Chapter 29: The Place Where Names Remain

Gate dungeons were always mysterious places.

They made human life infinitely prosperous, yet at the same time, poured out monsters and turned the world into a living hell.

Countless studies had been conducted to uncover the true nature of Gates.

But the answer was always the same: impossible to understand.

It was like how humans could never reach the end of the universe.

Gates were the same.

Among all the mysteries, the biggest question was this: How are Gates formed, and how do they disappear?

Once, overseas, they couldn’t suppress that curiosity and conducted an experiment.

They left a human inside a Gate that was nearing collapse.

Setting aside the ethical issues—since the test subject was a death row prisoner—only one conclusion returned.

Not a single one came back alive.

And thus one assumption was accepted as truth.

“When a Gate disappears, any human left inside disappears as well.”

But… was that really true?

“…Ppo… ppiya….”

“Puu….”

“Why are you sighing like you’re frustrated? I’m the one in trouble.”

I am the one praying that hypothesis is wrong.

Because right now, I’m the one who ended up stuck in a collapsing Gate.

They say if a person is shocked enough, they don’t even panic.

That was me exactly.

It was so absurd that I completely missed the timing to freak out.

A Gate that still had plenty of time left suddenly closed on me.

“Woof!”

But fortunately—contrary to the theory that the inside collapses—nothing around me was destroyed.

The entrance simply vanished.

Other than that, nothing looked different.

Well… except the pissed-off dog bas—no, Ppoppi, who remained here with me.

“…What do we do? Will it… open again after some time…?”

“Puuuh… kkaeng…!”

I let out a deep sigh along with Ppoppi and finally couldn’t hold back—I flicked him on the back of the head.

This bastard keeps acting like he’s above me just because I try to speak nicely.

Is it wrong to ask because I don’t know?

He keeps looking at me like I’m asking something stupid.

Look at him—can’t even recognize the person who saved his life.

“Ppoppi, are you planning to live inside this Gate forever? No beef, no chicken, just grass forever?”

Flinch.

He reacted immediately.

Of course he did.

He’s obsessed with meat.

“Woof!”

Ppoppi started walking again with me still on his back.

But not toward where the entrance had been.

He was going deeper.

Far deeper.

We passed through areas where the raid team had fought the monsters.

Past monster corpses and broken terrain.

Sometimes he jumped straight off cliffs.

Sometimes he tore down walls that looked solid.

He kept going, endlessly.

“…Where the hell are we going, mutt.”

At this point, anxiety started crawling up my spine.

I’d never heard of secret passages inside Gates.

What if this led to the monsters’ world…?

What if… I ended up someone’s pet?

Or… fresh meat?

The thought alone made me shiver.

But the only thing I could trust now was Ppoppi.

So I just held tightly onto his mane and waited.

Ppoppi traveled for so long I couldn’t keep track of time.

Eventually—he stopped.

And then suddenly, he transformed back into a small puppy.

He scratched at my leg, whining for me to pick him up.

He was shaking.

Terrified.

I held him tight—and stared at what was in front of me.

“…What is this place?”

What stood there looked like a concentrated mass of dread.

Darker than the already dark Gate interior.

A black hole in the wall.

It looked exactly like the kind of black hole people imagine in space.

“…We have to go in there…?”

“Kkiing….”

Ppoppi was trembling so hard it affected me too.

But I had no real choice here.

Even if it really was something that swallowed everything like a real black hole—I couldn’t stay here.

Someone was waiting for me.

Jaeyul.

“It’s okay. It’ll be okay.”

I said it to comfort Ppoppi, but really, it was for my own heart hammering in my chest.

I stroked his soft fur and stepped forward into the darkness.

No resistance.

No force.

It felt like passing through a thin curtain.

And once we passed through—it vanished behind us.

The place we arrived in was about the size of a small apartment living room.

It felt like a home.

A plastic chair with its color faded.

A metal table like one you’d see in a cheap diner.

A bed made of layers of blankets.

Old bowls with chipped edges.

Several books written in different languages.

Unused notebooks and a few pencils.

“Kkiii… ing….”

“Wait… hold on…”

Ppoppi was whining to leave.

On the opposite wall was another black hole, likely the exit.

But my attention was caught by something else.

Something impossible.

The notebooks.

“…Sun… Jae-yul…”

The handwriting was pressed down hard.

They were all labeled the same.

Every notebook.

All written with Jaeyul’s name.

“This… Why… is this here….”

It made no sense.

If his things were here, that meant Jaeyul had been here at least once.

But when?

How?

Yes, he had entered Gates as a child.

But only the outer layers.

There was no way a child could have come this deep.

I scanned the room, confused—until my eyes landed on a diary.

To Jaeyul.

That was written on the cover.

I hesitated.

It felt like opening it would mean uncovering something I shouldn’t.

But I had to.

Because it was about Jaeyul.

And I am his guardian.

So I opened it.

“…How to find drinkable water… Edible plants… How to make fire…”

It was like a survival manual.

About living inside a Gate.

Most of it was knowledge I already knew.

But some parts I had never heard before.

How to move between Gates.

Where to find certain hidden medicinal herbs.

It wasn’t all written at once.

The pen pressure and ink color changed throughout.

The notes had been written over a long period of time.

Some lines were crossed out and rewritten.

“Arf!”

“Oh—okay, okay… let’s go…”

I skimmed the rest to the last page, put it back on the table, and looked around the room one last time.

Then—I left my backpack behind.

And headed toward the exit.

Because of the last line in the diary.

Still, live.

“Wow…”

The moment I stepped out, I took a deep breath.

It was just the smog-filled Seoul air, but I had never been happier to breathe it.

I wasn’t anywhere near where I originally entered.

But I could see Namsan Tower.

So I was definitely in Seoul.

“So you can come back out like that…”

I learned another secret that no one else knows.

Surviving should have felt like pure relief.

But that place from before left a weight on my chest.

What was Jaeyul’s connection to that room…?

“Oh—right! Jaeyul’s match…!”

Thinking of Jaeyul reminded me instantly.

I had promised to attend his match today.

It was in the afternoon.

But it was already evening.

I ran anyway.

Better late than not at all.

I took a taxi to the stadium.

But it was already closed.

So I went home.

The lights were on, but Jaeyul wasn’t there.

I tried to call—but my phone wouldn’t turn on.

Probably because I passed through that weird space.

“Ppoppi, can you find him…?”

He shook his head.

Meaning Jaeyul wasn’t nearby.

I couldn’t just sit at home.

I left again—this time alone.

“…And now it’s raining…”

When things go wrong, everything goes wrong.

Rain poured down hard.

I checked his academy.

His dojo.

Nothing.

Finally—I remembered.

Before entering the Gate, I left Jaeyul a message.

Because he always nags me to update him.

So I ran.

Toward the place where the Gate had been.

Raindrops crashed against the pavement.

The raid site was gone.

Only police safety tape remained.

And standing there, in the middle of it—

Was Jaeyul.

Head lowered.

Shoulders drooped.

Like the rain itself was weighing him down.

“Jae…yul.”

Something about how pitiful he looked twisted something inside my chest.

My voice barely made it past my throat.

But he heard it.

He raised his head.

His face drenched in rain.

But it looked like he’d been crying.