[ Greetings (2) ]
The sight of that wobbling head speaking was downright bizarre. I’d seen undead in dungeons before, but never one that actually talked.
“Is that… a zombie? The kind that infects you if it bites you?”
“Just stay back, hyung. We don’t know what that thing is.”
Yuhyun stepped forward, positioning himself in front of me. The zombie, or whatever it was, opened its mouth to speak again.
“What a mess, everyone. Just a moment.”
Then, Yun Kyungsu’s form began to shift.
“Oh my god, it’s the limited edition Bunny-Bunny Bear!”
“…Hyung?”
Yerim exclaimed in excitement, while Yuhyun mumbled in bewilderment. I was speechless, unable to process what was happening.
In the distance, beyond the rubble of collapsed buildings, Yuhyun stood. But it was an older version of him—sharper, taller, more mature. My hand instinctively reached out and grabbed the arm of the Yuhyun standing next to me. My twenty-five-year-old brother smiled gently.
Whoever was behind this had a twisted sense of humor. Or maybe it was just me. It seemed like each of us was seeing something different.
“Hyung, are you okay?”
Yuhyun asked worriedly, but I couldn’t tear my gaze away. He stepped closer, about ten paces away now.
That’s a fake. If anyone knows, it’s me. There’s no way I wouldn’t recognize it.
“…Should I… take care of it?”
Yuhyun—no, the thing impersonating him—spoke, deliberately avoiding looking at itself.
“…No.”
Even though it wasn’t real, how could I bear to… Dammit. I didn’t know what this “Bunny Bear” was, but it didn’t seem like a person, so maybe I could ask Yerim to handle it… No, I might as well do it myself…
“Is this appearance… difficult to converse with?”
It spoke again, with a voice exactly like his. Yerim squealed beside me, “So cute! It’s like pow-pow adorable!”
“If you know it’s a problem, change it right now.”
I grit my teeth. Honestly, I’d prefer the wobbly-headed Yun Kyungsu to this. The damn thing just laughed softly.
“As you might guess, this isn’t the form I wanted. It’s what you wanted to see.”
“…Don’t smile with that face.”
I was reaching my limit, but thankfully, it changed form. It shrank, becoming much smaller. But despite the size change, the target it was mimicking hadn’t shifted. It was still Yuhyun. Now it was driving me crazy for a whole different reason.
“Oh god, this is insane…”
It was adorable. My little brother, around six or seven years old, smiled sweetly. His hair was soft like a puppy’s, his cheeks plump and rosy. Small hands, tiny fingers, even his little feet… If he were like this, I could actually pick him up and hold him. Tiny little Yuhyun…
“Y-Yuhyun. Grab me, quick.”
“What?”
“I feel like I’m gonna bolt. Wow, seriously, this is…”
I wanted to ruffle his hair. I wanted to hold him. I wanted to pinch his cheeks. Even though I knew it was just a corpse, I wanted to run up and hug him right then and there. How could something be so precious and cute?
“Mister, what are you staring at?”
“…Little Yuhyun.”
“Gasp! I want to see! I want to see little you, too, Mister! Bunny-Bunny Bear, transform! Aw, it didn’t work. Then dance!”
Yerim waved her hands, then pulled out her phone. Just in case, I tried to take a picture, but only the zombie showed up. Damn it. Video didn’t work either. Damn.
“Yuhyun…”
“Hyung, I’m right here.”
Hearing Yuhyun’s slightly annoyed voice, I turned around. After looking at a six-year-old, seeing my twenty-year-old brother felt surreal. He used to be so small… when did he grow this much?
“Our Yuhyun has grown so much.”
“Mister, get a hold of yourself. You’re totally zoned out right now.”
“But he’s cute.”
Just once, couldn’t I… just ruffle his hair once? Of course not. I didn’t even know what that thing was. I needed to snap out of it.
“Is this form difficult to talk to, too, Hyung?”
“Yuhyun!”
“Hyung!”
“Mister!”
Yuhyun and Yerim grabbed me at the same time. Damn, I had to calm down. But I couldn’t calm down. Maybe I should close my eyes. But I didn’t even have any photos left from back then, and this one was moving, blinking, even talking.
My heart hurt. It was so adorable. Look at those tiny shoes. I wanted to buy him something delicious. It wasn’t real, I knew that, but… damn, it’s no different from a photo or a video not being the real thing. Is there anything to feed it?
“This isn’t working. Hyung, I think I’ll just stick to the original appearance for this conversation.”
“What? Wait!”
Little Yuhyun disappeared, replaced by the stiff, jerky corpse of Yun Kyungsu. My little brother…
“Let me reintroduce myself, everyone. I am a kind of successor to that Lizard’s Master.”
The corpse spoke. Yuhyun frowned, and Yerim tilted her head in confusion.
“It’s making some kind of pow-pow sound, but I have no idea what it’s saying.”
So Yerim couldn’t understand it. It seemed like only people familiar with the Filial Duty Addicts could hear its words.
“Took you long enough. Guess there wasn’t much of a handover to go through.”
“Not much to hand over since it died, after all. I was able to drop by because the contract remains intact with a human. Could someone tell me who exactly managed to kill the Lizard?”
“Why should I?”
“Figures. You probably don’t know much about me either… It’s not in my nature to act rashly. So, how about we play a little game?”
I was glad Diarma hadn’t shared too much information. Especially anything from before the regression, or about me. It was a relief.
It seemed, however, that the previous contracts had transferred to this zombie. I’d have to deal with Choi Seokwon too—either eliminate him or make him do it himself. I wondered if there were others under contract.
“What kind of game?”
“I haven’t decided yet. First, I’ll have to take a closer look at things here.”
“I don’t see any reason we should accept this ‘game.’”
