Chapter 22: The Dagon’s Awakening

Returning to reality, Dokyeom gazed with a heavy heart at the black letters floating in the air.

[Grotesque]

[Subjugation]

[Grotesque Transformation (C)]

These were the skills possessed by the Director. He was a talented individual, whose abilities seemed wasted on a mere C-rank hunter.

The Director was a stubborn man, always reluctant to assimilate or communicate with monsters. Driven by a desire to uphold human dignity, he had consistently ignored the powers and skills that manifested within him.

That very stance shaped the Director into the person he was today. Had he yielded even slightly on his principles and compromised with reality, he would undoubtedly be a renowned C-rank hunter, wielding power comparable to an A-rank.

Yet, it was precisely this obstinate approach to life that had inadvertently created the opportunity for ‘Han Dokyeom’ to survive.

Dokyeom lifted the Director’s arm, slung it over his shoulder, and painstakingly dragged the stiff, rigid body. He then pushed the Director into a previously hidden crevice.

Here, corpses did not decompose. The magic embedded in the quartz lining the ceiling prevented any decay. This was precisely why ‘Han Dokyeom’ had been able to coexist with a corpse in this very space for months.

*Drip-drop.*

Water droplets falling from the ceiling repeatedly splashed against his nose. Dokyeom wiped the moisture away with his arm and headed towards the area brimming with blueholes.

Behind him, Han Yuseong followed silently.

‘It should be appearing soon,’ Dokyeom thought.

Dokyeom touched every corpse he encountered. Occasionally, he would find a Dagon corpse with its head intact, and he would use an axe to open it and retrieve the magic stone.

He also didn’t forget to use [Third Party] intermittently to examine skills. By then, he had collected a generous estimate of twenty magic stones.

[The demon Orias of ‘Lemegeton’ scrutinizes your actions, wondering what exactly you are doing.]

“Last time, you called me a marten, didn’t you? Huh? You bastard. Do I look like a weasel to you, not a human? Why don’t you just call me a rat, then?”

The silence was fleeting.

[The demon Orias of ‘Lemegeton’ suddenly bursts into loud laughter, claiming an urgent matter has arisen! Furthermore, they gather their belongings, stating they likely won’t be able to return for a while and ask not to be sought out.]

‘No, that bastard didn’t deny it even to the very end,’ Dokyeom thought.

As he furrowed his brows, Orias’s presence vanished as if fleeing. Dokyeom let out an exasperated sigh, his expression displeased, and turned his steps towards the Great Bluehole, where corpses lay piled high.

He circled the perimeter of the pool, keenly examining the corpses that brushed against his feet. After completing half a circuit, he suddenly felt a warmth.

*Thump.*

Something warm nudged Dokyeom’s foot. It was a Dagon, half-submerged in the water. Aside from a grotesque stab wound in its side, its exterior was remarkably intact, unlike the other corpses.

Dokyeom quickly bent down and placed his hand beneath the Dagon’s nose. A faint, shallow breath tickled his fingertips.

‘‘

An inky haze formed distinct characters above the Dagon’s head. The moment he saw the words, coalescing and darkening, Dokyeom smiled to himself.

‘It’s you, isn’t it?’

He had finally found them—the savior who would allow Dokyeom to escape this place.

Only two skills hovered above the Dagon’s head. However, it possessed a skill not found in ordinary Dagon:

[Degradation]

This Dagon was a warrior, a survivor blessed by fate. Dokyeom laboriously hauled the creature’s two-meter-plus body onto dry land, laying it flat.

Han Yuseong assisted him. One might expect questions by now, but Han Yuseong matched Dokyeom’s actions without a single word, simply acting and waiting.

It was as if he were a trained hound, awaiting instructions.

‘This must be Taeseongyeon’s doing,’ Dokyeom thought, feeling a peculiar sense of betrayal regarding ‘his child.’ Below his hand, the Dagon’s chest heaved with difficulty.

Dokyeom swiftly lowered his gaze to inspect the Dagon.

With each rise and fall of the Dagon’s chest, its firmly set scales grotesquely erected themselves before retracting again.

‘I must save it,’ Dokyeom resolved.

He retrieved a recovery potion from his inventory and immediately held it to the Dagon’s mouth. Placing a hand beneath its neck, he helped it swallow the liquid.

After pouring about three bottles, the faint, shallow breaths deepened into a heavy, exhausted rhythm.

“…Hunter Han Dokyeom.”

It was then, as Dokyeom was examining the Dagon’s side wound, that Han Yuseong’s voice suddenly broke through.

“Just drop the ‘Hunter’ and use my name, please. Just my name.”

“Are these actions… truly meaningful?”

Dokyeom paused his ministrations. His gaze shifted, meeting Han Yuseong’s dark eyes. The man’s intense gaze conveyed a dense mix of emotions: doubt and distrust.

Yet, with Dokyeom’s single word, that suspicion receded back into the depths.

