"What?"
Seo Woojin drew his sword and cautiously surveyed his surroundings.
It seemed like he had entered with others, but…
"Is this some kind of magical phenomenon too?"
Just like when he wandered outside the ruins, it seemed like something similar was happening again.
A bit of worry started to creep in.
Knights aside, his teammates still had many inexperienced aspects.
Still, Lee Ji-ah, Yu Hong-seol, and Jin Tae-seong were somewhat better.
Because they were combat-oriented professions.
But not Kim Da-hye and Kang Byeong-gyu.
If they were to encounter monsters here that they couldn't handle, they could be in trouble.
"For now, finding the other team members should be a priority."
He had to find a solution from now on.
He didn't have skills like Kang Byeong-gyu.
But if he roamed around, wouldn't he eventually come across them?
Seo Woojin decided to move forward for now.
The long corridor made of old bricks was so long that the end couldn't be seen.
Torches hung here and there, making it not dark, but the atmosphere was gloomy due to the unique aura of the dungeon.
Thud, thud, thud.
The only sound was his own footsteps.
How long had he been walking like this?
Seo Woojin suddenly looked back at the path he had walked.
"…It's gone?"
There was no path.
All he could see was darkness.
It wasn't just that the torches had gone out, making it dark.
It was truly a space of nothingness where everything disappeared and nothing existed.
Turning his head, he took a step forward.
Then, the place he had just stepped on disappeared.
As if it had never existed.
Seo Woojin swallowed dry saliva.
Fighting was familiar.
He had fought countless monsters and even learned swordsmanship from knights like Van Slaine.
But he was a novice to this kind of magic or mysterious phenomenon.
Honestly, it was a bit frightening.
Thud, thud, thud!
Seo Woojin quickened his pace.
He was afraid that the space of nothingness might swallow him up.
The pace of footsteps gradually increased, eventually reaching a speed resembling a sprint.
Fortunately, the path disappeared in sync with his movements.
Not too slow, not too fast.
Precisely matching Seo Woojin's steps.
"Damn, it would be better if a monster appeared."
Realizing this, Seo Woojin breathed a sigh of relief and grumbled.
At least he could 'kill' the monsters.
Then it happened.
"Aaah!"
A scream from a woman echoed from the front.
It seemed like one of his teammates, but it was a voice he hadn't heard before.
Nevertheless, knowing that someone was around, Seo Woojin started running towards the front.
"Hey, go away!"
The screams were getting closer rapidly.
Perhaps the woman was also running towards him.
Seo Woojin increased his speed a bit more.
Soon, the figure of a woman running towards him while screaming came into view.
And behind her, the figure of a monster.
Black skin, black hair, and even black wings.
Rather than a monster, it looked more like a devil.
The two horns on its forehead made it even more so.
But Seo Woojin didn't hesitate.
Dealing with such a creature was easier than dealing with strange phenomena he couldn't understand.
"Kneel!"
After shouting at the woman, Seo Woojin swung his sword.
"Ah, what? Aaah!"
Fortunately, the woman understood Seo Woojin's words.
Although her scream was a bit annoying, she almost fell forward as he had instructed.
Swaack!
Along with a few strands of long hair, a deep cut was engraved on the chest of the devil-like creature.
A pretty deep wound.
But Seo Woojin's expression wasn't good.
No, it became even more serious.
'I don't feel anything.'
As if he had swung through empty air, there was no sensation in his hands.
"S-you have to use a skill! Normal attacks don't work!"
Upon hearing that, Seo Woojin immediately activated a skill.
"Black Flame."
Unlike 'Aura' from the sword, black flames began to burn.
The black sword, engulfed in black flames, once again cut through the creature's body.
And this time it worked.
Keye-e-e-ak-!
With a sizzling sound, the skin caught fire.
That was the end of it.
The monster in the form of a devil, befitting its terrifying appearance, turned into ashes with a single blow.
Seo Woojin grinned as he lowered his sword.
Something felt a bit strange.
But there was no time to dwell on it.
The woman who had been saved by Seo Woo Jin sat down, bowed, and expressed her gratitude.
"Th-thank you."
'Huh?'
Only now could her face be seen.
Certainly…
"Elite friends?"
"Yes?"
"…No."
The woman was one of the five elite friends.
Not that arrogant 'Saint.'
"Was she a Dragon Tamer?"
The large glasses that took up half of her face made her look even more innocent.
'But, there's no dragon.'
Although he only saw her a few times, there was always a dragon sitting on her shoulder.
It was just a little larger than a palm, but a dragon is a dragon.
It was undoubtedly much stronger than a sub-dragon species Draconis.
"Um…"
As Seo Woojin stood still and stared, Lim Taeeun's face turned bright red.
"Oh, sorry. I was lost in thought."
"I'm not saying anything."
Fingers fidgeted.
"Where are the others?"
It seemed like her face would explode if he stayed still, so Seo Woo Jin changed the subject.
"Oh, about that. As soon as we came in, everyone disappeared. My 'Dragon Horn' is gone too…"
Did she name the dragon 'Dragon Horn'?
