Chapter 164
Chapter 164
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 164
Chapter Title: Part 2 Chapter 27
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Imagining the Association President's office, I used the skill and arrived roughly in the right spot. I hadn't expected to end up wedged between walls, though.
Yi Yoo-hyun carefully smashed away at the surrounding walls with a hammer, gently extracting the dungeon from the debris.
"If it's not a monster, then how did you end up here looking like this?"
Still not fully letting go of her suspicions, Yi Yoo-hyun eyed the dungeon warily while diligently breaking down the walls.
"You know Da Bo-seok is from another world, right? That time I took you along. Remember?"
"......Yes."
Somehow, the way he spoke really sounded like the dungeon.
No, she was saving him precisely because she thought of him as the dungeon, but the sense of dissonance was huge.
Yi Yoo-hyun gave a quiet reply.
"I practiced controlling my magic diligently and used the world travel skill a lot, so now I can come here too? That's why I gave it a try."
Crack, crumble.
As part of the wall collapsed and the space opened up, the dungeon crawled out from the wall, wriggling awkwardly.
Yi Yoo-hyun started to support him but hesitated, keeping a slight distance as she asked,
"How did you know I was here?"
Stretching his back and arms toward the ceiling, the dungeon smirked and opened his mouth.
"Because I'm an early riser."
"?"
Not catching the words properly, Yi Yoo-hyun tilted her head, and the dungeon, now sitting on the floor, propped his chin crookedly on his arm atop his knee and elaborated.
"You're the Association President, right? I asked the players about the Association's location."
"Ah......"
It made sense, but it was hard to accept right away.
'Dungeons...... aren't they characters from the game?'
"Surprised that a game character showed up in reality?"
Yi Yoo-hyun jolted in shock as he voiced the thought she'd only had in her mind.
"......Yes."
"But think about it. The similarities between dungeons and gates, and the gate that appeared during Louis the Emperor's execution."
At those words, Yi Yoo-hyun recalled the live broadcast that had aired when the dungeon had carried out his rebellion.
The gate captured in that footage had sparked massive controversy among people.
"Ninapinta isn't a game—it's a machine that transports you to another world. I don't know the exact mechanism, but it seems like your world and ours are connected."
Standing up and brushing the wall debris off his clothes, the dungeon looked at Yi Yoo-hyun. Her pupils were trembling.
Well, she'll come around in time.
"Anyway, got a place for me to crash? World travel to pinpoint exact locations is trickier than I thought, so I figured I'd stick around and enjoy myself while I'm here. Ow...... No money at all, though—can I borrow some? I'll pay you back via Tigo later."
He sounded so much like the dungeon that Yi Yoo-hyun suffered a momentary cognitive dissonance.
He felt like the same being she'd been with until yesterday. Scamming money out of her so naturally was perfect......
"Ah. Sure. That's fine. Thanks to you, Dun, I've made some money, so I'll give you some pocket cash."
She answered in a daze, as if dreaming.
Yi Yoo-hyun, feeling everything was unreal, pulled out her wallet and handed over all the cash inside to the dungeon.
"Huh? Score."
The dungeon whistled at the hefty wad of bills in his hand.
"Shall we talk tomorrow? It's one a.m. now....... I don't feel like I'm in my right mind."
"Ah, got it. You look sleepy."
There was so much she wanted to ask about the package right now, but since he'd taken a lot of money, she decided to let him go for today.
'More importantly, where do I sleep?'
There was a playground nearby, so maybe crash in one of the tunnels there for the night.
Wait, now that I have money, maybe a hotel or motel around here. Hold on— no ID, so I'd get turned away.
Lost in thought about where to sleep, Yi Yoo-hyun spoke up.
"By the way, Dun, do you have a place to stay? I have an empty room at my place....... Oh, Ra-hee is using that one. Ah! Come to think of it, there's a VIP guest suite in the Association building that's empty. Want to stay there?"
VIP guest suite for external visitors.
Her heart raced.
She'd done so much—stealth, eavesdropping, intimidation—to dig up info on people who'd stayed in that room, and now she was the one getting to use it.
The dungeon's eyes sparkled as he nodded. Yi Yoo-hyun smiled warmly.
She didn't know if it was a dream or illusion, but she was glad to see Dun again after so long, even like this.
"You must be hungry? Want some cup ramen at least?"
"Oh....... Yeah!"
He wasn't particularly hungry or craving food, but he wanted to try this nostalgic dish.
'Dun would definitely refuse food, so he really isn't Dun. Must be a dream. So vivid, though.'
Even though Dun had earnestly explained he was real, getting her brain to accept it was another matter.
Yi Yoo-hyun decided to just think of the whole thing as a simple dream.
So she might as well enjoy it.
Taking the excited Dun to the snack bar, Yi Yoo-hyun grabbed several snacks and cup ramen.
Considering he couldn't use chopsticks, she also picked up a disposable fork.
She peeled back the ramen lid, added the seasoning, poured in hot water, and it was ready in no time. Yi Yoo-hyun handed it to Dun.
The cafeteria was dark, so she turned on her phone's flashlight.
'Whoa. Never thought I'd get to eat ramen here again.'
The dreamlike feeling wasn't just for Yi Yoo-hyun—Dun felt it too.
