IFH - 2

Crushed by this grim reality, Baek Eun sank down right where she stood.

25 years ago, on the day of the Great Catalysm that struck Earth, 'gates' began appearing all over the planet.

Everyone was facing an unprecedented situation, so the initial response was inevitably delayed. As a result, the world's population was reduced by one-fifth.

It was because monsters poured out from the spaces within the gates, the 'dungeons.'

Most people were rendered powerless in the face of that terrible terror, but even in such circumstances, hope existed. At some point, Awakeners with various abilities began appearing like mushrooms after rain.

These Awakeners traversed the dungeons and restored stability to the world.

They announced their awakening by saying they had suddenly awakened while sleeping, or during monster subjugations, or while working.

Though rare, there were also cases of awakening through contracts with constellations. Usually, most people realized their awakening through system messages...

Yes. System messages.

That was precisely the problem.

You have entered the Primordial ■■.

Initiating eligibility assessment for 'Proxy of ■■.'

......Assessment in progress......

Assessment approved.

Access to the Primordial ■■ granted.

"Why is this showing up for me..."

And what are those black boxes? How am I supposed to know what this means when everything's blocked out like that!

She had read countless awakening accounts online, but this was the first time she'd seen anything like it.

Nowhere had she ever heard of messages being partially blocked, or receiving messages unrelated to awakening.

"Mom, Dad. Dan-a... please save me."

I'm trapped in a dungeon right now. I got swept up by a gate that appeared in our bathroom!

After taking one deep breath, Baek Eun muttered quietly.

"Status window."

Conditions not met. Unable to open status window.

"Why...?"

What conditions are needed for a status window... So does this mean I've awakened or not? Seeing system messages pop up, it seems like I definitely have awakened...

As despair set in and she looked around, her eyes—now adjusted to the darkness—caught something.

"Is that... a door?"

Are there dungeons with doors?

Though there was no one to answer, Baek Eun muttered habitually.

Should I wait here, or not? She didn't know what lay beyond that door. A terrible monster might tear her body to shreds.

But... time has stopped. Would anyone even come to rescue me?

After agonizing over it, she swallowed hard and slowly turned the doorknob. And then she was speechless.

"This is my house?"

If there was anything different, it was that bright sunlight was streaming in here instead of dawn light. Baek Eun checked where she had come out after opening the door.

"No wonder something felt familiar."

Just moments ago, she had been in a bathroom identical to her own. It was so dark inside that she hadn't recognized it, but even the number of toothbrushes was the same.

"...Could I be trapped in an illusion dungeon?"

She had heard illusion dungeons were elaborate, but not to this degree. Illusion dungeons were said to show people what they cherished most, driving them into panic.

Uneasy, Baek Eun flung open the door to Baek Dan's room just in case. But there was no one inside.

She hurried downstairs to check her parents' bedroom, but again, no one was there.

"The thing most precious to me is my house? I mean, that's true, but..."

Trying to overcome her fear through constant muttering, she suddenly froze mid-step on her way to the first-floor living room.

"......."

The country house where Baek Eun lived had one entire wall of the first floor made of glass, and what spread before her was a sight vastly different from what she usually saw.

She stood with her mouth agape at the spectacle before her eyes.

It was a world dyed entirely in green. In the distance, lush forests and a large lake at the center. On both sides, wide fields with gentle slopes stretched out.

There was no way Baek Eun's house could be that vast, with no end in sight. Normally, there should have been a tall wall at the end of the roughly 100-pyeong yard.

And the yard should have only had a stone path laid out sparsely...? Green? Forests and a lake?

The scenery before her now was something she had never seen in her life. She had heard illusion dungeons recalled people's memories exactly...

"What...? Could imagination be included in memories too?"

Before Baek Dan and her parents became Awakened, back when the whole family were ordinary people. In those poor days, buying expensive agricultural products was something they couldn't even dream of.

It couldn't be helped. After the Gate Era began, as the land became contaminated, the entire world faced the threat of starvation.

Fortunately, thanks to the quick action of the World Agriculture Organization, they were able to preserve uncontaminated soil.

But even preserved soil would become contaminated again if left to nature. As long as gates existed, nature could never return to its previous state.

For this reason, all agricultural produce began to be grown only in 'Agricultural Research Institutes' they established.

'And with their monopoly, prices were bound to skyrocket.'

Baek Eun had always begged her parents to buy vegetables like lettuce and carrots while looking at picture books, because she wanted to eat vegetables so badly.

But due to their difficult circumstances, her wishes were never easily granted.

For this reason, since she was young, Baek Eun had imagined every night about having land where crops could grow well.

"But uncontaminated land... Vegetables would grow well in a place like this."

Baek Eun muttered in a trembling voice. The landscape she had dreamed of since childhood was unfolding before her eyes.

