Retire 389

389 Inside (1)

“You know,”

Alex Hope spoke up, slowly, as she checked her raincoat once more.

“It’s true the school was suffocating. Not that I’m trying to complain, but do you know how hard it is to avoid the kids’ eyes?”

She’d already complained plenty, so I had no idea what she was getting at.

“There’s nothing fun to do, either!”

“What are you trying to say?”

“I mean, I did ask how long I’d have to keep hiding because I was bored! But still!”

Hope spread her arms wide. The rain poured down on her, wild and relentless. Water streamed off her raincoat like a waterfall.

“It’s not like I wanted to come into a dungeon like this!”

“I agree with our junior here,”

Han Taekyung, also wrapped in a raincoat, chimed in from beside us. In a downpour like this, no matter how waterproof your gear is, you can’t avoid getting soaked. Both Hope and Han Taekyung were drenched. Honestly, I didn’t look much better.

At least Hope and I had it easier than Han Taekyung. Even though we all knew what was in here, Han Taekyung stubbornly insisted on wearing sunglasses.

Han Taekyung’s eyes could see in total darkness. The rain shouldn’t bother him much. But the raindrops collecting on his sunglasses must have been a nuisance. He didn’t say anything, but the way he kept irritably wiping them with his sleeve made it obvious.

Kim Chaemin had made it clear from the start that she wouldn’t follow us into the dungeon, and dragging Hong Seok-yeong along was out of the question.

It wasn’t the injury that kept Hong Seok-yeong from coming. That man would have insisted on coming, injury or not. But he couldn’t leave Daniel behind. Hong Seok-yeong stayed at the school, looking on with regret—and didn’t forget to glare at Daniel with sullen eyes.

Daniel, for his part, was politely answering Yoo Hye-eun’s questions, unaware of any of this. Now that he understood Hong Seok-yeong was serious about running the school, maybe he’d decided it was worth getting on his good side. The reluctance he’d shown at first had disappeared completely after a few days.

It was Daniel’s first weekend in Korea. When I said I was going home, he didn’t question it. Showing him the house, noisy with kids, had helped.

“Everyone’s getting paid, so we have to work.”

“This is overtime!”

“I’ve never even gotten a paycheck!”

“And since we snuck in, we won’t get any hazard or exploration bonus, either!”

“Wait, do I get paid too?”

“Your salary is bundled with Dr. Gamble’s.”

“What! Sandra never mentioned that!”

I shrugged. We should be reaching the entrance soon.

Hope trudged after me through the mud, grumbling.

“She always acts like she’s being generous, saying she’ll buy me whatever I need!”

“It’s not like you have any way to spend money anyway.”

“That’s not the point! It’s about the feeling!”

“Just work things out with Dr. Gamble until we find a solution.”

“I’m old enough to spend my own money without Sandra’s permission!!”

A good boss doesn’t meddle in their subordinates’ personal affairs. They’re not children—they can handle it themselves.

“Are you ignoring me?”

“……”

What had Han Taekyung just said?

Ah.

“I’ll make sure you get a bonus this month.”

“Thank you! I’ll do my best!”

It’s not like the salary was coming out of my own pocket anyway.

Once we entered the cave that led to the crocodile den, things improved a bit. I pulled out the containers Gamble had given me and handed one each to Han Taekyung and Hope. The two of them trudged out to the entrance and filled them with mud.

Meanwhile, I examined the cave.

It had been a while since I’d been here, but nothing had changed. I checked the dungeon entry records. Since the last time I’d come in with Hong Seok-yeong, the dungeon’s management had been handed over to the government. No one else had entered since.

That’s how it is with remote dungeons.

Still, now that all the dungeons in the capital and major cities had been checked, these outlying dungeons would gradually return to normal operations. This would probably be the last time we could sneak into the Jirisan dungeon.

After that… Gamble would probably build a mana detector. Much earlier than last time.

“……”

Hope and Han Taekyung soon returned, containers full of mud. Whatever had happened, they’d gone from looking like drowned rats to looking like retrievers who’d been playing in the mud.

I decided not to ask.

Maybe they were just at the age where playing in the mud was irresistible.

Without a word, I took the specially made container, designed to prevent interference from external mana. It was heavier than it looked.

Still silent, I took off my raincoat, turned on my flashlight, and headed deeper inside. Hope and Han Taekyung followed, wordless.

Really…

I wondered if bringing these two along had been the right choice.

---

There was a reason I’d brought Hope and Han Taekyung.

‘Isn’t it just because you needed someone to dump the annoying work on?’

For some reason, I could hear Kim Chaemin’s voice.

Of course, that was part of it.

But more than that, I thought—maybe there was something here that neither I nor Hong Seok-yeong had seen.

Hope aside, Han Taekyung’s eyes… He’d seen through Park Seo-hyun’s shadow, something even I hadn’t managed. If there was anything my brother had left behind here besides that useless chauffeur business card, maybe he’d notice.

After meeting Tati, the hope that my brother might still be alive had faded again. I thought I hadn’t been holding out hope, but it seemed I couldn’t help it.

