Chapter 18: Nightmare

[The 'Whispering Devil' has begun to show an interest in you.]

The Lady of the Scales, the Nameless Observer, and now the 'Whispering Devil', had an interest in me.

'Who is it?'

It wasn't a name I remembered, but somehow, I had a bad feeling I couldn't quite explain.

'Whatever.'

It wasn't like I knew all the Guardians, anyway. For now, drawing the attention of a Guardian could be seen as a pretty good thing. Whether or not it could be of profit to me depended on how I controlled them and how I acted.

'A lot of Guardians must have joined the stream.'

Countless anonymous Guardians had to be watching Channel #19207. Since Sunhwa and I were the only Players that had entered the Seoul Station Dungeon, the spotlight had nowhere to go but on us.

['Eye of Perception' is active.]

Information began to flood into me via Eye of Perception. The world was sketched out in detail in my head, like I was seeing it without my eyes.

"This is… a dungeon?" Sunhwa asked hesitantly.

The Seoul Station Dungeon was generally dark. It gave off the feeling of a dark cave. It was considerably humid, rather chilly, and water dripped from the ceiling. I nodded.

'It's just like what I saw on Youtube.'

In the future, this dungeon would become the place countless Players would frequent to accumulate experience, a 'Tutorial Dungeon' in the true sense of the phrase. I fixed my eyes on Sunhwa.

[Player]

Name: Kang Sunhwa

Age: 14

Level: 15

Class: –

Guardian: –

State: Lonely / Fearful / Trusting / Reliant

Disposition: Neutral / Curious

Summary: Weak Brocon

Class has not yet been selected.

Guardian has not yet been selected.

The state/disposition/summary only show the most representative and can change according to the situation.

Because Eye of Perception's proficiency is not high enough, viewing more detailed information is impossible.

I grinned. 'She's already level 15?'

I thought there might be a somewhat weird trait in there, but I decided to ignore it. Somehow, both my sister and Sunhwa seemed to have something abnormal in their 'summary'.

'With a level like that, she did great leveling up.'

The fact she had raised her level to 15 despite there only being monsters like Slimes, City Foxes, and City Wolves in Korea meant that she had worked pretty hard to progress her Playing. It was impressive she could raise her level that much by grinding low-level monsters.

I said to Sunhwa, "You remember everything I told you before, right?"

She nodded. I took the lead and began to walk forward. Streamer Senia followed in a half-transparent state. Her flat expression couldn't be read, but she certainly looked unsatisfied. It seemed she was worried her 'good quality content'—me—would kick the bucket here.

'She's not worrying about me.' I didn't delude myself. 'She's worrying about the product that is me.'

There was no need to bother about Senia. In any case, I had no intention of dying. All I was thinking about was how I could sell the product that was me better.

'Seven forked pathways.'

When you turned into each forked path, that path would be activated. The Seoul Station Dungeon was a dungeon with a set 'aggregate difficulty'. When all seven split paths were activated, the degree of danger would also be divided into seven. Put simply, if you divided a difficulty of '7' among '7 people' with '7 paths', each path would only have a difficulty of '1'.

'In the opposite case, if you only choose one path…'

The difficulty of '7' would be concentrated on one path. That was how it would normally be… if you Played the dungeon the regular way. However, the Seoul Station Dungeon had been cleared by countless Players, and even the Hidden Piece lurking within had been publicized.

"Oppa. I see the forked pathways there."

I saw the seven caves. They looked like snakes opening their jaws wide.

"Wait here."

[The 'Lady of the Scales' is watching over you with interest.]

[The 'Whispering Devil' expresses intense interest in you.]

[The 'Nameless Observer' is earnestly observing you.]

I went into the first cave to the very left. When I did so, a golden magic array appeared on the cave floor.

[Seoul Station Dungeon 1st Forked Path, 'Nepalas' Path', has been activated.]

Then, I immediately left, doing the same with the other paths.

[Seoul Station Dungeon 2nd Forked Path, 'Dyugo's Path', has been activated.]

[Seoul Station Dungeon 3rd Forked Path, 'Delansha's Path', has been activated.]

…

…

[Seoul Station Dungeon 7th Forked Path, 'Lakitula's Path', has been activated.]

I activated every path. That was all I needed to do. There was more to dungeon clearing than forging straight ahead. You had to sometimes advance, sometimes retreat, and when necessary, roll to the side. It was possible to freely enter and leave the forked pathways. There was also no condition saying that all paths had to be 'simultaneously cleared'. A clear like this, where each path was tackled one by one, was also just as valid.

