chapter_0662

662 – Dungeon of Dreams

662 – Dungeon of Dreams

Bomi watched the wide-eyed children and burst into laughter, clutching her stomach.

She had expected some grand prank, but all they did was pull and release a measuring tape.

It was a rather anticlimactic prank.

‘Not… dangerous, I suppose.’

The children’s reaction speed was beyond that of ordinary people.

There was no way they’d be hurt by a measuring tape.

“Master! Master!”

“Hm?”

“Ignite jabajuddaeo.”

Gaeul approached and handed over the body of the measuring tape.

Was Gaeul trying to prank me?

I had been watching from the side, but I decided to play along.

“You want me to hold this?”

“Yep!”

As soon as I grabbed the body of the measuring tape, Gaeul grabbed the tape and started running wildly.

I couldn’t help but be taken aback as I watched Gaeul run, giggling.

Even though she was nearing the maximum length of the measuring tape, 10 meters, Gaeul didn’t stop running.

Afraid she might trip on the tape, I ran after Gaeul.

“Master!”

Gaeul looked back when she reached about 15 meters.

It wasn’t so much that she lacked a sense of distance, but more likely that she didn’t know how far the measuring tape could extend.

“Master! Ignite!”

Gaeul let go of the measuring tape and ran towards me at the same time.

Thump-thump-thump!

Gaeul’s running speed was much faster than the speed at which the measuring tape was retracting.

Thanks to that, Gaeul arrived long before the tape and was able to catch the measuring tape with her fingers.

“Yak!”

With a somewhat stylish shout, she puffed out her chest with an “Ekhem!”

It seemed that Gaeul wasn’t trying to surprise me, but rather show me her race against the measuring tape.

“Wow, Gaeul won.”

“Gaeuli bbanatto?”

“Yeah. It was totally shashashak.”

“Hek…”

That’s our Gaeul.

She always finds fun wherever she goes.

I stroked Gaeul’s head, praising her for doing well, and the children began to gather around in groups of three or five.

“Levinas too! Levinas can run like this!”

“I want to try running like this with a roar…!”

“Okay. Then…”

While playing with the children and the measuring tape, I spotted Master Chae Joo-yeon of the Divine Guild walking in the distance.

Master Chae Joo-yeon was surprisingly heading towards my hometown portal.

“…”

Was Master Chae Joo-yeon also doing adaptation training?

Everyone was moving, helping out in their own way.

I wanted to repay those who were helping, but how?

I couldn’t think of a suitable reward, so I was lost in thought for a while.

Park Tae-san’s Master chamber in the Tae-san Guild.

Park Tae-san, lying on the sofa, trembled violently.

“Kuaaak!”

Park Tae-san woke up from his sleep with a scream, his entire body drenched in sweat.

Park Tae-san scratched the back of his neck, embarrassed by his scream.

Since there was someone watching, it was hard to pretend it didn’t happen.

“Master, did you fail again?”

“Uh, ahem… This is harder than I thought.”

“Because it’s a Dungeon of a type you’ve never experienced before.”

A Dungeon in the form of an item obtained from the Tae-san Guild.

The item led the user into the Dungeon.

Not knowing what dangers lurked within, Master Park Tae-san moved himself.

Park Tae-san easily cleared most Dungeons, but this one was different.

It was because the form of the Dungeon was a ‘dream.’

“Because it’s a dream, I can’t resist and just get beaten up!”

“Because in dreams, the power of reality is meaningless.”

“Geez…”

The battle in the dream that Park Tae-san experienced was terrible.

His punches were in slow motion.

Park Tae-san sighed and began to organize the clues he had obtained after several failures.

“Hey, Ha-jin. It seems like the mental aspect plays a big role in this.”

“If it’s the mental aspect…”

“Well, thoughts? Or should I say imagination?”

Park Tae-san was a middle-aged man.

He prided himself on having a body stronger than that of young people, but he knew that his thoughts were no match for theirs.

“I should leave this to the young friends in the guild, shouldn’t I?”

“Master, several people have already tried, but they all failed.”

“Huh? Really?”

“Yes. They said their bodies didn’t move as they wanted… Ah, they didn’t say their bodies moved slowly like Master.”

“Really…?”

If there was no slow motion, it was true that the younger you were, the more advantageous it was… But it was still hard to move.

Perhaps to clear the Dungeon, you needed the unique innocence of a child.

Children’s thoughts are free.

They would surely be free even in a dream.

The problem was that there were no adventurers as pure as children…

“Hmm…?!”

Park Tae-san’s eyes flashed.

It was because the Children of the Dawn suddenly came to mind.

They were pure and free, yet strong enough to clear a Dungeon.

Park Tae-san was convinced that the key to clearing the Dungeon lay with the Dawn.

“Hey, Ha-jin, I’m going out for a bit, okay?”

“Where are you going?”

“To see the little ones!”

I really want to see this damn Dungeon cleared.

With that expectation, Park Tae-san ran towards the Dawn.

**

“Us…?”

Master Park Tae-san held out something black.

Showing us something that looked like a black hole, he explained that it was a Dungeon that only children could clear.

