Returning Memories
The dungeons located in Gangwon-do had all been cleared, along with their fields, but there hadn't been any notable achievements. Three dungeons in total. Five fields. Thanks to that, a local newspaper ran a story headlined "Mysterious Dungeon Vanishings!" But since they were low-rank, long-abandoned dungeons, it barely made waves beyond that one article. There had been one newly generated field, but field purifications were routine, so no one paid it much mind.
It would've been nice if something had happened. The world remained as quiet and peaceful as ever.
This is the kind of life I wanted... but...
It felt like slacking off with a mountain of summer homework piled up and ignored. Not exactly refreshing.
"Ugh..."
In the end, I'd hit a wall. I lay in the hammock in the yard, staring blankly at my silent phone. Hoping, maybe, for some word from the Gu-guk Guild.
Knock knock.
As I mulled over my troubles, someone knocked on the front gate.
"..."
With a flicker of hope, I climbed out of the hammock and headed to the gate.
"...Lee Shin-yul?"
Sure enough. There he stood before our gate, face slightly flushed. He looked like he'd just woken from a faint—ratty black tank top, gray track pants.
"..."
What to say? Awkward silence hung between us.
Lee Shin-yul broke it first.
"...Park Soo-hyeok."
"Yeah."
"The Soul-Eating Labyrinth. Did you clear it?"
The unexpected question made me raise an eyebrow. He'd clearly rushed over the moment he came to, after getting the report.
"...Yeah."
...Thud!
The instant I answered, he dropped to his knees.
No blue precognitive glow in his eyes this time.
* * *
"...That's how it happened."
Lee Shin-yul gave a brief rundown of events. As expected, the rumored 1st gen hunter was none other than him. True to form, he'd tried to kill me upon learning I was a 1st gen awakener. We'd fought, he'd passed out, and upon waking, Section Chief Kim Ji-seon had briefed him.
The shocking part? The disappearance of the Soul-Eating Labyrinth.
"That place was unconquerable for the past five years—and in every future ahead."
"...I see."
I'd gone on a whim to clear my head, and it had worked out nicely.
Entry to the dungeon's master room required deciphering the stone marker—ancient Elvish script that few in Jellun even knew. No one on Earth could've read it. Hell, they couldn't even crack ancient Earth scripts yet.
He said no one else came to mind who could do it. No one but me had ever disrupted his unique ability.
"Precognition isn't omnipotent, right?"
"..."
He clamped his mouth shut like a scolded kid.
After a long pause, he spoke, face downcast.
"...I'm sorry. For lumping you in with the other 1st gens."
"Hm, well, you'd have to."
I didn't get the full picture, but it was clearly wrong. I crossed my legs smugly.
I could see his side. Precognition wasn't mere prediction—it showed the actual future unfolding right before your eyes. Like experiencing it firsthand, then rewinding to the past.
And he'd seen something horrible enough to demand eliminating every 1st gen.
"What future did you see to make you go that far?"
"Well..."
He hesitated, then forced it out.
"When a dungeon reaches its final stage—blooming—every 1st gen awakener..."
Blooming. That's what they called the final dungeon evolution. His term, since he was the only one who knew.
"...turns against humanity. Without exception."
"Mm."
That explained his actions. Nothing short of that vision would've driven him to such extremes.
"Why, though?"
That was the big one. They'd been hunting monsters, boosting 2nd gen numbers—why flip suddenly?
"I don't know. Just that they all do. Like they'd planned it, they turn in an instant. Fully rational, with all their human intellect intact."
"Ha."
Was he hiding something? I glared.
But sweat poured off him—no lie there.
"Brainwashing or something? If so, we could counter it..."
"No. The opposite, almost. According to what the turned 1st gens said..."
"What the hell did they say?"
He bit his lip.
"'My memories have returned.'"
"Memories returned?"
