Do-Yoon stood in the middle of the street while holding his pouch of gold tightly.
The city was huge.
Way too huge.
Honestly, it felt like somebody built the city just to make people get lost.
Every road looked the same.
Every building looked important.
Every turn looked familiar.
Yet somehow—
Nothing looked familiar.
Do-Yoon scratched his head.
"...Where is the clothing shop?"
Silence.
Nobody answered.
A few people walked past him.
One person looked at him strangely because he was talking to himself.
Do-Yoon pretended nothing happened.
Then he started walking again.
Five minutes passed.
Ten minutes passed.
Fifteen minutes passed.
Still no clothing shop.
Do-Yoon sighed.
"This city is my enemy."
He turned another corner.
Nothing.
Another corner.
Nothing.
Another corner.
Still nothing.
Then suddenly—
An idea appeared in his head.
His eyes widened.
"...Wait."
"I can ask somebody."
For a moment Do-Yoon felt like the smartest person alive.
Then he remembered normal people would've thought of that immediately.
Still—
An idea was an idea.
He quickly walked toward a random man.
"Excuse me, sir."
The man looked at him.
"Yes?"
"Do you know where the clothing shop is?"
The man smiled.
"Oh, that's easy."
Do-Yoon immediately became happy.
Finally.
The man pointed somewhere.
"Turn left."
Do-Yoon nodded.
"Then turn right."
Another nod.
"Then go toward the nearby post office."
Still understandable.
"Then turn left."
Okay.
"You'll see a garbage truck."
Why was there a garbage truck involved?
"Look to the right of the garbage truck."
Uh-huh.
"Then walk straight for ten minutes."
The man smiled proudly.
"You'll arrive."
Silence.
Do-Yoon stared at him.
The man stared back.
Do-Yoon's brain started buffering.
Turn left.
Turn right.
Post office.
Turn left.
Garbage truck.
Look right.
Walk ten minutes.
His brain immediately started playing chess against itself.
"...I understood everything."
He did not.
Not even a little.
But he smiled anyway.
"Thank you."
The man nodded proudly.
Then Do-Yoon left.
One hour later.
"...This isn't it."
Another thirty minutes passed.
"...Still not it."
Another thirty minutes passed.
"...I think I saw that same cat before."
At this point he wasn't even walking anymore.
His body was moving automatically.
His soul had already left.
The sun slowly disappeared.
Night arrived.
The city lights lit up the streets.
Do-Yoon continued searching.
Then night slowly turned into morning.
The sky became brighter.
Birds started making sounds.
Do-Yoon no longer remembered what happiness felt like.
Then—
He saw it.
A sign.
CLOTHING SHOP.
Silence.
Do-Yoon froze.
"...I found it."
Tears almost appeared in his eyes.
Not because he was emotional.
Because he survived.
Slowly he walked inside.
The shop owner smiled.
"Welcome."
Do-Yoon immediately pointed at himself.
"I need clothes."
The shop owner nodded.
"A good decision."
A few moments later, many different outfits were displayed.
Blue shirts.
White shirts.
Red shirts.
Fancy coats.
Expensive-looking clothes.
Elegant robes.
Even armor.
Do-Yoon looked through everything.
Then his eyes stopped.
Black shirt.
Black pants.
Simple.
Clean.
Cool.
His eyes sparkled.
"...Perfect."
The shop owner smiled.
"Good choice."
Five minutes later—
Do-Yoon bought them immediately.
No hesitation.
No second thoughts.
Black clothes looked cool.
That was enough.
After leaving the shop—
A new problem appeared.
"...Wait."
"Where's home?"
Silence.
Do-Yoon slowly looked around.
Then around again.
Then around once more.
"...You've got to be kidding me."
The city clearly hated him.
Three hours later—
After getting lost multiple times.
After asking strangers.
After accidentally entering the wrong district.
After questioning his existence.
He finally found the academy.
The moment he entered his room—
He nearly collapsed.
"...I'm alive."
A few moments later he forced himself to stand.
Then immediately rushed toward the bathroom.
The warm water felt amazing.
All the dirt disappeared.
All the sweat disappeared.
The horrible smell disappeared.
Everything felt better.
When he finally wore his new clothes—
He stood in front of the mirror.
Black shirt.
Black pants.
Red hair.
He nodded proudly.
"...Now that's cool."
For the first time since arriving in this world—
He actually looked like somebody important.
At least in his imagination.
Then he looked at his gold pouch.
He counted carefully.
"...Seventy-five gold left."
His eyes widened.
He still had money.
Then suddenly—
Something felt wrong.
Like he forgot something important.
Do-Yoon sat on his bed.
Thinking.
Thinking.
Thinking.
Then—
His eyes widened.
"CAPE."
Of course.
Fantasy heroes needed capes.
That was common knowledge.
Without a cape nobody would know he was cool.
Do-Yoon immediately stood up.
"I need one."
After another painful journey through the city—
Do-Yoon finally found an item shop.
The city once again proved it enjoyed making him suffer.
When he entered—
His eyes widened.
The place was full of magical items.
Magic rings.
Magic necklaces.
