DPGR 118

Thump—

Dojin sat Jiho down on the bed. Then, as if caging him in, he planted both arms to either side of Jiho’s hips and leaned forward.

Reflexively, Jiho leaned his upper body back, widening the distance between them.

Even so, their faces were close, so close their noses could almost touch, tension thick in the narrow gap.

“What should I do? There’s no one to interrupt us now.”

Dojin murmured lowly. Something had clearly stirred him, his eyes were slightly unfocused.

Jiho shivered, a chill running down his spine for the first time in a while. It was like standing before a hungry predator… and yet, instead of fear, he felt anticipation.

Because he was sure that this beast wouldn’t harm him.

So Jiho, too, found some courage. He lifted his hand and cupped Dojin’s cheek.

“…That thing we started in the hospital earlier. Should we… pick up where we left off?”

He stuttered a little like an idiot, but Dojin seemed to take even that as a stimulus.

Fixing his gaze on Jiho’s lips, he leaned in without hesitation.

Smack—

Their lips met. Once, twice, three times.

Dojin pressed his weight onto Jiho. Before long, Jiho’s back touched the mattress.

“Mm…”

As Dojin’s tongue entered his mouth, Jiho let out a small moan. The bedroom, once stark and empty, was quickly filled with heat.

That night,

Dojin and Jiho kissed deeply, shared breath and warmth, and confessed their feelings to each other over and over as they held one another close.

Guiding wasn’t necessary. It was purely an act of love.

“I like you.” “You’re beautiful.” “I love you.”

Blushing words passed between them, followed by more kisses and breathless exchanges of love.

After some time, Jiho ran out of stamina first and let out a yawn.

“Go to sleep. It’s okay now.”

“Mmm…”

Dojin slipped his arm under Jiho’s head as he began to nod off. His large hand gently patted Jiho’s back.

Without hesitation, Jiho curled into Dojin’s chest, hugging him tightly.

The soft sound of his breathing, the warmth of their bodies pressed together, the scent of skin, the heartbeat—

Everything about Jiho calmed the nerves that had once been wound tight in Dojin.

There was no need for sleeping pills or sedatives. His eyelids grew heavy in an instant.

“Guide Jiho.”

“Mmm…”

“…Jiho.”

“Mmmnn…”

Even half-asleep, Jiho still answered when called. Dojin smiled softly. He reached for Jiho’s left hand and intertwined their fingers.

His fingers are so small and thin.

As he absentmindedly traced the shape of Jiho’s pinky, Dojin couldn’t resist a sudden impulse. He brought Jiho’s finger to his lips—

Chomp.

He gently bit down on Jiho’s pinky, leaving a faint impression of his teeth. Jiho groaned in complaint from within his arms.

“Mmmng, it hurts…”

“Sorry. I won’t do it again.”

“You’re mean…”

Sniff.

Jiho sniffled once, then drifted back into sleep. Dojin looked down at the finger he had bitten.

There, on Jiho’s left pinky, his bite mark was clear, like a ring.

Mine… My guide…

His fierce possessiveness quieted just a little. He kissed the mark lightly, then closed his eyes.

At last, a deep sleep overtook Dojin’s consciousness.

And for the first time in a long while, his face was peaceful, like a well-fed beast, dreaming something sweet.

***

Dojin and Jiho spent the entire week together, enjoying a peaceful stretch of time.

They visited the hospital for Dojin’s checkups, attempted light hand-guiding that sometimes turned into midday naps.

They went grocery shopping, cooked delicious meals, and watching movies on the couch had become routine, so had kissing during romantic scenes.

Every moment felt precious to Jiho. It made him feel like he and Dojin were one of those lovers you only see in movies, making his heart ticklish with joy.

They hadn’t clearly defined their relationship, floating somewhere between “pair” and “lovers,” but it didn’t matter.

“Just a second. I’m getting a call.”

“Okayyy.”

With two days of leave still remaining, a call came in from the Center.

Dojin had been gently playing with Jiho’s hair as he nodded off after lunch, but now he picked up the phone and stood up as it rang persistently.

“Yes, this is Dojin speaking.”

He quietly closed the bedroom door behind him and headed for the dressing room.

The voice on the other end jumped straight to the point in a rushed tone.

—Sorry to bother you during your break, but is there any chance you can join a dungeon raid right now?

The caller was the Esper Director. Dojin instinctively furrowed his brows.

“The Alpha team is off all week. Is it urgent?”

—Yeah, I know the team’s off. But it’s urgent. As you know, small dungeons have been popping up all over the place lately.

Dojin rubbed his eyebrows, thinking. He hadn’t been keeping up with the news while focused entirely on Jiho, so he didn’t know anything about it.

Even the alarm on his watch had been bothering him, so he’d turned it off.

“Dungeons have been appearing all over the place lately?”

