[You have gained experience points.]

[You have gained experience points.]

“Haah… haah… Is it over…?”

The battle shortly after entering the dungeon ended in an overwhelming victory for the unit. No serious injuries, not even minor ones—an undeniable win.

However...

“They’re coming! More of them!” 

“Damn it.”

No sooner had the battle ended than more monsters began closing in. Although our unit was superior in terms of quality, there was no way we could eliminate an endless swarm.

“Sergeant Shin, we're okay for now, but if anyone gets injured, it’ll be hard to treat them in this environment.”

The medics approached and spoke up.

From the start, we anticipated a long campaign in this dungeon, so we weren’t aiming to clear it all in one battle.

“Let’s keep moving as we fight! Head for that tall building!”

The monsters were coming from the water. Given their gills, it’s likely their abilities would weaken outside of water.

“The door’s busted open! Watch out for broken glass!”

“No need to worry—Awakened don’t get injured by that! Get inside, get inside!”

We somehow managed to enter the building, water dripping from above as we scrambled to locate the stairs and climbed up to the second floor.

“They’re not...”

“...following us in, it seems.”

The water filling the city hadn’t risen to the second floor. Though we remained on guard for any monsters attempting to follow us out of the water, they thankfully didn’t.

“...Everyone, rest!”

“Haaah!”

Finally, we could relax a bit.

Although it had been daytime outside, inside the building was pitch dark. Without the effects of the meal, navigating in this darkness would’ve been a challenge.

“Ah~ I’m a bit worried about leaving the combat vehicles down there.”

“They’re waterproofed, aren’t they? We’ll pick them up when we move again.”

The vehicles, used as mobile barricades in battle, hadn’t been given any of the environmental adaptation meals, making them unsuitable for prolonged exposure.

While the soldiers rested, I decided to move.

“Where are you going?” one of them asked.

“Up.”

Given my enhanced stats from potions and vampire blood, I wasn’t feeling too fatigued, even after the recent fight.

“Since the plan was to climb the building for a better view, I’ll go on ahead.”

“We’re dead tired here… You’re something else, sir.”

“Get some rest.”

With the power out long ago, I had no choice but to climb the emergency stairs floor by floor. As I reached the higher levels, I felt something moving above.

“...!”

Perhaps we’d been too complacent, assuming the waterborne monsters couldn’t follow us onto land. Just because those creatures couldn’t enter the building didn’t mean other monsters couldn’t be inside.

It was overly optimistic thinking. But there was no time for regret now.

*Srrrnn...*

I gripped my knife, ready to fight. The presence above wasn’t just one or two.

They slowly approached, and as soon as the first one came into view below, I slashed.

“Who... who’s there?!”

The unexpected sound caught me off guard, stopping my blade mid-swing, just inches from the person’s neck.

*Damn. That was close.*

The man, oblivious to how close he’d come to dying, shouted at me in irritation.

“What the hell are you doing, lurking in the dark? This building is our territory!”

“Which building are you from, barging in without prior notice? You trying to start a war or what?”

They continued shouting angrily, leaving me at a loss for words.

‘Their territory? From another building?’

I held back my response, not wanting to act rashly.

“Why aren’t you saying anything? Damn it... wasting oil like this.”

The man pulled out what looked like a makeshift torch made of wood and cloth, lighting it with a lighter.

*Fwoosh.*

As the torch illuminated the darkness, he finally saw me.

“Let’s see... who’s...”

“...Huh?”

As the torchlight revealed my face, the men’s expressions turned from anger to bewilderment.

“...?”

“He doesn’t look familiar.”

“But look at his outfit.”

“A... military uniform?”

They looked at me in shock, and I was just as dumbfounded.

There were survivors inside the dungeon—quite a few of them, it seemed.

---

“Take a seat.”

The people who had taken shelter in the building guided our unit to a higher floor. As we climbed the stairs, I noticed signs of long-term habitation in what had once been an office building.

*They’ve been living here for quite a while, it seems.*

The number of people also seemed surprisingly large, which was astounding.

*I can’t believe there are so many survivors inside this dungeon.*

The previous dungeon we cleared was different. The subway workers had all become food for the monsters. This dungeon seemed to follow different rules.

