SSS-Grade Cafe in Front of The Dungeon
chapter-165

“In order for such a higher-dimensional being to appear in this world, it would … well, imagine that this world is a drawing on a piece of paper. God is a three-dimensional object, so how do you represent a three-dimensional object on a piece of paper?”

The Hunter wasn’t very good at imagination. He mulled over Jina’s words in his head for a while before he finally came up with an answer.

“Uh … it sees and draws?”

“Yes. The incarnation, or Aeon, is the paper it’s written on, regardless of how…….” Jina continued as she climbed the stairs of the abandoned building, “Even if the paper is torn, it can always be redrawn.”

The machine’s signal fell away and grew stronger. It was clear that a wounded Aeon had appeared here, but there had been no sign of him since. This was a dead end.

“Wait … Miss Agent Kim Jina.” The Hunter called back to Jina as she struggled with the machine. A thoughtful look crossed his face.

“Yes?”

“If the paper can be redrawn as many times even if it’s torn … can’t you knock out the main body, you know, the God of the Otherworld?”

Jina tilted her head to the side, “……I suppose it could be possible, but as you can imagine from being called Gods, they are incredibly strong.”

“Is that so…….”

The Hunter’s shoulders drooped sullenly, and at that sight, Jina swallowed her last comment with a bitter smile.

‘A human on paper … defeats an entity that exists beyond paper. I wonder could it be possible if there’s a power that transcends causality.’

But there is no way a human being possesses such power. So it’s just a delusion.

Beep, beep, beep, beep! At that time, the machine suddenly vibrated with a loud noise.

“……..”

A dark trail was left on the floor, seemingly invisible. Jina looked at it and opened her mouth, “Where is the team leader now?”

“Ah, I heard that the headquarters called him. That’s why I accompanied Miss Agent Kim Jina today. He should still be in the headquarters by now.”

“I see. That’s a blessings in disguise.”

“What?”

“Take this.” Jina thrust the machine she was holding into the Hunter’s hand.

Puck!

And she pushed him back with all her might.

It was nothing more than the strength of an Non-Awakened, but the Hunter, caught off guard, staggered back a couple of steps. Out of range. That distance was enough.

Grumble! The building shook violently with a loud thud. Jina stumbled back, but then lost her footing and fell to the floor.

“Miss Agent!”

“Please take that to the team leader.”

A hole emitting red light appeared and the floor began to sink.

….It’s a rift.

***

It was still late winter in Seoul, but the weather in Busan was like early spring, with people on the streets wearing thinner clothes. Choi Cedric and Choi Rona had just come out of the aquarium. Choi Cedric carried a large stuffed dolphin in one hand and a stuffed penguin in the other. Choi Rona walked beside him, levitating in the air.

Passersby occasionally glanced at the unusual sibling duo, but it didn’t bother them. This was their precious time together.

Rona pointed to a busy street and spoke, “Oppa, look over there.”

“Huh?” Choi Cedric replied, a beat too late, his vision blocked by the giant stuffed dolphin.

“That ice cream parlour looks delicious, right?”

“But it’s still cold. Are you going to eat ice cream? What if you catch a cold?”

“Ah, no, it’s really nice to eat ice cream in a warm room in the winter.”

“Really? Okay.”

There’s no way Cedric could win over his sister. There was a long queue outside the popular ice cream parlour. Choi Cedric hurried to the end of the queue.

“Oppa, I want the limited edition truffle lemon salt and pepper flavour!”

From the name, it doesn’t sound very tasty ……. He kept the question to himself.

A few people recognised Cedric and asked him if he wanted to switch lines, but he declined. It was partly to uphold social etiquette but mainly because he was hoping the truffles would sell out. After a while, it was finally Choi Cedric’s turn, but he was narrowly out of luck.

“Sir, you’re lucky, there are only two of the limited edition truffle lemon salt and pepper flavour left.”

“Haa … I’ll have that then.”

He was just about to accept the ice cream from the shopkeeper when Choi Rona, who was waiting in the back, suddenly rushed over and grabbed his arm.

“Oppa, hold on tight.”

“What? Rona, what about this ice cream?!”

“Ice cream isn’t important right now. Hurry.”

“Huh? Uh.”

At his younger sister’s urging, Choi Cedric gave the ice cream to a child in the queue behind him. The kid who suddenly had an ice cream beamed.

“Thank you, please take this.”

“Thank you!”

The child bowed, then his eyes widened when he lifted his head.

“Mom, he’s gone! That brother is gone!”

The brother and sister were already disappeared. With a thud, the stuffed dolphin that Choi Cedric had let slip from his grasp rolled across the floor.

***

In a strange place, where Choi Rona arrived by leaping through space.

There was no time to question where they were or what had happened. He didn’t have time to ask what was going on, because his eyes were drawn to a rift radiating red light and a person about to be sucked into it.

“Ugh! Ugh, that!”

“Oppa, hurry!”

Bam! Choi Cedric grabbed Choi Rona in midair with one hand and Kim Jina with the other.

“Hunter Choi Cedric? How did you get here…….”

“Now, hold on tight.”

“Aaah!”

He barely managed to pull Kim Jina out of the rift’s entrance. A few more seconds and there would have been nothing they could have done. The red rift grew wider and wider, tearing apart the ground. Choi Cedric had also managed to save one Hunter, who had been struggling nearby.

