-Are you unable to answer? Or do you not even know why you came here?

Although it’s clearly a skull without expression, I feel like it’s smiling.

-Well, it doesn’t matter. I’ll just deal with uninvited guests in my own way.

Riche raised his finger. The crude ring fitted on the bone emitted a red light.

The aura of death and darkness spread everywhere. This terrible sensation like leeches crawling on the skin.

…Could it be!

[Nightmare]

: Do you think where you are is reality? Do you feel that what you see before your eyes is the truth and what you hear has substance?

Where is your nightmare?

It repeats the dream of the most terrible moment.

My mind grew hazy. Beyond that, I saw the sixth candle being lit.

[This is the timeline separator]

I had a dream. Was that place without sorrow or worry called paradise? Those children who fell into eternal sleep without achieving anything, remaining pure – those excessively pure children were lovely.

And so very pitiful.

-We are the purest beings

-Preserved in purity, we sing of the joys unfulfilled in life.

Those screams, that sadness, that death were so sorrowful.

When I reached out my hand, did ‘I’ smile and take it?

‘Lend me your strength?’

I answered it, to ‘myself’, and recalled what I had forgotten.

[This is the timeline separator]

The 7th candle was lit. Now that the sentence of nightmare and death had been passed, the uninvited guests who invaded the dungeon were as good as dealt with.

Although handling the power of light was irritating, it wasn’t unusable when held, so it was quite a useful card to obtain.

Thus, the Lich, master of the dungeon, smiled with satisfaction.

He would reign eternally in the underground abyss.

“Do you really think you can do that?”

For a moment, a voice like mockery brushed past him.

And simultaneously.

[Skill Use – Manifestation (S)]

: Draws upon the dormant power of the true self to descend upon this land.

The most unpleasant vitality to him radiated light, engulfing everything around in light.

-…!

[Attribute: Winter]

The heir of the Fairy King, who had finally drawn out the power of her true self – a girl with snow-white hair and cold eyes – looked at him.

♪-.

A single note of song ended the death that had led to nightmare.

“The essence of death and life lies in the cycle.”

Was it life or death that the sword in the girl’s hand gave?

“It’s time to reach rest now, dead one beneath the earth.”

A strong light swirled.

[This is the timeline separator]

It’s a story many would laugh at if they heard, but for Yi Hyun, the most terrible nightmare was the moment he killed his father.

Although it was an act carried out entirely by his own will, it was also a moment that remained horrifying no matter how many times he dreamed it again. Knowing it was the right thing to do, yet agonizing over what he had done, writhing, and pondering once more if this truly was the right thing to do.

The one thing that he, who had calmly endured even the reproachful gazes of his brother and sister, truly couldn’t bear was just one thing.

‘You, do you think you were right…!’

A deed that was right yet not right. An action of taking on sin to do good. The act of facing one’s own guilt squarely.

It was this crude.

His emotion was a crude condolence that couldn’t even be atonement. Nevertheless, it was a kind of self-reproach, despair, and sorrow.

In the repetition of that painful nightmare, a faint song was heard.

-How dare you, a mere half-breed, challenge me!

Beyond the blurry vision, there was a girl resembling the cold winter.

The Lich threw away his staff and took up a sword. The girl also raised her sword, and in the swirling gale was mixed the scent of winter.

There were magic attacks bursting out here and there, but the girl avoided all attacks and faced the Lich.

‘Who on earth is she…?’

He thought desperately in his drowsy consciousness, having just woken from the nightmare.

Not even thinking that the girl single-handedly confronting the Lich could be Jeok Cheon’s sister, who until just now had been making the situation difficult by not even knowing the target of her skills well.

“…Ah.”

He blankly watched that scene.

Are winter and death alike, or not? Could there be beings so similar yet so different? Yi Hyun, who had been blankly watching the fight where frost winds scattered, recalled something he had forgotten.

“Oh no!”

He was in no position to be observing someone else’s fight.

While the girl was confronting the Lich, he gathered his strength and struck a blow at the Lich’s main body.

The pure white power burst out as light.

The space shook. The Lich’s movements stopped.

But.

-You’d better not think you can die peacefully now.

A red light entered the Lich’s eyes that had gone out. Yi Hyun exclaimed in astonishment.

“No way, wasn’t that the main body? Why is it moving?”

The white girl answered.

“It’s not just the throne. He split his soul and sealed it in various places. That ring for now, and then that largest candlestick over there.”

It was the voice he had been hearing until just now. Cheon Shin Woo’s younger sister? Before Yi Hyun could speak, darkness erupted.

“White Breath.”

The surging darkness froze. The white girl, Yohwa, shouted again.

“Now!”

“I don’t know what’s what, but if an opportunity comes, I should gratefully use it!”

His leaping body accelerated and rushed towards the Lich. The frozen Lich’s eyes glowed red.

