Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

Of  all the possible ways the Awakening broker could’ve scammed her, Bak Yerim never expected being abandoned in a dungeon. 

The broker stealing her money and never actually bringing her to a dungeon? Definitely. Her getting scammed and then reported to the authorities? Yeah. But the broker going through all the effort of bringing her here and then just leaving? Wasn’t even a thought in her head. 

At first, Yerim wasn’t even aware of what happened. Being in a dungeon was overwhelming and as someone who was very, completely human, it was just the tiniest bit terrifying. 

Not to mention the dungeon was big. Yerim had done her research beforehand, but watching streams of dungeon explorations was very different from being in a real one in-person. While others seemed to have an intuitive grasp of the reality-defying space that was a dungeon, Yerim was not prepared for it well at all. 

So, when she turned around to ask her guide something and didn’t see anyone, she first thought she had gotten lost. 

There was still a part of her that wondered if she was just lost. It was the part of her that still curled up when she interacted with her uncle, as if being quiet and compliant would actually please any member of her family. As if, if she were just good enough, they’d be kind to her. 

Yerim didn’t like listening to that part of her anymore.  

Which then meant she was scammed. Yerim hated listening to that thought even more, just as she hated knowing that if she didn’t get out of this fucking place, she probably would never get out. The corpses of dead Hunters disappeared when the gates shut, so why wouldn’t living people also disappear? 

Yerim took a deep breath and let it out slowly. This was stupid and she was stupid if she started to think like that. She needed to get out, so she would. That was all there was to it. She would get out, one step at a time and all that shit. 

Refusing to think, she looked around. Her best bet was to retrace the steps that she took. Yerim wasn’t the best at directions, but she had been keeping an eye out on the path ever since she entered. 

… She’d probably need to be quiet, too, huh? The brokers said that this was ranked just highly enough for her to Awaken, but she hadn’t been given any details as to what specifically was in the dungeon. How dangerous were the beasts? Was the ground itself treacherous? She really didn’t know. 

Yerim stepped gingerly on the ground, eyes flicking between where she was stepping and her surroundings. Her body was tense and though she tried to keep her mind clear, the loathing pervaded her thoughts nonetheless. 

When she got out, what was she supposed to do? She saved up for this for ages, spent everything that she had for this one chance. She wasn’t sure if she could go through all that again, if getting scammed was a very real possibility waiting for her again. 

Especially since she had gone through this with the surety that she’d Awaken, even if she was in some way deceived during the process. She wasn’t bought by the brokers’ words, but people said that Awakening came from people’s circumstances and backgrounds. People who were tougher to begin with tended to Awaken at higher levels. 

Bak Yerim was tough. She had to be. 

Admittedly, there was a time after she was taken in by her uncle that she truly thought, even through all the grief, that things could be some measure of okay again. And then there was a time after she realized how shit her situation was that she dreamed someone would save her. She had imagined someone like that ahjussi next door taking her in. 

But she moved on soon enough. Bak Yerim was first and foremost, a realist. And so, even before the dungeons came, she was tough. 

So why couldn’t any of that background have been useful? If she had to go through shit, why couldn’t it actually lead to something, be worth anything ? 

Yerim’s shoulders were shaking. She was shaking and she’d like to say it was because of a strong breeze. The tears that tried to escape down her cheeks were painting a very different picture, though. 

Yerim sniffed wetly and stiffened immediately when she heard a cracking sound that did not come from her. 

She whirled around, almost tripping over her shoes as she did. One hand went up to wipe the tears off roughly and she yelled, “Who the fuck is there?” as if her voice wasn’t hoarse. 

“Hey, now,” an older voice said and Yerim relaxed only for a moment before she was in what she thought was a fighting stance. “I’m not going to hurt you.”

It wasn’t the voice of the guide who had led her here and Yerim was not just about to trust some random person who appeared literally out of nowhere. 

“Let me see you, then,” she snapped and immediately wanted to slap herself. If this guy was here, he was Awakened and would have some kind of special ability. Letting him get closer was just stupid.

There was no way to really take that back without revealing how little she knew about this situation, so she just stayed ready to run when the guy came onto the scene. 

The man looked very roughed up and tired, but there was a hardiness about him that led Yerim to suspect she shouldn’t underestimate him. Shoulder-length hair wasn’t tied back by anything, so if he got close, she could rip some of that out and, while he was distracted, hit him in the crotch and run. He was wearing an ill-fitting coat that probably looked nice once, but was since extremely worn. Yerim did not like how he hid his hands in those pockets.  

“Hey, did you get lost?” she asked, crossing her arms and trying to seem bigger than she was. This guy was not that much taller than her and if he slouched more, they might even be the same height. 

“No,” the ahjussi said slowly, and the words scraped their way out of his throat. “Are you?”

“I’m going to head up to meet with my group soon,” she lied. “Just did a little exploring on my own.”

The ahjussi frowned. “You’re not Awakened yet.”

“Eh? Who are you to say that?” Yerim yelled. 

“I can tell,” the ahjussi said, speaking a bit more quickly than when he had started, but still overall, speaking slowly and uncertainly. It wasn’t as if he sounded unsure of his words, but instead, unsure of how his mouth worked. 

“Well, what’s it to you?”

“It’s dangerous to be left alone in a dungeon.”

“I wasn’t left— ”

“The exit is this way,” the ahjussi said bluntly. He turned his back to her and started to walk away. “Come if you like.”

Yerim considered his back for a moment. She really didn’t have other options and he was headed in the direction she was going anyways. 

The suspicion and fear warred with each other in her head until she grit her teeth and followed after him. She needed to believe there was no ulterior motive. She needed to believe that she could trust herself when she felt no immediate danger from this man.  

That was why, after minutes of tense silence she cleared her throat. 

“Thanks,” she muttered, because she still had manners left. 

“It’s nothing,” the ahjussi said, not even looking back at her. 

“Are you uh, here with your guild?” she asked. It was probably good to gauge the situation she was about to enter when they finally reached their destination. 

“No.”

Yerim blinked. “Ah, so you’re a high enough rank to go on solo missions?”

She bit back on the next words, wanting to ask if he was somehow hiding his aura. Yerim hadn’t met a high-ranked before, but everyone said that those who were really high-ranked were hard to be around. They were all something other than human, after all. 

“That’s not kids’ business,” he said. “What’s someone like you doing here, anyways?”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Yerim snapped, not exactly sure which statement she wanted him to clarify more. 

“You’re still a child. Are you even fourteen?”

“I’m fifteen,” Yerim frowned. “And I’m going to be turning sixteen soon.”

“That’s still too young,” the ahjussi muttered. Louder, he said, “You shouldn’t have been left along here. I’m guessing you were supposed to Awaken through this?”

“What’s it to you?”

“Nothing, I guess,” the man said. “But you should really be careful of who you sign up with—”

“Ahjussi, look at me,” Yerim snapped. “What, do you think that the big guilds would just love to sign with me?”

Yerim’s voice grew annoyingly brittle and it was made even worse by the fact that the ahjussi actually looked at her, taking in all the details that marked her as poor. He really wasn’t much better—his boots were scuffed to all hell and now that she was closer, she could see holes in that long trench coat—but the embarrassment trickled down her neck regardless. 

“Not all the guild leaders came from rich backgrounds,” he said, turning back and continuing to walk. 

“Like it matters,” Yerim said, kicking at the ground. 

“You do have potential,” the ahjussi said, and it sounded stilted coming out of his mouth. “There’s uh, there’s those Awakening Centers, right?”

“The waiting time’s too long,” Yerim said. 

“Well, you should Awaken soon enough.”

“Ahjussi, I appreciate you’re trying to make me feel better, but empty words aren’t really helping,” Yerim gritted out. 

“I’ve met a lot of hunters in the past years,” the ahjussi said. “There’s always something different about them. I see that in you as well. You’ll be Awakened eventually.”

Yerim had a million arguments against that—what if she Awoke as an F-rank? Then there’d be hardly any difference between her state now and her when she was Awakened—but she felt a bit bad for this ahjussi. He seemed to be nice, if pretty awkward. So she kept her mouth shut and focused on the path instead. 

The ahjussi didn’t say anything else, either. The rest of the trip was spent in silence that was only uncomfortable if she thought about it too long. Eventually, though, the ahjussi stopped and Yerim caught herself before she collided into him. 

She looked up and saw a portal. She had reached the exit, then. It didn’t look like the one she had come through, but she wouldn’t be picky. 

… It could be a trap. But Yerim did know the basics of defending herself, so even if this portal took her to a secondary location, she could fend for herself long enough to get out. 

“There you go,” the ahjussi said, stepping back from the portal and gesturing toward it. She was supposed to thank him and be on her way, she knew, but a part of her just sagged. 

“This was a waste of time,” Yerim admitted. 

“You’re alive,” the ahjussi said. His voice was gentle. “That’s what matters.”

“Well, I put a lot of money into this venture,” she snapped. “And it’s all so I can have a better life. So sorry, I’m not super thrilled about being scammed out of everything.”

“Your status isn’t everything,” the ahjussi said. “You just… just do your best out there. Not everything hinges on your level. And hey, listen to what I said earlier, okay? You will Awaken.”

“Thanks, ahjussi,” Yerim said glumly. Then, as she stepped forward, she realized he wasn’t following. “Ahjussi? You’re not coming?”

