Chapter 21: The Unseen Future and the Necessary Path

#21

“I merely speculated that Taeseongyeon would assign someone, but I wasn’t entirely certain it would be Han Yuseong. Given Taeseongyeon’s personality, I doubted he would pair me with a complete stranger, which left only Han Yuseong as a possibility. And no, I didn’t know from the start; it just occurred to me suddenly while I was sleeping, you know?”

Dokyeom scratched the back of his neck, offering a somewhat awkward explanation. In the dim light, Han Yuseong’s eyebrows twitched, though not in response to their conversation.

*Creak— Squeak—*

From the lower reaches of the sloped cave, the sounds of a Dagon pack echoed. Dokyeom swiftly moved, searching for the ‘fissure’ he had marked with a white string. Countless faint shadows danced on the cave walls.

“Han Yuseong, let’s hide for now—”

Before Dokyeom could even finish his sentence, Han Yuseong appeared before him with astonishing speed. He hoisted Dokyeom onto his back and vacated their position. Brushing against the cave wall, he leaped off the ceiling, locating Dokyeom’s marked spot and squeezing himself into the narrow opening.

‘‘

Within the cramped space, their bodies pressed against each other. Han Yuseong tightly shut his eyes, pulling the man whose physique was slighter than his own close enough for their breaths to mingle. He then muted and erased all sounds, even their very presence.

*Creak— Hiss—*

Outside the fissure where they huddled, the Dagon pack swiftly passed by. Even with their heightened senses, the Dagon found it impossible to detect the two individuals, who were perfectly blended by the ‘Chameleon’ skill.

“…Han Dokyeom, Hunter.”

A whisper, like the rasp of metal, brushed against Dokyeom’s ear. It was so profoundly low, it sounded as if the speaker had just awoken from a deep slumber. Whether this unvarying emotional tone was a result of rigorous training or an innate trait, Dokyeom could not tell.

However, the moment he heard that voice, Dokyeom’s world unexpectedly plunged into darkness.

*Shhhk—*

From a distance, the rustle of cards being shuffled could be heard. His vision shifted between black and white, yet every scene remained utterly pitch-black. Despite the continuous sound of scenes changing, it was as if ink had been poured over everything, obscuring all of Han Yuseong’s life from view.

‘What is this?’

It was different from when he had seen Geon Ita or Yisaein. He could neither see nor hear anything.

His thoughts, muddled with confusion, lasted only a moment. As the sound ceased, the inky black world receded, bringing him back into Han Yuseong’s embrace, and to the moment just before.

“How long must we stay here?”

Outside the fissure, the beasts’ cries still tore through the air, and the Dagon’s horrific screams heralded their demise. Han Yuseong’s low voice brought Dokyeom back to the grim reality. Suppressing his confusion, Dokyeom exhaled briefly. Yes, surviving this situation was paramount, more so than Han Yuseong’s future that had appeared utterly black.

‘Indeed. How long should we stay?’ Dokyeom pondered the passage of time, watching the shadows of the passing Dagon, and then parted his lips to speak.

“Until the sounds cease.”

Until all sounds vanished. And until everything within this place fell into a slumber from which they could not awaken.

Han Yuseong nodded, then pulled Dokyeom’s shoulder tightly. Their breaths mingled, brushing against each other’s shoulders. Despite the horrifying screams of the Dagon, the warmth of Han Yuseong’s proximity offered a strange comfort.

Dokyeom closed his eyes, burying his face into Han Yuseong’s shoulder. Han Yuseong’s hand clenched into a tight fist. In a corner of his distant memory, the words of the man he trusted and followed echoed.

‘From now on, you are to protect Han Dokyeom. Bare your fangs, go mad with bloodlust, and tear apart only the enemies before you.’

Han Yuseong did not know why Han Dokyeom had not left this place. However, regardless of the reason or any scheme involved, Han Yuseong had a duty to keep Han Dokyeom alive and bring him out.

‘Save them if possible. Hmm, stick to them like a fighting dog, protect them, and look after them. You can do it.’

Han Yuseong replayed those words countless times. Time crept by with agonizing slowness. Perhaps because of this, the words circling in his mind became ingrained as if by indoctrination.

‘Because they are more admirable than anyone.’

****

It was roughly five hours after Ju Uiryeong had led the others out when Dokyeom finally raised his bowed head.

The gate only permitted entry an hour after the initial expedition team had stepped inside. Furthermore, one hour after that first entry, all access would be suspended. Thereafter, the restrictions on the sealed entrance would only be lifted once the dungeon was cleared.

Only then would free entry and exit be permitted for anyone.

The reason for explaining this now was that even if Ju Uiryeong, who had departed with the people, possessed extraordinary abilities, they would not be able to re-enter this gate, as several hours had already passed.

Moreover, this particular gate was likely sinking deeper beneath the ocean.

