DPGR 114

“Guide Jiho!”

The wide lobby on the first floor of the Esper Wing instantly turned chaotic.

It was because the Alpha Team members, who had heard the news in advance, came running and swarmed around Jiho in excitement.

“Are you really okay now? Nothing hurts?”

“Do you know how scared we were?! You can’t do something so reckless ever again!”

“But your face looks a bit red. Are you running a fever? Gasp! Should we take you to the hospital for a check-up?”

Not a single person spared attention for Team Leader Dojin of the Alpha Team.

As if it were natural, all the concern and welcome were directed solely at Jiho.

Only Jiho, surrounded by familiar faces, glanced at Dojin with confused eyes.

‘Is… is this okay?’

He couldn’t help being cautious, worried that Dojin might be offended.

But Dojin, as if it were nothing, spoke without a hint of concern.

“Guide Jiho. Would you like to rest in the captain’s office for now?”

“Uh, okay. What about you, hyung?”

“I need to talk to those folks over there. I’ll have to take Heendungi too—is that alright?”

Dojin subtly gestured toward the Esper Director and Kwak Jiheon standing behind.

Hearing that Dojin would take Heendungi with him, Jiho could guess what kind of conversation they were going to have.

“Should… should I go too?”

“No need. Heendungi and I will be enough. You must be tired after coming all the way from Japan, so take a break.”

With that, Dojin gently ruffled Jiho’s hair with his large hand, just like always. His fingertips brushed over Jiho’s ear now and then.

It was unclear whether the contact was coincidental or intentional.

“Okay…”

Jiho’s cheeks, which had been slowly cooling down, flushed once again.

‘It tickles so much for some reason…’

His throat felt ticklish too, and Jiho let out a deliberate cough and bowed his head. Kijoon’s teasing voice came from beside him, but Jiho didn’t have the mental space to respond.

“Take good care of Guide Jiho. Don’t bully him too much.”

“Hey! Who’s bullying who?!”

“We’ll take great care of him, so don’t worry!”

At Dojin’s request, the Alpha Team members laughed brightly. The subtle stares that had been floating around earlier focused on them once again.

Thinking it would do no good to attract more attention, Dojin quickly left the scene.

“I’ll be back, Guide Jiho.”

“Okay.”

Too embarrassed by the lingering heat in his cheeks, Jiho didn’t even lift his head.

Though Dojin regretted not being able to even meet Jiho’s eyes before parting, he had to move on at the clearing of the Esper Director’s throat behind him.

“Well! Shall we head to the office and catch up then~?”

After Dojin left, Kijoon clapped his hands and struck a playful tone to lift the slightly subdued mood.

Next to him, Geonwoo gently draped an arm around Jiho’s shoulders to guide him, while the rest of the team members surrounded Jiho.

Almost as if shielding him from the stares of others.

There wasn’t a soul unaware that Jiho had played a key role in the successful conquest of the Japanese dungeon, or that he had been hospitalized from serious injuries.

Most of the gazes directed at Jiho were filled with curiosity, but a few were laced with displeasure and malice.

‘He’s just a guide. What could he have possibly done that the S-rank espers didn’t?’

‘Tsk, such a fuss. Bet he just rode the coattails of S-rank Esper Baek Dojin.’

‘Must be nice having a powerful esper looking out for you.’

Jiho, who was all too familiar with such malice, picked up on the tone of those stares immediately.

But he didn’t shrink back. Or rather, he didn’t even have time to shrink back.

“Let’s go! I figured Guide Jiho must be craving Korean food, so we ordered all kinds of things!”

“Some kimchi stew and rice, and for dessert, tteokbokki and fried chicken!”

“Kyaa! Kijoon’s treat, so you have to eat a lot!”

In the noisy, cheerful atmosphere, Jiho let out a genuine giggle for the first time in a while.

Though the occasional sting of malicious stares still bothered him, it didn’t matter.

Even if the whole world hated him, as long as Baek Dojin and the team stayed by his side, Jiho felt like he had nothing to fear.

“…Hee. Let’s go quickly.”