Ahjussi just shook his head. 

“Is the portal going to be open for long?” she said and then shook her head before he could answer. “What are you doing, waiting? Even if the portal is going to be open for a long time, it’s stupid to risk it.”

“I know what I’m doing,” the ahjussi said. “Go on, kid.”

The next set of events happened too quickly for Yerim to fully comprehend. One, she opened her mouth to retort back at him. Two, the portal started to shift in colors and started to get smaller . Three, there was a hand on her, pushing her through. Four, there was a small smile on Ahjussi’s face as the portal closed forever. 

Yerim landed in an empty room, the one that she had met the shitty broker in, and where the first portal opened. There was nothing in front of her, no way back into the dungeon that she had come out of and ahjussi had not. 

She didn’t know how long she sat there, just staring. 

Then, as the sun started to go down and light no longer came through the windows, she pushed herself up and started the long way back home. 

On the way to her uncle’s house, fuming with anger that she really had lost everything, that she trapped the ahjussi there, she tripped. As she fell, that rage reached a peak. 

Dust flew up in the air after she caught herself, and it was only after a moment she realized why. 

When she was walking, her foot made a large indent in the ground. That was why she tripped. And her hands, when she went to catch herself? They also left deep imprints in the ground, crushing the concrete so completely underneath her fingers that the dust floated in the air after the impact. 

Yerim didn’t even really know how she made it to the Hunter Association. She only knew that she got there and got her rank, and in the time it took for her to fully register that yes, she was an S-rank , there was press everywhere. 

A part of Yerim felt overwhelmed, but the other part of her only paid attention to the ice now crackling across her skin. 

A smile tugged at her lips and she wanted to laugh hysterically. She was free at last. 

Yerim didn’t sign on with a guild immediately. She didn’t know enough about any of them to feel confident in her decision. Besides, as Song Taewon, the representative from the government said, sometimes S-rank hunters just didn’t get along. 

She wasn’t sure what to think of that, considering he was also an S-rank hunter. 

Instead, she got this room at the Hunter Association, where she’d stay until her emancipation was complete. Then she’d need to make a decision quickly as to who she’d like to sign on with. None of the other S-ranks came by to see her—it was still only the first few hours she was revealed to the world, after all—but every major guild sent some kind of representative. 

Yerim wasn’t exactly thinking of that right now. The moment she’d gone back to her new room—and wow, she broke a lot of stuff accidentally, she really hoped she wouldn’t be billed for it—she had tossed the flyers and papers so that they all went flying. Then, she had collapsed on the ground, which she knew to be strong enough to support her force. 

Yerim was free. She did not have to go home to her uncle. In fact, she’d get to see him the last time tomorrow so that she could pick up her things from that place. 

It was at that moment that she recalled, with sickening clarity, the words that ahjussi had told her, not even that long ago. 

And hey, listen to what I said, okay? You will awaken.

And she had just left him there. She let him push her through and let him stay behind. 

It hit her then how dark the room was. How empty. There were no sounds of that excuse called a family, true, but there were no sounds of the neighbors either. There was no sound of life, no sound of anything except her own breathing. 

She was an S-rank. Never did she think that she could rank that highly. 

She was alone. She wasn’t sure why she expected differently. 

The visit to her uncle’s house went about as well as it could’ve gone. Song Taewon was there even though Yerim was fully emancipated now. She supposed he stuck around because she was still his responsibility until she signed on with someone. She bet he was counting down the days. 

Her uncle wanted to say something to her. If not her uncle, then her aunt or her stupid cousin. They all were staring, eyes wide, at her, at Song Taewon. 

She glared at them, daring them to even make a sound, because she might still be in rags but she had more power in her thumb than they would have in their entire lives. 

Her family flinched. Flinched like she was going to hurt them, like she was going to exploit them, like she was a nightmare haunting their footsteps. 

They should be frightened. They should quail at her anger. They should regret everything they had ever done to her. 

… Except it really didn’t look like fear born from realizing that this was the consequences of their actions. It didn’t seem like they made the connection that they could have had a powerful person on their side if only they had been better. 

It was more like they saw a monster.

Yerim really didn’t have that much to collect. She was glad the process was so short. 

“They won’t bother you again,” Song Taewon said as they left the complex and stepped into a waiting car. “While you were in your room, I had your family sign documents so that they cannot slander you and only with your permission can they contact you.”

Yerim didn’t know how to feel about the fact that this happened without her knowledge, but it was really all for the better. 

“I’m not interested,” she said. “I don’t think that they’d be interested either.” 

The good thing about Song Taewon, Yerim figured, was that he didn’t press that much into matters. It was probably why people in the government tolerated him so easily, despite his rank. 

“Have you come to a decision about where you’ll sign on?” 

“I’d like to meet the other S-ranks first,” Yerim said. 

Song Taewon nodded. “Sensible. I will get them together for a dungeon exploration, then.”

Yerim’s breath stuttered. “A dungeon visit?”

Song Taewon’s eyes narrowed and Yerim forced her breathing to return to normal. 

“Can I—I am going to go shopping before,” Yerim said, turning her gaze to look through the window. 

“That will be arranged,” was all Song Taewon said. 

Good old Song Taewon, she thought, leaning her head against the window. Part of her wasn’t sure if she’d mind sticking with the government as long as Song Taewon was there. 

Yerim thought she’d like clothes shopping more. She thought she’d feel something new when she got a short haircut and dressed up in a way she’d always wanted to. 

Instead, when she looked at herself in the mirror in her room, she just felt sick. No one had really told her anything with the makeover and she wondered if maybe she should contact some old classmates, just for the sense of talking to someone. 

She didn’t touch her phone, instead, she just tried to get an early night’s rest. She’d be meeting the other S-ranks tomorrow, after all. Better to be prepared for that instead of listening only to her mind screeching on repeat, wondering why it was that even though things were good now, she couldn’t even be happy. 

Yerim figured out who she wanted to sign on with after approximately a minute of meeting the other S-ranks. Sung Hyunjae seemed like an asshole, Han Yoohyun was cold, but Moon Hyuna really seemed like a unnie. And while Song Taewon seemed like a dependendable guy, she was pretty sure he was only tolerating her for now, which wouldn’t lead to a good relationship at all.  

Still, she decided to wait after the dungeon visit was over. She didn’t think she’d offend anyone by her choice—Sung Hyunjae just seemed delighted to mess with other people and Han Yoohyun looked like he might prefer her not existing—but still, she had some remnants of manners. 

Besides, she was too preoccupied on not getting lost in the dungeon. 

There was no actual dungeon exploring or beast fighting, Song Taewon had explained in a dead voice. It was just a preventative measure since things tended to not go smoothly with so many S-ranks in one place. If there was going to be destruction, then it might as well be in a contained space. 

Yerim learned very quickly what Song Taewon was referring to, considering the topic switched from her to guild in-fighting in about five minutes. 

This was good actually, Yerim considered. She didn’t have to be on guard and she could just learn about people’s attitudes by their interactions. 

Still, she found herself getting distracted easily, to the point that she had to be the only one who noticed a figure watching them. 

Yerim was about to yell, when her eyes narrowed and she realized she recognized the face. 

It was that ahjussi. The one who helped her when she got scammed. 

Yerim’s eyes flitted from the S-ranks to the ahjussi, and seeing how all of them, including Song Taeweon, were occupied, she edged to the side until she could make a break for where the ahjussi was. 

Or at least, that was what she wanted to do. Instead, as she began running, her foot sunk into something and the world around her shifted. The ahjussi was still there, more clear than before, but when she looked back, she could barely make out the other S-ranks. 

Well, no matter. This ahjussi would just lead her back when she had to return. 

It was only about now that he recognized she was there at all and so, Yerim waved at him energetically and headed toward him in one last burst of energy. 

“Ahjussi!” she said, sounding more cheerful than she intended. “You’re alive!” 

“Who’s ahjussi?” he said, looking slightly perturbed. “And why would I be dead?”

Yerim wanted to punch his shoulder, but she had gotten a lecture to do that only with S-ranks, and she was pretty sure this ahjussi wasn’t one. 

“‘Cause you stayed behind in that other dungeon after it closed!” Yerim’s grin started to fade as she asked that. How had he gotten inside this dungeon? He shouldn’t have had access to it. 

Or maybe he did. She didn’t know anything about him, really. 

Feeling a bit foolish after her outburst, she continued, “Anyways, thanks and stuff. Especially since you were right.”

Ahjussi raised a brow. “Oh?”

“With the whole Awakening thing,” she said. “I’m an S-rank now.”

Ahjussi smiled and Yerim, for some reason, felt relieved. 

“Congratulations,” he said, and it sounded like he meant it. 

Then he frowned. “You’re in a dungeon after so little time? With no training?”

“We’re not doing anything,” Yerim said. “It’s just ‘cause I wanted to check the other S-ranks out before I sign on with one of them.”

“You’d be in good hands, mostly,” the ahjussi said, some disapproval lacing his voice though his gaze was directed at the distant S-ranks. 

Yerim tilted her head. “Do you know about them?”

“I’ve heard some,” Ahjussi said absent-mindedly. “Don’t sign on with the government.”

“I wasn’t really planning to,” she said and he seemed reassured. 

