Chapter 317
Uijae quickly accepted the ticket. If he met with student Gaeul, he’d be able to get all sorts of information. In truth, there were many things he wanted to ask. Just as Gaeul had shown him a fragment of a dream, and just like how she had entered the Memorial Dungeon without passing through the entrance—maybe he could go back into the dungeon too?
‘Then there’s no need to collect any magic stones.’
Had the excitement leaked into his movements? Jeong Bin let out a quiet chuckle.
"Since I got to know you, J… I think this is the first time I’ve seen you this happy. Makes it worth giving."
"……."
Uijae froze, halting the fingers that had been moving quickly and stiffening all the muscles in his body. Jeong Bin turned his head and covered his mouth, as if holding back a laugh, then gave a small cough and continued speaking.
"But do you know what this ticket is?"
"Yeah, I do."
"You do? Hm… Didn’t you skip the Artisan Fair? Where did you see it?"
Ah, crap!
The hand that had been fiddling with the ticket froze again. Right—he’d visited back then disguised as the Pado Guild leader’s secretary. But he had plenty of excuses prepared. Still holding the ticket, Uijae replied.
"…Hong Ye-seong was bragging about it. Said he made something like this."
Most problems could be solved by throwing in Hong Ye-seong or Mackerel. Somehow, it felt like he was getting better at lying every day. Uijae quietly ignored the guilt creeping up as he lifted his head. Jeong Bin gave a light nod and smiled.
"Ah, I see. Did he also tell you what role it plays?"
"I heard it’s a key to the space he created… something like that."
"That’s correct. Would you like to use it now?"
Uijae nodded and raised the ticket, then closed his eyes.
Moments later, when he opened them again…
He was in a classroom.
‘…Not the waiting room?’
The scene was entirely different from the bleak waiting room. A half-open window, curtains fluttering in the wind, rows of desks and chairs, and a green chalkboard. Each desk had textbooks, exam prep materials, doodles, and half-eaten snack bags—everything had been recreated with remarkable detail. It was like someone had copy-pasted a real school classroom.
Uijae blinked. He was dazed.
‘…It’s been so long.’
It had been what—ten years?—since he last saw a classroom. Uijae glanced around with mixed feelings of unfamiliarity and nostalgia. Maybe it was because it had been ◆ Nоvеlіgһt ◆ (Only on Nоvеlіgһt) so long, or maybe because he’d longed for this kind of scene. Strangely, his heart fluttered. He walked up to the chalkboard and picked up a piece of white chalk. He drew a straight line across the board. The soft feeling of chalk on surface felt strangely unfamiliar.
"……."
Uijae stared blankly at the white line he’d drawn. Just then, he sensed a presence near the door.
"Ah, J! You’re here?"
Gaeul stood by the doorway, dressed comfortably. She looked more cheerful than the last time they met. With a worried face, she approached and looked Uijae over from head to toe.
"Um, is your body okay? You didn’t look so good right after you came out…"
"I’m fine. Back then…"
Damn it, too many people he owed apologies to. Uijae brushed down his mask and gave her a small bow.
"You must’ve been shocked. I’m sorry. Back then, I guess… I wasn’t in my right mind. I’m okay now."
Gaeul waved her hands and shook her head.
"Ah, no! It’s okay. I totally understand. I mean, you couldn’t bring Lee Sa-young out with you, right?"
"…Yeah, that’s right."
"I was just wondering about that moment. He really couldn’t come out at all? Or…"
"He said he couldn’t, and shook off my hand. In the end, I only came out with one of his gloves."
"Hmm…"
Gaeul stepped closer to Uijae and picked up a piece of chalk. Tilting her head like she was deep in thought, she spoke.
"I, uh… I thought about it a bit. I feel like there must be a reason Lee Sa-young couldn’t leave."
She drew a circle.
"The Memorial Dungeon is built on the memories of people from a destroyed world, right? And the biggest chunk of that must be… Lee Sa-young’s memories, I think. Would that be correct?"
She shaded in most of the circle with chalk. Uijae nodded in affirmation.
"Probably. Sa-young lived in that destroyed world the longest."
"Then maybe the dungeon can’t exist without his memories. Like… a battery? A core component? Something like that. An essential part that keeps it running."
"Then…"
Uijae bit his lip hard.
"…The dungeon itself is holding onto him. It’s keeping him there to stay functional."