If this place weren't a dungeon, it could easily pass as a resort.

"Wait. But is this really a dungeon?"

From what she'd heard, dungeons were lairs swarming with vicious monsters. But no matter how she looked, there wasn't a monster in sight?

"Let's go out for now."

Nodding to herself, Baek Eun carefully opened the front door and stepped outside.

How badly must she have wanted vegetables for this situation to appear even in an illusion dungeon? And despite the circumstances being what they were, she had even achieved the awakening she had so longed for.

Unlike Baek Dan, who had awakened early at age five, Baek Eun had been unable to awaken even at 24.

How her heart had ached watching her twin brother, ranked second in the country.

He was a top-ranker with handsome looks, more popular than most celebrities, and because of him, Baek Eun had always suffered.

People asking for his contact information was an everyday occurrence, and countless people approached her deliberately to get even crumbs of benefits.

But more than anything, what she truly couldn't endure was the hidden pity and comparison in countless gazes.

'She's just ordinary?'

'While Baek Dan risks his life to save the country, she just lives comfortably off the money he earns.'

'Because of her, Baek Dan can't even become independent and still lives with his family.'

When she was young, she had definitely been cheerful and lovely... But living in constant comparison, Baek Eun gradually became a cynical person.

She had stopped following her older brother around and imitating him at some point. The more she did so, the more intense people's comparisons and pitying gazes became.

"If I awaken now too, I can escape those gazes."

Thinking this, Baek Eun didn't feel so negative about her current situation. And somehow, no matter how much she looked around, she couldn't see any monsters.

Moreover, forests and fields! A lake!

This was all because of the gates. The miasma flowing from gates had caused the land to wither and die. In such a bleak situation, being able to see a place lush with greenery really felt like a dream.

"To think a place I've only seen in movies is right before my eyes."

Humming, a tune escaped her lips.

Looking around, the fields were so vast she couldn't even guess where they ended.

Breath caught in her throat at the endless expanse of greenery.

As she slowly walked through the unfamiliar scenery, a large fruit tree appeared before Baek Eun. It was bright red and plump, looking very similar to an apple.

"Whoa. Is this fruit?"

Fruit, said to be more precious than gold!

To eat a single apple, you had to pay 200,000 won at the Agricultural Research Institute. And no matter how much money you had, you couldn't buy all types of fruit.

Sales volumes were limited, and many fruits had gone extinct.

"Dungeon fruit... is it okay to eat?"

If people eat monster meat, fruit should be fine, right? There were many people who brought food from cleared dungeons because they had nothing to eat.

Besides, the fist-sized, bright red fruits hanging in clusters looked incredibly appetizing.

"Alright, I'll eat it. It's not like I'll die from eating."

Determined, Baek Eun stood on her tiptoes and reached for the tree. But no matter how she struggled, she couldn't reach the fruit.

"Ugh, if only I could reach just a little more!"

She wished Baek Dan was here with his tall height. Why did she have to be trapped in a dungeon alone!

Grumbling, Baek Eun plopped down.

"I'll eat it. I'm going to eat it."

Giving up on picking the fruit, Baek Eun began shaking the tree instead. Then thud, thud. The fruits began falling to the ground one by one.

Excited, Baek Eun picked the plumpest, shiniest fruit and rubbed it against her sleeve before taking a big bite immediately.

"Wow... this is insane. A literal taste of heaven."

A fresh, tangy flavor filled her mouth. It looked like an apple, but the moment she bit into it, fruit juice burst out with a texture similar to a tangerine.

However, the taste was on a completely different dimension from any other fruit she had ever eaten, a fantastical flavor.

'To think dungeon fruit could be this delicious...!'

Baek Eun quickly finished one fruit and immediately ate the rest that had fallen. Tears streamed down at the heavenly taste she had never experienced in her life.

"Ah, I'm really happy... If it's a dungeon like this, I'd welcome it anytime."

After spitting out the seeds, she lay down carelessly near the tree. The breeze was pleasant, the air was good, the scenery was beautiful, the fruit was delicious—it was pure paradise.

Just as Baek Eun was grinning, she caught something wriggling beside her head.

"What is this...?"

Startled, she jumped up to examine it closely, and saw that the seed she had casually spat out earlier was sprouting. The problem was that the speed was tremendously fast.

"...Do trees normally grow this quickly?"

No, that can't be. Then could it be...

"A monster?"

The moment the frozen Baek Eun muttered softly.

Congratulations!

Hidden condition completed. Lock released.

[Initiating awakening.]

Adding 'Novice Farmer' to traits.

Adding Seed Sowing (C) to skills.

Adding Growth Acceleration (D) to skills.

The constellation 'Judge of the Dead' shows interest in you.

The constellation 'Judge of the Dead' requests a constellation contract with you.

......?

What?