Beep—beep—
The classroom became chaotic with an urgent emergency alert.
[Emergency Gate occurrence at Jangnam High School. Estimated Level 5. Nearby residents, please evacuate to a safe location immediately.]
After confirming the message, beyond the noisy classroom door, some students were seen quickly evacuating.
“Level 8 or maybe 7.”
“Isn’t this another scam like last time?”
“Hey! Jangnam High School is gone!”
No one could believe that a Level 5 Gate had occurred because of the Dungeon Management Bureau Director’s scam. Just then, someone pointed out the window and shouted.
The kids rushing to the window stared wide-eyed toward the direction where Jangnam High School had been swallowed by the Gate.
“…Is this for real?”
“But, wouldn’t it be safer if we stay here?”
The student who spoke looked toward us.
“Is it really Level 5? Seriously?”
I stared blankly at the massive emergency Gate, then shook myself awake and decided to rouse Ji Ganghan, who was sleeping in front of me.
“Hey, hey! Ji Ganghan!”
Ji Ganghan, who had been dozing all day, stirred sluggishly at my voice, looking around the classroom uncertainly.
After a moment of assessing the situation, his expression hardened and he jumped up.
“Let’s go together!”
Without a word, Ji Ganghan hurried out of the classroom, and we followed after him.
Han Jibin quickly urged the class to evacuate safely before following behind.
[Hwan (6): This is a real situation. All nearby Awakened, please come to Jangnam High School immediately.]
While we ran at full speed, Hwan’s chat message popped up before our eyes.
After reading it, Ji Ganghan sped up.
This was the first Level 5 Gate to appear.
Everyone was tense and silent, glancing at Ji Ganghan with worried eyes.
It seemed we were all thinking the same thing.
‘Is Jiseongbin going to be okay?’
Since the entire school was swallowed whole, we couldn’t predict what was happening inside.
And since it was the first Level 5, it might be unlike anything we had experienced before.
When we arrived at Jangnam High School, we looked around the area.
Some Awakened had come rushing upon hearing that the emergency Gate had swallowed the school, but due to the level of the Gate, the lower-ranked ones couldn’t enter first.
“Hey! What are you trying to do going in there?”
At that moment, Yeon Hayeon stopped Ji Ganghan, who was about to rush into the Gate, scolding him.
“Step aside.”
Ji Ganghan’s eyes had already gone wild because of his younger sister.
Even his low voice held force, but Yeon Hayeon didn’t budge and tightened her grip on his hand.
Of course, everyone here was a high-level Awakened, but first, we planned to move with the remaining high-level Awakened like Do Ihyeon, Cha Hyunseo, and Baek Jiwoo.
“It’s the first-ever Level 5. At least until the others arrive…”
While Yeon Hayeon was trying to stop Ji Ganghan, suddenly—
“Everyone!”
A huge lifeform rapidly approached from afar.
When I left the school, I had already sent Bisha and Rede to pick up the top ten Awakened who lived far away.
The Awakened riding with them quickly landed and cautiously looked toward the Gate with wary eyes.
Now, all the personnel needed to assault the Level 5 Gate had arrived.
After a brief Gate briefing, Hwan led the way into the Gate, and the rest hurried in after him.
“This is…”
“A Level 6 Gate?”
Everyone stammered in confusion at the scene before their eyes and glanced around.
Gates are known to randomly spawn in unique locations, often completely different from the original place of occurrence.
But this dungeon was the exact opposite—the surrounding environment had changed while the Gate had opened at its original location.
In an unfamiliar landscape, the Awakened who had rushed in immediately stopped in place.
Jangnam High School stood before us like an abandoned, eerie shell, and the sports field was cracked and barren, the grass wilted.
In the air floated what looked like dust or possibly burnt remnants of something.
Nearby streets and alleys were just as desolate.
It looked like Jangnam-dong had been transplanted here—but no people lived here anymore.
Instead, vines grew wildly, and cobwebs hung everywhere.
Grrrr—
Somewhere, a monster growled.
We walked on with heavy hearts, seeing people lying dead, victims of monster attacks.
“Seongbin! Jiseongbin!”
Ji Ganghan almost lost his mind and ran toward the school.
No one could stop his speed.
“Let’s form teams and move.”
At Ihwan’s suggestion, we divided the remaining people.
A team to explore inside the school and a team to scout outside.
I teamed up with Ban Eunhyeol, Cha Hyunseo, Eun Bada, Ihwan, Baek Jiwoo, and James and headed toward the school.
“Ugh… we have to be careful.”
Do Ihyeon nervously bit his lip and turned his back to me.
He wanted to join my team, but balancing the Awakened by skills and ability points ended with him left out. Ultimately, no one wanted to group Ban Eunhyeol and Do Ihyeon together.
“You guys should fight moderately.”
