Meanwhile, the awakened individuals within the top 10 ranks who went to Busan were speechless with bewilderment.
“So… this was deemed so incredibly unique that it warranted calling all of us here. Is that what you’re saying?”
The grand bridge, which should have been congested with passing cars, was quiet due to the gate.
In the middle of the bridge, with no cars passing, stood only the awakened individuals within the top 10 ranks and staff from the Busan branch of the Dungeon Management Bureau.
Upon hearing Ban Eun-hyeol’s murmur, the faces of the Dungeon Management Bureau staff turned pale.
And rightly so, as even in their view, the gate on the bridge wasn’t significant enough to summon all high-ranking awakened.
“Shouldn’t we go up there and overturn this whole thing?!”
When Eun Ha-su raised his voice, the Dungeon Management Bureau staff huddled together, pressing their lips shut and exchanging nervous glances.
“Gates appear in the air sometimes, and on the ground sometimes… This isn’t a joke.”
Yeon Ha-yeon mumbled irritably, pressing her hand to her forehead.
The awakened individuals stared at the gate that had appeared on the road, like a large hole.
The Dungeon Management Bureau had given the reason, “Until now, gates only appeared in the air, but this is the first time a gate has occurred on the ground, so we don’t know what dangers it might pose.”
This was why they had to travel the long distance from Seoul to Busan.
Ji Gang-han merely ran a hand through his hair without any change in expression, but the atmosphere was unsettling, and Han Ji-bin’s face was uncharacteristically distorted.
“Boss, let’s head up now. The Dungeon Management Bureau will handle this, right?”
Yeon Hyeong-gwang spoke to the Dungeon Management Bureau staff with a friendly smile.
But there seemed to be a sharp edge hidden in his voice.
“Ah, I thought I could finally play after the exams!”
Baek Ji-woo, who hadn’t even studied, shouted in despair as if he were a student who had studied hard and finally gained freedom.
James and Cha Hyeon-seo were merely sighing, watching the students furiously expressing their anger and frustration to the Dungeon Management Bureau staff.
They too found the situation utterly absurd, but for now, it seemed their priority was to calm them down and get them back to Seoul safely.
The Four Heavenly Kings, the Yeon siblings, Eun Ha-su, and Baek Ji-woo, finally calmed down and turned their gaze to Do Yi-hyun, who had been standing quietly since earlier.
“Aren’t you angry, Hyung?”
“Hmm, well…”
“Hmm, well?”
“Not particularly.”
“Wow, I knew this Hyung was quiet, but I didn’t know he’d be quiet even at a time like this.”
Baek Ji-woo looked at Do Yi-hyun, who was peacefully gazing at the sea, as if he were a strange phenomenon.
One of the Dungeon Management Bureau staff, emboldened by Do Yi-hyun’s lack of anger, nervously opened his mouth.
“Um… that’s not all. If you go inside, you’ll see that…”
As the awakened individuals, their faces grimly hardened, all stared at the staff member, he added the reason, “It doesn’t seem like a typical dungeon, and the inside of the dungeon is entirely surrounded by magic stones.”
He had only added one more thing, but due to the menacing atmosphere exuded by the awakened individuals, he couldn’t bring himself to explain any other reasons.
The staff member sighed deeply in resignation and backed away, putting distance between himself and the awakened.
Exchanging glances, the awakened individuals eventually decided to all enter the dungeon and come out.
The Dungeon Management Bureau hadn’t entirely lied; there were no monsters, only magic stones, so they couldn’t find a way to close the gate.
“Isn’t this like a bonus stage, or something?”
As a result of their brainstorming, prompted by Yeon Hyeong-gwang’s single remark, they concluded that the dungeon would only close if all the magic stones were mined.
The awakened individuals, from rank 1 to 10, rolled up their sleeves and began to personally mine the magic stones.
Bang! Bang!
It was hard to tell if this was the sound of mining magic stones or completely destroying the dungeon.
The Dungeon Management Bureau staff watched with anxious hearts as the awakened individuals threw themselves into the laborious task.
“Hey, everyone move!”
The awakened individuals, who had been scattered here and there, quickly gathered in one spot at Eun Ha-su’s command.
Eun Ha-su cast his main skill, Summon Black Flame Dragon.
Soon, a black flame dragon, resembling a long Eastern dragon, burst forth from his right arm, vigorously swinging its tail and striking the walls covered in magic stones.
A considerable amount of magic stones shattered and fell to the ground with each movement.
“Ah…!”
“Those… they can be properly collected, right…?”
A Dungeon Management Bureau staff member, overwhelmed, clutched the back of his neck as he watched not only the black flame dragon but also fire, water, wind, and earth spirits flying around.
“Don’t worry about collection. I can take care of all of it.”
James, who had overheard the staff’s conversation, said confidently and winked.
Behind him, Cha Hyeon-seo was shaking his head, his hand on his forehead.
Indeed, just as they had surmised, once all the magic stones were mined, the gate disappeared without a trace, as if it had never ominously opened its maw.
The awakened individuals continued to let out bitter laughs of dismay but no longer showed irritation.
Thanks to this, they had gained significant spoils.
The atmosphere among them brightened instantly at James’s suggestion: since they had come all this way, why not sightsee in Busan before heading back up?
However, the bright atmosphere quickly dissipated.
