Chapter 42
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 42
Chapter Title: Tiger's Den (1)
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“…?”
The word “conditions” made Kim Gun-ho tense up.
He was worried about what might happen if the conditions were too much for him to handle, leaving him unable to keep up.
‘I’ll go even if it costs me Survival Time. No matter what, I’m going.’
But what came out of Min-jun’s mouth rendered Kim Gun-ho’s resolve pointless.
“Gun-ho, your time with us will last until we rescue So-hee’s father. Of course… that includes So-hee too.”
“Min-jun?!”
So-hee, who had left the decision to Min-jun and stayed quiet during the talk, shot back in surprise.
“Once the job’s done, you’ll need time to look after your dad, right, So-hee?”
“That’s true, but—”
“More than that, with this thing here, sticking with me will just keep putting you in danger…. I don’t want to see that happen to you, So-hee.”
“…”
Min-jun stroked the brand etched into his palm and murmured to himself.
At first, he’d only thrashed about to survive the day. He had to make it through today somehow, so setting any big goals was out of the question.
But after surviving several brushes with death, now that his struggles to stay alive had piled up…
Min-jun had realized he was heading toward a specific destination.
‘Star Lord and Star.’
In the end, he was fated to clash with them head-on.
Sure, survival would come first. He had no plans to push himself too far.
But surviving alone was one thing. Surviving while looking after the people around him was another.
The resolve, the effort, the preparation—it all demanded something entirely different.
Clap!
“Anyway, none of this matters until we find her dad, right? Let’s focus on what’s right in front of us for now.”
Min-jun clapped his hands to brighten the mood and extended a handshake to Kim Gun-ho.
Rather than butt into their conversation, Kim Gun-ho simply took the offered hand. He wasn’t the type to miss social cues just because he didn’t talk much.
“Take care of me from here on out, Gun-ho.”
“You too. Teacher.”
He’d been class president just a short while ago, and now he was “Teacher.” Min-jun grimaced at the title and shot back.
“If you’re sticking with me from now on, no more ‘teacher.’ Just call me comfortably—hyung. You look way older than me anyway.”
Having someone so much older keep calling him “teacher” was seriously uncomfortable. He already had one Sung Dong-gil for that.
“Teacher, how old?”
“Thirty. Year of the Dog, 1994.”
Kim Gun-ho’s hand froze for a second at Min-jun’s answer. Then he replied in a slow, drooping tone. To anyone else, his face looked the same, but his girlfriend Se-young would have patted his shoulder—it was that subtly sulky look only those close to him would catch.
“Me… Year of the Tiger, 1998. Twenty-six…”
“Ah…”
“…”
The room’s warm atmosphere turned dead silent in an instant.
* * *
It wasn’t until the next morning that Min-jun and the group could finally leave the police hospital.
So-hee needed time to treat Lee Se-young, Kim Gun-ho’s girlfriend.
A low-grade Red Potion would’ve fixed her up in no time, of course… But in a world where supplies were worth as much as human lives.
They had to conserve anything they could save with just a bit of time. So the group decided to do some volunteer work in exchange for restocking their supplies at the police hospital—and catching their breath too.
So-hee treated Se-young while helping the other patients, and Min-jun trained the combatants there, just like he’d done back at Songpa Police Station.
By the time they were ready to head out the next morning, So-hee had earned near-saintly praise and a full send-off from the entire hospital staff. Naturally, her face turned beet red.
As they walked across the outdoor parking lot on their way out, Kim Gun-ho glanced at So-hee and spoke up.
“Benefactor, thank you again.”
So-hee shuddered at the words and yelled at Kim Gun-ho.
“Hey! I told you I’d kill you if you called me ‘benefactor’ one more time—didn’t I?!”
To Min-jun watching from the side, it looked just like a squirrel barking at a bear.
Their builds were polar opposites, but since they were the same age, they fell into easy banter.
Or maybe it wasn’t the same age so much as So-hee’s pent-up frustration exploding at the guy’s brick-wall stubbornness?
Either way, Min-jun was witnessing a side of So-hee he’d never seen before, live and in person.
‘The road ahead’s gonna be noisy.’
As So-hee’s voice grew louder, Min-jun swallowed his unspoken mutter and stepped in to mediate.
“Ahem, that’s enough out of both of you… Gun-ho, just one question.”
“Ask away, hyung. I’ll answer anything.”
“They say nobody comes back out after going in there. How’d you make it?”
“Gararak Market Station. Escaped through the Line 3 tracks.”
“The tracks?”
“Once you go in there, you can’t come out above ground. That building marks the boundary.”
Kim Gun-ho pointed at the towering high-rise with its shimmering curtain walls, about fifty meters ahead.
“Inside is pure hell.”
“Pure hell?”
“Some kinda weird magic. You just keep running in circles. Try to get out, and it drags you right back in.”
