Dawn in the Dark
September 1st, 4:08 a.m.
The Kang-jun team finished all preparations and slipped out through the front door one by one. Last of all came Hye-mi, who laced up her shoes, glanced back once at the dim interior, and then trailed after the others.
Kang-jun patted Hye-mi’s shoulder as she passed and closed the front door with a creak.
Whoosh… huuuhhh. The cold dawn air filled his lungs.
The manager Kang was waiting for stepped into the van, exchanged glances with Kang-jun, and climbed in after him.
“Uncle, let’s go!”
The driver pressed the accelerator. The van pulled away. The dark, early-morning road was deserted. Through the heavily tinted windows, broken clouds drifted across the sky. The summer sunrise rose earlier than in any other season.
The team members sat silently, backs pressed to the seat, swallowing the quiet. Every time the van jolted, their heads and chests swayed gently left and right.
On the opposite side, Kang-jun closed his eyes or slowly scanned the half-open faces of the others. Beneath their skin flickered the terror of something unknown they had never experienced. No hope remained—only the necessity of what must be done. …The same was true for Kang-jun himself.
The van raced endlessly along the endless road. Then dawn light spilled across the sky. Cars began appearing on the empty road. On this stage with no spectators, they simply played their assigned roles, endlessly. …None of them knew he had repeated this scene four times.
5:20 a.m.
The van stopped in front of the main gate of the 45th District Hero Branch. The Kang-jun team unloaded their gear. Outside and inside the branch, plenty of people already buzzed. From hero teams to private squads, movers, and countless management companies.
When the only S-rank hero of the branch, Jang Hwa-young, appeared, every eye naturally turned toward her. It didn’t matter gender or age. Hye-mi suddenly felt uneasy under the barrage of stares and straightened her tense expression. Manager Han gently patted her on the shoulder.
The team passed through the branch gate. A staff member quickly recognized Jang Hwa-young and escorted her. The team followed behind her like a tail. They met the 45th District Branch Manager.
“Senior, you’ve arrived.”
“Yeah, Branch Manager. When do we start?”
“As soon as everything is ready, we’ll depart immediately.”
“Then what about us?”
“Just a moment.”
The 45th District Branch Manager glanced somewhere and snapped his fingers. A staff member rushed over. He told the man to guide the group to a medium-sized bus.
“Okay, see you later, Branch Manager.”
“Yes, Senior. Thank you for your hard work.”
Whoa, this sister really is a big shot. Hye-mi, who had been walking, muttered in admiration. Velita puffed her chest, calling her the very symbol of the 45th District Branch.
They soon boarded the medium-sized bus the staff had guided them to—Bus 3. Buses 1 and 2 had already left.
“Then we’ll head out.”
“Yes, we’ll depart.”
The door of the bus closed with a clunk. The groaning noise disappeared once more. The team leaned back against the seat of the swaying bus. Bus 3 exited the branch and raced along the asphalt road.
This time, through windows without tinting, the sunrise spread beautifully across the landscape, vivid and clear. Hye-mi saw it and let out a delighted sigh.
“Waaah, it’s really beautiful today. We should go out and play on days like this… right, Sister?”
“I want to sip coffee at a café with a clear view of the cool sea.”
“I want to dip my feet in the stream and play.”
The talk of playing ended right there. As they crossed the bridge, Hye-mi gazed at the magnificent river reflecting in the sunlight and sighed again.
Now the day was fully bright. On the sidewalks, people hurried to work. Some team members caught a whiff of their old world for a moment. That was why the landscape they had once lived in still lingered in their minds…
Until recently they had lived ordinary lives. Now they had to enter the maze to hunt monsters. Suddenly the distance between Earth and themselves felt greater.
The bus passed through several districts. People on the road grew fewer. Near the end of District 49, close to the 50th, almost no one remained. The team was overwhelmed by the atmosphere. It felt like the world after the end of days.
Welcome to the 50th District. The sign creaked back and forth in the wind. The end of District 49, where people were still occasionally seen, had changed to a straight line here. No light, no people, no sound. Only the sun lit the empty road.
Hye-mi swallowed saliva repeatedly. The events that had happened in the 50th District finally struck home. It was entirely different from just watching.
The bus ran along the empty road for quite a while. Hye-mi swallowed her breath at the buildings left in the middle of the Nesting site. Those stems stretching across the ground were utterly grotesque.
Because purification work had been abandoned, the scene from back then remained. Bundles of stems shrunk like dried plants were especially horrific. Occasionally, the corpses of dead monsters appeared too. …The 50th District truly looked like hell on Earth.
Then a bus returning came into view—Bus 2. It had just dropped off another team. They would soon reach the end of the road as well.
Strictly speaking, this wasn’t the true end of the road. However, something rising from below had completely crushed the asphalt. Of course the bus couldn’t go any farther.
“Time to get off.”
The bus stopped. The door opened with a click. The team members stepped out one by one and stretched their stiff bodies. The scene before their eyes was terrifying—impossible to tell whether people lived here or monsters.
“Ah…”
Buildings collapsed in heaps in the middle of the road, tangled together. There were countless clumps of dried slime and shrunken stems.
“Still, it’s better than last time. Back then they were all fresh and alive.”
Kang-jun tossed the words out casually. Hye-mi trembled violently in disgust. Alive? Living beings? Those stems? She imagined the horrific sight and slung her bag over her shoulder. The heat already pressed against her body.
The Kang-jun team loaded all their gear. The bus turned and retraced its route. Kang-jun led the way. Behind him the team members walked in two straight lines.
