That night, after the incident, Rokan made sure Sia was fast asleep before going to his study and sitting quietly in thought.

'How did Minjun withstand Yuria's curse?'

The curse she had cast was too much for most humans to resist through willpower alone. It might have been nothing special by dragon standards, but it was powerful enough to overwhelm not only a B-rank hunter like Minjun, but even A-rank hunters, who were a step above him.

'Has he already reached A-rank or higher?'

The thought crossed Rokan's mind, but he soon shook his head. Minjun was growing at an extraordinarily fast rate, yet in Rokan's eyes, he hadn't reached A-rank level.

Then perhaps...

'That boy's energy.'

An energy unique to Minjun, possessed by no human, dragon, or anyone else. Perhaps it had helped him overcome Yuria's curse.

'It's certainly possible in theory.'

The prospect excited Rokan, but it worried him a little, too. What if Minjun grew strong enough to surpass even him, an ancient dragon? And what if, once he did, Minjun couldn't control the power surging within him?

* * *

Taking Rokan's advice that I needed some time to clear my head, I immediately booked a flight to Jeju Island for the next day. Then I packed Sia a lunch and asked Rokan to deliver it. Sia had said she was planning to go out for some fresh air soon, though I didn't know where, so I made it for her to eat then. It might not seem like much, but I was sure little gestures like that would add up and help ease her mind.

The next day, I boarded my flight to Jeju Island as planned. I wasn't sure what I'd do once I got there, but anyway...

After arriving on Jeju Island, I grabbed a quick lunch and headed straight for my first destination. Of all the major tourist spots I'd looked up the day before, one had caught my eye: Yongduam Rock. The scenery looked great, but the main reason, absurdly enough, was its name. A rock shaped like a dragon's head. Was dating a dragon making me instinctively gravitate toward anything dragon-related?

'Even I think that's ridiculous.'

Who planned a trip like that?

Excited to get some fresh air, take pictures, and send them to Sia, I made my way to Yongduam Rock. But when I arrived, something felt off. A tourist attraction being crowded was perfectly normal. Visitors milling around it with grim expressions was not, and neither were the barricades blocking it off.

What was going on? Had there been an accident? How had trouble cropped up the moment I started my vacation? With a bad feeling running through me, I approached a man controlling access to the area to find out what had happened.

"Excuse me, what's going on?"

"I'm sorry, but only hunters are allowed inside."

With that, the man blocked my way.

Had a gate suddenly appeared near the tourist site? Even so, they didn't usually lock a place down this tightly unless the gate was particularly dangerous.

"I am a hunter, actually."

"Could I see your hunter registration card?"

I showed the official my card.

"All right, I've confirmed it."

"So what happened in there? Did a new gate open?"

"It's not something I can discuss in public. If you don't mind, could we move somewhere else so I can explain?"

Something smelled fishy. I considered lying about having someone waiting for me and leaving, but my damn curiosity got the better of me.

"Sure."

I'd find out what was happening first. If getting involved sounded like a headache, I could quietly back out then. I followed the official through the barricade.

Inside the restricted area, I saw hunters and people I guessed were from Hunter Association headquarters hurrying about.

"What exactly did you bring me in here for?"

"An unusual gate appeared over there recently."

I looked where he pointed. There stood Yongduam Rock, just as I'd seen it online, with a gate directly above it.

"... It's not an ordinary gate, is it?"

If it were, there'd be no reason to restrict access so tightly or for all those people to be stationed in front of it.

"No. It's a gate, but no one can enter it."

"... What? What do you mean, no one can enter it?"

"Exactly that. Many hunters have tried to enter and clear it, but for some reason, none of them could get inside."

What had I just heard? If hunters couldn't enter a gate, who could? Seeing my confusion, the official nodded as though he understood and went on.

"That's why the Association considers this extremely serious. We don't know what might go wrong here."

He said his superiors had ordered them not to tell civilians until further notice, in case the news caused a panic.

"On top of that, it's an EX-rank gate. To make matters worse, it's an extra gate, which is making the investigation difficult."

At the mention of its rank, I sighed without meaning to.

"It just keeps getting worse."

"It does." The man let out a heavy sigh. "If a gate break happens at this rate... there's no telling what kind of disaster could strike this place."

They had no way of knowing whether it would be dangerous enough to devastate the area or whether, fortunately, nothing much would happen. For now, they had to weigh every possibility and proceed carefully. That was probably why all those hunters had gathered: to prepare for a possible gate break.

"So, would you be willing to help us?"

"... What?"

"We're desperately short of people for a situation this serious. We're on Jeju Island, not the mainland, and the news is still under embargo. It's difficult to gather hunters."

I could see why he'd made the offer to a tourist passing by. Still, that was one thing.

