Until We Meet Again

"Tania, you talk as if you know quite a lot about our world. How do you know all that?"

"There is no special method. I merely observe."

"...You can see the entire world all at once?"

"I possess countless eyes, yet that is impossible. I focus my observation on pivotal events that branch history, the emergence of notable figures, and newly coined words."

"Ah, so you can still see the outside world, then?"

"That is correct."

"Hmm... I see. That's a relief."

At my muttered words, the golden sphere traced a figure-eight in the air, as if puzzled.

"What do you mean by 'a relief'?"

Shhhk—

"Time's up... What I mean is, I'm glad you at least have something to enjoy. It must get boring if all you ever do is fight."

"...... I have never particularly thought of it as boring. Serving my master brings me genuine joy."

"Really? Have you ever seriously considered whether this is something you truly want to do?"

"...... That is...... You are! A truly strange skeleton! In a way, I am your enemy. Imagine what would have happened if your master had been the one dragged here instead."

"Huh? Then I would've won even more easily."

"...... Then what about your comrades?"

"Who are my comrades? If going through a few dungeons together makes everyone comrades, then after some time the entire hunter population would be my comrades, wouldn't they?"

Shhhk—

Through the scattering dust, Tania's light faintly seeped in. Even knowing I would be reborn, in the moment death approached, even these trivial things looked beautiful.

"...And if I'd lost the match and died, that would've been the end of it. I don't think I'd have any particular thoughts about it. That's the kind of risk hunters accept when they do this job. It's not for nothing that they earn so much money. Not all hunters are like that, but I hope you understand that most of them enter dungeons with their own resolve."

"...... I understand."

"And aren't you just as strange? A suspiciously suspicious mimic, at that."

"...... That sentence is grammatically incorrect."

"Aww— we've got a Korean literature major here!"

I watched the golden sphere, whose flight speed was gradually slowing, for a moment before continuing.

"Tania. I've experienced things I never even dreamed of, so there's no need to assume we'll never meet again. Someday, surely... there will come a day when we meet once more."

"I am sorry, but that will not happen."

"You're a stubborn mimic, aren't you. Anyway, I have that feeling. So, Tania. Let's meet again next time. Thanks to you, it was fun. Ah! And my name is Ilwol! Remember it!"

"......"

The golden sphere, which had been gradually slowing, showed no reaction to my farewell. For some reason, it seemed as though Tania's changed expression could be glimpsed beyond the sphere.

Crack—!

And that was my final memory in this life.

"......"

The skeleton, shattered beyond recognition into dust whose original shape could no longer be discerned. Tania, who had been staring at it for a long while, had at some point returned to her true form.

"Ilwol......"

A ridiculous monster upon whom the ancient spells densely carved throughout this entire space—spells that forced one to focus solely on combat—had no effect whatsoever. An odd monster who even claimed to have been born just over a month ago.

"A month... That can't be. There's no way."

Summoners were certainly special beings with many aspects even Tania could not grasp, but even taking all those possibilities into account, there was no reason for that monster to be connected to the Avatar of the Seven-Headed Dragon, Jo Giman, or to harbor feelings of anger toward him.

"Ilwol... You are probably..."

Tania looked around her nest with fresh eyes. A simple yet exquisitely beautiful space filled with gold. A place that had always been filled only with the fulfilling feeling of working for her master now felt strangely unfamiliar. Having lived for so long that she could not even remember, Tania now felt an inexplicable emptiness she had never experienced even once before.

"We can... meet again......"

That was something even Tania could not know. What was certain was that, although their meeting had lasted only a fleeting moment, that instant had felt incredibly special to her.

"......"

What roused Tania's mind as she quietly mulled over her conversation with the skeleton was Tiny, her one and only companion and subordinate whom she had created alone long ago.

At Tiny's call, Tania returned to the form of a golden sphere and soon turned her gaze ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠toward the dimension containing the orc that Tiny had boasted was the strongest ever.

* * *

"......"

Lee Yeonhee sat in the café nearest to the dungeon with her party members, staring blankly at the message in her mind. The golden mimic had appeared, a coin had been tossed, and Ilwol had been chosen. When she ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠came to her senses, she was outside the dungeon—along with the message that Ilwol had died.

"Does that mean Ilwol... failed?"

"......"

Yeonhee had no strength to reply to Jua's cautious question. She was not in the mood for it either.

"At least eat a little."

A mouthwatering cheesecake was placed in front of Yeonhee. It was a shop famous for its delicious desserts. Thirty minutes had passed since they had been ejected from the gate. It was time to pull herself together. She could not keep making the other party members uncomfortable every time Ilwol died.

