Chapter 5
Suho stared at Beru with a dumbfounded expression.
“So after giving me such an emotional farewell… you just couldn’t go back?”
“The truth is… the journey from the battlefield to Earth was unimaginably long and perilous. Countless enemies tried to stop me along the way, and I had to tear every last one of them apart. By the time I arrived… I had exhausted nearly all my strength. Ahem.”
Beru awkwardly scratched the back of his head.
“Had my liege been by my side, my power would have been restored in an instant. However, I never imagined that His Majesty would be so far away that recharging my mana would become impossible.”
“…”
Suho silently looked Beru over.
He claimed he had run out of strength…
Compared to the majestic figure that had appeared in the museum, he had become absurdly tiny.
He looks like a stuffed toy.
Suho picked Beru up with one hand.
“Kkiek?!”
The miniature Beru dangled helplessly from Suho’s fingers.
He was so light that he felt like one of those plush prizes from an arcade claw machine.
Even while hanging there, Beru continued talking nonstop.
“I do not know how much of your memory has returned, but Your Young Majesty is the one and only heir to the great and omnipotent Shadow Monarch.”
“The Shadow Monarch? Who’s that?”
“Sung Jinwoo. Your father, Your Young Majesty.”
“…My father?”
“Indeed!”
For a moment, Suho wondered if he had misheard.
“My father? You mean the father who disappeared from home?”
“He did not leave home.”
“He left for outer space.”
“…?”
Outer space?
The scale of the story had escalated so suddenly that Suho had no idea how to react.
Beru suddenly spread both arms with a solemn expression.
“Allow me to explain briefly.”
Swaaaaa—
Dark energy flowed from Beru’s hands.
The shadows rippled…
forming countless tiny illusions.
The shadow images transformed into armies no bigger than fingernails.
Then…
an even greater horde of monsters charged toward them.
At the very center…
stood a lone man whose aura blazed brighter than anything else.
Though…
he was also only fingernail-sized.
“This war is being commanded by your great father…”
“Lord Sung Jinwoo.”
As he spoke, Beru pointed toward the countless enemies surrounding Sung Jinwoo.
“And those creatures…”
“are the servants of the Itarim, who seek to devour our entire world.”
“The Itarim?”
“The Itarim are gods from the Outer Universe, far beyond Earth.”
Beru continued his explanation with utmost seriousness.
He spent quite some time describing just how cruel…
how relentless…
and how detestable the Itarim were.
Most of it sounded more like insults than actual information…
but the conclusion was simple.
They were the enemy invading Earth.
“So you’re saying…”
“The magical beasts pouring out of the Gates over the past two years…”
“were all because of the Itarim?”
Listening to Beru’s explanation…
Suho felt strangely conflicted.
Both of his parents had been missing.
A missing-person report had been filed years ago…
yet the police had never discovered even the slightest clue.
It was as if they had simply vanished from existence.
He had long since forced himself to accept that reality.
And now…
he was suddenly being told…
they had been in outer space all this time?
It was difficult to believe.
Yet…
the talking ant hanging from his hand…
was already proof enough that reality had become absurd.
Then again…
this was already a world where Dungeons and magical beasts existed.
Adding outer space to the list wasn’t actually that shocking anymore.
Suho suddenly asked,
“What about my mother?”
“Did she go into space with him too?”
“Kkiek? No?”
Beru looked genuinely confused.
“What?”
“No?”
“Correct. She didn’t.”
“Where did Lady Hae-In go?”
The moment Beru asked…
Suho’s expression stiffened.
“My mother disappeared on the same day my father vanished.”
“I naturally assumed they were together…”
“K-KKIEEEEK?!”
“Lady Hae-In disappeared?!”
“When?! Where?!”
Only now did Beru realize the situation.
He jumped into the air in utter panic.
“I wouldn’t know…”
Suho let out a quiet sigh.
* * *
The journey Beru had made…
from the battlefield of the Outer Universe…
all the way to Earth…
had truly been as difficult as he claimed.
