The Triangle Within the Heart (1)
Vrrroooom—
Inside the speeding car, Lee Jun was at the wheel, with Jeanne riding shotgun. In the back seat, the two plushies had their heads poking out the windows, basking in the wind.
"Wow, this car is really nice."
"It's a new model that came out early this year. The reviews were decent, so I picked one up."
He had no particular fondness for sports cars, so he'd settled for a solid sedan instead. Honestly, he didn't know much about cars — he'd simply chosen the most expensive of the new releases, and then the Tech Bureau Chief had begged to tune it up, which he'd more or less let her do as she pleased. Hence the current vehicle.
"Siara, should we buy a car too?"
"…And how exactly would you drive it?"
"You press the gas and the brake, and I'll turn the wheel."
"No way! Then I couldn't look outside!"
"Aw, come on."
What on earth are those two doing?
"Both of you, quit raising a ruckus and sit still. You're bothering our two guests back there."
The back seat held not only Timothy and Siara but Seo Yoon and Choi Jeong-hyeon as well. The two women, who had been watching the plushies squirm around beside them, turned their heads.
"Oh, n-no! I'm not bothered at all…."
"I'm quite comfortable as well, Sir."
Wow, they're both far too nice.
"They say it's fine, Hyung."
"They say it's fine, Jun."
At that, the two plushies turned to stare into the rearview mirror with oddly triumphant expressions. It wasn't as if they could actually make expressions — but that was the unmistakable vibe.
"…Still, stop sticking your heads out the window. You'll go flying one of these days."
"Okay~"
"Tch. Fine."
Whirrr— Once he'd confirmed both heads were back inside, Lee Jun raised the window.
He checked the back seat through the rearview mirror, then glanced at Jeanne, sitting quietly beside him. Come to think of it, counting management personnel alone, he was already up to three. Maybe he really did need to buy a van. He was mulling that over when his eyes met Seo Yoon's in the mirror.
One second. Two. Three. Since neither of them looked away, Seo Yoon simply kept staring back. It was a self-driving car anyway, so keeping his eyes on the mirror posed no problem. Four… five.
Hm. Should I say something? Six… seven… eight….
"P-perhaps we should buy a new vehicle? If we're all to travel together, something larger might be in order."
"It hasn't been a problem so far, has it?"
"Not at the moment, no. But later on, with luggage to stow and monster by-products to haul, this car might get cramped."
"I still think it's sufficient. But if that is your judgment, Sir, then I imagine you're right."
"Hm. Fair enough — three of us in a car this size will do for a while. It's not as if we'll be taking on a third hunter anytime soon."
That would probably be a long way off yet. Seo Yoon's treatment and Choi Jeong-hyeon's class change were both still outstanding, and on top of that, Liberation demanded his constant attention. Raising a new hunter would likely be on the back burner for some time.
Just then, a familiar emoticon popped up on the car's display, and a mechanical voice rang out through the speakers.
"Shall I rebuild it bigger for you, then?"
Right — as if she'd have left this feature out while she was tinkering with the thing. He hadn't said a word to her while driving, but he'd naturally assumed this was possible.
"Long time no see, hm? Didn't you miss me?"
"Even if I answered, I'd only get sound out of it anyway."
"I simply believe you missed this mascot-like mechanical voice of mine."
Did I miss her? Hard to say. Honestly, it hadn't even been that long.
"That's the face of someone thinking, 'it really hasn't been that long,' isn't it?"
"Bingo. Correct answer."
"But for me, even this much counts as a long time?"
"Oh, please."
Either way, she greeted them cheerfully from inside the display, then turned her attention to the girl beside Lee Jun.
"Hello there, Jeanne~"
"It's been a while, unnie."
Jeanne watched the expressions flitting across the screen with quiet fascination, and the Tech Bureau Chief clearly found her adorable. On that point, Lee Jun wholeheartedly agreed.
"As I thought — Sisela and Jeanne are the absolute cutest."
"The first sensible thing you've said in a while."
"Ha! 'In a while'? It's always true."
