"…What is this?"
It was a completely white space—so starkly white that it felt unsettling.
I looked around and frowned.
"What is this place?"
Am I having another vision now? I’m used to them by now, but this is the first ti I’ve experienced one with nothing to see. I have no idea what it’s trying to show .
“Um…?”
I turned around and saw sothing over there. That’s…
"A gramophone…?"
I approached the old gramophone. On the antique brown furniture, a black vinyl record spun slowly, and the large horn emitted faint crackling sounds, but no music played. It looked so old—maybe it was broken?
Confused, I tilted my head and glanced around again. But once more, the gramophone was the only thing in this entirely white space.
What’s going on? The voice I heard earlier was…
‘…Park… Ho-su?’
"Park… Ho-su."
The na sounded oddly familiar. I must have heard it before. I frowned and turned my gaze back to the giant gramophone.
[Zzzt… zzzzzt…]
“…!”
Suddenly, the crackling from the gramophone grew louder. I stared in surprise as a human voice started to co through the static.
[…He…llo?]
“…”
Did they just say "hello"? The noise on the other end was so loud, I could hardly make out the voice. It was so distorted that I could barely tell it was a man's voice, and I couldn’t even distinguish it from the others around . Frowning, I hesitated for a mont before speaking.
"Who are you?"
[Han… Yi-jin…?]
"Yes."
[zzzt… zzztt…]
I nodded, and for a mont, no voice ca from the gramophone.
Then, after a brief pause, the voice returned, accompanied by a laugh.
[You're not…]
“…!”
[You're not… Han Yi Jin…]
The voice was a little clearer now, and I was taken aback as I stared at the gramophone.
This guy knows I'm not Han Yi-jin. Who is he? The only person who knew my real identity was Sim Dante. But there was no reason for him to be involved in this—he’s too busy with his experints.
"Who are you?"
[zzzt… zzztt…]
“…”
This bastard, is he just making noise to avoid answering my unfavorable questions? I stared at the gramophone, which had gone silent, and only after a while did his voice return.
[I…]
“…”
[…Who is it?]
“…!”
I instinctively raised my hand. Should I just smash this gramophone?
No, calm down. I took a deep breath as I watched the black vinyl record spin on the gramophone. It didn’t even play music, but there it was, shaped like an LP record on a gramophone. What a great taste…
Then, I glanced back at the black LP record and the gramophone, and I was startled. The more I looked at it, the more familiar it seed, like I’d seen it sowhere before…
“…!”
I rembered seeing those stacks of LPs before, in Han Yi-jin's room at the Loki Guild. I wasn’t interested in that sort of thing back then, so I just ignored them, thinking he had a pretty old-fashioned taste.
Of course, his room didn’t have a gramophone this big, but if this reflects his taste, it makes sense. If this place really is a vision, his preferences would show up here. And aside from Sim Dante, there’s only one person who knows I’m possessing soone else.
“Are you… the real Han Yi Jin?”
[…]
The sound from the gramophone abruptly cut off, and the LP record, which had been spinning for no reason, stopped moving. I stared at the gramophone nervously.
[Correct.]
"…!"
The voice, now clearer than before, ca from the gramophone’s horn. That’s when I realized who it was—it sounded almost exactly like my own voice.
Han Yi-jin. The character I had possessed. He committed villainous acts against the protagonist, Kang Yoo-hyun, and was killed.
"You… where the hell are you right now? Contact Sim Dante, hurry…!"
[That won’t work. Sim Dante doesn’t enter dungeons.]
"What?"
I tilted my head at Han Yi-jin’s words. He can't contact anyone unless they're inside a dungeon? Why is that?
"Why?"
[I have my circumstances… Since we're in different dinsions, I can barely contact anyone unless they're inside a dungeon.]
"Hmm…"
Han Yi-jin's words made sense—after all, he was probably in my original world.
I thought for a mont before speaking again.
"Then, if we bring Sim Dante into the dungeon…"
[The dungeon has to be S-rank or higher. Wouldn’t he die as soon as he enters?]