The enemy would never simply allow one of their strongest commanders to leave the battlefield unchallenged.
Only after fighting through countless armies…
had Beru barely managed to reach Earth.
Yet…
upon finally arriving…
he learned that Cha Hae-In—
the wife of Sung Jinwoo—
had mysteriously disappeared.
The revelation struck him like lightning.
“Kkiek! We must find Lady Hae-In immediately!”
“Do you even know where she is?”
“The culprits are obvious!”
“The Itarim!”
“The apostles of the Itarim hiding on Earth must have laid a vile trap for Lady Hae-In!”
Cha Hae-In possessed the protection of the Shadow Monarch.
Ordinary danger could never threaten her.
If something had happened to her anyway…
then only a force equal to the Shadow Monarch himself could have been responsible.
Beru panicked endlessly…
yet strangely enough…
Suho wasn’t all that worried about his mother.
Of course…
he had desperately worried when she first disappeared.
But now…
after learning the truth about his father…
he could no longer think of his mother as an ordinary person either.
“Come to think of it…”
“I’ve never once seen Mom panic.”
After all…
she had knowingly married someone like Sung Jinwoo.
Very little in this universe could possibly surprise someone like that.
“…Well, raising Your Young Majesty was exhausting enough…”
Beru muttered under his breath.
Suho didn’t hear him.
The Cha Hae-In he remembered…
had always been calm…
steady…
and unshakable.
Perhaps because of that…
he simply couldn’t imagine her being helplessly endangered by anyone.
Still…
learning the first real clue regarding his parents’ disappearance…
was an enormous relief.
“Beru.”
“If I want to find my mother…”
“What should I do?”
Still dangling from Suho’s hand…
Beru answered without hesitation.
“Become stronger.”
“As quickly as possible.”
“Stronger?”
“Yes!”
“My liege cannot return to Earth while this war continues.”
“That means only Your Young Majesty can save Lady Hae-In.”
“Unfortunately…”
“Right now you’re weaker than an ant larva.”
“…An ant larva?”
Suho looked slightly hurt.
Ignoring him completely…
Beru dismissed every shadow illusion he had created.
Then he floated upward into the air.
Pointing dramatically at Suho’s shadow…
he declared,
“Then let us begin leveling up.”
Ding.
[A Quest has arrived.]
A message window appeared before Suho.
[Quest: Trial of Shadow]
Sung Suho.
You are the son of the great Shadow Monarch.
However…
all of your innate talent has been sealed.
To inherit that tremendous power…
you must first prove yourself worthy.
Enter the Shadow Dungeon…
and demonstrate your qualifications.
“The Shadow Dungeon?”
The moment Suho saw the quest…
he remembered the Key to the Shadow Dungeon that Beru had handed him in his dream.
“The Shadow Dungeon is the Sanctuary granted to Your Young Majesty.”
“A land of the dead, where no living being may enter without its master’s permission.”
“Open your Inventory.”
Suho focused his thoughts.
Immediately…
a translucent window appeared.
[Inventory]
Key to the Shadow Dungeon (Unidentified)
There’s even an Inventory?
This really is like a game.
Back in high school…
only his level had existed.
Now…
the system had evolved into something far more complete.
Suho reached inside the Inventory and pulled out the key.
An information window appeared.
[Item: Key to the Shadow Dungeon]
Acquisition Difficulty: ??
Type: Key
A key that grants access to the Shadow Dungeon.
Can be used on Sung Suho’s shadow.
Used… on my shadow?
Following the description…
Suho looked down at his feet.
He knelt on one knee…
and gently pressed the tip of the key against his shadow.
Swoosh.
The key slowly sank into the darkness.
Beru’s eyes lit up.
“Now!”
“Enter…”
“And reclaim every ounce of power that should have belonged to Your Young Majesty from the beginning!”
“Wait.”
Suho pulled the key back out.
Then…
he hurriedly changed his clothes first.
He removed the loose hospital gown and slippers…
found his own clothes…
tied his shoelaces tightly…
and looked down at his shadow once more.