I watched his retreating back with regret and turned away.
The school was eerily quiet—so quiet that not a single student passed by.
Even Ji Ganghan, visible in the distance, kept silent, carefully searching for his sister, perhaps afraid his voice would attract monsters.
“Why is it so quiet?”
“We definitely heard monsters.”
We walked cautiously, confused.
Without a word, Cha Hyunseo gestured toward the hallway we had just passed.
Ssshh—
The wall stretched stiffly like bamboo and began to reveal the shape of a monster.
The creature pierced through the wall and stood before us.
‘Looks like there’s no going back to the original dimension here.’
Unlike the Level 5 Gate we had entered before, where no monsters were visible, this one gave a different feeling—and that was somewhat comforting.
It would be reckless to hope to live here indefinitely, but it was worse to suddenly return to the original dimension.
Kruaargh—!
The monster let out a loud roar and charged.
It looked like a faceless human with elongated arms but wielded power befitting a Level 5 dungeon and was not easy to kill.
“Skin like steel!”
“Look at its face splitting apart.”
Baek Jiwoo turned pale as he watched the monster’s face tear into five parts, with no eyes, nose, or mouth to be seen.
With Ban Eunhyeol and Cha Hyunseo’s fierce attacks combined with other Awakened’s strikes, the monster started to lose control.
Fortunately, there was only one, and with our combined assaults, we were close to cutting off its breath.
“Enough already.”
Ban Eunhyeol muttered irritably.
The long hallway walls trembled as more monsters began to burst out the same way.
The corridor quickly descended into hell, with monsters and Awakened tangled in battle, attacking one another.
I called forth my summoned soldiers to strike the monsters as best I could, but fighting while hiding my strength against so many was increasingly difficult.
Also, except for Heuk Woonbi, all other skills are ‘Nada’ type, and using them now would reveal my identity.
The bindings of the Aroom were considered my soldiers’ strength, so ‘Nada’ skills were recognized as different and were prioritized.
“Idiot! Don’t go far!”
While fighting monsters, I deliberately tried to retreat from this corridor.
I planned to hide, quickly put on my mask, and reappear.
“I was in a rush coming with the others, so no time to appear as Nada.”
Since Ban Eunhyeol, who didn’t know my identity, and the Four Heavenly Kings and Yeon Hayeon were present, I couldn’t use the mask openly, so I entered in my own form for now.
But seeing the situation, I felt we couldn’t delay any longer.
“Far… Kugh!”
Ban Eunhyeol shouted at me but barely blocked an attack from a monster charging behind.
There was no time to hesitate, so I quickly moved to the stairs, checked the surroundings, and pulled out my mask.
“The kids seem well hidden in the classrooms.”
Monsters only appeared in the corridors.
Peeking through classroom windows, students were hiding quietly beneath desks.
Seeing their frightened, trembling faces, I only thought of closing the Gate as soon as possible.
Ssm-grang—kkum—!
A monster smashed a hallway window and flew outside, crashing to the ground with a thud.
I flinched but quickly donned the mask and began searching from the upper floors.
‘Are monsters only appearing in the corridors where the Awakened gathered?’
I hurried through quiet hallways floor by floor, scanning for monsters. Just then—
“Dodge! Don’t be dumb, dodge quickly!”
Ji Ganghan’s urgent shout and a monster’s roar reached my ears.
I ran swiftly toward the sound.
Kwang—!
Opening the counseling room door, I saw Ji Ganghan barely holding his ground against a monster.
Behind him were a male student with a bloody face and Jiseongbin, tears streaming down his face.
My loud entrance made the monster turn toward me.
Without thinking, I gathered mana and summoned a blade, then threw it at the monster.
“Kaaah!”
sliced through the air and pierced the monster’s tough flesh right in the center of its forehead.
“N-Nada?”
Jiseongbin, startled by my appearance, hurriedly dragged the bleeding male student toward the back door of the counseling room.
“Go with the others.”
“It’ll be hard alone.”
“Go.”
While tracking Jiseongbin’s gaze, I also sent Ji Ganghan, who wanted to stay and finish off the monster with me, away.
Then, I launched a fierce assault on the paralyzed monster.
This monster was definitely different from the ones we had faced so far.
Maybe because it was Level 5, each monster was not easy to handle with ordinary skills.
Facing it alone made things even harder.
Gung—
With a loud cry, the monster finally collapsed.
Leaving the dead monster behind, I exited the counseling room and climbed to the rooftop.
First, I had to see what this dungeon looked like.
Without hesitation, I threw open the rooftop door and stepped out.
[! Warning!
Abnormal approach detected.]
[Environment (5) capable of removing Dimensional Boundary Error (5).]
[Beginning dimensional stabilization operation.]
In an instant, soft light flickered before my eyes, and an unforgettable window filled with unreadable text appeared repeatedly.