Chapter 07
When I opened my eyes, there was an unfamiliar ceiling above me.
I almost felt like I should say, “Where am I?” as if it were a scene from a cliché movie.
As I came to my senses, I found myself lying on a bed.
“Ugh, my head…”
Was it because I passed out from the overwhelming pressure? My head felt heavy, like the dull ache after a night of drinking.
I rubbed my face repeatedly to try to wake myself up.
Pulling off the blue blanket covering me, I slowly got up.
“Where am I now?”
The curtains were drawn, blocking my view of the surroundings.
But there was a faint smell of alcohol. Beyond the curtain, I could hear the bustling sound of people moving around.
“Is this a hospital?”
My shoes were neatly placed under the bed, and there didn’t seem to be anyone attending to me nearby.
Fixing my slightly disheveled hair, I got off the bed.
I figured I should step outside and ask someone about this place—where I was, how much time had passed, and other obvious questions.
As I walked out of the room, the hallway was bustling with people.
“Wait… is this not a hospital?”
It felt too cramped and sterile to be a hospital. It had a more administrative atmosphere.
I turned to look at the door I’d exited. A small nameplate read “Infirmary.”
“Excuse me…”
I quickly approached what looked like a reception desk and called out to the staff.
“Yes, if you’ve woken up, please head to that room over there.”
“Sorry, what?”
“Just head to that room.”
The staff, who was busy flipping through papers, glanced at me briefly before dismissively pointing behind me with a finger.
“But could you tell me where exactly—”
“Please save your questions for over there. Go to that room and ask.”
I barely got a sentence out before being interrupted. The staff seemed overwhelmed and impatiently gestured for me to leave.
What… What’s going on?
Feeling a bit awkward, I nodded slightly and turned around, heading to the room the staff had indicated.
Knock knock.
After a short knock, a voice from inside told me to enter.
The atmosphere inside the room was just as chaotic as the hallway. It was a crowded and noisy place.
“Hello…”
“Take a seat over here.”
When I greeted them, an expressionless staff member gestured for me to sit. Everyone there looked like they hadn’t slept in days.
“What’s your name?”
“Seojin. It’s a single character name.”
“Alright, one moment.”
The staff typed something for a moment, then pointed to a device on the desk.
“We need to verify your identity. Please place your thumb on the fingerprint scanner.”
Following their instructions, I placed my thumb on the scanner.
“By the way, I’m a little disoriented right now. Could you tell me today’s date and where I am?”
“The clock is right there, next to you.”
“Oh, thank you.”
As soon as I turned my head, I saw the clock.
I should’ve looked around a little more carefully earlier. With how chaotic the atmosphere was, I felt like my own head was getting chaotic, too.
Fortunately, it was a digital clock. Both the time and date were displayed.
It was around 3 PM.
And the date…
Huh?
The clock seemed off. Only three days had passed since I’d entered the dungeon.
How… How could that be possible?
I clearly spent an entire week inside that subspace.
Could time flow differently there?
It felt like I’d been hit on the head. How could there be such a significant time disparity?!
“And this is currently the Dungeon Management Department.”
The staff finally answered my question while keeping their eyes fixed on the computer.
The Dungeon Management Department.
It was a government facility that managed everything from civilians caught in dungeon incidents to hunters entering dungeons.
It seemed someone from the department had found me after I exited the dungeon.
The person who told me, “You can’t just lie here like this,” must’ve been one of the staff.
“Your identity has been verified. You can remove your finger now. By the way, you were in the infirmary before coming here, correct?”
“Huh? Oh, yes, the infirmary.”
Beep.
Hearing the small sound, I lowered my hand and listened to what the staff member had to say next.
“In your case, Seojin, our staff found you unconscious at the scene yesterday evening. Since there were no significant injuries, you were brought here.”
After explaining that I’d been unconscious for nearly a day, the staff continued with something more unsettling.
“We performed a basic examination here and found no major issues. If you’d like, you can visit a hospital later, but right now, there are no available hospital beds.”
Wait… No hospital beds?
What’s that supposed to mean?
“Was there some kind of incident?”
Did something big happen while I was stuck in that subspace? Confusion was written all over my face.
“If you scan the QR code with your phone over there, you’ll get an explanation and a survey.”
“Sorry, what?”
