DPGR 77

Even though it had only been a short dream, the amount of information he had gleaned was significant.

“…So, although I can’t say for certain, I believe there’s some kind of danger in the banquet hall.”

“Danger, huh…”

Japanese espers were chasing other Japanese espers.
The ones being chased didn’t even draw their weapons—they only ran.

There was only one way to interpret such a scene.

A rift within their own ranks…?

Just what had happened in that banquet hall?

What a mess…

Pretending to ponder, Director Changwook kept sneaking glances at Dojin.

After much deliberation, it had already been decided that Alpha Team would be dispatched to Japan.
But now that he was hearing the actual dangers from Dojin himself, the words just wouldn’t come. He couldn’t bring himself to say, “Then go.”

Sensing Changwook’s hesitation, Dojin decided to help the director save face.

“Alpha Team will go.”

“Wh-what?”

“If you order us to support the Japanese S-rank dungeon, we’ll gladly comply.”

Truthfully, this wasn’t something Dojin had a choice in.
As long as he was registered as a Korean esper, when they said go, he had to go.

Still, he straightened his back and lifted his chin with calm confidence.
Changwook, somewhat relieved, then heard Dojin’s voice again, this time more casual.

“However, there are conditions.”

“…Conditions?”

“Yes.”

A faint smile tugged at Dojin’s lips.

“I don’t think I’m in a position where I can’t negotiate.”

He tilted his head.

“Wouldn’t you agree?”

It was a question brimming with confidence.
Changwook may have had a leash around Dojin’s neck, but Baek Dojin wasn’t someone easily controlled.
Even as Esper Director, he hadn’t forgotten the risk Dojin carried.

“…Fine. Let’s hear it.”

Changwook’s voice came out tight, strained.
It was practically a declaration of surrender—and Dojin looked visibly pleased.

Negotiations for the S-rank dungeon support had begun.

***

The very next day.

Despite the earlier sense of urgency, things that had stalled began to move rapidly.

First came the assault plan for the Taean dungeon.
There were three days left until the dungeon break.
With time running out, the nearby citizens had already been issued evacuation orders.

Dojin’s parents, too, had hurriedly evacuated to Gyeonggi Province, where their daughter lived.

“Yes, Mom. You really don’t need to worry so much…. Right, I’ll be careful. But, uh, yeah. I’m eating well. No, really, I’m not lying…”

Standing by the shore, sea breeze thick with salt brushing past, Dojin reassured his mother over the phone.
There was a touch of sheepishness in his voice, layered beneath the quiet laughter.
To anyone watching, he was clearly a son cornered by his mother’s nagging.

The Awakening Center staff and Alpha Team members gathered nearby couldn’t help but shake their heads.

“Wow. This is the first time I’ve seen Team Leader Baek that flustered.”

“He gets nagged by his mom too, huh… And he always nags us so much.”

“Guess he gets it from her.”

With each person tossing in a comment, laughter rippled through the group.
Compared to the day before, their faces looked much brighter.

Watching them, Director Changwook let out a quiet sigh of relief.

They all seem to be in good condition. That’s a relief.

Especially Dojin—still on the phone nearby—his face was practically glowing.
Unconsciously, Changwook’s lips curled slightly upward as he recalled their negotiation from the day before.

***

“The boss monster of the Taean dungeon is a Kraken.”

“…What?”

Changwook searched Dojin’s eyes.
There wasn’t a hint of hesitation or doubt—he didn’t seem to be lying.

“You heard this from your Guide again?”

“Yes.”

Of course.

Nodding, Changwook recalled the face of Dojin’s young Guide.
At first, he’d thought the young man was just a bit odd, but now…

He said he remembered the erased timeline, didn’t he…

He hadn’t believed it at first.
But after they actually found the dungeon within the Taean Sea just as he had said, disbelief was no longer an option.

“A Kraken, huh… Then the dungeon terrain must be aquatic.”

“Yes. Whether it’s shallow or deep is another matter.”

“It might even be the deep sea…”

Changwook let out a troubled groan.
Honestly, “might” was generous—he could say with 90% certainty it was the deep sea.

After all, krakens typically lived in the deepest waters.

“We’ll need artifacts. A lot of them.”

“Hm.”

Dojin was right.
They’d be fighting underwater, which meant they’d need artifacts that allowed them to breathe down there.
Even with an esper’s enhanced body, no one could hold their breath that long.

However—

“Getting artifacts isn’t the issue. The problem is that those artifacts are consumables.”