They followed the arrows marked on the ground. As they walked, a large open space appeared. Hundreds of tents were packed side by side, and under them many more teams waited.
At a glance, it looked like more than ten teams. Soon a staff member rushed over and asked for identification. Kang-jun handed over his hero certificate. The female staffer took it and hurried away.
“Rest a bit. I’ll be right back.”
“Me too.”
So Kang-jun and Jang Hwa-young moved. Because the 45th, 55th, and private teams were all mixed, many unfamiliar faces appeared.
The female staffer with the hero certificate was typing something on an electronic pad. A total of eight names from Kang-jun’s team appeared. The moment she saw Jang Hwa-young was an S-rank hero, she jumped in shock. “Ah!” The staffer immediately called someone.
“Senior’s popularity is really hard on us.”
“What can I do? Just endure it.”
Soon a man who looked like the 55th District Branch Manager strode over. “Ah, Senior Jang Hwa-young! Even though I’m from another branch, I still call you Senior because your rank is far above mine… and because she’s one of the few S-rank heroes.”
“Ah, long time no see, Branch Manager.”
“How many years has it been?”
“You’ve gone up a lot. …Last time I saw you, you were at headquarters, right?”
“Ah, yes. I was the personnel officer back then.”
“Congrats on the promotion.”
“Thank you, but it’s nothing.”
The man looked sad. He was grateful for the help. Even if it was headquarters’ order, the 50th District belonged to the 55th Branch.
“We have to help them. For the sake of the heroes. Heroes aren’t supposed to distinguish between people and save or not.”
“Ah, one hundred percent correct.”
“Then… is there anything else you need to know?”
“I’ll give you communication equipment. I’m not sure exactly how far it will reach.”
“I’ll take it then.”
“And here are the communication lists.”
He handed over two in total to Kang-jun. From Team 0 to Team 17, all listed. The Kang-jun team was Team 6. The communication equipment included two spare batteries and could be used for six days. Team 0 would wait at the maze entrance to connect inside and outside.
He also told them that connecting to the 55th Branch homepage would let them download the explored map of the underground maze in the 50th District. Kang-jun quickly downloaded and opened the electronic map. The explored area was still not very wide.
The Branch Manager also explained how to share the map.
“With the communication equipment, we can share maps. …Here, connect your phone to it and it will automatically transmit and receive signals with other equipment.”
Kang-jun nodded at the explanation.
“So we can keep one always connected?”
“Exactly.”
Smart Jang Hwa-young had a rough grasp of communications. The idea seemed to be to finish the map quickly all at once.
The preparations for exploring the maze seemed finished. When the 55th District Branch Manager said the teams would enter the maze starting from Team 1 in order once all arrived, Kang-jun asked,
“Expected departure time?”
“No later than 9 a.m. Once everyone is gathered, we’ll leave immediately.”
“Got it. Then good luck, Branch Manager.”
“Yes, thank you for your hard work, Senior.”
They returned to the team area with the communication equipment, but two people waiting there were not team members. Kang-jun immediately recognized one.
S-rank 4th, Fredrik Garel—known as the Red Shield, the strongest guard. And the only S-rank hero of the 55th Branch.
He was a giant over two meters tall weighing more than 130 kilograms. Despite the nickname muscle monster, his muscles were overwhelming. In truth he was called porker more often than muscle monster. He didn’t seem to mind the name.
“Ah, friend. Long time no see.”
“You’ve gotten even bigger.”
“You never age.”
Jang Hwa-young smiled and reached out to shake the hand he offered. They had a senior-junior relationship with only one rank difference, but they had long since transcended it and become friends.
“Ah, the friend over there, the one everyone’s talking about?”
“Yeah. Lee Kang-jun… he’ll beat me soon too.”
Of course Fredrik knew the words were exaggerated. He offered the same hand to Kang-jun as well.
“Fredrik Garel. Nice to meet you, friend.”
“Lee Kang-jun, Senior.”
And he shook it up and down lightly before letting go.
“The one who did the last cleanup, right?”
“All done by Senior Jang Hwa-young. I just added a spoon.”
“This guy even knows how to be humble.”
Kang-jun chuckled. Fredrik stood up from his seat.
“I’ve seen your old friend’s face after a long time, so I’ll head back.”
“Come visit our house next time. I’ll treat you properly.”
“If I go, I’ll get scolded, won’t I?”
“What nonsense. I don’t say things I don’t mean.”
“True, Jang Hwa-young doesn’t lie either.”
Fredrik laughed loudly and walked back to his seat. Beside him a tall woman scanned Kang-jun sharply and then followed the giant’s back. Kang-jun didn’t remember her name. That proved she wasn’t a high-level person. No need to care.
“Wow, I’ve never seen anyone bigger than Kumb a.”
Hye-mi, who had been momentarily overwhelmed by the existence of the muscle porker, let out a sigh of relief and spoke.
Other than the arrival of that giant, there were no major events. Occasionally heroes visited Senior to say hello, but Jang Hwa-young sent them away quickly after a greeting.
7:57 a.m.
All teams scheduled to enter had gathered. The teams loaded their gear and stood up.
Before entering, they listened to the 55th District Branch Manager’s brief speech. In short, they should do their best. Then Team 1 entered the maze first, followed by Team 2, Team 3… They lined up one after another and walked inside. Soon it was the turn of Team 6, the Kang-jun team.
Team Leader Kang-jun led the way. Behind him the team members followed closely.
Underground maze exploration—finally began in earnest.