The four miners, one half-hunter, and Jung stepped out of the Weapon Armory Guild, the digital chime of their payment still a pleasant echo in their minds. The weight of the credits in their accounts made the aches and dust feel a little more worthwhile.

As they descended the guild's broad steps, Han Maru's gaze was drawn upward, past the gleaming new skyscrapers, to the structure that dominated Seoul's skyline. The Korean Tower Dungeon. One of five identical obsidian monoliths that had pierced the heavens on the Daybreak End—in Korea, Malaysia, France, Brazil, and Egypt—their peaks forever lost in the clouds.

Si-eun followed his gaze and let out a low whistle. "Our Tower... still gives me the creeps. What a mysterious place."

Bo-gum nodded, his usual stern expression turning contemplative. "All five appeared at the exact moment the Daybreak End began. The global associations believe the answer to all of this—the why, the how—lies at the peak of any one of them."

Han Maru swallowed, the words forming slowly, fighting against the neural pathways damaged the day he died. "B-but..." he forced out, the sound catching. "...based on the sh-shared news... from the B-Brace networks..." He took a sharp breath, pushing through the block. "...it's a race n-no one is winning. The Malaysians are ah-ahead; their teams reached the 61st floor. Korean teams have only c-cleared to 55. The others... France, Brazil, Egypt... are still in the 40s."

Onjo shuddered, wrapping her arms around herself. "I heard from others that each Tower is a maze. Every time they enter, the interior is different. It's easy to get lost forever." Her voice dropped to a whisper. "And... they said they were lucky there were teleporters—"

Si-eun grumbled, cutting her off. "What a mystery. Why are there teleporters inside all five of them? It's like someone built a deadly puzzle and then left a few cheat codes lying around."

"Si-eun hyung, that was rude," Joo-in stared, disappointed.

"—as checkpoints," Onjo continued. "Each time a Hunter reaches one, they can return to the front gate safely. And the teleporter can transport you back to that floor later." She counted on her fingers. "They've found four in ours. One on the 13th floor, one on the 28th, one surprisingly on the 29th, and the highest one... on the 55th."

Bo-gum grunted, the sound full of grim respect. "And it took our last national expedition a full month to map to the 55th. A month vanished inside that shifting maze. No wonder they've gone on hiatus. They're not just tired; they're mentally exhausted. The whole country is waiting for them to crack the next checkpoint."

The group fell silent, looking up at their city's impossible tower.

Si-eun clapped his hands together, rubbing his palms. "Well, our food waits! Let's go!"

They finally arrived at a quiet ramyeon place. They were halfway through their meals when their Hunter Braces vibrated simultaneously. A text and data alert from the Association scrolled across the small screens—a notification of a new Gate, its location, and its identified rule.

Si-eun glanced at his Brace and grunted. "Situational Gate. Mapo District. The reading says it needs... a 'shouting attack'? Yeah. So shouting your attack name makes it effective. If not, the monster is always invincible. Shouting removes the invincibility." He looked up at the others. "Close hunters are being asked to go."

He let out a relieved sigh. "Well, it's not a cave-type dungeon. So, we're safe from that stupid gate."

Kim Bo-gum laughed. "Right. The existence of Situational Gates is weird and borderline unhinged."

Han Maru nodded nervously, a specific, horrifying memory already surfacing. "B-but that gate...is dangerous because if you d-don't follow the rule..."

Onjo nodded vigorously, her ears already turning a familiar, mortified pink. "Yeah...just like the announcement said. In that new one, the monster is invincible until whoever goes there fights while shouting their attack name."

Si-eun slammed his drink down. "It's still ridiculous! Why can't they just be normal dungeons?"

Maru tilted his head, a faint smile touching his lips despite himself. "You... r-really have a grudge against that g-gate type, Si-eun hy-hyung? S-still sore about the... you know..."

He didn't even have to say it. The entire table flinched in unison. The memory of the "Beach Party" dungeon was a shared scar on their collective psyche.

The image was seared into all their memories: The entire mining team and the raid team standing awkwardly on the magical beach in their swimwear. The moment of sheer, unadulterated panic on Si-eun's face as he decided he couldn't take the embarrassment. The flash of light as Jung armored up.

Han Maru, his face burning, had resolutely stared at a fixed point on the horizon.

A frantic,whispered voice came from beside him. "I-I swear I'm not a pervert!"

Maru turned to see Joo-in,looking utterly horrified, his eyes screwed shut.

Maru stared,his own embarrassment momentarily overridden by sheer disbelief at the boy's outburst. "J-Jooin... s-saying that b-basically... you c-call your-sss-self a p-pervert!"

Joo-in's eyes flew open in dawning horror."Oh.... oh... pardon my language, Maru hyung, but... aigo, ssibal."

Maru stared,aghast. "J-Jooin?!"

And then... the instantaneous, magical heatstroke. Si-eun, in full, gleaming metal armor, turning lobster-red and dropping like a rock into the sand, steam rising from his body.

