The Troublesome Dwizers and a Civilian’s Exit

“Phew, even the trash mobs are huge, so how big will the boss be?”

Kim Ajun whistled, hoping for an even bigger monster to appear. However, as the boss room door opened and he glimpsed the creature inside, his whistling abruptly ceased.

“…”

In the center of the boss room, a monster resembling a brown nutria stood upright on two legs, clutching a sword, huffing and snorting steam from its nostrils.

“It’s a Dwizer.”

At Han Gureum’s words, Kim Ajun’s face twisted in an instant. Yoon Dokyung, who had followed them in, also crumpled his face.

“Ah… a Dwizer? This is going to be a pain.”

Dwizers were small monsters, only about 130cm tall, but their incredible speed and, more importantly, their habit of fighting in massive swarms made them extremely troublesome.

As beams of light pierced the dim room, green eyes glinted everywhere.

“Whoa, dammit… Just how many are there?!”

The countless eyes, packed tightly together, created a grotesque sight. Yoon Dokyung shivered, declaring the gaze utterly repulsive.

“Alright! Cho-Shik, fighting!”

Lee Beomgyu remained at the entrance, cheering them on without stepping into the room. Yet, he didn’t let go of the gun in his hand, a clear sign of his firm resolve not to be easily caught off guard, despite being a healing-type Esper.

The Dwizers’ attack was simultaneous, giving the three no time to prepare. The small Dwizers, swarming haphazardly, were so numerous they practically covered the entire floor.

“Damn it, aren’t there too many of them swarming us?!”

Kim Ajun, after firing his gun, braced his legs and swung his arm in a wide arc. With an immense roar, the surrounding Dwizers were sent flying in every direction. Several of them hurtled toward Han Gureum, only to shatter or be crushed beyond recognition upon impact with his large shield.

“Don’t send them flying over here!”

Yoon Dokyung, wearing an utterly fed-up expression, wildly brandished his sabre, wreathed in blue flames. When their numbers showed no sign of diminishing, he conjured a fiery tornado, roasting the Dwizers whole. Due to the cave’s nature, the stench couldn’t escape, and a terrible smell of burning flesh permeated the air.

“Cough, cough! Yoon Dokyung! Don’t use that!”

“Dammit, this is my ability, how can I not use it?! That’s why I hate caves!”

“Then just incinerate them completely!”

“Do you think that’s easy? You do it!”

Even amidst the battle, Lee Beomgyu and Yoon Dokyung’s bickering continued.

The fiery tornado that had just erupted filled the air with hazy smoke and an acrid stench. Carried by the wind from the ongoing battle, it reached Seo Dowoon and Park Hayoon. Kim Ajun momentarily paused his fight to create a gust of wind, pushing the smoke out of the passage, but it was futile against the persistent smell of burning.

‘To use such an ability in a cave. I thought they had more sense, but it seems not.’

Seo Dowoon covered his mouth with the sleeve of his robe, while Park Hayoon fanned himself and coughed. As Kim Ajun inadvertently sent the smoke their way, Park Hayoon squinted one eye, standing in front of Seo Dowoon and scanning their surroundings. Even with their vision obscured, it was unlikely any Dwizers would escape the room, but it was better to be safe.

“Are you alright?”

Seo Dowoon nodded.

“Keep doing that. This isn’t just the smell of burning; it’s mixed with monster toxins, and it’s not good to inhale too much.”

Seo Dowoon responded with another nod. Perhaps due to the sheer number of monsters, the stench was certainly more potent than what he had smelled earlier.

The battle finally concluded only after mountains of Dwizer corpses had piled up.

“Ugh, these Dwizers are such a pain!”

“I never want to see them again…! I’d rather face a few large monsters.”

Yoon Dokyung and Kim Ajun grumbled, yet busied themselves collecting monster cores. One of the primary reasons dealing with monsters that live in swarms was so tedious was the sheer number of ‘monster cores.’ Typically, when a monster was killed, its core could be obtained, and many guilds sold these for profit. Monster cores had various uses, but the Cho-Shik Guild, finding it bothersome, simply sold them to the government.

While large monsters yielded large cores, smaller monsters’ cores were proportionally tiny. Of course, high-grade monsters’ cores, even if small, were of excellent quality and commanded high prices. However, Dwizers, being swarm monsters, didn’t fetch particularly good prices.

In the first place, high-quality cores rarely appeared in C-rank dungeons. This was precisely why one had to clear A-rank or B-rank dungeons to earn substantial money.

Monster hides were also traded, but the effort required to skin them individually meant that usually, only the cores were collected.

“Are we really taking all of these?”

Yoon Dokyung shuddered, looking at the mountain of piled-up Dwizers. His reluctance to touch them was palpable. It wasn’t so much disgust as the sheer annoyance of having to extract all those monster cores.

Kim Ajun chided him, telling him to stop idling and get to work.

“If you don’t want your credit card bill to be overdue, start picking them up.”

“Ah… I almost forgot!”

Lee Beomgyu, who had been standing outside, joined them and began collecting monster cores. Kim Ajun created a powerful gust of wind within the room, sweeping all the murky air into the passage, making it easier to breathe than before.

