Chapter Text
Not long ago, the monotonous daily life in the familiar world came to an end with the sudden appearance of “Scenario”—the Star Stream, Dokkaebi, and constellations.
To ordinary people, it must have been bewildering—what on earth had happened?
Ordinary people might be confused, wondering what on earth was happening. But for those who’d read the novel ‘Three Ways to Survive the Apocalypse’, they understood immediately what had occurred.
That novel had become reality—emerging in the real world they lived in.
The corpses left behind after the conclusion of the “Main Scenario #1” was proof that everything was happening for real—and that humanity must accept this truth, as if it were the beginning of Apocalypse.
Three Ways to Survive the Apocalypse would proceed with what was called “Scenario”. Each Scenario comes with its own details, rewards, and punishments. People could only follow along as dictated.
And now, One of the most important Main Scenario in the Seoul Dome was about to begin: Main Scenario #10 – “73rd Demon King”
Yoo Joonghyuk and Kim Dokja, the Dark Castle Ranking 1 and 2, had the right to lead this Scenario. Each could bring along a select number of team members into the Scenario.
After discussing and organizing their teams, everyone set off to the site for Scenario #10, a white marble temple on a nearby hill.
However, as soon as they stepped onto the entrance steps, something strange happened.
Suddenly, A dome of red light materialized, enveloping the entire temple like a large dome. It was the Scenario’s boundary—impassable by force or high-level weapon.
A bright red alert window popped up in front of Kim Dokja and Yoo Joonghyuk, completely different from the usual blue notifications.
[Warning! A dimensional anomaly has been detected!]
[The area for the main Scenario #10 is in a state of temporal stasis.]
“What? The Scenario area is in a state of temporal stasis? Is that area frozen in time?” Kim Dokja opened the Scenario info window to verify. He noticed the original time limit—30 days—was gone, replaced by meaningless characters that flickered and scrambled unpredictably.
As the only reader of Three Ways to Survive the Apocalypse, Kim Dokja couldn’t recall such an event ever happening. He fell silent, pondering, then gathered everyone to discuss.
Suddenly, something drew their attention: a new blue-framed rectangle appeared, like a giant door, along with a new secret Scenario that pops up in front of everyone.
[Secret Scenario: Clear Dungeon ???]
Category: Secret
Difficulty: A
Clear Conditions: Eliminate all monsters in the dungeon
Time Limit: ???
Reward: ???
Penalty for Failure: ???
“Wait a minute, that kind of door— Is that a dungeon door? This plot feels familiar” Han Sooyoung commented. As a novelist, she knew what the popular fantasy novel plots were like these days. The young woman whispered to Kim Dokja.
“That plot, ‘Strange doors appear all over the world. People don’t know what they are or where they come from. Then one day, BOOM! A lot of monsters emerge from the door. A number of people awaken special power to fight them and become Hunters!’ Or what’s called a Hunter-Gate-Dungeon fantasy plot or something like that.”
“Ah, that’s the genre that was at the top of the list on the fantasy novel website where you posted your plagiarized novels” he replied.
"Hey! This guy! I told you I didn't plagiarize!"
"Oh…yes, I believe you," Kim Dokja replied perfunctorily. "In most plots, the world remains normal, with ordinary people still living their lives. Only awakened hunters have to fight monsters in the gate, right?”
Kim Dokja responded, “But TWSA is set in a Apocalyptic world. There’s no normal life here. Everyone has to use everything they have to survive."
"That's true, TWSA is a different plot. I just saw this style of door and thought of those novel plots," Han Sooyoung shrugged. "Perhaps that door accidentally connects to another world with that kind of plot. Who knows?"
"You have a great imagination."
Since the main scenario had mysteriously come to a standstill, the Dokkaebi seemed so preoccupied with the anomaly that they didn't bother to inform the avatars who were about to participate in Main Scenario #10.
Their only option now was to proceed with the secret scenario that had appeared.
"Given the current situation, I think we should enter this dungeon door to clear this secret scenario."
Kim Dokja said, glancing around at the members present. "We'll split into two groups. One group will enter the dungeon to proceed with the secret scenario, while the other group will stay here and observe the situation."
The team entering the dungeon consisted of Kim Dokja, Yoo Junghyuk, Han Sooyoung, Yoo Sangah, Lee Gilyoung, and Shin Yoosung.
They didn't take long to prepare before setting off through the blue gate. The atmosphere upon entering the gate was completely different from the outside.
A vast expanse of golden grassland, with scattered fragments of ruined temples visible. The air was hot, but there was an occasional breeze.
And most importantly,
[Warning! This area is beyond the reach of the Star Stream]
A region beyond the reach of the Star Stream?
In this dungeon?
It seems like everyone received the same notification at the same time. Kim Dokja scanned the other members. No one showed any signs of illness or abnormality.
This meant that the area beyond the Star Stream had no effect on anyone's avatars.
Yoo Joonghyuk was also curious. How was this area different from the normal scenario area?
He tested it by using his own skills and weapons.
"Skills and weapons can be used normally" he said.
"But the Channel system can't be used," Kim Dokja continued to check other things.
"The coin system and the Dokkaebi shop can't be used either."
After checking several things, they concluded that various skills and abilities can be used normally in this dungeon.
However, because it's outside the area, what's happening here isn't visible to the Dokkaebi or the constellations.
"Will it be okay if it's like this?" Yoo Sangah asked Kim Dokja worriedly.
