KIM DOKJA'S POINT OF VIEW
After a while, we moved towards the entrance of the 'hidden dungeon' on the first underground floor. I walked behind Lee Jihye, Lee Gilyoung, and Jung Heewon while looking at my smartphone.
「...Amid the splitting headache, Yoo Jonghyuk came to his senses.
'Give up on this life.'
This was the end of Yoo Jonghyuk's eighth life. 」
It couldn't be. This hadn't happened yet. Shit, why was this guy doing this on only the third life? If he moved carefully like in his second life, he would've passed through the mid-to-late scenarios. Or perhaps it was Alyona's influence again?
"Dokja-ssi, what are you looking at?" I raised my eyes to see Jung Heewon looking at me. "...Ah, the calendar... This situation has made me lose my sense of the date." I thought it might be more interesting to look at the calendar. Sometimes I wondered how I finished reading this novel.
"Then... did you say your name was Jihye? Do you also use a sword?" Jung Heewon looked at me suspiciously before turning her head towards Lee Jihye. "Yes. I like the sword." Lee Jihye said with an excited smile. "Right? The sword is the best. It has a good taste."
"...Unni also knows the taste?" Jung Heewon smiled as she watched Lee Jihye's sword. It was a luxurious sword that flowed smoothly. "Your sword looks good." Maybe it was given by Yoo Jonghyuk. "Ah, Master and Alyona-Unnni gave it to me. Unni...?" She smiled and flashed the sword given by Alyona.
"This one was given by Alyona! Isn't it beautiful?" Jung Heewon boasted at the younger lady. Lee Jihye's eyes sparkled at her words. "Alyona-Unni is something else, I'm starting to think your sword is better than mine." Jung Heewon laughed at that and patted the girl on the back.
"Hey, why are you talking to Heewon-ssi but ignoring me?" I butted in their conversation. "Uh... that, I'm a bit weak to older females." Lee Jihye responded with a quivering voice and Jung Heewon gave her a headlock as if Lee Jihye was cute. There seemed to be a connection between the 'demon slayers.'
"By the way, why are you rescuing Master?" Lee Jihye barely escaped from the headlock and asked. "We are companions," I said subtly looking ahead. "Don't talk nonsense," Jihye said with a scoff. "He is a useful guy. Alyona is also useful but the case of your master is different with her..." Jihye scrutinize me closely and said; "...You sound like Master."
[The constellation 'Secretive Plotter' is wondering about your heart.]
Come to think of it, it wasn't just Lee Jihye but the constellations as well who must be wondering about my actions. He was a guy who would kill me if he got a chance. It was strange that I would run to save him.
[The constellation 'Demon-like Judge of Fire' likes your desire to rehabilitate a fallen friend.]
[100 coins have been sponsored.]
This one misunderstood me. But the Demon-like Judge of Fire... unlike the expectations of the Archangel Uriel, I had a deeply personal reason for saving Yoo Jonghyuk. It was to prevent him from 'regressing' after his death. Alyona made it a focal point to be quite annoying to deal with if he regress.
Regression after death. It sounded good. A 'regression stigma' that triggered every time you died. The protagonist had a fraudulent ability. The problem was that this ability invoked complicated thoughts in the surrounding cast. But Alyona is here, Perhaps she can do something to reverse it? No, she said it herself it's 'annoying.' But then what does that mean?
「By the way, what happens to the world after you return? 」
A supporting actor had asked this of Yoo Jonghyuk when Yoo Jonghyuk's number of lives had broken into the double digits. I forgot his name but Yoo Jonghyuk's answer from that time was clear.
「 ...I also don't know. I always choose a world where more people can live. 」
It was plausible but in fact, Yoo Jonghyuk didn't know about the world he abandoned. There was no definite theory about what happened to the world in Ways of Survival. Science, magic, whatever.
This was why I was anxious. What happened to the world after the regressor disappeared? Would it reset with the regression? Or would a parallel universe branch off? The latter would be fortunate, but if it was the former... Could Alyona know the answer? What? This day all thoughts I have seem to be connected to that woman
"Hyung?" Lee Gilyoung, who was holding the hem of my clothes, looked up at me with anxious eyes. "Ah, yes?" I answered as I was shaken out of my headspace. "I think we're here?"