But at the warehouse in Busan, I’d found Michel’s doll instead of my brother’s trace, and even after going so far as to reveal the sword’s existence to the world, nothing had changed.

…Should I have gone to Busan sooner? Was that my mistake?

But Tati didn’t understand human concepts of time. I had no way of knowing exactly when my brother had entered this dungeon…

I clicked my tongue briefly.

I didn’t expect my brother to be alive. I mean, of course it would be nice if he was. But this time, I really didn’t want to hold on to hope.

I just… if my brother was dead, I wanted to send him off one last time. Because we’re family.

“Ugh… Did we really have to come into a dungeon like this?”

The stench my sister hated was still the same. Han Taekyung shuddered as he looked down at the cesspool where crocodiles squirmed with a look of utter disgust.

“We have to cross that?”

“We’re not going down there.”

“If you’d made me do that, I’d have run out of here.”

“I wouldn’t like it either.”

Crossing the ravine was just as it had been when I came with Hong Seok-yeong. Attach a rune to a rope, drive in a stake.

“I’ll go first!”

Hope tapped her toes on the ground and vanished.

In the past, she would have reappeared on the far side of the ravine. But now, she flickered briefly atop the rope before disappearing again.

I measured the distance. That must be her limit now.

We quietly crossed the ravine and delved deeper into the dungeon.

“……”

By then, Hope and Han Taekyung had fallen completely silent.

I only noticed the strange hush after a while and slowed my pace.

“What is it?”

“…Huh, huh?”

“Y-yes, uh, yes!”

“Why are you both being so weirdly quiet?”

“You complain even when we’re quiet!”

“Junior! That’s not something you say out loud!”

I stopped walking entirely.

Han Taekyung hurriedly clamped a hand over Hope’s mouth. I raised an eyebrow.

“I won’t ask twice. What is it?”

“…Huh?”

“I said I won’t ask twice.”

“But that’s already the third time you’ve said—”

“Junior!”

“……”

“No, it’s just, um…”

Han Taekyung laughed awkwardly.

“You looked upset, senpai… It’s not like we were goofing off outside, we just slipped, that’s all… And then our junior here grabbed me as she fell. It’s all her fault.”

“What! How is that my fault?”

“You know me. I, Han Taekyung, am not the kind of guy to mess around in a dungeon!”

So what’s with you two, then?

I looked at Han Taekyung. It would be nice if he’d just answer the question, but instead, he kept rambling.

Did someone say something? Why all this fuss?

“Oh, whatever!”

Hope shook off Han Taekyung’s grip.

“If you don’t like something, just say it! Don’t keep it bottled up!”

“What did I…”

“Look at your face! You heard what he said—we just slipped! We weren’t messing around!”

“Junior!”

Hope snapped irritably. Han Taekyung, flustered, grabbed her again. Even as he tried to cover her mouth, he kept glancing at my expression, watching for my reaction…

“……”

I admitted it quickly.

I was in a bad mood.

It wasn’t Hope or Han Taekyung’s fault for getting covered in mud. This was just my own issue. Thoughts about my brother. The idea that I might never know if he was alive or dead.

The damp rain clinging to me, the dark underground dungeon, the unpleasant smell—all of it just made me feel more miserable.

Once I’d made an objective judgment about my own state, acceptance came quickly.

“Sorry.”

“…What?”

“Did you eat something weird?”

“It’s not really because of you two, just…”

I trailed off, not knowing how to explain.

Should I tell them? That wasn’t the problem. And even without mentioning the past, there were ways to talk about my brother.

But honestly, I just didn’t know how to say it. When was the last time I’d spoken about him? Hong Seok-yeong? Kim Chaemin? Those two hadn’t been completely in the dark, so there wasn’t much to explain. But with these two, I’d have to tell them everything.

It just… felt overwhelming. A heavy fatigue pressed down on me.

“Here…”

Han Taekyung spoke up gently.

“Senpai, you don’t have to explain.”

“No, it’s not that, just…”

I steeled myself. I’d already decided to explain at least a little when I brought them into this dungeon.

Even if it wasn’t about my brother, this place…

“I just don’t know how to say it. It’s not exactly a happy story.”

My nose was the first to notice we’d reached our destination. The acrid smell drifting through the air.

It wasn’t as strong as when the explosion first happened. But it was enough to tell that something had gone on here.

Around the corner, a small clearing appeared. When I’d come here with Hong Seok-yeong, we’d found a corpse. A body in black clothing, with no identifying marks. No way to tell when they’d died, left to rot alone in the damp cave.

Hong Seok-yeong’s missing junior, who’d infiltrated the Ark: Kim Yuhwa.

Now, she was gone. But the blackened scorch marks on the ground and the extinguished glow sticks Hong Seok-yeong had left in the shape of a cross remained.

Han Taekyung, seeing my expression and the glow sticks on the floor, realized what had happened here.

Hope, too, seemed to understand, and grew quiet.

“…Can I ask something?”

Hope spoke up cautiously.

“Who was here?”

She pointed to the crow mask lying next to the glow sticks.