Now, the difficulty of each path was set to '1'. I walked to the 1st Forked Path, 'Nepalas' Path', and stood in front of it.

"Let's go."

So Yoohyun had the hunch that this thing called 'Playing' was not a one-time event. The Tutorial Field appeared, and 'Intermediate Administrators' and 'Guardians' showed up in the world, as well as monsters.

He made the bold decision to quit his job at the financial company where he had just been hired. He did so in order to devote himself to 'Playing'. Some people ridiculed his decision, many of them cursing him for giving up on a stable and high-paying job.

However, So Yoohyun could imagine the future ahead.

'As I thought… it'll keep going.'

If weak monsters existed, then so did strong ones. Strong monsters would drop better items. Right now, just catching Slimes, City Foxes, and City Wolves would drop things like 'Iron Swords' and 'Low Constitution Potions'.

'Even just those things have a pretty good effect.'

Monster drops were of great use in real life. For example, the 'Low Constitution Potion' boasted far better efficacy than most drugs used for surgeries. If such a strong item was dropped from a shoddy monster under level 10, what kinds of things would come from even stronger monsters?

Of course, far better things would drop from them. The world was faced with change, and Yoohyun decided to step in time with that change, to quickly adapt. That was his decision.

'That's a dungeon.'

At Seoul Station Exit 2, there was a dungeon. The Intermediate Administrator who focused their streaming on Yoohyun, 'Neptune', snickered.

"You need at least seven people for that one. Mm. There are already two people inside, so only four more people need to come."

A few Players approached. They appeared to be survivors from the Tutorial Field. In the one month that had passed, several pieces of information were spread across the world. This information was relayed by the 'Intermediate Administrators'.

[If a dungeon is not cleared within a certain amount of time after its formation, it will collapse.]

[Monsters will break free from collapsed dungeons.]

[That is called a 'Dungeon Break'.]

[The people who can clear dungeons are 'those who have Player Qualifications'.]

Policemen had begun to seal off Seoul Station Exit 2. Sealing it off was expected, since it wasn't yet known whether the gate was dangerous or not. That was for the safety of the populace.

Someone walked towards the police. Their feet floated about 30 centimetres off the floor. They were walking, but not on the ground. They were definitely not human.

"Jeez. How annoying," muttered that blue-skinned being with a horn on his head as he approached the police. "Are you guys gonna take responsibility for my daily keep? Why're you blocking my stream, huh?"

He lifted a policeman by the throat.

"G-Gugh! L-Let him go!" One of his fellow policemen whipped out a taser gun. "I-If you don't let go, I'll fire at once!"

The 'strange being' grinned in response, then rotated his neck twice in a grotesque fashion to stare at the policeman.

"Try it."

And then, the neck of the policeman in his hands broke with a crack, dying immediately. The people crowding around screamed as they began to run.

"You insects are seriously noisy."

Red marbles were formed at the tip of his finger, and they scattered into the air. The marbles ricocheted like bouncy balls, and wherever they touched, flames sprouted.

"So what I'm saying is, why butt in where you don't belong? You insects."

The policeman who had taken out his taser gun was no exception. His body was set ablaze, and he rolled around on the ground, screaming for mercy.

Seoul Station Exit 2 became true pandemonium. Several dozen people at the very least were burned to a crisp on the spot, and countless more fled while pushing and trampling each other in a frenzy. In very little time, only Players and Intermediate Administrators were left in the vicinity.

"Now, then. Why don't you start Playing now, you Player bastards?"

So Yoohyun did not flee. He was someone who had survived Jongno's Cataclysm. He was used to chaos of this degree. He secretly clenched his fists hard. He knew that Intermediate Administrator's name—it was 'Chris'. He also knew the name of the Player Chris was with.

'Seo Joohwan.'

They had met briefly in the Tutorial Field. Seo Joohwan was hunting a goblin, and Yoohyun realized then that the man was insane. He still vividly remembered Joohwan's look of relishing killing and cackling while covered in blood. It could be said that Seo Joohwan and Chris were a well-matched Player and Intermediate Administrator pair.

Joohwan made a gesture of greeting with his eyes. "Didn't think I'd meet you here, Mr. Tutorial Ender."

Everyone who followed Yoohyun in the Tutorial Field had died. However, five of the people who had followed Joohwan had survived. A total of seven Players had gathered in front of the gate.