It seemed I wasn’t the only one asking these kinds of questions. The staff sighed lightly, as if they couldn’t explain it to every person.
“You can’t leave until you complete the survey. Too many people have been skipping it.”
I had so many questions, but the staff was already gesturing toward the person waiting behind me.
“Next person, please.”
When I turned around, I saw someone with a cast on one arm looking impatient, waiting for their turn.
“Come on, hurry up! We’re all busy as hell!”
The sharp remark came as I lingered in my spot. The tone felt oddly hostile.
The whole day, it felt like I was being tossed around here and there.
What in the world had happened…?
I trudged over to a corner, dragging my feet.
Sitting down, I pulled out my phone from my inventory. It was only after being told to scan the QR code that I remembered my phone existed.
The cracked screen greeted me, the damage from when I fell into the dungeon.
At least the battery hadn’t drained, thanks to being stored in my inventory.
I turned on the camera and scanned the oversized QR code printed on one of the walls.
Beneath it, in bold red letters, was a desperate plea asking people to please fill out the survey. Clearly, many hadn’t bothered to do so…
「Currently, dungeon gates have appeared throughout Seoul, resulting in numerous incidents involving citizens.」
The website the QR code led to explained the current situation.
Gulp. I couldn’t help but be shocked.
So, I wasn’t the only one who had gotten caught in a dungeon.
「This has led to emergency evacuations in areas surrounding the dungeons due to multiple gates appearing. Subsequently discovered…」
Multiple gates.
More terrifying than a dungeon break, these gates meant that multiple dungeons had formed at once, exponentially increasing the risk.
With a dungeon break, monsters only emerged from the gate itself, so guarding the entrance sufficed. But multiple gates meant dungeons were popping up in different locations simultaneously, creating a chaotic and dangerous situation.
I’d heard that some of these gates could be packed with high concentrations of monsters. If left unchecked, they could lead to dungeon breaks.
No wonder this building felt so disorganized. The Dungeon Management Bureau must’ve been overwhelmed.
And considering this was happening in Seoul… well, that explained everything.
So, had the situation calmed down a bit now?
I used my phone to search for news articles.
There were reports about the extent of the damage, the number of additional dungeon occurrences, and the responses being carried out.
Thankfully, many dungeons had already been cleared, thanks to the support of major guilds.
But…
There were also countless articles about Shin Yeoul.
「Rank 1, Shin Yeoul. Suddenly disappeared during emergency.」
「Guardian Guild Vice Captain, where is Shin Yeoul? Active until yesterday…」
「Day 3 of multiple gates, Rank 1 doesn’t show up before S-rank dungeon raid.」
Cold sweat started dripping as I kept scrolling.
Vanished. Not appearing. Disappeared. Various questions were listed.
I had been unconscious for barely a day, and within that time, Shin Yeoul had suddenly gone missing.
Don’t tell me…
Could this be my fault?
Seriously. Was it me?
[Currently, there is one outsider inside the subspace.
Would you like to view information about the outsider?
Yes | No]
As soon as I thought about the subspace, a system window appeared, as if in sync with my thoughts. I hurriedly chose to access the information about the external individual.
Just in case.
[Outsider Count (1 person)
Name: ���
Status: Unknown.
Due to an error, the subject’s name cannot be confirmed.]
Error? What do you mean, an error?
Following the glitching, static-filled text, nothing could be properly confirmed.
Wait. Then…
There’s no guarantee that the person in the subspace is Shin Yeoul, right?
It was possible. The person I saw in the subspace might just be someone who happened to look a lot like Shin Yeoul.
I mean, honestly, wasn’t it strange for a national hero to attack me like that? Right? Haha….
[Additional information provided as compensation for the error!
<Outsider Additional Information>
���
Rank: 1]
Wow, additional information.
So they’re Rank 1, huh.
This system sure is considerate.
[✧｡٩(ˊᗜˋ*)و✧*｡]
Don’t be so proud!
My attempted escape from reality failed thanks to the system window.
If they’re Rank 1, who else could it be? Denying it was pointless.
In the end, I closed my eyes tightly and opened them again. As expected, the message hadn’t changed.
Deep down, I already knew the answer.
Yeah. It’s me.
I silently screamed, clutching my head in despair.
The person who imprisoned the Rank 1 hunter… is me!
🌱
Thank you for reading! ♡
