Chapter 149
Do-Jin froze with his chopsticks halfway to his mouth, not quite believing what he had just heard.
“What?”
“Someone donated a map item to you,” Chun Ji-Hyun repeated. “Here, if you agree to accept it, the Adventurers’ Guild will deliver it directly to you. Take a look.”
That’s the map! Do-Jin thought, excitement bubbling on the inside.
She handed him her phone. On the screen was a screenshot of a map item. The image showed the item’s information window and the location it marked. It was labeled as a Hidden-grade map, but beyond that, there was no additional information. It looked like the map had been made for one purpose only: to indicate a location and nothing more.
That part didn’t matter much, as most high-value maps looked like that anyway. What mattered was that it pointed to somewhere in the middle of the vast eastern sea of the Central Continent, the same location Do-Jin had been trying to track down. It was where the hidden dungeon Forge of the God had once been found.
That dungeon was infamous for being completely concealed. It remained undiscoverable without the map that served as both a guide and a key. A powerful barrier cloaked it, and massive sea monsters acted as its guardians.
The previous owner of the map had shared its coordinates after failing to clear it. Adventurers had flocked there in droves, and every single one of them had drowned. The Forge of the God Incident, where a cheaply auctioned map snowballed into a mass drowning, had become one of the most notorious disasters in the game’s history.
Why the hell did this come to me?
It was obvious this was the same map he had given up on finding earlier. But how did it end up here, sent not to someone else, but directly to him?
I mean, I get that the future’s bound to change since I’ve altered so much, but this level of coincidence is almost creepy.
As Do-Jin was staring silently at the screen, Chun Ji-Hyun noticed the look on his face.
“What’s wrong, Do-Jin? Is there a problem?”
“Nah, don’t worry about it. Though, can you tell who sent it?”
“Uh... I asked, but apparently it came in completely anonymously. Even when they passed it through the Adventurers’ Guild, the sender stayed hidden. The only thing in the email was a nickname, ‘S.’ They said they just wanted to stay an unnamed fan.”
That was way too suspicious. Sure, maybe there were fans out there rich or crazy enough to gift a Hidden-grade map. But this map was exactly the one that contained Forge of the God he had been trying to find.
It’s too deliberate to be coincidence, but calling it fate makes me sound like a paranoid idiot.
What made it even stranger was that the sender wasn’t some in-game NPC or hidden event trigger. It was a real person, a fan in the real world who had somehow managed to send him something that existed entirely inside LOST.
That was the part that really made his head spin. Having experienced something as absurdly miraculous as regression, Do-Jin could have brushed this off as just another coincidence. But ever since he had come back, he had worked relentlessly to alter the future in ways both small and large.
Fuck it. Whatever. I can’t force an answer out of a question that doesn’t have one.
This was why Do-Jin had never bothered reading too deeply into his regression. No matter how much he racked his brain, there would never be a clear explanation. So he decided to leave it alone until something eventually revealed itself.
Either way, my goal stays the same.
If it was coincidence, then fine. He would just accept the hidden-dungeon map as a lucky break. But if someone had intentionally sent it to him, then that was all the more reason to check it out.
Considering his second life as one long quest that had begun when he met the Sea Princess, Do-Jin thought there must’ve been something he was meant to do. Maybe the future she had tried and failed to reach through her endless regressions was now something he was supposed to build.
Hah... this is exactly why I hate thinking about this stuff.
One little map, and suddenly his thoughts were spiraling into tangled theories about fate and destiny. The more he thought about it, the more exhausting it became, and exhaustion only ever dragged down the quality of life.
“I’ll take it,” Do-Jin finally said, handing Ji-Hyun her phone back.
“Wait, nothing’s wrong, right?” she asked, still uneasy after seeing the serious look on his face a moment ago.
He gave her a relaxed smile, the same one he always wore. “Nothing’s wrong. I was just wondering what kind of dungeon it might be.”
Chun Ji-Hyun let out a long sigh of relief. “God, you had such a scary look I thought something had happened. Whatever dungeon it is, I’m sure it’ll be a walk in the park for you anyway.”
“It’s not that simple,” he said with a quiet chuckle.
“You’re so humble,” she teased, grinning in a way that reminded him uncomfortably of those fifty-something office managers who made the same smug face after cracking a bad joke.
Her grin only grew wider when his expression turned flat. “Alright then, I’ll have them send it to you right away?”
“Yeah.”
Finishing the rest of his meal, Do-Jin stood up from his seat. Whatever the reason this map had found its way to him, it didn’t matter. He had been given another shot at conquering the Forge of the God, and he intended to make the most of it.
***
Before preparing for the raid itself, Do-Jin had one major decision to make. Would he go solo, or form a party?
Handling everything himself had always been his preference. It was cleaner and more comfortable, with no one to slow him down or demand a share of the loot. But this time, things were different. There was almost no information available about Forge of the God.
The first team that had ever attempted it had failed right at the entrance. The key map had been destroyed in the process, and the dungeon had sunk into the depths of the abyss, leaving nothing behind to analyze. No one had ever made it far enough to leak any strategies or even small hints.
It’s another one of those one-shot dungeons. No retries, no second chances. Maybe I should play it safe this time.