“Haeyeon, Seseong, and Breaker are there,” Ahjussi mused. “Well, those are the best three guilds you could get into. Don’t bother with any others for now. If you want to set out and make your own guild later, you can do that, but for now, it’d probably be best for you to learn how a guild functions. Breaker is strong, though its future isn’t guaranteed, necessarily. Don’t sign on with Seseong.”

“Why not?” Yerim asked. She didn’t want to deal with an old guy like Sung Hyunjae often anyways, but she wondered at the vehemence behind Ahjussi’s voice. 

“That guild leader…” Ahjussi just made a face. “Try not to do business with him. It’s not worth it.”

Yerim nodded. “And Haeyeon?”

Ahjussi also got a weird face at this. “Haeyeon is strong and its guild leader is very strong as well,” was all he said. 

Yerim frowned. “What, no words to dissuade me?”

Ahjussi pursed his lips. “I don’t know enough about him.”

Yerim narrowed her eyes. Him . So whatever weird reluctance Ahjussi was having, it was due to Han Yoohyun. 

“But you think Haeyeon is secure enough to last?” she asked. 

“Any guild can crumble,” Ahjussi said. “Besides, It’s your decision. Maybe you should go with Breaker. It might be more comfortable for you to have an unnie around to look after you.”

“I don’t need to be looked after.” 

Ahjussi shrugged. His eyes were still on the distant S-ranks, who, by now, seemed to have stopped their argument. Yerim watched with him for a few minutes, almost snorting when the S-ranks started yelling again. Not that she could actually hear what they were saying, but she could see their mouths jerk open and shut, as if they were puppets. 

“You should get back,” Ahjussi said. His voice was quiet. 

“What, you’re going to just chill in a dungeon?”

A wry smile marked his lips. “Something like that.”

“Ahjussi—”

“Student, they’re looking for you.”

He wasn’t wrong. The S-ranks were spreading out now, going in all directions. Some looked to be calling aloud, but she couldn’t hear them. She could tell that Song Taewon was starting to look very agitated.

“Be confident,” Ahjussi said, startling her out of the silence that had fallen. “You’re an S-rank now, which means you’re just about on top of the world. No one will trod on you again, but don’t be the one to step on others. With all of them, don’t be afraid. You will likely fight with them in the future, but since you haven’t the experience, they won’t try anything yet.”

A smile tugged at her lips. “Ahjussi, you’re really looking out for me, huh?”

“Think nothing of it,” he said. “We probably won’t meet again.”

Yerim stuck her hand out for a shake. “I’m Bak Yerim. So you don’t have to call me ‘student’ again.”

“Then, Bak Yerim,” Ahjussi said, his voice taking on a strange, wavy quality, his eyes looking at her distantly, “you should go.”

The world around her warped, and suddenly, she was holding her hand out to nothing. Her hand dropped and it was just in time too, considering Han Yoohyun just stepped onto the scene. 

“What are you doing here?” He sounded somehow both completely disinterested and very pissed. Funny how she actually used to think he was cool and good-looking. 

Yerim squared her shoulders. 

“I got tired of all your bickering,” she said. “Are you all done now?”

“What do you think?” Han Yoohyun said. Yerim didn’t back down from his gaze, and eventually, he turned away first. 

Yerim couldn’t help but feel a bit vindictive. She bet he didn’t have a cool ahjussi who helped him out. Probably no one wanted to be near him because of his cold personality. 

At that thought, Yerim almost snorted. It was pretty ironic how Han Yoohyun, the man with fire powers, acted so cold. 

“Now, that was illuminating,” she said once she returned and before anyone could steal the conversation from her. “I just have one question for all of you.”

Song Taewon coughed gently. “She will also fully review all the contracts,” he said. “Her decision won’t solely be based on one question.”

“Yeah, that too,” Yerim said, rolling her eyes. “Anyways, what research have your guilds done on dungeons?”

Both Moon Hyuna and Sung Hyunjae glanced briefly at Han Yoohyun, which gave her all the information she needed. 

Strange that Han Yoohyun himself wasn’t volunteering that information, though. Strange that none of them were. 

“The government has official records,” Song Taewon said into the silence. “Guilds seem to prefer to keep this knowledge to themselves.”

There had to be some knowledge about this, if both Moon Hyuna and Sung Hyunjae knew immediately the answer. 

“I’ll look through the contracts tomorrow,” she told Song Taewon. “And sign one then, too. As for now, I’m hungry.”

Song Taewon, the good public servant that he was, took her out for food. And while Yerim chewed, she thought about Ahjussi and wondered why that look he had given her as she was going to go reminded her so much of Han Yoohyun. 

Yerim stayed up till the early hours of the morning, searching on Naver and various obscure forums to find out all that she could about the guild leaders. She learned some irrelevant information about them—Moon Hyuna used to play sports, Han Yoohyun had a brother maybe, Sung Hyunjae was abroad for many years—but mostly, she focused on their reputations and the rumors of their libraries. 

Yerim really wanted to sign on with Moon Hyuna. She knew she definitely did not want to sign on with Sung Hyunjae. And Ahjussi was right—it’d be best not to stick with the government. 

The only problem was Han Yoohyun. He had too many things going in his favor. 

First was the fact that Haeyeon most definitely did have a lot of research on dungeons—the physics behind their appearances and disappearances, what happened to the beings in them, and so on. There was even speculation that they had a connection with Doctor White. 

Second was the fact that Han Yoohyun had alreadylso been young when he Awoke. Not as young as her—which meant that she was probably the youngest S-rank in the world, now that she was thinking about it—but he’d also gone through the route of emancipation. It might be optimistic of her, but she expected a better deal with Haeyeon than the other guilds. 

Third was that she was pretty sure there was something about Han Yoohyun that was the key to what was going on with Ahjussi. That, or Sung Hyunjae, because why else would Ahjussi have the most obvious reaction to those guilds? It had to mean something and Han Yoohyun was infinitely more preferable to deal with than Sung Hyunjae.  

Really, there were too many factors going on. Yerim could just ask Ahjussi next time she saw him. He’d said some shit about not seeing each other again, but he also hadn’t expected to be able to talk with her the second time. It also didn’t feel like a coincidence that both times she had gone into a dungeon, he was there. 

But even if she asked, she wasn’t sure if Ahjussi would answer. She’d given him her name and he hadn’t given her his, after all.

Realistically, Yerim shouldn’t care. She was embarking on a new style of life, now. She had thanked him already, so she could move on, especially since he seemed to have nailed down the whole surviving in dungeons thing. He had obviously been in dungeons since before her, so it was not her fault that he was probably still in them now. 

Still, Yerim couldn’t help but wonder. She couldn’t help but remember Ahjussi’s smile and how it filled her with a kind of warmth she hadn’t felt since her parents died. 

Yerim groaned and flopped onto her bed. It creaked ominously. Time to get at least some sleep for the day tomorrow. 

Yerim’s phone lit up with a notification of a new post in a tag she was tracking. She squinted at her phone screen as she tried to turn it off and groaned at the time. She’d get a little bit of sleep for today, then. 

It was really a mistake to get so little rest, but it wasn’t like Yerim could do anything about it now. Instead, she swallowed her yawns and tried to read through the contracts like she didn’t want to fall back into unconsciousness. 

She had the feeling she wasn’t convincing Song Taewon, who had taken it on himself to read through the contracts with her. Seriously, did this guy not have a job? 

None of the contracts were that bad in her opinion, though she had to admit that the benefits in the Haeyeon contract did sound more appealing than Breaker’s. Mainly in that the conditions were a lot more flexible. She could do whatever the shit she wanted and would have the opportunity to protect her privacy a lot more than in Breaker, where she was expected to do more media stunts. 

“I’ll sign on with Haeyeon,” she announced to Song Taewon who had his usual slightly upset, slightly constipated look on his face, so she really couldn’t tell if he disapproved or not. 

“Their representative Kim Sunghan is here to oversee the signing. I will dismiss the others,” he said and did just that. 

Kim Sunghan was a man that Yerim didn’t have many opinions on. He seemed like a steady enough guy and she did appreciate that he didn’t quail at her. It had only happened a few times, as Song Taewon kept her away from most people, but she hadn’t gotten used to full-grown adults being afraid of her.

The signing went smoothly. The move also went smoothly, though Yerim’s feet did drag as she left what had been her room. She hadn’t been here for that long but she knew she was going to miss it. 

Han Yoohyun did not come to welcome her when she came. Instead, she met Seok Simyeong, the guy in charge of HR. He seemed a sort of slimy man, but that was only his demeanor with Song Taewon, so Yerim really wasn’t that concerned. 

“We’ll get you set up in your room,” he said as he led her around the building, Kim Sunghan trailing them. “Afterwards, we have a training facility for you to go through. It’ll be up to S-rank level, so you don’t have to worry about containing your strength.” 

Yerim nodded, making sure that she wasn’t slouched over and overall giving the presentation of a very dignified person. She wanted to ask about the dungeon research, but had the feeling that it might be a bit too soon to take advantage of her contract. 

Her room was much bigger than the one in the Hunters Association, and true to his word, Seok Simyeong led her to the training facilities once she dumped her backpack on the bed. 

Moving into her new room—now, her permanent one unless she decided she wanted to move out—didn’t make any of this feel more permanent. 

The sense of wrongness didn’t bother her when she was starting to train, but once again, alone at night, it felt like a dull ache. 

