Chapter 335

The wave that swept Seo Jehyun away in an instant briefly raised the sea level before soon growing calm again. With no wind blowing either, the surface of the water was perfectly still. Im Haekyung looked over the dark water and estimated the time.

The water splashing against the tips of their feet was bothersome, yet at the same time, it also felt welcome. That was because the periods called daytime in this place had been considerably painful. During the day, it inflicted burning pain, and at night, it swept people away in enormous waves and made them fully experience their trauma.

'I can’t tell whether it was made to make people wait for the night more eagerly, or to make them feel that the day was still better....' ℯℯ𝘭.

One thing was certain. As the two repeated, the mind would gradually wear down. Under ordinary circumstances.

Looking at the now-calm water, Im Haekyung pictured what would happen next.

The reason Seo Jehyun had found this Dungeon was clear. To imprison Kwon Taehan. His hostility toward Kwon Taehan was too faint to call it a personal grudge, so there truly had to be some kind of objective behind it.

'Because he wants to provoke God?'

That was the reason Seo Jehyun had given. Digging a little deeper made it possible to derive several hypotheses. If Kwon Taehan was directly connected to the ‘cataclysm,’ and furthermore was a clue to resolving the world’s destruction, then temporarily isolating Kwon Taehan alone would inevitably affect the flow of the world.

At the very least, Im Haekyung could tell that such a moment would come in the future.

Im Haekyung trusted Seo Jehyun’s principles of action, at least. Seo Jehyun was not the kind of person who would force himself to do something he had no interest in merely as a bluff.

'And there are things I’ve seen with my own eyes.'

If it would resolve the questions Im Haekyung had carried for a lifetime, then this much... was certainly tolerable.

Feeling the flow of mana gradually strengthen, Im Haekyung looked up at the sky. The sight of the enormous moon hanging there felt somehow unreal. However, Im Haekyung did not feel any sense of incongruity at the sight. They had already entered and left countless Dungeons.

At that moment, the previously still water began to ripple subtly. Im Haekyung watched the vibration, then stepped into the water as though gliding.

It was time to go rescue someone who was not in danger.

The calm water dragged a person beneath the surface in an instant. Im Haekyung relaxed their body without feeling any particular need to float back up.

A moment later, their vision suddenly brightened, and a scene similar to the one they had encountered the previous day appeared. Seo Jehyun looked not much different from how he did now. He was about the same height, though his build was subtly smaller.

Across from Seo Jehyun, who was neatly dressed in a school uniform, sat a man in a suit.

“Hello, Secretary Kim. You came in his place again today.”

“Yes. The CEO is busy.”

“It doesn’t matter.”

Seo Jehyun grinned while looking at his plate, then raised only his eyes to look at the secretary. The secretary watched Seo Jehyun for a moment, then gathered several documents and placed them in front of him. In front of Seo Jehyun, who resumed his meal as though nothing had happened, the secretary continued explaining calmly.

“The incident you caused at school this time... was settled through an agreement. We also received a nondisclosure agreement. Fortunately, nothing was posted on social media, and there are no electronic records left behind, so this should be sufficient.”

“I already settled with him privately.”

“We don’t know when he might try to use it against you. And when I met that student... he didn’t seem to think the matter had been settled.”

“Mm, just to explain, it was mutual. I didn’t beat him up one-sidedly. We fought.”

At those words, the secretary turned a page and held out a hospital diagnosis in front of Seo Jehyun.

“It’s a fight if you’re in the same weight class. Otherwise, it’s violence.”

“Is that so? Strange. He said he liked me.”

“.......”

“We even went to the hospital together... how fickle.”

Frowning, Seo Jehyun wiped his hands, accepted the documents, and flipped through them. His indifferent gaze rested on the paper for a moment before disappearing as he closed the file again. Handing the file back to the secretary, Seo Jehyun asked,

“What else?”

“...The CEO recommended that you study abroad.”

