Unable to ignore the conversation, Yoon Seo concealed his presence and moved closer to where the voices were coming from. Two men were standing face-to-face. One was large and broad-shouldered, while the other seemed even smaller than Yoon Seo. The bigger man stood silently with a stoic expression, though his brows were slightly furrowed, while the smaller man wore a haughty look.
Yoon Seo immediately recognized the large man's face. It was the burly guy—Deep Blue—whom he had seen sitting at the one-person guild seat.
"Mother said you'd given up, but I didn't believe it. Someone who changed their name and became a mercenary to move freely wouldn't just quit after three years."
"..."
"But I don't get it. Why did you join Seokyoung? It'll restrict your movements. That'll make finding Seo Chaeyoon even harder."
Deep Blue remained silent. His younger brother sighed heavily, raising his shoulders in exasperation.
"Why didn't you tell me? We're not enemies. We're both looking for Seo Chaeyoon with the same goal in mind."
Yoon Seo organized the conversation in his head.
It seemed the two were members of a so-called guild family, which formed guilds exclusively within their bloodline. For some reason, their family was searching for Seo Chaeyoon. To aid this search, the older brother, Deep Blue, had left the guild after changing his name, only to end up merged with Seokyoung and reunited with his brother today.
'So there are still people searching for Seo Chaeyoon.'
In the early days of Seo Chaeyoon's disappearance, there had even been awakened individuals whose sole job was tracking him. While some argued for leaving him alone to live in peace, far more people were curious about his life. A wealthy individual had offered an astronomical bounty, and an organization had promised a high-ranking position to anyone who found him. Eventually, the search for Seo Chaeyoon became a symbol—a representation of humanity's relentless determination to achieve the seemingly impossible. While interest had waned in recent years, Yoon Seo hadn't expected to encounter seekers here.
'When will the world forget about Seo Chaeyoon?'
Every time this thought crossed his mind, Yoon Seo felt hollow. It was ironic to expect others to forget when he couldn't let go himself. Yet with the world still obsessed with Seo Chaeyoon, it was even harder for Yoon Seo to bury the past.
'But these brothers… they don't seem to be searching out of curiosity.'
Yoon Seo decided to listen in on the conversation a bit longer.
"Hyung."
"Kim Jinhae."
At his brother's frustrated tone, the burly man spoke in a deep voice, calling out the younger's name.
"I joined Seokyoung to find Seo Chaeyoon."
"What…? Then are you saying Seo Chaeyoon is in Seokyoung?"
"Probably."
"…Is it certain enough to tell Mother?"
The burly man silently nodded.
Yoon Seo found himself speechless. The man's assumption was incorrect, but it had now inadvertently become true… since Seo Chaeyoon was indeed part of Seokyoung now.
"All right… Thanks for telling me. You still have no intention of coming back home, right?"
"..."
"Simhae hyung, if we learn how our eldest brother fought and died there, will we feel at peace?"
The younger brother's voice was filled with sorrow, and the lack of a reply only deepened the melancholy.
Yoon Seo turned away and left the scene.
Walking aimlessly, he stopped beneath an unfamiliar tree and looked up at the sky. The massive artificial satellites launched by humanity long ago had ironically made the heavens even more beautiful. Yet even as he gazed at the sparkling white lights, Yoon Seo's spirits remained heavy.
Kim Simhae, Kim Jinhae.
Hearing their names brought back memories.
Their eldest brother, Kim Seohae.
'Will we feel at ease if we find out how our eldest brother fought and died there?'
The Revengers numbered 1,203.
Excluding Yoon Seo and the surviving Revengers, 1,199 lost their lives there, and their families were scattered everywhere.
It was a cruel reality.
***
Kim Seohae died in a cave.
The cave was a maze with numerous branching paths and a complex terrain. The Revengers had to split up into exploration teams. Yoon Seo was placed in a team of five hunters who specialized in water-element combat skills. Other teams had dozens of members and at least one healer, but Yoon Seo's team was smaller and had no healer.
In truth, Yoon Seo could have gone in alone.
The team members fought valiantly against the monsters. None of them ran away; they charged forward to attack. They were able to do this because Seo Chaeyoon was behind them, creating shields. Seo Chaeyoon's shields never broke. Filled with trust, they attacked without fear.
At that time, Yoon Seo was obsessively focused on finding the cave's boss monster for some reason. Instead of resting when they could have, he kept searching for the boss monster, and finally succeeded in drawing it out.
Yoon Seo's team of just six defeated the boss monster. Exhausted from mana depletion, Yoon Seo deactivated his shield as soon as the boss was slain. Normally cautious, the team members made a momentary mistake and touched the boss's corpse. Poisonous gas emanated from the body, and two of them were affected by it—one of them was Kim Seohae.
Kim Seohae was a B-rank hunter who used ice skills. Before entering the Great Dungeon, he and Yoon Seo had been distant, but after becoming teammates and surviving countless crises together, they had become inseparable comrades.
