After the thin barrier Jeongwoo had created shattered, the three of them exchanged glances in silence.
Various thoughts swirled chaotically in their minds, but they couldn’t speak carelessly.
“L-let’s get out of here now. Once Mingyu-ssi changes clothes, we’ll head straight out of the dungeon. We looked around this area, but we couldn’t find the others. The Management Bureau will be waiting, so let’s hurry out.”
“Right. You, no… hmm, Kang Mingyu-ssi, please change your clothes quickly.”
“Ah, y-yes, yes. I’ll change right away.”
Jeongwoo had been speaking informally to Kang Mingyu all along, but belatedly realizing Jaehee was there, he smoothly switched to formal speech. Kang Mingyu likewise spoke in awkward formal language while gauging their reactions, then quietly stepped back.
Until Kang Mingyu finished changing, an awkward silence hung between the three of them.
And that awkward silence continued until they left the Bukhansan Dungeon.
“Good work out there! Come, come sit over here!”
“Ah, yes.”
When they emerged from the Bukhansan Dungeon, a Management Bureau staff member was waiting. While the staff member escorted the three to the Management Bureau, they contacted Section Chief Lim, which is why the three found themselves face-to-face with Section Chief Lim as soon as they arrived.
“Kang Mingyu-ssi, are you injured anywhere? Are you feeling alright?”
“Pardon? Yes…”
Kang Mingyu answered while stealing glances at Jeongwoo and Jaehee. Unable to gauge how much of what happened inside he was allowed to share, he could only watch their reactions nervously.
“Haha, that’s a relief. We couldn’t reach you, so we thought there might have been a serious accident and were preparing a rescue team. By the way, the others…?”
Jaehee inwardly smirked watching Section Chief Lim’s eyes gleam. He’d been fooled at first without knowing better, but now he understood well that Section Chief Lim’s words were a mixture of truth and lies.
The part about preparing a rescue team was probably a lie. There was no way the Management Bureau, which always suffered from severe personnel shortages, had the capacity to send a rescue team. Normally they would request help from guilds or Awakened Ones, but since there were many questionable aspects about this Bukhansan Dungeon, they probably couldn’t carelessly bring in outsiders.
The audacity to claim they were preparing a rescue team even in such circumstances was precisely Section Chief Yongtae Lim’s strength.
“We couldn’t find the others, the Guild Sahae members. From what Mingyu-ssi told us, it seems he got separated from his group. Since the Bukhansan Dungeon is so large, we didn’t have the capacity to search the whole thing, so we came back after finding Mingyu-ssi and this.”
“This being…?”
At Jaehee’s signal, Jeongwoo took out the stone figurine he had stored in his inventory. When the small, blunt figurine that fit in the palm of one’s hand dropped onto the desk, Section Chief Lim’s eyes widened.
“Th-this is?”
“We found it by chance, and it’s the counterpart to the amplifier discovered outside the Bukhansan Dungeon.”
“This is?”
What they’d found outside the Bukhansan Dungeon was a stone tablet inscribed with unknown characters. But what they found inside was a stone figurine. Section Chief Yongtae Lim took out the tablet that the Management Bureau had been keeping and placed it beside the stone figurine. As if carved from the same stone, their color and patterns matched.
“Whew, good work. We’ll calculate the compensation separately and send it to Eternal Guild. Though the shapes are different, they appear to be made from the same stone, or at least the same type of stone. I’ll send this to the Management Bureau research team. If we understand the amplifier, we should be able to find a way to block it.”
“I think it would be best not to store the two together. I’m not entirely sure myself, but there seems to be a strange flow of energy between them.”
Jeongwoo said while glancing at Jaehee. Jeongwoo clearly knew more about the amplifier, but seemed reluctant to speak freely in front of others.
Afterward, a detailed report on the Bukhansan Dungeon followed. Kang Mingyu also had to explain in detail what had happened while exploring the dungeon with the Guild Sahae members. Unlike Jeongwoo and Jaehee who had listened casually, Section Chief Lim interrogated thoroughly whenever there was even a hint of doubt or insufficiency, so it took quite a while.
But no matter how sharp Section Chief Lim’s questions were, they couldn’t answer everything.
