DPGR 135

Half a month after the dungeon break catastrophe.

Time passed in silence, and before anyone realized it, it was the end of January, late winter had arrived.

Over the past fifteen days, people had gone through much together, crying, laughing, and cheering as one.

First, the public was stirred by the news of Yoon Changwook’s retirement. Then came a wave of relief when it was announced that Kwak Jiheon would be returning as Esper Director.

In South Korea alone, three dual dungeons had been closed, and rare artifacts and clues pointing toward the final gate had been found inside them.

These clues, however, were not exclusive to Korea’s dual dungeons.

Title: My friend said something weird–what is this about?

I’m a student studying in Australia. My friend is a B-rank esper here and lately he’s been super busy because of the dual dungeons. We finally caught up for drinks, and he suddenly said he thinks the world’s going to end soon. It wasn’t drunken nonsense either, he said it before we even started drinking.

Apparently, clues pointing to the end of the world have been coming out of these dual dungeons. But the government’s keeping it quiet.

Now I’m wondering if I should just drop out and go back to Korea to see my family.

Posts like this were slowly increasing online.

At first, netizens laughed them off or insulted the poster for trying to stir panic. But as similar posts kept popping up, people began to waver.

That unease hit espers and guides affiliated with the Center even harder, building into a growing wave.

“Esper Director. Five espers from Theta Team have deserted their mission.”

“What?”

Dungeons were still appearing and closing all over the world in rapid succession, as if racing toward the final gate.

South Korea was no exception. Kwak Jiheon, who had been busy ever since taking office as Esper Director, was now faced with this? Espers deserting their posts?

“Bring me the list.”

He pressed his fingers to his brow in frustration. If those deserters caused an incident, the fallout would surely land on him.

His secretary, sensing the tension on Kwak Jiheon’s face, hesitantly handed over the file.

“H-here it is.”

They’d already been warned by Yoon Changwook about Kwak Jiheon’s temperament.

He was known to be impatient, so the secretary had prepared the documents ahead of time, and thankfully so.

“Let’s see… Yoon Gahyun, Lee Chansol, Kim Seokhan, Choi Junghoo, Park Gayoung….”

Kwak Jiheon read the names aloud one by one with force, as if calling out souls.

It made the secretary’s shoulders tremble involuntarily, like hearing a grim reaper’s summons.

“What about their location tracking?”

“They’ve all turned off their watches, there’s no signal.”

“What?”

“Eek…!”

“No, no. I’m not scolding you, Secretary…. Ha. So they really did turn them off.”

With a voice like a lamb facing a wolf, the secretary continued nervously.

“Um, the, the leader of Theta Team, Team Leader Yoon….”

“Don’t tremble.”

“Y-yes… Team Leader Yoon Seohan spoke with those five espers a few days ago.”

“A meeting?”

“Yes. They apparently requested it. They said they wanted to stop working as espers for a while… to rest. They… talked about retirement.”

“Retirement? Espers? Why? Are they sick?”

“No, not at all…”

“Then what? They’ve barely worked one to three years, tops.”

Kwak Jiheon clicked his tongue in irritation, holding back the urge to make some old-man remark about “kids these days.”

He tapped the desk with his fingers, then asked with a crooked tone,

“Wait. Didn’t Theta Team just return from the Cheorwon dual dungeon?”

“Yes, yes.”

“And they were dispatched to support at the Suncheon dual dungeon too.”

“Yes….”

The secretary nodded, eyeing him with growing awe. He’d heard Kwak Jiheon had barely had time to breathe since becoming Esper Director, yet he could recite a team’s movements off the top of his head?

‘No wonder people say he’s one of the most capable Esper Directors ever.’

Whether or not the secretary looked at him with fresh admiration, Kwak Jiheon didn’t care.

“Looking at it now… Theta Team might’ve entered the most dual dungeons out of all the teams. Am I right?”

“Y-yes, probably.”

“Well, there’s your answer.”

“…Excuse me?”

The secretary stared wide-eyed as Kwak Jiheon stood up abruptly and put on his coat.

He spoke while buttoning up, leaving the stunned secretary behind.

“Open the conference room. Get the entire board of directors in there… No, actually, I should contact the World Ability Organization first.”

“…What?”

Now? Just like that? So suddenly?

They’d heard he was impatient, but they hadn’t expected him to come to a conclusion and take action without any explanation.

The secretary gathered their courage and grabbed Kwak Jiheon’s sleeve just as he was about to leave the office.

“W-wait! Esper Director!”

“Hm? What is it?”

“I mean… So you want me to open the conference room and call in the board, correct?”

“Good, you understood. I’ll take care of contacting the Organization, just handle the rest.”

With that, Kwak Jiheon left.