The stunned silence that followed was broken by the raid leader's voice, dripping with a mixture of pity and utter disbelief: "....Si-eun...you dumbass. The rule is swimsuits. Not swimsuits with armor."

Jung, confused and worried, had reverted to his lizard form and started nudging his unconscious partner with frantic chirps. Onjo immediately rushed to Si-eun's side, her hands glowing with a soft, healing light as she tried to counteract the magical heatstroke.

With their healer occupied and their strongest Earth Awakener down, the raid leader sighed. "Miners! Do your thing. We need to clear this dungeon. Now!"

Which is how Bo-gum, Maru, and a deeply flustered Joo-in found themselves trudging into the dungeon's cave system, wearing nothing but swim trunks and carrying their mining tools. The cave was oppressively hot.

Joo-in, trying to be useful, concentrated. His shadow writhed on the cave wall, stretching and solidifying into a dark, shield-like shape between him and the heat. He let out a frustrated groan. "It's not working! Maru hyung, Bo-gum hyung... I don't think my Privilege Ability works in here against the heat. The shield's there, but I still feel like I'm in an oven."

Bo-gum wiped sweat from his brow, swinging his pickaxe at a mana seam with grim determination. "Jooin-ah... that's a Situational Gate for you. No matter how powerful your Privilege is, if it's not the specific solution to the rule, it's useless. Here, the rule was 'swimsuits.' Nothing else matters."

Jooin kicked at the ground, his shadow dissolving back into a normal silhouette. "Yes, I know... but it was still worth a try..." He let out a long sigh, the heat and frustration boiling over. "...and again, Bo-gum hyung, Maru hyung, forgive my language but... aish, geu-nyeon sseu-sae-kki! (That damn bullshit!)"

Maru, who had been trying to ignore his own profound discomfort, spun around, scandalized. "J-Joo-i-in?!"

Bo-gum made a sharp, shocked sound like a traditional ahjussi who had just heard something profoundly improper. "Yah! What did we say about that kind of language?!"

Back in the present, Onjo let out a high-pitched squeak and hid her face in her hands at the full memory. Bo-gum coughed, suddenly very interested in a stain on the table. Joo-in became bright red.

Si-eun's face flushed a deep crimson. "Sore? Sore? I was literally cooked! I was red for a month! I looked like a boiled lobster trying to mine a cave in flip-flops! We had to do the whole cave mission without me because Onjo was busy making sure I didn't die of heatstroke!" He pointed a trembling finger at his team. "That's my grudge. This new 'Shout' gate is weird, but at least it won't literally cook me alive for a fashion choice. I'll take shouting over sunburn any day."

The table fell into a silence filled with shared, painful, and utterly embarrassing remembrance.

Their quiet moment was broken by a small, awestruck voice.

"Woah! Mister! Is that a baby Godzilla?!"

A young boy, no older than eight, was staring with wide eyes at Jung. The Metalizard did indeed look like a smaller, cuter version of the famous kaiju.

Si-eun laughed, a warm, genuine sound that chased away the last of his annoyance. "Nah, kid. He's an Armonster. His name is Jung. But yeah, he's a pretty handsome guy, right?" He reached down and gave Jung's scaly head an affectionate scratch. Jung let out a pleased rumble, leaning into the touch.

The boy's eyes went even wider. "Does he have a breath attack? Like foom?" the boy asked, mimicking an explosion with his hands.

"He sure does!" Si-eun said proudly. "He's got a Rust Metal breath, a breath of er...well, tearing metal apart like bread—"

Joo-in whispered to Maru,"Is Si-eun hyung PG-rating himself for the kid?" Maru nodded, "Y-yeah, Rust Metal breath...is quite v-visceral."

"—But it makes him real hungry,so we save it for special occasions."

"Cool!" the boy breathed out before his mother called him away, looking back over his shoulder at the incredible sight.

Han Maru watched the interaction, a small warmth stirring in his chest. The first recorded case was the Japanese Hunter, Higurashi Sora, and his Ursa Twin. Then came the news from Europe, of an Italian Sky Awakener who had somehow bonded with a terrifying entity known as DG-Ice, a zero-point monster that inverted his fire into freezing flames. And then... there was Si-eun and Jung. Not as powerful, not as famous, but real.

The warmth of the noodles, the sound of his friends' laughter, the simple, ridiculous story Joo-in was sharing about a mishap in his school's art club—it all settled over Han Maru like a comfortable blanket. For a moment, just a moment, he was happy. A genuine, uncomplicated warmth spread through his chest, a feeling so foreign it was almost dizzying.

And then, as always, the guilt descended like a shroud. Each laugh felt like a betrayal. Every smile shared with Si-eun, Onjo, Bo-gum, and Joo-in was a smile stolen from the memories of Baek Suho and Yoo Seol. He was building a new life on the ashes of a promise he had broken. He was happy here, with this strange, wonderful, mismatched family he’d found in the depths of the earth.

And in the quiet of his own heart, he hated himself a little for it.