It was the first truly quiet night in a long while.
Here and there, those too tired to finish their als were snoring gently. Only the crackle of the bonfire echoed in the peaceful village.
Even Karin, the priestess of Swansea, had clinked a few too many glasses and fallen asleep, unable to resist the drowsiness.
'…Mmm?'
When she opened her eyes, a strange new landscape appeared before her.
What was this?
She shook her head, trying to clear it, but all she felt was a gnawing sense of displacent.
'This isn't Swansea.'
The scenery in front of her wasn't the familiar forest she'd lived in her whole life. There weren't even any trees in sight.
It was a place she had never seen before.
'It's… so tall…'
What entered her field of vision was a tower. A massive one. So tall it looked as though it pierced the sky. Taller than even the bizarre rock formations near Swansea.
Karin looked down.
The ground felt rigid, like the entire world was made of stone. Everything around her was square and angular. It was… unnaturally geotric.
But more than that — was this even reality?
Rrrumble…
Suddenly, the ground began to shake. She thought it might be an earthquake, but she didn't feel any actual impact.
Of course not.
When she gathered her senses, she realized she was floating high above the world, where everything was visible below her.
She had sohow ended up here.
'It's a dream.'
And with that, she understood.
For a priestess like her to see such an unfamiliar scene, with her senses blurred as though she were actually there—
'It ans this will happen soon.'
It was a revelation.
A divine warning, given to her in advance.
From that mont on, Karin focused all her awareness and tried to rember every detail.
She knew all too well that most of a dream-revelation would fade the mont she woke up.
What she could retain would be fragnts — fleeting and vague.
So she had to watch and rember everything, now.
Karin looked up at the sky.
'Sothing's… falling.'
From above, sothing massive was descending from the night sky.
As it ca closer, the trembling of the ground intensified. Already-crumbled buildings collapsed entirely under the impact.
Karin thought it looked hot.
Though she couldn't physically feel anything — this was a dream, after all — she had no doubt that if that thing ca down, her body would be incinerated on the spot.
'A giant fireball…'
It drew closer and closer.
And the world marched toward its end.
'…Ah!'
At the mont it struck the earth, an overwhelming flash of fire spread across the landscape.
Buildings lted. The entire world was engulfed in light.
How to describe it?
It was beautiful.
Surreal.
And terrifying.
[Skill 'Precognitive Dream (D)' has ended.]
[mory loss: 80%]
Gasping, Karin sat upright.
The bonfire in front of her crackled softly.
The next morning, Jhin was eating his rationed breakfast — a bowl of soup — when Karin approached him.
"…Is sothing wrong?"
Maybe she hadn't slept well after partying all night. Dark circles hung low under her eyes.
With a weary expression, she spoke.
"My dream was… unsettling."
"…Pardon?"
"Ah, I didn't an to be so abrupt. Sorry, I don't really know how to explain it…"
Jhin handed her the cold water he had set aside. Karin drank it in one go, wiped her mouth, and took a deep breath.
"I need to ask you sothing, Mr. Jhin."
Then she began listing off a series of words.
A tower rising endlessly high.
A sky in flas.
A blinding light that could burn your eyes out.
None of it made imdiate sense.
Was this so kind of riddle?
Karin paused, thinking hard, then muttered sothing absurd.
"24-hour Sauna."
"…What?"
She had no idea what the words ant.
The setting of The Lizardman's Well was akin to a tropical rainforest like the Amazon, and their style of living barely reached a pre-dieval level.
And yet… a "24-hour Sauna"?
A deeply Corelandsn phrase.
Jhin narrowed his eyes and recalled who Karin was.
'…The priestess.'
She had claid to have received a "revelation" the very first ti they t.
Back then, he'd thought it was just typical NPC dialogue ant to provide dungeon lore or exposition.
'But what if that revelation is actually a kind of skill?'
Maybe sothing akin to "future foresight."
She said it ca to her in a dream — perhaps it was sothing like Precognitive Dream.
Jhin straightened his posture.
If he lined up those strange words she ntioned with places in New Capital… so guesses could be made.
'A tower that reaches endlessly high… could that be Bey Tower?'
The rest — a burning sky, a blinding flash — were too abstract to compare to anything specific.
He didn't have enough information.
"Is there anything else you rember?"
"…No. That's all."
Unfortunately, Karin couldn't recall anything more.
Dreams are inherently fleeting — it was only natural.
"Ah, but maybe my teacher had the sa dream."
"Your teacher?"
"Yes. He probably rembers more than I do."
She explained that it was her teacher who had told her about the final condition of the Dragon's Sigil — the one concerning population count.
He likely had a higher skill level than Karin.
If that were true, there was a real possibility.
"Where is he now?"
He had to et him.
Fortunately, Karin's teacher had been rescued from the south and had returned to Swansea with the others.
Jhin followed Karin to a building.
It was a temporary shelter, set up to house the Horn Tribe refugees rescued from the southern sector.
Even here, her teacher had been given a private room.
Not because he was special, though.
"Eheheh… Hahaha… It's falling!"
The mont they entered the room, her teacher — 'Legion' — leapt off the bed and landed on the floor with a strange bounce.
Drooling, giggling nonsensically… he was clearly not in his right mind.
"…Is he going to be alright?"