She’d get used to it soon enough, she knew. One day she’d be walking around and not notice the ache. That would have to be good enough, because she didn’t have the time to try and fix whatever was wrong. There were bigger things to think about.

Like the fact that she was actually in Haeyeon. She’d be working side-by-side with Han Yoohyun. As that ahjussi said, she was just about on top of the world. 

She wasn’t even sure she was used to being an S-rank yet. Yerim mouthed the words aloud and still felt like she had a headache. Being in this room, being now contracted to one of the biggest guilds in the country… it felt like a fever dream come true. 

Her heart throbbed and she turned on her side, trying to feel comfortable. 

Perhaps the ache would never fade. Perhaps none of this would ever stop feeling strange. 

Yerim waited exactly three days before pestering Seok Simyeong as to the research on dungeons. 

“They’re confidential records,” Seok Simyeong said, with a peeved look in his eyes. To be fair to him, she did just barge into his office in the middle of a meeting. But in her defense, it wasn’t as if she knew he was in a meeting. Besides, he was with her now, so either the meeting was almost over or it really wasn’t too important. 

“And aren’t I contracted by Haeyeon? And an S-rank?” For extra measure, she pouted. Seok Simyeong was a weird old man, but he had a photo of him and a kid on his desk, so she bet that was his daughter or something. If she acted more kid-like, he’d have no choice but to succumb.  

“It’s the guild leader’s personal project,” Seok Simyeong said reluctantly. Yerim’s pout faltered. 

Fuck. That meant that Seok Simyeong would find it really hard to budge on this topic. 

For a moment, Yerim considered picking this back up another day. She didn’t want to seem too suspicious or anything. 

Then she thought that was stupid, because of course all of Haeyeon knew that she had signed up for the benefits here. Pretending otherwise would just be stupid. 

“I—I had a friend,” Yerim said, her voice starting to wobble. Seok Simyeong stopped what he was doing. What a sucker. “He didn’t die in the dungeon. But it closed before he could get out. I know that corpses disappear but… I just want to see if there’s a way he’s still alive.”

Seok Simyeong was not looking at her, instead choosing to remove his glasses and clean them. “Was he Awakened?”

“He was,” Yerim said. It didn’t taste like a lie and really, how could Ahjussi have survived without being Awakened? But it wasn’t like Ahjussi had revealed anything to her. If Seok Simyeong wanted other information, like the name of her “friend,” she was about to be fucked over.

Yerim opened her eyes wide and looked straight at Seok Simyeong. 

“... Fine,” he said after a moment. “I’ll take you to the library. You’ve got to leave everything as you found it, though.”

Along the path, he opened his mouth several times before closing it. 

“Yes?” she asked, because she was getting a bit fed up about this. 

“Your friend is most likely dead or at least, lost to us forever,” Seok Simyeong said and Yerim felt the polite smile on her face freeze. “But if it makes you feel better, then come and look.”

At this, he pushed open a door, revealing a library that sprawled all across the room. There were papers out on tables, books lining the walls, maps displayed in the few blank spaces left. 

“Wow,” she said quietly and didn’t say a word as Seok Simyeong drew to a specific corner. 

“There’s a lot of speculation about dungeons,” he said, and then tapped the shelf closest to where he was standing. “This section has the most relevance as to what happens to dungeons and the inhabitants when they disappear.”

“Why are there blank spots?” Yerim asked, peeking at the shelf and the conspicuous gaps. 

“Some books are out,” Seok Simyeong said, sounding unimpressed. 

“So I can take books out, too?”

“No,” Seok Simyeong said. “Your next training is soon, so I doubt you’ll be able to read anything today. But in the future, just come to my office when you want to go, and I or Kim Sunghan will supervise you.”

“Why do I need to be supervised?”

“You’re still new,” Seok Simyeong answered before the anger boiling in Yerim could come to a head. “As you spend more time with us, we’ll feel more comfortable leaving you alone.”

Yerim rolled her eyes and started to read the covers of some of the books on the shelves. Most had long, scientific sounding titles— A Brief Observational Study on the Nature of Dungeons and Other Pocket Spaces was just the tip of the iceberg with the titles she did see—but she’d read the dullest research paper if necessary. 

Besides, she probably should keep up with her education in some way. 

“I’ll be back,” Yerim promised Seok Simyeong when she noticed the time. “I swear to you, I will.”

“I have no doubt,” he said and followed her out. Yerim didn’t hear any other comments he made, mind too focused on all the plans she was formulating. Perhaps it had been a smart idea to sign on with Haeyeon. 

Or perhaps it wasn’t, considering the fact that the trainers and by extension, Han Yoohyun, were working her like a dog. She got time to visit the library only at night and she bet that Seok Simyeong and Kim Sunghan hated her by now since she would catch either one of them just as they were about to end work for the day. 

Regardless, Seok Simyeong was right. Most of the information in the library was pure speculation. No one had come out of a dungeon that had permanently closed, after all, so there was no answer to Yerim’s primary question. Unless she got Ahjussi to answer, there possibly would never be an answer. 

Still, it was better than nothing, and, as Yerim read, she started to formulate theories as to how Ahjussi got in and out of dungeons. 

Perhaps that portal, in the scammers’ dungeon, was not the only one. That one had closed but Ahjussi got out another way. 

Or maybe, Ahjussi just had a lot of gatestones and used those whenever Yerim left. 

Or even, maybe it was Ahjussi’s skill. He could astral project himself, or whatever the word was. So he was never physically in the dungeon and thus, was not affected by its closing.  

Even Yerim could tell that her theories were pretty shit. If any of them were true, then how’d he get into either of the dungeons that she’d been in? If he really was rich enough to have a bunch of gatestones, how come he didn’t have any new clothes? And besides, he had pushed her that one time, so he had to be physically there. 

Now that she was thinking about it more, why was it that she didn’t hear any of the other S-ranks with him? Was that a skill too, and one that she broke through, hence his shock? 

One of the studies that Yerim kept revisiting was that of a research group that had tagged a bunch of dungeon beasts. They had closed the dungeon and then waited. And, miraculously enough, some of those same beasts appeared in dungeons across the world. 

The implications, of course, were staggering. There was a connected pathway between dungeons, something that only dungeon beasts could traverse. 

Yerim had another question: could that same pathway work for humans, too? Obviously, no one had tried—you’d have to be insane to—but Ahjussi made her wonder. 

Even this theory, which was her most promising, held flaws. After all, even if this did work, why would anyone want to traverse between dungeons? All it had gotten Ahjussi was meeting her and only seeing other S-ranks. She hadn’t been able to hear the conversation, so it was hardly a good spying advantage either. 

So, what about being in the dungeons would be appealing?

Yerim really hadn’t a clue.

Life at Haeyeon wasn’t all toil, she supposed. She passed her training in record time. She was reading a lot and thus maintaining enough education for Seok Simyeong not to get on her case. She spent record low time with Han Yoohyun, because the last time they had met, there was almost an explosion. 

It was settling into a new normal. Her stomach twisted at the idea and sometimes, at night, she laid awake, wanting to recoil at the idea that this pattern would be the rest of her life. 

Still, she couldn’t deny it was a lot better than what came before. 

Perhaps she had gotten too used to this pattern. That was the only explanation as to why she just stood there, staring, when she went into the library—this time without needing supervision—and there was a man she’d never met there. 

Yerim had made it a point to be on good terms with Haeyeon staff. Technically, it wasn’t necessary, but everyone here was very devoted to Han Yoohyun. And considering the amount of fights the two of them got into—which wasn’t her fault, by the way, the man was simply insufferable—she wanted to make sure that no one disliked her. 

She was an S-rank. She could take any attack on her. But she knew firsthand that physical attacks weren’t the only thing to be cautious of. Her wages were held here and it’d be pretty easy for someone to lose her requests for new equipment or supplies. 

So, Yerim made it her mission to be personally acquainted with at least most of the guild. 

Sure, it was still a work in progress, but she had gotten everyone in high management done. 

Hence why she was confused, because access to the library was so limited. 

“Ah, hello,” this man said, sounding a mix between tired and nervous. 

“What are you doing here?” she asked, pasting a smile on her lips but crossing her arms. “Access to the library is restricted.”

“I know,” he said. “I have permission to be here. Granted by the Haeyeon Guild Leader, himself.”

He wasn’t scared of her. Plenty of employees no longer were outright terrified of her, but she knew how people reacted to her presence, even when they weren’t fearful. They got twitchy, looking everywhere but her eyes. 

This man wasn’t doing anything like that. 

“You’re another S-rank,” she said, dumbfounded. 

“Oh, whoops,” he said. 

“You’re not on any official records,” she said, speaking slowly. The man in front of her just looked sheepish. “Haeyeon is hiding an S-rank from the world?”

“I really don’t do much,” he said. 

“You’re a damned S-rank, your existence is a bit much,” Yerim let out. 

The man rubbed the back of his neck. “... Don’t tell anyone you found me here?”

So he was being hidden here, and possibly not fully of his own choice. 

“Tell me your name.”

“Yoo Myeongwoo,” he supplied easily. “And you’re Bak Yerim, right?”

She nodded. 

“So why are you using the library, Yoo Myeongwoo?” she asked. 

“Just a bit of reading,” he said, too lightly. “This one is new, so I thought I’d take a crack at it.”

She could press him more. But this man was also an S-rank, so she doubted that pure intimidation would work well. 

