Chapter 5 ….
Instant Dungeon (1)
Thunk, thunk.
A bipedal rabbit walked along Jungang-ro, stretching west from Jung-gu Office Station.
Handing out flyers to passersby was Go Seong-yoon, a part-timer at Sunhwa Animal Cafe, disguised as a rabbit.
He had come twenty minutes away from the cafe because this area had frequent foot traffic, making it ideal for distributing flyers.
He wondered if he had come too far, but it would probably be fine. The animal cafe attracted customers looking for relaxation, and even people from the neighboring Yongdu-dong would come.
Moreover, there were even new children among the visitors…
“Mr. Rabbit, can I have one too?”
As Go Seong-yoon waited for the green light at the crosswalk, a girl with a sprout-shaped headband approached and held out her hand to him.
Thunk, thunk.
He knelt down in front of the girl.
“Hello.”
“Hi!”
“Do you like animals?”
“No, I don’t.”
“Huh…?”
He was caught off guard by her unexpected answer. He had assumed she liked animals since she cheerfully asked for a flyer. He had wanted to boast about the animals only found at their cafe.
While Go Seong-yoon was too surprised to respond, the girl raised her arms high and continued:
“I like trees! My dream is to become a huge tree someday!”
“To become a tree…?”
“Yes!”
Go Seong-yoon was bewildered.
Had humans somehow become able to turn into trees without him noticing?
Confused, he even thought about kicking off his blanket when he went to sleep.
Unaware of his thoughts, the girl continued brightly:
“But since my mom likes them, I’ll go with her!”
“Oh… Ah, you’re doing it for your mom?”
“Yes. She’ll like it, right?”
“Of course! She’ll love it! Especially the new kids that came recently are super cute. You’ll like them too, I bet.”
Go Seong-yoon smiled softly.
Seeing the child’s kind heart, he couldn’t help but grin.
“Hmmm…”
The girl, in contrast, furrowed her brows. Go Seong-yoon wondered what could have troubled her. Had he said something that elicited that reaction?
“What’s wrong?”
“No matter how cute, I can’t just like them.”
“Huh?”
“I can’t give up my dream of becoming a tree.”
The girl spoke firmly. Her voice was so serious that Go Seong-yoon couldn’t bring himself to tell her the truth: humans cannot turn into trees.
“…Here you go.”
He handed her the flyer, thinking he should stop overthinking and focus on the task at hand.
“Wow!”
The girl’s face lit up at the sight of the animal photos on the flyer.
“They’re really cute!”
“Hehe, right? Aren’t they?”
“Yes! Um, is this a weasel?”
“It looks similar, but it’s not a weasel—it’s a sable.”
“Sable…!”
“By the way, are you going somewhere alone?”
Go Seong-yoon asked gently. He was concerned about the girl being alone.
The girl responded nonchalantly, seemingly unaware of his concern:
“I’m going to visit Grandpa Tree.”
“Grandpa Tree? Oh…!”
At first, he didn’t understand, but then a tree came to mind: the protected tree in Seodaejeon Park in Munhwa-dong. The 160-year-old willow tree was fittingly called Grandpa Tree by the kids.
Since it was nearby, Go Seong-yoon decided to accompany her.
“I was going to see Grandpa Tree too. Shall we go together?”
“…No.”
“Huh?”
“I can go alone.”
The girl replied firmly. Go Seong-yoon was a bit flustered. Why this reaction? She had been smiling just a moment ago.
Then he realized. When a stranger offers to go with a child, the correct answer is to decline politely.
“…Okay! I can go alone just fine.”
Though misunderstood, Go Seong-yoon didn’t feel bad. From the child’s perspective, it was reasonable. It also reassured him—if something dangerous happened, she could respond firmly.
As he straightened his bent knees, suddenly:
Bang!
A loud sound struck his ears. It was so loud that he thought an explosion had occurred nearby.
However, when he opened his eyes, he realized he had been mistaken.
Before him stretched a wasteland.
The sky was no longer blue, the ground parched, with only occasional dry shrubs.
And…
Screeech…?
C-rank monster: Orc. And not just one—countless orcs.
At that moment, someone grabbed his hand through the rabbit costume.
He didn’t need to look back to know—it was the girl with the green sprout headband.
Only then did Go Seong-yoon’s mind begin to process the situation. The sudden change in environment clearly meant one thing:
A dungeon had appeared.
Despite the panic, Go Seong-yoon did what needed to be done. He ran as fast as he could, without hesitation, holding the girl in his arms.
His long rabbit ears flapped wildly, and each step whipped the air into a storm.