I'd heard that before. Unlike me, 1st gens forgot their otherworld lives after returning. They knew how to form mana cores but not what the power meant.
Forgetting, then remembering—and turning enemy...?
"I've seen countless futures, tried changing them. All failed. No matter how good they were, or close to me—useless."
"What memories?"
"Sorry, that's my limit. The ones who remembered became incomparably stronger. Even I couldn't handle them."
"Mm."
Lee Shin-yul was Korea's top-ranked hunter. My win was an outlier. Even top 1st gens fell short of him.
Yet in that future, they grew monstrously powerful—for reasons unknown—and became humanity's foes. That was his reality. So he'd become the 1st gen hunter, culling them stealthily. Not randomly—ones who wouldn't ripple the future much, the real scum, without drawing attention.
Chillingly calculated. Efficient.
Then he met me.
From his view, I must've been insane: a 1st gen immune to precognition. Soloing S-rank dungeons to boot.
And not just me.
"Not just me—anyone I get involved with is immune too?"
"...Yes."
Smart of him to back off now.
"Don't worry. No memories of betraying humanity here."
"...Actually, 1st gens avoid dungeons—maybe because of those 'memories.'"
"Huh? Thought it was just the pay."
Rumor had it they skipped raids for petty reasons. The Soul-Eating Labyrinth alone had plenty whining about it.
'Clearing it proved I wasn't 1st gen.' That tracked.
"But I don't mind them."
"Exactly. That's what sets you apart. My ability doesn't work on you. So I trust you."
Immunity meant I could walk a different path from the doomed 1st gens he'd seen.
That was the idea.
"With that in mind... let me apologize again."
He shot up from the yard table chair and bowed deeply.
It eased my anger a bit. But I wanted to tease him too.
"That enough?"
"Th-that's..."
Sweat dripped; he couldn't lift his head.
"Wh-what do you want, anything..."
"Tch. Kidding. Just share some intel."
Considering his position, I felt a little sorry for him.
Guy seems decent.
A grown man kneeling twice? Time to cut him slack.
"Ah..."
Tears welled in his eyes—moved?
Ugh.
Grown man my age crying? Gross. He caught on, wiped them quick.
"Then..."
"Wait. First..."
I started with Jellun—the world I'd been dragged to. Killed the Demon King there, kept all my memories, no mana core like other awakeners.
"Whoa..."
He tilted his head, disbelieving—not accusing lies, just mind-blowing stuff.
"Oh, and about the Soul-Eating Labyrinth."
I kept going: yesterday's Guro-gu dungeon. The marker's ancient Elvish.
We become them.
With his awakening, the vague inscription clicked. "Them" matched the turned 1st gens.
And the other line:
They are inevitable.
Sounded like the betrayal was fated.
"...I'll need to mull that over."
Head throbbing from the info dump, he massaged his temples.
Fair. I needed time too.
"Do that. Anyway."
Shelving the puzzle for now—what could we do immediately?
That.
Hordes of guys stronger than Lee Shin-yul? No thanks. I'd burn—not just me, but this whole world.
Hunting down every global 1st gen? Viable, but chaos.
They'd been hunterdom's backbone for 20+ years. Mass assassinations? Disaster.
Even Lee Shin-yul operated in shadows for that reason.
One real option left.
"...We stop the dungeons from blooming."
"Right."
Like he'd been doing: delay the evolutions.
"Tell me the ones close to blooming. I don't want this world going to hell either."
"...I'll share. But Gu-guk handles raids our way. Need to train my team."
"Fine. Call if it's too much."
He fiddled with his phone; mine buzzed. Files: global dungeons listed.
"...Whew."
Somber for a beat, he shook his head.
"I'll investigate what you told me. Contact you if I learn anything."
"Sure."
"Then."
One last deep bow, and he was gone.
"Tch."
Some mysteries cleared. But new unease bloomed.
"What can ya do."
I'd dreamed of peace. But peace is the hardest thing in the world.