Magic staffs.
Magic swords.
Magic armor.
Everything looked expensive.
Everything looked powerful.
Everything looked cool.
Do-Yoon immediately approached a worker.
"Do you sell capes?"
The worker nodded.
"Of course."
Soon many capes were shown.
Blue capes.
White capes.
Golden capes.
Royal capes.
Then—
Do-Yoon saw it.
A black cape.
Old.
Scratched.
Several small holes.
Worn out.
But somehow—
It looked incredibly cool.
His eyes instantly locked onto it.
"That one."
The worker smiled.
"Excellent choice."
"How much?"
"Seventy gold."
Silence.
Do-Yoon had absolutely no understanding of money here.
For all he knew, seventy gold could be cheap.
Or expensive.
But the cape looked cool.
That was the important part.
"I'll buy it."
The worker's smile somehow became bigger.
A little too big.
But Do-Yoon didn't notice.
A few moments later—
He left wearing the black cape proudly.
The wind moved it slightly behind him.
Do-Yoon smiled.
"...Now I'm definitely a protagonist."
Then suddenly—
Another thought appeared.
Weapon.
He stopped walking.
"...Wait."
He needed a weapon.
Then he remembered Blood Rush.
The mysterious skill.
His hand could literally become a weapon.
His eyes widened.
"...Never mind."
Problem solved.
This time finding home only took thirty minutes.
Which was basically teleportation compared to before.
After returning—
He sat on his bed quietly.
The entrance exam.
The academy.
Mrantor.
Everything came back into his mind.
He needed strength.
A lot more strength.
Then suddenly—
He remembered something.
Quests.
More quests meant more money.
More experience.
More power.
Do-Yoon immediately stood up.
"...Adventure time."
Then he remembered something else.
Mrantor.
Silence.
His face turned pale.
"...I missed training."
For a moment he imagined Mrantor finding him.
Then imagined himself dying.
Then imagined himself dying again.
"...Future me can deal with that."
And just like that—
He ignored the problem completely.
Soon he arrived at the Mirror Cemestors.
Drain was still sitting behind his desk.
The moment Do-Yoon entered—
Nobody recognized him.
Because he was wearing the same mask again.
Drain looked up.
"Yes?"
Do-Yoon walked toward him confidently.
"I need a quest."
Drain nodded calmly.
Then started looking through papers.
After a few moments—
He placed one paper onto the desk.
"Urban-ranked dungeon."
Do-Yoon tilted his head.
"Urban?"
"The third lowest rank."
Do-Yoon smiled immediately.
Perfect.
Not too hard.
Not too easy.
"I'll take it."
Drain nodded.
Then handed him another teleportation stone.
Do-Yoon stared at it.
The stone stared back.
Their rivalry had returned.
Do-Yoon squeezed it.
Nothing happened.
One minute passed.
Nothing.
Another minute passed.
Still nothing.
"...Why are rocks my greatest enemy?"
Finally—
CRACK.
The stone broke.
Blue light instantly surrounded him.
And the world disappeared.
A moment later—
Do-Yoon opened his eyes.
Then froze.
"...Huh?"
This wasn't a cave.
Not even close.
Snow covered everything.
Huge white trees stretched endlessly into the distance.
Cold wind moved through the forest.
The sky was gray.
The air felt freezing.
Do-Yoon blinked.
"...Urban dungeons are weird."
He looked around.
Then smiled.
"Looks beautiful."
Without worrying too much—
He started walking deeper into the snowy forest.
Meanwhile—
Back at the Mirror Cemestors.
Drain was organizing documents calmly.
Then suddenly—
He felt something strange.
His eyes moved toward the broken teleportation stone pieces.
"...?"
The fragments were glowing.
Drain frowned.
The color slowly changed.
Blue.
Purple.
Red.
Then darker.
And darker.
Until the fragments became a deep crimson color.
Drain immediately stood up.
His chair nearly fell over.
"...Impossible."
His calm expression disappeared.
A cold feeling ran down his spine.
He quickly picked up one fragment.
His hands trembled slightly.
This color only appeared when a dungeon's actual rank was far beyond its recorded rank.
Far beyond Urban.
Far beyond Kaizu.
Far beyond Zentornt.
The Player who entered that dungeon—
Had unknowingly entered something monstrous.
Drain immediately grabbed a communication crystal.
His voice became serious.
"Emergency."
Everyone nearby froze.
Because Drain almost never sounded like that.
"I need all available support teams immediately."
People around him became confused.
"What happened?"
Drain looked at the crimson fragments.
His face became pale.
"A Player entered the wrong dungeon."
Silence filled the room.
Meanwhile—
Far away in the endless snowy forest—
Do-Yoon walked happily through the snow.
His black cape moved behind him.
His hands rested behind his head.
He looked completely relaxed.
"...This quest is easy."
And somewhere deep within the frozen forest—
Something opened its eyes.
Something ancient.
Something enormous.
Something that should never have been inside an Urban-ranked dungeon.
But Do-Yoon didn't know that.
He kept smiling as he walked deeper into the snow.
Unaware that an entire rescue team was already being gathered because of him.