“What’s it about?” she asked, biting back all the questions as to why this Yoo Myeongwoo was here. 

“Case study of those with teleportation abilities,” he said. “How they fare in different conditions and such.”

Yerim tapped her chin. “Are there any differences in performance inside and outside a dungeon?”

Yoo Myeongwoo blinked at her. “Ah, yes, there are some differences that people with those abilities note. Nothing that can be put into numbers, but they all corroborate each other so far.”

Yerim hummed. Maybe Ahjussi had a weird teleportation skill, then? Unlike all these people, he was able to utilize the difference for performance in dungeons. 

Yet another theory that didn’t solve much. 

Yoo Myeongwoo was looking at her strangely. “Why are you interested in dungeons?”

“Why wouldn’t I be?” she asked. 

“Let me rephrase: why are you so interested in the mechanics of dungeons?” Yoo Myeongwoo asked. “Most people are interested enough to level up or beat beasts. Not to understand how they function.”

“Well, most people are foolish,” she said. “Besides, I’m already leveled up to the max. Why would I care about getting stronger?”

Yoo Myeongwoo didn’t seem convinced, still, he didn’t question further. 

“I’ll lend it to you when I’m done,” he said slowly, getting up. 

“You can borrow books out?” she asked, the question leaping out of her before she could stop herself. 

Yoo Myeongwoo blinked. “Ah, yes. Yes, I can.”

She could see it in his face. She was losing ground in his eyes. He’d retreat, thinking he got the better of her, and she couldn't have that. She needed to let him know that he didn’t have the upper hand. 

“So you’re directly involved in Han Yoohyun’s project,” she said. It was more of a guess than anything, but the way that Yoo Myeongwoo’s face paled to a considerable degree spoke at the truth of her statement. 

She needed something to nail this in further. She thought of Ahjussi. He was a bit of a tricky fellow, so some sly words would be good enough to get this done. No one could trod upon her now, not even S-ranks, after all.

… She really should keep him secret, huh? Who knew what these two would want with him if they figured out that there was a man who existed who possibly could traverse dungeons at will.  

“You’d think the Haeyeon Guild Leader would want to combine forces,” she said, shrugging like she didn’t care. “Oh well, more’s the loss for him. I’ll keep me seeing you here a secret, but don’t bring up my business to the guild leader unless directly asked. If he wants to keep us separate, then so be it. Don’t get in our way.”

Yoo Myeongwoo stared at her, but he just nodded and left. As he did, that book in his hand, she was sure that he muttered something along the lines of, “Teenagers. They’re so frightening and for what .”

A grin spread across her face. One S-rank down, at least. She’d make sure he didn’t try to get back up.

After that, Yerim made sure to stagger her hours visiting the library and to be on her best, outward behavior. She gave gifts to various employees, because her paychecks were coming in nicely now, and whenever she encountered Yoo Myeongwoo, she didn’t speak at all about dungeons. 

“Do you just have a stalking skill?” he asked, after the third time she had caught him in two weeks. 

“I would never willingly stalk you,” she said. “I just happen to be going to this informative library whenever I have a chance. Is it a crime for a young girl to further her education?”

“Please don’t use that attitude with me,” he said with a pained look on his face. 

She grinned at him with all her teeth. “Finally finished with that report?”

Yerim may not have discussed dungeons with Yoo Myeongwoo, but she was not above prodding him to read faster so that she too could read the latest research out. 

It was interesting to see just how much was placed toward this library. She was convinced there was some secret division of Haeyeon that had to be dedicated to the upkeep of knowledge. Han Yoohyun himself couldn’t have gathered all of this so quickly. Besides, there were papers that were noted to have originally been published in foreign languages but were translated. 

“You’re keeping me on my toes,” Yoo Myeongwoo said, almost good-naturedly. 

“Have you really read everything in here?” Yerim asked as she took the offered report. 

“More or less.”

“Which one is it, eh?”

“There’s a few things I haven’t read,” Yoo Myeongwoo admitted, as if that were some kind of fault. “Then again, I have skimmed them and they don’t seem super relevant to… what I’m interested in.”

There were two things about Yoo Myeongwoo that Yerim learned very quickly. First, that he was pretty bad at keeping up this charade of not being interested in her business. He figured out that she wasn’t going to tell him anything, but that didn’t stop slip-ups like this. 

Second, he sometimes revealed the most interesting tidbits of information. Yerim would have liked to say that she moved him into this corner by herself, but it was only in retrospect that she realized he let slip something important. 

Yoo Myeongwoo had read most everything in this library. That by itself must have taken a very long time. The library was approximately two to three years old, too. That she learned through the purchase records that Seok Simyeong did not always keep locked up. 

Considering Yoo Myeongwoo didn’t seem to have another job, she’d put the least amount of time that he’d been here at perhaps half a year. Still, she suspected that the number was closer to a year, if not more than that. 

The question, then, would be why Han Yoohyun was interested in all of this to begin with. And what was Yoo Myeongwoo involved in, for Han Yoohyun to have picked him up and without further notice?

Perhaps he was the reason why Sung Hyunjae and Moon Hyuna made those strange looks at that meeting. Yerim doubted they’d let an entire S-rank slide, though. 

Yoo Myeongwoo was chattering about something, some craft he was making, though he used so little details that she wasn’t sure if it was a crayon drawing or metalworking. 

“Not that I don’t appreciate the talk,” she said after about twenty minutes, “but I am trying to read, and I can’t just check things out the way you can.”

“Ah, right,” Yoo Myeongwoo said. “Why can’t you check them out?”

“Not trusted enough, apparently,” she said, tone more than a bit bitter.

“Oh yeah, that’s right,” he said. Before she could ask him what the hell that meant, he put his hands up and said, “It was similar for me, too. Took some months to be able to check out books, and I wasn’t even doing any dungeon trips. Most boring time of my life, I’ll tell you.”

“I don’t suppose you can put in a good word?”

Yoo Myeongwoo snorted. “Yeah, no, I think it’s better off if no one knows that we’ve been meeting.”

Yerim tried not to let that bother her. She nodded, like she understood the logic, and Yoo Myeongwoo wandered around the room a bit more. 

Either because she was too invested in reading or there was something in that man’s skills, but once, when she looked up, he was gone. And she hadn’t even heard the door open or close.  

It took about a month, but Han Yoohyun finally started to take her on dungeon trips regularly. It was just until she had a good enough grasp on her own abilities, he said, and there was a little bit of hostility there. She wondered why he offered the contract if he couldn’t stand her, but she wasn’t here for him anyways. 

She had done some dungeon trips on her own, but all of those had been lower-ranked. And since she had been too busy trying to keep up or do the work demanded of her, she hadn’t ever had the time to look for Ahjussi. 

This time, though, she had the opportunity. It was an S-rank dungeon, sure, but there would be another S-rank with her. 

The first chance she got after entering, she took off running. Last time she found Ahjussi close enough, but hidden. She just had to get Han Yoohyun away and then she’d be free to find Ahjussi. 

She circled all around the dungeon and only slowed down when it looked like Han Yoohyun had given up on trying to follow her. Good. 

Confronted with the surrounding wilderness, Yerim realized that she didn’t exactly know how to start to search for Ahjussi. The other two times, he’d just been there. 

… Maybe if she acted pathetic and lost, he’d somehow sense it and come to find her. She let her feet drag and started to sniffle. She honestly felt very stupid and sniffled even harder at the thought of having to fake crying to try and draw Ahjussi out. 

She wasn’t sure exactly how long she wandered like that, but eventually, she saw a flash in the corner of her eye. 

She leapt at it before she could even wonder if she was wrong. 

At any rate, it was Ahjussi and not a dungeon beast. The world became slightly muted once again, but she had something more important going on in front of her. 

 “Ahjussi,” Yerim said, grinning. “I found you again.”

Ahjussi looked shocked and Yerim felt herself tense. “Bak—Bak Yerim?”

Something in Yerim relaxed. Her shoulders were no longer stiff and she eased out of the more combative stance. “Yep!”

Ahjussi, on the other hand, did not look any less untroubled. “How’d you find me?”

“That’d be telling,” she said. “Hey, wanna actually leave this time? I can wait till you’re done with your work. I found this pretty good food place the other day.”

Ahjussi still looked a bit dumbfounded and Yerim’s eyes tracked at how he looked exactly the same as the last time she had seen him. The hair was no longer, there were no new worn signs on the coat, and the shoes looked scuffed to the same degree.

“Come on,” she said, getting dangerously close to whining. “Do what you need to do and then we can just leave. Or we can leave first and then you come back to do your work.”

Yerim’s tone may have been light, but she kept her eyes focused on Ahjussi and his reactions. 

She had come up with some more theories as the days had passed. She was certain that Ahjussi could control the pathway between dungeons, but as to the motivation why he’d stay inside… 

Well, recently Yerim had come upon the idea that maybe, it wasn’t a choice. 

“Yerim, leave it.”

“So you are trapped?” she blurted out. “I’ll get you out for certain, then!”

Ahjussi, weirdly, paled. “You can’t do that.”

“What, do you like it here?” Yerim asked. 

“Sure,” Ahjussi said, not looking at her and shifting in his spot. 

Yerim frowned. “You’re an abysmal liar.”

“Yerim, just leave it. You’ve joined a guild, haven’t you?”

