Episode 298: Waiting Position

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For a brief moment, the only redeeming function of the Memorial Dungeon dawned on them. Then, Ham Seok-jeong took the laptop from Jung Bin and skimmed through the contents he had compiled. She tapped the armrest of her chair.

“Judging by the records, it seems the way the world ends is similar in both worlds. The whitening phenomenon is also quite similar to the mutations happening here and the erosion effects of the eroded dungeon. The only thing that bothers me is that our world hasn’t experienced a monster wave yet. Could the sequence have changed?”

“We cannot rule out the possibility.”

“Extract data from locations showing wave precursors. Also, compile records of previous occurrences.”

“Understood.”

Their serious discussion was overshadowed by another voice— the voice of Hong Ye-seong, immortalized in black-and-white film, speaking from within his workshop.

—I told you, right? The watch erases the previous world and creates a new one. But because the watch is incomplete, this time, the previous world wasn’t completely erased. That’s why the ruined world continues to affect the present one.

—Didn’t you ever find it strange? The West Sea rift kept growing, swallowing up hunters, until you entered it. Have any other hunters gone in since you? Probably not. You were the last.

—The ruined world found you, the original anchor. The current anchor’s sacrifice wasn’t enough, so it sought out the person to pay the rest of the price.

Cha Eui-jae trembled as if struck by lightning.

The endless flood of monsters. Battles that never ceased, no matter how many he fought. No matter how many he slaughtered, they kept coming, endlessly…

‘No way.’

What if those monsters were actually the ones meant to flood into this world through the monster wave?

Then it would make sense why the mutation phase began before the monster wave, and why Hong Ye-seong had said what he did. Cha Eui-jae had paid the missing price at the West Sea rift. He had slaughtered every survivor, every monster from the ruined world.

Was that fortunate, or was it the worst possible outcome? He couldn’t tell. Cha Eui-jae anxiously rubbed his hands together before slowly raising one and cutting into Jung Bin and Ham Seok-jeong’s conversation.

“…Excuse me.”

“Yes?”

“Do you have something to say?”

“…I, um… I don’t think we need to worry about the monster wave.”

“Why not?”  

“Do you know something?”

All eyes were on him. The attention was suffocating. Especially if he had unknowingly saved the world. Cha Eui-jae hesitantly replied.

“…I think I already dealt with it.”

“…”

“…”

“…”

A heavy silence filled the room. Thud. Roll… The die that Gyu-Gyu had casually tossed into the air fell weakly to the ground, rolling away. Then, a sharp clapping sound tore through the silence. Clap clap clap. Clap clap clap. Clapclapclapclapclapclapclap. Finishing with an exact 3-3-7 rhythm, Gyu-Gyu shouted,  

“The great J could save the world even in his sleep! Amazing!”

Cha Eui-jae had always been quicker with his fists than his words.

Which is why—

Thwack!

“J-nim!!”

“What, why’d you hit me? I was being serious!”

“Shut up!”

His flying kick reached Gyu-Gyu before his words did.

Crash!

The sofa toppled over, the table flipped, and tea spilled mid-air. Amidst the chaos, Ham Seok-jeong sipped her coffee gracefully and called out to Jung Bin.

“Team Leader Jung.”

“Violence is not the answer! We can resolve this through— Yes, Director?”

“Put J’s repair fees on his tab.”

“…Understood.”