Chapter 7: The Gatekeeper’s Flaw and Limitation

“I think I have an idea of what happened.”

[Really? What made you figure it out?]

“It’s only a guess, so it’s too early to be certain. I’ll tell you after I meet the Gatekeeper and confirm it!”

With that, Taehyun immediately ran toward the next room. The Spider Painter looked bewildered but eventually nodded, while Rigor followed behind him with an expression that suggested he understood something, or perhaps nothing at all.

Since they had already encountered the Spider Painter, the next rooms would probably be the Thought Police’s territory.

Taehyun had never personally met the monster known as the Thought Police, nor did he have a clear idea of what the monster had been thinking since the completion of the Original Dungeon.

For all he knew, the monster might come rushing out to stop them. Taehyun prepared himself for that possibility, but surprisingly, all they encountered afterward were pristine white walls without graffiti and bugs dressed in police uniforms.

The bugs wearing police uniforms had always been ordinary monsters inhabiting this dungeon, so there was nothing strange about finding them in an ordinary battle room. However, they were considerably more troublesome opponents.

Unlike the early Sales Bugs, which merely shoved frames covered in childish drawings in their faces, these monsters still looked grotesque and menacing. They swung batons at them and even pointed guns at them.

Unless they fought more seriously, there was a chance someone might actually get hurt.

And as for the Thought Police, who should have been waiting for them beyond this ordinary battle…

“…They’re watching us, Taehyun.”

“Huh?”

Rigor subtly pointed behind him. Only then did Taehyun sense the faint gaze staring at him from a distance. Even as they continued moving, that gaze maintained a constant distance, neither drawing closer nor falling farther behind.

‘Are they keeping watch on us?’

The fact that they were not attacking them was fortunate, at least. But if that was the case, Taehyun wondered what purpose they had in following them.

For that matter, why was the Thought Police simply leaving the Gatekeeper alone after she had hidden herself in their territory? Taehyun had assumed that the creature was on bad terms with both the Spider Painter and the Gatekeeper…

After thinking for a moment, Taehyun cleared his throat and called out toward the presence behind them.

“Are you continuing to watch us because you’re worried about the Gatekeeper?”

No answer came.

But just as when they had tried to draw out the Spider Painter, in a situation like this, they had no choice but to interpret silence as consent.

“We’re not going to say anything strange to the Gatekeeper. We just want to find out why she’s upset.”

[…]

“And this is just my opinion, but I think the Gatekeeper will probably be fine. The Gatekeeper is needed by Choi Jeong-yu, after all.”

At those words, Baek Hye-rin looked at Taehyun with a puzzled expression. Her face seemed to say that he had gotten the order of the sentence backward.

But he had not misspoken.

It was certainly not entirely wrong to say that the Gatekeeper needed Choi Jeong-yu. However, Taehyun thought that saying it this way was more appropriate for the current situation.

It was a conclusion he had reached after seeing Q-Type and Seo-hyeon that morning, and then Relay and Kim Ha-sang and Han Seon-wook during the afternoon.

This was the best card he could play right now.

“Some people want to stay beside someone who needs them.”

[…]

“Of course, I’m not saying everyone is like that. I’m just saying that some people use that as the motivation that keeps them going. I think the Gatekeeper is that kind of person. And I think that’s also part of the reason the Spider Painter doesn’t want to leave this dungeon… Though that last part is just my speculation. The Painter never said it herself.”

A sigh-like sound came from somewhere.

Just as Taehyun was wondering whether that counted as an acceptance or a rejection, the ordinary monsters rampaging through the battle room suddenly stopped altogether. They exchanged glances and then retreated.

And a moment later, a faint, low voice that sounded like it belonged to a young man echoed inside their heads. The voice sounded as though the speaker were grinding his teeth.

[I don’t need her.]

‘Does “her” mean the Spider Painter?’

No. Taehyun had not meant to imply that the Thought Police needed the Spider Painter in the first place…

He was beginning to feel as though he had accidentally hit the target while stumbling backward when the voice continued.

[But I understand what you mean. So the Spider doesn’t need that girl anymore.]

The ordinary monsters simultaneously raised their guns and batons toward a certain direction.

Following their gazes, the group turned their heads.

An all-too-familiar frame was hanging alone against a pure white wall that had been completely empty only moments before.

“Oh, thank you!”

[Take the frame. And never come back.]

After saying that, the gaze disappeared somewhere.

Taehyun did not know whether the Thought Police had returned to the elite battle room where it was supposed to be or gone back to some completely different space.

He found himself wishing they could have talked a little longer.