[You are approaching the outside region. Be careful not to leave the scenario area.]
This message popped up. It didn't matter. Chungmuro's hidden dungeon was treated as an 'inside' area. We turned the corner and Exit 1 appeared. A dungeon entrance with an ominous shade greeted us.
[You have found a hidden dungeon!]
[This dungeon has already been discovered by someone. You can't get the first discovery achievement.]
[A new hidden scenario has arrived!]
+
[Hidden Scenario – Theatre Dungeon]
Category: Hidden
Difficulty: A-
Clear Conditions: Defeat the master of Theatre Dungeon.
Time Limit: None
Compensation: 4,000 coins
Failure: ―
+
The surprised Lee Jihye hesitated and stepped back. "...What is this? Theater Dungeon?" Lee Gilyoung looked startled. Well, this must be the first time they encountered a hidden scenario. Jung Heewon also spoke.
"A movie theatre as a dungeon... it sounds romantic." Romantic. This was only because she didn't know how scary the movie theatre could be. We entered the theatre. The familiar lobby of the multiplex welcomed us.
[You have entered Theatre Dungeon.]
We were tense as we entered the bleak dungeon. It was a multiplex consisting of nine floors, from B1 to the 8th floor. "Hyung, the posters are torn. Who would do that?" Gilyoung asked pointing towards the torn posters hanging from the wall.
"I'm not sure," I said despite knowing who are the culprits. The core of this 'Theatre Dungeon' was the 'posters' on the wall. Perhaps Yoo Jonghyuk and Alyona teamed up and defeated every poster as they went upstairs. They intended to sweep up all the rewards here at once and destroy the Dungeon Master.
Except for the torn posters, nothing strange was found on B1. There were no items and no monsters. The only exception was the smashed elevator in one corner with a distorted door. "Isn't this a dungeon? Why isn't there anything?" Lee Jihye asked.
"Something will appear," I said to her looking for a poster that was still intact. "...Do you know something?" The party members look at me inquisitively. "A little," I answered still looking around. "How? Something is fishy about Ahjussi. Is this your second life?"
That was her master. But he had lived three times. "It is due to the sponsor behind Dokja-ssi." Then Jung Heewon said, "?" I ignored the two women and tried to move to the ground floor when I was caught by Lee Gilyoung. The cockroach on his head was moving wildly.
Lee Jihye drew her sword at almost the same moment I covered her mouth with a hand. "Shhh, there is somebody else besides us." I breathed out while small sounds started to be heard. Just upstairs. Then... the lobby? "...Are you sure? Here... there are a bunch of things." I first thought it was Yoo Jonghyuk but it wasn't Yoo Jonghyuk's voice.
"Yes. I bought the information with 1,000 coins." The murmuring didn't stop at once "The prophets?" The other one asks "Yes. They are disgusting but the information is obvious." I heard the sound of people talking. We went up the escalator and approached them. It seemed that four people were gathered in the lobby on the 1st floor.
"Who are they? I never once saw their faces in Chungmuro." Lee Jihye whispered, "Maybe they came from the ground side entrance." I whispered back. "Ground side? Isn't that filled with poisonous fog? Furthermore, the scenario―" I cut off Jihye's words and said; "Different stations have different scenarios at different speeds. Some have finished the scenario faster than our station. If there is a weak poisoning, they can eat the meat from the underground species."
I said this but I was confused myself. 'Prophets?' There was no information about such people in Yoo Jonghyuk's life. At this point, Yoo Jonghyuk, Alyona, and I should be the only ones who knew about the hidden dungeon.
What caused the variables? Needless to say, I needed to find out. Furthermore, Alyona is one of the people who has seen the end of this story. "Then let's go inside." A blue spotlight was floating above the men talking. A bright light surrounded them and then they disappeared.
"...What happened to them?" Jung Heewon asked me but I didn't answer. Instead, I was searching for the intact posters on the wall. This was torn, that as well... by the time I reached the end of the wall, only one wasn't torn. I read the words written on the poster.