A man behind Joohwan shrugged and said, "He's the Tutorial Ender, after all. He must have smelled the money. Because dungeons and monsters will change the world in the future."

"…"

Policemen and civilians had died here, but the Players were not greatly shaken. This was a world they had already experienced. They had also been a part of the event where 145,000 people had died.

Yoohyun thought for a moment. His Intermediate Administrator, 'Neptune', had also recommended going in with seven people.

'Do I have no choice?'

He didn't really want to mesh with these people, but he didn't have a choice. They were survivors of the Tutorial Field and held quite a lot of strength. They would definitely be of help in clearing the dungeon.

Steeling himself, he said, "Let's make a party and go inside."

* * *

Kang Sunhwa was still not as used to Playing as Kim Hyukjin.

"O-Oppa. They're too big. Aren't they too strong?"

"Don't worry. They only look strong on the outside."

What they were referring to was a completely black 'cow'-shaped monster.

Black Yak LVL 12

The Black Yak was an animal monster with a large body and great strength. It had a habit of running forward and plowing into its opponent when excited, and that attack was so powerful it could kill higher-level Players in mere moments.

Mooooooooo!!!

Three Black Yaks charged towards Hyukjin. After dodging slightly to the side, he sliced off the horn of a Black Yak with his Iron Sword. At the same time, he ran up the side of the cave and got onto another Black Yak's back.

Moooooo!

The Black Yak fiercely resisted, but Hyukjin didn't fall off. Squeezing with both legs, he raised his sword and plunged it down.

Splurt–!

The Iron Sword went straight into the top of the Black Yak's head. It collapsed with a thump, and Hyukjin sliced off its horn.

"Wha—?"

Shock flashed through Sunhwa's eyes. 'T-Two in one go.'

Each and every movement Hyukjin made was as fluid as one smooth motion. Two Black Yaks fell over on the spot.

After jumping lightly off the corpse of the Black Yak he had so swiftly dispatched, Hyukjin shot forward towards the one that had stopped in place after its charge, his movements as swift as an arrow.

Slice.

Another horn was cut off.

[Black Yaks have been killed.]

[EXP acquired.]

[12 Coins acquired.]

Sunhwa said to Hyukjin sourly, "Oppa. Um… About those movements you made just now." They were a bit strange. "Is that something everyone can do?"

"What do you mean?"

"I felt it while Playing outside, but I've never seen anyone move like you, oppa. I also saw Tutorial survivors, and… there's no one like oppa."

"That so?"

Hyukjin had seen a lot of Players on Youtube, so he didn't think too hard about it. Everyone out there right now were low-level Players who hadn't even advanced yet anyway. Of course a low-level couldn't move that well. He had seen the future, so he considered his movements to be just so-so.

"How in the world are you doing that?"

Sunhwa saw it with her own two eyes, but it didn't seem real. He was… almost like a beast born to Play. That's how it looked to the 14-year-old Kang Sunhwa.

"Hm, I guess…"

Hyukjin glanced at Senia. He knew his words would be streamed to the Guardians, too.

"You just have to work hard."

"Work hard?"

"Yeah. As hard as your desire not to regret it. Putting your all in every moment."

Hyukjin's words were sincere. He no longer wanted to regret anything. He wanted to live differently this time. He was undoubtedly speaking from his heart, but a flicker of doubt appeared in Sunhwa's eyes for the first time. Was hard work really enough? To be able to move like oppa?

[The 'Nameless Observer' is silent.]

[The 'Lady of the Scales' is satisfied with your response.]

[The 'Whispering Devil' is disgusted by your response.]

The young, 14-year-old Sunhwa balled her fists. She doubted Hyukjin for a moment, but she still trusted him wholeheartedly on a fundamental level.

'I will also…!'

She thought Hyukjin had to be putting in an incredible amount of effort somewhere out of her sight. She felt the 'weight of an adult' from his words just now. As hard as your desire not to regret it. Those words felt heavy to her, and she felt just as much trust as the weight of those words.

'I'll work hard.'

Something like vague optimism, the hope that she could become like her oppa if she worked hard sprouted within her. She dreamt.

The two of them continued to hunt, and after a while, Hyukjin smiled widely.

'It finally came out.'

Something dropped, and that 'thing' was a sparkling item. It was the item Hyukjin had been looking for.

"Oppa, what's that?"

____