During my service I’d experienced a few Dungeon Breaks. But those and clearing a dungeon were completely different. Unawakened soldiers set up barricades, guided evacuees, and cleaned up monsters afterward. While not without danger, unless a Dungeon Break happened right by the base, direct encounters with monsters were rare. A mid-rank Hunter always accompanied us, sotis even a high-rank Hunter.
Inside a dungeon, however, I alone was responsible for my life. Lower-rank Hunters were just thrown in without proper backing—this was when the Awakening Center had opened and new Hunters flooded in, making things even worse. I heard news of fellow Hunters’ injuries or deaths as soon as the next week.
Equipnt for low ranks was in short supply then, so I might have been a bit lucky. At least I’d outfitted myself under the guise of debt.
I saw myself huddled, unable to sleep after completing my first clear. My phone alarm blinked and chid—it was a deposit notification. The sender was Han Yuhyun. Enough to pay off my debts.
“.......”
Han Yujin stared at it for a long mont. A simple deposit felt like a quiet plea: don’t do anything reckless; just live your life. You can do nothing as a big brother.
But at that ti, what else could I have been if not Yuhyun’s brother? And how could I live on blood-soaked money? People were dying left and right. Even if they were S-rank, it was still my brother’s life.
So Han Yujin—
“...Wait. This is too dangerous.”
I looked back at the Harmless King and said,
“They didn’t show how I awakened, nor the Awakening Center scenes, so it’s okay so far—but if you show more, people will beco suspicious!”
From that point onward, my life was completely different from the one known now. Luga Peya gave a look that said “So what?”
“You could cut out bits and pieces, but if you remove it whole the effect weakens. To show how Yujin beca who he is now, you need the pre-regression scenes~”
“But if we do that... for my sake, we’re putting the whole world in peril, aren’t we?”
“Well—”
The Harmless King stopped mid-sentence, then slowly raised her lips and whispered to ,
“What does it matter? You must live first.”
“...I don’t need that. Not to that extent.”
What good is it if I live and the world perishes? At best I’d only get ti for farewells.
“It won’t collapse instantly. Maybe it’ll be fine.”
“It can’t be fine.”
“Then, will you disappear as is? Give up on Han Yujin? Is that what you want?”
“...No.”
For those I cherish, I would gladly throw myself away. But at the sa ti—
“Anyway, wanting to live is natural, right? No matter what....”
I said I didn’t want to die—despite having a trigger pressed to my own head. I heard Luga Peya’s clear laughter,
“Living is more fun~ If you die, mories stop too. Now, shall we continue?”
“No! Even so—”
“It’s fine. Even if you end it here, it’s the sa collapse~”
“Don’t treat it like soone else’s problem!”
“It’d be pretty much the sa, really. You might think ‘I should have given up then,’ but if you do, you won’t even get to regret it. But you know what?”
Her white finger poked my cheek.
“Regret is fun, too.”
“...What?”
“‘I should’ve done this, I should’ve done that.’ Not having even one regret is dull. Everyone regrets. But it’s okay. All intelligences are like that.”
That may be true, but—
“For irreversible things—”
“So you’ll stop?”
...My arms were still bound. If I stop here, it’s over. Others might live on, but Han Yujin won’t be here. And Yuhyun—both would vanish. One remaining in mory, one erased entirely.
“...Honestly, this world—this won’t broadcast, will it?”
“Yes, it won’t.”
“Whether the world ends or not, I just want to hold those I love.”
I don’t know—I just want to live and be together.
“Alright, live long and well.”
The jellyfish stroked my hair. Clearly doing it for her own amusent—but strangely it didn’t upset .
She watched huddle until sunlight stread through the window. My face was dark as if ready to die, yet Han Yujin lived on. Sunlight spread warmly. I slowly blinked.
“...I should live and get out of here.”
No one knew what would happen if my regression were exposed. It could be worse than the Harmless King’s revival.
But I must live and escape first. Only then can I act. If I ended it here, it’d be neither life nor death.
I rose from my place, staggered, filled a glass of water and drank. Then I made a call.
“...Yes, this is Han Yujin. About the next clear... no, this ti I can do it right!”
After pleading, I was finally enrolled as a porter-cum-participant. Naturally my pay was a fraction of an official clear team’s. Once I heard the dungeon, I started researching all related information. While data on low-rank dungeons was scarce, I read whatever scraps I found repeatedly.
The second dungeon, the third—though terrified, I grew more accustod each ti. By the fifth, I was neither porter nor miner anymore.
“Hey, include the money from Guild Haeyeon, too. We can’t let Yuhyun take all the bla.”
Yuhyun was surely watching this himself. I was grateful that I’d learned of my pre-regression in the Nightmare Dungeon...
“Leave out the Guild Haeyeon mbers’ harassnt as much as possible.”
“You’ll get blad more then.”
“I’ve been blad plenty already. And you know...”
Crack! I watched Han Yujin drive a spear into a monster that looked like a giant bean beetle. Though mainly support, I moved briskly.
“Here’s water! They say if you rinse the wound quickly you don’t need an antidote!”