“Yes.”

Artifacts that provided underwater breathing were consumables.
In other words, they had a time limit.

Even the highest-grade artifacts rarely lasted more than ten hours.

Because of that, the artifacts they had scraped together had to be swapped out at the right times.

Dojin pointed this out and began listing the difficulties of the dungeon assault one by one.

“It’s a large-scale dungeon, so the space will feel endless. Being underwater, we also can’t ignore the physical strain caused by buoyancy.”

“……”

“On top of that, the tight operation time will weigh heavily as well. We’ll need to calculate the artifact timers and replace them appropriately during combat…”

“The psychological pressure alone will be considerable.”

“Yes.”

Hearing all this, Changwook’s expression visibly darkened.
He was already anxious about how little time they had to complete the dungeon assault.

And now the terrain is this complicated too…

The higher-ups had assigned Alpha and Beta Teams to support the Japanese dungeon, and Gamma Team to handle Taean.
But Changwook couldn’t say with confidence that Gamma Team could clear such a tricky dungeon in time.

Gamma Team was made up of capable espers, no doubt—but the dungeon itself was simply too much.

There must be some way…

Just as the wrinkle between Changwook’s brows deepened, Dojin made his move.

“Alpha Team will take the assignment.”

“Wait—what? Where?”

“Taean dungeon.”

“Then what about Japan—?”

“Please adjust the schedule.”

Dojin continued, saying the Taean dungeon was more urgent.

“The Japanese dungeon still has some time.”

The Taean dungeon had formed underwater and was only discovered much later.
But Japan’s was different. It had appeared right above a heavily populated urban center—easy to detect the moment it formed.

And being an S-rank dungeon, there would be more lead time before the break.

“Alpha Team will handle the Taean dungeon first, then move to Japan afterward.”

“You mean to clear two dungeons back to back?”

“Yes.”

“…I assume your team members agreed to this?”

“Of course.”

Dojin gave a short laugh.
Before they even saw the video from Japan, he had already briefed his team about Taean.

That the boss monster was a Kraken, and that the terrain was likely the deep sea.

‘How’d you know that, Team Leader?’

‘Let’s just say I heard it from higher up.’

‘Eh? But underwater dungeons don’t show up on the scanners, right?’

‘Just go with it for now.’

‘Hmm~?’

Some of the team had been a little suspicious.

Dojin still wasn’t sure if he could reveal Jiho’s regression yet, so he had put that off for the time being.

‘Later… After we deal with what’s in front of us, I’ll tell them everything.’

Thankfully, his team had nodded along, accepting it without pushing.

And during the Taean strategy meeting that followed, all of them expressed the same opinion as Dojin.

“If there’s enough leeway on the Japan end, they all want to help with the Taean assault first.”

“It’s going to be a huge strain to take on two dungeons in a row.”

“Still, none of us could just ignore a crisis in our own country.”

In Dojin’s voice, Changwook heard conviction.
And after a pause, he asked a question born of both doubt and hope.

“Does Alpha Team believe they can really clear the Taean dungeon?”

Maybe there was some trick—some key advantage he hadn’t heard about yet.
He needed to know before he could approve the team switch.

But Dojin didn’t answer immediately. Instead, he let out a quiet laugh, as if by accident, then quickly bowed his head.

“Ah, sorry. That wasn’t intentional.”

Still, the confidence on his face didn’t fade.

“Our strategy is to dominate the terrain.”

“…Dominate the terrain?”

“Yes. After all, we’ve got an S-rank spatial esper on our team.”

He was referring to their youngest member, Yulchan.
It seemed Dojin had already confirmed things with him.

“After a lot of recent training, Yulchan’s control over his abilities has improved significantly.”

Yulchan had never used his power in deep-sea conditions before, but he had expressed confidence that he could do it now.
Dojin had already laid out a strategy based on Yulchan’s ability.

“As you know, a Kraken can’t exert full power if its skin dries out.”

“That’s true.”

“If we trap it in an air-filled space and hold it there, we should be able to neutralize it with minimal casualties.”

The plan sounded more than viable—it sounded solid.
And it was true: only Yulchan from Alpha Team could realistically pull it off.

In that case… Alpha Team really is the best option.

Eventually, Changwook accepted Dojin’s proposal.

If he was sending in Alpha Team, it wouldn’t cost him anything as Esper Director.

“Alright. I’ll get in touch with Japan immediately.”

“Yes. I’ll leave it to you.”