The will-o’-the-wisps flickered and swayed back and forth, as if flustered. Startled shouts burst from the goblins.

“They’re all gone!”

“They’ve disappeared!”

The Hunters had vanished along with the fog. Not only their king, but the nightmare that had emerged from Yun Yun was nowhere to be seen.

“The king and the Kim Seobangs are gone too!”

“Is it hide-and-seek?”

“Ready or not, here I come! I lose! Come out!”

“Hey, the big puppy’s still there!”

All the goblins’ gazes turned to one spot. The Flame Horned Lion, which had been inspecting the bloodstain on the ground with its nose scrunched up, lifted its head.

– Krrng.

A cold wind whistled across the frozen lake. Despite it not being winter, the weather was quite chilly. Thanks to that, the ice chunks scattered here and there still emitted frigid air and showed no signs of melting. The goblins stared blankly at the red fur swaying in the wind. It looked so warm.

“I think it’s colder here than in the water.”

“Of course! Here, it’s below zero. It’s minus!”

“Right, the water’s frozen.”

The goblins slowly began to gather toward Peace. Peace’s ears twitched slightly.

“We’re not bad goblins! We won’t hurt you!”

“We’re weaker!”

“Want to wait for the king and the Kim Seobangs together?”

“Want a dumpling?”

At the low growl, the goblins startled and stepped back. But they slowly approached again.

“Let’s stay together!”

“It’s lonely to be alone.”

“So pretty!”

Peace, who had been looking at the goblins as if in thought, shook his body once as if he couldn’t help it. Then he used the Gigantification skill.

“Wow!”

“The big puppy got huge!”

“It’s a king puppy!”

Daddy and the members of the pack had tried to protect these little things. So Peace, who had decided to protect them for now, flopped down on the ground. The goblins, as if they had been waiting, swarmed over and burrowed into the red fur.

“Be careful!”

“Don’t pull! It hurts the puppy!”

“You can’t bother him too much!”

“Right! You have to say he’s a good boy!”

After a brief commotion, the goblins, who had settled down here and there, soon became quiet. Only the sound of them whispering contentedly could be heard.

Peace also rested his head on his crossed forelegs and let out a long breath.

[New Dungeon, ‘A Nightmare on Christmas’]

A system message window appeared. Park Yerim narrowed her brow slightly and read the message. So they were inside a dungeon.

“Memories influenced it—what does that mean?”

She was bewildered, but this place was definitely familiar. Dongmyo Station. It was Seoul, °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° Korea. Park Yerim, who was looking around at the familiar cityscape, found Yun Yun collapsed near a convenience store and pulled her into the staircase of the adjacent building.

‘If it’s a dungeon, when clearing a new dungeon with no information, you have to move as cautiously as possible. Especially if the grade is the same as or higher than your own… what’s the grade here?’

Park Yerim tried to recall what she had learned in her dungeon clearing class. She wasn’t a diligent student, but she could recall some things.

The grade of this dungeon did not seem to be low at all. Based on her experience so far, the possibility of it being dangerous was higher. So she had to move carefully.

‘Assume the grade of a monster you’re seeing for the first time is as high as possible and be careful of special skills. Then let’s say the monsters here are S-Rank or SS-Rank, and the first thing to do is… join up with team members, right?’

But Seoul was huge! Park Yerim was lost in thought again. The only good thing was that it was a familiar area. If the dungeon was set in Seoul, where would everyone go? Probably Haeyeon Guild, right? Or the breeding facility. If it was Han Yuhyun, it was one hundred percent the breeding facility. If he was with Mister, would it be Haeyeon Guild?

‘Mister must be safe.’

What had happened at the end? Even if it was a high-grade dungeon, Han Yujin had Grace. Park Yerim gathered a droplet of water on her palm. As expected, she could use her skills without any problems. So there was no way Han Yujin would be in danger because of a monster.

“Boss Kim Seobang!”

Just as she was breathing a sigh of relief, Yun Yun’s eyes snapped open.

“The scary thing! Huh? What is this?”

Yun Yun, who saw her own system message window, tilted her head.

“Dungeon? A real dungeon?”

“Right, it says we’re inside a dungeon.”

“Huh? I can’t enter dungeons?”