Complete isolation.

This was the predicament Dokyeom and Han Yuseong now faced. Even if they were fortunate enough to clear this place, they would emerge not onto land, but into the middle of the sea. And specifically, onto a seabed teeming with mutated aquatic species.

Dokyeom became lost in a cascade of thoughts amidst the profound silence. A considerable amount of time had passed since the desolation had settled. In that stark quiet, Dokyeom confirmed Han Yuseong’s name, registered as ‘‘.

‘Why?’

Why was he unable to see Han Yuseong’s future? Was it because he still couldn’t recall who Han Yuseong was? Being registered as ‘‘ implied knowing a person’s fate somehow, yet all Dokyeom had witnessed were utterly black scenes.

Despite this, Han Yuseong was registered as ‘‘. What could be the reason? Did he know Han Yuseong’s future even without remembering him? If so, should the inability to see his fate be attributed to Dokyeom’s failure to recall his existence?

Perhaps the skill could be registered based on Dokyeom’s unconscious memories. Even if he didn’t consciously remember, he would still, in some way, know the person’s fate.

For instance, suppose Han Yuseong had appeared in the news due to some incident, and Dokyeom had seen it. In such a case, even if Dokyeom had no direct relationship with the individual, he would know of their existence and thus their fate. Could this be the case?

‘But then, that would be excessively broad. Weren’t only significant figures supposed to be registered?’

‘Then why Taeseongyeon… Haah.’

His lengthy chain of thoughts gradually subsided. The moment Dokyeom lifted his head, that seemingly eternal moment came to an end.

“Han Yuseong, do you hear anything?”

“If you mean any presence, there’s nothing nearby, at least.”

Just an hour ago, horrific screams had echoed through the walls. Most of the numerous Dagon must have perished. The grotesque creatures had likely moved to other caverns in search of different prey.

After all, this cave was ten times larger in its unseen areas than its visible ones. Such bluehole-filled interiors connected to other waterways, with over a dozen such passages existing.

“Let’s go out. Being cooped up like this for hours has made my neck and back ache terribly.”

When they finally crawled out of the narrow fissure, the desolate cave floor was strewn with countless headless Dagon corpses. It would have been easier to count the intact bodies, as most of the cadavers had their heads ripped off without a trace.

It couldn’t be helped. Dagon were monsters with magic stones embedded in their brains. When a monster consumed the magic stone of its own kind, nine out of ten would either undergo ‘mutation’ or ‘rampage’.

A rampage would have been fortunate. A rampage would cause the monster to self-destruct, like a sudden burst of fire that quickly extinguished itself, but ‘mutation’ was different.

Consequently, on days when a monster was unlucky enough to ‘mutate,’ an uncontrollable disaster would ensue. The mutated creature, dominated by the power of the magic stone, would ravenously consume more magic stones. In such cases, its rank would far surpass that of a regular monster.

This was also a primary reason why a gate’s rank would increase, much like what had just occurred within this Dagon habitat.

“Han Yuseong, you must have seen that mutated creature earlier… What do you think, can you kill it?”

“…I cannot.”

Han Yuseong shook his head, responding in a low voice. That was to be expected. No matter how formidable Han Yuseong was, he was still only an A-rank Hunter. The mutated creature’s rank had already surged to SS-rank, a level that would require three S-rank Hunters from Korea to subdue without casualties.

“Then don’t interfere with me, alright? If you interfere, I won’t give you any food. Seriously, no food.”

Dokyeom rolled up his sleeves and walked into the midst of the piles of corpses. He then indiscriminately swept his hands over the bodies.

“What are you doing, Han Dokyeom, Hunter?”

“Touching corpses?”

“I’m asking *why* you’re doing that.”

“I want to acquire some skills.”

He wasn’t searching the bodies; rather, he would sweep his hand over one corpse and then reach for another. The entire process was performed with practiced ease, utterly devoid of hesitation. Only after touching all the nearby Dagon corpses did Dokyeom set out to find the commander, whom he had almost forgotten.

As expected, it was the commander, and no one else, who had died. It was as if it had been foretold.

The commander lay prone in the middle of the narrow cave, covered in blood from head to toe. An axe was still tightly clutched in his hand. Dokyeom knelt before the commander and placed his hands on various parts of his body. He then whispered softly.

‘‘

In the original story, ‘Han Dokyeom’ was trapped for a month amidst piles of Dagon and hunter corpses. Overwhelmed by hunger, loneliness, and the pressure of isolation, he began rummaging through the bodies. After a week of this, ‘Han Dokyeom’ awakened a specific ‘skill’.

If the commander had survived this place, contrary to the original story, Dokyeom would not have needed to touch the corpses. However, with the commander’s death, Dokyeom was already destined to follow the same path as in the original narrative.

He had to touch the corpses and acquire a skill.