Yerim scowled at the obvious topic change but allowed it for now. She’d get Ahjussi out. He’d just have to wait and see, but afterwards, he’d thank her and tell her that she was a good kid and a good person. 

“Yeah, I did,” she said, puffing her chest out a bit. “I’m Haeyeon’s other S-rank now.”

Ahjussi smiled at her, but there was something tense in his face. 

“Other other S-rank, I mean,” she said slowly, trying to read Ahjussi’s face. It was a lot harder than she expected. 

“Haeyeon has another S-rank?” he asked, certainly sounding puzzled. 

It didn’t ring true for some reason, but Yerim couldn’t figure out why.

“Yeah, I know right?” she said. “I had no clue until I actually met the guy. Yoo Myeongwoo. Would’ve reconsidered going to Haeyeon if I knew.”

“Oh?” Ahjussi asked, but even Yerim could see that he was schooling his face into a mask. He knew Yoo Myeongwoo, she was sure of it. 

“Now Haeyeon has three S-ranks,” she said, shaking her head. “They’re so greedy.”

“You could transfer,” he said. “If you’re finding you don’t like Haeyeon.”

“I… Haeyeon is still the best for my purposes,” she said. 

Ahjussi looked a bit concerned. “I know that S-ranks fight a lot, and your nature is very different from Y—the Haeyeon Guild Leader.”

Yerim frowned. “How’d you know anything about our natures?”

Ahjussi didn’t even bother coming up with a lie now. 

“Anyways,” she said, because it was obvious he wasn’t going to tell her anything, “Haeyeon’s library is the best.”

Ahjussi furrowed his brows. “Library? Wouldn’t that all be on—”

“Dungeon research?” she finished, voice pitched embarrassingly high. She cleared her throat. “Yeah, it is.”

“Yerim.”

“Ahjussi,” she responded in the same monotonous tone he used with her. 

“Don’t make me say it,” he warned. 

“Then I’ll say it,” she retorted. “I did join Haeyeon because of you. What are you going to do about it? Come out and drag me from the premises?”

Part of her hoped that’d be enough. That she was wrong with all her theories and Ahjussi would come waltzing out to do whatever guardian pose he was doing now. He’d make a great dad or big brother, she thought. 

“That’s not—” Ahjussi pulled a hand down his face, concealing the emotions that were playing across his features. “You shouldn’t just trust a random, older man.”

“You’re making yourself sound so suspicious,” Yerim said. “I know you by now.”

“Yerim, I’m serious.”

“And so am I,” she said and then forced herself to calm down. She was not supposed to get angry with Ahjussi and he was not supposed to get annoyed at her. “Look, I read into the contracts, okay? Haeyeon had the best for my needs anyways. It was mostly for you, but also for me. Satisfied?”

Ahjussi’s face didn’t change, but he seemed to shift into being more relaxed. 

“That’s good,” he said, but if that was the end of the story, why did he still look nervous? 

Still, one thing at a time. He was no longer that strange brand of upset so she just had to focus on figuring out how to get him out. Then they could deal with everything else, like why he was here, how he managed to survive, and how he got into all these dungeons in the first place. 

“Hey, I wanna show you around,” she said. The very spontaneous plan she was forming involved leading Ahjussi around until they were at the exit. Then she could just take him through and it’d be over, clean and simple. 

Well, Han Yoohyun might be a problem, considering she did ditch him, but she could deal with him. Probably. Maybe she’d pitch a pity case to Seok Simyeong and he’d help her out. 

“I already know this dungeon—”

“Then I want to prove my own knowledge of the area,” Yerim said and Ahjussi shot her a small smile. 

She could do this. One step at a time. She blabbered about the dungeon environment, graciously taking in the corrections from Ahjussi when she misspoke or didn’t go in-depth enough. Yerim did almost find herself getting distracted. She wasn’t dumb and she knew pretty well by now the basics of dungeon environments. 

And yet, here Ahjussi was, with information to rival it all. She wondered, very quietly, just how long he’d been here. 

They were almost at the exit and Yerim took Ahjussi’s hand, not breaking her stride. 

“Hey, Yerim—” Ahjussi started, sounding a bit panicked. 

“Ahjussi, it’s fine,” she called, not looking back. “The gate will be open and you don’t have to worry about the beast.”

He started to say something else, but Yerim wasn’t really listening. Her heart was pounding in her ears and black dots skittered all over her vision, growing in size until she couldn’t really see anything at all. 

She wasn’t sure why she was reacting this way, but she’d been through enough shit to know how to continue on. So she shook her head and continued in the direction she knew was forward. Ahjussi could always re-enter dungeons if he wanted to, but he wouldn’t stay trapped in there if she had anything to do with it. 

As Yerim went through the portal, the screeching, the heartbeats, the pain all receded. 

Her eyes blinked open. 

That was somehow simpler than she expected. Problem solved.

Then she realized her arm remained raised behind her. 

Yerim’s head turned slowly and she saw that Ahjussi was pressed up against where the portal was, as if there was something stopping him from going through. In her shock, she let go. 

“It’s ok, Yerim,” Ahjussi said tiredly, rubbing his wrist. “Take care of yourself, okay? You’re young and have a promising life ahead of you. You don’t have to worry about this old man.”

Before Yerim could formulate a response, the portal flashed and Ahjussi was gone again. 

The portal itself was not gone, though. And she knew it still led to the same dungeon she had left, because soon enough, Han Yoohyun came stomping out, snapping at her for jumping ship. 

It said something that Yerim didn’t retort back at any point during that conversation. It said even more that Han Yoohyun, looking at her face, just stopped in his tirade. 

She got the next few days off. She spent all of it holed up in her room, too nauseated at the thought of dungeons to even embark to the library. 

It was only because food was sent up to her that she was surviving at all. At the end of her Han Yoohyun-mandated vacation, she didn’t even want to get off the floor. It was hard enough to crawl to the bathroom. She couldn’t imagine having to do work again. 

“Bak Yerim?” Seok Simyeong’s voice came from behind the door. “You have a visitor.”

Yerim didn’t say anything, just curling into herself further. 

“Are you alright?” Seok Simyeong’s voice was strangely soft and Yerim felt her eyes falling shut. “Ok, I’m going to come in. I will do so very slowly.”

True to his word, he did. The door creaked open, and for a while, Seok Simyeong just stood in the doorway. 

Then he closed the door and came in, sitting down next to her. 

“Do you… want to talk about it?”

She shook her head as much as she was able to. 

Seok Simyeong let out a sigh. “Alright, for now I’ll let this be. Song Taewon is visiting.”

Yerim frowned. Seok Simyeong didn’t elaborate, so she forced herself to choke out, “Why?”

“Some standard government stuff,” Seok Simyeong said flippantly, “but he also wanted to check on how you were settling.”

Yerim let out a loud groan that was half a scream. 

“I’m not sure why he’s like this either,” he said. “For what it’s worth, the government works him like a dog. He won’t come again for a while.”

She didn’t know whether Seok Simyeong was phrasing that as a positive or negative thing. She tilted her head up and saw the man looking down at her with raised brows. 

Bah, the guy was a manipulative bastard and Yerim was told by her parents to be a good kid. 

She pushed herself up slowly, and Seok Simyeong at least was kind enough to get her on her feet. 

“If you’re not out in fifteen minutes, I’ll come back to check on you,” he said. Now that Yerim was up, the embarrassment was starting to flood in. She nodded and once the door was closed, rushed to get presentable. 

Song Taewon was, in fact, there waiting for her. He looked very out of place and Yerim knew that she still looked like a pile of shit, but she shot him a smile that hopefully didn’t look as fake as it felt. 

He just inclined his head in response and the two of them stood there, for a moment, awkward and silent. 

“Do you… want some tea?” she asked, wincing slightly. She really didn’t know how she was supposed to act with people anymore. Song Taewon was a good enough guy that he didn’t seem to take offense. 

“That would be nice,” he said and she led him to one of the meeting rooms and then called for some tea to be brought. 

“What brings Song Taewon-nim to Haeyeon?” she asked, while waiting for the tea to come. 

“There are some matters to sort out for an upcoming meeting between major guild leaders,” he said. “Though you are not a guild leader, I still invite you to join.”

Yerim sat up straighter. “It’d be my pleasure. When exactly is it?”

“Those details are still being deliberated,” Song Taewon responded. “Once they are available, I trust the information will be shared with you.”

Yerim wanted to break out into a grin, punch the guy’s shoulder, and just tell him to his face that she could tell he was a big softie. 

But for how nice Song Taewon was, she couldn’t relax in his presence, not in that way. He was looking out for her, but more in the way an employee might guide a new hire around. 

She bet it was because she was still a kid. S-rank or not, that made a difference in some people’s eyes, and for Song Taewon, the rank probably didn’t make an impact in his perception of her at all. 

The tea arrived and she served it for him, the two of them just calmly drinking. 

“I’m afraid I must go,” Song Taewon said, and she just nodded. 

“I will see you at the meeting,” she said and only after the door closed did she realize that she didn’t actually know what the meeting was about. 

Well, it’d be alright. She’d just be a spectator anyways. 

Yerim sat in the empty meeting room before getting up and collecting the cups onto the tray, steadily taking it to the kitchens. 

Her mind was clearer now, she thought. And now, she could finally begin to plan again. 

