DPGR 104

Bang!

At last, the bullet shot out at high speed. Gunfire followed in rapid succession.

Bang, bang bang! Bang!

While slashing through monsters with his spear, Dojin tracked the bullet Jiho had fired with his eyes.

It was the moment the silver bullet was about to hit the wall.

‘Now!’

Dojin burst forth with magic and fired flames toward the bullet. The bullets struck by the flame exploded in turn with a loud boom.

Boom!

A deafening explosion unlike any other attack shook the ground.

The teammates, each battling monsters from different positions, flinched in surprise and turned toward the explosion.

“Uh…”

The air—the wall—collapsed. The horde of monsters began to disappear in patches.

And then, the scenery changed.

“What… what is this?”

“Huh?”

This was a grand banquet hall.

What they had thought were ruins were actually overturned chairs and tables, along with debris from the dessert bar.

On the floor lay far fewer monster corpses than the Alpha Team had thought they had defeated.

Half of the monsters they fought had been illusions created by the dream demon.

“Ha…”

“It was the dream demon again?”

Everyone’s strength drained. Each team member muttered something as they finished off the remaining monsters and collapsed to the ground.

“I-It’s over, right?”

Someone spoke in a voice full of fatigue. But the numbers floating above their heads and the bands on their necks remained unchanged.

“Why isn’t it disappearing?”

“What is this? It’s not over?”

Voices of confusion overlapped. Just then, the banquet hall doors burst open, and someone entered.

“You’re all incredible. To find a breakthrough so quickly.”

“…Butler.”

With the corners of his mouth stretched unnaturally high, the butler clapped without hiding his delight.

It sounded exactly like he was mocking the Alpha Team. Everyone’s expression soured.

“I wonder if the entertainment we prepared was too lacking.”

“Forget that. Why isn’t this going away?”

Dojin interrupted the butler’s words without hiding his displeasure, pointing at the timer still floating above their heads.

The butler shrugged and answered smoothly.

“Well… perhaps it’s because you haven’t passed the ‘trial’ yet.”

“Trial? Wasn’t the illusion we just broke through the trial?”

“Haha! That was merely a form of amusement. I’m sure you know what the true trial on the third floor is.”

Dojin’s brow furrowed. He spoke with suspicion.

“Don’t tell me… it’s to find and kill the dream demon?”

“Hmm.”

The butler didn’t reply. But even that ambiguous hum was enough to confirm Dojin’s guess.

Gijun and the other team members burst out in protest.

“Captain! Are we supposed to catch the dream demon ourselves?”

“That’s ridiculous! And we’re running out of time…”

Meanwhile, the numbers above their heads continued to decrease.

Eight minutes remained.

As Alpha Team’s grumbling grew louder, the butler burst into loud laughter.

“Ha ha! Yes, yes. You’re all having fun, aren’t you? Now then, the real game begins. Our master has high expectations for you, so please enjoy yourselves even more…”

“Master?”

“…Excuse me?”

“Are you calling yourself ‘master’?”

“What do you mean…”

“Or is there another master of this castle besides you?”

“……”

Dojin raised his spear and aimed it at the butler.

“Tag’s over now.”

At first the butler looked a bit surprised, but as he met Dojin’s unwavering eyes, he slowly lifted the corners of his mouth into a smile.

“Oh… how amusing.”

The butler’s appearance began to change. His black clothes vanished completely, and his once-short hair started growing longer.

“W-What’s happening?”

“Gasp!”

The team members, who hadn’t noticed anything, all looked shocked.

Only Dojin remained unfazed.

“How did you know?”

Finally revealing her true form, the butler—or rather, the dream demon—asked in a captivating voice.

Dojin didn’t lower the spear he aimed at her.

“The real butler couldn’t communicate. He was used more like a one-way transmitter.”

“Oh, my. You’re annoyingly sharp.”

Click, click.

The dream demon walked slowly past the group. Even though Dojin’s spear could pierce her neck at any moment, she didn’t care.

Except for Dojin, the rest of the team couldn’t hide their astonishment at the sight.

Does the monster have a will of its own? Is it speaking human language? How is that possible? Why isn’t the captain surprised?

Confusion filled everyone’s minds.

Meanwhile, the time continued ticking down—six minutes remained.

“Get rid of it. Now.”

“What, didn’t you hear me? You have to catch me first if you want it to disappear.”

Her red-painted lips curved into a lovely arc.

