The Dreaming Electric Sheep (1)
Lee Jun greeted the morning feeling refreshed for the first time in a while.
Things had been pretty hectic lately, leaving him little breathing room—so you could say he'd finally found some. Of course, things had gotten even busier after the auction. Now that he'd landed an S-Class gate, it wasn't as if he could just sit around twiddling his thumbs.
There were matters to negotiate with Seolwon and attack strategies to properly hammer out.
'Well, there was quite a bit of friction over the details… but we smoothed things out in the end.'
He and Seolwon had butted heads on any number of fronts, and the biggest sticking point, naturally, had been the timing of the gate assault.
For the management agency—with exactly one hunter on its roster—the later the raid, the better. But Seolwon was a guild. A very large one. Even an S-Class gate wasn't something a guild could afford to hang onto indefinitely.
In the end, Lee Jun's position had won out: the assault would begin on the twenty-sixth day after the gate's creation. That was two days before the theme was due to cycle over. This dungeon could be cleared in a little over forty hours, so the schedule left plenty of margin.
But since no one else knew those facts, convincing them had taken hours on its own.
"Still, you talked them around. That's a relief."
Seo Yoon spoke while chewing through the breakfast Lee Jun had made.
"Honestly, it was all speculation with nothing concrete behind it. I didn't expect much either, but things worked out luckily."
"Whatever you say always carries a certain persuasive weight, sir. I choose to believe it's because you see what others don't."
"Hmm… when you put it that way, it's a little embarrassing."
It wasn't about seeing what others couldn't. It was about digging deeply into each of the countless details most people glimpsed and let slide. Lee Jun had no particular specialty in any one area, which let him survey a situation relatively broadly. Charitably, that made him an all-rounder; uncharitably, a jack of all trades and master of none.
"But there is one thing I'm curious about."
"What's that?"
"If clearing the gate doesn't take long, wouldn't it be better to let this theme pass and raid during the next one?"
Today was August 20th, 2025—the seventeenth day since the auctioned gate had come into existence. Lee Jun had already revealed at the auction house that this gate had a shifting theme with a fourteen-day cycle. Putting the pieces together, Seo Yoon's intent was clear: if the clear took less than two days, wouldn't it be smarter to wait out day twenty-eight and aim for the third theme instead?
"That's certainly an option. Skipping the lava zone would make things easier for Seolwon too, since they're coming in with us—better clearing efficiency all around."
"Then…."
"But at the same time, it would also be dangerous."
There was one reason.
This gate would break on the twenty-ninth day.
Of course, he couldn't say that outright. It was knowledge gained through his regression. So instead, he went with sound reasoning.
"Seo Yoon, you know how long a gate has before it breaks, right?"
"Roughly a month, as I understand it."
"Correct."
"Then wouldn't we be fine? The window before a gate break varies from gate to gate, but as far as I know, not a single gate has ever broken in under a month."
"Just because there's no precedent doesn't mean it's a hundred percent certain."
In the previous timeline, this gate had dragged on long enough that a third assault force had to be assembled. Thanks to that, he even knew the theme after the lava zone was highlands. It was the first shifting-theme gate anyone had ever seen enter a third theme.
And this gate was memorable for another reason—it was the first to break before reaching even thirty days. On top of that, being an S-Class gate, its dungeon spawn range had nearly swallowed the entire Gangneung region.
'The original strategy was flawed from the start. They were missing something very simple.'
Back then, the first assault had been Taesan, the second Samhwa, and the third a triple coalition of the Association, Skullpe, and Seolwon. He didn't know what butterfly effect had removed Taesan's first assault from the equation this time, but for now, no lives had been lost. If anything, the gate coming up for auction brand-new was a blessing.
'I already know the clearing method, anyway.'
In the previous timeline, Lee Jun had entered on the twenty-eighth day, during the highlands theme. Estimated clear time: thirty-eight hours. The strategy he'd devised himself had worked well enough, and he'd expected to clear it without trouble—
Only for the gate to break on day twenty-nine. No one had seen it coming.
'This time, no lounging around.'
The goal was to clear it before ever glimpsing the third theme. The strategy Lee Jun had drawn up in the first place had been designed with the lava zone in mind, so tackling the second theme would actually play to its strengths.
'The hidden piece was discovered during the second theme, too.'
It wouldn't vanish just because the theme rolled over. But certainty was better than probability, wasn't it? His plan was to slip out briefly mid-raid and, using the same method as last time, extract the hidden piece quickly.
Clatter—
Lee Jun tidied away his empty bowl and rose from the table first. He had something else to do today, after all.
"Seo Yoon, once you're finished eating, could you wait in the living room for a moment?"
"Understood."
Lee Jun filled the dishes with water, left them in the sink, and headed for the living room. His destination: in front of the TV. More precisely, right beside the cabinet it sat on. He picked up an iron sphere slightly smaller than his own head.
When it came to preparing for this raid, this fellow was, without question, the most important piece.
"Hey."
[……]
"I know you're awake. Power on."
Tiroriring—
Psshhhhk—
With a cheerful chime, both sides of the iron sphere swung open. Arms poked out from the two openings, and a screen flickered to life on what was presumably its face.
Pirong—
[Heeello. Can you hear me?]
[ ＼(◉▽◉)／ ]
An autotuned, crackling voice paired with an adorable expression on the display. It was the robot the Chief of the Technology Bureau had used for communication before. This was the first time it had been powered on since then, but sure enough, it was still fully operational.
And right at that moment, Seo Yoon emerged from the kitchen.
"Ah… so that… wasn't a decoration."
