“Now that the Vice Guild Master is here, he’ll handle it. As long as the clear goes properly, there’s no problem. The real issue with sudden dungeons is that when the gate first opens, people sometimes get sucked inside.”
“Ah… sucked into the gate?”
That sounded oddly familiar.
Yurian had been dragged into a black hole in almost the exact same way.
Was that a gate?
For them, it was the inside—but for him, it had been the outside.
Lost in thought, he tapped his fingers lightly.
It felt like he almost understood something, yet not quite. Worlds connected by gates, monsters moving between them, the difference between people here—who couldn’t see mana—and himself.
This place had something called a system.
And Yurian couldn’t see it.
‘Maybe this place is…’
“You’re really not from here, are you?”
Gong Siyoung’s voice snapped him back to reality.
The car had slowed to a crawl at some point. After hesitating for a moment, Gong Siyoung glanced sideways.
“You really… came from inside a dungeon?”
Yurian blinked.
They’d been stuck together this whole time, and he was only asking that now?
“Then what did you think I was up until now?”
Gong Siyoung shut his mouth, clearly caught off guard.
That expression alone said enough. Whatever he’d thought before, it hadn’t been anything good.
The honesty made Yurian chuckle.
“Whether that place counts as inside a dungeon or outside, I’m definitely not from here. Where I lived, none of this existed.”
He gestured in turn—to the car, to the scenery outside the window.
Unlike this convenient, comfortable world, Yurian’s world had been far more desperate.
Monsters appeared without warning. People died easily.
A world where dying—and killing—came just as easily.
“It’s a bit of a hit to my pride to admit it, but compared to here, it’s a filthy, brutal place. Honestly, this place feels like heaven.”
A life without guaranteed safety drove people into despair.
Monster attacks, the tyranny of lords, famine, plague—despair and death under many names lingered everywhere.
For Yurian, it was as familiar as breathing.
“Is your ability to see sudden dungeons related to that background?”
“Hard to say. Maybe. There’s so little mana here that when it clumps together like that, it stands out.”
“…What is mana?”
Up until now, Yurian had been the one asking questions.
Now the roles were reversed.
Even as he asked, Gong Siyoung looked faintly awkward.
It was oddly amusing.
Suppressing a smile, Yurian cleared his throat.
“Simply put, it’s the power you need to use magic. A mage’s circle depends on how finely they can control mana. It’s basically the source of power.”
Mana wasn’t infinite.
No matter how skilled you were, using magic drained it from your body.
Once it was depleted, you couldn’t cast anymore.
You either had to wait for it to recover—or replenish it quickly using a magic stone.
“So when the gate opened, you could see that mana?”
“Yeah. Dungeons are full of it. I figured it was leaking out through the gate. Just a guess, though.”
To Yurian, it was stranger that Gong Siyoung couldn’t see mana at all.
Why couldn’t he?
Even when Gong Siyoung used his skills, mana clearly moved.
Which meant he was using it in some form.
Using something you couldn’t even see?
It felt contradictory—like saying something was hot and cold at the same time.
“Can I ask one more thing?”
“As many as you want.”
The car slowed further.
As it entered the building, the surroundings darkened, almost like stepping into a cave.
While Yurian glanced around at the parked cars, Gong Siyoung spoke.
“If you really came from another world… don’t you want to go back? You don’t look desperate, but… you never know.”
That was exactly why Gong Siyoung hadn’t trusted him.
For someone claiming something as absurd as being from another world, Yurian showed no anxiety, no sense of crisis.
Was that even possible?
To be thrown into a completely unfamiliar world overnight—with no one you knew, nothing you recognized—and still act like nothing was wrong?
It made far more sense to assume he was insane.
Even if that assumption had turned out to be wrong.
“No matter how I think about it, it’s strange. Anyone would panic if they got lost.”
Yurian had been the same from the beginning.
Gong Siyoung wasn’t wrong.
He might have been surprised—but he’d never panicked.
Instead of reacting emotionally, he’d just brushed things off like, “So that’s how it is.”
It wasn’t calmness.
