Free Web NovelWhat did he mean, “it’s been a while.”
I glanced at my watch for no particular reason. Thanks to all the tumbling around earlier, the LCD was beautifully shattered.
“You were completely unreachable.”
“That was a mutual issue. Communication cut off altogether after you entered this place, Jehyun. That’s why I gave you another communication device, remember?”
He claimed he’d given me another communication device? The only thing Im Haekyung had given me was the surveillance camera glasses whose whereabouts I didn’t even know anymore.
“If you mean the glasses, those were strictly one-way surveillance.”
“Well, I was only going to intervene one-sidedly from my end anyway, so there’s no need for communication to be two-way, right? You’re the one who lost the glasses, Jehyun.”
I ignored his misuse of the word “communication” and tossed out a half-assed apology.
“Yeah, I have no idea where they went.”
“Well... they’re probably lying somewhere around the first place you stayed. My view cut off after that.”
So the timing miss from lack of communication, is that what he was saying?
‘What a fucking joke.’
Im Haekyung pretended to study my expression and stepped a bit closer.
“Still, once I confirmed you’d activated the Teleport Box, I came right away.”
“Right away?”
“A slight time gap is inevitable. I’m a busy man.”
Aside from the fact that I’d almost died because of that time gap, it wasn’t the worst thing in the world.
I looked at him crookedly and asked,
“Is that a stealth item?”
“No. Just Mental Domination. Human brains are more fragile than you think, aren’t they?”
As he said that, Im Haekyung vanished in an instant.
‘So he can manipulate minds enough to erase himself from people’s vision?’
The fact there was a bastard capable of implementing such a broken skill was almost impressive.
Whether I was impressed or not, Im Haekyung looked around like he was sightseeing, then faced me properly again.
“I came in with almost no prior information about what kind of dungeon this is, so I think I’ll need an explanation. Have you figured anything out?”
“Well... I’ve got a decent amount.”
“Explain it to me. It’s a pretty interesting dungeon.”
Tilting his head, looking for all the world like genuine curiosity had sparked, he smiled with his eyes.
I roughly summarized the state of the dungeon, the dungeon boss, and the practical influence it had on Cheonmyeonggyo.
While I talked, Im Haekyung reacted here and there with apparent interest, laughed at random points, and clicked his tongue when I said I’d killed Gi Cheongmin.
‘Lunatic.’
Once I wrapped up my little presentation, he nodded like he’d listened well.
“It really is a strange place.”
“Right?”
After that brief commentary, he fell silent for a bit before opening his mouth again.
“So what are you planning to do now, Jehyun?”
“I’m thinking of going to meet the dungeon boss.”
“I figured you’d say that. That side is more interesting, after all.”
Pausing for a moment, Im Haekyung looked up at the sky like he was counting something.
“You said this was a B-rank Gate, right?”
“Yeah.”
“Then the dungeon boss is at best B-rank, and even with rare exceptions, it should only be a weak A-rank at most. I’ve never seen a boss of that level with this kind of... ability.”
As he said that, Im Haekyung strode over and put his hand on the maze wall.
From behind, I quietly watched what he was doing.
He acted like he was checking something with his hand on the wall, then nodded and swept his gaze around.
‘What is he doing?’
Soon, as if he’d reached a simple conclusion, he walked back and gave a concise report.
“It’s definitely... a weird place.”
“.......”
“I wondered if maybe the Gate rank was misclassified, so I did a rough check of the dungeon’s flow. Long story short, this really does seem to be a B-rank Gate.” frёewebnoѵel.ƈo๓
“You checked the dungeon’s flow?”
“Yes.”
I’d never even heard that dungeons had something like a “flow.”
Watching my reaction, he lifted the corners of his mouth into that same smiling face again.
“I said I’d cooperate. I can at least figure out this much.”
“Sure. I just asked because your abilities are fascinating, Guild Master.”
At that, Im Haekyung let out a short laugh—“ahaha”—and continued his explanation.
“There aren’t even any monsters around, but the flow of mana is this consistent... the answer’s obvious. Mana is constantly flowing from the wall itself. I don’t think it’s an inanimate object.”
What now.
I’d thought we’d uncovered nearly all the dungeon’s secrets, and now there was something new. And it was coming from someone who’d been here for less than a few minutes.
