Seo-jun was reading an online article. More precisely, it was an article by Lee Mun-ik.

He chuckled as soon as he saw the title.

The article was simple. It stated that strange occurrences kept happening in the 12-Q dungeon.

Guards on duty would suddenly collapse, CCTV cameras that worked fine would go blank at crucial moments, and afterward, the dungeon would be cleared.

It was the kind of thing that piqued the curiosity of netizens. After all, the 12-Q dungeon wasn’t just any dungeon—it belonged to the Demon King, Kim Cheol-jun.

Perhaps because of that, the comment section was exploding.

Some said it was just a coincidence, others claimed it was the work of ghosts. Some accused the journalist of exaggeration, while a few even theorized it was a government experiment.

For Seo-jun, who was the actual culprit behind the mystery, the whole situation was a bit awkward.

“What are you looking at so intently?”

Park Yeon had approached him, likely because his drama had ended.

“An article.”

“The mystery of the 12-Q dungeon? That’s the pigsty, right?”

“That’s right.”

“They’ll write about anything these days.”

“Well, the strange occurrences are real.”

“Speaking of which, when are you going to teach me?”

Seo-jun closed the webpage and asked back, “Teach you what?”

“That machine. No, the computer.”

“Later.”

“That ‘later’ has already been several weeks.”

“Didn’t you once say you didn’t like the idea of learning anything from the Demon King? That’s how I remember it.”

“That… That was!”

Seo-jun folded his arms and waited to see what answer would come out of the hero’s mouth.

“...I don’t remember.”

“I remember, though.”

“I don’t.”

“Hmm. Then I’ll teach you later.”

“When exactly?!”

“A few months from now?”

“A—A few months? Then at least teach me how to use a phone! I’ll even buy one myself if I have to!”

…Park Yeon immediately regretted saying that.

He had no money.

Luckily, the Demon King didn’t seem to care about that part.

“Even if you get a phone, who would you even call?”

At that moment, Park Yeon chuckled.

“I’ll have someone to call soon enough.”

…Did he find another poor soul like Lee Ra-hee? That poor person.

Shaking his head, Seo-jun asked, “As long as it’s just for calls, right?”

“Yeah. Just calls.”

In truth, the reason Seo-jun hadn’t taught Park Yeon how to use computers or smartphones was because of their addictive nature.

Park Yeon was already obsessed with TV. If he got his hands on a computer or a smartphone?

He’d probably do nothing but use them all day.

But if it was just for making calls…

“A feature phone should be fine.”

“Feature phone? It can make calls, right? And send texts?”

“Yeah.”

No KakaoTalk, though.

Seo-jun didn’t bother mentioning that part. It wasn’t like Park Yeon had many people to message anyway.

“Hehehe.”

Park Yeon let out a satisfied chuckle and walked off.

Seo-jun glanced at the clock. It was 1 PM. A drama from another network was about to start.

‘Thanks to Park Yeon, I even know the TV schedule now.’

Kang! Kang! Kang!

Hearing Yeoksam barking, Seo-jun looked down to see the little creature holding its food bowl.

Oh no!

“I forgot! Sorry, I’ll get it right away.”

Kang! Kang!

Seo-jun hurried to prepare Yeoksam’s food.

Even though it looked like a puppy, Yeoksam wasn’t actually a dog. But for some reason, it liked eating dog food.

Schrrrk!

As soon as Seo-jun poured food into the bowl, Yeoksam began eating ravenously.

After finishing its meal, it quickly waddled out of the store on its short legs.

Seo-jun watched it go.

Normally, he would have stopped a pet from leaving, but Yeoksam wasn’t an ordinary pet.

Besides, ever since Seo-woo started attending daycare, Yeoksam had seemed lonelier than usual.

‘Even though it used to find Seo-woo annoying when he followed it around.’

Chuckling, Seo-jun returned to the kitchen to prep ingredients.

Once he finished, he went to a phone store. Since he was getting one phone anyway, he decided to get two.

One for Park Yeon.

The other for Doo-shik.

After leaving the store, Yeoksam roamed the familiar streets. It eventually stopped at a specific spot.