Even though Dojin didn’t respond, the Esper team leader continued speaking under the assumption that he already knew what was going on.

—The only teams left at the Center are the ones who went to assist during the Japan dungeon. I’m sorry, but this time the Alpha Team will need to take the lead on the strategy.

With a slightly troubled expression, Dojin pinned the phone between his ear and shoulder and checked his watch.

When he opened the company messenger for the first time in a while, it was filled with unread messages.

“Every single one’s a dungeon alert.”

Frowning, Dojin checked his guiding percentage first.

The displayed number was 39%—and even that was thanks to the 30 minutes of hand-guiding he’d done that morning.

Even now, he was enduring a headache due to lack of guiding.

And yet, he couldn’t bring himself to receive proper guiding because of the unpleasant memories and sensations the act brought.

And now they wanted him to go into a dungeon in that state?

What’s more, it wouldn’t be the Alpha Team alone, it would be a joint raid with the Beta and Gamma Teams.

Just how massive was this dungeon if they needed not just Alpha but multiple upper-tier teams?

“What’s the location and scale?”

Dojin adjusted his grip on the phone and asked.

In his mind, he tried to sift through the jumbled memories of his first and second lives to recall what large-scale dungeon might’ve occurred in Korea around this time.

Just as he was on the verge of making a connection, the Esper Director answered.

—Jeju Island. A-rank, extra-large dungeon.

Thud—

Dojin’s heart pounded violently. His fingertips trembled slightly.

His head grew dizzy, and it felt like his whole body was in pain. Unconsciously, he placed a hand over his abdomen.

After a brief silence, Dojin asked in a rough, cracking voice,
“Is it a jungle terrain?”

—Yeah. Is it a dungeon that’s happened before?

Dojin let out a quiet groan, closing his eyes tightly before replying.

“…Yes.”

An A-rank, extra-large dungeon in Jeju Island.

“So it’s already happened…”

It was the double dungeon—the one that had led to Dojin’s death during his second life.

***

Among the memories Dojin had recovered was the last dungeon he entered during the second round.

Hot, muggy air. Swarming insects. Wildflowers in every color and jagged, overgrown weeds. Trees of all shapes and sizes.

The deeper they went, the more lost they felt. Dojin and everyone else could tell something was wrong.

This wasn’t a normal dungeon.

“I think… we’ve entered a dual dungeon.”

Because the landscape of the original dungeon and the hidden one were so similar, it took time to notice. That’s when the raid began to break down.

The environment, reminiscent of where they’d lost Yulchan, triggered mild trauma responses in Dojin and the Alpha Team.

Dojin was even more on edge than usual, focused solely on his team’s safety.

But despite his efforts, the unexpected occurred.

“Chan… Yulchan! Yulchan!”

“Two o’clock! Move! Everyone, heads down!”

“No, no—don’t…!”

At some point, all the Alpha Team members, except for Dojin, started exhibiting signs of hallucinations and delirium.

They spoke to thin air as if seeing ghosts, or worse, fired attacks in the direction of their teammates.

“Everyone, snap out of it!”

Dojin tried to bring them back with just his voice, but it wasn’t enough. If only another team had been nearby, but they had split off at the entrance due to the dungeon’s size.

Whether it was interference or something else, the radio signals didn’t work inside.

“No…”

In the end, Dojin used his shadow ability to restrain his teammates. Then, on his own, he managed to locate the boss monster.

If he could just defeat the boss and fire the flare to summon the others, they could get out.

But then—

“…Guide Jiho?”

He noticed faint spores drifting around the boss monster. Even with all his knowledge of monsters and attack types, it was the first time Dojin had seen anything like it.

He quickly covered his mouth to avoid inhaling, but it was too late. Without realizing, he had already breathed them in.

And then, he began to see someone who should never have been inside the dungeon.

“Jiho…Guide Jiho…”

Maybe, somewhere deep down, Dojin knew it was a hallucination. But even if it was, he couldn’t bear the sight of Seo Jiho wandering lost in the dungeon.

Especially not wearing winter clothes, barefoot, walking straight toward the monsters.

It looked as if snow was falling only around Jiho. The way he staggered forward looked so cold and lonely that Dojin instinctively reached out as hard as he could.

And at that moment—BOOM—a loud explosion. A burst of wind followed. His ears rang as if his eardrums had torn.

When he came to, Dojin was lying on the ground. Pain radiated from his abdomen.

No, it wasn’t just his abdomen. His whole body ached like his limbs had been torn apart. He couldn’t move. He clung to consciousness by a thread.

Responding to the noise, several Espers from the Beta Team arrived and tried to stabilize the situation. Amid it all, Dojin numbly looked around.

Jiho was nowhere to be seen.

Only then did a wave of relief hit him.

As his last bit of awareness faded, Dojin felt a quiet certainty—

This is the end for me.