“The wall is alive?”
“Something like that. When we set a Gate’s rank, the standard is the Gate energy flowing through the dungeon, right? Where do you think that Gate energy comes from? From the living things in the dungeon.”
“.......”
“But here, the dungeon boss is... almost alone, so to speak. And the dungeon boss seems to be unilaterally distributing its mana elsewhere. To that wall, for example.”
“There are no other living beings at all?”
I was sure I’d heard from Ahn Jinha that there were monsters here—was that all bullshit?
But to that question, Im Haekyung responded in a rather lukewarm way.
“Hm... who knows?”
“Huh?”
“There might be. But it feels like they wouldn’t be independent entities—more like they’d belong to the dungeon boss. Kind of like marionettes the boss controls.”
“Marionettes?”
“It’s just a metaphor. Of course, I haven’t actually scouted this place, so I’m not exact—don’t take it too literally.”
He said it was a simple analogy, but from my perspective, knowing that Jin Haedo’s skill name was “Marionette,” it was a pretty annoying detail.
‘And the way the “god” insists on maintaining Jin Haedo’s appearance, too.’ freewebnoveℓ.com
I nodded at his words and asked,
“So are you saying you can kill the dungeon boss, Guild Master?”
“Well. Generally speaking, yes.”
“Sounds like there are conditions.”
“Of course. There are always conditions. That’s only natural.”
Stopping for a moment, Im Haekyung turned his head, looked toward the tents, and smiled.
“If it’s in a form I can’t kill, then killing it would be difficult. For example, the quest-type dungeon we went to together—you couldn’t just kill something there, right?”
“Even though this is a place with a clear dungeon boss?”
“Well, it is a rather unusual dungeon.”
Laughing lightly as he spoke, Im Haekyung slowly took a step back and met my eyes.
“Jehyun.”
His characteristic gentle voice slipped into my ear.
“Yes.”
“When you were explaining earlier, you said you’d met the dungeon boss.”
“Yeah.”
“There’s no chance that was just your mistake?”
“None.”
“Very firm.”
I’d seen with my own eyes that its skill had raised a rank.
At that, Im Haekyung nodded quietly.
“Do you have a hunch about something?”
“It’s just a hypothesis. You know what it means that mana is constantly coming from the walls, right? Just walking in this maze is no different from being under a constant skill effect. Because you’re being influenced by mana.”
“.......”
“You said desire presses in more heavily at night, too. That’s probably a similar principle. I considered the possibility that you might have been seeing hallucinations... or something like that. But if you’re this adamant, then I suppose not, Jehyun?”
He nodded and smiled again.
‘He clearly has something else he wants to say.’
The way he was holding back at that vague line was him testing me. He was blatant enough about it that I let out a short, empty laugh before asking back right away,
“That’s not really what you wanted to ask, is it.”
“Mm....”
After a brief pause, Im Haekyung agreed easily.
“Right.”
“.......”
“Now, what I’m talking about is variables. I know you chase dopamine, and I know you like efficiency, but sometimes the two conflict, right? Then which side do you usually put your weight on?”
What a random question.
‘He’s asking whether I choose dopamine or efficiency?’
I’d never sat down and thought about it, but the conclusion came out about the same.
“Efficiency. You can generate dopamine while chasing efficiency.”
“Hm... from what I’ve seen, I don’t think that’s quite true.”
Cutting himself off for a moment, he calmly started spouting bullshit.
“Then this is from an ‘efficient’ perspective.”
“.......”
“I want to eliminate as many small variables as possible before digging into a dungeon I don’t understand and confronting the dungeon boss. After all, I’m the one you asked for help, aren’t I, Jehyun?”
“Yeah.”
I nodded along roughly with his airy talk, and he gave a lukewarm smile as he delivered his conclusion.
“So I want to move as-is. Whether it’s searching, scouting, ❀ Nоvеlігht ❀ (Don’t copy, read here) or fighting.”
“.......”
“What I mean is... it’s fine even if the Do Yehyun who’s been influenced by the dungeon boss isn’t with us. No—if anything, I judge that it would be better that way.”
After saying that, he turned his head and looked straight at the tent where Do Yehyun was.
“So, what do you think... Jehyun?”
