Moreover, he’d even fallen into water trying to save Kang Mingyu—maybe he was really tied to Kang Mingyu by the worst kind of fate.
Once he recalled that he’d fallen into the pond to save Kang Mingyu, his anxiety lessened considerably.
Surely Jeongwoo was looking for him outside. When he got out, he’d get thoroughly scolded by Jeongwoo…
Jaehee started moving forward while having various thoughts. Actually, he didn’t know if this was forward or backward, but he decided to think of it as forward. He had to get out quickly before Jeongwoo came looking for him. Being rescued by Jeongwoo would be embarrassing.
How long had he walked like that?
Walking through a space where he felt no hunger and no light entered, there was no way to tell how much time had passed.
Walking quietly alone, various complicated thoughts stirred in his head.
Why was Kang Mingyu in the pond?
Jeongwoo must be struggling to find me right now, right…?
How much time has passed in the meantime? I need to get out of the dungeon before the Main Mission starts, but surely not too much time has passed, right?
Just because I’m in a dungeon, the Main Mission notification shouldn’t come late or anything…
Remembering how a notification had appeared late once before made his heart anxious.
“Hm?”
A thin thread of breeze brushed past his ear. Since it had been a space where nothing could be felt, though it was a small wind, Jaehee could react sensitively to it. It wasn’t much, but in the darkness where he couldn’t see even an inch ahead until now, it felt like catching a clue for the first time.
Anyway, in this darkness where nothing was visible, closing his eyes didn’t mean much, but he closed his eyes to concentrate.
Before long, a thin breeze passed by, stirring his hair and brushing his cheek.
The fact that wind was passing through like this must mean there was a door or passage leading somewhere. Jaehee tried his best to awaken his dulled senses to figure out the direction from which the wind was blowing.
Strangely, his senses were dull in this place. Normally he would have figured it out easily, but he had to struggle to the point of sweating. The more he tried to concentrate, the more his fingertips tingled. It felt like something was interfering to blur his senses.
“—, ——”
He suddenly opened his eyes in surprise. It was because he heard a faint sound from somewhere. Though Jaehee was in darkness where nothing could be seen, he habitually looked around in all directions.
He bit his lips firmly to awaken his senses. It would be refreshing if there was at least a visible enemy, but being in a place where nothing could be seen like this was frustrating.
“— me…”
“Ah!”
When the sound came once more, Jaehee knew what that sound was.
It was that voice asking to be saved that had been heard continuously even before falling into the pond.
At that moment, a whitish light rose from the far end of his vision. When there had only been pitch-black darkness, he had no perception of the space, but seeing the faint light rising from far away, he could tell how vast this space was.
Like the dawn’s first light, it was a fragile and dim light, but in a space filled only with darkness, even that felt like broad daylight’s brilliance.
“…ve …me…”
At that moment, the voice was heard once more. This time he could clearly tell where the sound came from.
It was the opposite direction from where the light was brightening. Jaehee glanced at the darkness where the sound had come from and glared.
A voice asking to be saved, flying from the pitch-black darkness.
Light and voice.
Which should he follow?
Though he wasn’t certain, he thought that if he followed the light, he would be able to leave this space.
But he couldn’t ignore the voice either.
Jaehee glared at the light and darkness once each before biting his lips firmly.
Though his head thought he should go toward the light, his heart kept wanting to confirm the identity of that voice.
After agonizing for a while, Jaehee whirled his body around. And he started running toward the darkness.
The light that had been gradually brightening stopped the moment Jaehee headed toward the darkness. But Jaehee, running with his back turned, didn’t know that.
The small amount of light that had existed disappeared, and in an instant all sides were covered in darkness.
Jaehee pricked up his ears as much as possible and ran toward the direction where the voice was heard.
Even as he ran, he doubted whether this was really the right thing to do, whether he was doing something foolish, but he couldn’t overcome his curiosity.
Who could it be, crying out so desperately to be saved while sobbing?
“Save me, please! Anyone is fine…! Please!”
The more Jaehee ran, the clearer the voice that had been heard dimly became.
The voice that had initially been so faint it was hard to understand—now he could tell it was a hoarse man.
It felt familiar somehow, but because the voice was completely hoarse, he couldn’t easily recall who it was.
Jaehee slowly slowed his running steps.
All sides were dark, but light was visible in only one place. If there was light, it should spread to the surroundings, but the light couldn’t spread at all and was gathered in one place. It was wondrous yet strange.
“Anyone is fine! If you’ll just save him…!”
The sound was now fairly loud and clear. As if someone was speaking right next to him.
Jaehee approached the shining thing. It was a very small pond. The pond’s surface glowed with a gentle light, and that was the wondrous light he’d seen from afar. The glowing pond’s surface was calm without a single ripple, so he could see straight through it.
Jaehee hesitated, frightened belatedly, before approaching right up to the pond. A small pond that seemed to be just over 1 meter at most. Stones were placed around it so it could be called a pond, but in terms of size, it was actually closer to a puddle.
Jaehee stuck his head out and looked at the pond.
He saw some man inside the pond. The pond was transparent like a mirror, but that didn’t mean the man was clearly visible either. Only around the man did the image waver as if ripples were flowing, but there was no great difficulty in recognizing him.
It was a man who was wailing. In the man’s arms, another person lying down could be seen.
Ah. When the man asked to be saved, he wasn’t talking about himself.
He was asking to save that man he was holding in his arms.
For a moment, his head throbbed.
The man was holding the limp man in his arms and letting out a scream-like cry.
“Save him! Save him! Anyone is fine…! Please, please! Save him! If you’ll just do that, I’ll do anything, anything! I’ll do everything you tell me, so please…!”
Hearing the man’s desperate cry made his skin crawl. Somehow he felt like his stomach was churning too.
For such a large man to be wailing like a young child.
Was he such a precious person? To the point of not sparing anything of his own…?
The man cried hoarsely until his voice broke. Crying like that, it wouldn’t be strange if the man died soon.
“I’ll do everything you tell me! I’ll do whatever you bastards tell me to do…! Please, please! I know you’re listening! You bastards like voyeurs spend all day spying on us for fun! So please answer! If you save —…! Then I’ll do anything…! I’ll do anything…!”
The wailing man soon started to self-harm. He struck his head against the ground until he was covered in blood. Watching that, Jaehee somehow felt his chest ache.
At that moment, when the man suddenly raised his head, their eyes met. In that instant, Jaehee felt his hair stand on end.