Yerim didn’t even bother looking for the positives in the situation with Ahjussi. 

The fact that it was confirmed that Ahjussi couldn’t leave the dungeon for some reason just made her feel horrible and stupid. It was even worse as she read more and more through the library and still the most relevant thing she had read was that one study on tagging the dungeon beasts. 

Everything pointed to the existence of pathways or portals between dungeons, but there was no information on how to get through these portals, or what might prevent someone from leaving. 

Even dungeon beasts could leave dungeons. Ahjussi, for some reason, was just special. 

Still, when all else failed, she’d just have to test things out on her own. 

“You seem to be deliberating something very difficult,” Yoo Myeongwoo said, from his corner of the library. 

Yerim didn’t even look up from where she was sprawled across a chair, carefully noting her most recent dungeon run. 

It had been an interesting past few months. Han Yoohyun seemed reluctant to let her back into a dungeon, and not even Seok Simyeong could have helped her with this one. However, she was a great talent for Haeyeon, so eventually, he had caved and she started to go on twice the number of dungeons as before. 

It only took two weeks for Han Yoohyun to determine she was fine on her own—as if he had personally supervised all of her dungeon trips, but she wouldn’t complain—and left her to make her way on her own through dungeons. 

Since the first dungeon, she had been recording down everything about the dungeon’s structure, signs of any pathway, or Ahjussi sightings. Those first two weeks had very few signs of Ahjussi, but then again, she hadn’t been looking hard. She’d only been working to prove she could be alone. 

Yerim heard footsteps approaching and she quickly closed her notebook. 

“I wasn’t going to read over your shoulder, I swear,” Yoo Myeongwoo said, his hands up. “You weren’t responding, and generally, that means you’re hyperfocusing on something.”

“Not you, too,” she groaned. 

“There was that gap of time I didn’t see you at all,” Yoo Myeong pointed out, “and you come very infrequently to the library now.”

“How would you know?” Yerim shot back. “Maybe I’m just coming at different times than you.”

“Bak Yerim,” Yoo Myeongwoo said, unamused, “I’m in the library most of the day. And I looked at your work records.”

Yerim crossed her lines. “Isn’t that against some rule?”

“I didn’t see the details. Only that you seem to be living more in dungeons than in reality with how long you spend dungeoneering.”

The last few months had taken a lot of hard work, but they were also the best months of her recent life. First, even in those Han Yoohyun-monitored weeks, she had gotten to see that Ahjussi was still alive and well. 

Second, since she started going solo, she’d gotten to talk with Ahjussi again.

Ahjussi didn’t say a word to her the first time they met again, not about the failed attempt to take him out nor the bit about being trapped in these dungeons. He didn’t answer any questions as to the nature of the dungeon or what was keeping him here. The most he did was allow her to try, even if all the tries failed. 

“Don’t say something about how you’re not going to see me again,” she said after accepting that at least today, Ahjussi was not getting out. 

“You’re pretty stubborn,” Ahjussi said, with that small smile of his. “I think I’ll be seeing you a lot more now.”

Ahjussi was certainly right to believe in her like that. She grew fast and experienced and found him in virtually every dungeon she’d been in. Yet another curiosity she didn’t have the answer to. 

Regardless, every time, he was there, looking exactly the same. And every time, she tried something new to get him out. Or some variation on something old. 

“—Yerim,” Yoo Myeongwoo was saying and she blinked back to the present. He frowned. “You’ve also been spacing out a lot.”

“Makes sense, since I’m tired,” she said. 

“So take a break,” Yoo Myeongwoo said, sounding stressed. 

“Take a break, Yerim,” Ahjussi had told her last night. “After all, you’re just wasting your time here.” 

Each time she found Ahjussi, there was a sort of sad surprise in his eyes, like he didn’t expect to be found again. Like Yerim would stop caring. 

Yerim hated seeing that look in his eyes. She hated the entire situation and the fact that Ahjussi wasn’t letting her help. 

And she would help him. It was only fair. He helped her in the past and he was still helping her now. 

“I don’t like that look on your face.”

“It’s my face,” Yerim snapped back. 

“It’s a look that’s telling me you’re just going to do whatever you like,” Yoo Myeongwoo said, pretty accurately. 

She just shrugged. 

“I will tell Seok Simyeong that he should cut down your hours.”

“And what?” she blustered. “First, he already knows I work a lot. He hasn’t done anything to stop it yet. Second, you’d just be revealing that you’ve been in contact with me, which you told me that you don’t want to get out. It’d be a losing situation for you.”

That last phrase ended up more of a question than anything else. Because on Yoo Myeongwoo’s face was a look of utter revelation. 

“What?” she asked nervously. 

“If I say we’ve been meeting,” he said, almost in a daze, “you’ll be forced to stay in Haeyeon for some time.”

“Hey now—”

“You know, and there is going to be a redo of that meeting about the Awakening Centers,” Yoo Myeongwoo said, and shot her a pointed look. 

Really, she had meant to attend it. Maybe. She liked the idea at the time, but it got pushed to the background as she collected more and more information on dungeons. 

Besides, it was good she skipped the first one. A huge fight had broken out and Yerim, though she was pretty good at taking down beasts now, didn’t really like fighting. It was why she avoided most everyone nowadays. 

“Well?” Yoo Myeongwoo prodded. 

“Well what?” she snapped back. 

“Are you going to take breaks now?” he asked. 

“I thought you were just gonna tattle,” she grumbled. 

“Let’s call it blackmail,” he said. “And know that I can access how long you’ve been working.”

“I’m making good money, though,” she said. She knew Yoo Myeongwoo also had a complex about money. 

“I’ll lend you anything you need,” he said and she blinked at the proposal. “Some of your shoes are pretty worn now, yeah?”

“I wasn’t being that serious,” she said. “That’s so irresponsible, you shouldn’t just hand your money to the first person you see!”

Yoo Myeongwoo laughed. “You’re hardly the first person I see.”

“Who else is in this room but me?”

Yoo Myeongwoo rolled his eyes. “As if we haven’t been in the same library for months at this point.”

“I’m pretty rich myself now,” she said. “I’m fine. I don’t go into dungeons for the money anyways.”

“Oh?” Yoo Myeongwoo asked, his brows raised. “Why do you go, then?”

This could be her chance. She knew that Ahjussi knew Yoo Myeongwoo somehow, so if she dropped a description, then maybe she’d get closer to the heart of the mystery that was Ahjussi. 

Her throat constricted at the thought of telling Yoo Myeongwoo. Of telling anything. 

“I like to see how dungeons work,” she said instead. “It’s really very interesting.”

“Huh,” he said, and she knew she didn’t convince him. She took too long to answer. “Well, then the dungeons will have to wait for you a bit longer.”

“I’m still going to go rather frequently,” she warned.

“You need to spend at least two full days each week not in a dungeon,” Yoo Myeongwoo said. “As in, the hours must be consecutive. Two days of the week, you don’t go dungeoneering. And you can’t make up for that time by filling out all the other days.”

“Starting after this week,” she bargained, because she really didn’t want Yoo Myeongwoo to tell others. “I already signed up for these dungeons, and I’d just be an asshole if I didn’t fill them out.”

Yoo Myeongwoo looked conflicted, but eventually, he nodded.

“After this week, then.”

“So I won’t be able to come by as often,” she finished, looking everywhere but Ahjussi. “Sorry about that.”

“I’m glad.” 

Yerim blinked. “Huh? What’s up with that? ” 

“No, no, you misunderstand,” Ahjussi quickly said. “I am glad to see you. But you do have a life. You shouldn’t just waste it inside trying to get me out.”

At least he was admitting the issue now. The first few times, he always skirted around the fact that Yerim was trying to get him out and that he was trapped. 

“I like spending time with you, though,” she said, kicking at a loose stone. “I…”

“You?” he asked after a moment. That was another thing she liked about Ahjussi. He was so patient and when he prompted her like this, it never sounded like he was annoyed. 

“I don’t think that anyone really gets me,” she admitted. 

“What makes you think that?”

Yerim shrugged, because she couldn’t really pin it down. 

“There’s something that’s bothering you, though?”

“I guess… outside, I’m just an S-rank. I don’t really feel like much else there.”

“Are people treating you poorly?”

“No,” she said, starting to get frustrated. Not at Ahjussi, but it was just—

“They’re nice,” she said. “But it’s like… Song Taewon-nim came to visit the other day. He looked after me until I got signed on with someone. He’s nice. I just don’t know how to act with him. I don’t know what he wants. Dunno how I’m supposed to act.”

“Is it with everyone?”

Yerim shrugged. “I don’t get it with you,” she admitted. 

“It’ll pass,” Ahjussi said after a long moment. 

“But what if it doesn’t?” Yerim asked, angrily choking down the rising sob in her voice. “What if I’m just like this forever?”

“Like what?”

“Unable to give a singular fuck,” Yerim let out. “I’ve missed out meetings and it upset people who were nice to me, but I don’t feel bad. Like it sucks I suppose and in my mind, I feel bad, but I don’t actually feel it.”

“If it doesn’t pass,” Ahjussi said slowly, “you’re still Bak Yerim. You’re still a good person. Did you miss any of those meetings on purpose?”

“I just forgot about ‘em.”

“You’re not a bad person,” Ahjussi reiterated. “Even if you never care about anyone the same as before, you still won’t be bad.”