I had no choice but to nod at the Master’s request to help clear it.

I had no intention of refusing the request for help from those who were working to save my hometown.

“Yes. I’ll try.”

“Levinas agrees too!”

“M-me too…!”

I received the black hole-shaped Dungeon and returned home with the children.

On the way, Ensia and Sophia joined us.

“It’s a type of Dungeon I’ve never heard of.”

Sophia sent us a worried look.

Aware of that gaze, Ensia placed her hand on her chest.

“Sophia-nim, if you’re worried, I’ll go with them.”

“Hmm… Then it would be better for all of us to go together.”

Ensia and Sophia expressed their intention to participate in the Dungeon.

There was no particular reason to refuse.

“But how do we enter the Dungeon?”

“You just need to let Mana flow into it.”

“Mana… Like this?”

As I poured Mana into the small Dungeon, the black hole began to grow in size.

As the black hole swallowed us, Master Park Tae-san stepped back and opened his mouth.

“It’s all a dream, so don’t be too scared! Got it?!”

“Yes…?”

I was about to answer Master Park Tae-san, but I was so sleepy that I couldn’t speak properly.

I seemed to be falling asleep…

“Umnya… Ummm…?”

While nodding off, I felt the drowsiness disappear in an instant.

Looking around, I realized that I was inside a building.

“Where is this…?”

Could it be that I had entered the dream Dungeon?

This was the first time I had such a vivid dream in my life.

As I was surprised and touching my body here and there, my family members began to gather around me one by one.

“Is everyone here?”

“Yes, everyone is here.”

The children, Ensia, and even Sophia.

Everyone had safely entered the dream world.

I was amazed by how even a single strand of hair was meticulously rendered, even in a dream.

Could it be that this is reality pretending to be a dream?

If not, there should be a part where I can tell it’s a dream…

I looked around, searching for traces of the dream.

Surprisingly, the traces were easy to find.

“So, Sophia…?”

“Umm…?”

Sophia’s body was glitching.

She moved slowly, then moved backward as if rewinding.

Then she moved forward again.

“Heok! The shark is lagging!”

“Lag mu-yak?”

“When a Gaim character goes bibibibik like this, it’s called lag!”

“Bibibibik?”

Levinas and Gaeul imitated Sophia’s glitching movements.

Bomi found it funny and laughed, clutching her stomach.

“Y-you guys, don’t… tease me…”

“Sophia, your speech is also slow.”

I was wondering why Master Park Tae-san said it was a Dungeon that only young people could clear.

But watching the glitching Sophia, I could understand the reason.

“Ah! Ensia…!”

I quickly turned to look at Ensia.

Fortunately, Ensia was moving normally.

Come to think of it, Ensia was the first to answer my question.

“Gyeoul-nim, I’m fine.”

“Yes, could Ensia carry Sophia on her back?”

“Th-that’s…”

Ensia glanced at Sophia.

Sophia would be embarrassed to be carried, but the situation was what it was.

“F-for now… let’s do that…”

“Yes…”

With the situation settled, we slowly explored the inside of the building.

A building that stretched long to the left and right, like a school.

Just by looking at the objects in the building, I could tell that this was an abandoned hospital.

‘It was called a nightmare.’

In a nightmare, scary beings are bound to appear.

The moment I had that thought, the door in the hallway opened with a loud noise.

“Greeee…”

“……!”

A man wearing a doctor’s gown was holding a pair of scissors so large that they could cut a person’s body.

Levinas covered his eyes with his ears at the sight of the hideous doctor.

“It’s a nightmare monster…!”

“Should I catch it?”

Haneul and Saebyeok clenched their fists as they looked at the monster.

Gaeul patted their shoulders and walked forward.

“Yak!”

Gaeul stretched out her hand with a shout.

Could it be what I’m thinking?

The moment my eyes widened, Gaeul performed the finger-cutting magic trick.

Shosho-shok!

Gaeul repeatedly attached and detached her finger.

Surprisingly, the monster stopped in its tracks and watched.

‘No way.’

Does it work here too?

Just as I was about to clap, something shocking happened.

Drip-

Gaeul’s finger actually fell off.

“Eeng…?”

“………?”

Gaeul placed the fallen thumb on her palm.

Not knowing what to do, she held out her finger to us.

“Ga, Gaeul, are you okay…?”

“Yep.”

She didn’t feel any pain even though her finger fell off?

Could it be because it’s a dream?

I hurriedly grabbed Gaeul’s finger and attached it to where it had fallen off.

Then, as if it had never fallen off, the finger was reattached.

“What is it…”

We forgot about the monster and only looked at Gaeul’s finger.

Gaeul repeatedly attached and detached her thumb with a blank expression, then puffed out her chest.

“Ekhem.”

I don’t know how she did it, but Gaeul was proud of the fact that she had performed a wonderful magic trick.

It was a truly bizarre Dungeon.

A word from the author (Author’s Afterword)

PIA1747014585384 Thank you so much for reading today!

Thank you for the comments and recommendations! They are always a source of strength!

Gaeul really did the finger-cutting magic trick…!