Is it innocence?
Or foolishness?
"P-please help me!"
A mere human, begging for help from a monster as vicious as herself.
To save other humans, no less.
With eyes that held not a single doubt that the enormous monster before her would actually do it.
Trusting so easily, on nothing more than a brief moment of goodwill.
『…Help me.』
Just like a certain girl from long, long ago.
The greatest fool in the world — the most stubborn, most senseless idiot — who had once said the same thing to Fenrion.
『Help me, Fenrion.』
And so, Fenrion asked.
Just as she had back then.
For a reason why she should help.
"…They were all going to die someday anyway. For those things, today just happens to be that day."
What makes you any different from those humans?
You're human too — you'll die someday just the same.
And yet you kept asking me not to kill, and in the end even asked me to save your own kind.
That was what Fenrion said.
"Heh. Give me one reason why I should help."
Truthfully, Fenrion didn't particularly care whether the monsters on the other side lived or died.
Those things had 'changed' so thoroughly that they could no longer be called kin.
But the reverse was equally true.
She didn't care whether the humans lived or died either.
There had been a time when that wasn't the case — but that time had passed, and now she was indifferent again.
This was a matter that went beyond the simple divide between humans and monsters.
"In the end, all living things die, child…."
Even if she helped those humans as asked, they would all die someday regardless.
She asked the child what meaning there was in escaping death now.
Just as she had once asked that girl long ago.
"…………."
A brief silence fell.
The face that simply stared up at Fenrion without a word.
Unable to find a proper answer to the questions she'd just heard, the child couldn't even open her mouth.
Of course, Fenrion had expected this.
Even that girl from long ago had never managed to answer this question properly.
And yet.
"I still… have things I want to do."
The child finally opened her mouth and spoke.
Giving a reason why, even when the moment of death eventually came, it must not be now.
With fear-tinged eyes, her tail curling in on itself under the weight of the monster's presence before her.
She opened her mouth and spoke, all the same.
"Those people over there… probably do too. I'd think…."
If they were all going to die anyway, then why were those humans on the other side fighting so desperately?
The monsters fighting the humans would die someday too — so why were they resisting the humans' attacks with such ferocity?
She said it not with her mouth, but with her eyes.
"…I."
That life was not born to die.
"I didn't live this long just to die like this."
A pretty-sounding idealism.
But even so.
It resembled the answer that fool had once given.
And so Fenrion couldn't help but remember.
『No, Fenrion. It's never meaningless….』
That quiet, gentle voice that had always said even the faintest struggle was something precious.
『Look at us now. Because we didn't die — because we kept living — we were able to become friends like this.』
Is it innocence?
Or foolishness?
It was nothing more than a worn, faded little fragment from an old memory.
『…Right?』
The single fact that it made her remember.
For that one reason alone.
—Murmur.
"……Then you should have made sure not to die."
Fenrion could feel it, with absolute certainty.
Very soon, she was going to make an incredibly foolish choice.
Just as she had once before, long ago.
Another silence passed.
The child, quietly watching Fenrion out of the corner of her eye.
"If you're not going to help, that's fine."
Looking a little sulky, a little disappointed, the child said those words and turned her back.
Then she looked toward the humans on the other side, still fighting desperately to survive.
And declared that she would help them even on her own.
"Why?"
"To save even just one person. …That way I survive too."
As if that were enough.
Still just an undersized little thing, and yet she kicked off her feet anyway.
Just as she'd said herself moments ago — to save even a single person.
"Hey you—! Mangy mutts——! Over here———!!!"
Shouting at the top of her lungs as if deliberately trying to draw attention, she ran toward the open plain on the other side.
It looked like a deliberate move, exploiting the monsters' instinct to target the weakest prey first.
If those monsters noticed the child's presence, they would surely shift their attention to her.
And then come charging at the weakest-looking one among the humans.
"Th-there! Look over there, hyung!"
"Wh-what… what is that. Why is there a kid here?"
"——It's dangerous!! Run!!"
"Seo Chan-seong! Get that kid and run——!"
The humans, seeing the child come running toward them from a distance, looked utterly flustered.
They clearly had no idea what on earth the child was thinking either.
In that much, they were the same as Fenrion.
"……Even the recklessness is the same. You."
The humans, every last one of them going pale at the sudden appearance of a small child.
The monsters, already charging in long before.
The small feet that refused to stop running regardless.
Watching all of it with a quiet, steady gaze, Fenrion finally admitted it to herself.
"Yes, too……. Similar."
[ Entity: Fenrion's Affinity increases. (50 → 75) ]
That she had been moved by this child, who kept doing things that resembled the girl in her memory.