Having confirmed the battle was over, Park Hayoon brought Seo Dowoon inside. They couldn’t ask a civilian to wait until all the monster cores were collected, and since a portal leading out had appeared at the end of the boss room anyway, they figured it best to send him out first.

While it would have been better to send out Park Hayoon, the guide, or Lee Beomgyu, the healing-type Esper, Seo Dowoon stubbornly insisted on leaving with Han Gureum. When Han Gureum hesitated, unable to readily agree, Kim Ajun nudged his back.

“We’ll clean up and leave soon enough. You go on ahead.”

“But I should stay.”

“It’s fine. We’re perfectly capable without you. Hurry, the toxins are still spreading. Are you going to leave a civilian standing here for long?”

When monsters died, toxins spread from their corpses. While these didn’t significantly affect Awakened individuals, they could potentially cause illness in civilians. Excessive exposure could even lead to death, so caution was paramount.

No matter how much Seo Dowoon might appear to be a prospective Awakened, he was currently a civilian. Knowing this, Han Gureum no longer argued and stood before the portal with Seo Dowoon.

“Finish up and come out.”

“Got it. Just go.”

Kim Ajun waved his hand, telling him to stop nagging. Han Gureum felt uneasy leaving his comrades behind, making it hard to take his steps easily. Nevertheless, he couldn’t keep Seo Dowoon here any longer, so he turned.

“Mr. Seo Dowoon, pull up your hood and cover your face.”

When Seo Dowoon looked at him as if asking why, Han Gureum pointed to the portal and calmly explained the reason.

“The moment you step out of here, cameras will be snapping pictures of your face. If you don’t want your face all over the internet, it’s best to cover it.”

“Ah. That makes sense.”

It had been half a year since a civilian had entered a dungeon. This was certainly an incident worthy of becoming a major issue.

Seo Dowoon pulled the robe up over his head, but Han Gureum’s robe was too small, making it look rather odd.

“…Tie the sleeves to cover your face.”

He had helped him earlier, but now he merely instructed.

Seo Dowoon, feigning ignorance, simply stared at Han Gureum.

“You do it like this…”

Unable to watch any longer, Han Gureum pulled on the two flapping sleeves. Seo Dowoon then subtly bent his waist, creating a convenient height for tying.

“…”

“…”

A brief silence fell between the two. The guild members, who had been collecting monster cores, stopped their work and watched them from behind.

Sensing their gazes, Han Gureum quickly tied the sleeves, adjusting them so only Seo Dowoon’s eyes peeked out. As Han Gureum fussed, Seo Dowoon watched him, tucking the orb of light he held in his hand into his robe.

“Oh, right. Mr. Seo Dowoon! Once you’re out, go to the Awakened Center and get tested. You’ll be getting a regular check-up there today anyway, so ask if they can do an Awakened test too, and if they can, get it done.”

“Awakened Center, all of a sudden?”

Yoon Dokyung asked, startled by Kim Ajun’s sudden shout.

“He just looks like an Awakened, no matter how I see it. Got it?”

“Yes. I’ll ask if I go to the Center.”

Upon hearing Seo Dowoon’s reply, Kim Ajun smiled, the corner of his mouth twitching up in satisfaction. At this, Yoon Dokyung crumpled his face, as if he had witnessed a truly unsightly spectacle.

“That’s a total villain’s smirk.”

“What about me?”

“Your face looks exactly like that right now, oppa? Like you’re plotting something devious.”

“You know too much about me.”

“Ah, stop chattering and hurry up and pick them up! Hayoon hyung! You pick them up too!”

Leaving his boisterous comrades behind, Han Gureum stepped through the portal with Seo Dowoon.

****

Stepping outside, they were immediately met with a barrage of camera flashes, as if a crowd had been waiting for them. While they had anticipated being the center of attention, the topic of ‘a civilian caught in a Gate after half a year’ spurred reporters to clamor for interviews. Many curious citizens had also gathered around the Gate.

Han Gureum held tightly onto the guild robe Seo Dowoon was wearing, ensuring it wouldn’t come off, and led him directly to the car prepared by the government.

“Where are we going now?” Seo Dowoon asked.

Han Gureum replied in a voice audible only to him.

“The Center. Since you entered a dungeon, you’ll need a thorough examination. The last person who went in came back with cancer, you see. Even if you look fine on the outside, you might have internal injuries.”

“…”

“…I’m not trying to scare you; I’m just stating facts. There are articles about it too.”

“I know. I saw them.”

Han Gureum, wondering if he had been too blunt, closed his mouth. He pushed Seo Dowoon into the car, navigating through the massive crowd. Just as he was about to close the door, Seo Dowoon reached out a hand to stop it.

“Aren’t you coming with me?”

“I have to stay and finish clearing the site.”

“I thought you were coming along…”

“The government will take good care of you. …You’ve been through a lot today.”

Han Gureum closed the car door without hesitation. Seo Dowoon stared at the door, which had shut with a thud, then let out a hollow laugh.