Sitting dazed on the hospital corridor floor, Eun Gilsu snapped back to reality at the sound of his son’s voice.
Looking around, he saw patients, guardians, and medical staff expressing endless gratitude to Eun Bada, tears of relief streaming down their faces as they thanked her for being alive.
Eun Gilsu slowly got up and took steps toward one end of the corridor.
When the gate first appeared, this corridor had clearly been a bridge, and if you walked straight that way, you’d reach land.
‘There were definitely people running toward the land.’
Since the monsters only came from the sea, the land must have been safe.
Though he hadn’t been able to cross the broken bridge himself, if he had just reached the land, he probably could have survived on his own even without Eun Bada’s power.
Maybe he could have even figured out another way to close the gate.
“Father?”
Ignoring his son’s cautious call once again, Eun Gilsu moved toward the direction where the land had been.
Tap—
His steps quickened until he was running.
‘Who are those people?’
He spotted a couple of patients frantically running toward the land ahead and hurried over.
They looked unharmed, so they must not have been attacked by the Sea Dragon.
He intended to ask if they had found a gate exit without having to kill the boss monster.
“Why do you keep catching my eye?”
“Why do you keep bothering me like this?”
As he got closer, the couple’s conversation—or rather, the man’s one-sided rant—became audible, and Eun Gilsu’s pace slowed.
‘Are they even a couple?’
They looked no older than high schoolers.
The peculiar atmosphere between the two youthful-looking boys and girls made him feel like he shouldn’t get any closer.
They already seemed lost in their own world.
After a brief hesitation, Eun Gilsu moved on.
“If it’s alright, I want to ask something quickly.”
“You worry about people too much… What’s with you?”
When the man had been tenderly scolding the girl out of concern just moments ago, he now reverted to the rebellious image of a teenage boy, frowning sharply as he turned to look at Eun Gilsu.
But the man’s mood suddenly shifted.
The moment his eyes landed on Eun Bada standing behind Eun Gilsu, the man’s brusque tone softened, and he began to speak politely.
“What do you want?”
“You guys, when you got caught in the gate earlier, didn’t you cross the bridge and reach the land?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“There were no monster attacks on land, right? Did you see anything like a gate before? Before killing the boss monster, I mean.”
As Eun Gilsu kept adding questions, Eun Bada’s expression darkened bit by bit behind him.
Watching his father still cling to the belief that the gate was just a temporary anomaly and that there must be a way out by thinking it through made her chest tighten.
Ignoring how his son must be feeling, Eun Gilsu pressed the students for answers with a sharp look.
But the answers he wanted didn’t come.
The boy laughed dryly, exchanged glances with the girl beside him, then answered with a slight sneer.
“Do you think dungeons are some kind of game? You go to a safe zone to avoid monster attacks and find the exit? If Brother Bada hadn’t killed the boss monster, we’d have all been slaughtered in the gate.”
“That’s right. There were monsters on land too. We ran to avoid them and thought we’d die, but just in time, the Four Heavenly Kings appeared.”
The blunt reply shook Eun Gilsu’s legs, making him stagger.
He slowly turned his head to look at the people running toward the land.
At first, only the unharmed couple caught his eye, but now he saw some injured patients as well.
They seemed to have been attacked before the arrival of the Four Heavenly Kings and Yeon Ha-yeon.
“Father, for now, leave the situation to us and the Dungeon Management Bureau, and get yourself checked out first—”
“No.”
With a firm snap, the hospital director’s office door shut, and Eun Bada, looking heavy-hearted, turned her back to the closed door.
***
‘Ugh, this is suffocating.’
As soon as the gate closed, we all exhaled in unison, quietly witnessing the scene unfold.
Eun Bada’s father was stubborn beyond measure.
Not everything in this world can be solved by the brains of smart people alone.
Even though his son had awakened a special ability to protect people from the gate and the monsters, he seemed unwilling to accept it.
“Looks like this one incident won’t change his mind.”
Ji Kanghan shook his head slowly, muttering.
“No, if the son he had ignored hadn’t been here, you’d have died. And yet he still won’t change his mind?”
“Wasn’t that really close? If it were me, I’d have immediately trusted and supported Eun Bada. I wouldn’t even nag about studying.”