"It’s just a theory for now, but yeah… Or maybe Lee Sa-young realized that, and chose to stay behind… on purpose."
Crack. The chalk in his hand broke. Uijae brushed the white dust off and muttered.
"Nam Woo-jin’s notebook is linked to the Memorial Dungeon. Then that too… Maybe it’s connected because Sa-young stayed behind."
"Um, I’m no expert on the Memorial Dungeon, but… that sounds likely? I could see the fragments of the past because of the other me too, after all."
In other words, Lee Sa-young had willingly become the bridge connecting the Memorial Dungeon to this world. Since when was he such a self-sacrificing saint? Uijae ground his teeth. Gaeul glanced at him, slightly wary.
"…J, are you okay?"
"…I’m fine."
He couldn’t lose his temper again in front of student Gaeul. She wouldn’t even be able to protect herself if he did. Uijae took a deep breath and tried to calm himself. Ha-eun, Grandma, all sorts of people, those annoying regulars at the hangover soup joint, Lee Sa-young…
‘Seriously, since when did he care so much about others? Unreal.’
No use trying to calm down. The second his thoughts jumped to Lee Sa-young, irritation spiked up like pufferfish spines. Uijae paced rapidly back and forth on the teacher’s platform, then suddenly stopped and raised his head. No—there was still a way.
"Student Gaeul, you entered the Memorial Dungeon without going through the entrance, right?"
"Yes? Yeah, that’s right."
"Then can you send my consciousness into the Memorial Dungeon too?"
"…Maybe? Um, give me a second…"
Gaeul rolled her eyes in thought, looking unsure.
"…I think we can try it. Um, you said you brought his glove, right? Lee Sa-young’s glove."
"Oh, yeah."
Uijae pulled the crumpled black glove from his pocket. Gaeul let out a sigh of relief.
"Hold onto that tightly. And first, you’ll need to lie down on the floor."
Uijae nodded immediately, then pushed all the desks and chairs to the wall. He cleared a round open space in the middle of the classroom.
Uijae lay down flat on his back. He folded his hands neatly over his chest, holding the glove. Sitting cross-legged beside him, Gaeul placed both hands over his solar plexus. Her hands began to glow. Colors and patterns spread over them like a kaleidoscope. Gaeul closed her eyes and said,
"The Memorial Dungeon is still a kind of memory, a shard of the past… so if we find a link, we should be able to connect. It’s a good thing you brought something of his."
She paused briefly to catch her breath.
"…Do you remember when I first showed you a memory fragment? At the end, you were dragged into that strange dark room."
"I remember."
That was the room where Lee Sa-young locked himself away. Gaeul let out a small sigh.
"Back then, the owner of that memory fragment became hyperaware of you and reacted strongly. We’re going to reverse-engineer that… this time, we’ll be the ones searching for him."
Uijae didn’t understand any of it, but he nodded. Might as well let the expert handle it. The brilliant lights from Gaeul’s hands began to spread up Uijae’s torso. As he stared at the glow, his consciousness began to blur.
"Ah! And just so you know, it’s only a part of your consciousness that’s going in…"
Gaeul’s voice grew distant.
"Proper communication might not… be possible… and you won’t be able to stay… long…"
What?
Uijae tried to open his eyes, but his eyelids refused to move. His awareness was sinking rapidly. At the very edge of fading consciousness, he barely managed to think one thing.
‘You should’ve led with the warning, student Gaeul…’
***
…Uijae opened his eyes.
He was in a cozy room lit by soft crimson light. He stood in a corner of the room. A large bed bulged in the middle, as if someone lay beneath the covers. Uijae carefully stepped closer. Even though he tried to keep his steps quiet, the room was strangely silent. He looked down at his hands and body—they were translucent.
‘Is this like when I saw the memory fragments?’
Like watching a movie, unable to interfere. Uijae clicked his tongue. If it’s like this, he wouldn’t even be able to yell at Lee Sa-young. Might as well give up on making noise, Uijae trudged toward the bed. The person under the blanket had pulled the covers all the way up to their head.
‘No way to tell who it is like this.’
He tried pulling at the blanket as a test, but his hand passed right through it.
‘Nothing ever goes easy, huh.’
That was when it happened.
Creak…
The door opened. A sliver of white light trickled through the crack. But that light was quickly blocked by a dark figure. Uijae stared at the door. The footsteps stopped.
"Been waiting? Hyung."
A languid voice asked.