“Where?”

“You can choose wherever you want. An English-speaking country would be best.... Well, if you prefer, a neighboring country would be fine too.”

“Mm.”

When Seo Jehyun showed signs of considering it, the secretary held out several sets of documents organized into separate files.

“In order, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, and this one is the United States. If you’re considering transferring schools, the last three would be better. If you only plan to attend university, going somewhere in Europe would not be bad either. Ah, these are materials on studying in Japan that I prepared just in case.”

“I’m fucked. I don’t know shit about either English or Japanese.”

“Your English grades were good.”

“Aren’t school grades unrelated to actual experience?”

“You can learn once you go. Consider it positively. Perhaps living abroad would suit you better.”

At the secretary’s words, Seo Jehyun looked through the study-abroad materials one by one, then suddenly raised his eyes and looked at the secretary.

“Because he wants to get rid of me?”

“To be honest, that is his objective.”

“What if I don’t go?”

“The CEO will become angry. If that happens... it won’t be very good for you, Jehyun. No matter what, you’re still tied to him financially and on the family register.”

At those words, Seo Jehyun nodded, gathered all the files together, and held them out to the secretary.

“You can take them with you. You brought them here intending to do that in the first place.”

“I don’t need them because I’m not going.”

“That will make things difficult.”

“Why? Did the CEO say he was going to kill me?”

“He wouldn’t do that.”

Seo Jehyun held out the files with a grin and calmly continued his meal. Until he had emptied half his plate, Seo Jehyun simply ate in silence, and the secretary was the first to speak.

“Recently....”

“Ah, recently.”

“.......”

“I went to see Mother, and a whole crowd followed me. It’s not as though I was going there to stream live on InXtagram, so why are they watching me so closely?”

“I was going to tell you not to go there either. The CEO is concerned about appearances.”

“Isn’t visiting on every death anniversary the standard course of action?”

“We’ll make it an exception.”

After speaking firmly, the secretary hesitated for a moment before relaying CEO Choi’s words.

“The CEO was planning to dispose of the urn entirely... and I came after persuading him not to, so don’t go there for the time being. It’s still better for the urn to remain, isn’t it?”

“Understood.”

“You’ll listen, won’t you?”

“Yes.”

“And consider studying abroad.”

The secretary, who had barely touched the meal, soon gathered all the files with an uneasy expression and stood up first.

“Then I’ll leave first. I’ll pay on my way out, so order anything else you’d like to eat.”

“Yes, Secretary.”

“...And whenever possible, it would be better to listen to the CEO. Not for the CEO’s sake....”

“For my safety?”

“.......”

“So he really did consider killing me?”

Seo Jehyun asked as though testing the secretary, then turned his head and focused on his food. The secretary quietly watched Seo Jehyun before opening the door and leaving the room. Left alone, Seo Jehyun calmly finished his meal.

After that came a succession of similar scenes. Among them were people who had actually been hired to threaten him, but he never fell into a truly dangerous situation.

One interesting thing was that Seo Jehyun at that age had lived a far more regular life than expected. He woke up at a set time, went to school, studied, and slept. Seo Jehyun did not dwell much on his many past experiences, including the threats. Enough that even Im Haekyung felt a sense of incongruity.

For example, even after his life was threatened or someone poured intense anger onto him, the very next moment, he would be sitting at school as though nothing had happened.

'Is he still the same now?'

At that moment, their vision abruptly went completely dark.

A violent current surged once as though sweeping the entire scene away, overturning the situation as though everything were being readjusted.

And Im Haekyung knew instinctively.

'Does the trauma begin from here?'

Everything before this had been... considerably weak to call trauma. Of course, it was less that the events themselves were minor and more that Seo Jehyun’s reactions to them had been lukewarm.

What appeared after the wave swept through the deepest part was an enormous desert covered in black sand.

Thud.

