“Excuse me, is someone inside?”

*Knock knock knock.* The sound of knocking echoed through the quiet hangover soup restaurant, accompanied by a faint murmur.

“Maybe they’re sleeping….”

The voice alone was enough for Uijae to recognize the visitor—it was Yoon Gaeul, the one who had shown him the fragment world. Under normal circumstances, she would have been a welcome guest... but not now. Uijae glanced at the corner. Hong Yeseong was lying flat on the floor, his head craned up like a lizard, listening intently.

'Of all times for him to be here…'

Uijae caught Hong Yeseong’s gaze and mouthed silently.

'Do you know her?'

Yeseong nodded solemnly. Uijae suppressed a sigh and twisted his lips in frustration. Damn it, do all high-ranking Hunters get together for regular meals or something?

'How does everyone know each other, for f---’s sake.'

Another hesitant knock followed. *Knock knock.* Hong Yeseong, still with his head extended, asked in a low voice,

"Doesn’t seem like she's here for me. Do you know her, Secretary?"

“……”

"Come on, tell me."

“That's a secret.”

"Ugh, that's so unfair. You think you can just brush it off with that?"

Uijae pointed at the door with his thumb, ignoring Yeseong, who was muttering like a protester.

“Can I open it?”

Hong Yeseong pressed himself even closer to the floor, probably trying to hide, though it wasn’t much help given his bright blue raincoat was still slick with rain.

“There’s always a possibility she was sent by the Bureau to find me. Give me a moment to think.”

“Didn’t you just say she’s not here for you?”

“You’ve got to leave room for possibilities in life.”

Now that he thought about it, didn’t this guy have a secret space somewhere with a fancy tiled house and a palanquin? Why was he rolling around on the floor instead of hiding there? Uijae crossed his arms and asked,

“Can’t you go back to that space where you kidnapped me? The one with the fancy house.”

“Not right now. It’s a delicate place and needs time to repair after each use.”

Despite Uijae’s skeptical stare, Hong Yeseong shuffled around and pulled out a silver thermal mat, covering himself with it like a blanket. Miraculously, the part of the mat covering him blended into the floor, leaving only his head sticking out. He waved his hand, signaling for Uijae to go ahead. With a sigh, Uijae trudged over to the door.

*Click.* As soon as the door opened, Gaeul, who had been pacing outside, looked up quickly and smiled. She gave a small bow.

“Hello….”

“Hold on a second.”

Uijae swiftly cut her off, raising a finger to his lips. Gaeul clamped her mouth shut. In the meantime, Uijae opened the memo app on his phone and typed out a message.

**[There’s someone else here. Call me Kim, the secretary from the Wave Guild.]**

Gaeul’s eyes flickered as she read the message. She cleared her throat.

“Ahem, I… came at a really late hour, didn’t I? I’m sorry, Mr. Kim… Secretary.”

She glanced up at him, as if to confirm if she was saying the right thing. Uijae gave a small nod and asked,

“No worries. What brings you here at this hour?”

“Well…”

Gaeul hesitated for a moment before typing something on her phone and showing it to him.

**[I had to tell you something important. This was the only time I could manage to come.]**

If she had come at dawn, it must be something serious. Did she uncover an important piece of information? Uijae nodded, and Gaeul began typing again.

**[For the past few months, new dungeons have started appearing, where the environment inside changes suddenly. These changes aren’t part of the natural dungeon flow, but rather transform into entirely different landscapes. What’s eerie is that the description of the changes sounds a lot like the fragment world. White ash covering everything, and strange white monsters appearing.]**

The fragment world. The apocalyptic world covered in white ash—so familiar, disturbingly similar to the rift in the West Sea he had explored endlessly. Uijae clenched his fist.

**[Guild Leader Nam Woojin calls this phenomenon dungeon erosion. He says it’s like these dungeons are being invaded by another space. Only a few high-ranking Hunters know about the apocalypse, and since erosion doesn’t happen often, investigations into it are being conducted secretly. I’m in charge of comparing the fragment world to these eroded dungeons. And while doing so, I noticed something as I reviewed the fragments and compared them to this world…]**

Gaeul pushed her glasses up as her fingers flew across the screen.

**[As you know, the fragment world and our world are similar yet different. But as I examined the fragments more closely, I realized there’s a specific point where the two worlds start to truly diverge.]**

Her fingers kept moving rapidly.

**[In the fragment world, the rift in the West Sea never appeared.]**

“……”

The West Sea Rift. Uijae bit his lip as he stared at the familiar term. Gaeul was about to type more when—

“A-choo!”

