Into the Labyrinth
I ate a quick breakfast alone that morning. My original plan was to head straight to the coordinates that old man had marked for me yesterday… but I never expected anyone to be up earlier than me. Even if what she’d prepared was just an ugly fried egg, some ketchup, a half-burnt sausage, and rice. Still, for my Master to wake up at the crack of dawn just to make sure I ate before heading out… it gave me this strange, warm feeling that today was going to go really well.
“What’s gotten into you… making breakfast and everything.”
“Just… do well out there. And don’t get hurt. You know that, right?”
“…Yeah. I know.”
How could I possibly come back injured when a beauty like this is worrying about me? I told her not to worry, sat down at the table, and finished the meal that tasted of love and a little bit of charcoal. After one last tight hug, I finally stepped out the door.
“…”
“I’m heading out now?”
“Yeah… come back safe.”
The offer the recruiter had given me was surprisingly simple. I fight. He watches from behind and evaluates me. No need for complicated explanations — even an idiot could understand the straightforward, intuitive method. Maybe that’s why, when I met him again, the words that came out of his mouth were almost exactly the same as before.
“We’ll be operating separately from the main raid team.”
“You just need to follow my instructions… though I don’t think that’ll be necessary…”
If he thought things were getting dangerous, he’d step in and help personally. It seemed he believed I’d pass this test without much trouble… All I could do was offer an awkward smile and apologize to him in my heart.
“Um… then how long will the test last…?”
“Well… there’s no set time, but… how about until the dungeon raid is finished?”
“Of course you’ll be paid daily, and if today isn’t enough to make a decision, we can ask you to come again next time.”
“…”
Until the dungeon raid is finished… Just how hard was this guy planning to work me that he’d say something so terrifying? Honestly, I wasn’t even sure if I could last that long… But since I was already here, I might as well give it my all. I lightly stretched my body and scanned the surroundings.
(There are a lot of people…)
(Way more than when I went with Elphy, right?)
“How many people are here? Total headcount for today?”
“Fifty-six. That’s quite a lot for an E-rank, isn’t it? We tried to keep personnel costs as low as possible, but…”
It was an E-rank dungeon with S-rank scale or something like that… Well, the interior was apparently so vast that they had no choice but to recruit more people and pay them extra. On top of that, they ended up having to collaborate with another company, which was apparently a huge pain… He kept complaining to me about it… Yeah, well, what can you do? If you hate it that much, just switch companies.
“I see… That’s too bad.”
“So which company are we collaborating with?”
“Black Sand… It’s pretty well-known in this industry. Have you heard of them?”
“…Black Sand?”
“…”
A black snake. It was a name too rough and sharp to belong to any ordinary company. And for good reason — Black Sand had taken its name from a notorious organized crime syndicate called the Black Sand Faction. That sharp word, once heard, was hard to forget. It was still burned into my memory.
(Black Sand…)
(So that’s the company Elphy used to work for.)
“Those Black Sand bastards… they’ve got a lot of two-faced thugs.”
“Well… still, don’t worry too much. We probably won’t run into them—”
“Who’s their team leader?”
“Huh? My name is Kim Minhyuk, but…”
“No… I mean the Black Sand one.”
“Ah… Black Sand? Let me think… There’s this one real scumbag…”
“It’s not Lee Chaeman, is it?”
Lee Chaeman… So that son of a bitch is here? The same bastard who threw me deep into a dungeon… Part of me wanted to pay him back for what he did right then and there… but not today.
“Alright. The main raid team has entered, so shall we get going too?”
“Ah. Yes.”
“…”
Has it been a year already…? No, wait. Come to think of it, I went into a dungeon just a few days ago, didn’t I? Of course, I don’t remember standing here staring at the entrance like this… Still, seeing such a massive dimensional rift stirred up some complicated feelings. A strange mix of excitement and anxiety washed over me.
(Should I have brought a knife or something…?)
(Or maybe one of Elphy’s wands…)
I probably should have brought something. It’s not like I came completely empty-handed — I did bring my usual Glock 19 — but from what I’ve seen on YouTube, hunters don’t seem to use guns…? Is it because firearms are illegal here? I kept debating whether I should use it or not… Sure enough, the guy evaluating me seemed bothered by it too.
“By the way, you said you’re a close-combat type, right?”
“Yes? Ah… yes, that’s right…”
When he asked if I’d brought any weapons, I couldn’t exactly say “Glock 19,” so in a panic I blurted out “hands.” Who knew there was actually a martial-arts style of magic like that…? Thanks to that, I ended up fighting monsters with nothing but my fists and feet… Well, I guess using the arms and legs I’ve always relied on is better than suddenly trying to swing a sword I’m not used to. With that thought in mind, I followed Team Leader Kim Minhyuk toward the rift.