The other victim was Park Junsu, an A-rank hunter. He was quiet but kind and gentle, making him well-liked by everyone.
The bandages and medicines they had brought were useless, and it was too late to call for a healer to save them. Both men were already on the brink of death.
'Seo… Chaeyoon. Chaeyoon….'
'Seo Chaeyoon Hunter….'
Both of them desperately called out Yoon Seo's alias.
Yoon Seo approached the dying Revengers to hear their last words.
Starting from that time, every Revenger who was on the verge of death sought out Seo Chaeyoon. Perhaps they believed he had the highest chance of surviving this Great Dungeon.
'Seohae hyung.'
Yoon Seo held Kim Seohae's hand. His young face, looking down at the dying man, was etched with resignation. A resignation and hollowness even deeper than that of the dying man.
'Chaeyoon…. Such a young kid…. You're the same age as my younger brothers…. You're too young to be bleeding in a place like this.'
Kim Seohae was twenty-five at the time. The majority of the Revengers were in their mid-20s to late 30s, with the oldest being in their 70s. Yoon Seo, at just nineteen, was the youngest of the 1,203 Revengers, along with his friend. While his skill stats made him the de facto leader of the survivors, the age gap led others to treat him like the youngest sibling or child. Many would click their tongues at the sight of Yoon Seo and his friend, often saying things like this:
The boys younger than my son.
Those who were similar to my youngest sibling.
Yoon Seo held the purple-stained hand of Seohae.
'Seohae hyung, just hold on a little longer. Until the healers arrive….'
'I have… one last wish….'
Yoon Seo's sorrowful expression stiffened slightly. Even though Seohae must have noticed, he continued speaking.
'I… had a hobby of fishing at dawn.'
'....'
'So… kuh, Chaeyoon, when you get out of here….'
Catch ten red seabreams over 90cm during dawn fishing.
It was truly an absurd final wish. Yoon Seo had already heard several similarly absurd and baffling last requests by that time, but this one was beyond ridiculous. He didn't even know what the term "90cm" meant and was left dumbfounded, as if someone had just sprinkled pepper into his soup.
Then, beside Seohae, Park Junsu—who had also been poisoned—struggled to call Yoon Seo and speak.
'Cha, Chaeyoon…. Kgh. My hobby was hiking…. So, when you get out of here….'
Yoon Seo had a bad feeling and didn't want to hear what came next, but the surroundings were already soaked in tears, and there was no place to escape.
Climb to the summit of Baekdu, Halla, Jiri, Seorak, Geumgang, Deogyu, Gyebang, Taebaek, Odae, and Gariwang.
And so, Yoon Seo ended up fishing and hiking.
It turned out that "90cm red seabream" referred to those over 90 centimeters in length, and Yoon Seo had only succeeded in catching five so far. As for the hiking, he only had Hallasan and Garwangsan left to complete.
It was the reason Yoon Seo couldn't let himself die.
***
'Should I tell the younger brothers that their eldest brother's final words were something like that?'
From their conversation, it seemed like their mother was still curious about the eldest brother's last moments. Should he appropriately soften the story before telling them?
Wouldn't they just feel disappointed if they heard that something they had sanctified in their memories was so trivial?
After spending a busy weekend attending a merger ceremony on Saturday and fulfilling last requests on Sunday, Yoon Seo soaked his sweat-covered body in the bathtub after completing his 2,822nd run, lost in thought.
If Seohae had clearly attached the clue, "Pass it on to my family," he would have shared it without hesitation and felt relieved. However, since the final words had been directed at Seo Chaeyoon and not the family, he felt awkward about sharing them.
'When will I ever finish these assignments and feel free at last?'
On Yoon Seo's shoulders hung the weight of those last wishes… absurd, unreasonable, baffling, and sometimes downright grotesque requests….
Even this morning run was because of a last wish. Though he felt annoyed when preparing to go out, he always felt refreshed after returning. Today, however, his mind felt more burdened than usual, but most of the time, it was like that.
Despite his unresolved worries, Yoon Seo's body steadily prepared for work. Before he knew it, he was opening the car door.
"Sticky Rice, hi."
"Welcome. Initiating auto-drive to the company."
"I'm going to sleep a bit."
"I'll turn off the lights. Have a good rest, Master."
Since he had returned home late yesterday and stayed up late watching a drama, he intended to catch up on some sleep. Of course, his body could remain perfectly fine even without sleep for a few days, but his mind wasn't the same.
It took a little over 10 minutes by car to reach the company. Just as he closed his eyes to get even a little sleep, his phone vibrated. The name 'Old Gi' appeared on the screen. Yoon Seo pressed the call button and closed his eyes again.
"What is it?"
– Be a bit more polite when you answer, seriously.
"Just get to the point."
– I called to tell you that you're heading straight to Gangnam for work today, you punk.
Gangnam? Yoon Seo's eyes shot open.
There won't be any reassignments for now, and you'll keep doing what you've been doing. But, one or two members from each guild have to commute to the Seokyoung headquarters. From our guild, you and Soobin will be going.