J was dead, but his corpse had not disappeared. One could only guess that he had left his body behind in this world while his soul returned to his original one. He had to.
Lee Sa-young carefully cleaned and arranged J’s corpse before moving it to his ho, placing preservation stones throughout the space— to prevent decay, to stop ti from flowing for him any further. And in that house, he went about his daily life.
Yoon Ga-eul fiddled with a cold key in her hand.
"Um, but... do we really need to manage it together? Wouldn’t Hunter Lee Sa-young take good care of it?"
Honeybee frowned, her voice sharp as she whispered,
"You trust that pervert?"
"P-Pervert...?"
"What else do you call soone who keeps a corpse?"
Before Yoon Ga-eul could respond, a languid voice answered in her stead.
"I can hear you."
"Oh, really? Good. I ant for you to."
"You didn’t bury yours either. Your guild mber. Isn’t it the sa thing?"
"..."
Honeybee and Lee Sa-young locked eyes. Their gazes were so fierce, it felt like sparks might fly between them. Yoon Ga-eul held her breath, her face turning pale. A shiver ran through her entire body. If she weren’t an S-rank, she might have collapsed under the sheer intensity of it.
At last, Honeybee shrugged.
"Yeah... You’re right. I misspoke."
"As long as you understand."
"Still, we’re all going to take care of it together. Got it? We’re going to be busy from now on."
"...Do as you please."
Yoon Ga-eul stole a glance at Lee Sa-young. He leaned against the wall, not even bothering to fix his disheveled hair, his face devoid of expression. Ever since J’s death, there had been nothing left of emotion in him. At least he wasn’t locking himself away in a dark room like in the fragnts, but...
’He looks unstable...’
Honeybee must have noticed his condition too— that’s why she made this drastic move. Using the excuse of managing J’s body, she ensured that Lee Sa-young would be checked on regularly. Because living alongside a corpse could never be good for anyone’s mind.
He was like a ticking ti bomb, ready to go off at any mont. Yoon Ga-eul clenched the key in her hand and closed her eyes. She prayed for the end to co soon. Because if it didn’t...
Soone else might reach their end first.
***
After J’s return, Director Ham Seok-jeong gathered a small group of people. They were individuals directly connected to the eroded dungeons— in truth, it was practically a ranker eting. J, Matthew, Jung Bin, Gyu-Gyu, Shield Guy, Director Ham, Nam Woo-jin (who sent the marionette in his place), Rift Managent Bureau representative Yang Hye-jin, and even Seo Min-gi, who had appointed himself as J’s driver, were all in attendance.
The purpose of the gathering was to assess the current situation and share information.
Yang Hye-jin flipped through the papers in her hand as she spoke.
"...Erosion is accelerating. The underground dungeon in Jongno 3-ga remains hidden since it’s below ground, but for those with entrances exposed to the outside, the surroundings have already turned completely white."
"The erosion has started to manifest externally."
"Yes. We’ve designated all dungeon surroundings as restricted zones and erected barriers, but... even dungeons that weren’t eroded dungeons are beginning to erode. At this rate, resource supply is going to be a serious issue."
Humanity had adapted quickly to life alongside monsters. The market was filled with products made from monster materials, and all hunter gear was crafted from dungeon resources— everything from weapons and armor to the low-grade potions sold as gifts for rookie hunters via ssenger apps.
Ham Seok-jeong cast a glance at Gyu-Gyu.
"Sa situation overseas?"
"Yeah, seems like a global phenonon~ At this rate, even common potions will be hard to co by, let alone weapons."
Gyu-Gyu idly tossed and caught a die. Silence followed. Areas affected by erosion and the whitening turned into barren white wastelands. Everything burned away into ash, leaving nothing useful behind. It erased all things indiscriminately, scattering in the wind like dust. Cha Eui-jae suddenly had a thought.
’So that’s why Nam Woo-jin has been pushing himself even harder...’
A world where resources were growing scarce. Wounds that could have been healed with potions had to be treated by hand instead. Cha Eui-jae recalled the hunters inside the morial Dungeon, carrying injuries both large and small.
Ham Seok-jeong broke the silence.
"What’s the status of the mutations?"
"They’re increasing rapidly. The mutation rate is higher among those living near eroded dungeons. The causal link between the whitening and mutation is clear. As Hunter J suggested, the erosion in our world seems to be the sa as the whitening in the ruined world— just under a different na."
Matthew spoke up.
"What about closing the dungeons? If eroded dungeons no longer provide resources, wouldn’t eliminating them be the quickest way to minimize damage?"
Jung Bin let out a small sigh and shook his head.
"That was considered, but the entrances to eroded dungeons have disappeared. It seems that as long as the morial Dungeon is active, no one can enter them."
"So we have no choice but to wait?"
"That’s right. But since the flow of ti differs inside and outside the dungeon, we have no way of knowing how long that wait will be..."