When he first awoke in Ninapinta, he'd desperately wanted to return here.
When he was reborn as a child in Mont Gihle, he'd wanted to die.
Back then, he'd dreamed a lot of returning to the Association. And they were good dreams, which made waking up even worse.
He'd thought those days would never come back.
'Whoa, this is wild. Haven't seen this company's ramen in forever.'
Whoa, whoa. Dun kept exclaiming in wonder at everything. He let out an exclamation for each and every thing.
Yi Yoo-hyun offered a fork, but Dun expertly snapped the wooden chopsticks he'd grabbed on the way and picked up some noodles.
Slurp.
Dun picked up a few strands, chewed them tentatively, took a sip of broth, and set the ramen down.
'Whoa, this familiar taste.'
Leaving quite a bit of ramen, Dun picked up the snacks one by one, exclaiming again. He crunched on a Pepero stick.
Whoa, this flour chocolate flavor.
Dun exclaimed once more.
'Modern civilization must be fascinating to him?'
Yi Yoo-hyun let out a small laugh watching Dun marvel at everything.
She sometimes forgot because of his perfect Korean adaptation, but moments like this reminded her he was truly from another world.
Though this could all be a dream anyway.
After feeding Dun various things, Yi Yoo-hyun led him to the VIP guest suite.
Walking the all-too-familiar corridor, Dun exclaimed again.
He could see the scratch marks he'd left there back when he'd marked a mission complete.
More than that, hadn't Yi Yoo-hyun stayed in that VIP suite too? He recalled infiltrating when she was there.
'Whoa, that was ages ago—how do I even remember this?'
Lately, with past memories strengthening, all sorts of trivial ones had been surfacing.
"Here we are."
Yi Yoo-hyun opened the door, and a long-forgotten, useless scene from memory felt familiar.
Entering the room, Dun habitually checked for bugs.
"What are you doing?"
"......This is how a room like this should be—standard protocol."
"?"
Yi Yoo-hyun smiled uncertainly, not understanding. Another sign this was dream-Dun. He'd said a bunch of incomprehensible things already.
"Man, it's still like this. Ah, wait—since it's from when I lived here, it's not 'still' yet."
Fascinated by every modern item, Dun looked around the room.
Yi Yoo-hyun gazed at the ever-missed Dun with tender eyes and extended her arms.
"Can I hug you just once?"
"Huh?"
Dun, who had been peering into a drawer and reaching for where a bug used to be, looked up with a tilt of his head.
"I have a feeling you might be gone by tomorrow."
A grateful presence who always appeared during hard times. Seeing that sullen face made her heart ache.
"Uh......"
Rolling his eyes at the sudden proposal, Dun clenched and unclenched his hand.
He'd used world travel a lot and was fatigued, so his ability utilization was down.
He'd have to hug carefully.
"Hmm....... I'm planning to stay about a week anyway....... Whatever, sure."
As Dun stepped forward and extended his arms, Yi Yoo-hyun pulled him into a tight hug. She yawned mid-embrace, sleepy.
Ah, right—it was one a.m. She'd been working until this hour.
Worried about crushing her, Dun awkwardly extended his arms, stiffened, and patted her back lightly with non-damaging force.
"Association President, huh? Tough gig."
A bit of elder-life-advice encouragement, in his awkward Dun style.
Yi Yoo-hyun burst into laughter at his clumsy cheer-up.
"No, it's fine. Thank you."
Yi Yoo-hyun stroked Dun's hair a few times, then straightened up.
"Good night. Sweet dreams."
"Yeah, you too."
"I told you it's not a dream, so you better be here when I come tomorrow morning?"
"Dunno. I'll wander around wherever once I wake up."
"Got it. Even if you're gone tomorrow, I think I'll visit this room often."
"Hey, you. I said this isn't a dream—it's reality."
"That would be wonderful."
Yi Yoo-hyun smiled softly, started to leave the room, then turned back for one last tight hug before heading home.
Lying in her own bed trying to sleep, Yi Yoo-hyun felt a sense of unease.
'If I sleep here, will it become a dream within a dream?'
Exhausted, she drifted off with that absurd thought.
* * *
The next morning.
Yi Yoo-hyun headed straight to the room where Dun had stayed upon waking. She'd had such a realistic dream.
Dun stuck in the Association building's wall, her hammering him out, feeding him late-night snacks, assigning him lodging. He'd even hugged and cheered her on.
Thinking it over, it was pretty unrealistic, but so vivid.
It had left her in such a good mood.
She'd even jotted it down first thing in the morning, afraid she'd forget.
Knock, knock, knock.
Knowing it was ridiculous, she knocked on the door of the room she'd given Dun, heart slightly hopeful.
"......Dun?"
No response, so Yi Yoo-hyun cautiously opened the door.
Someone had left the window open; a cold gust blew in as the door swung wide.
The curtain fluttered for a moment.
Scanning the room with lingering hope, she saw no one. Of course.
'What was I hoping for?'
Turning to leave, she suddenly remembered the bed's blanket was missing.
Yi Yoo-hyun stepped further inside.
"......"
A massive blanket lump sat in the corner. And poking out from it, light brown hair.
Snore. Snore.
The ambiguous sound between snoring and breathing reached her.
"......"
Yi Yoo-hyun plopped down right there.