Healers rarely joined low-rank clears. Potions and antidotes were expensive, so used sparingly. I ran to a small pool, dropped leaves from a dungeon plant I’d collected to test its quality by color change, then quickly filled my canteen and handed it to the combat Hunters.
“Not bad, really. You’re living well.”
It wasn’t bad. Truly. Though embarrassing to see, it didn’t feel unbearable. I was living earnestly.
“This is the last one, right?”
Facing the self-styled sponsor who’d saddled with debt, Han Yujin said with a firr gaze—he’d repaid every last penny without touching Yuhyun’s money.
“...Yeah, you’re holding up well. At first I worried you’d run off quick. Glad you didn’t.”
“Don’t be glad—if I’d run, I’d have gone after Guild Haeyeon anyway.”
Han Yujin turned sharply, smiling brightly. Still F-rank, his brother far above, but there was pride in accomplishnt—a step up.
Of course, things didn’t always go smoothly.
“When did I ever do that? Tell , you bastard!”
Han Yujin shouted into his phone. A calm voice replied over the line:
[So you got no help? Even your Awakening and support ca because you used your Guild Haeyeon big brother’s na. If a normal orphan F-rank had acted like you, they’d have been comnded already.]
Han Yujin exhaled sharply. It was when articles claid I’d escaped unscathed while countless lower-rank Hunters died or were injured—attacking Guild Haeyeon and high-rank Hunters alike.
[They say you only joined that low-rank guild clear by trading on Guild Haeyeon’s na. We even got an interview from that guild leader.]
“That’s not true! At first, I didn’t realize—”
His voice trailed off. His fist clenched unconsciously. I’d been so harshly criticized then. My heart pounded at the mory, yet this ti, surprisingly, it was okay. The call ended, and Han Yujin whimpered quietly.
“I really worked hard, though......”
No one listened then. But now, my efforts were visible. So would still insult , but this ti there’d be people who listened.
[This plant-type monster often appears in low-rank East Asian dungeons.]
Late that evening, Han Yujin’s eyes were glued to an overseas Hunter’s personal stream. He took notes now and then.
“He’s conning people with Haeyeon’s na.”
“I heard Han Yujin survived an E-rank dungeon alone.”
“Our team’s image will suffer if we’re tied to him.”
Negative articles resurfaced now and then, and I beca fair ga. Even so...
[Han Yujin, got three days free?]
A ssage ca through. Low-rank Hunter Han Yujin was holding his own, and most who’d cleared with him acknowledged that. F-ranks struggle to raise stats, so I gained experience instead.
“There’s a large pond at six o’clock. Gray sand beetles slow in water, you know? Let’s move toward it.”
Claiming he’d seen it in a Philippine clear, Han Yujin led the way. He cut down reed-like plants around the pond and floated them on the surface, camouflaging them. Though obvious up close, beetle vision was poor.
The fastest lure baited the beetle swarm. From the opposite shore, Hunters emitted a sharp tallic noise in unison.
—Keerrek!
Sensitive to the clamor, the beetles sward onto the floating plants. As they pressed into the center of the pond,
“Now!”
Bang! Crack! Ranged fighters struck. lee and support tossed stones and boulders, aiming at the plants, not the beetles themselves. A few drowned, and the survivors couldn’t escape the rising water.
“Aim between the atrophied wings!”
Spears thrust at beetles crawling slowly to shore. The fight didn’t last long. “That was easy,” they said, and Han Yujin smiled shyly.
“...I’m sorry.”
He wept. It was a funeral hall. There had been places we could go and places we couldn’t. When I was the only survivor... I couldn’t bring myself to go.
“You know that skill, right?”
“Yeah, yeah. I won’t use it again. Did you ever use it on purpose?”
“......”
Han Yujin’s fingertips trembled. He circled the funeral hall, then fled, cowering like sneaking back ho. He sat vacant, sotis crying as if dying, then rose again.
“I really was... persistent.”
Sohow I smiled.
“I’m worse than my mories. Truly. I thought I was just flailing painfully.”
“There are many like you. Especially those who think their lives are nothing special.”
“But so many people live ordinary lives.”
“Living itself is special.”
Luga Peya waved her hand lightly and said,
“Each and every one is a mory and my nourishnt. Strange ones like you delight , but every living intelligence is delicious~”
“...At least you’re not picky.”
Then a hospital appeared. Han Yujin hobbled out on crutches, gaunt, pulled out his phone. His eyes showed no light. He hesitated, slipped into a corner, and called soone—no answer.
Clutching his phone, Han Yujin bowed his head and returned ho. Then—
“Um......”
The scene shifted to Guild Haeyeon. A desk clerk shot him an icy glance. He closed his eyes reflexively.
“The pre-regression is enough. Skip it.”
“Really not showing it?”
“Yeah.”
“Don’t you miss your brother?”
Luga Peya humd,
“And how did Han Yujin make it this far~ That’s important. «N.o.v.e.l.i.g.h.t» Especially what cos next.”
What cos next. It felt like blood was rising in my throat. The urge to see it battled with dread.
I opened my eyes again. I—Han Yujin—was shouting.
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