Instant Dungeon (1)
Thump, thump.
A bipedal rabbit walked west along Jungang-ro, the broad avenue stretching out from Jung-gu Office Station.
The rabbit handing flyers to every passerby was Ko Sung-yoon, part-timer at the Seonhwa Animal Cafe. He had come a full twenty minutes from the shop because foot traffic here was heavy—perfect for handing out leaflets. It might have been a little far, but he figured it would be fine. People came to the animal cafe looking for a dose of healing, so even residents of neighboring Yongdu-dong would make the trip. And now they had brand-new little ones to show off, besides…
“Mister Rabbit, me too!”
Ko Sung-yoon was waiting for the light to turn green when a little girl wearing a sprout-shaped headband suddenly appeared in front of him, hand outstretched.
Thump, thump.
He sank to one knee so he was eye-level with her.
“Hi there.”
“Hello!”
“Do you like animals?”
“Nope. I don’t like them.”
“Uh…?”
That was not the answer he had expected. She had asked for a flyer so brightly he had assumed she was a fan; he had even planned to brag about the rare kids only their cafe had. While he was still processing the surprise, the girl threw both arms high over her head and kept talking.
“I like trees! My dream is to become a really, really big tree!”
“Your dream is to… become a tree?”
“Yep!”
Ko Sung-yoon’s brain short-circuited. Had humans somehow learned how to turn into trees while he wasn’t looking? The thought was so disorienting he briefly considered kicking off his blankets the next time he went to bed just to punish himself for thinking it. The girl, blissfully unaware of his inner crisis, beamed on.
“But Mom likes animals, so I’m going with her!”
“Ah—aaah. So you’re going for your mom’s sake?”
“Yeah. Mom’ll like it, right?”
“Of course! She’ll love it! Especially the new kids we just got—they’re super cute. I bet you’ll like them too.”
Ko Sung-yoon grinned. Looking at that pure little heart, he couldn’t help smiling.
“Hmm…”
The girl, however, scrunched her brows. Her sudden frown made him wonder if something he’d said had bothered her.
“What’s wrong?”
“Even if they’re super cute, I’ll only like them a little.”
“Huh?”
“I can’t give up on becoming a tree.”
She said it with such absolute seriousness that Ko Sung-yoon found himself completely unable to tell her the hard truth—that humans could not, in fact, become trees.
“…Here you go.”
He simply held out a flyer. Better to stop overthinking and just do his job.
Whoa!
A gasp of pure delight escaped her. The animal photos on the flyer must have hit the mark; her whole face lit up.
“They’re so cute!”
“Hehe, right? Cute, aren’t they?”
“Yeah! Wait, is this one a weasel?”
“Looks similar, but it’s a marten, not a weasel.”
“A marten…!”
“So where are you heading all by yourself?”
Ko Sung-yoon asked gently. A little girl alone made him uneasy. Whether she sensed his concern or not, she answered as if it were the most ordinary thing in the world.
“I’m going to see Grandpa Tree.”
“Grandpa Tree? Ah…!”
At first the words meant nothing, then a single tree rose clearly in his mind: the protected tree in Seo-Daejeon Park in Munhwa-dong. A hundred-and-sixty-year-old weeping willow—yes, that one absolutely deserved the title “Grandpa Tree.” And since they were already nearby, Ko Sung-yoon decided to walk with her.
“I was actually heading over to see Grandpa Tree myself. We can go together, yeah?”
“…No.”
“Hm?”
“I can go by myself.”
Her refusal was firm. It almost felt like she was avoiding him, and Ko Sung-yoon was taken aback. Why the sudden change? A moment ago she had been all smiles. The answer hit him almost at once. When a strange man she had never met offered to walk with her, what was the correct response for a child?
“…Yeah! You can totally get there on your own.”
He had been misunderstood, yet he didn’t feel bad about it. From the girl’s perspective it was exactly the right thing to do. If anything, he felt relieved. If something ever went wrong, she would handle it with the same firmness.
Thinking that, he started to straighten from his crouch—
BOOM!
A thunderous roar slammed into his ears, so loud he squeezed his eyes shut on pure reflex. For a split second he was certain some kind of explosion had gone off nearby. Then he opened his eyes again and realized he had been completely wrong.
A wasteland stretched out before him.
The sky was no longer blue. The ground was parched, broken only by the occasional dry thicket.
And then—
“Gruk…?”
A C-class monster. An orc. Standing right in front of him. Not one, but so many he couldn’t count them at a glance.
Squeeze…
Someone grabbed the hand of his mascot costume. He didn’t need to look. It was the little girl with the green sprout headband.
Only then did Ko Sung-yoon’s thoughts start turning again, slowly and carefully. The sudden change of scenery could mean only one thing.
A dungeon had spawned.
In the middle of pure chaos he calmly did the one thing that needed doing: he ran with everything he had. Without a second’s hesitation he scooped the girl into his arms and took off so fast the long rabbit ears streamed behind him, every footfall forcing air out of the costume until it became a howling wind.
Thump-thump-thump-thump-thump-thump-thump-thump…!
Choi Yeon arrived at the three-way intersection where Seonhwa-dong, Yongdu-dong, and Munhwa-dong met around the main road. Above the intersection, where the new dungeon had just appeared, a control line kept civilians from getting any closer. He frowned at the sight for a second, then immediately understood.
