'Ugh... how much time has passed?'
As my consciousness gradually returned along with the sounds of fighting coming from nearby, I slowly opened my eyes, wondering what was going on.
"There's a bad guy who disappeared to hog items for himself, regardless of whether people live or die... Starting now, I'm going to go smash the back of that bastard's head."
'Fuck, how long did I fucking sleep that we're already at the emergency defense phase!?'
I was shocked by the fact that I had slept right through until the start of the emergency defense phase, but soon it made a certain amount of sense.
"Ah! Perfect timing, Kang Yuseong-ssi. You must still be a bit tired, but could you come with us?"
"....I don't know what exactly happened, but okay for now. Can you explain in detail as we go?"
"Understood. Then let's hurry and depart."
After Kim Dokja nodded and said okay, I, Kim Dokja, Lee Gilyoung, and Jung Heewon were about to move when—
"Wait a second, ajusshi!"
Someone called Kim Dokja from behind. Turning around, the person who called him was Lee Jihye.
"Where are you trying to go now?"
"Good timing. Jihye, you come too."
"...…Where to?"
"Yoo Joonghyuk is in danger right now."
"My Master is? You're joking, right?"
Lee Jihye dismissed Kim Dokja's words as a joke and chuckled.
Well, from Lee Jihye's perspective, it would be hard to believe that her own Master, Yoo Joonghyuk, was in danger.
However, seeing that Kim Dokja's face remained stiff, the smile soon faded from Lee Jihye's face as well.
"...…Seriously? How do you know my Master is in danger, ajusshi?"
"That bastard, he went into the hidden dungeon at Exit 1, right?"
"Huh, what?"
"And it's been about 11 hours since he went in?"
"Uh, uh..."
Lee Jihye made a foolish expression and let out a dumbfounded voice at Kim Dokja's words.
"If we leave him like this... Yoo Joonghyuk, he'll die today."
"......Then I'll come too. But if those words are a lie, know that I won't let it slide even if it's you, ajusshi."
"Understood, then follow."
At Lee Jihye's words, Kim Dokja nodded with a stiff face, and soon we headed with Lee Jihye towards 'Daehan Theater', the entrance to the 'hidden dungeon' located on Chungmuro's B1 floor.
[You have discovered a hidden dungeon.]
[This dungeon has already been discovered by someone. You cannot acquire the first discovery achievement.]
[A new hidden scenario has arrived.]
Classification: Hidden
Difficulty: A-
Clear Condition: Defeat the master of the Theater Dungeon.
Time Limit: None
Reward: 4,000 Coins
Upon Failure: ―
"Ajusshi, but are those words true? That Master is in danger?"
Lee Jihye, who still seemed suspicious of Kim Dokja's words, looked at him with doubtful eyes and asked.
"How do you know that, ajusshi? And why are you trying to save our Master?"
"He's a comrade."
"Stop with the nonsense."
"Because he's useful."
"······That somehow sounds like our Master's way of talking."
[The Constellation, 'Secretive Plotter' is curious about the intentions of the Incarnation, 'Kim Dokja'.]
[The Constellation, 'Demon-like Judge of Fire' joyfully regards the heart of the Incarnation, 'Kim Dokja', who wishes to rehabilitate his fallen comrade.]
"Hyung, all the posters are torn. Who could have done that?"
"Who knows."
We looked around the B1 floor for a while, but aside from the torn posters and the crumpled elevator door, we couldn't find anything. Soon, Kim Dokja pointed to the stopped escalator and spoke.
"Let's go upstairs for now."
Following Kim Dokja's words, we began to climb the escalator. At that moment, the sound of a conversation between Jung Heewon and Lee Jihye came from behind me.
"By the way, Jihye, do you use a sword too?"
"Yes, I like swords."
"Right? Swords are the best after all. There's a certain... taste to cutting, you could say."
"You know that taste too, unnie?"
"It's true that the taste of a sword cutting is good."
At my words, Lee Jihye looked at me and said.
"Oppa knows that taste too! By the way, what about your sword, oppa?"
At Lee Jihye's question, I pulled Kayserium from my inventory and showed it to her.
"How is it? My sword?"
"Whoa... amazing.... It looks even better than mine?...."
Lee Jihye pulled out the dagger hanging at her waist, showed it to us, and boasted.
"My Master gave me this. Isn't it super cool? Of course, it's not as good as the sword you have, oppa.... By the way, Heewon unnie..."
"Mine is.... mine... mine is good too."
Seeing my and Lee Jihye's swords, Jung Heewon, perhaps feeling overshadowed, subtly hid her horn sword on the opposite side of her waist.
As we chattered and climbed upstairs, Lee Gilyoung suddenly urgently tugged at Kim Dokja's clothes. At Lee Gilyoung's signal, Kim Dokja put a finger to his lips and whispered quietly to the party.
"Shh, there's someone else besides us."
At Kim Dokja's words, Lee Jihye and Jung Heewon placed their hands on the swords at their waists with wary eyes. As we held our breath for a moment, small signs of movement began to be heard from the lobby side.
"What, we already tore up a bunch, but are there any left?"
"There's one left here."
"Are you sure? That there are a ton of them here."
"I told you, I paid 1000 coins for this info from ."
"They're a bit gloomy, but their information is reliable."
With our bodies pressed tightly against the escalator, we eavesdropped on the conversation of the men gathered in the lobby.
While listening to their conversation, Lee Jihye whispered.
"Who are those guys? I've never seen their faces in Chungmuro."
"They probably came in through the ground-level entrance."
"The ground level? Isn't that covered in poisonous fog? Plus, the scenario too...."
"The type and progression speed of scenarios differ by station. They must be guys who finished their scenario faster than our station. A mild poisoning can be cured by eating Underground Species meat."
Kim Dokja's expression as he spoke was tinged with bewilderment.
"Then let's go in."
Having finished speaking, the men stood in front of a movie poster that wasn't yet torn, and a blue spotlight turned on in the air. The men touched by that blue light soon vanished from sight.
"Wh-what just happened?!"
"All four of them disappeared..."
Jung Heewon, Lee Jihye, and Lee Gilyoung showed startled reactions to the men suddenly vanishing before their eyes, and soon we gathered in front of the movie poster where the vanished men had last stood.
At that moment, a blue spotlight turned on with a *pop*, this time aimed at us.
"Eek! What is this!"
"Ugh, ugh."
"Huh? It doesn't do anything?"
Looking at the flustered party members, I thought to myself.
'Ah~... I'm getting..... hungry....'
[Trait 'Gourmet Cells' complains of hunger.]
Having come straight here after waking up without eating anything, my stomach was truly starving, and I felt like I would collapse if I didn't eat something right away.
[Denial: Even if you skip meals for a day or two, a person doesn't die. Moreover, if you collapse now, it would be due to fatigue, not hunger—]
'That's what they say!'
[...Silence.]
While I was having a mental tussle with Da-Hyeonja, Kim Dokja asked Jung Heewon, who was flustered behind him.
"Heewon-ssi, do you like movies?"
"Of course. Doesn't everyone usually like them?"
"Then you might start hating them from now on."
"Huh? What do you mean sudde—"
[You have been hit by the movie beam.]
[The screening for this floor is beginning.]
At some moment, we were no longer in a movie theater but standing in the middle of a lush forest with green foliage and dense trees.
In that situation, the other party members besides me and Kim Dokja had greatly flustered expressions as they turned their heads here and there, surveying the surroundings, and soon Lee Jihye shouted.
"Where the hell is this?!"
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