“I’ll go first.”
“Don’t be scared. Just jump in like I do.”
“…”
Jump in? Wait… couldn’t we just walk through? Back when I was closing rifts like crazy in the other world, everyone just walked in… Sure enough, the moment I got close, I felt something pulling me in. At the same time, the world beyond began to reveal itself.
(A desert…?)
(I’ve heard about it from the old man…)
This was my first time actually standing here on my own two feet… While lost in thought, I breathed in the strange air and began recalling the dungeon theory I’d learned a year ago.
(Jungle. Desert. Grassland. Ocean. River. Valley… and so on…)
(A place where any terrain in this world could appear and it wouldn’t be strange.)
Yes. That was what I knew about rifts. Sometimes only one terrain would appear, but it was common for the space itself to be heavily distorted or for multiple terrains to mix together. From the beginning, the basic premise was a combination of various spaces. I was well aware of that.
But…
(Buildings… huh.)
At the very least, I thought it would be limited to natural features… I couldn’t hide my astonishment at the sight of a desert that looked like humanity had gone extinct, merged with a sea of concrete. Both the team leader and I were sucked forward into what felt like a gravity-defying, bizarre space.
“You’re not as surprised as I expected.”
“Most people get flustered when they see a space flipped 180 degrees like this…”
“I… saw it on YouTube. Kind of like doing homework in advance.”
“Ah, I see. Still, you’re quite bold. Haha.”
“Usually people hesitate a lot when they see unrealistic terrain like this…”
How could someone act so confidently and without hesitation…? Well, fuck, it’s because I’m the first human in history to close a dungeon. What, you think you can lecture your senior? The words almost climbed up my throat… but I managed to hold them back and simply smiled calmly and kindly.
“Haha. It’s all thanks to social media and YouTube.”
“These days, a lot of hunters upload vlogs while they work, right?”
“Is that… so? I didn’t know… Maybe I should try that too…?”
“…”
I don’t know, man. Why are you saying that while looking at my face? Anyway… you should focus on the job when you’re working. What the hell are you thinking about useless stuff for? Back in my day, if you pulled this shit during an operation, you’d get your joints smashed immediately… Well… in other words, it just means society has gotten that much more used to fighting. Who could have predicted that all the wealth and systems would shift from desks to battlefields?
“Ahem… Then I’ll give you a quick explanation and we’ll begin right away.”
“Mirage. Everything you see ahead is, simply put, an illusion.”
“Even if the terrain is flipped, even if cliffs or precipices appear… in the end, it’s no different from flat ground, downhill, or uphill in reality. So…”
Don’t be scared and just follow me closely. With those words, he leaped down toward the massive concrete structure in front of us. I followed, jumping down toward the sandy ground that looked at least ten meters below.
(This brings back memories…)
(I struggled a lot to get used to this kind of space too…)
A space that reminded me of a kaleidoscope or the movie Inception. At first I’d been shocked that a place like this even existed… but not anymore. I repeated the village chief’s words to myself as I landed lightly on the ground.
Simplicity. And deception. That was probably what the old man had wanted to say… No matter how impossibly vast the space looked, no matter how maze-like and twisted it appeared, it was no different from the paths we normally walk. In fact, it might even be simpler. That’s what a labyrinth was.
Yes, if you looked at it a certain way, it was like an RPG game stage. If drawn in two dimensions, the structure was ridiculously simple. The size wasn’t as vast as it appeared, and the unreachable depth in the distance was nothing but mirage and illusion. That was why dungeons were structured so that you could only advance toward limited places within a limited space.
“Whoa… Your courage is truly impressive.”
“To be honest, I thought you might not be able to jump, so I even brought a rope…”
“Haha. Well… if there’s one thing I’m confident in, it’s my guts.”
“Excellent…! Then would it be alright if I pick up the pace?”
When he asked if he could go faster, I nodded. He shot forward at a speed that was hard to believe for a human. Zero degrees. Ninety. One hundred eighty. Every time the angle of the ground changed, my vision flipped wildly, but his speed never slowed. I couldn’t even tell if he was running or flying through the air. His movements brought back old memories.
(He’s fast… About as good as the old security force captain back then?)
(No matter how hard my unit and I tried, we could never catch up to that guy…)
But not anymore. Now that I’ve leveled up, it’s different. I stuck close to his heels, once again realizing how much stronger I’d become. Standing atop a giant building that rose from a sea of sand, I finally felt with my whole body that I had entered the heart of this dungeon.
“Which way now? Right? Left? Or maybe…”
“Center. We’re heading for the center.”