The manager of Yangji Dungeon and Director Park Choong-jae of the deconstruction center were already inside the line, examining the dungeon. Choi Yeon hopped off his mana scooter and hurried toward the barrier.
“Excuse me.”
“Hey, don’t push—ah…!”
“Coming through.”
“Y-yes, of course!”
The moment Choi Yeon cut in, the gathered residents started to complain—then recognized him and stepped aside. Even those who didn’t know his face followed the others’ lead, assuming he was official personnel, and made way.
Director Park Choong-jae, sensing someone approaching, spun around sharply.
“I told you people to stay out—! Oh, it’s you, Yeon.”
“Thank you. You two set up the control line and cleared the area, right?”
“Forget it. No need to thank us for something this small. Putting up a line isn’t exactly rocket science.”
Park Choong-jae waved a hand dismissively, then launched into an explanation of the new dungeon.
“Manager Kim already did the reading. C-class instant monster dungeon. Clear condition is a full wipe, one time.”
“That’s a relief, at least. If it had been an altar dungeon…”
“Would’ve been a nightmare. So where’s Heeseok?”
“Hyung went to Geumsan-gun for dungeon-break support.”
“Of all days… You gonna be okay alone?”
“I’ll be fine.”
Choi Yeon answered lightly, but Park Choong-jae’s worry didn’t ease. If this were just another dungeon recon, he wouldn’t have fretted. A C-class was nothing Choi Yeon couldn’t handle. The problem was that lives were on the line—two of them, no less.
“Huh? Look, the Munhwa-dong guys are here.”
The manager pointed across the street. The dungeon had spawned so close that crossing a single crosswalk put you in Munhwa-dong; of course their local hunters would show up. Faces Choi Yeon recognized climbed out of a car and, when their eyes met, offered carefully solemn greetings. They did not cross over.
Close as it was, the dungeon still sat in Seonhwa-dong. As Munhwa Dongdae hunters they had no reason to step in until Seonhwa formally requested support. For now they simply stood ready under the pretext of preparing for any contingency.
“…How about going in together?”
Park Choong-jae suggested.
“You know people got pulled in when it spawned, Yeon.”
“……”
“I know you don’t get along with those guys, but we gotta save people first, don’t we?”
“No. I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
“Yeon!”
“Don’t get the wrong idea. It’s not because we don’t get along.”
“It’s not?”
“Most of them are pure combat types. They’re not great at moving quietly, and of course none of them have detection skills—”
“So none of them do.”
“Right.”
“Damn…”
Park Choong-jae let out a heavy sigh. If the goal were simply to wipe the place, combat specialists would have been plenty. But the priority right now was rescue. What they needed was someone who could move fast and quiet, not raw firepower. Someone who could sneak, fight, and detect would be ideal—but a hunter like that wouldn’t be working Dongdae duty. They’d already be in Seoul with some famous guild.
Even Choi Heeseok, whom Choi Yeon respected more than anyone, had no detection skill; that was why he had ultimately lost the Trainer.
“…And I don’t think they’d listen to me anyway.”
“True enough. Tch, shame. They’d have listened to Heeseok…”
“Well. If it were Heeseok hyung, he’d have handled it alone just fine.”
Choi Yeon shrugged. Not the faintest doubt crossed his mind.
“Anyway, right now it’s better if I go in alone. Even without a detection skill, I can still move quietly.”
“Yeah… you’re right.”
After hearing that, Park Choong-jae had no choice but to agree to send him in alone.
“Fine. I won’t say another word. Just be careful and come back safe.”
“Yes, sir. I’ll be back.”
With a short farewell, Choi Yeon entered the dungeon. His retreating figure looked as relaxed as if he were simply heading to the neighborhood mart for a snack.
“What the hell is this…?”
Shock spilled from his open mouth. The easy composure he had shown right up to the moment of entry had vanished without a trace. And no wonder—because the landscape in front of him was something he had never seen in his life.
Choi Yeon’s left foot stood on wasteland; his right foot stood in forest. Two completely different places were jammed together side by side. The bizarre vista looked as if someone had arbitrarily stitched two separate locations into one.
Even Choi Yeon, who had entered and exited more than a few dozen instant dungeons since becoming a Dongdae hunter, had never witnessed anything like this.
Step…
He planted his right foot one pace farther forward. The sight was astonishing, but this was no time to stand around gawking. People had been sucked in when the dungeon spawned, and they were waiting for rescue at this very moment. Or maybe they already…
“…That lookout will do.”
Muttering as if to wipe the thought away, Choi Yeon climbed the tallest pine nearby. Hugging the crown of the tree, he pulled a crossbow scope from its holster and brought it to his eye. It was a basic-issue scope the Dongdae supplied for hunters who used crossbows; since no one in Seonhwa Dongdae actually used one, Choi Yeon had claimed it as a makeshift telescope. Being designed for a crossbow, it couldn’t see extremely far, but for someone without any related skills it was serviceable enough. He wasn’t the only one using them this way—other Dongdae offices in the same situation did the same.
“……!”
After a few seconds of sweeping the wasteland instead of the impenetrable forest, the lens—crafted from the eyeball of a C-class monster detector—caught a plume of sand and dust rising in the distance.
“That’s…”