A powerful vibration shook the ground as though the earth itself were trembling. Im Haekyung reflexively raised their head and saw something enormous floating in the air while pulling a carriage.

The moment Im Haekyung saw the three moons hanging in the sky, they realized it instinctively.

'This is inside a Dungeon.'

Then was this a past that could become trauma?

Seo Jehyun stood in the middle of the Dungeon with a severe injury to his abdomen, wrapping the area tightly with cloth. Judging by the absence of Potions or a healer, it seemed he had been inside the Dungeon for quite some time.

'S-rank?'

It was merely a reenactment of the situation, so Im Haekyung could not feel the exact amount of mana, but the Dungeon’s rank could be roughly inferred from what was visible alone.

At that moment, Seo Jehyun called a name in a quiet voice.

“Taehan.”

The sound of his voice made Im Haekyung’s nerves sharpen. Slowly lowering their gaze, they saw Kwon Taehan dying directly beneath Seo Jehyun.

Seo Jehyun felt around an area so soaked in blood that the exact location of the wound could not be identified, then spoke in a flat, calm voice.

“There was no other choice.”

“.......”

“But it’s the first time.”

At that moment, Im Haekyung realized this was not merely an injury.

'Did he stab him?'

With the intention to kill, Kwon Taehan, right now....

Im Haekyung frowned and carefully observed the situation. Seo Jehyun did not dig into or press down on the wound, nor did he seem to have any intention of saving Kwon Taehan or finishing him off entirely.

He merely gazed quietly at Kwon Taehan’s expression.

“How....”

Even after hearing Kwon Taehan’s voice scatter together with a gush of blood, Seo Jehyun gave no answer.

Seo Jehyun confirmed that Kwon Taehan was dead and slowly rose to his feet. For an instant, Im Haekyung had the illusion that their eyes had met. That should not have been possible in a space so completely separated.

Then Im Haekyung saw Seo Jehyun’s expression and frowned.

'Why?'

If this was a memory that could remain as trauma, should he not react more intensely? Cry, become angry, feel afraid... anything at all.

But Seo Jehyun was calm. As though something like this had already happened dozens of times. There had at least been a faint trace of interest just before Kwon Taehan died, but now he looked completely bored again.

It resembled the Seo Jehyun from his childhood that Im Haekyung had just seen.

That boredom was like a strange wall. As though something like this had happened many more times, and it was only natural. After killing someone, he did not despair or grieve. He merely seemed to be waiting for something....

The moment Im Haekyung realized that, they felt the separation of the space.

It was a tangible wall that seemed to confirm that the Dungeon where Seo Jehyun stood and the outside where Im Haekyung remained were completely divided, and that they could no longer interfere.

And it also felt like a wall within their relationship.

They could no longer interfere.

Why?

Because they were not close enough for that.

Im Haekyung placed a hand against the wall, then passed through it and entered as though stepping into water. There was no need to use another Skill.

This, too, was another person’s trauma. A mental barrier that had been built completely and thoroughly. There was no reason Im Haekyung should be unable to pass through it.

“Jehyun.”

Im Haekyung, submerged in Seo Jehyun’s ‘memory,’ called his name quietly. At those words, Seo Jehyun raised his head and slowly lifted the corner of his mouth as though there were not even the slightest confusion. As though he had known this would happen.

“Was now the right time?”

Seo Jehyun asked the strange question while staring at Im Haekyung, then immediately added,

“You came.”

Thud.

At Seo Jehyun’s words, the Dungeon collapsed in an instant. The moons in the sky crumbled, and the sand on the ground rippled and shook. Even the enormous figure standing behind him dissolved into foam and floated into the air.

Whoooosh—

Everything was swept away in an instant.

Im Haekyung reached out and firmly grabbed Seo Jehyun’s hand. As though imitating a savior.

Even so, they could not truly enter the past buried within that deep memory. And the moment Im Haekyung realized that, they felt very... displeased.