Damn.
Damn.
Damn!
What kind of nonsense is this—being dragged into my own Dungeon!
The fissure turned out to be a Dungeon.
And not just any Dungeon—my Dungeon!
The absurdity of it all left me laughing hollowly for a while, even after I’d been dragged back in.
The Boss of the Dungeon falling into his own Dungeon…
But the real problem started now.
I tried again and again to go through the exit portal, desperate to return to Kim Wooju, who must be waiting anxiously for me.
And in that moment, I realized it.
I couldn’t leave this Dungeon on my own.
'…Why the hell can’t I get out!'
I bounced off the walls over and over, recalling the circumstances of the one time I had escaped.
Right. Even then, I hadn’t gotten out by myself.
The only reason I managed to leave was because Kim Wooju had been with me.
Which meant…
'…If I’m with a human who enters from outside, I can get out?'
It was a plausible hypothesis.
To test it, I’d need an intruder to enter first.
'Come quickly. Hurry…'
At least two or three intruders usually came in every week, so I just had to wait.
If I was lucky, maybe one would enter today.
"Kuoh, Kuohooo."
Still, the frustration was killing me.
I looked down at my clawed, scale-covered hands.
Back inside the Dungeon, I couldn’t use Polymorph or human speech anymore.
Apparently, Polymorph simply didn’t function in here.
Probably because it wouldn’t make sense for a Dungeon Boss to be walking around in human form?
Still, at least I knew I could use it outside. That was enough.
I clenched my front claws tightly, picturing Kim Wooju waiting patiently for me to return.
Stay put, Kim Wooju. Don’t go anywhere.
I’ll be back soon.
More desperate than ever, I fixed my eyes on the portal and prayed for an intruder to enter.
***
Hwang Daeheon, a C-rank telekinetic, was dragging his tired body home when he fell into a fissure.
A moment ago he had been stepping into his apartment in the pitch-dark night, but after the fall, he came to in a sunny forest under a bright blue sky.
'…Ah, shit.'
Daeheon despaired.
Talk about rotten luck.
Of all times, he had to fall into a Dungeon fissure right after work.
These days, they said the odds of stumbling into one were lower than winning the lottery, so why the hell had he been the unlucky winner?
If this was how it was going to be, couldn’t it at least have been the lottery instead? Damn it.
Grumbling, he got to his feet and looked around carefully.
A dense forest Dungeon.
His wristwatch, which displayed Dungeon grades, only showed unranked.
In cases like this, if you were lucky, nothing appeared at all. If you weren’t, you might run into a nightmare of a monster.
In other words, a total gamble.
Still, the upside of these Dungeons was that, unlike graded ones, you didn’t necessarily have to kill a Boss to leave.
There was always an exit portal hidden somewhere. If you found it, you could escape.
'Please… let me make it out safe…'
He might have fallen into a Dungeon fissure today, but at least he prayed that his luck would come through in the end. Daeheon sharpened every sense.
Fortunately, there was no sign of anything nearby.
'Let’s just find that exit portal fast.'
He pushed through the underbrush and started walking.
Perhaps because he hadn’t encountered any monsters yet, his steps grew bolder.
He even let himself imagine—maybe this was one of those peaceful Dungeons without monsters.
That was when he ran headlong into one.
"Kieeeh!"
'That’s… an ogre!'
Towering over him at twice his size, its body was bulging with muscle, its grotesque face snarling—it was unmistakably an ogre.
He’d only ever seen them in training slideshows, but now, here it was in the flesh.
'Ogres are A-rank!'
There was no way a C-rank like him could take on something with that much of a gap.
His calculations were fast.
He spun on his heel and ran.
But the ogre’s pursuit was even faster.
Thundering steps shook the ground as it barreled after him, swinging a club as big as its own body.
Daeheon panicked.
He tried hurling rocks with his telekinesis, but they barely made a dent.
Focused on the monster behind him, he didn’t watch his step and tripped on a branch.
"Kieeeeh!"
'Shit! Am I really going to die like this?'
The ogre raised its club high, ready to smash his skull.
Daeheon squeezed his eyes shut, trembling, bracing for the agony.
But no matter how long he waited, no pain came.
Could it be that he had died instantly, before even feeling it?
He cracked his eyes open—only to find the ogre foaming at the mouth, collapsed on the ground.
"…Wh-what the… what the hell…."
"Kuoh!"
At that moment, a creature covered in black scales with wings—a dragon-shaped lizard—raised its foreclaws.
Its eyes looked genuinely delighted, with no hint of hostility. But since Daeheon had never seen such a thing in any monster guide, he instinctively stumbled back.
"Kuoh, Kuoh, Kuohhh, Kuoh."
It sounded like it was trying to explain something, but he couldn’t understand a word.
Growing frustrated, the winged lizard thumped its chest, then, as if struck by inspiration, grabbed a stick and began furiously drawing pictures on the ground.
Daeheon wanted to bolt, but the thing didn’t seem about to attack, so he hesitated and looked down at the drawings.
"Outside… home? You’re saying you’ll send me back home?"
"Kuoh Kuoh!"
The lizard nodded vigorously.
Thinking it over, Daeheon realized whether he died to an ogre or to this creature, it was all the same. At least this one was offering help.
So he decided to trust it and followed as it led the way.
"…A portal!"
A portal. Finally, a portal!
He was saved!
It had been the right call to trust the lizard.
Not long after, following behind it, he spotted the shimmering portal in the distance.
He rushed toward it.
Then he felt weight on his head.
Startled, he looked up and saw the lizard perched there, tapping him with its foreclaws as if to say, Let’s go.
Worried about taking it outside with him, but more desperate to escape, he resumed running.
The moment he stepped through the portal and back into the cool Seoul night air, Daeheon nearly cried.
'I came back alive. I really… today was my lucky day.'
For a C-rank to survive a Dungeon crawling with ogres—this was nothing short of a miracle.
All thanks to the strange winged lizard that had guided him to the portal.
He looked up, ready to thank it.
"Huh?"
Where’d it go?
But the creature that had been perched on his head had already vanished without a trace.
***
'I’m back.'
'Finally, finally!'
"I’m back!"
How long had it been since I’d stood here in human form?
I clenched and unclenched my fists.
The moment I was outside, I Polymorphed back into human form.
And the very first place I headed was where I had parted ways with Kim Wooju.
I knew too much time had passed, that he wouldn’t still be waiting for me. But still, I had to check.
"Ha… it’s here…."
I stood blankly at the spot where we’d separated, looking around.
'Yeah… of course he’s not here.'
Time had moved on. The forest I had flown toward back then was gone, replaced by buildings.
If I wasn’t mistaken, it had been somewhere near that pavilion.
It was late and dark, with not a soul around.
What had I been expecting?
I laughed bitterly.
'…It’s been too long.'
I hadn’t known.
I thought I’d be able to come right back out.
But no matter how long I waited, no intruders ever came.
One year passed. Then two. Then three…
Time went by, but not a single intruder set foot inside.
I had become trapped in the Dungeon, plain and simple.
I nearly lost my mind.
The helplessness of being unable to do anything, the monotony of the same days repeating endlessly… my constant worry about Kim Wooju….
Was I really doomed to stay sealed away until Shin Biho came to kill me?
Every day became torment under that fear.
And then, when I was at my lowest, suffocating in that powerless existence—like a miracle, I felt it.
An intruder had finally entered.