Choi Rona, now floating in midair with three adults dangling from her, said, “Oppa, you have a movement scroll, right? Take it out quickly.”

“Eh, eh, eh? But this scroll … I’m not as rich as I used to be, so I thought we were supposed to save it and sell it in an emergency to pay for our living expenses.”

“Oh, well, it’s not the time. He’s heavy. I think I’m going to drop this guy.”

“Agh! Please save me! Hunter Choi Cedric!” The Hunter grabbed Choi Cedric and hung on to him.

The rift was growing rapidly, and it was now dangerous to stay there any longer. Choi Cedric followed Rona’s words and took out the movement scroll from his inventory. He was about to tear it up, but he stopped his hand to ask, “But where are we supposed to go with this?”

Rona glared at the red glow at her feet.

“Dungeon Management Office … no, Oppa, let’s go to the Cheongna Guild.”

***

Korea’s No. 1 Hunter Community – Hunter Channel.

Free Forum Board.

— Ranking and Guild harassment are prohibited. Real life player kill is done in the dungeon.

[Real-Time] Large-scale Rift Crisis Board, 27th Edition

Upvotes: 11 / Downvotes: 0

Writer: I am powerless

Dungeon Management Office Emergency Report: (Link)

Today’s Briefing from the Director: (Link)

Safety Tips that newbies must be aware of: (Link)

Information related to Muwon is recorded separately here: (Link)

Hunchaners, please go home safely.

— Pink Jelly Lover: Fighting today too ㅠㅠ!!!

└ I love you Eunrang: Fighting!!!

— Mangsucker Jonbeo: Gargoyle is really a b***h. I was just about to hit it when it suddenly went on a rampage and tried to bite me;

└ MM: kk noisy?

└ Mangsucker Jonbeo: ye ye it’s hard lol the C-Grade rift in Ssangmundong has been roughly managed.

└ gotohell : Gargoyle teeth are poisonous; don’t forget the antidote potion.

└ Mangsucker Jonbeo: okok right now the monster is coming out so i’ll catch it first

— Hunchan Protector: hahahahaha I couldn’t go home for a few days because I slept in the Guild, but a rift burst in front of my house and my house was destroyed ㅠㅠ

└ Kim Seonghyun: HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA pitiful

└ OO: Today’s poor guy lol

— 10th Year Hunter: They haven’t notified us yet, but a rift has opened up in front of Maebongsan Mountain, it is estimated to be a B-Grade and Royal will take care of it

└ ddd***: Mr. 10 Year Hunter, has something like this happened before??? The rift explodes all at once

└10th Year Hunter: no, it’s my first time too

└ I am powerless: Hmm, what is the cause? Is the system broken…? Is it because I didn’t give it enough rubies….? ㅠ

└ OO: Cause,,, that’s it, the red light in the dungeon

— ttl***: Any healer available now?? Request for assistance. Coordinates for many injured are here (Link)

└ Elixir Dasam: Hang in there for 10 more minutes. I will finish this one and go there

└ ttl***: ty ty ty

— Magician Lee Yoomi: CFR provided coffee support through Mysterious Doors!!! Please share it, they say you’re welcome to come anytime! ㅠ0ㅠ I’ll leave the gate coordinates, so please bring them with you in case you need them!! (Link)

└ red*** : tytyty God R thank you so much

└ Pueeng: Thank you so much,, thank you very much,,

— Buy Me a Golem: But Hunchan is truly a server made of steel hahaha even when the Wi-Fi is cut off and all communication is down, you can still connect to Hunchan; hahaha.

└ MM: after the Sephiroth Branches incident, they installed an emergency line kkk hahaha In case of emergency, it is now possible to connect in Dungeon kk

└ Buy Me a Golem: that’s truly awesome

└ MM: I heard that it was completed with the support of the information intelligence hunters from Korean Hunter Association

└ app***: Haha; I thought Korean Hunter Association has nothing to do, but turned out our membership fees were well spent. Good, good kkkk

— Cheese Pizza: Did you all see that now? What?????

└ Double Bianco: How far???? The dungeon where I am now is out of communication, so I didn’t receive a disaster text message. There’s nothing but Hunchan ㅠ Copy and paste please

└ Cheese Fizza: No, not text;;;;;;;;

└ Double Bianco: ;;;;;;Why do you keep sweating anxiously;;;;;;;;

└ Cheese Fizza: Something strange appeared in the system

└ app***: What is this???

***

The incident happened without any warning.

The collapse of the Great Dungeon <Abyss>, the ominous gate that emitted red light.

And…..

A large-scale rift outbreak, unprecedented in the nearly 20 years since the first rift occurred.

Sure, occasionally a rift would burst open and monsters would appear, but the systems that had been in place for two decades were more than more than capable of dealing with them. The world had evidently overcome the rift and adapted to the new order.

Or so it seemed.

As if to mock such human complacency, the rifts occurred simultaneously. Each one was a high-grade rift that could not be easily dealt with.

The Dungeon Management Office and the Hunters of each guild immediately mobilised. Although there was some damage due to the simultaneous explosion of rifts in so many places, the situation seemed to be under control.

The next day, however, the rifts burst again, this time in unison.

The next day, the next day, the next day too…….

As if the world was about to end, the rifts popped open and monsters poured out. The situation was not different in other countries besides Korea.

It took less than a week for the peace to be shattered.