Clink—

She picked up the fork, scooped up a small piece of cheesecake, and put it in her mouth. The sweetness that melted away softly eased her bitter emotions a little.

"It's good, right?"

"It is... You should have some too, Eun-yeong."

Lee Yeonhee looked at Ham Eun-yeong, who was holding the hand mirror to her chest and smiling brightly, and spoke. Ham Eun-yeong nodded vigorously. She was overjoyed that the mirror had returned to normal. Whether it was a good thing that the mirror which distorted her appearance had come back was uncertain, but the other party members had no desire to comment ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠on it. When Baek A-rin had once asked about the mirror, Eun-yeong had become tight-lipped.

"If you've pulled yourself together a bit, shall we talk about work again? There's still more than five hours left until Ilwol can be resummoned. It's not even ten o'clock yet. What do you want to do?"

Bae Jua thought it would be a waste to return home like this. But she had to ask the party members for their opinions first. After experiencing the massive event that was the mimic, it would be normal for them to want to return.

"Haaang... I need money until the mine starts producing, you know. I won't starve if I skip a day, but there's such a thing as routine, you know?"

"Right? It'd be a shame to just go back, wouldn't it?"

Jua thought it was fortunate. She had expected A-rin, who had younger siblings to support, to make that choice. The problem was Eun-yeong. If she refused, it would not work.

"Okay...!"

"...Really?"

Surprisingly, Eun-yeong agreed readily. It was so unexpected that it even felt suspicious.

"W-We need to go in and check..."

"......"

Of course. Jua nodded. She wanted to check whether the mirror, which had briefly stopped working upon entering the mimic's space, would function properly inside the dungeon again. Whatever the reason, Jua did not care.

"Three of us are in. What about you, Yeonhee? If you just want to go back, we'll all head home."

She spoke as if it were no big deal, but there was an undertone suggesting that depending on Yeonhee's choice, they might not be able to work today.

"Um, I'm fine too. Even without Ilwol, I should be able to handle a dungeon of this level."

'Okay.'

Bae Jua cheered inwardly. The only joy in her life was watching her bank balance grow day by day. Of course, the dungeon they were entering today was famous for not making money, but they had to clear this place quickly to move on to a profitable one, so she wanted to get it over with fast.

The four of them entered the dungeon once more. The civil servants guarding the gate saw the four re-entering and thought nothing of it. Many hunters went out briefly during lunch hour to rest before entering again.

Kiyaaaaaaaah――――

The moment they entered the dungeon, a scream that made ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠them want to turn and run greeted their return.

"How unlucky, seriously."

A-rin frowned deeply and spat. She felt impatient, as if she had shown an embarrassing side when the coin was tossed to decide the mimic's challenger. Wanting to make up for it quickly, she took the lead with quick steps.

While moving at a hurried pace, Lee Yeonhee was absorbed in reading the messages in her mind. She had already read them when she was ejected from the dungeon, but achievement-related messages did not appear often, so she naturally read them a few more times.

Everything a summon does is shared to a certain extent with the summoner. In simple terms, even if you just summon your beasts and do nothing, your level will rise. And it is not only experience that is shared—achievements are included as well. She would not have been able to obtain these achievements simply by encountering the mimic. It was because Ilwol had won in the space isolated by the brown mimic and had triumphed in the match against the golden mimic.

Lee Yeonhee shared with her party members the fact she had not mentioned at the café, as her mood had plummeted sharply. It seemed Ilwol had won against the mimic.

"No way!! That's insane!! Then what happens to the storage ability?"

"Uh... I haven't gained that ability yet. Maybe only Ilwol will get it?"

"Oh... Well, even if Ilwol gets that ability, it'll all come to you anyway, so isn't it the same thing?"

"I... guess so... I don't know yet."

"This is really huge... What kind of monster did Ilwol fight and beat?"

"Since the difficulty is said to be random... Even so, if it was a monster strong enough that Ilwol had to resort to mutual destruction, it must have been at least a Skeleton Decurion or a group of Bone Dancers, right?"

"Bone Dancers are hard to deal with because they have a self-destruct ability like Ilwol."

"Definitely... If it was a monster from the Dungeon of Nargul... it would be several levels above the ones here."

After walking for about twenty minutes while each speculating about what Ilwol might have gone through, Lee Yeonhee kept reminding herself over and over that she could do well even without Ilwol. And it seemed her companions felt the same.

"I told you it's enough. One Rock Fist can take out three at once."

"Your mouth is making me nervous."

Bae Jua patted her chest twice, telling them to trust only her.

"It's a ghost horde. Everyone, get ready."

And so the first battle in this dungeon was about to begin.