The Triangle Within the Heart (3)

How long had they been walking? Before too long, they arrived at the abandoned building that housed the Ant Nest.

Lee Jun dropped his concealment cloak right in front of their destination.

"Here we are."

"So it's beneath this."

The four of them stepped into the abandoned building together, and once they ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠cleared away the camouflage covering the entrance to the Ant Nest, a sizable pit revealed itself beneath.

First, the two dolls swept their surroundings with careful eyes.

"I don't get a great feeling about this place…."

"Definitely not. It practically reeks of ominous energy."

Perhaps Siara and Timothy were sensing something. Neither of them had anything positive to say about the place.

"What about you?"

Lee Jun asked for Jeanne's impression as well. Given how attuned she was to spiritual things, she might see something here that the others couldn't.

But Jeanne shared the same opinion as the two before her.

"Hmm. Beyond the fact that it feels ominous, I don't sense anything else."

She crouched down quietly and ran her hand across the ground.

Scrrrape—

Cracked cement flooring, and beneath it, a dirt pit dug straight down into the earth. Measuring the mana soaked into the soil, she quietly took the measure of the space itself.

After surveying the area for a moment, she turned to Lee Jun.

"Did you dig this yourself, Oppa?"

"I did. Nearly worked myself to death doing it."

"The ground here is incredibly hard. I can't imagine anyone would think to dig through it under normal circumstances."

"Well, poking and prying at random things is kind of my hobby."

"I see. Understood."

The mana saturated in this place was dense. That wasn't something Lee Jun had discovered on his own—it was the conclusion the Technical Bureau chief from his previous life had reached after analysis. Which was why the soil was so compacted, so resistant to being disturbed.

Well… by ordinary people's standards, anyway.

Lee Jun's body at least met the minimum threshold for a hunter, so while it had been grueling, he'd managed to dig it out. If he could have used Aura, it would have gone much faster….

"Mmm… I can't explain it well, but this seems like a very unique place."

"Right? Even I, who can't sense anything at all, can tell this is a strange spot."

With that, Lee Jun descended into the pit first. Jeanne, watching him go, soon leaped down after him.

Thud— pat-pat—

The two landed lightly and came to a stop before a massive door embedded in the wall.

"This is…."

"A double dungeon."

"Astonishing. This is the first time I've seen an entrance of such intricate craftsmanship."

Was that so?

But it was still too early to be surprised. This place held a one-of-a-kind trait that had never been discovered anywhere in history.

"A two-layer structure, then?"

"That's right."

"I've… never seen anything like this, even back when I traveled all over…."

"Same here. Gates and dungeons really are the great unknown, aren't they."

"Now I'm curious what the inside will be like."

Each of the three reacted to his explanation in their own way. Siara bounded around the door on her short doll legs, brimming with energy. Timothy, the most versed in magic of the three, slowly studied the patterns engraved into the door.

And Jeanne… stared at the door handle with a perfectly blank expression.

"We're going through here today."

"Understood."

"You got all the mechanics I explained just now, right?"

"Yes. We need to enter this place and get out before the day ends—correct?"

"Exactly. So let's get down as fast as your ability allows."

Nod—

Jeanne gave a small bob of her head as she examined the door, then fell briefly into thought.

"So this is… the place Captain Kyle spoke of?"

"That's what I believe."

"Does it correspond to the first hint? This 'Ant Nest' place?"

"Probably."

At that, Jeanne nodded. But Siara seemed to have her doubts.

"What are the odds the second hint is here?"

"High enough."

"And even so, you're saying this is the Ant Nest?"

"At least, that's what I believe."

Siara tilted her head at his words. It was rare—almost unheard of—for Lee Jun to be this certain about anything. Especially in a situation as thoroughly riddled with uncertainty as this one. Small wonder she found it odd.

Timothy seemed to share Siara's doubt as well. But he, it appeared, had already made his decision.

"Haha, Hyung seems completely convinced, though?"

"That's what I'm saying."

"Still, you remember, don't you? In situations like this, choosing his way always gave us the best odds."

"…And that's exactly what bothers me. Why is it that whatever Jun says always turns out to be right?"

Timothy responded cheerfully to Siara's half-hearted grumbling.

"Who knows. I suppose we won't find out until the very end? We're the ones who get things wrong from time to time, after all."

"……."

"Here's how I see it. If someone exists who's always right about ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠everything, then until the day they're proven wrong, it's better to keep trusting them."

Timothy said this as he traced the patterns carved into the doorframe. Watching him, Lee Jun let out an awkward laugh and threw in a jab.

"Isn't that more dangerous than it sounds?"

"Hahaha, and the man himself says that?"

Timothy laughed at Lee Jun's remark, spinning round and round in place, seeming somehow delighted.

Then again… that guy had always loved conversations like this. If the world had been left whole, he might have become a philosopher.

"Shall we hear those grounds, then?"

A doll's body couldn't manage proper facial expressions, but there was no mistaking it—the guy was wearing a sly, knowing grin right now.

This was what you'd call experience—data accumulated over years. The same principle behind Timothy choosing to trust Lee Jun now.

Lee Jun mulled over his reasoning for a moment. Plenty of plausible-sounding things he could cobble together and stitch up—but none of them felt like something that would genuinely satisfy the guy.