Kang Mingyu had no intention of revealing that he was a prophet, and Jaehee likewise had no intention of speaking about what he’d seen when he entered the pond. And since he had absolutely no intention of sharing Kang Mingyu’s prophecy, Section Chief Lim couldn’t get detailed information no matter how much he pressed.
“Good work. Go home and rest for now. We’ll contact you again soon. On behalf of the Management Bureau, we sincerely thank all of you Awakened Ones for your hard work.”
“Thank you for your work.”
Receiving Section Chief Lim’s respectful bow made his conscience prickle a bit, but Jaehee deliberately pretended not to notice.
He and Kang Mingyu didn’t exchange a single word until they parted ways. Just before separating, when their eyes briefly met, Kang Mingyu’s lips twitched as if wanting to say something, but ultimately he said nothing.
They put Kang Mingyu, who had suffered being trapped in the dungeon for several days, into a taxi first. Kang Mingyu, his face noticeably more haggard than before, bowed his head once and then departed just like that.
“Hey, Jaehee-ya, shall we head home now too? I hope Mother makes something delicious. Yiyeong will probably be happier to see oppa than me. No wait, maybe Kaengkaeng will be happier than Yiyeong?”
Looking at Jeongwoo grinning with his usual expression, Jaehee recalled the Jeongwoo he’d seen in the pond.
The Jeongwoo who looked much older than now. With facial hair growing here and there, looking haggard as if he hadn’t eaten for days. Remembering that Jeongwoo made his heart throb painfully.
Did that pond really possess some special power? What exactly had he seen?
For some reason, this was something he couldn’t tell Jeongwoo.
Jaehee checked his phone in the taxi. He remembered that he’d called his mother before entering the Bukhansan Dungeon, but she hadn’t answered.
[Jaehee-ya, Mom is doing well. Don’t worry. You’re the one who needs to eat well and be careful not to get hurt. I heard Awakened Ones often get seriously injured because of dungeons or monsters. Mom will be busy with work for a while, so it’ll be hard to contact you. But I’ll text you from time to time. Stay healthy.]
Reading his mother’s text drained his energy.
Despite all his requests, she hadn’t even told him when she’d be available to talk.
Bitterness and an indescribable frustration filled his chest. What was his mother so busy with? Was he really such a burden to her?
I don’t want to be a burden to Mom. I’m satisfied with my relationship with my current stepmother, and I have no intention of muddying the waters of Mom’s new family.
All I wanted right now was to tell her to become one of my subjects for her own safety.
If Mom wanted, he had even considered accepting her new family as well.
But was even a brief phone call with him such a burden for her?
He gripped and fiddled with his phone.
For a moment, he thought maybe he’d done enough and should just pretend not to care anymore, but then he sighed again. If it weren’t a matter of life and death, he probably would have. But this was too important to stubbornly stand on pride. Besides, the Global Mission was starting soon. He had to confirm his mother’s situation before then. After hesitating, Jaehee sent another text. Even if phone calls were difficult, she would at least check her messages.
[Mom. There’s something I haven’t told you. I actually awakened as a King. If you haven’t chosen a King yet, please submit a subject application to me. If your new family members haven’t chosen a King either, please contact me. You must choose a King before this Global Mission starts. It doesn’t have to be me. I didn’t contact you to burden you. I’m sorry if my contacting you has been a burden.]
With a sigh, he sent the text, pressing down hard on each character.
With the light notification sound, his heart grew even heavier.
If even his contacting her was this much of a burden, perhaps she would never want to become one of his subjects.
“Oh? Jaehee-ya.”
“I saw it too.”
Jeongwoo took Jaehee’s hand.
In that instant, a mission window unfolded before their eyes.
[Second Global Mission: Those who dwell in the King’s Veil shall find rest!
For the next 100 days, an indelible darkness approaches. (•﹏•)
Darkness brings despair, and despair will ultimately lead to destruction.
Those who dwell in the King’s Veil shall find rest!
This Global Mission is supervised by dark-attribute Constellations according to their stake percentage. Supervising Constellation: Dark Night
(1) Night of the Dead: The first trial of 100 days. The Night of the Dead begins. ヾ(╹ꇴ◠)ﾉ” ]