It was due to the news being reported on LED screens all over Busan.
An S-rank gate had appeared in the skies over Seoul.
Not just any rank, but S-rank.
A gate of a rank that had never appeared before had occurred while they were all down in Busan.
Currently, there were almost no awakened individuals in Seoul capable of entering an S-rank gate, with the exception of Yi-hwan.
There was no way of knowing where ‘Nada’ was or what she was doing, so I couldn’t prematurely hope that she would appear at the S-rank gate.
“Damn it!”
Anxious voices erupted from everywhere.
They hurriedly booked the fastest train tickets to Seoul.
‘Could Lee Dana, that kid, really not do something reckless?’
Ban Eun-hyeol bit his fingernails in nervousness.
Then, he spotted Do Yi-hyun sitting calmly across from him.
“Aren’t you worried?”
At his words, Do Yi-hyun’s closed eyes slowly opened. His eyes were deeply沉.
“I am.”
It was a short answer.
Ban Eun-hyeol and Do Yi-hyun, each worried about the same person in their own way, headed back up to Seoul.
***
“Let’s go out.”
I had rushed in thinking it was an S-rank gate, but since it was only A-rank, there was no reason to stay here.
Currently, I was also A-rank, making it difficult to conquer the dungeon alone, and most importantly, since it was reported as an S-rank gate, the outside was covered with reporters and curious civilians.
‘Besides, I don’t know when people will arrive. Even if it’s a waste, it’s right to give up on this dungeon.’
I turned around and walked back towards the gate I had entered.
My hands felt sweaty just thinking about how everyone’s eyes would be on me when I exited.
All I wanted was to get out, hide myself, and quickly return home.
“Huh? What is it?”
But the gate, which had been visible just moments ago, was nowhere to be seen.
The surroundings were completely flat, so I thought I might have taken the wrong direction.
However, even after turning in a full circle in place, the gate still wasn’t visible.
A chilling, ominous premonition suddenly swept down my spine.
Had the gate perhaps closed?
Would I have to conquer the dungeon alone to get out?
Before all sorts of thoughts could spiral out of control, a blue status window appeared.
[ERROR, ERROR]
[An error has occurred inside the dungeon.]
[As an emergency measure, the gate will be forcibly closed.]
“What is this talking about now?”
My eyes widened at the familiar status window, the familiar situation.
I quickly averted my gaze from the status window and looked around the dungeon.
Perhaps this place might be similar to the cave-shaped dungeon I entered when I transmigrated.
An error occurring meant that there might be a door to cross dimensions somewhere.
At least, that’s how it seemed to me.
“Bishap, Red.”
[Wow! A dungeon!]
[Did you call, My Lord?]
Red and Bisharp appeared at my call, inhaling the dungeon’s air deeply and flying through the air.
“Fly around and tell me if you find anything even slightly strange or noticeable.”
[Understood!]
The two dragons answered simultaneously, instantly growing in size and taking flight with powerful wing beats.
I decided to survey the place in my own way.
But no matter how fast I moved, there were no strange parts to be seen, not even monsters.
‘How far does this field stretch?’
I was still traversing the vast field, wondering if it would ever end, when for the first time, I discovered a cliff.
I quickly stopped running.
The cliff was low. It was short enough to go down with a single jump, so I quickly went down.
[Did you find anything?]
I asked the two dragons, who had flown in different directions from me, and received the answer that they hadn’t found anything yet.
I called both of them to my location.
Bisharp and Red, now small in size, flapped their tiny wings beside me and carefully examined the cave in front of us.
[There’s something inside.]
[Let’s go in quickly and get rid of it!]
Red, much more excited than Bisharp, flew forward first.
I cautiously followed behind.
The cave was small and damp.
Perhaps because the dungeon was in the form of a cave when I first transmigrated, my heart pounded with the feeling that I might be able to return to my original dimension.
Would the dungeon’s terrain change again like before?
Would a status window indicating a dimension boundary error appear, like when I transmigrated?
I was walking carefully and slowly, preparing for a situation that could suddenly change, when…
Amidst the darkness, I heard murmuring from the opposite side.
My steps immediately halted.
‘Who is it?’
Had some awakened individuals already entered?
Was it because they had already defeated the monsters that I hadn’t seen any?
My mind raced.
It would be troublesome if I were caught entering here.
I immediately turned around and tried to exit the cave.
“Oh? Lee Dana?”
My body stiffened at the sound of my name.
That voice, it was a voice too familiar to my ears.
“What?! It’s really Lee Dana?!”
“Hey! Everyone come here! We found Nada!”
“Nada?!”
Starting with a familiar person’s hesitant murmur, the cave quickly became noisy, and familiar faces pushed through the darkness, revealing themselves.
They were my comrades, lost in the dungeon just before I transmigrated.
“It’s really her?!”
The people who found me covered their mouths, looking at me with disbelief.
I was just as flustered by this situation.
But I was currently transmigrated into a frail, tiny body, so how did they recognize me?
It was strange.
It was astonishing enough to suddenly meet my comrades like this, but for them to recognize me at a glance, despite me being in a different body, went beyond surprise; it felt somehow odd.
I stared blankly at the faces of the people surrounding me, then spread out my hands.
My hands, scarred from neglecting injuries, were the first thing I saw.
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