Steven Spielberg, Samuel L Jackson, Jeff Goldblum... Those bastards ... They left this one alone? As expected from the third regression Yoo Junghyuk. But Alyona? She has an insight into what this movie has. Dokja, Hurry there's no more time to spare Then there's her voice again, Urgencing me to move quickly.
At that moment, the light came on again. This time, the spotlight was aimed at us. The surprised Lee Jihye and Lee Gilyoung stepped back, but there was no way to avoid it. The word 'ray' suited it. "Heewon-ssi likes movies?" I asked Jung Heewon who was beside me.
"Of course. Do you usually like it?" I sighed and answer "You might hate it after this." She look at me perplexed "What do you―" her words were cut off as a beam of lights hit us.
[You have been hit by a projection light.]
[The screening will begin.]
The surrounding landscape started to slowly change. It wasn't a simple illusion so Fourth Wall wasn't activated as before. The old linoleum floor became covered with green bushes, while the reception desk and popcorn stand turned into a lush rainforest. The ceiling turned into a blue sky with no clouds and no end in sight.
"Where the hell is this place?" Lee Jihye muttered in a small voice. Lee Jihye shouted and hacked at the surrounding trees and bushes, but nothing changed. Lee Gilyoung started looking for insects with a calm expression. Somehow I started to see Alyona through this child.
My cheeks reddened at the thought of Alyona and my breathing halted as I imagined her as a mother. Really? Is this the time to be thinking of these things? Honestly, I'm starting to be disappointed at myself for thinking these thoughts about that crazy woman.
I tried to touch the nearby trees. It had a hard and moist texture. It was a real rainforest from the Mesozoic era. This was a different realism from the specter's Welcome Prison. "It is a movie." This was the power of the theatre master on the dungeon's 8th floor.
Perhaps this is the reason why Alyona needs help, The dungeon master is way stronger than her. But I saw what Alyona can do."Ridiculous things are happening." A novel had become reality. There was no law that a movie couldn't become reality as well.
Jung Heewon was a fast adaptor and quickly understood. "Ahjussi, what movie is this?" Gilyoung asked while tugging at my clothes. "You'll know soon." I patted his head. "...Can't you just let us know? Wait a minute, what is this kid doing...?"
At this moment, the shrubbery moved and something jumped out in front of Lee Gilyoung. An insect that resembled a giant praying mantis. The size was approximately 40cm. "Hey! Kid! Back away!" Lee Jihye was terrified and cried out.
However, Lee Gilyoung responded calmly to the fuss. "It isn't a praying mantis. It is a Titanoptera from the Triassic period." Lee Jihye looked at the kid with bulging eyes "What?" Lee Gilyoung stretched out his hand to the Titanoptera. The insect didn't refuse the touch and after a moment, Lee Gilyoung and the insect's body were wrapped in blue light.
"This... what?" Lee Jihye watched with a stupid expression. "Fabré." It was good that I brought Lee Gilyoung. This guy's ability might allow us to pass through the gateway more easily. The giant praying mantis moved its big mouth and Lee Gilyoung nodded. I didn't know what it involved but they were having a conversation.
After a while, Lee Gilyoung paled as he talked to the praying mantis...What was it? "Hyung!" Lee Gilyoung hurriedly turned to me. As he spoke, the sound of the ground shaking was heard. It seemed that something was coming at a tremendous speed, smashing the giant palm trees.
Kuoooooh!
The muzzle of the giant reptile that appeared through the rainforest was covered with reddish blood. Some bloody men were running in front of it. "Kuaaack!" It was the men who entered before us. "S-Save me!" Lee Jihye stepped back and spoke to Jung Heewon. "I know what movie this is."
"...Yes, me too." A body that was over a dozen meters tall and had hard skin. Fierce muscles dominated the entire body. The strongest predator of the Mesozoic Era was in front of us. At first glance, it was similar to a grade 7 monster. The difficulty level was atrocious considering this was the 1st floor of the dungeon. But my heart just thumped.
The harder the hidden dungeon, the better the reward. I pulled out a blade and said, "Get ready to fight." Maybe Yoo Jonghyuk skipped only this movie because of the contents. The main reward of Theater Dungeon was related to the movie contents. Yoo Jonghyuk probably thought there weren't any worthy rewards in a movie where dinosaurs appeared.
