Chapter 5

Suho stared at Beru in disbelief.

“After that wistful goodbye, you couldn't even go back?”

[“In truth, the journey to Earth was long and perilous. Countless enemies barred my path, and tearing them all to pieces left me without the strength to return... Ahem.”]

Beru offered the excuse with an embarrassed look.

[“Had my liege been nearby, my power would have replenished in an instant. I failed to anticipate that he would be too far away for me to recharge here.”]

“...”

Suho stared silently at Beru for a moment. He said he had run out of power, but compared to his magnificent entrance at the museum, he had shrunk to an absurd degree.

'He looks like a stuffed toy.'

Suho picked him up with one hand.

[“Skree?”]

Miniature Beru dangled from his hand, so light he might have been a prize from a claw machine. Still hanging there, he continued chattering away.

[“I do not know whether your memories have returned, Young Monarch, but you are the sole heir of the great and all-powerful Shadow Monarch.”]

“The Shadow Monarch? Who's that?”

[“Sung Jinwoo. Your father.”]

“My father?”

[“Indeed!”]

For a moment, Suho doubted his ears.

“My father? You mean my father who left home?”

[“He did not leave home. He left for space.”]

“...?”

How had this suddenly escalated to outer space?

As Suho struggled to find a response, Beru suddenly spread both arms with a solemn expression.

[“To put it simply...”]

WHOOOOSH!

[“A great war is currently being fought in space.”]

Shadows rippled from Beru's hands, themselves composed of black energy, forming an illusion. The shadowy image became countless soldiers the size of fingernails, charged by an even greater number of monsters.

At their center stood a man blazing with an especially powerful aura.

Fingernail-sized, of course.

[“Your great father, Lord Sung Jinwoo, is commanding this war.”]

As he spoke, Beru pointed to the enemies that “Sung Jinwoo” was holding back.

[“And these creatures are the minions of the Itarim, who have come to devour our entire world.”]

“The Itarim?”

[“The Itarim are gods of the outer universe, far from Earth.”]

With a solemn expression, Beru kept going on about how vicious and relentless these Itarim were. Most of it was simply abuse, but the gist was that they were enemies who had come to invade Earth.

“So the Itarim are the reason magic beasts started pouring out of Gates two years ago?”

Listening to the explanation left Suho feeling strange.

Both his parents were missing. He had filed a missing persons report long ago, but the police had never found so much as a lead. No trace of them had turned up, as if they had vanished from the face of the earth, and he had been living in a state of half resignation.

And now, out of nowhere, he learned his father was in space?

It was hard to believe, but a talking stuffed toy—no, a talking ant—standing right in front of him was already unreal enough. Then again, in a world with dungeons and magic beasts, adding outer space to the mix was hardly any more astonishing.

A question suddenly occurred to Suho.

“Then what about Mom? Did she go to space with him?”

[“Skree? No?”]

Beru looked bewildered.

“What? She didn't?”

[“No, she did not. Has Lady Haein gone somewhere?”]

Suho's expression stiffened at Beru's reaction.

“Mom disappeared the same day Dad did, so I assumed they were together...?”

[“Skreeee?! Lady Haein is missing? Since when? Where did she go?”]

Only now did Beru leap up in horrified surprise.

“How would I know...”

Suho let out a quiet sigh.

* * *

Beru had flown to Earth from the outer universe, where the war against the Itarim was being fought. The journey truly had been perilous; he had not been exaggerating. The enemy was not so feeble that it would simply stand by and watch an opposing commander leave the battlefield alone.

After barely fighting his way through that enormous force to reach Earth, he had discovered that Sung Jinwoo's wife, Cha Haein, was nowhere to be found.

Beru was deeply shocked.

[“Skree! We must find Lady Haein immediately!”]

“And where would we look?”

[“It is obvious who would do such a thing! The Itarim! Their apostles on Earth must have laid a wicked trap for Lady Haein!”]

Suho's mother, Cha Haein, had the Shadow Monarch's protection. Ordinary circumstances could hardly put her in danger.

If something had happened to her despite that, a force on par with the Shadow Monarch must surely have been involved.

Despite Beru's fuss, Suho somehow wasn't terribly worried about his mother. Of course, he had been deeply worried when she first disappeared, but the revelation of his father's identity had been such a shock that he could no longer see his mother as an ordinary human either.

“Come to think of it, I've never seen Mom flustered. Not once.”

She had married his father knowing perfectly well what he was. What could possibly surprise her?

[“No, that was because raising a child was so exhausting...”]

Beru muttered something beside him, but Suho didn't hear it.

In any case, the Cha Haein he remembered was always composed and unshakable, a person of quiet strength. Perhaps that was why. It might have been no more than blind faith, but he couldn't imagine anyone putting his mother in danger.

Quite apart from that, however, it was an enormous relief to finally have a clue to his parents' baffling disappearance.

“Beru, what do I need to do to find Mom?”

Still dangling from Suho's hand, Beru answered emphatically.

[“Why, become stronger as quickly as possible, of course!”]

“Stronger?”

[“Yes! The war will prevent my liege from coming to Earth for some time. You are the only one who can save Lady Haein, Young Monarch, but you are not merely weak at present. You are weaker than an ant larva!”]

“An a-ant larva...?”

That hurt a little.

Unconcerned, Beru dispelled all the shadow illusions he had conjured in midair, slipped free of Suho's hand, and flitted upward. Then he pointed sharply at Suho's feet.

[“So, let us level up.”]