“Name’s Park Tae-wan,” said a man, extending his hand.

Usually, Lieutenant Kim would handle this sort of interaction, but since this was more about dungeon exploration than a meeting with external forces, I decided to step forward.

“Sergeant Shin Young-joon.”

As I introduced myself, the men around us exchanged excited glances.

“It’s really true, then.”

Despite the dim lighting, they seemed able to recognize the military uniform.

“Boss, they said there were armored vehicles down on the first floor, submerged in the water.”

“So that means…”

They began talking amongst themselves, excitement growing on their faces.

“The military finally mobilized.”

‘Mobilized’ might not be the best word, but as I hesitated to respond, the men continued their excited chatter.

“See? I told you! I knew the outside world had to be fine!”

“Does that mean we can get out too?”

“If soldiers are here, doesn’t that mean there’s a way out? This miserable life might finally be over.”

So far, I could follow their line of thinking, but…

“Even if we get out, it doesn’t mean everything will be okay…”

“True, if they find out about our Awakenings, the government might drag us away for human experiments.”

“Then we’d resist! We’re strong enough to fight back.”

“Let’s not be pessimistic. Maybe we’ll be treated like superheroes—awakening after enduring hardships, like heroes from TV.”

At this point, I was completely lost.

*They don’t know the military has fallen… or that society outside has collapsed.*

They were utterly out of touch with the state of the outside world.

Park Tae-wan turned to me, his eyes filled with hope.

“One question. You’re not soldiers who were hiding here in Chuncheon, right? You came from outside the wall?”

“Yes, that’s correct.”

“Oh!”

Park Tae-wan breathed a sigh of relief.

“So the outside world hasn’t been completely destroyed.”

“Destroyed?”

“Well, we couldn’t go beyond the wall, and no one came from outside... Many believed the entire world had perished, submerged by the water.”

I paused, not sure how to explain, as Tae-wan continued.

“Honestly, people lost hope after a few months passed without rescue. Few still believed that the military would come to our aid...”

It seemed they’d been divided on the matter. Some thought the entire world had perished, while others believed only they were affected and the military would eventually rescue them.

Neither was true.

“You’re all the forces, then?”

“...Yes.”

Their excitement dimmed slightly.

While we could bring in some reinforcements from the Tank Battalion, we didn’t have a large force.

“I see. I guess it wasn’t easy for the military to breach that wall.”

*We just walked in,* I thought. *Previous squads likely avoided it because of the danger.*

“But it’s fine! You might not believe this, but we’ve gained unique abilities here. Let us show you later; you’ll be amazed.”

I had a feeling we might know those abilities already.

I was beginning to piece together the situation.

*It’s like they experienced the apocalypse, but in a different genre.*

Just like there are various types of apocalyptic films—some focus on zombies, others on natural disasters. They’d experienced doomsday differently, isolated in this unique dungeon.

“We came from outside, so we don’t know much about what’s going on here,” I said.

“I understand.”

Tae-wan explained that when the Doomsday began, water started rising from the ground, communication with the outside world was cut off, and an enormous waterfall blocked all exits. The sun no longer rose, nor did clouds appear.

“When the water reached our thighs, monsters started appearing.”

“At first, we thought they were just alligators.”

People escaped to higher floors to avoid the monsters and the rising water.

“We had enough time to move supplies to higher ground, and the monsters didn’t come out of the water, so thankfully, casualties were low.”

Wait, low casualties?

My eyes widened at his words. The reason I’d sought out monsters as allies was because humanity’s numbers had dwindled drastically, with most ordinary people dead.

“So, most of the citizens of Chuncheon are alive?”

Chuncheon was one of the largest cities in Gangwon Province. If most of its residents were alive, the population would be substantial.

“Well... not exactly.”

“What do you mean?”

“There’s… a lot to explain. But...”

Tae-wan’s face darkened, and someone behind him muttered quietly.

“We’ll need to give our testimony in court someday...”

What should I say?

It seemed not many had died from monsters or drowning.

*...But many had died for other reasons, hadn't they?