"... Could you give me a moment to think?"

I'd come to Jeju Island to clear my head, only to wind up with a worse headache. I hadn't booked a flight home, I was traveling alone, and I had no plans after this, so helping wouldn't be a major problem. But I'd come on vacation; did I really want to get tangled up in something complicated?

The sensible choice was to politely decline. Yet for some reason, the idea that I should accept his offer kept creeping into my mind. I didn't know why. I just felt drawn to it. So I decided to go with that feeling and accept.

But first...

"What's the pay?"

I might as well get what I was owed.

"You're a B-rank hunter, so... one moment."

The man searched for something on his phone and showed me the screen.

"As you can see, headquarters' guidelines say you'll receive about 130,000 won per hour on standby."

At 130,000 won an hour, that came to over three million won a day. The hazard pay made it a better deal than I'd expected. It wasn't an enormous sum compared to what the average B-rank hunter earned, but then again, there might not be any fighting at all.

I did worry it could get dangerous if something happened. But my pocket dimension was full of artifacts; if I used them all, I probably wouldn't die. As long as it didn't refuse to open like last time.

Ugh. PTSD.

Figuring I could stay for a day or two, I accepted the official's offer and signed the contract. Once that was done, he led me over to where the other hunters were waiting.

"Hello."

The hunters, bored from waiting around, took an interest in the newcomer. I didn't know how long they'd been there, but their faces suggested it had been long enough.

"Oh, more help's arrived. I was wondering when anyone else would show up. Which guild are you from?"

"Guild?"

Seeing my confusion, the man who'd greeted me explained. "Oh, didn't your guild contact you? Since the news is still under embargo, they can't make a public call for hunters. The Hunter Association sent official requests to the guilds asking whether they could dispatch anyone. That's why everyone here came."

So that was how they'd gathered hunters without informing civilians.

"I'm not in a guild."

"What? Then how did you get here?"

A woman beside him looked startled. She must have assumed I'd been sent by a guild like the rest of them.

"I came alone on vacation to get some fresh air. I saw the barricades and came over to find out what was happening. One thing led to another."

"Wow."

They all seemed amazed that something like that could happen. I found the situation absurd myself, so I couldn't blame them.

"You came for a relaxing vacation and ended up with a short-term gig."

"Isn't that how life goes? Besides, I haven't booked a place to stay, and my flight was one-way, so it's no big deal."

"Wow, you really are a free spirit. Did you score, like, ninety-nine percent P on the MBTI test?"

"Not quite that much, but even I can tell I lean pretty heavily toward P."

Perhaps to break the ice, the hunter who looked oldest got us chatting.

"About that gate, though. When exactly did it appear?"

"From what I heard, it was first discovered the night before last. We should still have a few days before a gate break."

The hunter who'd first greeted me shared what he'd heard so far, mixing in his own opinions. The Association was investigating the gate, he said, and the embargo would probably be lifted if they couldn't find a way inside by today or tomorrow.

"By the way, Minjun, what do you think that gate is?"

"Hmm... Hard to say. Maybe it's not an ordinary gate at all, but a doorway to another world."

I'd said it without much thought because he'd asked, but the other hunters nodded as if it sounded plausible.

"Or maybe a dragon will come out of it?"

I flinched at the word dragon.

"A-a dragon? Why?"

"Well, it's a rare EX-rank gate, and it appeared right above Yongduam Rock. There must be a reason."

Oh, I couldn't even laugh at that. And I couldn't tell them there was already a dragon living here.

"But what if it really is a dragon? What would happen?"

"Good question... We've never found one before, so I am curious."

Apparently starved for something interesting to discuss, they began debating what would happen if a dragon came out of the gate.

One worried it might wipe out every human on Earth. Another thought nothing much would happen. Someone joked that we'd be fine as long as we kept it happy with enormous offerings of gold and jewels. Another let their imagination run wild, suggesting it might be friendlier to us than we expected.

As for me, I said nothing and just listened. I didn't want to let anything slip.

While the others talked about dragons, I began to feel something strange. I didn't know why, but my heart started thudding, and my head kept turning toward the gate without me realizing it. It was almost as if the gate were calling me over. I rose and walked toward it as though entranced, stopping in front of it.

Usually, standing before a gate left me feeling either nothing at all or nervous. But for some reason, the closer I got, the more strangely at ease I felt.

'What is this?'

No one had mentioned anything like it when they told me about the gate. Curious, I perched in front of it to see what the feeling was like. What could happen?

That was a terribly careless thought.

"Huh? Wh-what...?"

The gate that had let no one enter suddenly began flashing and pulling me in. I'd never heard of anyone being kidnapped by a gate. But now it was happening to me.

"Minjun!"

The hunters shouted and ran to help me, but my body was already being sucked into the gate.