"Say hello. She's the Chief of the Korean Hunter Association's Technology Bureau."
[Hi there!]
"……"
Seo Yoon froze for a moment at the sight of the robot cheerfully greeting her. Roughly three seconds. Then she bowed her head in a formal bow.
"It is an honor. I am Seo Yoon, a domestically-raised hunter under S-Class Hunter Management."
[Wow, she's super polite.]
"Seo Yoon, you really don't have to be that formal."
[No, no. Formal is right. If you think about it, I'm her senior!]
[ ↖(◑_◑)↗ ]
The thing shouted in its machine-laced voice while flashing a smug little face. No, not a face—an emoticon. Either way, it seemed a foreigner had adapted far too well to Korea's seniority culture.
[So. Why did you call me?]
"You've got nothing to do all day anyway. You just spend it watching my home security feeds."
[What do you mean, nothing to do?! I'm drowning right now crunching gate status data for the whole country!]
"The AIs do that. Not you."
[I'm the one who builds them and keeps them maintained!]
Lee Jun knew perfectly well how capable she was. He also knew she was so exceptionally good that time pooled in her hands. Her work output ran at more than double anyone else's, so of course it did. And what she did with the leftover hours was install surveillance cameras in other people's homes.
"What a charming hobby you have."
[…I've told you to stop running entire conversations in your head and only saying the last line out loud.]
"My condolences."
[ (ﾉ °Д°)ﾉ ]
She clearly didn't appreciate that, but if a habit could be fixed just by wanting to fix it, it wouldn't be a habit. She had her own list of unfixed quirks, so he decided to call it even.
Meanwhile, one person who'd been listening to the whole exchange murmured:
"CC… TV…?"
"Ah."
[Ah.]
Right—he'd forgotten to explain to Seo Yoon. Left alone, she'd start thinking he was some kind of creep.
"It's not a big deal, but this guy had surveillance cameras installed in every room of this house from the start. Every room except the bathroom—zero blind spots."
"…Did you not say you have received guests here?"
"Uh… it's complicated if I explain in detail. I'd just give them a rough rundown and everyone took it in stride."
The guests who came here were all more or less cut from the same cloth. Among foreign dignitaries, the ones who sought Lee Jun out personally were almost all Initial Awakeners, and every one of them was already acquainted with him or the Chief of the Technology Bureau. So everyone had let Ar's compulsions slide. They each ached somewhere of their own, after all. You hold each other up, look the other way, and move on.
"Besides, guests… I've never really received them properly anyway. Thinking about the past does no one any good."
"……"
Seo Yoon had plenty she wanted to ask, but in the end she kept quiet. Lee Jun's expression looked pained enough.
But he changed it quickly and spoke kindly again.
"Still, don't worry too much. Before you moved in, I smashed every one of them except the ones in my room and the living room."
[That's right, don't worry. I have no interest in you anyway.]
She said it with a haughty lilt. Apparently, with Lee Jun gaining something like a new companion, she'd gotten in a mood.
"Don't pick fights for no reason."
[I don't like those glasses.]
"Who told you to like her?"
[Ha. So you're taking her side?]
[ ╰ (°°) ╯ ]
His Technology Bureau Chief seemed to be in quite the sulk. Left like this, she'd stay uncooperative for a while, so there was nothing for it but to appease her. There were things he needed from her, after all. The party with the more pressing want was the one that bent first.
"Haah… fine. Then what would you like me to do?"
Silence answered his question for a long moment. Then she spoke, her voice shrinking to half its earlier size.
[Sometimes… you could call me by my name too.]
"I do call you by name sometimes."
[Only in your head, though.]
"Hmm… not exactly."
Right. Truthfully, not even in his head did the words leave his mouth—they were just thoughts drifting by. And within them, every so often, he brought out that name.
[Does it still… hurt?]
Her tone was turning damp at the edges. Going by how these things usually went, she was spiraling too. Left alone, both of them were bound to end up gloomy.
"Let's talk about that later. It's not what's important right now."
So Lee Jun hastily steered the subject away. Alone together it might have been one thing, but with Seo Yoon present, the topic was inappropriate. It was, if anything, his weakness—arguably his greatest one. He had no intention of rattling on about it and planting needless anxiety in his own hunter.
"Let's get back to business. For now."
Amusingly, whenever the two of them talked shop, all manner of things tended to improve. They had their share of gripes, but in the end, a professional was a professional. That both of them still had that much self-awareness left was funny in its own right.
"Whew…"
Lee Jun took a long, slow breath. Whatever the situation, doing this cleared his head. Maybe it was simply habit, or maybe it genuinely worked. Which of the two didn't matter to him either way.
Watching him, the Chief of the Technology Bureau said quietly:
[…Sorry. I kept dragging up old times.]
"It's fine. I started it, anyway."
It's fine. There's still no problem. So now… focus.
"Okay. It's been a while since we started talking, but let's get down to it, shall we?"
The reason Lee Jun had summoned her today was simple: he wanted her help with the coming gate raid. Though since he'd be paying for every piece of equipment, "help" might have been a generous word. He explained everything—the full plan, the works. To make this raid that much smoother, he needed a few pieces of her equipment.
"So? What do you say?"
And then—from her mouth… no, from the speaker of the robot standing in for her—came words he hadn't expected at all.
[Um… about that… this time it might be… a little difficult.]
[ (ː;◑ω◑) ]
She mumbled the words in a shrinking voice, paired with a pointlessly cute emoticon. It seemed that this time, she had complications of her own.
"……"
[……]
"……"
"Um… sir?"
"……"
Oh no. I'm not getting out of here, am I.