Yun Yun said, jumping up from her seat.

“You can’t enter?”

“Yeah. I couldn’t before? I haven’t tried since I became the Goblin King! Can I enter if I become the king?”

Both Park Yerim and Yun Yun just tilted their heads. And they both came to the same conclusion.

“Let’s ask Mister.”

“Boss Kim Seobang might know. Boss Kim Seobang is the one who made me the king!”

Yun Yun suddenly tried to go outside. Park Yerim quickly grabbed the hem of Yun Yun’s clothes.

“Wait!”

“Why?”

“You said it’s your first time in a dungeon. Then you have to listen to the experienced one!”

“Is Little Kim Seobang the experienced one?”

“Of course! I have my own clearing team and have cleared dungeons many times.”

Normally, she was the rookie with the least experience, but right now, she was an excellent senior. Park Yerim put on a serious expression to look mature and continued.

“When clearing a dungeon for the first time, you have to first understand the surrounding situation. What kind of place it is. Do you know A Christmas Carol?”

“Of course I know! Jingle bells~ jingle bells~”

“No, no. I mean the novel.”

Yun Yun, who had been clapping her hands and singing, became as quiet as a mouse. As if she had expected it, Park Yerim confidently began to explain.

“A long time ago, there lived a miser named Scrooge, and on Christmas Eve, he met a ghost.”

“I like ghosts too!”

Park Yerim told Yun Yun the story of the novel.

“So in this dungeon, the present, the future, and the past…”

“Come out?”

“Uh… probably?”

Park Yerim’s expression clouded over. Would the past really come out? It said the raiders’ memories also had an influence, but it was still just a dungeon. Although her heart pounded with anxiety, she shook her head inwardly, saying it couldn’t be.

“F-first, let’s go to Haeyeon Guild! Most of them probably went there. This is Dongmyo, so it’s not far! It’ll probably take more than thirty minutes by car, though.”

“I can use long-distance teleportation!”

“Really?”

“I can open a Goblin Gate once every 10 days.”

At the mention of ten days, Park Yerim quickly shook her head.

“That’s a waste. We don’t know what might happen, so let’s save it and just go carefully.”

“I can use short-distance often. Or should we fly?”

“Uuuuhhmm. No. We don’t know what kind of monsters there are, so let’s go slowly from here… to Sindang and check, and if it seems safe, let’s speed up. Information is the most important thing in a dungeon clear. That’s why they say the first clear is the hardest. We have to be careful.”

“You seem to know a lot, Little Kim Seobang.”

At Yun Yun’s admiration, Park Yerim’s lips curled up slightly. Park Yerim gestured for her to follow and went out to the street first. She also took out her weapon.

“There are no people or cars. The subway probably isn’t running either.”

“Yeah, yeah.”

“I don’t see any monsters right now. It’s around sunset. The weather is a bit chilly—is it winter? Then there’s a high possibility that ice or snow attribute monsters will appear.”

The dungeon environment and dungeon monsters were usually closely related, Park Yerim explained confidently. The two of them slowly walked, looking around.

“By the way, do you remember what happened before we came in here? I was in the back, so I couldn’t see properly. I saw a strange fog mass pop out.”

At the mention of a fog mass, Yun Yun’s shoulders flinched. She had a scared expression.

“It’s a demon king. When I became the king, the demon king’s power came in.”

Yun Yun told her the story of when she almost became a demon king.

“I decided to become the Goblin King, and originally I was stronger than the demon king, so it was okay. But if I harm people, he gets stronger.”

“If you harm people?”

“Yeah. So goblins can’t harm people. They become scary. The other kids are probably the same.”

“Then what about monsters?”

“Killing monsters is not allowed either. We have to be careful. I don’t like blood.”

In the end, it meant that the only person who could fight right now was Park Yerim alone. Park Yerim patted Yun Yun’s shoulder, telling her not to worry.

“It’s okay, just trust your senior! But that demon king won’t come out anymore, right? That skill that makes it impossible to use skills except for goblins—is it the demon king’s?”

“Yes.”

“I was really surprised then. It was a bit scary too.”

Even thinking about it now made her heart drop and gave her a slight chill. Turning the corner, Park Yerim carefully scanned her surroundings again. There was still nothing to be seen. The street felt normal, except for the absence of people.