"…"
Could Sim Dante really be that weak? Even though he's a producer-type hunter with no combat skills, S-rank is still S-rank, right?
But I knew better than anyone that wasn’t the case. If Sim Dante could protect himself, he wouldn’t be holed up in his hideout like that.
Sure, he might be safe in a large raid team, but drawing attention like that would expose his location and put him at risk. Either way, bringing Sim Dante into an S-rank dungeon was out of the question.
"So, what do you want to say to ? The real Han Yi-jin.”
First, I needed to hear what Han Yi-jin had to say. He was likely searching for his body too. He must be worried about Do-gyul, considering how much he cared for his younger brother. With that in mind, I decided to bring up Do-gyul to Han Yi-jin first.
"Ah, by the way, about Do-gyul…"
[Rather than that, there's sothing you need to know first.]
"…What?"
For a mont, I doubted my ears. Rather than that?
Is this really sothing Han Yi-jin would say? The guy who had fought so desperately to save his younger brother?
Maybe he was running out of ti to maintain the vision, or there could be another reason.
Still, I couldn’t shake the uneasy feeling. How could he cut off like that without letting say a word about Do-gyul?
"You… Are you really Han Yi-jin?"
[…]
Once I started suspecting, I couldn’t get rid of the feeling. Thinking it through, Han Yi-jin wasn’t powerful enough to create this kind of vision in a dungeon.
It also felt risky to assu that only Sim Dante knew about my situation—he could have told soone else.
I couldn’t figure out what Sim Dante would gain from it, but who knew? I stared at the now-silent gramophone with a sharp gaze.
After a mont, the voice ca back through the gramophone.
[…I told you, I have my circumstances. Do-gyul… Yeah, I think that was my little brother's na.]
"You…"
[You're not the only one who lost your mories after synchronization. The current Han Yi-jin… No, Park Ho-su.]
“…”
Park Ho-su.
The mont that na crossed my mind, a chill ran down my spine. I rembered—it had been my original na.
I couldn’t deny it any longer. The person I was talking to was the real Han Yi-jin. If he had gone through synchronization like , with his mories erased, it made sense.
“You seem to have rembered your na.”
[Well, a lot has happened.]
“So, what is it that I need to know?”
[That's…]
Han Yi-jin paused briefly before speaking in a lowered tone.
[Watch out for the foreign hunters in your current dungeon. There's a traitor among them.]
“What?”
[You won’t be able to clear the final dungeon because of them.]
“What do you an…?”
[…Do your best… to…]
“What?”
The gramophone, which had been working fine, suddenly began to vibrate. Han Yi-jin's voice beca inaudible, and as I stepped closer, the space around the gramophone began to distort. Has the ti already run out? It ended so quickly. For an S-rank item, its duration was surprisingly short.
[Live… Park… Su.]
"Han Yi-jin!"
I reached out, but the gramophone had completely vanished. In an instant, the white space around turned pitch black.
"Hok…!”
"Yi-jin-ah!"
Eden caught as I staggered. I was breathing heavily and looked at Eden in surprise.
Did I co back?
I scanned my surroundings quickly—the dungeon was exactly as it had been before my conversation with Han Yi-jin. I glanced at my watch and saw that only a few seconds had passed.
"Yi-jin-ah, are you okay? What’s going on?"
"No… it’s nothing."
The communication item had also disappeared from my hand. I clenched my fist and turned my head. Then, as if everything was ready, Park Yoon-sung turned to the hunters and shouted.
"Let's get moving!"
"Yes!"
With Yeo Min-jun, whose auxiliary skill duration hadn't ended, leading the way, we prepared to move out again. If a mid-boss monster appeared this ti, the second group would need to take the front. I t the gaze of the hunter trailing behind Yeo Min-jun.
“…”
“…”
– Watch out for the foreign hunters in your current dungeon. There's a traitor among them.
Liam White is the vice guildmaster of Baldur, a major guild from the U.S.
Baldur is the only foreign guild trapped in this tid dungeon.
Could Liam White be the traitor? I narrowed my eyes at him.
Reviews
All reviews (0)