I’ll Retire After Saving the World

TL: SHW

Bang! Boom!!

Explosions erupted one after another.

Unable to withstand the shock, I rolled along with Hong Seok-young.

Along with the deafening noise came a wave of heat. Still, it wasn’t the kind of heat I felt in Seoul right before I came to the past.

Damn it, should I have worn my dog tag around my neck? What kind of confidence did I have to just come without it? My neck felt oddly bare for no reason.

…Should I take it out now?

I held my breath as I thought of the subspace stored in the inside pocket of my jacket.

“……”

The continuous explosions finally ceased. My ears rang.

Even the screams that had been mixed in earlier were no longer audible. Still, from the presences I could sense beyond the thick dust, it seemed like a good number of people managed to escape in that brief moment.

I frowned.

What I saw before the explosion. Sem Bloom’s robe. Runes.

The explosion had started from the sedan Sem Bloom was in. At this point, there’s no need to talk about investigation or anything. Honestly, I don't even know if it's possible to conduct an investigation in this situation.

In any case, the explosion seemed to have stopped, so I raised my head to survey the surroundings.

If he were a shrewd mage, he would’ve gotten out long ago. Especially if he was wearing a robe layered with ridiculous amounts of runes. Sem Bloom was probably completely unharmed, not even a strand of hair singed. I don’t know how far he might’ve run by now, but I can’t afford not to chase him.

“For now.”

I began to speak as I stood up.

Shall we go find Sem Bloom?

Before I could even finish my sentence, a rough hand pressed down on my shoulder.

“……!”

My view shifted. Hong Seok-young grabbed me by the back of the neck and rolled our bodies.

This time, it was Hong Seok-young shielding me.

Rumble!!!

The ground shook again.

As if to say that everything so far had just been child’s play. It made me wonder if this was an earthquake, not a bomb. At this rate, the hotel might collapse. Did they even have proper earthquake-resistant design? Since it was a luxury hotel in Seoul, I figured they must have heavily invested in defensive magic so it could double as a bomb shelter in emergencies...

But if the opponent was Noah Michel, then who knows?

Fortunately, due to the forum, there were no guests staying at the hotel. Mages and Hunters should be able to survive on their own. What I was worried about were the hotel employees.

Though the shock continued, the explosion itself wasn’t that big. As long as the building didn’t collapse, it should be fine. Maybe even the employees who had been standing near the car might be okay.

…….

No. Wait a second.

Something’s off.

Something doesn’t add up.

How many minutes has this shaking continued? Hasn’t it been over five minutes now?

This isn’t just a matter of the hotel collapsing or not.

If it were a simple bomb, it wouldn’t be able to generate this kind of shock for so long. Unless the building was actually collapsing. But the hotel is still intact.

It wasn’t directly in front of us, but we were still very close to the blast center. We could see it with the naked eye, even eavesdrop on conversations without much difficulty.

If it were just a bomb meant to blow up a car, it wouldn’t have created such intense shock.

If it were meant to destroy more than that, then this place where we are now shouldn’t be this untouched.

Instinctively, I started feeling around the floor with my palm.

My father’s teachings flashed through my mind.

‘The easiest thing is sight.’

He pointed to his own eyes as he spoke.

‘Analyze everything you see. It’s the most basic of basics.’

Then he covered his eyes.

‘But you can’t rely on sight alone. Human vision sometimes only sees what it wants to see. It has limits.’

‘Then what?’

‘You have to use all your senses. Hearing, smell, taste, touch… Once you've awakened, your sensory organs are far beyond those of ordinary people. Hwijae, especially since you're sensitive to mana, if you focus, you’ll be able to pick up much more information than others.’

‘Hmm…’

While I remained skeptical, my father pounded his chest and let out a hearty laugh.

‘Someday when you enter a dungeon, you’ll realize that everything this old man said is true!’

‘Well, that’s because you’re a veteran Hunter, so of course you’d be right…’

Right. Everything he said was true.

Sight.

Because of the dust that had risen into a hazy cloud, vision was useless. Even for me, without the help of magic or runes, I couldn’t see through it.

Hearing.

Rumble… The sounds of things breaking and falling had decreased, but unsettling noises could still be heard. Amidst that, if I focused my nerves, I could hear tense breathing mixed in.

But… hadn’t it lessened a bit compared to earlier?

Smell.

This was useless for now. All I inhaled was the overwhelming scent of dust. I thought I’d at least smell something burning.

Taste.

…This was also useless.

Last was touch.

I felt around the floor with my palm. Anyway, we were inside the lobby, so the floor should have been polished marble. Even if it was covered in dust, even if it cracked or broke from the impact of the explosion, there still had to be some smooth surface left.

But this wasn’t that. There was dirt mixed with gravel instead of a floor.

‘Now, you’ve used all five senses? Then what should you do next?’

‘…Raid the dungeon?’

‘Well, since you’re already inside a dungeon, that’s not exactly wrong…’

The father in my memory chuckled joyfully. Unlike Hong Seok-young, who was staring at me with a serious expression.

‘If you’ve entered a dungeon with no intel, the first thing you need to figure out is what kind of bastard might show up.’

“Teacher Woo.”

Father no, Hong Seok-young whispered in a hardened voice.

“Did you notice?”

“…Yes.”

I also responded in a voice so quiet it was barely audible.

“We’re currently inside a dungeon.”

***

How does a dungeon form?

Where do the monsters inside come from?

It remains an unsolved mystery.

