Chapter 15: Memory Exchange

A weightless sensation, as though his body were floating endlessly, lingered for a moment before fading away. Taehyun squeezed his eyes shut once amid the dizziness and opened them again.

Thankfully, his vision quickly cleared, and the scene before him came sharply into focus.

The space they had been transported to resembled a cinema or theater.

There were no seats, and the floor was completely level without any raised sections, but the dark-colored floor and walls, along with the elaborate curtains hanging from them, gave the place that distinct impression.

Taehyun looked around. The man from earlier was nowhere to be seen.

That left Rigor, the Knight, the Angel, the Demon, and himself as the only people in the room.

[[System (Temporary)] Welcome to the Temporary Dungeon of Reminiscence, the center of the path where you look back upon one another. The dungeon’s name was assigned arbitrarily. If you wish, it may be changed later.]

[[System (Temporary)] Six entrants confirmed. There is no separate dungeon map. It would be meaningless.]

Six entrants.

So that meant the man had entered the dungeon somehow after all. Taehyun had been worried that Replica might have left him outside.

The other Curses, including Rigor, appeared unable to make sense of the situation. Rigor had immediately returned to his original form and was reading through the messages with a bewildered expression.

“Tae-hyun, what exactly did you do?”

“I couldn’t exactly leave the person who claims to be Mr. Rigor’s subordinate outside. I decided to use Replica’s power to confine him for now, then figure out whether we should calm him down or settle things by force. He’s probably somewhere inside this dungeon.”

“That was a good decision. Thank you. But why did you come in here with us? From what I caught a glimpse of in the message before we entered, it sounded like escaping would be restricted until the dungeon was cleared…”

Relief and concern were mixed together on Rigor’s face.

Honestly, he was still like this.

Hadn’t Taehyun already talked this through with him?

“Get a grip, Mr. Rigor. Do you really think I would leave you alone? Especially when things have turned out like this?”

Taehyun knew how confused Rigor must be right now. He also knew exactly what kind of thoughts Rigor would be left alone to chew over bitterly if he were abandoned.

How could Taehyun leave him alone?

And if he sent Rigor into the dungeon by himself, how was he supposed to feel at ease?

“That man called you a traitor. He even called me a betrayer.”

“…”

“There’s no way I’m going to leave someone who insulted both me and my lover like that. I suppose we’ll just have to catch him and either beat some sense into him or make him come to his senses somehow.”

Taehyun wrapped both of Rigor’s hands in his own.

Rigor’s hands were somewhat larger, so Taehyun couldn’t completely enclose them. Still, he could at least keep them from trembling.

“Thank you.”

Rigor’s lips moved faintly as he murmured the words.

He slowly took a deep breath, then squeezed his eyes shut and opened them again. His golden eyes appeared to have regained something resembling composure.

In a calm voice, Rigor addressed Replica.

“Replica. That guy… I mean, the [Extradimensional Being], according to your terminology. He won’t be able to use his power for a while, right? Can we take some time to assess the situation before moving?”

[[System (Temporary)] That is not an unreasonable decision. However, I cannot give you an excessive amount of time. This is due to the dungeon’s rules.]

“Rules? Come to think of it, you said this dungeon had its own rules. What kind of rules did you make?”

[[System (Temporary)] A structure allowing for reflection and introspection, as proposed by Yoon Taehyun. I will now explain the rules. Please familiarize yourselves with them first, then discuss matters among yourselves as you repeatedly make choices and advance according to the rules.]

Replica began displaying the rules one by one in the air.

The letters were large, and there were even illustrations scattered around them. Apparently, the system had put some thought into making the rules easy for them to understand.

‘Hopefully, they aren’t too complicated.’

Taehyun began reading.

[[Event] Proceed to the Center]

[1. At opposite ends of the dungeon, ‘Rigor and Yoon Taehyun and Companions (abbreviated as Rigor)’ and ‘the Extradimensional Being’ are positioned respectively. Rigor and the Extradimensional Being will proceed toward the finish point at the center, passing through ordinary combat rooms.]

An illustration appeared beneath the text.

A long horizontal line stretched across the display, with a circle at either end. The left side was labeled Us, while the right side was labeled That Guy.

Replica was surprisingly blunt.

‘Did the Gatekeeper teach it that?’

[2. The clear condition is for Rigor and the Extradimensional Being to meet at the finish point located in the center.

However, this dungeon has two characteristics. First, there are no monsters. Second, ordinary combat rooms exist infinitely.]

Taehyun tilted his head at that.

If there were no monsters, how were they supposed to conduct ordinary combat?