A skewer shop specializing in charcoal-grilled skewers.

Kang!

At its bark, a human appeared.

“You’re back again?”

Kang! Kang!

“Alright, alright. Wait a second.”

Before long, a juicy piece of chicken was placed before it. Yeoksam devoured it hungrily.

“Man, you eat so well.”

Kang! Kang!

Yeoksam then toddled off again. This time, it stopped at a fire station.

Kang! Kang! Kang! Kang!

Humans! Come out at once!

“Oh? Yeoksam’s back again.”

“Yeoksam?”

“The mascot of ‘One Drink.’”

“Oh… That thing? It comes by often?”

“Almost every day. Always asking for food.”

“Doesn’t the restaurant owner feed it?”

“Are you kidding? I saw its food bowl once—it was practically the size of a washbasin.”

“So it just eats a lot?”

Kang! Kang! Kang!

Enough nonsense! Give me food!

“Let’s see… Do we have anything to give it?”

“We still have some leftover spam, right?”

“Can it eat that?”

“The restaurant owner said it’s a mutt, so it can eat anything.”

Kang! Kang! Kang! Kang! Kang!

“A mutt?”

Kang! Kang! Kang!

“Yeah. He said mutts are naturally mixed breeds, so their genetics are superior. They’re healthier and smarter than other dogs.”

“Then let’s give it some.”

Kang! Kang!

Hand it over, human!

The firefighter cut the spam into bite-sized pieces and gave it to Yeoksam. It gobbled them up instantly, making the firefighter suck in a breath.

“Wow, it really eats well.”

At that moment—

Wiiiiiing!

The siren blared.

The firefighters who had been feeding Yeoksam quickly suited up.

“See you at the shop next time.”

Then they rushed off in their fire truck.

Yeoksam scratched its neck with its back leg as it watched them leave. Then, it set off toward its next destination.

Hwang Tae-su was dumbfounded.

“Try calling again.”

At Park Yeon's words, Hwang Tae-su signaled to Hyung-geon with his eyes. Go Hyung-geon then made a call somewhere.

Ring, ring, ring—

“Hello?”

“…….”

“Say something.”

“Yes.”

“Can you hear me well?”

“I can hear you well.”

Park Yeon chuckled. He couldn't hold back the laughter that kept escaping. He finally had a mobile phone.

In fact, every time he saw this mysterious device in dramas, he had always wanted one.

How amazing was it?

Even from the opposite side of the world, people could hear each other’s voices as if through a magical crystal ball.

However, that despicable and wicked Demon King had kept delaying it.

‘He must have wanted to see me die of frustration while waiting.’

But there was no way that would happen. After a long wait, he had finally gotten his hands on a mobile phone.

It was still utterly fascinating.

Click—!

“Call again.”

Hwang Tae-su once more signaled to Go Hyung-geon. Go Hyung-geon had a look on his face that seemed to say, "Why on earth am I doing this?"

“Hurry up.”

At Hwang Tae-su’s urging, Go Hyung-geon scowled and dialed again.

Ring, ring, ring—

“Hello?”

“Yes.”

“Say something.”

“I'm speaking.”

“Then can you hear me well?”

“……I can hear you too well.”

Click—

Park Yeon hung up and stepped outside.

“This time, I'll try from a farther distance. Call me again in about 30 seconds.”

Go Hyung-geon reluctantly nodded, and Park Yeon headed to an empty restroom and cast a teleportation spell.

A moment later, he arrived far from District 12, at Gyeongbokgung Palace.

Ring, ring, ring—

“Hello?”

“Yes.”

“Can you hear me well from there too?”

“I can hear you just fine.”

“Even from this far away?”

“Yes, yes. I can hear you perfectly.”

“Got it. Thank you.”

“Are you leaving now?”

“Yes.”

“Alright, then I’ll hang up.”

Click—

Go Hyung-geon pressed the call end button.

“He really acts like it's his first time using a phone, doesn’t he?”

“Whatever. Don’t mind it. Next time I come by, take turns with Si-hyeon to call me.”

“Huh? You mean I have to do this again?”

