‘What are your thoughts on mother’s failure to clear a grade 1 gate?! Please say something!!’

‘Did mother train diligently?! I want to ask about mother’s daily schedule when she was alive!!’

‘Miss ◼◼◼! Please say something!!! Currently, the prevailing opinion is that all hunters should be turned into soldiers. What do you think about this?!’

Ihyeon ran hard, dashing through the pitch-black darkness.

With every step, hands reached out from all directions to grab him. Camera lenses were everywhere he went.

If he stopped running even for a moment, the lens lights would flash. And in the air, countless comments were posted.

[Comments]

− My 5-year-old daughter died. What were the hunters doing during the grade 1 gate? Hana Kang, the top-ranked hunter in the country, was always shooting commercials, but couldn’t even close the grade 1 gate in reality. How will you compensate for my daughter’s life?

− Hunters are really nothing lol. Always appearing on TV without doing anything, and now they can’t even handle the gate while my house collapsed with my father inside… Give me back my dad.

− Why did only Hana Kang and Seongjeon come forward??? What are the other hunters doing?? They talk about the hunter market and dungeon items among themselves, neglecting rescue missions and focusing on real estate business. Why did Hana act alone there when she’s always bragging about her daughter and money on social media??

− Hey, where are those blind followers who said it’s okay for hunters to do social media, shoot ads, YouTubes, and real estates as long as they train? ㅋㅋㅋㅋ Where are they? ㅋㅋㅋㅋ

└They’re all dead too ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

− The country needs to control all hunters. Put them all in the military like China and make them into machines that only clear gates. Letting them roam free and adoring them like celebrities made them all skip training and think only about making money. In crucial moments, they only care about themselves. What do you think allows you to make money?

Ihyeon couldn’t understand this situation. Countless resentment and anger were being poured upon him.

With a click and a flash, Ihyeon fell to the ground.

‘Is he the only one whose mom died? But honestly, isn’t it cheap even if his mom dies?’

‘◼◼◼. Dad met someone new. I want to be with that person. You’re kind, so you’ll understand, right ◼◼◼?’

As he fell, people’s voices echoed beside him.

Realizing that running was the only way to escape the voices and SNS, Ihyeon started running again.

After running aimlessly for a while, his constellation helped him.

[The Constellation, Staff of Purification exercises its authority :: Guiding the Traveler]

In the dark space, his constellation guided him on the right path. He ran hard.

Where the golden thread pointed, there was a pitch-black hole.

No matter what was inside, it didn’t matter. As long as he could escape this situation, anywhere was fine.

Ihyeon leaped right into it!

[Searching for exit. Escaping from the nightmare.] [Warning :: The owner of the dream does not allow you to leave.] [The exit is reversed. Failed to enter reality.] [Entering the Deep Layers :: −30th floor.]

“Gasp…!”

The place Ihyeon opened his eyes again was a large cave.

Dim lights from candles attached to the cave walls illuminated the interior. Ihyeon found Suho collapsed beside him.

“Mr. Suho!! Mr. Suho!! Please wake up!!”

Fainted or not, he wouldn’t wake up even when shaken.

The smell of blood was strong… As he thought that, Ihyeon discovered an altar.

At the very top of the altar, a bathtub was set up in the form of an offering. The thick smell of blood was coming from there.

“What in the world is this…?”

Ihyeon slowly climbed up the altar. He had a very ominous feeling.

It felt like there was something up there that he shouldn’t see…

It felt like there was a secret that someone had desperately hidden from others.

However, he had no choice but to proceed. And Ihyeon discovered it.

“…Na, Nari…!!!”

In the bathtub was Nari, surrounded by a thick, black, viscous substance.

The substance emitted a strong smell of blood, and bubbles formed and burst as if boiling from something.

Nari was just laying there, asleep.

And the black, viscous substance was endlessly flowing from Nari’s wrists.

Whenever they entered dreams, it was always the part they checked.

“What is all this… Nari!!”

Ihyeon reached into the black substance to pull Nari out.

However, the more he did, the deeper Nari sank to the bottom of the bathtub.

As if there was no bottom inside, like sinking into a swamp, slowly like that.

Ihyeon pulled his hand out of the bathtub, panting. This was something he couldn’t solve.

“What in the world is this…”

Not knowing where this place was or what this was, he just looked around.

There was no exit. The cave, the collapsed Suho, and Nari. That was it.

Suddenly, he heard a presence behind him. Suho was getting up, stumbling.

Ihyeon ran down a few steps and said,

“Mr. Suho! Are you okay?”

[I’m fine. The situation suddenly changed, but where are we?]

Suho pressed his temple as if his head hurt and looked around. Then he made a quite startled expression.

Ihyeon also looked around and let out a deep sigh.

“I know, right? I don’t know where we are either. After the first roar, my mental power suddenly got stuck, and a camera appeared above.”