Perhaps Alyona didn't bother pointing it out since she does say to me we'll have to follow after them. But little did that Regressor knows, In this movie, a really important reward was hidden. "...Are you serious? We are going to fight that?" My party members stared at the T-Rex before us.
"We need to beat it to exit." Everyone looks at me as if I had two heads. "The exit?" They all asked with knitted eyebrows. "It is a long movie. Have you forgotten?" The T-rex approached with quick steps. The island's central laboratory was seen behind it. And an escape helicopter was on the rooftop of the laboratory.
This was a movie. A movie that the master of Theater Dungeon made into reality. "Let's make a great ending." Therefore, there was only one way to escape from here. Alyona, Please just wait in there a little more we're coming.
YOO JUNGHYUKS POINT OF VIEW
A moment of stillness envelops the air as I stared into nothing. I look up at the stones and saw them glow and blink at me. There are six of them: yellow, blue, green, orange, red, and purple. It's been an hour since I've been ensnared here. "How do I get out of here?" I glimpse at the stone and attempted to reach them. But the more I've advanced to them the more they drifted above me. The sheer pressure of their presence debilitates my muscles.
[THE MIND STONE SAYS YOU MUST NOT BE IN CONTACT WITH THEM]
[THE POWER STONE SAYS YOU'LL DISINTEGRATE BY THE SHEER PRESSURE]
[THE SPACE STONE SAYS THIS PLACE IS VOID OF NOTHINGNESS]
Void of nothingness? There's such a place?...No what are those things? I watch the place distort into mirrors. No, It's like a film on screens. It all shows Alyona and her past life. "With a great power comes a great responsibility, That's what Captain always expresses to me..." Alyona's form soon faces me. She's sporting a white combat suit with a red letter A logo. The clip that portrays this enlarged and I was in a cabin-like place.
"Mutants and cosmic entities... They're not far from what I've always encountered" The film clip was shown from a third person's point of view.
I watch in astonishment as the Alyona before me, seemed to be more troubled and in vain. "Perhaps... But didn't you say you wanted to be in a place where this thing does not co-exist with normal humans?" Alyona exhaled a breath and faced the man she was talking with. Who is this fellow? "Thor... What Steve asking for is... Something I could not just accept... He's asking me to abandon the life I've had here, To leave with the people I call a family" Thor? The constellation? How can a constellation face her? Most importantly someone belonging to a strong nebula.
What's a constellation doing there? No, Maybe Alyona is not really from this planet? Or rather this universe... "But consider about it Lady Alyona, To live in a place where we can visit you, To have the peace of mind you always wanted? And for the threat to not come at us again? To lose our everything again?" Threat? What are they talking about?
"Thor! Thanos wipes out half the being of our universe, yes I understand that. Do I want it to happen in a different universe and different realities? No of course not. But can't I be selfish just for once? The grief that I felt once I've found out that your brother is gone is immeasurable yes! But this!" The god sucked in a breath and took a sit. Did her old world perish? If half the existence in her universe is gone and she is sent here, Perhaps she's an exile.
"What is she talking about where is this place?" I tried to look around but only got to see the topography of the film. "Give me more time to dwell on the subject, 1 more week to do things with everyone and I'll go..." Thor the person in front of me; Embrace the sobbing Alyona with a tight hug. "Do you want pop tarts?" I scrunched my eyebrows at his gesture.
[THE MIND STONE ASKED IF THIS GIVES CLARITY ON WHY THEIR HOST IS HERE]
[THE REALITY STONE IS WARNING YOU TO KEEP THIS A SECRET FOR NOW]
The place distorts in its initial state. "Can I go back now?" I inquired once more. I sat down on the devoid and frigid floor. I need to find a way to go back. What if something happened and I wasn't there? Moreover, if Alyona is an exile does that mean the scenarios in her world are over and now she is here? But their conversation adds up that they've beaten it. Or the happenings in her world is even the same in Seoul? Who is she?
As the question keep flowing in my mind I grew a mild headache. This too much question does hurt someone else's mentality. I must tidy my mind and find a way to get out of here. But... I can barely stand up, the drowsiness is making me feel sleepy and tired. Must...take...a...rest. "just a little bit..." And in flash I'm benumbed.