Yeon Ha-yeon and I, seeing this for the first time, couldn’t understand the situation and asked sharply.
Han Ji-bin nodded as if to understand, his voice sinking low.
“Because he’s someone who’s lived thinking that studying is everything. It’s been the family atmosphere for generations, so maybe it’s natural for Bada’s father to react like that.”
“Frustrating.”
Just thinking about how many people Eun Bada had saved, having witnessed the whole ordeal, yet his father still refused to relent…
I could only sigh deeply.
At that moment, Eun Bada approached us with a faint smile.
Her smile was stronger than usual, as if she was forcing it to hide her hurt.
“You all purposely didn’t step in, right? Thanks. I guess there’s nothing more for us to do here now, so let’s go.”
“Huh? Ah, yeah.”
Not even bothering to ask if she was alright, we decided not to mention the whole incident at all.
Trying to keep the mood light, we quickly changed the subject and hurried out of the hospital.
***
Afterwards, hoping for some change, Eun Bada still pushed herself to the point of nosebleeds from studying.
Thanks to that, a school-shaking incident occurred.
“They want to move the exam earlier, guys…”
“Isn’t it so Bada can rest even a little bit sooner?”
“If Bada collapses, will the teacher take responsibility?”
Led by some of the tearful female students who worried excessively about Eun Bada, a protest was held in front of the faculty office.
They weren’t asking to delay exams to study more—they wanted the exams to be moved up.
The teachers, baffled by this unprecedented demand, tried to calm the girls down.
But the girls’ anxiety and anger were unstoppable.
“This is crazy. Asking to move the exam earlier, does that even make sense?”
“Even Yeon Ha-yeon studies fine without a single nosebleed, and she’s only ranked third in the school…”
The boys’ frustrations boiled over.
It was only natural—they complained that Eun Bada was overdoing it when Yeon Ha-yeon, ranked first, studied just as hard without issues.
Though I understood their frustration, I couldn’t tolerate them insulting my friend.
When I shot them a fierce glare, the boys quickly shut their mouths.
Eun Bada was studying with her earphones on, seemingly oblivious to the chaos.
The protest continued until the day before the midterms.
Then, on the morning of the first day of exams, the noisy scene outside the faculty office fell silent.
“It’s finally a bit quieter.”
Han Eun-hyeol muttered irritably the moment he got to school.
Our classroom faced the faculty office, so it must have been a major nuisance.
“Rest up after the exams. Get some sleep too.”
“Hm… I’ll think about it.”
“Think? If you get another nosebleed, those girls will have a truckload of complaints for you.”
“Haha, I feel bad because everyone worries about me so much.”
Eun Bada gave an embarrassed smile, scratching her cheek.
No matter how hard she studied, she wouldn’t get out of third place.
Still, seeing her dedication, even though she’s my friend, I couldn’t help but admire her.
“Good luck on the test!”
I usually don’t give that kind of encouragement, but I really hoped she’d do well and whispered it quietly before the exam began.
“Thanks. You too.”
Eun Bada mouthed back, smiling as she turned forward.
But I felt sharp eyes on me from the side.
“Good luck.”
“You too.”
It was Han Eun-hyeol.
After exchanging brief encouragements, the first midterm exam of senior year began.
***
Slurp—
The sound of sucking a drink to the bottom through a straw echoed.
Right after the exam, I entered the café run by Do I-hyun and the awakened barista we had planned to meet.
Without delay, I gulped down my drink.
“Did you mess up the test?”
Do I-hyun, who hadn’t taken a sip yet, asked cautiously as he watched me focus on my drink.
You’ve got to drink it while it’s cold to enjoy it.
If the ice melts, it doesn’t quite give that quick energy boost.
Feeling drained more than usual during this exam period, I had deliberately come here, and now my eyes turned to Do I-hyun’s drink as well.
“Want some?”
“Thanks.”
After finishing the second drink, I finally felt back to normal.
Do I-hyun was staring at me with his chin in his hand.
His gaze felt heavy, so I distracted myself by fiddling with the ice cubes in my cup.
Suddenly, a question popped into my mind.
“I want to ask you something.”
“What is it?”
Just as I was about to open my mouth, the café door opened and a familiar yet unfamiliar man walked in.