“How can you be so sure?”

“Ah, I’ve gotten to have a lot of time with you recently,” Ahjussi smiled. “I think I know a little bit about you now. Besides, I was right about you Awakening, yes? So trust me when I say you’re a good person.”

Yerim kicked at some stones. “I thought I’d feel better about this.”

“Life is like that a lot of the time,” Ahjussi said with a wise air. “Fortunately, not all of the time.”

Yerim kind of doubted it, but she’d believe in Ahjussi for now. 

“Anyways, before I go, I have a new idea,” she said. “For getting you out.”

Ahjussi sighed. “Alright, let’s try it then.”

It didn’t work, but this time, it felt a little less bitter. 

Seok Simyeong was moving her to a new apartment. 

“I like my room, though,” she whined. 

“You don’t go outside. It’s unhealthy,” he said. “At least if your apartment is slightly off base, then you will have to spend some minutes outside each day.”

“I literally go into dungeons all the time.”

“Dungeons don’t classify as outside. If they were, they’d be in the open air,” Seok Simyeong sniffed. 

“Maintaining an apartment is so much work, though,” she said. “And what about meals?”

“You can still come to the guild for meals, like you already do,” he said. “And we’ll send someone once a week to check up on you. You’re not going to be cooped up inside all the time, regardless.”

Yerim probably still looked unconvinced, because Seok Simyeong added, “Besides, you’re going to need space to put any books you borrow from the library.”

Yerim perked up almost immediately. 

“You know,” she said, “that does sound like a great idea. New apartment, eh? Sounds great.”

Life seemed to move faster after she moved into the apartment. The few days she promised Yoo Myeongwoo to not go dungeoning were now filled with theorizing, strategizing, and avoiding any other work that could be shoved on her. She particularly got good at avoiding public appearances. 

“See, isn’t it better that you’re taking life a bit more slowly now?” Yoo Myeongwoo had asked once and Yerim just kept up the silent treatment. She was still very pissed at him for this, even though her “resting” also apparently made Ahjussi a lot happier. 

The problem with all her theories was that she really didn’t know how to go about them. She recorded the attempts and any notes—did she experience any weird pain? How quickly did the portal disappear afterwards? How quickly did Ahjussi disappear?—but even the good old scientific method seemed to be failing her. 

She couldn’t accept that Ahjussi wasn’t going to get out. She just couldn’t. 

“Yerim?” Ahjussi asked once when they were lounging in a dungeon. Well, Yerim was lounging because Ahjussi made her as he carefully collected the spoils from the beast she had killed. 

“Yeah?” she asked, watching how he used a vial he drew from inside that ratty, worn coat to collect the poison. 

“Do you still go to school?”

Yerim frowned. “What does that have to do with anything?”

“Education is important,” Ahjussi said, voice starting to sound a bit reproachful. 

“You want me, an S-class, to go back to high school,” she said. “The kids would all piss themselves!”

“There are online courses,” Ahjussi said slowly, “and tutors. Were none offered to you?”

Yerim wanted to just nod along, because that’d get Ahjussi off her back the soonest, but… 

“I refused it,” she said. “They said I didn’t have to complete high school, so I’m not gonna. Plus I do enough reading and education with all the reading I do.”

“You only read about dungeons,” Ahjussi said, voice deadpan. 

“It’s a specialized field,” Yerim argued. “Why do I need to know about abstract mathematics when I’ll never use that?”

Education really wasn’t a big deal for Yerim. She had been getting a piss-poor one at any rate and knew that it’d be a miracle if she went through university, mainly because she knew her aunt and uncle were never going to fund her. 

“It’s—you’re not taught all this stuff because you’re for certain going to use it all in the future,” Ahjussi said slowly. “It helps you learn how to approach things and decide what you’re interested in.”

Yerim stared at Ahjussi. “So, when exactly did you go to high school? Since if there ever was a time when it sounded so nice, I don’t know it.”

Ahjussi huffed. “Yeah, I guess I’m speaking out of my ass here. Alright, think of it this way: it’s a lot easier to reach stability if you have at least a high school education behind you. If comes a day when dungeoneering isn’t so profitable anymore, you’ll have something to fall on, at least.”

“Ahjussi, I’m getting really fucking rich,” she said. 

Ahjussi flicked her forehead. “Language.”

“The point remains,” she said, lightly slapping his hand away. 

“And I have heard about how much inflation has happened,” Ahjussi retorted. “Prices could just continue to get worse.”

Yerim put her hands against her ears. “I can’t hear you,” she said in a sing-song manner. “No word of economics will pass my ears!”

Ahjussi heaved a grand sigh and Yerim slowly removed her hands. 

“Just… think about it,” he said. 

“Can’t I just do a GED or something?” she muttered. 

Ahjussi raised his brows. “You’d have to do enough learning to pass it,” he pointed out. 

“Eh, who cares about math, am I right?” she said, sticking her hands in her pockets as she stood up. Ahjussi was done collecting all the poison anyways. “Come on, let’s go try again.”

Ahjussi’s face stilled but he didn’t protest, letting Yerim drag him to the exit. 

“It’s going to work for real this time,” she promised. 

“Am I supposed to be doing anything differently?” he asked and Yerim shook her head. 

“Just stay right there,” she said. 

Ahjussi shrugged and stood in place, right in the prime place for Yerim to pick him up and run through the portal. 

She knew immediately that it didn’t work. Sighing, she made it back through the portal. 

“Oh, well,” she said. 

“What made you think this would work?” Ahjussi asked, brushing off his clothes. At the very least, he didn’t sound judgemental. 

“There was one paper I read about these dungeon insects escaping because they flew really fast,” she said. 

“So you thought that running fast would replicate it.”

“Maybe the portal needs to be in the ground and we have to free-fall into it,” she said. 

“Let’s… not try that option.” Ahjussi looked a little pale. “I’d like my legs intact.” 

“There’s healing potions,” she pointed out. 

“There won’t be immediately if we’re still in the dungeon,” Ahjussi countered. 

“My legs wouldn’t break. And I could bring some potions beforehand.”

“Just… don’t try that, Yerim.”

She’d put it down as a last resort option, then. There were a lot of those. Really, if Ahjussi was just a bit more open to her other ideas, maybe he’d be out by now. 

“It must be getting late,” Ahjussi said after a moment. “You shouldn’t be late for dinner.”

“Ahjussi—”

“I’ll see you soon,” he said, smiling and patting her shoulder. And then, he was gone. 

Yerim let out a rattling sigh and tried not to let the cold get to her. 

It was when she was eating takeout in her room—her last allowed takeout this week, because for some reason, Seok Simyeong decided to put her on a limit—that she came up with the idea. 

There had to be one thing connecting all of the failed attempts together. That was why with one hand she was shoving a glorious mix of noodles, chicken, and vegetables in her mouth, and with the other, flipping through her notebook of experiments. 

The commonality, she found, was that she had told Ahjussi every single time that she was going to get him out. Even that first attempt, he knew very clearly that she was trying to get him out. 

Admittedly, it made no sense when Yerim first realized it. Ahjussi had said he’d stay inside the dungeons, but it really felt like it wasn’t his own choice. 

… Unless he didn’t realize that he had a choice. 

Yerim took one moment to try and dissect the mindfuckery that had to be going on for Ahjussi to trap himself in the dungeons unwittingly and then decided it didn’t matter. 

She could be wrong but… well, in any case, she’d learn something new. 

“Really? You’re not trying anything this time?”

Yerim shook her head. “Nah, it’s getting a bit too tiring for me to be doing it as frequently as I have, you know? But don’t think I’m going to stop visiting you, okay?”

“I wouldn’t dare,” Ahjussi said with a smile. “You always keep your word.”

Yerim wasted a lot of the time with chatter. They collected some stones together, climbed some trees, and overall, had a nice time. 

Yerim made sure to steer them away from the portal. The gatestone was feeling heavy in her pocket and she needed to finish this off quickly, before Ahjussi got suspicious. Or before the beast she had heavily sedated woke up and revealed to Ahjussi that she had not actually taken care of it yet. 

“Did you ever have a special handshake with your friends?” Yerim asked. 

“Uh, no,” Ahjussi said, blinking at the abrupt change in topic from scenic views in Korea to this. 

“I think we should have one.”

“I think you should find some friends your own age,” Ahjussi said. “It’s really not that healthy for someone so young to spend all her time with an old man like me.”

“Are you still upset that I call you ahjussi,” Yerim said. “You don’t have to lean into the act, you know?”

“Yerim.”

“At any rate, we should at least do a high five or something,” she said. “Or a fist bump.”

“Sure,” Ahjussi said, still sounding very confused but not wary in the slightest. 

That was good. Great. 

She held up her fist and Ahjussi copied. He was awkward with the motion, but Yerim didn’t care. She pushed her fist toward Ahjussi and then, as she pushed the gatestone in her first onto his, activated it. 

Ahjussi didn’t even have the chance to say anything before Yerim pushed him through. 

This portal closed and Yerim watched with anticipation. 

She waited. 

There was no sign of Ahjussi. 

At that, Yerim let out peals of laughter. She fucking did it! She got Ahjussi out! 

The trees started to creak and Yerim’s eyes slid to the general direction of the dungeon beast. She had only subdued it to buy enough time to try and shove Ahjussi out. 

Now it was time to make her own way out.