TGCNF 17🔐

Chapter 17 …

`print("Hello, World!")`

“Gayeon unnie, wait, just wait…!”

A faint voice roused Seoya from her half-sleep.

Looking out the window, it was still early dawn. The sky visible through the curtains shimmered with a mysterious shade of blue.

‘What’s going on?’

Jisein’s voice continued from outside the room. Sensitive to sound, Seoya groaned but eventually got up from her bed.

The voices weren’t just Jisein’s. Gayeon and Baek Yena were there too, all three discussing something. Judging by the direction of the voices, they were about to leave the house.

‘Why is Sein unnie going out?’

Leaving in such a hurry at this hour meant a dungeon or monster wave had suddenly appeared. Normally, even if a dungeon or monster wave erupted suddenly, only Baek Yena or Gayeon would go—Jisein never did.

In fact, during her one month in this world, Seoya had never once seen Jisein leave the house. Baek Yena even called her a “hikikomori” because of it.

“Today, we have no choice. Jisein, you know that.”

“Ah, unnie… I just know we’re going to die. I don’t want to go, it’s scary…”

“Hey, are you going to keep saying unlucky stuff? Who’s dying?”

Seoya got up from the bed and crept across the floor. The wooden floor felt cold beneath her bare feet.

“You think I’d leave my baby and die? I’m way too obsessed with life now.”

“But, but… how are we supposed to clear an S-rank dungeon…!”

Seoya stopped walking.

Even though they hadn’t told her much about the dungeons, she still knew the basics from the news. S-rank meant the highest, most powerful level. Baek Yena was an S-rank hunter, as was the person called Go Heejae.

‘An S-rank dungeon… that’s incredibly dangerous, isn’t it?’

Seoya flung open the door.

Jisein, whose wrist Gayeon was holding, looked teary-eyed. When her eyes met Seoya’s, she quickly wiped away her tears and composed her expression.

“Unnie, where are you going?”

“Uh… to clear a dungeon. Your baby can keep sleeping.”

Baek Yena spoke calmly, trying not to show any sign of panic.

“It’s S-rank, right? Isn’t that extremely dangerous?”

“I’m an S-rank hunter too. It’s fine. We can clear it.”

“Then why is Seiya unnie going? She never goes out. If even unnie has to go, that must mean it’s super dangerous, right? They wouldn’t take her just because they’re short on people, would they?”

Baek Yena ruffled her messy hair and frowned slightly.

‘Ugh, she never thinks about this normally… why only now?’

“Normally it’s dangerous, yes. But this time, tons of hunters are going, so it’s fine. Forty from our guild, thirteen from other guilds. Fifty-three in total.”

Gayeon said this confidently, as if assuring the nervous Baek Yena that it wasn’t dangerous at all.

‘Fifty-three… is that enough?’

Seoya started thinking carefully.

She had heard that fighting monsters drains ‘mental energy.’ Could fifty-three people split it enough to handle all the monsters?

“Unnie, I’m not affected by that mental energy. Can’t I go?”

Seoya looked at them, but none seemed to agree. Even Jisein, who appeared scared of the dungeon, shook her head and calmly put on her shoes.

“Seoya, go back inside and sleep.”

Gayeon looked Seoya straight in the eyes.

Just out of bed, her navy hair was messy, but her eyes sparkled clearly, her cheeks still bore pillow marks, and she wore sky-blue pajamas.

No matter how strong she was, she still had human decency.

‘Sending her to a dungeon would make me a criminal… a criminal…’

Besides, seeing that she had nightmares indicated she had some mental issues from coming to this world. All the more reason not to send her.

“Looks like the cypress pillow didn’t help her sleep.”

“No, unnie! I told you it had no effect! Vitamin D is enough~”

“The problem was letting the baby sleep alone! We need to apply for a psychological clinic immediately.”

Seoya, tired of their familiar arguments, stepped back from the entrance with an annoyed expression.

Since Seoya had asked recently if they would abandon her, they had been overprotective, caring for her mental health even more intensely than before.

“Seoya, never leave the house alone. Okay? Promise.”