The zombie shrugged.
“Or do you want to keep getting in my way? I’m not one to hold back. But with that Lizard’s Master dead and not knowing what’s going on, I’m not fully prepared. That doesn’t mean I can do nothing, though.”
Yun Kyungsu’s head let out a deep sigh, wobbling so much it was a wonder it didn’t fall off. It was grotesque.
“I’m not here to work myself to death, so let’s just play a quick, safe game. One round—rock-paper-scissors, maze running, a duel, whatever. Then I’ll consider my business done and leave, and you all can go back to stopping the dungeon. How’s that sound?”
The zombie pointed at my chest.
“Diarma’s successor.”
“That’s a creepy thing to say.”
I glanced over at Yuhyun, but he didn’t seem to react. It looked like, just like Yerim, he couldn’t hear what I was hearing.
“That Lizard’s Master was a bit of a fool. But his abilities were decent. Combining Venom and Curse Dragonkin was a skill he had. I don’t know how he picked it up, but he managed.”
From the way it spoke, it seemed that this zombie was above Diarma in the hierarchy. Though it could be bluffing or trying to talk down due to some rivalry between them, it was always better to overestimate an enemy than underestimate them.
‘It definitely has some kind of illusion or mental skill.’
The Lizard used a similar skill to lure me in, after all. These Filial Duty Addicts seem to rely on a lot of mental-type skills. I’d better ask Myungwoo to craft me some resistance items. Too bad I can’t wring any out of those ungrateful bastards.
“I’m busy enough dealing with the dungeon, so I won’t waste time, but I’ll wait to answer until I hear the game’s rules.”
“Fine, that works. And pass the message along to your fellow unfilial ones. You’re in touch, right?”
After a moment’s hesitation, I nodded. With Diarma’s powers, denying it would have been too obvious a lie.
“Of course. For you, though… You’ve got a perfectly suitable specimen right beside you. Great potential, a spirit under his command. I like him. Why don’t we wager him in our game?”
“Quit talking nonsense and get lost if you’re done.”
Why do these bastards always target my brother? The zombie smirked and suddenly collapsed. At the same moment, Yuhyun and Yerim turned to look at me.
“I just heard the pow-pow noises. But it looked like you were talking, Mister. What did it say? Are we about to get a zombie outbreak?”
“No. At least… I don’t think so? Probably not.”
I couldn’t be certain. A dungeon gate had appeared, after all. Zombies might not be so far-fetched.
“What did you hear, Yuhyun?”
“Just that it was the successor and something about escaping its contracts. It asked if I wanted to make a new contract, which I declined. What about you, hyung?”
“I…”
Yerim looked at me with bright, curious eyes, and I trailed off. I’d have to tell her eventually, but the Mermaid Queen had warned that the more people know, the more influence it holds. I should check with them on sharing information.
“We’ll talk once we get back—”
“Wait!”
The corpse suddenly sprang up. In its rough movement, the head finally dislodged and rolled across the ground. But the voice continued.
“I almost forgot to leave you a little gift. Considering the value of this body’s owner, you should be able to get something quite nice. Good luck.”
And with that, Yun Kyungsu’s body melted away. Above the remains, a gate appeared—a dungeon gate on the verge of overload. Yuhyun started to move towards it, but I quickly grabbed him back.
“Hey! Who knows what’s inside!”
“I’ll just pop out if it looks dangerous. I have the gate stone.”
“Then let me go instead! I have the item Myungwoo gave me.”
“Hunter Park Yerim, please take care of hyung.”
My stubborn brother ignored me, prying me off and handing me over to Yerim, who grabbed my shoulders.
“Even with a damage-nullifying item, you’d just get dragged in. See? You’re stuck right here.”
…Fine. Yuhyun reached out to touch the gate, but it was like he hit a solid wall.
“It looks like an overloaded gate, but it feels inactive.”
“Almost like it’s sealed off. Is someone inside?”
Doubtful. Either way, we couldn’t get in.
“Let’s back off and prepare for a dungeon break.”
They both nodded. I pulled out my phone to update Chief Song Taewon, stepping back—
Rumble!
The gate shook. Then, water gushed out from inside.
Yuhyun grabbed me, leaping into the air. Yerim quickly activated her flight skill. With a loud roar, the water kept pouring out, quickly flooding and swallowing the containment building. Where the gate had been, a whirlpool formed, churning up the ground.
In no time, a small lake had formed. Right in the center, like an eerie eye, the gate floated. Was it even a dungeon gate? The gate drifted for a moment before sinking below the surface.
We escaped the chaos, moving to the edge of the lake.
“What on earth happened here?”
Kang Soyeong, standing at the edge of the water just out of reach, asked us. Some people near the barricades had been swept away, but thankfully, it was ordinary water, and they were swimming back without much trouble.
“I’d love to explain, but I don’t know myself.”
There didn’t seem to be any monsters, just an endless flood of water pouring out. In all my time, I’d never seen a dungeon break like this. Usually, only monsters came out.
Chief Song Taewon arrived and asked for a report, but I had little to offer. None of us knew how to handle a lake that kept expanding. Just then, Kang Soyeong spoke up.
“Doesn’t it look like the lake is growing? It’s definitely bigger than before.”
She was right. The lake was slowly but surely spreading. At this rate, there was no telling how far the water would reach.
“…Honestly, it would have been easier if it just spit out monsters.”
Chief Song’s expression hardened. Everyone else looked equally grim. Just then, Yerim raised her hand enthusiastically.
“Since water’s come out, maybe we can go through the gate now? I’ll check it out! I’ve got the Mermaid Queen’s earrings with the underwater movement buff.”
No, Yerim, you can’t go on your own.
–TL Notes–
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