It was probably the smarter move. After all, there was a reason he had raised those people so carefully. He jokingly referred to them as his slaves, but they were the most reliable allies he had.
The tanker and healer positions were already covered. Theresa had grown from a mediocre tank into a wall stronger than any pure tanker thanks to her relic shield. And even though Soso was an S-rank healer without a relic, she made up for it with the unique trait of being an only child from a rich family. Only someone that pampered could turn raw cash into actual in-game miracles.
Then there was Do-Jin himself, who had become practically a household name within the LOST community. Between the three of them, the front line was secure, and their damage potential was more than sufficient. Even so, he wanted an extra layer of stability for the upcoming run.
I should ask Tanto.
Do-Jin would have to check whether the guy was available as a mercenary, but he doubted that Tanto would turn down the offer. If he joined, three of their members would be in possession of four relics total. With that kind of lineup, calling them miniature Avengers wouldn’t even be an exaggeration.
Without wasting another second, Do-Jin opened his private chat window and sent Tanto a direct message.
***
Tanto woke to a sound he didn’t recognize.
Huh? What was that noise? Ah, it’s my phone.
The glow from the screen cut through the darkness of his tiny room. His half-closed eyes widened the instant he saw the name on the display.
Do-Jin? Tanto shot upright in bed. He blinked once, twice, then opened the message.
Do-Jin: Hello. I found a hidden dungeon and I think the difficulty’s going to be pretty high. I’m putting together a strong team and thought of you, so I wanted to ask if you’d be interested in joining as a mercenary. I’ll send details later.
The message was clean and to the point. He was planning to clear a hidden dungeon and was recruiting competent party members. Payment was guaranteed regardless of whether the dungeon clear succeeded. In return, he would take priority rights to the dungeon’s main rewards.
It was short and direct, almost too dry. But to a true fan like Tanto, the message itself was enough to make his heart race.
I knew grinding nonstop would pay off someday!
Overcome with excitement, he immediately started typing his reply.
“Of course! I’d join even without pay...” he mumbled along. “After everything you did for me during the World Boss Raid, I owe you that much. If someone like me can help—”
Tanto froze mid-sentence. He was getting carried away again. Taking a slow breath, he glanced around his cramped capsule apartment. It was a tiny box of white walls, a sleeping pod, and nothing else. It was cold and empty, but it grounded him. He deleted the overly eager message, word by word, then typed something simpler.
Tanto: I’m in.
Yup, that sounded more like him. Not the awkward outcast from before, but the version of himself who had built a place in another world. The version who could stand beside others without feeling out of place.
A notification pinged back almost immediately.
Do-Jin: Great. I’ll let you know once the schedule’s set. If the timing doesn’t work, we can adjust it, so just let me know. See you soon.
The short, polite message somehow steadied him. For a moment, Tanto just stared at the screen, the faint light reflecting off his expressionless face. Then, without a word, he set the phone aside and stepped into his capsule. The faint hum of the machine filled the quiet room as he lay down, his eyes closing with a calm he hadn’t felt in a long time.
***
The party was finally assembled, but Do-Jin’s work was far from over. Their destination lay out at sea, which meant he still needed one crucial thing: a ship. Recruiting party members was the easy part, but finding a captain willing to sail into the Fog Sea was another story entirely.
Unlike his party members, who had agreed to join without hesitation, the sailors all shook their heads the moment he mentioned the Fog Sea. More than half of them actually got angry, telling him to stop spewing bad luck and leave them alone.
“What? You want to go to the Fog Sea? Kid, are you suicidal? Look, I’m not here to judge your hobbies, but don’t drag me into them. I’d like to live long enough to see my granddaughter grow up.”
“I said no! I don’t care how much you pay. Money’s only worth something while you’re still breathing. What good is a fortune if I’m fish food? I’m not going anywhere near that cursed water, so get lost! Cough, ptooey!”
For several days, Do-Jin scoured the port city looking for a ship, but he came up empty-handed.
This is where the cliché’s supposed to kick in, he thought.
A grizzled old sailor with a tragic past, a washed-up gambler trying to pay off his debts, a veteran with a mysterious connection to the fog, or maybe a man with unfinished business out there. Any of those tropes would have worked, but sadly, there wasn’t a single melodramatic NPC in sight.
If I keep hunting for some stoic sea-dog grandpa, we’ll be stuck here for months.
With no ship and no leads, Do-Jin finally decided to change his plan.
“How much for a ship that can hold four people?” he asked.
If no one would take them, he would buy his own. He purchased a small but sturdy vessel, just large enough for the four of them to sail comfortably.
“Just get us near the Fog Sea,” he told the harbor guides. “Take us as far as where the mist starts, then turn back. That way, there’s no real danger for you.”
Of course, owning a ship didn’t make him a sailor. Without any navigation skills or ocean knowledge, they would be one bad decision away from starring in The Foolish Four: Lost at Sea.
So he hired another ship, a guide vessel, to lead them safely to the edge of the Fog Sea before returning. Once he explained that the crew could turn back after dropping them off, a few brave captains finally volunteered.
The problem’s going to be the return trip...
Well, he would figure that part out later. If they just sailed long enough in one direction, eventually they would hit land somewhere.
Worst case, I’ll start a livestream and broadcast an SOS, he thought, half amused and half serious.