DING!

[A quest has arrived.]

At that moment, a message window appeared before Suho.

[Quest: Trial of Shadows]

Sung Suho, you are the son of the great Shadow Monarch.

However, all your innate talents are currently sealed.

To bear that great power, you must prove yourself worthy.

Enter the Shadow Dungeon and prove your worth.

“The Shadow Dungeon?”

The moment Suho saw the quest window before him, he remembered the Key to the Shadow Dungeon that Beru had given him in his dream.

[“The Shadow Dungeon is the 'realm of rest' bestowed upon you, Young Monarch. It is a land of the dead where the living may not set foot without its master's permission. Open your inventory.”]

At those words, Suho focused, and a translucent window opened before him.

[Inventory]

Key to the Shadow Dungeon (Unidentified)

'There's even an inventory? This really does feel like a game.'

Once again, he marveled at it. His adolescent dreams had supposedly been a tutorial, and now all these features straight out of a real game had been added.

Suho reached out and took out the key. An information window appeared above it.

[Item: Key to the Shadow Dungeon]

Acquisition Difficulty: ??

Type: Key

A key that allows you to travel to the Shadow Dungeon.

Can be used on Sung Suho's shadow.

'I can use it on my shadow?'

Following the description, Suho looked down at his feet. He knelt on one knee and gently brought the tip of the key to his shadow. Astonishingly, it slid right inside.

Beru's eyes flashed.

[“Now! Go inside and claim all the power that should rightfully have been yours, Young Monarch.”]

“Hold on.”

Suho pulled the key back out and hurried to change first. He stripped off the loose hospital gown and slippers, found his own clothes, and put them on before tying his shoelaces tight.

When he looked down at his shadow again, determination shone in his eyes.

“All right. Let's go.”

[“Skree! Let us go! I shall assist you at your side! Though I have no strength left!”]

That wasn't very reassuring.

Suho thrust the key into his shadow again.

CLICK.

[Would you like to enter the Shadow Dungeon?] (Y/N)

“... I'll enter.”

WHOOOOSH!

The instant he answered, Suho's shadow spread in every direction. It began swallowing everything in sight indiscriminately—the walls, the ceiling, and beyond them, the entire hospital building.

[You have entered the Shadow Dungeon.]

Before he knew it, Suho had arrived in a monochrome world overlaid with shadows.

'Where am I?'

A hushed stillness, devoid of any human presence.

A dense forest washed in black and white awaited him. No, more precisely, it was a ruined city that had turned into a forest. Moss and vines completely covered the outer walls of the towering buildings.

Suho suddenly remembered a book he had read as a child.

'What was the title... A World Without Humans?'

It had been a documentary account of Earth's so-called self-cleansing process. In short, it explained that when cities were left untended for long enough, grass and trees would grow, tearing down all the buildings until the cities became forests.

Just like this place.

'It also feels like a field contaminated by mana.'

Amid the silence, Beru, who had followed Suho inside, flitted upward and snapped a salute.

[“Welcome to the Shadow Dungeon!”]

“This is the Shadow Dungeon?”

Looking around, Suho felt strange, as if he had stepped into an old horror movie.

'... Then why does it feel so familiar?'

No one could retain clear memories of infancy. But the emotions and atmosphere of those days tended to linger deep in the heart, even into adulthood.

This monochrome world, which others might have found deeply ominous, felt to Suho as warm and comforting as his mother's embrace.

Then it happened.

His hair stood on end.

'Killing intent?!'

His Perception stat sent out a warning.

WHOOSH!

An axe came flying at him from behind.

[“Eek! The trial has begun! Dodge!”]

Hearing Beru's urgent shout, Suho immediately twisted around and delivered a spinning kick.

THWACK!

“Gack!”

Struck by Suho's kick, a monster went tumbling ignominiously across the ground. Like Beru, it had a name tag floating above its head.

[Goblin Scout]

“Kikik!”

It was a hideous, green-skinned monster about a meter tall.

'A scout?'

The moment he read its name, Suho went on high alert.

'If it's a scout, there might be more nearby!'

He had already fought countless battles in his adolescent dreams. The survival instincts engraved in him back then drove his body into motion.

'I have to kill it before it calls the others!'

Suho lunged before the creature could even get up.

[“Skree! Fighting barehanded is dangerous! Goblins may be weak magic beasts, but you are even weaker right now, Young Monarch!”]

“I know!”

THWACK!

Retorting to Beru, Suho struck the back of the goblin scout's hand, knocking the axe from its grip.

[“Ahh! Well done! Very well done!”]

Beru flew overhead, clapping vigorously.

'Ugh, he's loud.'

Suho snatched up the axe.

[You have acquired Item: Imp's Stone Axe.]

The instant his hand closed around the handle, he swung.

CRUNCH!

[“Gack!”]

[You have defeated a Goblin Scout.]

Suho had severed the goblin's neck in a single stroke, but there was no time to catch his breath.

WHIZZ!

A chilling sound of rushing air came from behind him.

'It did have others with it!'

An arrow sliced through the air toward him. Instinctively, Suho reached out.

'Ruler's Authority!'

An invisible hand shot out from Suho's outstretched hand and caught the incoming arrow.

[“Skreeee! Could that power be...!”]

Looking at the arrow frozen in midair, Beru could scarcely contain his joy.

[“That is our Young Monarch! You have finally awakened the power you had as an infant!”]

Beru recalled Suho's infancy, when he had walked through the air.