“Yes.”

A reply brimming with conviction. That was all Han Yuseong needed. He closed his eyes and nodded.

“You were unfairly dragged here, weren’t you? You won’t feel any relief until you get out and grab Taeseongyeon by the collar. So, put any thoughts of dying aside for now.”

‘Because I’ll make sure you live.’

The rough, uneven scales beneath his hand conveyed a strange sensation. Dokyeom looked down at the Dagon’s repulsive face and whispered a skill, barely audible.

With his hand, he delicately stroked the Dagon’s upright scales, as if caressing something precious.

“”

From this point on, he had no choice but to rely entirely on this skill. For a full ten days. This was the duration he needed to remain here to clear this gate.

****

Time, regrettably, flew by. It had already been two days since their isolation within the gate began.

Dokyeom devoted himself to treating the Dagon day and night. Naturally, he never forgot to use the skill whenever he had a moment.

Generally, empathy or conversion skills weren’t numerically displayed, making it impossible to gauge the intimacy of the relationship without direct experience.

However, Dokyeom believed he had done enough to ensure the Dagon wouldn’t outright attack upon waking.

“Do you not know when it will awaken?” Han Yuseong inquired.

Dokyeom, who was pouring medicine into the Dagon’s mouth, subtly shook his head. He truly did not know.

In the original story, despite ‘Han Dokyeom’ administering potions and providing meticulous care, it had taken a full ten days for the Dagon to open its eyes. Dokyeom’s current recovery potions were even more potent than those used by the original ‘Han Dokyeom’.

Nevertheless, even with all its injuries healed, the Dagon still showed no signs of stirring.

“We just have to hope it wakes up within a week,” Dokyeom replied casually, a convenience store pastry held between his teeth.

Han Yuseong, too, held a piece of bread Dokyeom had given him. Beside them, magic stones they had collected were piled high like a small tower.

Including those Han Yuseong had personally retrieved from submerged corpses in the bluehole, there were roughly one hundred magic stones in total.

“I’ll go scout the surroundings again, so Han Yuseong, you should rest for a bit.”

Dokyeom roughly shoved the bread into his mouth, stretched, and straightened his stiff body. Han Yuseong hesitated, then simply nodded in response.

‘It should be happening soon,’ Dokyeom thought. ‘By now, it should be.’

For two days, Dokyeom had dedicated all his time to touching corpses, excluding the hours spent tending to the Dagon. Han Yuseong still hadn’t asked why.

Instead, he had even retrieved corpses from the water and brought them for Dokyeom to touch.

Yet, that ‘moment’ never arrived. At this point, Dokyeom even wondered if the future had somehow been altered. He considered if he should change his approach immediately.

By now, outside, various guilds would likely be deploying divers, scouring the entire Eulwangri sea to pinpoint the location of the suddenly appearing Red Gate.

Survivors who made it out would have reported to the Association, and by this time, the identity of the monster as Dagon would be known. A blockade order would have been issued for the surrounding sea in preparation for an emergency.

In short, it was a state of emergency.

*Splash!*

The sound of water surging erupted behind him. Dokyeom took his hand off a corpse and turned towards the bluehole. Aside from one Dagon lying still beside the pool, there was not a speck of Han Yuseong’s shadow to be seen.

Han Yuseong had gone down into the bluehole again, presumably to pull out another corpse.

“I told you not to bother,” Dokyeom muttered.

At this point, every action he had taken felt like a waste of time. Dokyeom subtly bit his tongue, staring up at the ceiling, lost in thought for a long time.

‘Should I focus all my energy on the Dagon from now on?’

Ultimately, Dokyeom left the corpses behind and returned to where the Dagon lay, sitting back down. He took out another recovery potion and poured it into the Dagon’s mouth.

[The demon Orias of ‘Lemegeton’ subtly hints, with a clearing of their throat, that Dagon are monsters for whom hydration is also important.]

“Oh, right. I don’t have business with a demon bastard who’s been gone for two days.”

[The demon Orias of ‘Lemegeton’ clears their throat again, insisting they had a truly important matter to attend to.]

“Why don’t you just disappear? I’ll just—!”

[The demon Orias of ‘Lemegeton’ assumes a defensive posture!]

It was ridiculous to see the demon acting like a cub, especially since he couldn’t even hit them. Dokyeom, with an annoyed gesture, pushed away the ‘words’ and scooped water onto the Dagon’s body with his outer garment.

He did this three times. By the time the murky scales had absorbed enough moisture to regain their true, transparent color,

*Splash!*

Han Yuseong urgently gasped for air, breaking through the water’s surface from the bluehole and revealing his face. His ragged breaths hung in the air above the water.

“Hah, hah… Han… Dokyeom-ssi…. Hah….”

His face was not just pale, but utterly blue, indicating how deep he must have gone. Dokyeom quickly rose and headed towards Han Yuseong. But it was only one step. That was all he could manage.