In the vast darkness of the dungeon, Han Jinhyuk and Seo Elena walked cautiously through the straight path.
At first, everything seemed to be fine. While Seo Elena held on to Han Jinhyuk's arm, Han Jinhyuk could completely see in this same darkness.
But then, without warning, the scenery around them changed. The dark dungeon was gone. In its place stood a café.
It wasn't the café Elena owned, either. She looked around in confusion, wondering where they were. This place was much nicer compared to her current cafe.
"Hyuk-ah, you're here?"
The familiar voice made both of them freeze.
Seo Elena stood behind the counter, greeting Han Jinhyuk with a bright smile. Meanwhile, Han Jinhyuk was seated on one of the counter stools, looking as though he'd just arrived for a casual visit.
They stared at the scene in disbelief.
"I-isn't this supposed to be a memory?" Elena asked, her cheeks burning as she watched her other self call him by such an intimate nickname.
"It could be an illusion. For now, let's just look for an exit."
Han Jinhyuk's expression remained composed, but his gaze lingered on the scene before them.
Meanwhile, the memory continued to unfold.
Elena busied herself behind the counter, preparing a cup of coffee while Jinhyuk sat quietly on the other side. He didn't say much, simply watching her as she worked.
"Look, Hyuk-ah! I made a cat today. Isn't it cute?"
Elena proudly presented the cup, showing off the cat-shaped latte art.
But rather than looking at the coffee, Jinhyuk's eyes remained fixed on her.
"It's pretty."
The present-day Elena and Jinhyuk awkwardly cleared their throats at almost the same time.
He was talking about the cat, right?
Suddenly, holding on to his arm felt a little awkward. After all, watching herself being all lovey-dovey with him while clinging to the real Jinhyuk was a rather embarrassing experience.
Still, she didn't let go.
"Do you see anything different? There must be an exit here somewhere."
Seo Elena glanced around the café, carefully examining every corner.
She'd never been here before, yet something about the place felt strangely familiar. Perhaps it was because she owned a café herself, but she couldn't shake the feeling that she already knew every inch of this place.
Then, her gaze fell to the floor.
"Over there."
She pointed to a small latch set into the floor. Beneath it lay a dark opening that seemed to lead underground.
It was strange. The cave beyond was dimly lit, with only the faint glow of moss clinging to the walls to guide the way.
At first, Jinhyuk thought little of it. But the deeper he looked, the more familiar it seemed.
It reminded him of the dungeon he owned.
No, it was almost eerily similar.
Before Han Jinhyuk could investigate further and confirm whether the cave really resembled his dungeon, the scenery shifted once again.
The dimly lit cave vanished.
In its place was a dungeon filled with the sounds of battle.
Jinhyuk found himself standing among a dozen other hunters. He recognized their faces, though he'd never spoken to most of them. Some were hunters from overseas, names and faces he'd encountered through reports rather than in person.
"Someone, heal him! We need a healer here!"
An offensive hunter shouted as he knelt on the ground, cradling a wounded comrade in his arms. Blood seeped through the injured man's clothes, dripping onto the rubble beneath them.
The entire place was in chaos.
Roars echoed through the dungeon, accompanied by the crash of falling debris and the shouts of hunters desperately trying to keep the monster at bay.
A piece of shattered stone flew past them.
"Ah!"
Elena flinched and clutched her arm. A thin cut had appeared across her skin, blood slowly trickling from the wound.
She stared at it in disbelief. Not being able to believe that a memory was able to injure her.
Jinhyuk immediately pulled a potion from his inventory and poured it over her arm.
"Does it still hurt?"
Elena shook her head, watching as the wound began to heal.
"What is this place?"
Before Jinhyuk could answer, a deafening roar shook the dungeon.
Ahead of them, a massive black serpent coiled through the ruins. Its body was so enormous that she couldn't see where it ended, let alone where its head was. Thick, black scales stretched across its body, each one large enough to cover a small house
"Hold on to me tightly."
Han Jinhyuk carried Seo Elena in his arms as he dodged the falling rubble. It was much easier to move this way than to drag her along, and frankly, it was safer, too. Her arms looked so thin that he couldn't help worrying that even a slight impact might break one of her bones.
Amid the chaos, with the giant serpent relentlessly attacking them, both of their attention remained fixed on the Han Jinhyuk from the past, who sat motionless on the ground with his body covered in wounds.
He didn't seem to be gravely injured. So why wasn't he fighting?
"Hah..." The past Han Jinhyuk stared blankly at the ground and let out a deep sigh. "I'm just going to regress again anyway. What's the point of trying when we're clearly going to lose?"