“Okay, promise.”

Having made a promise, there was no turning back.

Seoya trudged back to her room.

Even Jisein, who had been clinging in protest, had calmed down after Seoya’s statement, prepared to fight if necessary.

‘Well, they probably think they can manage without me.’

Seoya buried herself under the soft blanket.

Earth had been fine while she was gone; humans could handle it.

‘When I wake up, as always, everything will be fine.’

By morning, the sisters were still gone.

Rubbing her eyes, Seoya checked the clock: 9 a.m.

‘Still not back…’

She poured milk from the fridge into a glass and turned on the TV.

The news would show what was happening. She had learned about this world through television.

As soon as it turned on, a news channel was reporting on the S-rank dungeon from early dawn. Two anchors and an expert were speaking, while a caption scrolled below:

Breaking News: Six S-Rank Dungeons Suddenly Appear in the Country… 48-Hour Time Limit

‘Six?’

Were S-rank dungeons normally this numerous?

Seoya, lounging on the sofa, sipping her milk, couldn’t help spitting it out at what the news anchor said next.

“Frankly, if I’m honest… hunters entering this S-rank dungeon are likely to go insane…”

A man with faded gray hair and round glasses spoke slowly.

‘Huh?’

Seoya stretched from her curled position on the sofa.

‘Then what about unnie and the others?’

The news had moved on to showing the locations of each dungeon, barely discussing hunter safety.

Unable to contain her anxiety, Seoya jumped up. She tried calling Baek Yena, Gayeon, and Jisein in order, but no one answered.

‘Right, oppa Haejun…’

[Call not answered; voicemail activated.]

Haejun had not answered either.

Only forty people from the Neverending Guild were entering the S-rank dungeon, and Haejun was surely among them.

‘What should I do now?’

Making decisions alone was always hard for Seoya. With so little information, it was even harder.

She had promised not to leave the house—she couldn’t break that.

Seoya clutched her head, struggling alone in the empty house.

Tap, tap, tap—

The typing sound echoed in the cold room.

A musty smell lingered in the poorly ventilated room. The old light hanging from the ceiling creaked.

“Are you sure this is okay?”

Taesa asked from behind Ibin. His red hair clung to his neck with sweat. Panting heavily, it was clear he had run from far away.

Meanwhile, Ibin’s fingers were wrapped in blue mana, his nose bleeding profusely. Tissue offered little help.

“Leave the mana stones. Quickly, before anyone notices.”

In a calm voice, Ibin instructed.

Taesa dumped a handful of glowing blue mana stones next to Ibin. Fist-sized stones rolled across the floor. Ibin picked one up.

“Seoya… has she survived?”

“Yes.”

He tossed a stone into a hole in the air. When the stone met Ibin’s mana, a blast of black light erupted beyond the hole.

“There was an error once. When Seoya enters the dungeon, I’ll assign variables. If I work a bit more, I can contact her directly.”

“Can we guarantee she’ll survive until then?”

“Time flows differently here; it’s entirely possible. Even if something happens to me before then, I’ve prepared contingencies. She can manage alone without me.”

“Really, no problems?”

“Unless headquarters notices me right now, it’ll go fine.”

Taesa clenched his lips while watching Ibin.

“Is Seoya… doing okay?”

“I don’t know. I expected her to enter the dungeon by now… but no news. She would definitely jump in immediately to save people once she went to that world.”

“Bin, the pioneers will return to headquarters soon. You need to contact Seoya before then.”

“I’m fine. Taesa, you just prepare sufficient justification.”

Taesa clenched his fists; his nails drew blood from his right hand.

He didn’t care about the pain. This is nothing. She’s been through worse.

‘She deserves it.’

“I’m ready to overturn everything.”

“Good. But above justification… our priority is Seoya. She’s always my number one.”

Taesa slowly nodded, wearing a serious, solemn expression.

“My Seoya… even though we haven’t had contact yet…”

Muttering to himself, Ibin suddenly typed rapidly on the keyboard, his fingers trailing threads of mana.

“But now she has no choice but to enter.”

Unknown numbers and symbols flashed across the monitor.