I never imagined Kim Wooju would actually leave without telling me.
If I’d known, I wouldn’t have slept—I would’ve stayed up with him all night….
Because it didn’t seem like a big deal to me, I let myself sleep easy.
I regretted it, but it was already too late.
Just as I was about to burst with frustration from not seeing Kim Wooju anywhere, I spotted two men walking near the portal.
They were far off, but a dragon’s eyesight caught them perfectly even at that distance.
'Finally found him!'
There was still some distance, but once I located where they were, distance no longer mattered.
I chanted a Teleport spell and moved in an instant to a tree behind them.
I was about to cut in and make the guy who’d scared Wooju piss himself, but the conversation I heard was calmer than I expected. I hesitated and listened.
“The government’s been looking for you, and to meet by chance here—lucky indeed. Kim Wooju. How are you feeling?”
“…I’m fine.”
“You’re in better shape than I expected. Ah, I heard there’s a lizard that uses magic here… have you happened to see it?”
“…Yeah. I did, but… it went somewhere.”
“Shame. I really wanted to see it. By the way, Wooju.”
“…Yeah.”
“You knew where the exit portal was—why didn’t you come out right away?”
“…The magic-using lizard was interesting… I thought people would be happy if I caught it and brought it back… so I stayed a few more days…. I just wasted time. Sorry. I’ll take all the punishment when we get back.”
Magic-using lizard? That’s me?
More than that—he looks more relaxed than I thought?
I could only see their backs, but his tone and behavior were perfectly natural.
So natural it was hard to believe he’d been terrified at the mere sight of the man’s face.
At this rate, it might be fine to just let him go.
I changed my mind.
It seemed likely Wooju hadn’t wanted to go back and had overreacted in rejecting the man who came to pick him up.
I watched the backs of Wooju and the man—taller by about a hand—heading toward the portal.
'Parting like this is a little sad….'
But it was what was best for Wooju.
Nothing good would come of him staying here.
It would be a thorny road, but living outside would be better for him.
There was a future out there; there was none in here.
Watching Wooju grow distant, I waved a forepaw and whispered a goodbye he couldn’t hear. It had only been a short time, but I must’ve grown attached after being together.
“Hm?”
Just as Wooju reached the very mouth of the portal and was about to step in, the man must have sensed something—his head whipped around toward me.
I ducked fast, but with a dragon’s astonishing eyesight, I caught his face in that instant—and froze.
'…That man!'
Fortunately, he didn’t seem to notice me and turned back toward the portal, but I had seen clearly.
He looked young still… but there was no way I wouldn’t recognize him.
'No! Stop!'
You can’t go with that bastard!
Wooju was already stepping into the portal, about to vanish.
No! That man is…!
Staring at Wooju as he began to disappear, I shouted a spell at him.
“Kurrrhh!”
'Teleport!'
***
“Huh? A baby dragon plushie!”
“Oh my, what’s that. Didn’t it get dirty falling on the ground?”
“It’s fine, Mom! I’ll wash it clean! I’m taking it home. I love it!”
“…It is unusually shaped. All right. But Biho, it’s dirty, so you have to wash it thoroughly before you play with it, okay?”
“Yes, Mom!”
Through the fog in my head, the voices sounded gentle.
A clear, sunny child’s voice and a loving mother’s voice full of affection.
Such an ordinary everyday scene—something I never had.
'…Is this a dream?'
With the sensation of being lifted, of my body moving somewhere, I blacked out again.
And when I came to—
“…Kurhh?”
I couldn’t hide my confusion at the ceiling pattern I’d never seen before.
A ceiling printed with a hero in a red mask throwing up a V-sign. The pattern was so over-the-top it chased the sleep from my eyes.
Where the hell was I?
Sensing something off about the room, I darted my eyes around. Thankfully, no one besides me was inside.
'…This house is insanely nice. Rich family?'
Every single object looked unusual. I had a history of killing wealthy power-brokers as a killer. When I’d infiltrated their houses, this was exactly what they looked like inside—luxury items everywhere mixed with that red-masked hero wallpaper. A strange room.
Why was I lying in a place like this?
Just then I noticed a cloth draped over me—softer than silk.
'Looks like someone rescued me after I collapsed….'
The conversation I’d half-heard while sleeping came back to me.
Maybe that hadn’t been a dream….
'…But where’s Kim Wooju?'
No matter how I looked, I was alone in this room.
Which meant I’d been separated from him.
I remembered nothing after urgently shouting Teleport to go bring Wooju back.
I must’ve rushed the spell and miscast something.
'Wait, could I even get out of the portal in the first place?'
Hadn’t I been unable to leave alone?
I’d tried multiple times, always blocked by a wall. I was half resigned, and now suddenly I’d moved… unease crept in.
Was I really out?
What if, as a side effect, I’d returned to my original world?
Not seeing Wooju—the proof I was inside the webtoon—made the anxiety worse.
I glanced down at my foreleg: still covered in black scales. So it didn’t seem like I’d gone back to my killer days….
“Kurrrh, kurhh.”
'Get it together.'
If this was still the webtoon’s world and Wooju existed, I didn’t have time to sit around.
I hopped to my feet.
The man who moved along with Wooju at the end. Kang Cheon!
I had to find him.
I never expected Kang Cheon to enter my Dungeon.
I ground my teeth.
If I’d realized it was Kang Cheon, I wouldn’t have let Wooju go no matter what. I would have stopped him by any means necessary.
Kang Cheon was practically the mastermind of this webtoon.
If Wooju was a villain, Kang Cheon was the hidden hand.
A leech who clung to the protagonist’s side, pretending to be kind and righteous, only to have all his crimes exposed later and die miserably.
A man who loved torturing and tormenting people, who thought anyone beneath him should be trampled so he could stand on top.
Kang Cheon was the one I’d thought the absolute worst of while reading.
And this was him when he was younger. I should’ve caught on when Wooju was shaking with fear….
When the word “punishment” came out of Kang Cheon’s mouth, Wooju’s fist had trembled—why had I brushed it off as nothing?
'…No time for this. I have to go save Wooju!'
Which way was the exit?
As I was scanning the room’s layout, I sensed movement outside the door.
Who?
Footsteps smaller than an adult’s. A child. Not long after, the door opened and a kid walked in.
'That kid…!'
My jaw fell open.
Even more shocking than Kang Cheon.
He was still just a child, but I had watched the webtoon without missing a single episode from Chapter 1. I recognized him immediately.
Unlike the villain Kim Wooju, this mischievous-looking boy had blond hair and blue eyes.
Shin Biho.
The protagonist of this webtoon world.