That she had never been able to let go of the foolish hope that they would meet again someday.
—Slip.
—Stumble.
"Whoa?!"
And then the child went sprawling flat on the ground in the most ridiculous fashion, and Fenrion thought, just for a moment.
Just maybe — just possibly — this child might be the one she had been waiting for across an eternity of years.
The thought came and went in an instant.
【 [ ! ] WARNING: Hidden Boss Appearance 】
【 [ ! ] The dungeon's true ruler begins to gather its power……… 】
A message that rose before every living creature in the area.
Almost simultaneously, a massive jaw split open, carrying with it an unmistakable sense of will.
【 [ ! ] WARNING 】
【 [ ! ] WARNING 】
【 Hidden Boss, 'Mad Hound of the Mountain Range, Fenrion,' reveals her true power 】
【 'Calamity Unchained' temporarily manifests within the dungeon 】
—■───────!!───!!!!
A roar, finally unleashed.
The sky.
The earth.
The world itself shook.
—Thud.
—Collapse.
—Stagger, collapse.
An overwhelming force of will so absolute that even a moment's resistance was impossible.
The roar tore violently through the stillness of the open sky, and every living creature in the area lost consciousness and fell.
Human.
Monster.
None could withstand that savage roar.
[ No Attacks During Dialogue. ] [ No Attacks During Dialogue. ] [ No Attacks During Dialogue. ] [ No Attacks During Dialogue. ] [ No Attacks During Dialogue. ] [ No Attacks During Dialogue. ] [ No Attacks During Dialogue. ] [ No Attacks During Dialogue. ] [ No Attacks During Dialogue. ]
"Wh, what……."
Only the child, protected once again by that strange ability, remained standing on her own.
And so Fenrion, her gaze deepening once more, lightly kicked off the ground and leapt to the child's side in a single bound.
Whether it was fate.
Or mere coincidence, she couldn't say.
But this was not a meeting she could simply let pass.
"Their lives won't be in danger. I only made them lose consciousness, nothing more."
Gazing steadily down at the humans who had all fallen unconscious at once, Fenrion asked.
Was this the kind of 'help' you were hoping for?
"Oh, th-that… um……."
Perhaps she truly hadn't expected Fenrion to help her at all.
Her tail swaying slowly, the child looked up at Fenrion right in front of her with a dazed expression.
"Th-thank… you."
A timid, murmured word of thanks.
This much, at least, was 'not the same' — but that hardly mattered.
"…Best to clear these things away beforehand."
Whoosh. The monsters knocked unconscious by Fenrion's roar were casually flung far away toward the distant mountain range.
If the humans and monsters were in the same place when they came to, they would simply start fighting again.
Better to physically separate them so that wouldn't happen.
Because that was what the child wanted.
For no one to die.
—Whoosh, whoosh.
"Um, so. Fenrion…?"
"They won't die from this, so don't worry."
"…Oh."
The tail that had gone stiff began to sway slowly again.
The child watched the monsters go flying one after another with wide, curious eyes.
"You're kinder than I expected…."
"…'Than you expected,' is it."
"Eep."
The child had said that in response to Fenrion going through all this trouble.
She caught her own slip of the tongue a moment later and immediately shut her mouth.
"It's been a while. Since I last heard something like that…."
Just for an instant, the small silhouette from her memory overlapped with the child before her.
The great tail of Fenrion, who had for one brief moment seen two different people as one, swayed faintly.
The emotion she felt in that instant was something like warmth.
—Ding.
[ Entity: Fenrion's Affinity increases. (75 → 85) ]
That was probably why.
Why an old habit surfaced, slowly, after so long.
—Slowly.
Without thinking, she folded her legs and settled onto the grass, then extended just her head toward the child.
As if asking to be petted.
Mistaking herself for being with that fool again.
—Flinch.
By the time Fenrion realized what position she was in, it was already too late.
The child, even more startled than Fenrion, was already patting the fur on her forehead with a thoroughly terrified expression.
It seemed like some kind of misunderstanding had occurred.
—Pat, pat.
—Pat, pat.
"…………."
The tail that had curled back between her legs.
Both ears folded flat.
Somehow mustering the courage to pet Fenrion's forehead, and yet the body's reaction was honest.
The one she had waited for across an eternity of years was, it seemed, quite easily frightened.
"…Boo."
"Eeeek!!"
Snap. Fenrion suddenly opened her jaws wide, and the child was so thoroughly startled that she toppled straight backward.
Her small arms and legs were already trembling, instinctively assuming a posture of submission.
…Fenrion felt a little bad about that.
***
"Are you sulking, child?"
"…I'm not sulking."
I really wasn't.
I'm not some little kid who sulks just because someone pulled a prank on me.