They were still trading this idle nonsense back and forth when Jeanne, quiet until then, spoke up — with a smile that had stepped just a little beyond what she had learned.
"Unnie, you're still so full of energy. It's good to see."
"…Hm?"
On the surface, a perfectly standard pleasantry. But to anyone watching through the cameras she had no doubt stashed inside this car, something about it would seem very strange indeed.
"Wh-what, Yoanna? Did you just say it's good to see me?"
"Yes."
"While smiling?!"
"Pardon?"
Apparently she, too, had caught the subtle change radiating off Jeanne.
Hold on a second. You didn't know?
"What, were you not peeping yesterday?"
"Peeping?! Use the perfectly respectable term — security monitoring and management!"
"Wiretapping and peeping, you mean."
That part was genuinely surprising. Even when the screen was beyond her because of other work, she never skipped the audio. To what degree? He'd once heard Go Seok-gu complain that she kept earphones in even during Association meetings. Of course, what had actually shocked Lee Jun was that she attended meetings at all.
"Ha, don't go assuming I'm watching all the time. I have a life of my own, you know."
"Sure you do. Get out of the house once in a while. Stay cooped up in your room like that and your skin goes ghost-white."
"Stop nagging! You're not my guardian!"
Honestly, he was more or less her guardian. She gave off exactly the air of a pubescent teenager.
Then Jeanne, who had been listening to all of this, quietly added her own two cents.
"Unnie, you should come outside more often. Staying in your room all the time is bad for your health."
"B-but…! It's hot out there!"
You don't even feel the heat.
Hunters, who could wrap mana around their bodies at will, were for all practical purposes immune to cold and heat alike. Frankly, of everything in this world, that was what he envied most. Dammit, why me…!
But Jeanne apparently agreed with the chief's complaint.
"That's true. Hot and humid weather is unpleasant."
"Uwaaah, my adorable Yoanna. See? You're the only one who understands how I feel."
What kind of emoticon is that supposed to be now.
"Jeanne. Spoil her like that and she'll grow up into a bad adult."
"Hm. I see."
"I'm already grown up?!"
"Besides, it's early September. Hot how, exactly?"
"Th-the abnormal weather, because of global warming…."
Since when do you bring up global warming? The whole problem had been more or less solved the moment mana dispersed into the atmosphere and mana engines went into mass production.
"Honestly, when you think about it, mana engines are the best. Environmental protection and everything."
"Stop changing the subject."
"Ahem. Ahem."
Well… he did agree with her on that one point. Everyone had a private life. As long as it wasn't anything dangerous, what they got up to on their own time was none of his business.
Just then — from the back seat, Choi Jeong-hyeon, who had been quietly enduring this sudden comedy routine, carefully opened her mouth.
"Wiretapping…, sir…?"
"Ah."
"Ah."
"…Ah."
There was something strangely familiar about the scene. After Lee Jun and the Tech Bureau Chief, this time even Seo Yoon let out a groan.
"That reaction just now — there was a certain solidarity to it. I rather liked it."
"Indeed… I think so as well."
"W-wait a moment! Are we really just moving past this? Wiretapping and peeping?!"
"There's a fearsome legend about that house, you see…."
"What?!"
Hm. I'll have to explain that one properly later, too. For now, a brief word would have to suffice.
"It's fine. On the second floor, they're only installed in my room."
"That is not reassuring in the slightest…!"
Lee Jun laughed at that. This bustling, crowded feeling — it had been a very long time. Something about it felt nostalgic.
[…….]
"……."
His former comrades watched him in silence.
Somehow, it felt like a good sign.
Inside the Seoul Dungeon.
The sudden appearance of two S-class hunters had thrown the dungeon entrance into absolute pandemonium. To be precise, though — it was Jeanne, not Lee Jun, who was responsible.
"My, what a lively place this is."
"That's because you're here. Normally it's about the same as any other dungeon."
"I see."
And even now, hunters had swarmed in so thick that hunting was impossible. It was like a celebrity materializing in the middle of a Hongdae street. No — worse than that.
At this rate, getting to the Ant Nest is going to be impossible….
