Now, 10 years later, Yoon Seo understands what kind of mindset Lee Kangjin had when he said those words.
Lee Domin had to die… and Lee Kangjin had to kill him.
He was a younger brother who followed him more loyally than anyone else. Only now could Yoon Seo comprehend the pain Lee Kangjin must have felt—having just killed Lee Domin with his own hands, burying him, and making plans for the future.
But there was one thing even Lee Kangjin didn't know.
'Lee Domin. What are you doing? Get up… They're about to bury you.'
'Domin… No… You…'
The reason Yoon Seo had shaken Lee Domin's corpse, telling him to get up, wasn't simply because he was in shock or panic.
It was because of
The two had extensively studied Lee Domin's Gaia skill, experimenting with it on monsters, on himself, and even on items.
But no matter how much they used it, it never activated, so they had given up.
[A hidden secret of the Gaia System has emerged. The skill
[
['Lee Domin' –
Time remaining until awakening: 2400 hours.]
That message had appeared in front of Yoon Seo.
The first time
It was then that Yoon Seo realized what
It was effectively another chance at life.
At that moment, Yoon Seo couldn't wake Lee Domin up, nor did he tell Lee Kangjin about what
What would have happened if he had told him?
But while Yoon Seo hesitated, Lee Kangjin and Hughes manipulated his memory.
As a result, even when the Revengers cleared the maze zone, completed the temple zone, and defeated the final dragon… even when the black portal closed, and everyone left through the exit…
Lee Domin was left behind, sleeping in that grave, dreaming.
And so, the Great Dungeon closed, leaving him behind.
Yoon Seo felt like it was his fault. Perhaps his subconscious thought the same—that after letting his friend die, he no longer deserved to live, and thus created a reason for him to die.
'I don't deserve to live.'
When Yoon Seo considered the reason he wanted to die, it wasn't just the horrific events that took place in the Great Dungeon. The uncomfortable truth was this: it was the guilt of having left his friend trapped in the dungeon.
"Hyung."
Peep.
Kwon Jihan and Riceball called out to Yoon Seo one after the other. Yoon Seo opened his eyes. Kwon Jihan's face was right in front of him, filled with such deep concern that for a moment, Yoon Seo thought he had died. On top of Kwon Jihan's head, Riceball tilted its tiny head, observing its owner closely.
Peep peep peep-peep.
"Do you think you don't need to take your medicine? Taking too much isn't good, but not taking it when you need to is even worse."
Peeeeep peep.
"Do you not have the strength to take it out? It's in your front pocket, right? I can get it for you, I'll only grab that."
As the two of them chirped back and forth, Hwashim stepped back with a weary look on his face. Yoon Seo turned to Hwashim and asked,
"Did you see the 'memories' too?"
"…Yes. I didn't know the memories of the skill user would be visible to others. I also didn't expect the mental state of the previous user to flow into me."
Hwashim's voice was low and somber.
Thinking about it now, Yoon Seo realized he hadn't seen through Hughes Sairo's perspective, but rather through Lee Kangjin's. This meant that Lee Kangjin had stolen Hughes Sairo's
"Hyung, take your medicine. It's best not to rely on it too much, but taking it on time is just as important."
Though Kwon Jihan hadn't seen the memories and was undoubtedly curious, he pushed aside all his questions, focusing only on Yoon Seo's well-being.
Yoon Seo swallowed the medicine with some water. He had no intention of hiding the truth.
There was no reason to.
Everyone had to know what had happened in the Great Dungeon.
It was the only way to honor their sacrifice.
***
23. The Last Gate
Yoon Seo intended to reveal the truth about that day to everyone, but since there was still one more memory manipulation to resolve, he decided to put it off for now.
However, upon returning to the camper, he shared the truth only with Kwon Jihan.
Kwon Jihan was not as composed as Yoon Seo. He openly expressed his feelings, just as he had when listening to the strategies for conquering the Great Dungeon. This served as a way for Kwon Jihan to express the emotions that Yoon Seo himself found hard to convey.
"Damn it, what kind of unfair and heartbreaking situation is this? Ah, I'm so pissed off. That kind of tragedy should never have happened."
After this wave of intense emotions surged and then somewhat settled down, the two sat at the table and began to unravel the strange points from their experiences through conversation.
"The number of participants in the dungeon entry message was 301. That one person wasn't Strawberry, it was hyung's friend, wasn't it?"
"It seems that way. The reason the holder of the
"Then where do you think Lee Domin is right now?"
"…"
Yoon Seo thought of Lee Domin, who had woken up in an empty dungeon and wandered alone for nine years. Having killed his two comrades with his own hands and trying to kill his close friend, only to be murdered by the one he relied on—Lee Domin's last memories were filled with such despair. Just imagining it was pitiful.
However, if we're talking about survival alone, there was a possibility that he was still alive somewhere.
A dungeon is a space created by the Gaia system on Proxima b. In reality, if you took a spaceship to Proxima b, you would encounter countless dungeons.
Though they didn't know exactly how the dungeon reset worked, if it operated like deleting all files in a folder…
The 'Lee Domin' file had been hidden by
"Do you think he's still somewhere inside the Great Dungeon?"
"…?"
Yoon Seo looked at Kwon Jihan with confusion. His tone made it seem like he was considering another possibility.
"What do you think, Hunter Kwon Jihan?"
Kwon Jihan studied Yoon Seo's expression and, after deciding that Yoon Seo could handle what he was about to say, opened his mouth.
"Resetting means everything inside the dungeon returns to its very first state, right? It reverts to the condition it was in before any intruders entered. A cleared dungeon is reborn through two stages, isn't it? The first is emptying the folder. And the second is resetting."
"…"
"Lee Domin survived the folder-emptying stage. But what if, during the second stage, when the reset occurred, Lee Domin, who was dreaming under
"Ah…"
Yoon Seo immediately understood what Kwon Jihan was implying.
When making cookies, you mix butter, eggs, sugar, and flour together to form the dough.
If Lee Domin, along with the grass, trees, swamp, and lava, had all merged into one and then been reborn as elements that make up the dungeon…
Lee Domin became one with the dungeon.
He became an entity that was both the dungeon and a human.
Because he had consciousness, he likely retained his human form. That smart guy must have realized his situation, wandering around as both a dungeon and a human being…
"The two shoes were neatly placed facing the temple wall."
"…Yes, they were."
In the end, he chose to abandon his human body and be absorbed into the dungeon. His consciousness must have gradually faded, and living here alone would have been uncomfortable and miserable. He probably also felt guilty for having killed two comrades and even trying to kill his friend.
"Lee Domin himself must have been the story medium for
Slowly, the image of Lee Domin removing his shoes and merging with the temple wall began to form.
Did he lower his eyes sadly? Or did he raise them proudly? How long did he stand in front of the wall? Or did he merge with it without hesitation?
Lee Domin and Yoon Seo had been childhood friends. Their parents knew each other, and their families went on trips together. After the Great Cataclysm, they became not just friends but family and comrades. Yoon Seo knew that Domin had been suffering from mana depletion, but he, too, was dealing with the same issue and couldn't take care of him.
Perhaps in the moment Lee Domin died at Lee Kangjin's hands, he felt relieved as he activated
Ah, so this is when
He must have had that hopeful thought before losing consciousness. But in his final moment, he realized.
There's someone here with
He must have understood that this was truly the end, with that skin-piercing, chilling coldness.