It would be a lie to say I wasn’t curious. In modern society, people are entangled with dungeons and monsters either directly or indirectly. If a phenomenon that greatly affects people’s lives still doesn’t even have a properly identified cause, then of course it's frustrating.

But I didn’t join the Ability Management Agency to satisfy that curiosity.

‘What? You’re not making movies anymore? Didn’t you get in somewhere as a staff member?’

Father told me not to worry about Yoo Ji-eun or him and to just do whatever I wanted.

Since childhood, I’d had a firm dream. But after hearing over and over again that I could do anything, I started to want to try something different.

So in high school, I joined the broadcasting club. I wanted to try handling a camera.

It was more doable than I expected. It was fun. So I chose a related major in university. It was tough, but still fun. Even my childhood dream started to fade a little.

On a professor’s recommendation, I got to work as staff on a film set during vacation.

‘What? Weren’t you supposed to work only until 6? Uh, excuse me… you’re still a college student, right? The field doesn’t run like clockwork. Don’t talk back and go finish the cleanup.’

Having lived doing whatever I wanted, I couldn’t endure such nonsense.

When I told Yoo Ji-eun, she snapped, saying, ‘Isn’t this because Teacher raised him too soft?’

Just being swayed by what others said reminded me too much of my time in the research lab. Still, I felt responsible for the work I had taken on, so I saw it through to the end at that damn site. As soon as the break was over, I applied for a double major. I asked my father if having a Hunter License gave you any extra points when applying to the Agency.

I never wanted to be the top authority. If that were the case, you’d have to follow someone else’s orders no matter where you go. If I had to take orders anyway, I’d rather work under people I knew. Like Father, or Yoo Ji-eun. Even Han Tae-kyung, though I didn’t like treating him with respect.

Since I had entered the Ability Management Agency anyway, I decided I would take care of the things Father and Yoo Ji-eun couldn’t pay attention to. Any curiosity or competitive spirit I had about dungeons or monsters disappeared quickly once I started entering dungeons in Han Tae-kyung’s place.

Still, once, I had coincidentally witnessed a Gate forming. I still couldn’t tell how or why it was created.

At first, it simply ripples gently. The air, the mana, everything wavers softly.

Then, suddenly, it changes.

Like a black hole, it ravenously devours everything around it…

Or at least, it looks like it’s devouring everything.

A massive entrance appears. Around the gate, there are burn marks as if it had been scorched, but everything else remains intact. In the United States, a study had been released stating that the area within a 5-meter radius of a gate is its effective range.

‘What happens if you’re within 5 meters when a gate forms?’

‘These days, we have mana meters, so that almost never happens, but when I was young, it did from time to time.’

That came up while I was talking with Father on the day I witnessed a gate forming.

‘I’ve never experienced it myself, but according to those who have, you can enter the dungeon without paying the toll.’

‘Without the toll?’

‘If you’re unlucky, even non-Awakened can get caught up in it. And the dungeon is unstable, with such high mana concentration that even moving is difficult, they say.’

I clenched my teeth.

I didn’t get up until the sound had completely stopped. Even after both the noise and vibration fully ceased, I stayed cautious for a long while before finally managing to stand up.

Once the dust settled, it became even clearer that this place was inside a dungeon. The dungeon’s characteristic night sky filled with stars came into view.

“This is bad.”

Hong Seok-young threw off his jacket. He rolled up his sleeves and pulled a weapon out of subspace. It was a spear taller than he was.

“…Could this be Sem Bloom’s doing?”

“I’ve never heard of anyone being able to create a dungeon.”

“……”

There couldn’t be a human capable of such a thing. No matter how much of a genius Noah Michel was, this went far beyond what was possible.

“Should we just raid it quickly and get out?”

“How, when we don’t even know what’s in here?”

“Judging by the fact that nothing’s attacked us yet, whatever it is must be a quiet one.”

I let out a sigh.

“There’s a high chance the hotel staff were caught up in this too.”

“Ah. You’re right. Hmm. Then let’s prioritize finding the staff first. Seems like everyone got scattered anyway.”

Hong Seok-young tapped the wall surrounding us with the tip of his spear.

Under a sky that looked like it could rain down stars at any moment, tall walls loomed, restricting our view. The dust that had filled the air earlier must have been because of these walls. The same goes for the noise, naturally.

I jumped off the wall and checked beyond it. It was the same in every direction. Paths surrounded by walls.

It was a maze.

“Isn’t everyone usually together after passing through a gate? Are freshly formed dungeons different?”

“No idea. It’s my first time entering a dungeon like this.”

It was the same for my father. He had never been swept up by a newly formed gate.

That meant this was something that hadn’t happened in the original timeline. Of course. If something this big had happened in Korea, I would’ve known about it.

…Could this be related to the fact that I had never heard of Sem Bloom, who claimed to be Noah Michel’s assistant?

Michel had many disciples who followed her. They all called themselves her students, but in the true sense of the word, she had no official mage apprentices. She had a few assistants… but Sem Bloom was not among them.

“So, what should we do?”

I also pulled a weapon out of subspace. It was the sword Yoo Ji-eun had given me.

Without any warning, Hong Seok-young slashed the wall with his spear. It was a simple motion, but from the wall’s perspective, it was a different story.

Thud!

The wall collapsed.

“Let the others find us by following the sound. Hunters, mages, civilians, doesn’t matter.”

“…What about monsters? With that much noise, they’ll probably come too.”

“That would actually be better.”

Hong Seok-young smiled menacingly with a bloodthirsty face.

***

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