Yoon Seo wandered through the cave for what felt like more than ten days but eventually returned to the base camp empty-handed, unable to find even a single boss monster. By then, the atmosphere at the base camp wasn't just grim and stagnant—it was utterly despairing.
"Cha… Chaeyoon."
"Hunter Seo Chaeyoon…."
The hunters who had been in the same team as Lee Domin saw Yoon Seo and looked at him with terrified expressions. Yoon Seo quickly scanned their appearances. There were many missing faces. Lee Domin was nowhere to be seen either. Yoon Seo stood frozen in place, gripped by a foreboding sense of dread.
Lee Kangjin, who had been in the same team as Lee Domin, approached the stiffened Yoon Seo.
"Chaeyoon, I'm sorry… I'm so sorry."
"…What are you sorry for?"
"I'm sorry…."
"What? What exactly are you sorry for?"
Lee Kangjin could only repeat his apologies.
Yoon Seo couldn't accept it. He frantically roamed the small base camp, shouting his friend's name like a madman. "Lee Domin, where are you? Don't joke around. Come out now. Come out this instant. I know you're alive. Just come out already…."
Not noticing his fingernails tearing off, Yoon Seo dug into the dirt furiously until Lee Kangjin embraced him tightly.
"Stop it. Chaeyoon, stop it. Domin is already dead."
Yoon Seo choked back the tears welling up in Lee Kangjin's arms.
He couldn't believe it. Lee Domin was dead.
His one and only precious friend had left behind the words "Sorry for being the wrong friend" and didn't come back.
Not knowing it would be the last time, Yoon Seo had spoken to him curtly. He should have been kinder and warmer to someone so emotionally unstable.
No matter how much he regretted it, it was useless. Lee Domin was dead.
"I'm sorry, Chaeyoon. I'm so sorry."
"We couldn't protect your friend. I'm sorry."
"Domin's noble sacrifice will always be remembered…."
Those who had gone out with him tried to console Yoon Seo. They were trying to comfort the youngest among them, afraid he'd be hurt.
Yoon Seo wanted to cry out in anguish. His anger wasn't directed at them but at the Gaia System—and the world.
A noble sacrifice?
Was this the price for not turning away from justice?
As a strong individual, he had taken responsibility, died before the many others, and that was wrapped up as a "noble sacrifice."
Yoon Seo made a decision at that moment.
'If this is what justice is, then I will no longer live righteously.'
But he suppressed his sorrow and anger over and over again.
Lee Domin wasn't the only one from his team who died. There were others who were gravely injured and still dying at that moment. Revengers who joined with family and lovers had lost their partners. Even they were suppressing their grief to fight for the world.
For now, Yoon Seo had to hold onto this faint sense of justice—at least until they made it out of the Great Dungeon.
"This is not the time for this."
Breaking free from Lee Kangjin's embrace, Yoon Seo spoke with tear-reddened eyes, trying to hold back his emotions.
"Lee Domin is dead, which means time will start flowing again. There isn't much time left until the explosion, and we haven't killed a single boss monster in this terrain. This isn't the time for mourning. Let's save it for later."
Now wasn't the time to grieve over his friend's death.
His friend had risked his life to come here for the sake of protecting Earth, and Yoon Seo had to fulfill that wish in his place.
And once he left the Great Dungeon, he would abandon both his life and his sense of justice.
"..."
Lee Kangjin kept his lips tightly sealed, scrutinizing Yoon Seo's face as if to gauge whether he was truly okay. Yoon Seo knew that his trembling gaze must have looked pitiful to Lee Kangjin. He also knew his voice must have been hopelessly shaky.
But whether he was unstable or not, whether he was okay or not, it was true that this wasn't the time for sadness. Every Revenger was fighting hard in an unsteady state. And with the disappearance of
At that moment, Lee Kangjin, who had been quietly observing Yoon Seo's expression, slowly opened his mouth.
"Time won't start flowing again. From now on, I'll use
"What?"
"
Yoon Seo's eyes widened.
"A Gaia skill? Hyung, are you also one of the 'Chosen One'?"
At Yoon Seo's use of "also," Lee Kangjin looked equally surprised.
"You… have a Gaia skill too?"
Yoon Seo nodded and explained his skill.
Back then, since the Gaia System wasn't fully established, using
Only then did the two share their Gaia skills with each other and confirm that the messages they received when becoming 'Chosen One' were identical.