The Ant Nest must not become known to the public. Not yet — not until every secret sleeping inside it had been brought to light. Of everything that had changed after his regression, regardless of Lee Jun's own actions, the Ant Nest was the only thing that had. For now, clearing at least through the fifth floor came first.
Still… there is a way.
Lee Jun had once escaped the crowd's attention with Seo Yoon's help. Just like then, he only needed her skill to slip free of the throng for a moment.
The four people and two plushies made their slow way toward the heart of the dungeon — a pair of Pied Pipers dragging a full retinue of hunters behind them.
"They keep following us, Sir. Isn't that dangerous, inside a dungeon?"
"Seoul Dungeon is on the safer end, as these places go. And… even if we told them to scatter, they wouldn't listen."
It was true that roaming a dungeon in such a dense pack was risky. But whether from a simple failure of imagination, or because they trusted Jeanne — every last one of them scrambled headlong after their own curiosity.
About time to make our move, I'd say.
Swick—
Lee Jun pulled something from his Pocket while giving Seo Yoon's sleeve a tug. She nodded at his signal and began counting silently in her head.
One. Two. Three.
"Look up!"
At his sudden shout, every gaze in the crowd swung skyward.
Whiiiine—
PAENG!
"Wh-what the—?!"
"Gah, my eyes!"
A flashbang. Of course, an ordinary military flashbang wouldn't do much to hunters — but what Lee Jun had thrown was the Tech Bureau Chief's special recipe. If the thing could stagger high-grade monsters, it would obviously work on the hunters you'd find in the Seoul Dungeon.
"Moving now."
And on that exact cue, Seo Yoon gathered all four of them close and activated her skill.
Shadow Step
A shadow rising from beneath their feet gently enveloped the party. A brief lurch of disorientation followed — and a few seconds later, when the shadow melted away, they stood roughly 150 meters from where they had been.
The crowd packed together in the distance came into view.
{I could manage camouflage at this level too, you know.}
You can't move, though.
{…Tch. If only I could put my strength to use a little more.}
And there was another reason as well. He had no intention of showing his hand to the outside world yet. A concealed trump card was what let you bluff — or do anything else at all, for that matter. When the day came to face Liberation, this thing might well be the very rope his life hung from.
"Sir, four people is my limit for this. We may be discovered at any moment."
"It's fine. We just need to slip out of sight for a bit."
With that, Lee Jun drew a broad stretch of cloth from his Pocket. An optical-camouflage poncho — the very same one he'd used back during the Ogre raid.
"Everyone, get under here."
Flutter—
The four of them huddled together beneath the poncho, spread as wide as it would go.
"Hm… it's rather tighter than I expected."
Well, it was a one-man poncho to begin with. Even two made for a snug fit; four was naturally a squeeze.
"It… does seem to be covering us all…, though…."
"Jeong-hyeon, this thing blocks sound too. You don't have to whisper."
"Oh! Really…?"
She turned her head away, a touch embarrassed. The tip of her ear peeking out between strands of hair had gone faintly red. Up close, it was clear she was simply built to blush at the ears.
"Anyway, we'll have to move crouched down like this."
"You mentioned you were meeting someone, Sir?"
"That's right. We have to reach the center of the dungeon — so it's a little further this way."
It wasn't far. Three hundred meters or so? The four of them bunched low and shuffled along together. Had anyone seen them without the camo poncho, it would have been a spectacularly ridiculous sight.
Glancing down, he found the two plushies strolling along in perfect comfort. Even Jeanne, the shortest of the three, looked relatively at ease.
Well — as long as you two are comfortable.
He was thinking exactly that when Jeanne, walking right beside him, spoke quietly.
"Doing it like this… brings back old memories."
"It does. The conditions were terrible back then."
Two years ago, every one of them had been fighting for their lives. They'd rolled through filth pits without complaint, and burrowed into the carcasses of monsters for concealment without a moment's hesitation. Compared to those days, the present was a million times better — and still, the memories came unbidden.
"Somehow… it's not so bad, is it."
"No. I don't think it is."
Recalling a time they could never return to, the two of them walked on side by side.