[I saw that too. But I’ve never seen a place like this before.]

Just then, his constellation displayed a translucent indirect message. Originally it was yellow, but seeing it glow translucently, it seemed like a place where even the constellation’s influence couldn’t reach well.

[The Constellation, Staff of Purification says this seems to be Nari’s deep layers.]

“Deep layers?”

[The Constellation, Staff of Purification says the deep layers are a world where a person’s unconscious is stacked in layers.] [The Constellation, Staff of Purification says it’s a world that not just anyone can enter or perceive, and looks around.]

“Then, this is Na… Rude’s unconscious?”

Here? Ihyeon looked around. There was nothing. The only thing present was a bathtub with black viscous liquid pouring out.

This is Nari’s unconscious? Ihyeon clenched his fists tightly.

[The Constellation, Staff of Purification says not to worry as the deep layers are divided into several floors.]

“Then that’s a relief. Then, how can we get out of here?”

[The Constellation, Staff of Purification advises that entering and exiting dreams requires the owner’s permission.]

Ihyeon recalled the system message saying ‘The owner of the dream does not allow you to leave’.

Then, Nari allowed them to enter here, but did not allow them to leave.

And the Nari before his eyes was asleep. She showed no signs of waking up. Ihyeon fidgeted with his fists anxiously.

The situation was clear.

They were trapped in Nari’s world.

“Um, this is Rude’s unconscious… They said we have to wait for Rude to wake up on her own.”

At the word ‘unconscious’, Suho, who was looking around, suddenly noticed the bathtub on the altar.

Ihyeon, recalling what was inside, felt shivers down his spine. A sound came from Suho’s terminal.

[Why is that bathtub here? Is this a coincidence?]

“No, wait. Wait a moment, Mr. Suho! Don’t look at that! No, wait!”

Despite Ihyeon’s words, Suho strode up the stairs.

From the middle, he started skipping two or three steps at a time with the expression of someone who had confirmed something.

Ihyeon ran after him from behind but couldn’t catch up.

Suho’s breathing became heavy. Yes, he thought something was strange.

Rude kept saying things Nari would say. So much so that seeing him made Suho miss Nari.

And that reaction when he talked about his past with Nari wasn’t just at the level of ‘unpleasant’.

He had intuitively felt something was off.

Moreover, Nari and Rude were even in the same class as Illusionists.

However, he thought it was impossible to perfectly and intricately create a person with illusions, so he just passed it off as a ‘coincidence’.

Furthermore, he had always been clumsy at predicting results since childhood, so he just buried such suspicions aside with the complacent thought that it wouldn’t be the case.

‘But.’

With half a conviction, he placed his hand on the bathtub.

This bathtub. No matter how you looked at it, it was the bathtub from Nari’s house. And he looked inside.

‘……’

With a thud, the terminal he was holding fell down.

The hand covered in wounds and calluses trembled.

Inside was Nari.

It was Nari who listened to his story, grieved for him, stepped up to help him, and even scolded him for refusing, pushing the work forward.

Tears welled up in his eyes and soon, the sound of sobbing echoed.

The sound of trying to hold back the crying from becoming more intense continued. Suho was just crying endlessly.

“Mr. Suho…”

Ihyeon called out to Suho in a small voice from behind.

Suho reached out his hand towards the bathtub and caressed Nari’s cheek.

No, he tried to touch her. But as soon as Suho’s hand made contact, Nari sank straight to the bottom of the bathtub.

[This is the timeline separator]

“Oh my, Nari… I warned you not to do this.”

The Lord of Chaos clicked his tongue as he watched the situation on the monitor.

It seemed his little sister had finally burst after holding it in. Perhaps he shouldn’t have given her so much authority from the beginning.

“Well… It can’t be helped. Let’s get up.”

At this rate, Nari was in danger. The current Nari couldn’t escape the deep layers alone.

Grunting, the Lord of Chaos condensed the squirming mass of tentacles that was his body. The neat form of a black-haired man stood up straight.

“I’ll be back, Father. You have to behave while I’m gone.”

He looked up. His father was still asleep.

Hoping his father wouldn’t cause trouble again in his absence, the Lord of Chaos gathered foam to create Rude’s form.

The Lord of Chaos tapped the bubbling foam that seemed displeased, pushing it inside, and chuckled.

“Dull father, calm down. Our youngest is doing a good job. Your dream will meet the best ending. So just keep dreaming.”

The Lord of Chaos, grinning from ear to ear, opened a warp portal.

It was a crack in dimensions that originally required a tremendous price to open.

“Now then… I’ll go wake you up, Nari. Well, if your male lead candidates interfere, I’ll just take care of them inside while I’m at it.”

The Lord of Chaos entered the dimensional rift. It was his daily trip to Nari’s deep layers.