The Secret Garden of Minare
When Hura came to, everything around him was dyed a vivid green.
“Ugh… what the hell?”
You have entered the hidden dungeon Minare's Secret Garden.
You are the first to discover the hidden dungeon.
- Clear rewards doubled.
- First clear grants a special reward.
“...Huh?”
He’d stumbled into the hidden dungeon Minare's Secret Garden, a place he’d never even dreamed of finding. Sure, he’d decided to track down traces of the last emperor, who’d lived a treasure-filled yet tragic life, but he hadn’t expected to uncover them here.
Dusting off his butt, Hura looked around.
“Master. Where are we?”
“What does it look like?”
“A… garden, maybe?”
As Geum Taeyang said, this was a garden. A serene, picturesque one at that. Birds chirped softly in the distance. Trees of every shade of green stretched toward the sky. A gentle stream trickled into a tranquil pond, where colorful goldfish swam lazily. A stone bridge arched over the water. Low hills rose in the distance, dotted with blooming flowers. A pavilion straight out of a painting. Statues of all shapes and sizes.
“Whoa…”
He marveled at the sight. Minare was an ancient figure from a distant era, yet the garden was impeccably maintained, as if human hands had tended it just moments ago.
They crossed the stone bridge slowly, taking it all in.
“Wow… it’s really beautiful.”
“Yeah, it is.”
“The statues are cute, too.”
At Tteoksoon-i’s words, Hura examined them. One read a book, another lounged contentedly, a third watered a tree, a fourth fished. They struck all sorts of poses.
“This kind of leisure isn’t half bad.”
“Indeed, Master.”
Come to think of it, life had been nothing but a grind lately. In the real world, he’d juggled convenience store shifts and cooking studies. In the game, he’d hunted nonstop, cooking all the while. This breather? It was nice.
They wandered leisurely, sniffing flowers (and sneezing), resting in the pavilion, watching the goldfish, even climbing the pavilion roof—only for Hura to slip and splash into the pond.
“Hahaha!”
“Hehehe!”
“Heeheehee!”
They splashed around like kids before flopping onto the grass.
“Ahh, this hits the spot.”
Maybe it was time to quit the convenience store and aim for a real restaurant. He had money now, and confidence in his cooking.
As he lay there pondering his future, Tteoksoon-i and Geum Taeyang’s voices murmured nearby.
“Uh… S-Senior?”
“Hm? What’s up, Tteoksoon-i?”
“That statue over there…”
“What about it?”
“Was it facing this way before?”
“What?”
Hura bolted upright. Sure enough, the tree-watering statue was staring right at them.
Tteoksoon-i hurried to his side. “Master, I swear it was facing that way earlier, but now it’s looking this way.”
“Wasn’t it always?”
“I think? No, it was definitely over there…”
Geum Taeyang chuckled at her worried face. “Haha, Tteoksoon-i, that’s ridiculous. You saying the statue’s head turned?”
Hura relaxed and laughed along. “Haha, reminds me of school ghost stories from when I was a kid.”
“Like what?”
“At night, King Sejong’s book pages turn by themselves. Or Yu Gwan-sun’s statue wanders the school.”
“Pfft, hilarious!”
“There was even one about Admiral Yi Sun-sin and King Sejong fighting at midnight.”
“Didn’t you say Sejong was reading? How’s he fighting a sword-wielding general?”
“Pff, with books, apparently?”
“Wahaha! Absurd!”
“Haha, right? But I believed it back then.”
“Puhahaha!”
Laughing, Hura casually glanced at the other statues.
“...Huh?”
Every single one was staring right at them. The reader, the fisher, the waterer, the lounger.
“……!”
His hair stood on end, goosebumps prickling.
“...Taeyang.”
“Yes, Master.”
“They were always like that, right? Right?”
“H-Ha… of course. Definitely.”
They rose slowly, stepping carefully.
Creak—
Crick-creak—
They turned. The statues’ heads followed precisely.
Creak—
Crick-creak—
“…….”
“…….”
Hura and Taeyang stared blankly at each other.
“See? I said it was weird!” Tteoksoon-i whimpered.
“I-It’s fine. Probably okay as long as we don’t touch the garden.”
“...What do you mean by ‘touch’?”
“Breaking branches, picking flowers?”
Geum Taeyang forced a grin. “H-Haha, then we’re good. We didn’t touch anything. Just splashed a bit.”
“Haha, y-yeah. See? They’re just watching.”
“M-Master…”
“Yeah?”
“Um…”
Tteoksoon-i hesitantly pulled a flower from her pocket.
“…….”
“…….”
Hura and Taeyang gaped at her.
“It was so pretty, I just took one each…”
“...One?”