‘What exactly does that Thought Police think and feel about the Spider Painter… and the Gatekeeper?’

Now that it had been proven that the people it had relentlessly pursued while believing them to be criminals had ultimately been in the right, what was the creature thinking now?

It had told them never to come back, but perhaps someday they would be able to learn what was truly going on inside that policeman’s head.

With that thought, Taehyun reached toward the frame.

****

Inside the solitary room of the shelter, which seemed especially dark today, Choi Jeong-yu wore a slightly sullen expression as she gently tapped the glass panel.

“Hey. Are you really going to keep doing this…?”

[…]

“The Spider Painter must be upset too. You were her only friend, but now you have so many friends. Of course she’d be upset and think you were going to abandon her.”

[I know.]

A short message appeared for a moment before disappearing again.

It had been like this for a while now.

If the Gatekeeper really understood, there should have been some action afterward. But there was none. The silence simply returned.

She seemed depressed.

Regardless of her curiosity about why the Gatekeeper was acting this way, Choi Jeong-yu was worried about her. She continued gently stroking the glass panel, though she was no longer sure whether this actually counted as comforting the Gatekeeper.

‘What if this is basically the equivalent of leaving fingerprints all over someone’s glasses while trying to comfort them by fiddling with their frames?’

The ridiculous thought even crossed her mind.

[Leave me alone.]

As expected, the Gatekeeper soon displayed the message in a sullen tone, accompanied by a series of electronic beeps.

At this point, Choi Jeong-yu was starting to feel a little exasperated.

“What do you mean, leave you alone? If you really wanted me to leave you alone, you wouldn’t have stopped me from leaving. You would’ve connected me to the outside world, too.”

She was stuck here without being able to explain anything to her guild members.

‘They must be worried about me by now.’

Choi Jeong-yu thought so, but she tried not to let it show.

Instead, she spoke carefully.

“You’re anxious right now, aren’t you?”

It was not good to provoke someone who was already anxious.

Asking whether they were anxious could itself be a kind of provocation, but Choi Jeong-yu could not simply do nothing.

She needed to ask at least this much.

“Why are you anxious? Do you think the Spider Painter hates you?”

[No.]

“Then what?”

[She doesn’t need me.]

“Why do you think that?”

[Because she doesn’t hide anymore.]

It was difficult to understand.

As Choi Jeong-yu hesitated over how to respond, the Gatekeeper slowly displayed another message on the panel. The letters were fainter than before.

[I gave her a hiding place.]

[But…]

‘But what?’

After thinking for a moment, Choi Jeong-yu realized what she meant.

Earlier, the Spider Painter had said, “I don’t need to hide in your shelter anymore.”

Even though she knew that remaining in the dungeon meant continuing to face the hostility of the old challengers, the Spider Painter had chosen not to leave with the Gatekeeper.

Instead, she had decided to remain in the dungeon and face people honestly.

One could call it foolish.

But one could also call it the choice of a strong person.

Choi Jeong-yu could not understand why the Gatekeeper disliked that choice so much.

“Isn’t that a good thing?”

[For her, it is.]

“It’s a good thing for you, too. You don’t have to hide anymore either.”

[I was never hiding.]

“Huh?”

[I wasn’t hiding. I was the one who hid others.]

She understood what the Gatekeeper meant.

Come to think of it, the Thought Police had actively pursued and harassed the Spider Painter, but its attitude toward the Gatekeeper had been somewhat indifferent.

It was as though the Gatekeeper had never been its target.

Perhaps that was why the Gatekeeper was able to hide inside the Thought Police’s territory right now.

‘Was the Gatekeeper originally some kind of young lady from an important family, someone even the Thought Police could not easily touch?’

Considering the extravagant dress she wore in her human form, it was not an entirely implausible theory.

She had always tried to use her position and power to protect someone.

Long ago, she had protected the Spider Painter.

And in this world, she had protected Yoon Taehyun.

[I liked hiding them. I felt useful there.]

“…You don’t need to hide anyone anymore. Neither you nor the Spider Painter.”

[But I only know how to do things that way. I forgot how to treat a friend who doesn’t need protection. I don’t think I’ll remember again.]

Now Choi Jeong-yu understood what she meant.

The Gatekeeper had spent an unimaginably long time trapped inside the shelter, communicating with the outside world in that manner.

Unlike Q-Type, whose limitations had existed from birth, this was not an innate defect.

But habits that had hardened over such a long period of time had practically become one with her. It would probably be extremely difficult to separate the two.

[That is my flaw. And my limitation.]

The Gatekeeper displayed the words in a dejected tone.

Choi Jeong-yu found herself at a loss for words.

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