If anything, it felt closer to giving up on understanding.
Or resignation.
“So it’s… strange. No matter what you say, it never feels like you mean it.”
The car came to a slow stop.
The engine shut off, and silence settled.
In the dim space, Yurian blinked slowly.
“I don’t think I’ve ever tried to hide what I really think…”
If that was how Gong Siyoung felt, there wasn’t much to say.
As if he hadn’t been expecting an answer in the first place, Gong Siyoung got out of the car first.
The door slammed shut.
Without a word, he started walking.
Still sitting in the passenger seat, Yurian muttered quietly.
“Was I supposed to panic?”
This place was unfamiliar—but it wasn’t terrifying.
He didn’t feel an urgent need to go back either.
Was it because he’d wandered for too long?
Or because this place was just… comfortable?
“Come on.”
Not wanting to fall behind, Yurian quickly got out of the car.
Leaving the unanswered question behind, he followed after Gong Siyoung.
* * *
“Ah, I get it. What we call skills are basically magic to you, Yurian. You said you use a sword too, right? Mind if I take a look?”
“Go ahead.”
“Oh…! This is beautifully made. The grip feels great too… wow, this is seriously artistic. It’s really good.”
“You’ve got a good eye. What’s your name?”
“Myeong Haejin. Just call me Haejin. You’re older than me anyway, so feel free to speak casually.”
Laughter filled the room.
White hair and pink hair leaned close together, chatting nonstop.
Watching the sudden burst of friendliness, Gong Siyoung’s eye twitched.
‘Can someone please take those two away?’
It had only been ten minutes since everyone gathered in the meeting room.
Despite the seriousness of the situation, the atmosphere was absurdly light.
Even a neighborhood council meeting would’ve felt more solemn.
And the reason was obvious.
Those two.
With the appearance of a layered dungeon, shouldn’t they at least pretend to be serious?
Yurian was one thing—he didn’t know anything about this world.
But what was Myeong Haejin’s excuse?
His constant lighthearted attitude was unbearable.
There were five people in the room.
Gong Siyoung and Yurian, along with Woo Yujin and Gu Jayeong—who had entered the dungeon together—and now Myeong Haejin on top of that.
It was impossible to keep a straight face.
Well, it had been expected to some degree.
Woo Yujin and Gu Jayeong were bound to be included.
And if those two came, Myeong Haejin following along wasn’t exactly surprising.
Gong Siyoung understood why Gong Sijin had formed the team this way.
Putting aside how much he disliked him, Myeong Haejin’s skill was undeniable.
Even Gong Siyoung admitted that.
In some ways, he was more reliable than an S-rank hunter.
Wherever he was placed, he performed above expectations.
He assessed situations calmly and rationally—and more often than not, he was right.
Objectively speaking, it was the optimal team.
An S-rank like Gong Siyoung, a seasoned and sharp-minded Myeong Haejin, Gu Jayeong—a healer with offensive skills—and Woo Yujin, a top-tier close-range dealer despite his nonstop chatter.
The composition was perfect.
So why did it feel so unpleasant?
“Sorry, I’m late, aren’t I?”
The meeting room door opened, and Gong Sijin entered.
Carrying a stack of documents, he set them down on the table with a heavy thud.
Curious eyes followed the pile.
“The Bureau meeting dragged on forever, so I just got out. The Vice Guild Master was supposed to brief you, but something came up, so I stepped in. It’s sensitive information—we can’t just hand it off to anyone.”
Gong Sijin winked at Yurian.
Clapping his hands lightly, he looked around at the group.
“You’ve all heard the basics, right? The details are in the documents I’m handing out now, so take a look.”
He distributed the files one by one.
Stamped across the top in red letters was: Confidential.
The rustling of paper filled the silence.
After a brief pause, Gong Sijin spoke again.
“Yesterday afternoon, an anomaly occurred inside a dungeon within our jurisdiction. A gate leading to another dungeon appeared, and the time remaining until it opens is…”
He checked his wristwatch.
“Exactly five hours. In five hours, you’ll be entering it.”