“As long as I’m alive, tag isn’t over. So go ahead and run hard.”

“Fine. I’ll do it your way.”

Dojin kicked off the ground and charged at the dream demon. She quickly retreated, but a swing of his spear sliced off a handful of her long hair.

Their forms clashed, closed in quickly, then separated again, twisting and entangling in all directions.

Dojin was desperate to catch her, while the dream demon was doing everything she could to stay out of his attack range.

In the midst of that dangerously close game of tag—

“How about this?”

The dream demon murmured in a voice laced with laughter and released demonic energy.

Dark violet energy pulsed outward from her body. Before Dojin could react, it converged into a single stream and shot toward Jiho.

“…!”

Jiho tried to retreat, but the demonic energy was faster.

“Guide Jiho!”

The moment that dark violet energy touched his body, Jiho collapsed like a puppet with its strings cut.

The clarity in his eyes vanished.

He stumbled forward like someone who had lost his sense of self, walking toward the dream demon and Dojin.

Finally, Jiho stood between the two of them. As if protecting the dream demon, he turned his back to her and aimed his gun at Dojin.

“Guide Jiho!”

The nearby team members also called out to him in alarm. But Jiho showed no reaction whatsoever.

“Damn…”

Dojin couldn’t bring himself to attack Jiho. While he hesitated, the dream demon stepped close behind Jiho.

“How adorable.”

She pulled Jiho into her arms, then turned his face toward her and kissed him on the cheek.

Grinding his teeth, Dojin glared at her and demanded:

“What did you do to Jiho?”

“Oh, nothing much. I just made him my doll.”

“Your doll?”

“You must not know. Once a dream demon scratches at someone’s mind, it’s easy to control them again later.”

“……”

“Especially kids with deep mental trauma—they’re even easier to manipulate.”

The dream demon added with amusement, clearly enjoying Dojin’s pale, frantic expression.

“Out of all the prey here, this one’s nightmares tasted the best. He’s exactly my type too. It’d be a shame to kill him like this, but even if he dies, don’t worry. I’ll preserve him and keep him by my side.”

Her cackling laughter filled the grand banquet hall. But it was as if Dojin couldn’t hear it.

All his focus was on Jiho.

‘He’s unconscious.’

Judging from the vacant look in his eyes, Jiho had lost consciousness.

Then where was Jiho’s awareness now?

‘If he’s wandering through that strange nightmare again…’

If that was the case, Dojin would have to retrieve him from the dream demon’s grip, even if it meant hurting him a little.

But contrary to Dojin’s fears, Jiho’s awareness wasn’t trapped in a nightmare.

He was confined within his own body, half-asleep, dazed and hazy.

‘What is this…?’

It was like being paralyzed, his body wouldn’t move the way he wanted. The dream demon’s voice buzzed and echoed in his ears.

Letting the sound drift past him, Jiho tried to make sense of things through his fogged mind.

‘What’s happening right now? That’s… hyung? Oh. Am I a hostage?’

He had just thought about wanting to help Dojin not even an hour ago, yet here he was, dragging him down again.

‘No. I have to move.’

He struggled to move by any means. Twisting his body, shaking his head wildly.

But such movements were only possible in his imagination.

His physical body remained frozen, still pointing the gun at Dojin, unmoving and unresponsive.

He was terrified that he might end up pulling the trigger under the dream demon’s command. His heart pounded violently, and it felt like tears would burst from his eyes at any moment.

Meanwhile, Dojin seemed to have made up his mind and stepped toward the dream demon and Jiho.

Fwoosh—

Red flames flickered to life around his body. The fire quickly grew larger, licking the air as if eager to devour the dream demon.

But the dream demon didn’t even blink. She used Jiho as a shield to block Dojin’s attack.

“Go ahead and try.”

Smirking, she wrapped one hand around Jiho’s neck. As if determined to crush Dojin’s spirit, her long fingernails dragged down his throat—

From behind his ear, down his neck, and across his collarbone.

His thin skin split open, and blood began to flow.

“Guide Jiho…!”

As Dojin clenched his teeth, the dream demon burst into laughter. But it was a miscalculation on her part.

‘It hurts…’

Jiho’s awareness, curled up inside his body, responded. He felt the pain.

His body was dulled, so it didn’t hurt much. But even that small sensation was precious to him.

‘It hurts.’

He began focusing on the stinging feeling. Then just barely, one of his fingers twitched.