After a full week of monitoring Elena, Jinhyuk was just about to stop.
There was nothing unusual. No spike in mana. No strange activity from the system. Just an ordinary civilian trying to open a small café. He even considered the possibility that for the first time, he was wrong.
But then he felt something strange.
A subtle pull in the air. The sensation of mana condensing unnaturally in a single location. A chill ran down his spine.
"...A gate?"
He narrowed his eyes. The air was rippling, unstable. That pressure... he recognized it immediately.
A dungeon was opening. And right in the middle of a public park, no less.
"Why here of all places?" he muttered, his brows furrowing. "Was the rank too low for me to remember it?"
Without wasting another second, Jinhyuk summoned his sword from his subspace. The black blade materialized in a shimmer of light as he rushed forward.
Elena was standing directly in front of the forming gate.
"Huh?" she blinked as he appeared in front of her, eyes narrowing. "It's you again?"
"Hello," Jinhyuk replied calmly, scanning the swirling mana behind her. "I'm a B-rank hunter assigned to this district. A gate is opening here. You need to evacuate immediately."
Elena raised a brow and crossed her arms. "Really? That's your excuse now? I bet you've been stalking me, and now there just happens to be a dungeon? Do you see a dungeon here?"
She stepped forward, squinting at him suspiciously.
"How long have you been following me, huh? One week? Are you some kind of weirdo?"
Jinhyuk opened his mouth to explain, but he didn't get the chance.
Crack!
The air behind Arya split open with a deafening shatter. The ground trembled slightly as a swirling vortex of light expanded behind her.
"What the—?"
『 Dungeon Gate has forcibly summoned selected individuals. 』
『 Target 1: Han Jinhyuk (L-Rank) 』『 Target 2: Seo Elena (F-Rank) 』
"Huh?! Wait—!" Elena stumbled as her feet were pulled off the ground.
"Shit," Jinhyuk muttered, grabbing her arm by instinct.
But it was too late.
The two of them were sucked into the gate, the world around them twisting and distorting like a shattered mirror, until everything went dark.
·•—–٠✤٠—–•·
When my fingers brushed against hers, I was ready to ignore the flickering system alert. I assumed it was just the usual status pop-up, until I actually read what it said.
『 Curse: Mana Repletion has been lifted. Healing capabilities restored. 』
...What?
My gaze snapped back to the girl in front of me.
How?
The system had clearly identified her as an F-rank. Low stats, no combat aptitude, and no notable traits. So how—how did she remove a curse that had clung to me across regressions?
This wasn't some minor debuff. It was a system-induced curse. One that actively prevented me from receiving healing. A punishment for exceeding limits too often. And yet...
It was gone.
The logical part of my brain tried to reason through the possibilities. Was it an environmental variable? Some unknown property of the dungeon? A fluke?
No. I've gone through this timeline too many times. I've died more than I can remember. Never, not once, has something like this happened.
This wasn't luck.
There's only one explanation left.
She did it.
But how? She didn't even look surprised. Confused, maybe, but that's because we got forced in a dungeon. She was just a clueless F-rank.
...I've heard rumors. That it's possible to hide your rank, even by the system. I never encountered one before, so I have no idea how true those rumors were. Could it be, that even my eyes that can see through anything, can't see things that are of equal ranking? Could she be an L-class as well?
I stared at her back as she walked ahead, complaining about something and also completely unaware of what she'd just done.
Just who are you, Seo Elena...?
·•—–٠✤٠—–•·
"...What just happened?"
I blinked dazedly at the familiar scene in front of me.
A second ago, I was standing in the park yelling at some suspicious guy. Now I was sprawled on the cold ground, surrounded by stone walls and flickering torchlights. The air smelled damp and earthy, as usual. This is the smell of a dungeon.
Did I... really get sucked into a dungeon?
No, seriously. What just happened?
I sat up slowly and turned my head. That same guy was calmly standing nearby, scanning our surroundings.
I pressed my hands to my face and groaned.
"This can't be happening," I muttered. "I was just joking..." I didn't actually mean that you can only meet an S-rank if you got stuck in a gate! Besides, this man is a B-rank, not an S-rank...
The man turned toward me. "Are you injured?"
"I—what? No, I'm fine," I said quickly, waving my hands. "Well, maybe mentally."
He tilted his head slightly, as if trying to assess whether I was concussed.
I groaned again, more out of embarrassment than anything. "So, you weren't stalking me..."
"I told you there was a gate."
I stood up, brushing dust from my pants. "You could've said it more convincingly though."
He gave me a flat look. "I said I was a B-rank hunter dispatched to this district."
"...Yeah, but who believes that kind of line from a random man that tried to be creepy in front of a store? Just because you're handsome doesn't give you the privilege to just walk up to anyone and... Forget it. I guess I was just being paranoid that time. I'm sorry."
Silence.
"...Anyway," I coughed. "Is there a way to know when a gate is about to open?"
"Usually, no," he replied without hesitation. "They're unstable phenomena. You can't really predict them."
"But you knew."
"I had a hunch."
"A hunch?"
"Hunters develop a kind of instinct for it. Especially those who've fought in a lot of dungeons."
Right. Well, that doesn't apply to me since I'm an F-rank.
I glanced around the dark dungeon again, trying not to let my nerves show. "Do you know what rank this dungeon is?"
"..."
"Judging by the way we were dragged in... this is a hidden dungeon."
I blinked. "What do you mean, hidden?"
He looked at me like I'd just asked if water was wet. "You're a hunter, aren't you? You seriously don't know how the system works?"
I flinched. "W-what? How did you know I was a hunter?"
He stared, genuinely baffled now. "...You didn't see the system notification? It showed both our names and ranks the moment we were pulled in."
"I was, uh... kind of busy getting sucked into a glowing portal," I muttered, scratching the back of my neck.
He sighed. "Hidden dungeons are different from regular gates. The rank varies wildly—could be F, could be S. But regardless of rank, they're always complicated. More like... solving a series of puzzles than just fighting monsters."
My stomach twisted. "So you're saying... we're trapped. In a dungeon. And we don't even know how strong the enemies are."
"That's one way to put it."
I groaned under my breath.
Without another word, he raised one hand, and with a brief shimmer, a sleek black sword materialized in the air. It gleamed faintly with a dim, cold light.
"Stick close," he said. "If anything shows up, I'll take care of it."
I hesitated for a second before nodding. I had no weapon, no idea where we were, and, worst of all, I had just accused him of being a stalker.
This was not going well.
I took a quiet breath and followed after him.