Jiho’s eyes curved into half-moons, and a deep dimple sank into his flushed cheek.

If Dojin had seen it, he would have kissed it on the spot.

***

“Phew… A monster with self-awareness is already unbelievable, but now divine games?”

“Ugh… I’m more shocked that this guy is living his third life. And that humanity was wiped out twice because he couldn’t stop the final dungeon both times?”

While Jiho was eating and chatting with the team members, Dojin was in the center director’s office, spilling everything he knew.

He had even brought a monster as a witness, just in case the two men doubted the outrageous claims he had to make.

“Heendungi.”

At his low call, the fox that had been lying at his feet rose and shook off its fur.

The enormous fox soon transformed into the small form of a child.

“Heendungi’s sleepy.”

“You just slept a lot earlier.”

“This place is boring. Heendungi wants to be with Jiho. I like Jiho more than Baek Dojin.”

Pouting like a little bird with its beak sticking out, the grumbling figure looked exactly like a child.

But the soft, swaying tails behind him proved Heendungi wasn’t human.

“A monster that can transform into a human… unbelievable.”

“Oh dear, my heart…”

While Dojin sat Heendungi beside him and fussed over him, the Esper Director and Kwak Jiheon gaped with jaws dropped in astonishment.

Dojin handed his phone to the restless Heendungi and turned back to the two seated across from him.

“I’ve now told you everything I know. Do you have any more questions?”

“…From what I heard, it seems your memories from previous lives haven’t returned completely.”

“No. But some fragments do come back. I’ll recover them all soon.”

When the god had descended into Heendungi’s body and then left, he had told Dojin, who wished to recover his memories—that he would ensure they resurfaced little by little.

True to his word, Dojin had begun recalling them, piece by piece, through his dreams.

From trivial details to matters of grave importance, in no particular order.

As a result, Dojin’s memories from his first and second lifetimes were now jumbled with those of the present, leaving him in a somewhat confused state.

‘Guide Jiho would worry if he found out.’

Some of those memories included the time in his first life after he lost Jiho to a dungeon and had spiraled into ruin.

If Jiho knew Dojin was recalling memories from past lives, he would certainly want to know what they were.

Rather than lying to Jiho, Dojin figured it was better to keep it a secret from the beginning.

“Please make sure this doesn’t leak elsewhere.”

“…Not even to your guide?”

“No.”

“…Sigh. I see. That child must’ve already been shaken by so much.”

Kwak Jiheon, who was somewhat closer to Dojin, shook his head as if he understood.

Meanwhile, the Esper Director, more focused on the pressing issues, brought up a new question.

“Then what exactly does Esper Baek Dojin remember? We need clues about what’s coming.”

They had previously received a report with a timeline based on Jiho’s recollections, but Jiho had lived isolated for most of his past lives, making his memories incomplete.

They were helpful, yes, but not enough. More precise information would be necessary to prepare for what lay ahead.

“For now, there will be noise around the dual dungeons. As I said, time has been rewound and events are happening earlier. But the order shouldn’t have changed…”

He picked up a piece of scrap paper and a pen from the corner of the table.

For a while, only the quiet scratching of the pen filled the room.

He began listing regions in the U.S., Northern Europe, and Southeast Asia.

At times he paused, unsure of the sequence, scribbled out sections, then continued again.

Finally placing a period at the end, Dojin handed the paper to the two men and spoke.

“It starts with Nevada in the U.S. After that, it should be Connecticut and Iowa. As I recall, there was a time gap of about one to three months between each.”

Just then, a small, chubby finger prodded Dojin’s side.

He stopped mid-sentence and looked over. Heendungi blinked his round eyes and held out the phone.

“This… it looked important.”

The child’s red lips moved in a quiet mumble. Dojin didn’t brush it off—he took the phone from Heendungi’s hand.

On screen was a YouTube livestream of a breaking news broadcast.

Dojin quickly raised the volume after seeing the huge headline displayed across the bottom.

—This just in: the B-rank small scale dungeon that formed over Connecticut has been confirmed as a singularity dungeon. This marks the second known dual dungeon. The event occurred earlier this morning…