Chapter 3: The Arachne Dungeon’s Ridiculous Problem

As Taehyun walked along the streets, he could see countless curses that had escaped from the dungeons naturally blending in among ordinary people.

Hard Mode had ended, but the curses that had been released into the world still remained.

Some of them had moved on to the new worlds that had sprouted from the dungeons, but although they were happy to see that new worlds existed, many of the curses were reluctant to actually move there.

When one thought about it, it was only natural.

Curses were inherently beings that easily came into conflict with the world because of their stubbornness and single-minded nature.

It would be absurd to expect all of them to adapt smoothly simply because they followed the new worlds.

Many of them had instead chosen to establish new homes and live in this world.

Some had hidden away in remote areas to avoid humans, but surprisingly, many curses were either confronting challengers in the dungeons created by Replica or leaving the dungeons and living among people.

Either way, they all seemed to be enjoying their current lives in their own ways.

Perhaps that was why the enormous dragon sprawled out with Han Seonwook at a café terrace did not attract quite as much attention as one might expect.

[An old challenger has arrived. Instead of continuing to lie there like that, why don’t you get up and tidy yourself up a little?]

“Oh, Taehyun’s here? Sorry I look like this. I’ve been working overtime again this week…”

[That is precisely why you should stop taking on so much work. You said you’re the leader of Team Two, correct? Why not quietly pass the troublesome assignments up to your superior?]

“You make it sound easy when it’s someone else’s job.”

Han Seonwook grumbled at the Relay and let out a long yawn.

“You really seem to have made a habit out of being busy.”

The Relay scolded him like that, but by now, it seemed to have half given up.

Part of it was because Han Seonwook had a tendency to voluntarily take on work, but even putting that aside, he had been overwhelmingly busy ever since everything ended.

More than a few people had been hounding him for the full story behind the ‘Hard Mode Incident,’ and the numerous changes that had taken place in the dungeon industry afterward had left him struggling to keep everything under control.

Even now, he was busy rescuing hunters who roamed through dungeons in search of new secrets.

However, unlike in the past, he no longer dismissed civilian hunters as money-hungry lunatics.

These days, hunters actually explored dungeons because they wanted to uncover things like ‘the truth behind Hard Mode and the future of this world,’ rather than simply for financial gain.

‘They seem to realize something while going through the dungeons these days. Are they doing some kind of self-reflection?”

Instead of cursing at the hunters, Han Seonwook would sometimes mutter that with a complicated expression.

His workload was still enormous, but he seemed to find a certain sense of fulfillment in his work, so perhaps it was for the best.

[Even if there is nothing wrong with your health, regulate your workload enough that you can at least clean your own home.]

“Huh? Weren’t you and I both the type who didn’t care about cleaning? After eating snacks, kicking the empty wrappers around with our feet… You and I are both guilty of that.”

[Be quiet. Regardless of what I do, a person should at least know how to clean their own home. How long do you intend to leave all the housework to your colleague?]

“I never asked Kim Hasang to clean for me! We just drink together, and when I wake up the next morning, somehow the house is already…”

“Don’t worry too much about that, Relay. I only do it occasionally because it bothers me.”

Kim Hasang, who had been sitting across from Han Seonwook, answered with an awkward smile.

Those two had somehow grown even closer after the Origin Dungeon raid.

Apparently, whenever Han Seonwook had a relatively free day, Kim Hasang would come over and share a few drinks with him.

They both denied it, but no matter how Taehyun looked at it, Kim Hasang seemed to be visiting because he was worried about Han Seonwook…

“Don’t give Han Seonwook too hard a time, Relay. I’m only coming over because I get bored. We both have trouble sleeping because of lingering attachments, don’t we?”

[If you cannot sleep, exercise. Do not attend to someone else.]

“Han Seonwook still has nightmares from time to time despite being so active, doesn’t he? That’s simply something he can’t help…”

Kim Hasang seemed about to say something more, but then naturally stopped himself and gestured for Taehyun to sit down.

Taehyun smiled awkwardly and took a seat.

He thought he knew why Kim Hasang had stopped talking.

For Taehyun and Ligormung to return safely to their original world, each of their companions had paid a price.

It was essentially a kind of ‘giving up.’

A resignation that there was a certain limit they would never be able to overcome, no matter how hard they tried.

A declaration that even if they could not overcome that limit, they would not simply let Taehyun and Ligormung pay the entire price alone and sink together.

Taehyun did not know exactly what each of them had decided to give up.

But one thing was certain.

Han Seonwook would continue throwing himself into work and occasionally suffer nightmares, while Kim Hasang would never overcome the void left by his wife and would continue stepping into dungeons or confronting whatever unknown things awaited him.

Whenever Taehyun confirmed that fact, directly or indirectly, a bitter feeling always lingered somewhere in his heart.

[By the way, isn’t it about time you admitted it, Kim Hasang? Could it be that you see this unreliable man as an echo of your deceased partner?]

“No, stop teasing people so much! Especially when Taehyun’s here!”

[What am I teasing you about? I believe even you would admit that you are a man lacking basic life skills with a lifestyle practically designed to shorten your lifespan.]

