Chapter 101
Chapter 101: Flashback
The tower’s initial floor, populated by succubi, had presented a dreadful trial for Min-jun to overcome on his own because of how poorly suited he was for the encounter. Yet, propelled by sheer determination alongside an inexplicable factor, he had managed to conquer the tower’s base level.
Even afterward, however, every subsequent level swarmed with lethal beasts.
Min-jun survived each stage by the slimmest margins, inching ever nearer toward the summit.
Because this was a hidden double dungeon situated within an S-rank Gate, pressing onward was far from effortless.
While they did not match the caliber of the Cerberus, he was still forced to cut down an immense swarm of A-rank minotaurs.
He ran into succubi a second time, reliving the repulsive ordeal he had endured on the lowest level.
Then came a sprawling, trap-laden labyrinth that required several grueling hours just to navigate and escape.
On the floor he had just completed, there were no beasts present, only a chamber filled with the relentless, grating screech of grinding metal that pounded against his ears.
Looking back on it all, none of the levels had truly exceeded Min-jun’s capability to survive.
Clearing each one remained feasible through sheer grit; the problem was how thoroughly it eroded his physical stamina and mental resolve.
Because of this constant attrition, Min-jun had begun suspecting during his ascent that labeling the area A+ rather than S-rank might be a more fitting assessment.
Yet before long, that assumption proved completely misguided.
All of those previous trials had simply served as an elaborate prelude leading up to the final confrontation.
“Will this nightmare ever finish…?”
Having just cleared another chamber.
Min-jun took a brief moment to catch his breath before stepping forward toward the subsequent floor.
The raw combat difficulty was troubling enough, but what truly tormented his spirit was the utter absence of certainty.
It felt like walking through an endless subterranean passage without a speck of light ahead.
Viewed from the exterior, the tower had appeared modest in scale, leading him to assume that regardless of how harsh the monsters were, conquering it would not drag on forever.
Yet despite having surmounted countless levels, no ceiling or exit ever came into view.
‘Does this spire even possess a top floor to begin with?’
He tried to imagine what horrific abomination awaited him beyond the threshold, or what bizarre puzzle and lethal snare lay in store.
At this point, none of that mattered; he simply craved an end to the ordeal.
‘I’m completely drained…’
Swallowing a mouthful of restorative liquid, Min-jun pushed open the entry to the next tier with weary, hollow eyes.
His spirit felt utterly exhausted, wanting nothing more than to return home regardless of whatever threat lurked inside.
However.
The second the door swung wide, Min-jun stood utterly paralyzed.
What greeted his vision was a reality he could never have anticipated.
Had the chamber been overrun with unimaginable fiends that eclipsed even the Cerberuses in sheer dread?
If so, Min-jun would have embraced that fate with open arms.
“Oppa, we’re running behind schedule. Let’s head inside quickly.”
The spectacle spread out before him was the exact day Sia had perished during a mishap within a Gate.
It was an exact recreation of that very afternoon.
Gazing about in sheer disbelief, Min-jun scrutinized Sia, then shifted his gaze down to his own garments and equipment.
Sia wore precisely the same gear etched into Min-jun’s recollections from that fateful day.
Min-jun found himself clad in the very gear he had owned back then as well.
The weapon at his side was not the Dragon Bone Sword, but rather the inexpensive blade he had carried 1 year ago, accompanied by the humble gear he had worn back then.
“Oppa, what are you waiting for? Let’s get moving.”
There was no universe in which he could ever erase the memory of that day.
The scenery outside the Gate’s boundary, the identities and expressions of the squad members accompanying them, and even the lighthearted banter he had exchanged with Sia.
Every single second remained sharply engraved in his mind.
Yet why.
Why in a place like this.
Of all conceivable things, that horrific day was being replayed before him with identical precision, as though the hands of time had literally rewound.
Min-jun remained entirely rooted in place.
“…”
“Oppa? Where is your head at?”
“Well—.”
“Let’s wrap this up so we can get out fast. Didn’t you mention it earlier? On an occasion like today, every 1 minute and every 1 second is precious.”
Sia—or more accurately, the illusory Sia manufactured by this dungeon—steered Min-jun toward another Gate.
A brilliant luminescence erupted momentarily, followed by the appearance of a painfully recognizable environment.
It was the ordinary vista of a textbook D-rank Gate, just as Min-jun remembered from the past.
The eerie precision with which the past had been resurrected sent a deep chill down his spine.
While Min-jun stood in a daze, the timeline of the past marched forward without pause.