A loud sneeze shattered the silence. Gaeul’s eyes widened in surprise. Uijae whipped around to see Hong Yeseong rubbing his nose with an embarrassed smile. Damn, he had completely forgotten about him. If they continued communicating via text, even someone as oblivious as Hong Yeseong would notice something strange. It seemed Gaeul had the same thought.

**[Who’s the person inside?]**

Gaeul knew Uijae was J. There was no need to hide it. Uijae gestured silently.

**[It’s Hong Yeseong.]**

Gaeul’s face lit up with shock. Well, of course—she had probably seen Jung Bin’s broadcast, after all. Her typing speed increased dramatically.

**[What’s he doing here??? Uncle Jung Bin has been looking all over for him before heading into the dungeon…]**

Uijae mulled over everything Gaeul had shared. Dungeon erosion had been happening for a few months, turning dungeons into apocalyptic landscapes. The West Sea Rift also resembled these doomed worlds. Then, a thought flashed through his mind.

What if the dungeon erosion wasn’t just making the environments similar… but was actually connecting them to the same space?

A chill ran down his spine. If that was the case, could the eroded dungeons and the West Sea Rift be linked? It was a far-fetched guess… but still…

He had to confirm it.

Uijae steadied his trembling hands and quickly typed.

**[Can I enter an eroded dungeon? Any location is fine.]**

Gaeul’s eyes widened before she folded her arms and pressed a fist against her lips in deep thought. After a moment, she nodded and showed him her phone.

**[There’s a recently eroded dungeon in Jongno 3-ga.]**

Jongno 3-ga... Luckily, that was still within Seoul. If he moved quickly, he could go and return before the restaurant opened. As Gaeul continued thinking, she typed out more.

**[But it might be difficult to sneak into an eroded dungeon. They’re under strict control, and only authorized personnel are allowed inside.]**

*‘Is that really a problem?’*

If he knocked everyone out so that no one saw him, wouldn’t that be stealth enough? As long as he covered his face, it should be manageable. However, it seemed Gaeul didn’t share the same perspective. Then,

“Achoo!”

Once again, Hong Yeseong let out a booming sneeze. Gaeul’s face lit up with an idea.

**[I think Yeseong could help. Uncle Jung Bin taught me how to handle him.]**

Uijae checked the restaurant again. Hong Yeseong, whose head was now poking out from under the thermal mat, was currently locked in a staring contest with Kokko.

*Him?*

That guy?

Noticing Uijae’s doubtful expression, Gaeul gave a reassuring look. Then, without waiting for Uijae to react, she squeezed past his arm and leaned into the restaurant, calling out,

“Master craftsman Hong Yeseong! Please help! It’s about dungeon erosion!”

“…Who calls for the master craftsman?”

Before Uijae could stop her, Hong Yeseong had already lifted his head high.

“Who dares summon the master craftsman?”

A dungeon. An unknown space that started appearing sporadically after the Day of the Rift.

The vegetation inside dungeons consisted of things unseen on Earth, and dangerous monsters made their homes there. If the monsters inside weren’t periodically exterminated, their numbers would rapidly increase, leading to an overload. As a result, unnecessary dungeons were closed, while those that produced valuable byproducts were managed by the state or guilds.

And Lee Minhoon, a C-rank Hunter affiliated with the Rift Management Bureau, was assigned to manage the underground dungeon in Jongno 3-ga. To be honest, “managing” mostly involved letting in only those with permits from the Wave Guild. It was, in other words, an easy gig. He smacked his lips.

‘I thought I'd get booted out when the ownership changed.’

The underground dungeon in Jongno 3-ga had been state-owned before it was handed over to the guild. Normally, when a guild took over ownership, one of their guild members would take charge of management, but the Wave Guild, citing a lack of manpower, left the Rift Bureau's manager in place. Truly, they were as generous as the sea. Thanks to that, Minhoon continued enjoying his slow, cushy job here.

3 a.m. Minhoon yawned as he watched his phone, which was running an automatic farming game. This job had many perks, but the boredom was unbearable. He wiped away the tears that had gathered from yawning when he noticed figures approaching the management office from afar. *Who the hell are these lunatics at 3 a.m.?*

Minhoon rubbed his eyes and adjusted his cap. As the figures kept drawing closer, he realized it wasn’t his imagination. The dim streetlight illuminated them as they approached.

“…What the hell is that?”

One person in a blue hiking jacket, fully covered with sunglasses and a black mask, another dressed like a student in a white baseball cap, beige hoodie, and pajama pants, and a tall man with a gray hoodie pulled low over his face. There was no common theme among them—it was an odd combination of people. Without hesitation, they walked toward the office where Minhoon was sitting. Flustered, Minhoon quickly turned on the microphone.

“Stop right there! Identify yourselves!”