-You mere mortal-!

As black energy burst from his sword along with the enraged voice.

“Haha, I knew it!”

Yi Hyun, who had narrowly avoided the strike, smashed the sword with his fist.

“Kid!”

“Yes, yes. I know!”

Baek Yi Hyun, who had also woken up after being subjected to the nightmare, moved freely and swung his greatsword to break the candlestick.

-How dare you, how dare you…!

The Lich grabbed Yi Hyun’s right arm in anger again.

“You stupid skeleton bastard.”

With one arm caught, the man called White Night smiled.

“I’m left-handed!”

The dagger in his hand, which had appeared at some point, traced an arc. The ring that had been emitting black energy was cleanly split in two.

-This, can’t, be…!

At the same time, the sword stuck in the ground radiated light, and the energy of light spread in all directions.

-How dare humans, humans dare to…!

That was the Lich’s final death cry.

“…Ah.”

The long, long battle signaled its end.

“Ha, haha. Hey. This worked? This actually worked? Did I really catch it?”

Yi Hyun exclaimed in an excited voice at the elation of victory. The Lich with its light extinguished was now just a skeleton. He kicked the skull, rolling it, and laughed out loud for a while, drunk on the joy of victory.

“…Guild Master.”

And the ceiling began to collapse.

“Huh? Huh? What’s this, what’s going on. Wait a minute, this! Hey, you! You skull bastard! What have you done!”

From the beginning, this place was an abnormal space created by the Lich’s power.

It was natural for it to collapse once its master was gone. Although he knew this fact, the surprised Yi Hyun failed to judge the situation properly.

“Kids! Do you have escape stones!”

There was no need to hold out now that the gate’s owner had disappeared. Although it would be a painful loss to think of the losses, it would be fine to go out of the gate entirely.

The real problem was the two people who didn’t possess escape stones.

“Come this way.”

The girl resembling winter, Yohwa, answered. Around her, pure white light began to surge and form letters.

“I don’t know what it is, but I trust you!”

Yi Hyun, who had clicked his tongue seeing Baek Yi Hyun already beside her, leaped into the light.

[This is the timeline separator]

“Cough, cough. Huck.”

The water flowing between my nose and mouth is stinging. My head is ringing. Even after coughing for a long time, the unpleasant feeling doesn’t subside.

As I barely crawl onto the shore, Baek Yi Hyun, who had climbed up first, gently patted my back.

“Phew, I almost died.”

Yi Hyun, sprawled out flat, turned his head to look at me. Is it because of his expression? He seems to be glaring at me strangely.

“Oh, your hair color has returned.”

“What?”

“Ah, I really feel like I’m dying.”

He just breathed out without answering my question. I raised my gaze from him to look at the sky.

The red, ominous sky had already turned into the color of dark, dark night.

Seeing the densely packed stars, a strange feeling arose.

I thought at least a day had passed, but it hadn’t even been a few hours.

That long, long time for me was actually so short.

How should I explain my current feelings? An indescribable complexity embraced me.

“Hey, Yohwa.”

Yi Hyun called me. When I turned my head, he threw something.

“This is…?”

“Mana potion. Drink it.”

Although I didn’t particularly lack mana, I carefully took a sip. It tastes refreshing, like carbonated drinks. So potions can be delicious too.

As I put the potion back after just one sip, Baek Yi Hyun covered me with his outer garment.

“Shin Ah.”

“Yes?”

“How did you do that just now?”

“Huh? Do what?”

“Moving here, I mean. Do you have a group instant teleportation skill?”

At his words, the blurred memories flashed before my eyes as if coming into focus.

The use of the skill, Manifestation, me blocking the Lich, and finally using rune magic to escape from the collapsing underground dungeon.

Although we drank a bit of water in the lake because the coordinates were slightly off.

I hurriedly checked my skill window.

[Rune Magic(A) – Active]

: Use rune magic. Can use learned magic, and the power varies depending on the caster.

The description was still the same. Is there something different? Or am I actually a genius awakener who can use magic right away?

As I was thinking that, the last line caught my eye.

[※When Manifestation is used, free use of skills is possible.]

I closed the skill window again.

“I think I did it, but I don’t really remember well. My memory is a bit hazy from after using some skill?”

“Huh… As expected of a cheater who entered the rankings right after awakening, even the skills are ridiculously overpowered.”

A voice mixed with sarcasm and admiration was heard from the side. Yi Hyun, who had raised his upper body at some point, was looking at me.

“What kind of skill is it that allows you to face an S-rank boss monster alone? Is it similar to a berserker’s rampage?”

“I don’t even know what a rampage is. And the skill description is strangely unhelpful, so it’s difficult to explain accurately.”

“That’s normal. There’s a reason why skill research jobs exist. Huh… Can use magic, buffs and debuffs are possible, can do melee damage, and even heal. What can’t you do?”