Lee Kangjin had refrained from mentioning his skill's ability to replicate others' skills, thinking it might make people unnecessarily wary. However, before Lee Domin died, he had asked for permission to use it. Lee Domin, ever the 'noble hero,' had willingly granted his approval.
"Domin also had a Gaia skill. It was called
"What kind of skill was it?"
"I don't know. No matter how many times we used it, nothing happened. We said we'd figure it out through practice later, but…."
Yoon Seo couldn't finish his sentence. Lee Kangjin patted his shoulder, as if to show he understood.
The two of them then told others about their Gaia skills and managed to find two more skill users. They were none other than the remaining two members of the leadership group. One possessed
Including the late Lee Domin, this meant all five members of the leadership group were 'Chosen One.'
***
"He was too noble… someone who didn't belong in this world."
Even after Lee Domin's death, the campaign continued, and time went on. The Revengers, including Lee Kangjin, often spoke of Lee Domin that way. Especially those who had been on the same team as him, by the end of the Great Dungeon campaign, they practically deified him. Every time Yoon Seo heard them praising his friend, he felt a surge of anger and a lump in his throat, often shouting in frustration.
"Was he the only noble one? Everyone sacrificed themselves nobly, so stop putting him on a pedestal!"
"Chaeyoon, let's make sure to spread Domin's greatness once we leave this dungeon. Let's write a biography. Something like The Great Legend of Lee Domin."
"Do whatever you want."
"'Do whatever you want'? That's so cold. You, as his closest friend, should be the head of the publishing house."
"I'm not doing that kind of thing."
"..."
The day Yoon Seo learned his friend had died, he decided he would take his own life after leaving the dungeon. His comrades quickly noticed this, but Yoon Seo didn't care whether they did or not. At the time, it wasn't uncommon for Revengers to take their own lives overnight, and there were also those who, like Yoon Seo, wrote wills stating they'd end their lives once the mission was over.
However, it seemed his comrades greatly disliked the idea of the youngest member planning his own death.
What followed was an absurd chain of will bombs….
The maze area's boss monsters were discovered shortly after Lee Domin's death. A tentacle monster that spread poison, a formless mist monster, and a doppelgänger monster that mimicked its opponent's appearance. The tentacle monster was brutally slaughtered by Yoon Seo and Riceball. The mist monster and doppelgänger were more challenging to handle. Even as Yoon Seo deployed shields until he was out of mana and passed out, many Revengers died.
By the time all three boss monsters in the third area were killed, only 303 survivors remained, including Yoon Seo, who had received a total of 220 last requests.
"Fishing for red sea bream? Does that even make sense? I've never gone fishing in my life."
"What can we do… They specifically chose you to fulfill their last request…."
"Why me, of all people? There are so many others here. Why does it always have to be me?"
"Everyone just adores the youngest. Don't get too angry."
Lee Kangjin would pat Yoon Seo's trembling shoulders and offer such completely unhelpful comments.
With their numbers now reduced to a quarter of the original group, they finally reached the last area of the Great Dungeon.
The final area was a temple, and without using
Lee Domin had a lot of mana, allowing him to sustain
"Chaeyoon, you… you two must have always suffered from this kind of exhaustion."
Lee Kangjin, struggling with mana exhaustion, would bitterly say this to Yoon Seo. Although it wasn't his first time experiencing mana exhaustion, it wasn't something he often dealt with, so seeing the two younger ones endure it so often seemed to pain him.
By that point, Yoon Seo was filled with only one thought: finishing the mission quickly and following his friend. He massacred monsters without rest, using offensive skills more than shield skills.
His bound weapon item also seemed to love the blood of monsters so much that from a distance, watching him and his sword tear through monsters looked like witnessing a crazed hunter wielding a cursed blade.
"This place isn't good for kids… I know it's a bit late to say this, but this is no place for a child…."
Lee Kangjin, gasping for breath like a dying fish, would mutter such words while looking at the blood-soaked Yoon Seo. Other Revengers would voice their agreement. Even though the time frozen by
The temple area, though not as maze-like, was vast and filled with traps. Stepping in the wrong place could trigger sharp spears to fly out, or pressing the wrong tile might send large, heavy iron balls rolling their way. It was the kind of dungeon style often seen in games or movies.
The towering temple pillars were carved with unidentifiable myths or symbols. The ceiling occasionally crumbled, dropping stone debris. Moss-covered altars and statues infested with bugs lined the area. Behind one of the altars was a staircase leading underground. The darkness below was so deep it seemed like a place no one would want to enter, but the Revengers didn't hesitate as they headed toward it.