Determination filled his eyes.
“Alright.”
“Let’s do this.”
“Kkiek! Let us go!”
“I shall accompany Your Young Majesty!”
“Though… I have almost no strength left.”
That wasn’t especially reassuring.
Suho inserted the key into his shadow once again.
Click.
[Would you like to enter the Shadow Dungeon?] (Y/N)
“…Enter.”
Whoooooosh—
The instant he answered…
his shadow exploded outward.
It spread across every direction…
swallowing everything it touched.
The walls.
The ceiling.
Even…
the entire hospital building.
[You have entered the Shadow Dungeon.]
Before he realized it…
Suho stood within a monochrome world blanketed by shadows.
Where… am I?
Utter silence.
Not a single trace of life remained.
Before him stretched…
a vast black-and-white forest.
Or rather…
the ruins of a city that had become a forest.
Towering buildings still stood…
but their walls were completely covered in moss and thick vines.
A childhood book suddenly came to mind.
I think the title was…
Earth Without Humanity.
It had been a documentary about nature reclaiming civilization.
Without humans…
cities would gradually crumble.
Grass and trees would overtake the buildings…
until forests consumed everything.
Exactly…
like this place.
It also feels like a field corrupted by magical energy.
As Suho quietly observed his surroundings…
Beru floated beside him and gave a crisp salute.
“Welcome to the Shadow Dungeon!”
“So this is the Shadow Dungeon?”
Looking around…
Suho felt an inexplicable sense of familiarity.
It was like stepping into an old horror movie.
…But why does this place feel so comforting?
No one could clearly remember being an infant.
Yet…
the emotions…
the warmth…
the atmosphere from those days…
often remained buried deep within the heart.
What would terrify most people…
felt to Suho…
like the comforting embrace of his mother.
Then—
A shiver ran down his spine.
Killing intent?!
His Perception stat warned him.
Whoosh!
An axe flew toward his back.
“Hiek!”
“The Trial has begun!”
“Dodge!”
Hearing Beru’s urgent cry…
Suho instantly twisted his body.
Then—
He unleashed a spinning kick.
BAM!
“Gahk!”
The monster was struck squarely in the face…
and tumbled across the ground.
Above its head floated a familiar nameplate.
Goblin Scout
“Kikik!”
Green skin.
Barely one meter tall.
An ugly goblin.
A scout?
The instant Suho read the name…
his instincts sharpened.
A scout means…
There are probably others nearby.
Ever since the dreams he had during adolescence…
Suho had fought countless battles.
The survival instincts engraved into his body immediately took over.
Kill it before it alerts its allies!
Whoosh!
Before the goblin could stand…
Suho charged first.
“Kkiek!”
“It’s dangerous to fight barehanded!”
“Goblins are weak magical beasts…”
“But right now, Your Young Majesty is even weaker!”
“I know!”
Smack!
Suho struck the goblin’s wrist…
knocking the stone axe from its hand.
“Excellent!”
“Very well done!”
Beru cheered enthusiastically from above…
clapping his tiny hands.
He’s so noisy.
Grab!
[Item Acquired: Imp’s Stone Axe]
The instant Suho grasped the weapon…
he swung it without hesitation.
Slash!
“Gah!”
[Goblin Scout defeated.]
The goblin’s head fell in a single clean strike.
But Suho had no time to relax.
Fweee!
A sharp sound cut through the air behind him.
Just as I thought.
There were more!
An arrow shot toward him.
Instinctively…
Suho reached out.
Ruler’s Authority.
Clench!
An invisible force shot from his hand…
stopping the arrow in midair.
“K-KKIEEEEK!”
“That power…!”
Seeing the arrow frozen in space…
Beru trembled with excitement.
“As expected of Our Young Monarch!”
“At last…”
“You have awakened the power you possessed as a baby!”
Watching Suho…
Beru remembered those distant days…
when the infant Sung Suho had walked through empty air as though gravity itself obeyed him.