The two exchanged confused glances.
What the hell was he talking about?
Another deafening roar shook the dungeon.
"Hold on!"
Han Jinhyuk tightened his grip around Seo Elena's waist and leaped backward just as a massive shadow swept across the battlefield. The giant serpent's tail crashed into the ground where they had been standing a moment ago, sending chunks of stone flying in every direction.
Another explosion rocked the ground behind them. Han Jinhyuk barely managed to dodge the falling debris, shielding Seo Elena with his body as smaller fragments struck his back.
The pain was real. The injuries were real, too.
Whatever this dungeon was, it wasn't some harmless illusion they could simply walk through. They could be hurt, and if they weren't careful, they could die.
Yet the strangest part was that none of the people fighting around them seemed to notice their presence.
Han Jinhyuk had already tested it. He'd tried calling out to one of the hunters, only to watch the man run straight past him without so much as a glance. Seo Elena had experienced the same thing.
They were here, but they weren't.
"See anything that might be the exit?" Han Jinhyuk asked.
Seo Elena shook her head. They had been moving around constantly to avoid the serpent's attacks, and with the battlefield in complete chaos, finding an exit seemed nearly impossible.
Before either of them could think of another solution, a familiar figure appeared in the distance.
"Hyung! Get yourself together! We still have a chance!"
Minwoo rushed toward past Han Jinhyuk and grabbed him by the shoulders, shaking him desperately. But past Han Jinhyuk barely reacted. His eyes were vacant, devoid of any interest in the chaos surrounding him.
"You have to save the world," Minwoo continued, his voice growing more desperate. "You're the only one who can!"
Past Han Jinhyuk scoffed.
"I'm tired of going back. Over and over again, always ending up losing and dying." He lowered his head, his voice hollow with exhaustion. "If it's not losing to the enemy, it's dying at the end of the world. What am I supposed to do?"
He let out a bitter laugh.
"I just want to die already..."
Seo Elena froze as she stares at the figure sitting on the ground.
What happened to him?
She couldn't understand it. The Han Jinhyuk she knew was powerful, reliable, and far too confident for his own good. Even in the face of danger, he rarely showed any hesitation. He was the sort of man who would charge straight into a fight simply because he believed he could win.
Yet the person before her looked as though he had already lost everything. It was a heartbreaking sight.
Before Minwoo could say another word, the serpent's tail swept across the battlefield.
Han Jinhyuk barely had time to react before the massive appendage struck past Han Jinhyuk, sending his battered body flying.
Minwoo managed to dodge the attack at the last second, but he couldn't reach his brother in time.
He turned toward the place where past Han Jinhyuk had fallen.
For a brief moment, he stood frozen, staring at the motionless body of the person he cared about so deeply.
Then he slowly looked away.
He couldn't do anything. And neither could Seo Elena or the Han Jinhyuk standing beside her.
Past Han Jinhyuk lay lifelessly on the ground, his body unmoving. He was dead. He had died without even trying to fight back. But why?
"What the hell?" Han Jinhyuk muttered, his brows furrowing as he watched the scene unfold. "Why would he just give up like that?"
Seo Elena didn't answer. She didn't have one.
And before either of them could make sense of what they had witnessed, the scenery began to change again.
The battlefield blurred, the roaring serpent disappearing into the distance as the world around them shifted into another memory.
It was his past self, Han Jinhyuk, who had opened his eyes in the middle of a dungeon, his hands stained with blood. Judging by the bodies scattered around him and the wounds inflicted on them, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say he was responsible for their deaths.
At least, the current Han Jinhyuk knew that most of the corpses lying here had been killed by his past self.
"Hah..."
Past Han Jinhyuk raised a hand and covered his face. For a moment, he remained still.
Then his shoulders began to shake.
A laugh escaped his lips, quiet at first, before rapidly growing louder and more frantic.
"Hahahaha!"
He threw his head back, laughing hysterically as though something inside him had finally snapped.
"When is this damn regression ever going to be over?!"
His laughter cracked into a furious shout.
"How many more times do I have to die, damn it!"
Seo Elena watched as the man she'd thought was indestructible crumbled before her eyes, tears streaming down his face.
"This isn't another memory. It's a continuation of the same one." Han Jinhyuk spoke as if it were nothing serious. If anything, seeing his past self in such a state was pathetic. He would've preferred that Seo Elena never saw him like this, but what was done was done.
"Over there. That area looks different from the rest."
They approached a door that stood out from its surroundings. The moment they stepped through it, darkness swallowed them whole.
A second later, the darkness began to shift, revealing a new memory.