I was just startled.
How could anyone not be startled when a mouth the size of a semi-truck suddenly snaps open right in front of your face?
Anyway — falling on my own doesn't count as an attack, does it?
My S-rank invincibility skill didn't activate.
Thanks to that, my backside was a little sore.
"Child."
"Y-yes?"
"Come to think of it, I never caught your name."
That's because you never asked.
I didn't have the nerve to actually say that back, so instead I just told Fenrion my name.
She had helped me out, after all. Not introducing myself would've felt a bit off.
"Lee Ji-woo… that's me."
"…Lee Ji-woo. Noted."
The first formal introduction between a Hunter and a monster lasted roughly five seconds and ended there.
Except.
—Ding.
[ Entity: null has named itself 'Lee Ji-woo.' ]
[ Reflecting newly assigned name 'Lee Ji-woo' in Entity: null's biometric data……… ]
[ Entity: Fenrion has registered the existence of Entity: Lee Ji-woo. ]
"Huh?"
All I did was say my name, and message windows came floating up.
My Status Window, which I hadn't opened, came up along with them.
—Ding.
【Status Window】
【Name: Lee Ji-woo (Female)】
【Age: 11】
【Rank: F → S (Assimilation with Entity: Fenrion in progress)】
【Skills: ❮(P) No Attacks During Dialogue: S❯ , ❮(P) Let's Be Friends: S❯ , ❮(A) Assimilation: F❯ , ❮(A) Data Viewing: F❯】
"…So the Status Window can be updated too?"
The name in my Status Window had changed to my real name.
Kind of out of nowhere.
Anyway — I was alive. That was what mattered.
Once the unconscious Hunters woke up, I could escape the Dungeon with them.
The monsters that had been fighting the Hunters had already been flung far away by Fenrion.
"Um, so… Fenrion?"
That was why I spoke up.
If that enormous figure was still standing there when the Hunters came to, they'd be terrified.
Some of them might pass out again on the spot.
There might even be a catastrophic pants-wetting incident.
More than anything.
"You can go back now, I think. Do you… still have something left to do here?"
Fenrion was, in the end, a monster.
Before I could explain anything, the Hunters would probably panic and start swinging first.
They'd get swallowed up one by one, obviously, but still.
"Something left to do…."
Fenrion had knocked out both the Hunters and the monsters with nothing more than a loud bark.
There was no way Hunters who had been struggling against comparatively small monsters could beat Fenrion.
She wasn't just some regular boss, after all.
She was a Hidden Boss. An actual Hidden Boss.
The kind of dungeon Hidden Boss that even the supposedly incredible S-rank Hunters from America had barely survived after an agonizing fight — that was exactly what Fenrion was.
"…Any more than this would be greedy."
Fenrion murmured something cryptic again, then slowly closed her eyes.
She seemed to have picked up on what I was trying to say, at least.
"Oh, um. Goodbye then."
She had helped me survive in a Dungeon this vast, and that was a fact.
Wanting to convey my gratitude, I gave Fenrion a crisp, proper bow — the kind befitting a nation known for its courteous manners.
Getting on the bad side of a powerful Hidden Boss like her seemed like a terrible idea.
The most polite, respectful bow I could manage.
I kept my head lowered until she had gone back to wherever she called home.
…I couldn't quite bring myself to do a full ninety-degree bow, though.
—Flash.
"…Ji-woo."
But then Fenrion's voice came again.
This time not inside my head — through my ears.
Wondering if she had something more to say, I timidly lifted my head.
And for a moment, I doubted my own eyes.
"Later… might we meet again?"
A hand, touching the spot I had worked up so much courage to pet earlier.
Scars etched across her body here and there.
A faint smile blooming across a face that was, honestly, quite beautiful.
She had transformed into someone who looked like she'd be absolutely adored by suspiciously wealthy people.
"Oh, um… if the chance comes…?"
"…Good. I'll be waiting."
Fenrion, who had looked so unburdened at my answer, took one step closer.
Then tilted her head down slightly.
And said, one last time.
"Please… this time……. Don't disappear."
—Peck.
"…Huh?"
Something warm touched my forehead for just a moment, then was gone.
By the time I understood what it was, Fenrion had already vanished without a trace.
—Ding.
[ Entity: Fenrion's Affinity increases. (85 → 100) ]
[ All conditions to acquire 'Avatar Manifestation: Calamity Unchained' have been met. ]
All that remained in that empty space were the message windows floating up once more.
No matter where I looked across the wide-open plain, I couldn't find even a shadow of Fenrion.
It was only then — after Fenrion had vanished like a mirage — that I realized my enormous mistake.
I never got a photo.