“Let’s see here. This Gate is infested with kobolds.”
“Kobolds, coupled with this standard terrain and layout… isn’t this essentially the dictionary definition of a D-rank Gate?”
“Exactly. Let’s finish this swiftly. We also have a birthday girl among us today; she needs to wrap up and celebrate.”
Familiar chatter that he had heard once before echoed through the party.
Hearing the mention of a birthday, Min-jun turned his eyes toward Sia.
He caught sight of Sia flashing a shy grin, matching the exact image stored in his memory.
“A very happy birthday to you once again.”
“Thank you so much!”
“Hunting in a Gate alongside your boyfriend on your special day? If it were up to me, I’d skip the dungeon today and spend every second enjoying his company.”
Listening to the female Hunter’s remark, Min-jun felt the hairs along his arms stand on end.
Those words reopened a deep, burning regret branded into his soul like permanent ink.
If only he had argued harder back then, urging Sia to postpone the expedition because of her birthday.
Had he done so, that catastrophe would never have claimed her life.
Regardless of Min-jun’s inner turmoil, the surrounding banter rolled on without interruption.
“No kidding. I’ve never seen anyone spend their birthday on a Gate date before. You two are heading out on the real date the second we clear this, right?”
“Of course we are. To be honest, oppa and I planned to visit a wonderful spot afterward. Isn’t that right, oppa?”
“Ah, right…”
Prompted by Sia’s inquiry, Min-jun gave a numb nod and spoke mechanically.
Every single aspect playing out before his senses was an illusion.
A phantom constructed solely to reenact past occurrences.
The genuine Sia had already shattered the boundaries of reality to return to him, and she was waiting outside for his safe exit from this Gate.
Aware of that reality beyond any shadow of a doubt, Min-jun felt an urge to shout in fury, commanding the illusion to stop dragging him through this trauma.
Yet.
“Oppa. Are you… feeling unwell today?”
Oblivious to the storm raging inside him, Sia fixed her gaze on Min-jun with genuine worry.
Even with the knowledge that she was merely a phantom, Min-jun could never find the cruelty to speak harshly to her.
“No. I’m fine.”
“Don’t lie to me. Even before we walked into the Gate, you seemed completely disconnected. Are you coming down with something?”
“…”
Min-jun’s voice caught in his throat.
There was no explanation he could offer.
He could hardly confess that he had arrived from 1 year in the future, bearing the foreknowledge of the devastation awaiting them in just a few short hours.
“Hmm… oppa, if your body hurts, please don’t overexert yourself. Just because it’s my birthday doesn’t mean I want you suffering through illness. If it’s too much, head straight home to sleep once we finish.”
“I’m alright. My mind was just wandering, that’s all.”
Min-jun offered an ambiguous reply, prompting another Hunter to chime in between them.
“Could it be that your man is racking his brain over what surprise present to give you?”
“Oh, that makes so much sense!”
“Hey now, don’t tease him like that. Look at Hunter Min-jun turning red because you figured it out.”
“Ah, the sweetness of young love. My wife and I were exactly like that during our newlywed days.”
A fellow Hunter, utterly blind to Min-jun’s inner torment, chuckled heartily while patting him on the back.
“Alright, that’s enough chatting. Let’s finish up so these two can head out on their date without delay.”
The squad commander rallied the rest of the Hunters, and the entire team initiated the raid wrapped in high spirits.
Did any of them possess a clue?
None of them could fathom the tragedy awaiting them merely an hour away.
Grasping a creature-locating tool, the squad leader paved the way toward the territory where the kobolds gathered.
Meanwhile, Sia clutched Min-jun’s left hand tightly, softly humming a tune as she kept pace with the group.
“Oppa. What should we have for dinner afterward?”
Her voice overflowed with eager anticipation for their evening after the expedition, her eyes shining as she inquired about their meal.
This moment, too, belonged to the tapestry of memories Min-jun retained.
He strained his mind to remember how he had answered on that distant day.
When he had told her whatever she craved was fine, Sia had cheekily suggested tteokbokki—and upon hearing that, he had replied that they ought to dine on something far more lavish and grand given the occasion.
Recalling their lighthearted conversation back then, completely blind to the horror looming over them, Min-jun clamped his eyelids shut.
Phoo.
“…How about tteokbokki?”
“Really? Truly? That sounds amazing! Let’s see… I found this upscale, special tteokbokki restaurant roughly 10 minutes by car from this Gate. We should go there! How does that sound?”
Hearing an answer so entirely true to Sia’s personality, a tidal wave of grief crested inside him, causing moisture to blur his sight before he could stop it.