Smack!

“Just do it, you bastard.”

“……Yes.”

After leaving Gyeongbokgung, Park Yeon headed toward the place where the true goddess resided.

Thump, thump—

The closer he got, the harder his heart pounded.

It was strange.

He was a transcendent being who had mastered control over his own body. Even though he had suffered repeated defeats at the hands of the Demon King, there was a reason he had been called the Guardian of the Continent.

That meant he could even control his heartbeat.

And yet, when he thought of the true goddess, it wasn’t so easy.

‘Is this an aftereffect of my long years of training…?’

Park Yeon had grown up in a temple since childhood. He wasn’t a monk, but since he had lived among priests, he had naturally undergone training.

That had remained the same even after becoming a Hero. Rather, because he was a Hero, he had no choice but to live an even more disciplined life.

'Because I was the hope of the people.'

Maybe that was the reason?

Park Yeon guessed.

A short while later, he arrived at the convenience store.

He reached for the door but… couldn’t open it.

‘Huff, why am I so nervous? In dramas, they do this so easily.’

He took a few deep breaths. His nervousness subsided slightly.

Then, he reviewed what he had to do in his mind.

Start with step one, then naturally move on to step two, and from step two, transition smoothly into step three.

'Good.'

Summoning his courage, Park Yeon opened the convenience store door and stepped inside.

The true goddess greeted him with a bright smile.

“You're back again?”

“Y-yes, th-that’s r-right.”

“Your way of speaking is still the same. Heh.”

……Heh?

……Heeeeh?!

His plan had a problem.

He had already factored in that the true goddess was beautiful. But he hadn't anticipated that she would also be… cute.

Heh, she said!

Park Yeon pinched his thigh.

That wasn’t enough, so he unleashed a surge of ether within himself. The extreme pain made his blood surge backward.

‘I can’t… I can’t back down now, Park Yeon!’

Bolstering his resolve, he headed to the refrigerator and, as always, picked the cheapest bottle of water.

‘My feet… my feet won’t move!’

He needed to walk to the counter. But his feet wouldn’t budge.

She was undoubtedly a true goddess.

Unable to step forward, Park Yeon ultimately resorted to casting a levitation spell. He floated about 1cm above the ground.

In that state, he drifted toward the counter.

“Are you out jogging or something?”

“Huh?”

“You’re always sweating when you come in. And you always just buy water.”

“Y-yes, th-that’s r-right. I-I jog.”

“That’ll be 3,000 won.”

As she smiled sweetly, Park Yeon shut his eyes tight. Then, he shouted.

“G-g-give me y-your n-number!”

“Excuse me?”

“Y-your… n-number! Your p-phone number!”

She chuckled and gave him her number.

With joy in his heart, Park Yeon left the store.

‘Oh, true goddess…!’

AM 12:00

At the chime of the desk clock, Kim Na-hee let out a sigh.

“Why isn’t he coming?”

The strange customer who often visited the convenience store.

In truth, when that strange man had asked for her number, Kim Na-hee had felt a flutter of excitement.

She had always found him quite appealing. He was tall, had broad shoulders, and was good-looking.

The only drawback was his old-fashioned way of speaking… but aside from that, he seemed perfect in every way.

That’s why she had willingly given him her number.

‘This is the first time…’

She had been asked for her number many times before. But not once had she ever given it out.

Because the world was a dangerous place.

And yet, this time, she had taken the risk.

But there was no contact from him. She kept refreshing her KakaoTalk, but no newly registered friend appeared.

‘Did he memorize the number wrong? I was planning to quit after working at the convenience store until tomorrow…’

Just as she let out another sigh—

Beep—

A message alert popped up, and she glanced at the screen. Her face immediately twisted into a scowl.

It had come again.

The weird messages that had been arriving since earlier.

[Daㅇㅅㅣsㅇmㄴ ㅈ ᅟᅵᆫ wd한 ㅇutlㄴ잇lㅇㅗㅗㅗㅗㅗㅗㅗㅗ]

‘This is creepy.’

In the end, she couldn't stand it any longer and pressed the block button.