Even his walk was brisk; in the blink of an eye, he was at the end of the hallway.

“Hmph….”

Walking through a corridor still bearing the scars of monster attacks, Kwak Jiheon let out a low hum.

‘Word’s already leaking. And now even the espers are shaken…. We can’t keep this hidden any longer, it’s too dangerous.’

Things were progressing faster than expected. He’d thought the rumors wouldn’t spread until spring at the earliest, so he’d been reassured.

Even the Final Dungeon is like that. Judging by how quickly the clues are coming together, it’ll probably open in spring… maybe even before this winter ends.

There really was no time left. For smoother preparations, Kwak Jiheon decided to start laying the groundwork right away.

Looks like it’s going to get noisy again.

***

A-rank large-scale dungeon, Safe Zone.
Guides from Alpha Team and Beta Team, along with Beta Team’s support espers, were waiting for the combat team’s return.

Their wait wasn’t long.

Just three hours after they’d entered the dungeon, the ground rumbled, a sign that the dungeon raid was nearing completion.

“Guide Jiho!”

At last, the espers who had gone into battle came running from outside.
Jiho lit up as Dojin rushed toward him, calling his name.

“Hyung!”

Jiho ran out of the Safe Zone to meet Dojin. He stumbled on his own feet along the way, and Dojin caught him in a heartbeat, pulling him into a tight embrace.

“I told you not to run, it’s dangerous. Are you hurt anywhere?”

“…Heh. I’m fine. What about you, hyung?”

“I’m fine too.”

“Ah! I’ll guide you! Let me check your numbers… huh?”

Jiho pulled up Dojin’s watch to check his guiding stats and his eyes widened.
Before entering the gate, his guiding level had been 82%. But after finishing the battle, it was at 72%.

…It only dropped by 10%?

Startled, Jiho voiced his confusion.
“Your level barely dropped. You didn’t secretly take any medicine, did you?”

Dojin chuckled at the suspicious question. The Beta Team espers behind him playfully chimed in.

“Has Captain Baek ever snuck medicine before?”

“Well, maybe once…”

“Hahaha! But you don’t need to worry this time.”

“Huh?”

“Captain Baek knew the dungeon terrain and the monsters like the back of his hand. Thanks to him, no one got hurt….”

“Esper Heo Juhyuk.”

Dojin quickly cut him off. He glanced at Jiho, then smoothly changed the subject like nothing happened.

“Guiding can wait. We can do it back home, it’s not urgent, as you saw.”
“…Okay.”

“Ah, the exit’s opened. Let’s get ready to leave.”

With that, Dojin gave Jiho one more firm hug before letting him go.
Jiho blankly watched Dojin’s back as he sent the Beta Team members out first and organized the scene.

‘Hyung… knew the terrain and monsters? Was he still dreaming about his past life before every gate raid?’

The thought crossed his mind briefly, but Jiho shook his head. In his previous life, Dojin had died after the Jeju dungeon raid. Any dungeon that appeared after that wouldn’t have shown up in his dreams.

No. It’s not completely impossible…

‘Could it be… he remembered a first life I don’t know about?’

Jiho’s gaze lowered. Did his first life return to him… without telling me?

He bowed his head. His shoulders sagged, and Dojin quickly noticed and approached with a worried look.

“Guide Jiho? What’s wrong….”

“Hyung, you got all your memories back, didn’t you?”

“…….”

“From your first life. Now that I think about it, you said ‘God’ would be returning soon. You do remember everything, don’t you?”

Jiho’s chin quivered, and a little walnut-shaped lump formed. His pouting lips, reddening nose, and tearful eyes were all unbearably cute, completely at odds with the serious mood.

‘Even now, Jiho is worrying about me…’

Dojin barely managed to keep his lips from curling up. Then he cupped Jiho’s cheeks with both hands and placed a soft kiss on his pouting lips.

“I’ve had the memories back for a while. But it’s okay, you don’t need to worry.”

“…….”

“Really. Honestly, it feels like remembering something from when I was in kindergarten. It’s all a little blurry, and I don’t feel any strong emotions about it.”

Dojin’s voice was steady. He didn’t sound like he was lying. So Jiho had no choice but to believe him.

“Really?”

“Yeah. Really.”

Dojin nodded shamelessly, deliberately pushing away the memory of that day trying to surface in his mind.
Aside from that day, most of his past memories didn’t move him much at all. That part wasn’t a lie.

“Shall we head out first? We can talk more outside. It’s cold here.”

“…Okay.”

A chilly wind blew at just the right moment. This dungeon, too, was set in a blizzard.

Dojin swallowed the sudden, creeping sense of loss and held Jiho’s hand tightly. Focusing on the warmth between their palms, the anxiety seemed to melt away, like a lie.