“Oppa, are tears coming out?”
“No. A speck of dust got caught in my eye.”
“Hmm. Whatever you say, you’ve been acting bizarre all day, oppa. If you’re going through something difficult, you have to talk to me. Deal?”
Gazing up into Min-jun’s eyes, Sia placed a tender kiss upon his cheek, telling him to stay strong before picking up her pace once more.
That touch felt so agonizingly real that an overwhelming sorrow tore through Min-jun’s chest, leaving him trailing behind her with a fractured heart.
‘Why is this double dungeon forcing me to relive this exact day?’
He desperately needed to uncover the rationale behind this trial so he could conquer the stage and proceed, or conclude the dungeon altogether.
Regardless of how intensely he contemplated it, no solution presented itself.
While Min-jun remained trapped within his spiraling thoughts.
“Kobold pack spotted at eleven o’clock! Weapons ready!”
The squad commander’s shout tore through the air.
Instantly, the kobolds—mere D-rank fiends—surfaced, immediately descending into disarray the second they caught wind of the hunters.
This confrontation, too, matched his recollections step for step.
He wrestled with whether he should let the skirmish follow the timeline of the past, or introduce a disruption to alter how it played out.
Before he could resolve his dilemma, the clash commenced.
Observing the progression of events, it seemed wisest to mirror the pacing of 1 year ago for the time being.
‘Does that mean my physical capabilities have reverted to what they were then as well?’
He needed to confirm that reality immediately.
Darting forward with fluid speed, Min-jun unleashed Dragon Fear.
Provided his power had not been stripped back to what it was 1 year ago, Dragon Fear was bound to take hold.
The moment Min-jun projected Dragon Fear, every kobold instantly foamed at the mouth, writhing in violent spasms before collapsing unconscious onto the dirt.
Naturally, his squad mates, completely ignorant of Dragon Fear, could only stare in shock.
“Leader! What happened to them?”
“I can’t tell. But—whatever the cause, this is our opening to strike!”
Because Min-jun wielded capabilities vastly superior to what he had possessed 1 year ago, events rapidly diverged from the original timeline.
Put simply, while the world surrounding him was an exact replication of what had occurred 1 year ago.
The strength Min-jun possessed was entirely his current, elevated power.
‘That makes navigating this scenario even more perplexing.’
His thoughts spun in circles once again.
Nevertheless, in this immediate moment, Min-jun had no choice but to swing his weapon.
“Incredible. Hunter Min-jun, are you honestly… just a D-rank?”
“You aren’t some secret villain concealing your true strength from the world, right? That idea gives me the chills.”
The hunt unfolded along the exact progression of the past.
The lone discrepancy lay in the sheer might Min-jun displayed, demonstrating the overwhelming prowess of an A-rank Hunter that left his companions utterly stunned.
“Oppa. Since when did you become this powerful…? You feel like an entirely different person compared to the last time I saw you fight!”
The illusory Sia, wearing the face of her past self and possessing no knowledge of the truth, expressed pure astonishment.
“This has to be a sudden second awakening or a miracle of some kind. You need to register for a rank reassessment the moment we return. I’m certain you’ll rank at least B-rank, if not higher.”
“Seriously, congratulations!”
The remaining members joined in, showering Min-jun with genuine praise and applause.
Their astonishment was only natural, considering that in their perception, Min-jun was nothing more than a standard D-rank Hunter.
Min-jun offered brief, polite evasions before sinking back into contemplation.
He wracked his brain trying to unravel the true purpose behind this level since his arrival, yet nothing made sense.
Furthermore—no unexpected developments had occurred.
A terrible realization struck him: he might remain trapped within this illusion indefinitely, unable to ever discover an exit.
A sudden wave of dread washed over Min-jun.
What if he was doomed to spend the remainder of his days confined inside an alternate reality where Sia had never fallen, living out her days upon Earth as an ordinary human?
All while the Sia he truly cherished, reincarnated into the form of a dragon, waited for him across another realm, left behind because he remained locked within a Gate from which he would never return.
And this version of him would simply love Sia through the mundane routine he had once envisioned, marry her, navigate an ordinary existence, and meet an ordinary demise.
Gradually forgetting every trial and memory he had experienced up to this point.
Just as Min-jun’s dread began to consume him entirely.
“Wait, isn’t that… smoke rising?”
The dreadful memory from 1 year ago began to materialize once more.
The vision of the catastrophic blaze that had extinguished Sia’s life had returned.
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