And if the ordinary combat rooms were infinite, how were they supposed to reach the finish point in the center?

Fortunately, the answer was provided in the next section.

[3. Rigor and the Extradimensional Being may place a specific situation originating from their own memories inside the opposing party’s ‘ordinary combat room.’

Personal imagination or distortion must not be involved in this process. Only events that were actually experienced may be placed.

If a monster or enemy exists within the scene, they must defeat that enemy in order to proceed. If there is no separate enemy, they may simply advance.

For reference, the more vividly the details of the battle and the emotions felt at the time are recalled, the higher the difficulty of the ordinary combat.]

[4. After continuously advancing in this manner, the central room will open when either one of the two dies or both parties agree to stop fighting, allowing them to meet. The two sides will then join together and clear an elite battle.]

[The structure was influenced by the modified form of the dungeon belonging to Hat (former Curse, current companion) after it received an enhancement. Copyright-related matters will be reviewed later.]

In short, it was simple.

Show each other your memories.

If they continued sharing truthful memories with one another, perhaps they could eventually understand each other.

<Hmm. I’m not sure this will actually work…>

The Prisoner immediately muttered skeptically after reading the rules and shook his head.

<What if the other side picks only the most brutal memories they have and throws them at us, while they simply close their eyes and plug their ears when we show them ours? We’d be at a complete disadvantage.>

It was a valid point.

Even if they wanted to convince the man of the truth, they couldn’t exactly select excessively brutal battles. The man, on the other hand, could simply throw the most horrifying battles he remembered at them.

The Knight, however, merely whistled and shrugged.

—From a combat perspective, perhaps. But I think that little system has actually thought this through rather well.

<In what sense?>

—Psychologically. No matter how brutal the battle is, it was still something he personally experienced in the past. And in order to increase the opponent’s combat difficulty, he has to recall the details and emotions of that time as thoroughly as possible. That’s basically forcing himself to replay his own trauma. Even a completely deranged bastard wouldn’t find that easy.

In other words, the person who selected and deployed a memory would suffer psychological pressure just as much as the person fighting through it.

The man couldn’t simply bombard them with difficult battle memories without consequence.

Rigor had been listening quietly to the Knight and now nodded.

“This time, Replica really did think things through. Even if that bastard tries to crush us through combat, he’s still my subordinate, isn’t he? I’ve experienced nearly all of the horrific battles he went through. I practically know how to counter them all.”

“Come to think of it, that makes sense. You shared the same battlefields….”

“So he won’t be able to kill us simply by throwing difficult battles at us. Even if he tries that a few times at first, he’ll eventually give up. So all we have to do is carefully select memories that will make him accept reality. Whether those memories contain battles or not doesn’t matter.”

In other words, the straightforward approach was the strongest option here.

Taehyun nodded, and Replica apparently decided they had discussed enough. The system erased the rules from the air and displayed another message.

[[System (Temporary)] Then, the ‘Memory Exchange’ will now begin in earnest. Please select the memory you wish to send to the opposing side.]

[[System (Temporary)] For reference, the Extradimensional Being has already selected the memory he intends to send. The battle will begin immediately once you select the memory you wish to exchange.]

‘That was fast.’

Then again, if he was deciding alone, it was naturally going to be much faster than waiting for everyone to exchange opinions.

There didn’t seem to be a time limit, so perhaps they could take their time selecting a memory while allowing the other man some time to calm down.

As Taehyun fell into thought, the Angel suddenly broke the long silence and whispered to Rigor.

The whisper was still loud enough for everyone to hear.

“Hey, Wraith.”

“What?”

“This is just my guess, but I think he might… try to persuade you and make you change your mind. What would you do then?”

‘Persuade him?’

Hadn’t that man been planning to kill Rigor and Taehyun?

He had been calling them traitors and rebels, acting as though he would execute them at any moment.

Why was the Angel talking about persuasion?

Of course, Taehyun didn’t think everything the Angel said had to be correct. Perhaps even the Angel had twisted the man’s intentions according to his own assumptions and reached that conclusion.

Rigor seemed to consider the question for a moment before answering.

“Then I’ll have to teach him. No matter how deeply attached he is to his regrets, there are more things in this world that can’t be done according to his wishes.”

“Of course you’d say that.”

“I was his superior and his teacher. I wasn’t exactly a good student myself, but I should at least put the things I’ve learned into that thick skull of his.”

Rigor came to a firm conclusion and shrugged.

Then, as he quietly wondered what kind of memory they should send, his golden eyes settled into a calm, steady gaze.

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