"It should be okay for now."
the young man in the white robe replied before turning to the rest of the team. "Everyone, let's defeat all the monsters in this dungeon and exit quickly."
This dungeon is a vast grassland terrain, with mid-to-high level monsters scattered about. Given the monster levels and the sheer size of the dungeon, if they had slowly explored the area and slaughtered monsters along the way, it would have taken them nearly four or five days.
However, due to the greatly improved skill levels of each team member, their strength and speed, they had already cleared almost all of the dungeon in just two days.
Only one monster remained, resembling a giant leopard. Its power was the most powerful of all the monsters in the dungeon.
It was the final boss of the dungeon.
"Ahjusshi, is that the boss monster? The final monster of this dungeon, right?"
"Just defeat it and we'll clear this scenario!"
The six members were now hiding in the bushes. Shin Yoosung and Gilyoung were eager to go out and fight the monster, but Kim Dokja quickly stopped them.
"We don't know what special abilities this boss monster has, so let's use the basic battle formation we've been practicing."
The young man explained the plan to everyone. "Yoo Joonghyuk and I will be the front line, Han Sooyoung and Yoo Sangah-ssi will attack from mid-range, and the kids supporting from behind."
It was a simple battle formation, but it was effective. With the current skill of the team, it shouldn't take long to take down a single high-level boss monster.
After all the members worked together to fight the giant leopard boss monster, which had been severely injured and was in critical condition.
Suddenly, something unusual happened.
The giant leopard's body glowed with a strange red light and exploded violently. The blast sent Kim Dokja and Yoo Joonghyuk, the closest to the front line, bounce off several meters away.
"Dokja-ssi! Yoo Joonghyuk-ssi!"
Yoo Sangah rushed to the two men, worried. She scanned the smoke and saw a figure in a white coat lying face down in the distance.
As for Yoo Junghyuk, he wasn't far away. He was getting up from the ground, clutching his head with his left hand, as if he had a headache.
Judging from the rest of his body, he appeared to be fine and had not sustained any serious injuries.
“Yoo Joonghyuk-ssi, you're safe, right?” Yoo Sangah said to the young man in front of her, looking in another direction.
She saw the small figures of Shin Yoosung and Lee Gilyoung approaching Kim Dokja at the same time.
"I hope Dokja-ssi is safe as well."
"...you" a deep voice rang out from the man in front of her. His expression was one of obvious confusion and doubt.
"Who are you?"
"What did you say?" she asked back, equally confused.
Yoo Joonghyuk (?) turned his head left and right, examining the surroundings.
He saw a young woman with long brown hair in front of him, a petite woman with short black hair behind him, and in the distance, a man in a white coat lying on the ground, watched closely by a young girl and a boy in his late elementary school years.
With the eyes of an S-class Hunter, besides the white-coat man lying face down on the ground, he could clearly see the faces of those people.
There was no one he was familiar with.
"Who are you?" he asked again.
"What's wrong with you? Don't you remember us?" Han Sooyoung joined the conversation. She noticed that the situation was getting worse, Yoo Joonghyuk was acting strange.
Perhaps, the boss monster's explosion had affected this regressor in some way.
Not getting the answer he wanted, Yoo Joonghyuk (?) frowned, his eyes gleaming with coldness.
Just now, he remembered fighting a solo A-rank dungeon boss that looked like a giant leopard, while his brother was hiding behind a large rock a bit further away.
The boss monster had been severely injured, it exploded violently. Then, when he recovered from the explosion, five strangers appeared in the dungeon.
It was strange, because the dungeon's gate would close within an hour of the first person entering. It wouldn't be open until the person inside had cleared the dungeon and defeated the boss monster.
The only people inside were him and his brother. It had been almost two days, so they shouldn't have appeared in this dungeon.
And most importantly, his brother wasn't here right now.
"Where's my older brother?"
His tone became harsher, but his manner of speaking was polite, unlike Yoo Joonghyuk's usual manner. Han Soo-young was now certain that something was up with this guy.
"You don't have an older brother, Yoo Joonghyuk-ssi. You only have a younger sister, don't you?" Yoo Sangah replied honestly, determined to help Yoo Joonghyuk (?) regain his memory as quickly as possible.
But it backfired. The tall man's gaze darkened even further.
"It seems you can't give me an answer" he swept his hand to the side, and then, black flames that they had never seen before appeared and burned all over the area.
"Then, all of you should disappear, so I can go to find my brother" Yoo Joonghyuk (?) said coldly.
The situation was getting worse. Yoo Sangah and Han Soo-young quickly retreated. They signaled Shin Yoosung and Lee Gilyoung. The two children nodded and summoned monsters to distract him.
It's possible that Yoo Joonghyuk received a psychic attack when the boss monster exploded.
Although he was powerful, because he was a regressor, he has a weakness in being weak against mental attacks.
There was one person who could best handle Yoo Joonghyuk's situation.
Han Sooyoung rushed towards the man in the white coat, who was still lying on the ground. She grabbed his collar and shook him.
"Kim Dokja! Wake up! Go smack that guy in the head and bring him back to his senses! I don't know what psychic attack he's been dealing with. He's been unleashing black flames!"
Finally, the petite woman's efforts paid off.
Kim Dokja (?) opened his eyes. However, his expression and eyes were confused.
“Uh… who are you?”
“WHAT?!” Han Sooyoung shouted, stunned. "Don't you remember us either!?"