So he simply said it.

"It's a hunch."

Abandoning all excuses. An answer so half-hearted it didn't even bother trying to be understood.

Or so it might seem—but the meaning packed inside it was a little more complicated than that.

"Relying on trust built up through experience?"

"Honestly, I don't have a reason. It just feels that way, so I'm going with it for now."

That's right—there was no airtight justification. Only a guess with an extremely high probability behind it.

Because in his previous life, this place had been called the Ant Nest.

How Kyle had known that was another matter entirely… but as far as Lee Jun knew, there was only one Ant Nest, and it was here.

But he couldn't reveal anything about his regression. Not yet, at ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠least.

Depending on how the world turned going forward, there might come a day when he could disclose the truth. But that was then, and this was now. Which meant he'd have to hide that fact—and in the end, that meant lying.

'Still… I don't want to lie.'

Not to these kids, at least. Not to his former comrades.

There were things he might keep unsaid—but he would never speak a falsehood. That was a principle he'd set for himself, one that still held in this life.

And more than that… it was a promise they had all shared.

'…Kyle.'

So, without straying into falsehood, he said exactly what he'd reasoned out.

Whether Kyle actually knew about the Ant Nest was an open question anyway. At the very least, the reason Lee Jun had given contained no lie.

"See? If Kyle had truly become a prophet, he'd have known I'd find this place too. And the timing lines up perfectly… so I'm inclined to think this is it."

"The timing…."

"You four reaching out to me when you did, the hints Kyle left behind—if all of that was orchestrated by him, then this, too, was something he foresaw."

Reasons could always be patched together somehow. And unfortunately, this world offered no solid ground to refute his logic. A world with nothing worth believing, and nothing worth disbelieving.

"If you say so, Oppa, it will probably be right."

"You're trusting me on that?"

"Yes. As always."

There, Jeanne made the choice to believe.

Looking down, he saw the two dolls had arrived at the same conclusion.

"Well, even if this isn't the place, we lose nothing by checking. Let's just trust him and head in~"

"When Jun says something… yeah, he's never been wrong yet."

Siara and Timothy seemed to agree with Jeanne. When everything around you was untrustworthy, you had to find some fixed point you could believe in no matter the circumstance. That one of those points, for these children, was Lee Jun—he could only be grateful.

"Thank you."

"Hahaha, what's this, Hyung? Out of nowhere?"

"Ugh, cringe. Did you eat something weird today?"

"That's a pretty cold response."

And yet, those familiar reactions put ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Lee Jun at ease.

Why he had to keep being a hunter. What he had to protect. He understood it all over again.

"Right, then—we're all going in together. Agreed?"

"Yes. Together."

"Good."

First, they'd break through the third floor. Then the fourth, the fifth… onward and onward, toward the end. If they cleared the dungeon all the way to the last floor, they'd know for certain whether the place Kyle spoke of was here or not.

Clearing the Ant Nest in full was the profitable play regardless, so that was what they'd do.

And there was another reason behind his conviction that Kyle's place was here: the rewards of the Ant Nest had changed.

The first floor's reward had been the key Kyle left behind. The second floor's reward had been the tonfas Pablo left behind. And… though they'd only cleared two floors so far, if the pattern held—

The third floor's reward would be Timothy's keepsake.

'Either way, I'll confirm the result.'

And then they would face it together.

Because they were comrades. Because he'd resolved not to run from the past anymore, he would share this burden too.

That was the thinking.

"Well then—shall we go in?"

The time was 14:25. Nine hours and thirty-five minutes remained until this place reset. But with the party he'd brought along, he planned to finish comfortably within four.

Creeeak—

The entrance to the Ant Nest opened with an odd, keening sound.

This was the third time he had pushed open this door in this life. The first time, alone. The second, with his current comrades. And now… with his former ones.

Jeanne, seemingly lost in some thought of her own, gazed past the opening door and spoke.

"It's been a long time. Conquering someplace new, together with you, Oppa."

Longing threaded through her words. Jeanne was changing, without a doubt—differently than she had in his previous life.

And what about me?

Was he changing? Was he truly looking at these children as they were now, free of the shadows of his previous life?

—Even though it's late, I mean it when I say… that I truly, truly feel it… when I say this.

A memory he didn't want to recall surfaced unbidden. Jeanne's comfort, offered right beside him, overlapped with Yoanna of his previous life.

'No. It's different.'

Different. A different person. Because this Jeanne… was right here beside him, now.

—Even though I said it so late, even though I only felt it so late… I understood it, clearly. I know it now.

—Yoan… I…!

—I leaned on you… so much, Oppa….

The memory was vivid even now. In that final moment, even then, he had never managed to call her name, clean and unbroken.

"Oppa?"

A voice reached his ear—from somewhere impossibly far away, and impossibly close, all at once.

Lee Jun answered, and it wasn't a light thing, what he said.

"…Same here."

At his murmur, Jeanne nodded, her voice brightening a little.

"I see. So you feel the same way, Oppa."

"I do."

With hearts that mirrored each other. With a quiet ache of longing somewhere in them.

The four of them stepped through the doors of the Ant Nest.