She rummaged—over ten flowers tumbled out.
“…….”
“...Why’d you do that?”
“They were too pretty…”
The statues’ heads, which had been tracking them, froze. Then—
Creak—
Crick-creak—
—they started rising.
It was utterly grotesque.
“Waaah! Run!”
Creak—
Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!
* * *
“Damn. Where the hell is this?”
Baek Bal Baek Jung leaped tree to tree like the wind, muttering.
The hidden space was vast. Dense forest everywhere made it impossible to get your bearings. Having torn through space forcibly, he hadn’t landed with Hura. He dashed along the treetops, searching.
“Where’s the chef?”
This wasn’t a normal dungeon. His sharp instincts screamed warnings nonstop.
“Bad vibes. Gotta hurry.”
He vaulted dozens of trees, picking up speed.
* * *
“Huff! Huff! Where am I?”
In his panic fleeing the statues, Hura had no idea how he’d escaped. Coming to, he was in a massive maze of green foliage walls.
“Shit. I could’ve beaten them if I fought.”
Running without fighting? Tteoksoon-i had demolished those tough machine lifeforms back at Machine Hill in one go. Regret bubbled up.
But anyone—even Rank 1—would’ve bolted from that eerie sight. Moving statues? Who wouldn’t run?
“Geum Taeyang! Tteoksoon-i!”
No reply. They’d scattered.
Don’t panic. Handle one thing at a time.
“Gotta escape this maze first.”
Stick to one wall, he recalled. He trailed his hand along the right one when—a sob echoed.
“...Huh?”
Chills ran down his spine, but it was a little girl’s cry.
He followed cautiously. Around the corner: a girl huddled against the wall, weeping sadly.
“NPC?”
First discoverer here—no players. He approached slowly.
“H-Hey.”
“Waaah!”
She bolted in terror.
“Don’t kill me! Please!”
“Hey! Stop!”
“I’m sorry! Don’t chase me!”
She wasn’t fast; he caught up easily.
“Stop!”
“Aaaah!”
She was hysterical with fear.
“No choice.”
He tackled her.
“Hyah!”
“Kyaaah!”
Thud—crash—
“Please! Mercy!”
“Quit squirming!”
She thrashed under him.
...He felt like the bad guy.
“Aaaah!”
“Ugh, so loud.”
He shoved a candy from his inventory into her screaming mouth.
“……?”
She quieted, stopped struggling.
“Tasty?”
Nod nod.
“Calmed down?”
Nod nod.
“I’m not here to hurt you. Chased by statues too?”
“……!”
Nod nod!
“Same boat. Got it?”
Nod nod.
“Okay, I’ll get up. No running? Just talk.”
Nod nod.
He stood slowly; she followed cautiously.
“Aigoo, look at this mess.”
He brushed dirt from her clothes, wiped her tear-streaked face. She looked up, sniffling.
“How old?”
“Thirteen…”
“Name?”
“Lilac.”
“Got it, Lilac. How’d you end up here?”
“Dunno. Playing hide-and-seek with friends, hid behind a tombstone, then suddenly here.”
“Same here, kinda. Friends scattered.”
“Mister, know how to get out?”
“...Mister?! I’m a promising young man!”
“Then what?”
“Call me Hura oppa. And no, I don’t know yet.”
“Oh…”
Lilac drooped.
“Don’t worry. We’ll find a way together. How long you been here?”
“Not long.”
“Anything you noticed? We gotta pool our heads.”
She chewed her candy thoughtfully, then her eyes lit up.
“I know one thing!”
“What?”
“There’s a gardener here.”
“Gardener?”
“Yeah. Saw him controlling the statues.”
“What’s he look like?”
“Um… big gardener’s shears. Green overalls. Wide-brim straw hat.”
Minare was ancient, yet the garden was pristine. A gardener maintaining it all this time? How’d he miss that?
“And! He wears a weird necklace! Green glow! Controls statues with it!”
“Green glowing necklace?”
“Yes! And with it… with it…!”
“What? What!”
She shuddered violently.
“He turns people into statues!”
“What…?”
“I saw! Zapped a lounging guy—statue in seconds!”
“……!”
“W-What do we do? We’ll turn into statues too!”
“Any way to dodge? Don’t look? Don’t breathe?”
“I looked and ran. Don’t know.”
...Big trouble. Medusa-style petrification? How to beat that? What was Minare thinking with this garden?
Lilac gazed up pleadingly. “Hura oppa, please. Beat the gardener and get me out!”
Hidden Quest: Minare's Secret Garden
Poor Lilac got trapped here while playing hide-and-seek with friends.
Defeat the gardener and rescue her safely.
🎁 Reward: Gardener's Necklace