“Were you scared?”

“Well, of course, since I suddenly couldn’t use my skills. I thought my power was gone. I can’t have that. Is this the right way?”

Without a phone, it was inconvenient to find her way. This area was a place she hadn’t been to more than a few times, a place she didn’t know well. Park Yerim checked the signs and found her direction.

“If an Awakened, an S-Rank Hunter, becomes not one, then you can’t do anything.”

“Why? The Little Kim Seobangs go to school.”

There were still far more children in the world who were not Awakened. Even if they had awakened, most of them were low-rank, and low-rank minor Awakened usually did not engage in Hunter activities.

“Uuuh. If I weren’t an Awakened, I’d be going to school too. I’m going again now, but… But if I’m just a middle school student, then it’s also true that a middle school student can’t do anything.”

The traffic lights were off too. Park Yerim lightly teleported across the street. Yun Yun also followed with a teleportation.

“A normal elementary school student can’t do anything either.”

There was nothing she could do. Nothing. Even if the world she knew was completely collapsing and changing, she had to just be swept away in a daze.

“So I like being strong. I wish I could solve everything, no matter what happens, without a problem.”

“Me, me too!”

Yun Yun clenched her two fists tightly.

“I don’t want to lose anyone again either. But I can’t fight…”

“The goblin kids are weak, so it must be hard for you too. It’s like having dozens of Misters. Hurry up and go to Korea and find a safe place. Korea has become much safer now. Mister will definitely help you too.”

“Yeah. And I’ll study more too. I should have been more careful—I was just running around so excitedly. When I was alone, there was nothing dangerous! But now I’m not alone. I have to be an adult now.”

“Yeah, me too.”

Park Yerim nodded her head vigorously. She wished she could do everything by herself as soon as possible. No one was rushing her to do so. Unlike before, there was no need for the current Park Yerim to become an adult quickly. She had good adults by her side, and she lacked nothing.

But the experience of having lost once, the memory, did not easily disappear. The thought that it could happen again was always in a corner of Park Yerim’s mind. It was a fear that would never be erased once she had known it.

If she became strong enough to solve everything, to protect anyone perfectly, then wouldn’t she become even more scared?

“Huh?”

Park Yerim, who was following the road, reflexively ducked her upper body. Yun Yun also crouched down. She peeked out with just her two eyes over a parked car.

“It’s a Kim Seobang.”

“They look like Hunters, but it’s strange. Could we have entered a dungeon someone else is clearing?”

In front of a building she was seeing for the first time, people who looked like Hunters were leisurely coming and going. They were sitting on a bench and chatting, or getting warm drinks from a vending machine. There were also people coming and going from the building.

Park Yerim’s expression furrowed slightly.

“It’s really strange.”

They were ordinary scenes that were too unfitting for a clear in progress. It felt like it was outside, not inside a dungeon. Just then, someone came out of the building. Yun Yun’s eyes widened.

“Huh? She looks like Little Kim Seobang, but she looks like a grown-up Kim Seobang.”

Park Yerim’s eyes also widened. It was definitely a familiar face. She was a little older, and her atmosphere was different from now, but it was a look that was hard to mistake. The word “future” flashed in her mind. Could it be?

“Little Kim Seobang, look at that. What is she doing?”

Park Yerim took out a cloth from her inventory and quickly covered half her face. She changed her weapon to a bow, fixed her half-wig firmly, and took a deep breath.

“I don’t know for sure either. Let’s go. No, Yun Yun, you can stay out of it. Stay here. I’ll go check it out.”

Park Yerim, who had been ducking, stood up. She took another deep breath and used a teleportation skill. Seeing her suddenly appear, the Hunters went into a defensive posture.

“Who are you!”

“I am.”

Park Yerim aimed her bow at the Hunters and shouted loudly.

“Tang Ye of the Sichuan Tang Clan! And who are you! Especially you—you, I mean you!”

The Hunter that Park Yerim’s fingertip pointed at raised an eyebrow and answered.

“Water Spout Guild member, A-Rank Hunter Park Yerim.”

Park Yerim. A-Rank Hunter. Park Yerim swallowed dryly. The two Park Yerims faced each other.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep