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Chapter 13
— What? You’re going into a dungeon?
“I told you, it’s gathering. And I’m going in as part of the 7th gathering team.”
All flora inside a dungeon was used as item materials, so gathering was extremely important.
Special dungeons that disappeared once the raid was complete only offered a single chance for gathering. Because of that, even gathering teams accepted only high-grade Awakeners.
On the other hand, ordinary dungeons didn’t disappear after being cleared, so gathering teams entered them at staggered times.
That was why gathering teams for normal dungeons always posted recruitment notices to accept applicants.
Up until now, Morae had only been selected for a gathering team twice. This time too, she’d applied out of habit the moment the notice went up, without expecting much.
But to think she’d actually be chosen. She was E-rank, but it seemed they’d given points for her Tamer class.
— If it’s the 7th run, everything must already be picked clean.
“There’ll still be plants or insects.”
Plants and insects that lived inside dungeons regenerated after a certain amount of time even if they were harvested. Finding those was Morae’s strongest area.
— Aren’t there a lot of people on the gathering team? Will you be okay?
“At most twelve people. And once we’re inside, everyone moves separately anyway. That’s no problem.”
— I’m worried… Morae, Morae, what did I tell you to do if some stranger tries to lure you with a free meal?
“Tell him to f— off and kick him hard between the legs.”
— Correct. Go make lots of money.
Morae slipped her overheated phone into her pocket and turned on the tap.
Cool water sprayed out through the hose. After thoroughly watering the plants and finishing her shower, it was already time to leave.
Morae quickly changed clothes and stepped outside.
“Looks like it’ll be hot again today.”
Even though it was only 9 a.m., the air was thick and muggy. She’d walked barely ten minutes to the bus stop, yet beads of sweat formed on her forehead.
Just then, a bus appeared in the distance. Morae, checking the route number out of habit, suddenly froze.
A huge photo of Gyeon Suho’s face was plastered across the side of the bus.
For your future.
It was a public service advertisement from the Ability Management Agency. Morae stared straight at Gyeon Suho’s ascetic yet strangely alluring face.
Did he find a Tamer yet?
A week had passed since she’d gone to the Agency for re-measurement.
So far, there’d been no news of a new member joining Special Team 1.
A few days ago, when they’d left for Australia for a raid, Gyeon Suho had been alone. She knew for sure because she’d replayed the departure footage several times, just in case.
She didn’t know whether he still hadn’t found a Tamer, or whether he had recruited one but chosen not to have them accompany him overseas.
“Miss, aren’t you getting on?”
“Oh—yes! I’m getting on!”
Lost in thought, she hadn’t even noticed the bus doors open. Blushing, Morae boarded and took an empty seat.
Perhaps because it was past rush hour, the bus was nearly empty. She pulled out her phone and looked up information on the dungeon she’d be entering today.
It was a C-rank dungeon that had manifested last year, and the difficulty wasn’t particularly high. There was only one named monster.
Morae carefully studied the dungeon environment shown in the raid videos.
It had to be better than going in completely blind, even if only a little.
Gathering teams needed to move quickly the moment they entered a dungeon.
If you acted like a newbie and fumbled around, you’d likely come out empty-handed.
In front of the dungeon entrance stood an Agency employee with a hollow face, as if they’d been working overtime nonstop for a week. The Ability Management Agency badge dangling from his shabby suit caught her eye.
“Kang Morae, Hunter? I’ll verify your identity with your device.”
When she operated the device, her Awakener number appeared. After checking the information halfheartedly, the employee pointed toward the dungeon entrance.
“You’ll enter at 10:30 and must exit by 4:30. Please check your assigned area on your device. If you’re late, your gathered items may be confiscated, so be sure to keep the exit time. Oh, and you know lunch has to be handled inside on your own, right?”
“Yes, I brought food.”
“If a second wave starts, you must immediately send a distress signal to the Agency and evacuate without delay.”
A second wave referred to the phenomenon where a named monster regenerated in a dungeon that had already been cleared, for unknown reasons.
“Is that likely to happen?” Morae asked, startled.
The employee flipped through the documents indifferently.
“For this dungeon, the probability of a second wave is confirmed to be 0.025%.”
“Ah…”
So basically, almost none.
“You’ll be entering in fifteen minutes. Please wait over there.”
“Thank you.”
Setting an alarm on her device, Morae headed to the indicated area.
About ten people were gathered there. They seemed familiar with one another, probably having gone gathering together before.
And standing apart from them was one man.
Wow, he’s huge.
Most Awakeners were bigger than ordinary people, but even compared to them, this man stood out by a full head.
Morae looked at him for a moment, then tilted her head.
Why does he look so familiar?
He wore a black baseball cap pulled low and a mask, hiding his face.
Still, the angle of his shoulders down to his arms, the line running from his thick chest to his waist—it all felt incredibly familiar.
A body like that isn’t common. That’s strange.
Shaking off her interest, Morae opened <Beautiful, Gyeon>.
“Ugh…”
As usual, the place was overflowing with posts trashing Gyeon Suho.
As she scrolled through the very typical posts criticizing his personality, one title caught her eye.
[Regular Members Board] Sharing the Scariest Story of This Summer
Author: (Anonymous)
My older sister joined the A.M.A. recently. She’s not an Awakener, just a regular person.
But a few days ago, when ㄱㅅㅎ went to Australia, she went along as part of the support team.
The stress she got from that trip gave her depression. After that, she got scared of everything and gained 5 kg.
Anyway, after the raid ended in Australia, she said Gyeon’s condition was really strange.
You know that feeling—like the calm right before an explosion ㅠㅠ
Everyone was too scared to say anything, so the whole plane was dead silent… when this weird sound started.
Click—click—click—click—click—click—click—
It was the sound of injecting sedatives ten times in a row.
↳ Wtf, is this for real?
↳ TL;DR please……
↳ You want a TL;DR for a horror story;;
↳ Three-line summary
↳ 1. Trapped on a plane you can’t escape from
↳ 2. With an Awakener who might be on the verge of losing control
↳ 3. And that Awakener is Gyeon f—ing Suho
↳ Holy sh*t that’s terrifyingㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ
↳ The fact that he disappeared right after entering the country is even scarier ㄷㄷ
As expected, it seemed Gyeon Suho still hadn’t recruited a Tamer—or at least, one hadn’t accompanied him on this overseas assignment.
That must be why he’d been given sedatives.
“Isn’t that dangerous…?”
She once saw a video where an elephant was sedated with a tranquilizer diluted a hundred times.
Injecting such a strong drug repeatedly couldn’t possibly be good for someone’s health, no matter how strong an Awakener they were.
And Awakeners hated sedatives to begin with. How horrible must it be for Gyeon Suho, who needed several times the normal dose?
“No wonder he’d lose his temper.”
It annoyed her how people would curse Gyeon Suho without knowing any of this. Feeling gloomy, Morae typed a comment.
After posting it, she habitually checked for typos and spacing—then pressed the edit button again.
“Gotta remove the period.”
As she calmly edited the comment, the surroundings suddenly darkened.
The tall man who’d been standing alone earlier was now right in front of her, without making a sound. His massive shadow completely covered her.
“W-who…?”
Morae lifted her head and looked up at him.
Long, narrow eyes hidden beneath the brim of his cap. Pitch-black pupils that seemed to swallow light. Even with a mask on, an overwhelming aura poured out.
“……”
Wasn’t it basic fan etiquette to recognize your favorite just from their shadow alone? Morae instantly realized who he was, her brown eyes widening in shock.
“Huh? H-huh?!”
The man’s eyes curved slightly. Then, from behind the black mask, a cold voice emerged.
“Why did you reject me?”
“…!”
The voice she’d heard countless times in raid videos filled her ears. Morae’s mind went blank.
It’s really Gyeon Suho.
It’s really Gyeon Suho.
It’s really Gyeon Suho.
“…Am I dreaming?”