Thunk-thwap-bloop-thwap-thwap-bloop-blip-blip…!
Meanwhile…
Choi Yeon arrived at the intersection dividing Sunhwa-dong, Yongdu-dong, and Munhwa-dong.
At the top of the intersection, where the new dungeon had appeared, control lines had been set up to prevent people from entering.
Seeing this, Choi Yeon paused briefly, then quickly understood the situation.
The manager of the Yangji Dungeon and Park Choong-jae, the dismantling chief, were observing the dungeon from within the control lines.
He got off his mana scooter and hurried toward the control line.
“Excuse me.”
“No, don’t push… ah…!”
“Coming through.”
“Yes, yes!”
When Choi Yeon stepped in, the nearby residents, initially about to complain, recognized him and made way. Even those who didn’t know him stepped aside, assuming he was an official.
Park Choong-jae turned sharply at the sound of movement.
“You—weren’t supposed to come in… Ah, it’s you, Choi Yeon.”
“Thanks. You two set up the control lines and organized the area, right?”
“Don’t thank us. Setting up lines is no big deal.”
He waved his hand dismissively, then explained the newly appeared dungeon.
“Mr. Kim already measured it. C-rank instant monster dungeon, destruction condition: complete annihilation.”
“That’s a relief. If it were an altar dungeon…”
“It would’ve been terrible. What about Hee-seok?”
“He went to Gumsan-gun to support the dungeon break.”
“Bad timing, huh? Will he be okay alone?”
“He’ll manage.”
Choi Yeon answered calmly. Park Choong-jae still worried. If it were just dungeon exploration, he wouldn’t have been concerned. C-rank dungeons were no problem for Choi Yeon.
The issue was that lives were at stake—two lives, in fact.
“Hey, look, some hunters from Munhwa-dong are coming.”
The manager pointed across the street. Hunters from Munhwa-dong were approaching the dungeon site. When Choi Yeon made eye contact, they greeted seriously but didn’t cross over.
The dungeon was technically in Sunhwa-dong, so the Munhwa-dong hunters had no reason to intervene before an official request. They were merely standing by under the pretense of preparedness.
“…Should we go together?”
Park Choong-jae suggested.
“You know people have been dragged into dungeons before, Yeon.”
“….”
“I know you’re not on good terms with them, but we should save people first, right?”
“No. That’s not a good idea.”
“Yeon-ah!”
“Don’t misunderstand. It’s not because of bad blood.”
“Not because?”
“Most of them are combat types. They aren’t good at stealth. And obviously, they don’t have detection skills—”
“So none.”
“Yes.”
“Hmm…”
Park Choong-jae sighed. For annihilation, the combat types were enough. But for rescue, stealth and agility mattered more than raw power. Ideally, one with detection skills, but such a person wouldn’t be a local hunter—they’d be in a famous guild in Seoul.
Even Choi Yeon’s respected Hee-seok lacked detection skills, which caused them to lose the trainer before.
“…They probably won’t follow my instructions well either.”
“True. Tsk, a shame. If it were Hee-seok, they’d obey…”
“Well, Hee-seok could handle it alone.”
Choi Yeon shrugged, confident.
“Anyway, in this situation, I’ll go alone. I can move stealthily even without detection skills.”
“Indeed…”
Hearing this, Park Choong-jae had no choice but to let him go alone.
“Alright. I won’t say more—be careful.”
“Yes, I will.”
With a brief nod, Choi Yeon entered the dungeon. His posture was relaxed, as if heading to a local market.
“What is this…?”
His astonishment escaped through his parted lips.
The relaxed demeanor he had maintained disappeared entirely. Understandable—an unprecedented scene unfolded before him.
His left foot tread on wasteland, while his right stepped into a forest. Two completely different landscapes fused together.
The bizarre scenery seemed as if someone had artificially combined two separate places.
Even after dozens of instant dungeon explorations as a Dongdae hunter, Choi Yeon had never seen anything like this.
Step…
He took a step forward. He couldn’t just gape at the astonishing view.
Those dragged into the dungeon still awaited rescue. Perhaps… already…
“…That should do.”
Choi Yeon muttered, erasing the thought from his mind, and climbed the tallest nearby pine tree.
Clinging to the top, he took out a crossbow scope from his holster and aimed it. Though intended for crossbow users, and not ideal as a telescope, it was the best he had. Many in similar situations used it this way.
“…!”
Instead of surveying the dense forest, he focused on the wasteland for a few seconds. The C-rank monster detector lens picked up moving sand and dust.
“Those are….”