Unlike his usual self, Kim Gun-ho strung his words together at length.
“Then if things get bad, we can escape that way too?”
“Exactly. Just stick with me, hyung.”
Kim Gun-ho jabbed a thumb at himself and nodded. So-hee, watching from the side, piped up.
“Min-jun, you’re not seriously gonna trust this guy, are you? We’ve only known him a day… But come on, he doesn’t look trustworthy at all.”
“Haha! First time I’ve seen you hate on someone this hard, So-hee. But what choice do we have? He’s the only one who came back alive from in there. Gotta believe him.”
Even as they bantered back and forth…
The three soon reached the building Kim Gun-ho had mentioned. Without a moment’s hesitation, Min-jun crossed the boundary line first.
Ripple—
The air rippled like water in a pond, and his figure vanished.
“Wha?! Min-jun, what if you just go in alone like that!”
So-hee and Gun-ho hurriedly crossed the boundary after him.
The first thing to greet them was a brand-new system message.
[You have entered ‘Atlnak’s Labyrinth Garden.’]
* * *
A sky smeared thick with plaster-like clouds. Fog so dense it choked everything.
Over a month had passed since he’d come here, but the boy had never once seen the sun or the moon.
All he could see were spiderwebs strung thick between the buildings—and the fog.
Traces of the fierce battles once fought against the creatures were now just pathetic rubble scattered across the streets.
‘Can’t see five ri through this fog.’
Hiss— Hiss—
His breaths came muffled through the mask of his air respirator, echoing faintly in the thick fog.
* * *
A boy who should’ve started middle school this spring moved lightly across the empty road, an 8kg oxygen tank and side bag slung over his shoulders.
His footsteps were silent, like he was wearing cushioned shoes. And yet his speed was every bit as fast and nimble as any adult’s.
Song Dan-woo quickly crossed the two-lane road, ducked behind a building pillar, and scanned his surroundings.
Through the fogged-up lenses of his goggle mask, a two-story-tall dimensional gate came into view—shimmering rainbow hues like a flared morning glory.
The system called it a “Gate.”
He’d eavesdropped on the adults talking back at the shelter.
‘This is what happens when you can’t close the “Rift” in time.’
He’d heard that the Gararak Market survivors had failed to seal the rift by the deadline—and that the gate right in front of them had started belching out poison fog…
Around the time someone escaped through Gararak Market Station, most likely.
‘Not that rumors can spread anymore… Hardly any survivors left.’
If people were still out there…
They’d probably be whispering nonstop about how the fog blinded everyone, leaving other survivors unable to put up a fight before the spiders snatched them all.
The young boy had a thought.
‘Found it.’
Dan-woo spotted something fist-sized in the gap of a massive tree entwining a tall officetel. He shoved aside stray thoughts and focused on the rock in front of him.
Darker than the magnetite he’d learned about in middle school prep classes. A touch brighter than obsidian.
The system named it a Mana Stone. But the boy—plagued by that middle-school chuunibyou urge to liken himself to the heroes of old tales and legends—called it a Priceless Treasure.
「[Small Mana Stone]
Type: Mana Stone
Info: A gem crystallized from time and power. A harvestable resource from the outside world.」
Time. The most crucial word in his life right now.
A Small Mana Stone was treasure that granted ten hours of Survival Time.
Dan-woo slipped on gloves to keep his skin from touching it, then carefully pried it free with his M7 bayonet.
Clink.
He slipped it into his bag, where it chimed pleasantly against the others inside.
‘Today’s haul… This makes eight Small Mana Stones. Need one more if I count Se-woo and Uncle.’
They needed to rotate thirty hours apiece just to make it through the day. He was one short.
Dan-woo swallowed a groan and checked the tattoo-like numbers on his wrist.
51.
It had already been over seven hours since he’d left the hideout.
‘No helping it. I’ll just skip mine.’
Today was the day he’d promised his little brother they’d deep-clean the hideout. He had to hurry back—or his brother would start scrubbing away with those spindly little hands all by himself.
‘Mana Stones are great when you need ’em… But dealing with the leftovers? Nightmare.’
Once the time was drained from a Mana Stone, it was just a hunk of transparent rock.
Tossing them one by one was a pain. Sneaking away from the spiders to dump them was even worse. So he’d settled on stockpiling them for a while, then ditching the lot in one go.
Easier said than done.
Just hauling the pile was backbreaking labor, stats be damned. And he had to go far enough that it wouldn’t give away their hideout’s location.
Long story short: he’d gotten lazy and left them sitting for weeks. Now the damn things had multiplied into an unmanageable mess.
‘Mom was always good about sorting the recycling… Guess I take after Dad.’
Song Dan-woo let out a deep inward sigh and slipped leisurely between the spiders, heading back to the hideout.