It was a catastrophic sense of naming, quite different from the cute and innocent face.
"I'm the same. How long has it been here?"
Considering the time he spent wandering outside, it would have been about two or three hours.
However, looking at Lim Tae-eun's appearance, she was so dirty that it would not be strange to say that more than a week had passed.
"About ten days, I think?"
At her words, Seo Woojin's face stiffened.
"Are you sure?"
"Yes, yes. I'm not sure of the exact time, but at least subjectively, it feels like that much time has passed."
If that's the case, it meant that this ruin was experiencing anomalies not only in space but also in time.
Seo Woojin looked back at the path he had walked once again.
"…There it is."
The path existed.
As if asking when it had disappeared, a long corridor stretched out before his eyes.
However, there was something different.
Unlike the ordinary brick structure that had made up the corridor until now, a red mass of flesh was forming the corridor.
It was a repulsive sight just to look at.
"The path continues to change here. It changes like that, and a crossroads appears.."
It wasn't just a simple maze.
Since he had never heard or seen such a phenomenon, Seo Woojin wore a serious expression.
If one couldn't understand the phenomenon, they couldn't solve it either.
After letting out a sigh for a moment, Seo Woojin decided to move forward again.
Since he had also encountered Lim Taeeun like this, he thought that he might meet other people if he continued like this.
"All right. For now, let's keep moving in that direction…."
Seo Woo-jin, who was trying to help Lim Taeeun who was still sitting down, closed his mouth.
"Gone?"
Just a moment ago, Lim Taeeun, who was right in front of him, disappeared.
Not only that, but the pile of ashes left by the monster's death also disappeared.
He was alone again.
"What is this now?"
The path had changed again unnoticed.
This time, it was a space made of smooth white marble.
Seo Woojin couldn't move from his spot and got lost in thought.
For quite a while.
* * *
Kim Da-hye had always been a peculiar child from a young age.
She always had a vacant expression, and it was impossible to grasp what she was thinking.
'A strange child.'
'A somehow lacking girl.'
Ever since Kim Da-hye became aware of the world, these words stuck to her like a label.
Thanks to that, she couldn't have a proper conversation with anyone, including her family.
But Kim Da-hye was okay with that.
Becasue, she couldn't feel emotions like loneliness or solitude.
No, she had no interest in everything in the world.
Just going with the flow.
If someone said to go, she went; if someone said to stop, she stopped.
Kim Da-hye lived a life like that.
The only thing that intrigued Kim Da-hye was drawing.
Transferring the world seen with different eyes onto the pages of a sketchbook was an interesting task, even for someone like her, devoid of emotional fluctuations.
Why was that?
When she was summoned to this world and was given the job aptitude for 'Alchemy', she didn't feel bad.
Although it was only a C-grade, it didn't hold much meaning for her from the beginning.
She was satisfied just being able to draw whatever she pleased.
Then she met other people.
It was thanks to the excessively talkative Lee Ji-ah.
Lee Ji-ah approached Kim Da-hye as if they had known each other for a long time.
After that, she introduced people here and there, guiding Kim Da-hye with the hand led by Lee Ji-ah.
But it felt like most people avoided her.
Her personality was so peculiar, almost to the point of being strange, so it wasn't hard to understand why.
Kim Da-hye just accepted it.
She didn't hope for them to understand, and she didn't want to become close friends.
…But recently, things have changed a bit.
'It's fun.'
Drawing was fun, summoning it was fun too.
Hunting monsters, leveling up, and the sense of accomplishment in its own way.
But the most enjoyable thing was being among people who treated her casually.
Training with Seo Woojin, contemplating skills, and making efforts to become stronger even a bit.
It was an experience Kim Da-hye had never had before.
And it was still the same now.
As she entered the ruins, she became alone.
But Kim Da-hye wasn't afraid or flustered.
Instead, this mysterious place felt interesting to her.
"Summon."
She summoned the K-2 rifle that had been 'saved' in her sketchbook.
The custom pink rifle, tailored to Lee Ji-ah's taste, even had a pink ribbon attached.
Kim Da-hye, looking down at the gun in her hand for a moment, began to move.
She doesn't know where this is, and she doesn't know where she should go.
But she felt the need to find other people.
It was when she was walking down a dark corridor.
"Huh? Who are you…?"
Someone suddenly appeared in front of me.
A face so beautiful that it was dazzling.
A pure white priest's robe without a speck of dust.
And an arrogant gaze that seemed to look down on anyone.
It was 'Saint' Seong Yura.
"Hey, who are you?"
As soon as she saw Kim Da-hye, she frowned and shot a sharp look.
"You guys said you weren't coming in? Did you secretly follow us in?"
But Kim Da-hye showed no change in expression.
"What are you talking about? No, forget it. What can I say to someone like you…"
"Monster."
"…What?"
Interrupting the dismissive words, Kim Da-hye raised a gun and pointed ahead.
"A Monster appears."
At the same time, Kim Da-hye's K-2 spewed fire.