Ti within dungeons flowed differently from reality. When Cha Eui-jae spent about a week inside the morial Dungeon, two weeks had passed in reality. Eventually, those inside would return— but there was also the looming possibility that the world could end before then...
’Lee Sa-young will have to stay even longer...’
Even after the world perished, he would continue to wander through it. Cha Eui-jae recalled the three months Lee Sa-young had spent asleep. The sheer hell of that ti.
At this rate, the world’s destruction would co before Lee Sa-young’s return. Cha Eui-jae bit down hard on his lip. Was there a way to bring him back sooner?
"You co find first. Like you did before."
A voice drifted through his mind, lost like a ship with no destination.
In the end, the eting adjourned without reaching any viable solutions. Shield Guy remained at the Awakened Managent Bureau to look into sothing, while Seo Min-gi and Cha Eui-jae left first.
Cha Eui-jae climbed into the passenger seat of the beat-up truck. The rearview mirror decoration had changed— it was now a small, gray cat figurine wearing sunglasses. Sitting on the driver’s seat while adjusting the mirror, Seo Min-gi suddenly asked,
"It’d be nice if we could enter the closed dungeons or rifts, wouldn’t it, sir?"
"Yes. But we can’t. Even Romantic Opener-ssi can’t open doors that lead inside a dungeon."
"Regrettably, no. But I do have a suggestion."
In the rearview mirror, behind the sunglasses, pitch-black eyes reflected back.
"Try reaching out to the Pado Guild’s research team. With all their recent back-to-back business trips, they’re drowning in fatigue. Sothing about feeling like a mismatched pair of chopsticks..."
"The research team?"
"Oh, haven’t you t them before? Back in Incheon? They were assigned by their guild leader to study how to open closed rifts. Now, they’re researching the erosion."
Ah. Cha Eui-jae let out a small exclamation. Back when he’d stord into Incheon searching for Lee Sa-young, hadn’t one of the researchers lent him an entry card without hesitation? He had looked like a bandit, but he had a kind nature. Most importantly— he was a fan of J. Cha Eui-jae recalled the bandit-like researcher stamring with a flushed face.
"I’m, I’m, I’m a fan. A fan, and... our team are fans, and, Professor’s a fan too..."
Cha Eui-jae rubbed his chin. A fan of J, huh. If he played his cards right, they might be willing to help.
"What about their research progress? Have they succeeded in opening one?"
"Well, they haven’t managed to open one yet, so I guess you could say there’s no progress. But their knowledge of dungeons is probably the best in the world. And they’re currently studying eroded dungeons too."
With a loud rumble, the old truck thundered to life. Cha Eui-jae grimaced and asked,
"Why didn’t you ntion this during the eting? This is critical information."
"This is top-secret intel. Don’t you know anything about information security?"
"The world is on the brink of destruction, and you’re worried about security?"
"That’s why I’m telling you, sir. If we told the Awakened Managent Bureau, they’d just waste ti dragging their feet. This requires soone reckless and action-oriented— like you."
"So we keep this from the Bureau?"
"There are so secrets you don’t even tell your parents, sir."
Maybe it was the ti they had spent together, but Seo Min-gi knew Cha Eui-jae far too well. His grin widened behind his mask. Beneath his sunglasses, Seo Min-gi’s lips curled up as well.
Cha Eui-jae nodded.
"Let’s go. Now."
At the sa ti, Seo Min-gi sharply turned the steering wheel.
***
The pride of the Pado Guild, the Dungeon Research Lab, had extrely strict security. Multiple scans of an access card were required, and one had to follow a spiraling path, winding inward like a snail’s shell, for quite so ti. The lab was located in such a deep, windowless space that artificial sky panels were installed on the ceiling, and the hallway walls were lined with screens displaying nature scenes— perhaps for the sake of employees’ ntal well-being. Maybe this is exactly why people here feel depressed. As Cha Eui-jae trudged through the seemingly endless corridor, that thought crossed his mind.
Finally, just as Seo Min-gi scanned the last security panel with his access card—
"WELCO!!"
Pop! Confetti exploded. Cha Eui-jae instinctively took a quick step back and blinked.
A red carpet stretched out before him, flanked on both sides by researchers standing in a straight line, bowing at a full ninety degrees. The scene was reminiscent of gang mbers greeting their boss. The effect was only reinforced by the presence of the burly researcher who looked like a mountain bandit. Cha Eui-jae turned to Seo Min-gi, speaking through clenched teeth like a ventriloquist.
"What the hell did you tell them?"
"That J-nim was coming."
"That’s all you said?"
"Yes. This ti, I swear."
The red carpet stretched far ahead, seemingly endless. The researchers, having finished their greeting, now gazed at Cha Eui-jae with eyes shining with anticipation, as if urging him to step forward and walk across the carpet. Cha Eui-jae clenched his fists. His hands trembled.
’No, no, no—’
This kind of attention was the absolute worst!
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