“You weren’t even going to bring up that subject, were you! Ah, forget it. If I get angry, I’ll only make myself look ridiculous…”

While Taehyun was momentarily distracted, the conversation had taken a rather bizarre turn.

For some reason, Han Seonwook lowered his head with a dejected expression, while Kim Hasang was busy giving the Relay some incomprehensible explanation that it was ‘absolutely not like that.’

Looking at them, Taehyun could not help wondering whether it really was ‘not like that.’

“Don’t be too confused, Taehyun.  It seems the Relay has recently developed a habit of teasing people like this. I suspect it learned some strange things from the Gatekeeper…”

Ligormung whispered that to Taehyun, doing his best to suppress a bitter smile.

Well, Taehyun genuinely had no idea.

According to Ligormung, the Relay was merely playing around and its teasing had nothing to do with the actual relationship between the two.

But if Taehyun were asked whether the Relay was normally the sort of person to make baseless jokes like that, well…

“Anyway, stop nagging me! Are you my wife or something?”

[Are you even worthy of taking someone like me as your wife? Why don’t you find out? Are you prepared?]

“Don’t say things like that either! You really seem to have gotten addicted to messing with people!”

But then again, the Relay occasionally teased Han Seonwook like that.

Han Seonwook would fall for it every time and start shouting angrily…

The complicated thing about the Relay was that Taehyun could never tell where the jokes ended and where sincerity began.

“If you have enough free time to tease people, why don’t you take better care of your daughter?”

[As it happens, I was planning to check on her later. But my daughter is no longer young enough for me to fuss over her myself.]

“Huh? “Wasn’t your daughter fairly young? I distinctly remember the way she spoke…”

[That was simply because she was going through a mentally unstable period at the time. Surprisingly, my daughter has grown up completely.]

“She certainly is as big as a mountain. But if that’s the case, shouldn’t you stop calling her ‘our baby’ and whatnot back at the Origin Dungeon?”

[A child remains a baby no matter how old they become. Anyway, my child is doing well in the new world. So doesn’t that give me enough free time to look after a certain man who is as large as a mountain yet cannot even take care of himself? He reminds me of my younger self, so I cannot help worrying about him.]

“You don’t need to look after me! I can do the damn housework myself!”

[Then will you stop inviting your colleague to your home?]

“I’m not inviting that man over to clean my house! Besides, do you want Kim Hasang to come over or not?”

[I wonder. What do you think?]

Taehyun did not dare ask for further details, but simply listening to the two of them talk was enough to make all kinds of scenarios spring into his mind.

At this point, even Taehyun, merely watching from the sidelines, had no idea what was going on.

Perhaps it was better to simply think of it as an ordinary self-deprecating gathering among middle-aged men.

Whatever their complicated circumstances might be, they were all people who felt lonely when left alone with the emptiness inside them, and they were easing that loneliness by interacting with one another.

In any case, it was a relief that everyone seemed to be living reasonably enjoyable lives.

Rather than prolonging the subject, Taehyun decided to bring up the original purpose of their gathering.

“So, Han Seonwook… We’re here because of our dungeon problem, right?”

“Um, yes, ahem. Right. Sorry, Taehyun. The conversation suddenly went in a strange direction.”

Han Seonwook and Kim Hasang lowered their heads awkwardly, while the Relay also calmly closed its eyes as though it had decided it had teased them enough.

Han Seonwook hurriedly pulled a tablet out of his bag and showed them the information.

“Well, even though it’s a dungeon problem, it’s not anything serious. Honestly, I wish they would solve something this ridiculous among themselves…”

“What happened? …Ah.”

“Even you think it’s kind of funny, don’t you, Taehyun?”

Taehyun read through the information, and he had to struggle to keep the corners of his mouth from twitching.

It was questionable whether there was any point in holding back his laughter, though, because every companion except Taehyun was already laughing helplessly.

Ligormung was even openly snickering.

“Those friends seem to have relationships just as complicated as ours. This is so ridiculous I don’t even know what to say.”

“Yes. Anyway, I just need to go to the Arachne Dungeon, right? I’m not sure how much help I’ll actually be, though.”

Taehyun poked Ligormung in the side and moved the conversation along.

Han Seonwook continued, doing his best to suppress his laughter.

“Still, Replica of the System is looking for you, Taehyun. That friend has an innocent side to him, so he isn’t very good at handling emotionally complicated problems.”

“That’s true. The original System wasn’t very good at understanding human emotions either. But does it really have to be me?”

“I don’t think it’s strange that Replica relies on you. You’re the person who found the answer for the System, and Replica is a copy of the System. Even when other people try to persuade him, he doesn’t seem to understand.”

“If that had worked, I would have solved the problem when I went to the dungeon last time.”

Han Seonwook let out a deep sigh as he grumbled.

Seeing the Relay shaking its head as though it was thoroughly fed up, Taehyun guessed that the two of them had already gone to the Arachne Dungeon and returned after being thoroughly toyed with.

In any case, when they put it that way, Taehyun had no choice but to agree.

He supposed it was something he should have gotten used to by now.

While the System had gone off to assist the worlds being newly born, the ‘Replica’ created to manage the dungeons had developed a strangely dependent attitude toward Taehyun.

And that was hardly something that had started only yesterday.

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