"I don't know. Maybe the kidnapping really did a number on him, or maybe it's sothing else… But if he received a revelation, then he'll definitely rember."
If his skill level was higher, then naturally he would retain more of the dream.
The only problem was… his ntal state was clearly nowhere near stable.
"Master, it's , Karin."
"Hehehe!!"
"…Master."
Even as Karin spoke, Legion continued hopping around the room like a child.
Flustered, Karin darted back and forth, trying to catch him, sweat trickling down her temples.
That was when Jhin stepped in.
"Wait a mont."
"…Yes?"
"Didn't he just say sothing?"
Karin closed her mouth and stood beside Jhin.
With no one to restrain him, Legion beca even more chaotic, shouting and bouncing around the room.
"Hehehe… It's blowing up! It's falling! KUAHHHH! KA-BLAM!"
And then he said it:
"Danger! Danger! Danger! Jhin! Choose!"
"…What?"
"Make your choice!! Jhin!!"
Out of nowhere, Legion began screaming his na as he dashed around the room.
A stranger. An NPC he had never t face-to-face, now calling him out directly.
He's had a precognitive dream.
But even after that, Legion continued jumping around without saying anything more aningful.
The only phrases he repeated were about sothing blowing up, sothing falling, and that Jhin must make a choice.
An hour passed like that.
Eventually, Jhin gave up and stepped out of the room.
Karin followed, her expression apologetic.
"I'm sorry. I couldn't be of more help to you."
"…Don't be. Just knowing sothing might happen soon is already a huge help."
"Still…"
It wasn't just empty words.
The knowledge that sothing serious could soon occur in New Capital — that alone was imnsely valuable.
Being blindsided versus being prepared.
Even if they couldn't stop it, the chance to prepare made all the difference.
From here on, it's up to us. A full investigation is in order.
Whatever was going to happen would take place in New Capital.
There was likely far more relevant information there than in this dungeon.
Maybe the clues were already scattered about — and they just hadn't noticed them.
"…Um."
Just then, Karin hesitantly opened her mouth, lips twitching as if unsure whether to speak.
She looked like she was on the verge of tears, but then steeled herself and asked with resolve:
"Could I… go to New Capital with you?"
"…What?"
"I might rember sothing. If I see it with my own eyes… it might co back to more clearly."
It was a valid point.
That was what people ant when they talked about déjà vu.
Visiting a place she saw in her dreams might trigger more recollections.
And Karin's level ans she can leave the dungeon.
Her level was just under 120.
Since the dungeon hadn't evolved into a B-rank yet, NPCs under level 120 were still able to leave.
So she was eligible to exit.
Karin must've feared being turned down, because she rushed to add:
"Atlas said he's going with you too."
"…That's right."
Now a Blanc — a white ghost — Atlas was bound to Jhin by soul. He had no choice but to follow him.
In fact, he had already pledged loyalty, fully acknowledging Jhin as his master.
That was the first condition of a Blanc: total soul submission.
No one knew how Jhin had fulfilled that requirent, but Atlas had yielded — and resolved to follow him for life.
Besides, with no more danger in the dungeon, it was an easy choice for Atlas to make.
"I can be useful too. Please, take with you. I want to help the man who saved ."
Was she sincere?
Jhin looked at her face for a mont, then made his decision with little hesitation.
Honestly, having her along was more than welco.
Precognitive Dream… that's not a common skill.
If she hadn't spoken first, he might've asked her himself.
Jhin extended his hand.
"Then I'll count on you."
And just like that, the number of people returning to Ark increased by one.
That night.
A shadowed alleyway, the rooftop of a quiet building.
Even in a world torn apart, with hundreds of thousands dead in disaster… love, it seed, still blood.
A couple had climbed to the rooftop, exchanging sweet glances.
They practically oozed sugar.
"Nice atmosphere…"
The man pulled out a bottle of wine he'd stashed in his inventory.
Thanks to the storage function — as good as any refrigerator — it was perfectly chilled.
"This looks like a good spot."
He settled along the rooftop ledge.
Below them, Ark's District 2 was lit up with street lamps, evoking the scenery of old New Capital.
The cityscape had changed since the festival a few days ago.
This transformation had been spearheaded by Bellatris of Cheonoecheon, working alongside Dean on various joint projects to revitalize Ark's atmosphere.
What had once been a simple military outpost had grown into sothing resembling the past.
Now, being a powerful combat player wasn't the only thing that mattered.
"You can't have a mood like this without music."
The man played a track on his smartphone.
It was Millie's new song, released especially after the festival.
"Justin, co here."
He filled her glass, handing it over with a gentle motion.
The red wine shimred and rippled with every flick of his wrist.
Clink.
Their glasses t, and they basked in the warmth of the mont.
Just sitting on a rooftop, looking down on Ark with the one they loved — that was enough to make them happy.
Then the woman looked up.
"Wow…"
When had it started?
The night sky was awash with stars, as if they could pour down at any mont.
A view impossible to see in the old New Capital.
"It's beautiful…"
"…Yeah. It really is."
It was only after the world had nearly ended that people began to truly appreciate the night sky.
A cruel irony.
And then she said,
"But… babe?"
"Yeah?"
"…Was the moon always that big?"
A pale, enormous moon hovered over them, far too large for a normal night.
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