[EP2. Vampire's Castle]
Yoon Mi-kyung from the Dungeon Management Division finally had a day off after ages.
She desperately wanted to crash at home and sleep, having worked nonstop day and night.
'Can't do that, though.'
It felt like such a waste to spend her precious day off just sleeping at home.
She took off her glasses for once, popped in contacts, and even did her makeup.
She planned to grab a meal with friends and catch a movie.
Work kept her too slammed to even see a boyfriend, let alone guy friends, but days off always made her miss the boyfriend she didn't have.
'Should I give him a call?'
Her phone screen showed the number of the guy she'd recently been eyeing.
'If I call out of the blue and ask to watch a movie, will he hate it?'
Yoon Mi-kyung hesitated for a moment before setting her phone down.
That guy was probably tackling a dungeon even today.
'What's the point of raiding F-grade dungeons anyway.'
As she stepped out, Yoon Mi-kyung figured she'd do some solo shopping while waiting for her friends.
Wandering the department store, she spotted a familiar guy from afar.
It was Choi Jae-jun, the one she'd almost called.
She approached without thinking, about to greet him, when she noticed the woman beside him.
'Girlfriend?'
Yoon Mi-kyung instinctively ducked out of sight and tailed Choi Jae-jun.
Luckily, it wasn't a girlfriend—it was his little sister.
'He's so sweet with her.'
Yoon Mi-kyung's face softened as she watched Jae-jun.
Store clerks shot weird looks at her peeking from behind displays, but she ignored them.
'Who cares about dignity right now.'
Woooong.
Suddenly, she felt the ground tremble beneath her feet.
'What was that?'
Was it her imagination?
But Jae-jun's face had hardened, so she wasn't the only one who'd felt it.
Then it shook again.
This time, the whole department store seemed to rumble.
"Ow!"
Her ankle twisted, and she toppled sideways.
"It's an earthquake!"
"Get down!"
People scrambled under display tables or crouched on the floor, bags over their heads.
Yoon Mi-kyung ducked too, but she caught sight of Jae-jun bolting off like a shot.
'Huh?'
BOOM!
Jae-jun hurled a massive flaming spear, blasting a hole through the department store wall.
Why was he doing that?
But moments later, Yoon Mi-kyung understood.
The department store was engulfed in an eerie energy.
A red barrier.
Monsters appearing out of nowhere.
As a Hunter Association employee, Yoon Mi-kyung knew this all too well.
Dungeon Break.
It was the catastrophe that had struck the world three years ago.
Monsters had poured endlessly from gates everywhere.
Unlike today's gates, where monsters stayed inside—these ones didn't.
It had taken countless hunters' lives to barely contain it.
What was happening in this department store mirrored that disaster from three years back.
"Aaaahhh!"
"Help! Somebody save me!"
Gargoyles, typically C-grade or higher, reeked of decay as they hunted people down.
The gargoyles toyed with their victims, casually smashing heads and reveling in it.
Screeeeech!
The ones clinging to the ceiling blinked their huge eyes like blazing fireballs.
'Gotta run!
Hold out till the hunters arrive!'
No way could the people here stand against that many gargoyles.
Yoon Mi-kyung staggered into the nearest store on wobbly legs.
A few others followed her in, slamming the door shut.
She fumbled for her phone but realized she'd dropped it somewhere.
'Should've just stayed home!'
Yoon Mi-kyung huddled defeated in a corner of the store.
Then someone called her name.
—
"Ms. Yoon Mi-kyung?"
Yoon Mi-kyung, hiding among the crowd, snapped her head up at her name.
Her weary face turned to Jae-jun.
No sign of her usual glasses.
Her blurry eyes focused gradually, recognizing him.
"Mr. Choi Jae-jun!"
Without thinking, Yoon Mi-kyung threw her arms around him.
Nothing like her usual aloof, icy demeanor.
Jae-jun tried to step inside.
But a guy already in there shoved him back, yelling.
"Hey!
This place is full—get out!"
Jae-jun stared at him, dumbfounded.
"What're you staring at?"
"No room!
Shut the door before monsters get in!"
A middle-aged woman behind him snarled viciously.
The people already inside acted like they owned the place, trying to boot Jae-jun out.
Unbelievable.
Jae-jun was floored.
The store was plenty spacious at a glance.
'Selfish bastards.'
He wanted to smack some sense into them, but stirring up trouble wasn't smart right now.
Jae-jun quickly grabbed Maru and headed elsewhere.
Yoon Mi-kyung glanced around the store, then followed him.
Moments later, a flying gargoyle smashed through the store's glass door.
Crash!
"Aaaah!"
"Help!"
In mere minutes, everyone inside was shredded by the gargoyle's razor claws.
—
"Aaaahhh!"
Screeeeech!
Screeech!
The sharp, deafening screams pierced even from afar.
Gargoyle shrieks followed.
Jae-jun eyed the source from a distance.
'Getting closer.'
It was the store he'd just left.
The gargoyles were spreading out from their spawn point, hunting people.
Jae-jun cautiously entered the room with Yoon Mi-kyung.
Click.
Barely two pyeong—about six square meters?
A cramped storage space for cleaning supplies.
That's what Jae-jun had found as a hiding spot.
As he returned, Maru clung to his pant leg, whimpering.
"Whine."
"Yeah.
Just hang in there a bit.
Hunters'll come soon."
Jae-jun patted Maru's shoulder to soothe him.
But even Jae-jun wasn't sure.
He'd never faced a crisis like this.
Yoon Mi-kyung from the Hunter Association couldn't gauge it precisely either.
Just guesses.
"Ms. Yoon.
Know anything about this dungeon?"
She jumped at Jae-jun's question.
She hadn't even considered it a dungeon till now.
"Dungeon?"
Normally, monsters only escaped gates one way.
If a field gate was left ignored too long.
But that was rare.
The Hunter Association's top priority was installing mana detectors nationwide to monitor gates.
Only places like North Korea with poor security, or vast Africa and Mongolia, had failed and become monster lands.
Not in South Korea.
'No gates around here either.
And never cut off from the outside like this.'
"Similar stuff's happened occasionally."
"Similar?"
Yoon Mi-kyung nodded.
"Yeah.
Whole areas' people vanishing overnight.
Villages left with just bloodstains, or bodies slaughtered by monsters.
Thought it was strays from gates.
But seeing this... guess not."
"And the hunters?"
"This time it's smack in Seoul.
Department store—they'll scramble to assess.
But..."
Her face darkened as she continued.
"Busan's A-grade gate this morning sucked up all the manpower."
"...Can't count on outside help, huh."
She nodded.
Jae-jun recalled the quest again.
Survive the Vampire's Castle!
📍 You've been trapped in the Vampire Castle!
📍 Struggle to survive somehow.
🎁 Reward: Escape
💀 Failure: Death
⏳ Time Remaining: 332 minutes
The quest was just "survive somehow."
Felt like hours had passed, but only about 30 minutes.
'Whew.'
If it were a normal dungeon, it wouldn't feel this suffocating.
Exits were clear.
Stuck hiding like this?
Grrrrowl.
Gargoyle wingbeats and heavy breathing echoed outside.
It sniffed around, hunting humans.
Then lumbered toward the restrooms.
"Aaaah!
Nooo!"
"St-stop!"
People's screams rang out.
Thud!
Grotesque splatters of blood and flesh mixed with wails.
Squelch!
Crunch!
Each thrust and pull of the gargoyle's talons ripped out chunks of meat.
Yoon Mi-kyung covered Maru's ears.
Jae-jun peeked through the cracked door.
Suddenly, someone burst from the restrooms.
A man drenched in blood, gasping like he might collapse any second, fleeing.
"Ugh... save me!"
He stumbled and collapsed right in front of Jae-jun's storeroom.
Tried to rise, but slippery blood on his hands kept failing him.
His eyes met Jae-jun's.
"Huh?
Th-there!
Please!"
His hand reached desperately toward Jae-jun.
"S-save me!"
Terror-filled eyes brimmed with tears.
"I-I can't die.
My daughter... she's waiting!"
Thump.
A gargoyle landed behind him.
Its eyes gleamed savagely in the dark.
Grrrrr—
Jae-jun had no intention of stepping out.
He knew the line between foolishness and courage.
Opening the door now was pure stupidity.
He carefully shut it.
Catching the man's despairing gaze.
Then—
The system chime rang in his head again.
Ding—
Sudden Quest Generated.
Save the Man in Peril!
📍 The man is desperate.
📍 He can't die leaving his daughter—who he's raised alone since losing his wife two years ago.
📍 Reach out to the man begging for salvation!
🎁 Reward 1: Cursed Key Usage Conditions
🎁 Reward 2: 3,000 Shop Gold
💀 Failure: Gargoyle's Wrath
"Sudden quest?"
At the same instant, the gargoyle's talon plunged toward the man's head.
No time to think—Jae-jun kicked the door open and charged.
"Mr. Jae-jun!"
Yoon Mi-kyung's urgent voice called from behind.
Jae-jun's hand already gripped Frost Blade, drawn from his subspace.
—Author's Note—