Counterpart

Dungeon.

That term had become all too familiar to Kang Jinha. 

Five years ago, 20X0— a mysterious rift abruptly appeared in the sky above Jeongdo[1] as if a pair of giant, invisible hands had torn the space asunder. At first glance, it appeared like a blackhole, revealing no hint of what's inside except for pitch-black abyss. 

The bizarre phenomenon took the entire country by storm, and the government swiftly formed a special investigation team to study the blackhole thoroughly. 

Alas, before any results could be produced, a change suddenly occurred to the rift after three months long of dormancy. 

It was a day everyone collectively referred to as Doomsday. 

From within the massive blackhole in the sky, grotesque and bloodthirsty monsters poured out like a relentless tide. Tall buildings collapsed like dominoes and cars overturned on the streets as people scrambled to flee from this vicious onslaught. But alas, humans were simply far too weak to contend against these foreign intruders. The number of casualties in a single hour went up to thousands. 

Just when all hope seemed to be lost, a group of people suddenly appeared, wielding mysterious and extraordinary power capable of subduing and killing the monsters. It was a power that could not be explained by science, and had only been seen from fantasy movies. 

Thanks to the collective efforts of this group of people, the monster tide was successfully halted, bringing back the hard-earned peace.

These people who awakened special abilities were called 'Espers'.

However, the disaster did not end there, as for the years to come, various black holes began to appear one after another in random places. Some merely spawned out a handful of monsters which were quickly resolved by nearby Espers, while others churned out wave after wave of these horrifying creatures, causing blood to run freely down the streets. 

After one arduous year of struggle, the government managed to invent a sophisticated technology that could detect energy fluctuations before the monsters ran loose, which enabled them to prepare themselves beforehand. They also made an inadvertent discovery when a black hole suddenly appeared in the middle of the street and sucked in hundreds of civilians, that they could actually enter this mysterious rift and defeat the monsters inside before any of them could cross over. And without a doubt, the only ones they could rely on for tackling this dangerous mission were Espers.

What lay beyond these black holes was an entirely different world than their own, and in the end, people started calling them— dungeon.

The dormancy of the dungeon after its first appearance was then recognized as a buffer time for Espers to annihilate all the monsters inside before they could escape to their world – a phenomenon known as 'dungeon break'. 

Distinctive ranks were created soon after: F, E, D, C, B, A, S with F-level being the least dangerous dungeon consisting of the weakest F-level monsters, and S-level being the most fatal dungeon capable of razing the whole city to the ground – just like what happened on Doomsday. 

In addition to that, the higher a dungeon ranked, the longer its dormant period would be and its frequency also decreased significantly. Take the S-Class dungeon for example – after its first appearance, it would take at least one month before the monsters inside could break free into their world. 

For this reason, S-Class dungeons very seldom appeared. If this was a gacha game, then it would be an SSSR card with only less than 0.01% drop ratio. Since Doomsday, no other S-Class dungeon had been detected— until half a month ago.

Kang Jinha could not help but get lost within the spiral of memories. He knew the exact date when this dungeon would break. He even knew how it would turn out in the end. Naturally, he had also heard of the radiation caused by S-Class dungeons. 

This aspect would only be known nationwide after the number of cases reached an alarming number. It affected citizens with specific traits in their DNA, regardless of age, gender or background. The mildest case resulted in incurable disease, usually in the form of cancer, while the most severe one could reduce a perfectly healthy, sane human into a walking dead. For Espers, the consequences were even more horrifying. 

And his grandma… turned out to be one of these 'unlucky' people? 

This was something Kang Jinha had never foreseen before. Previously he had been so distraught with her sudden death that he had not even thought of digging the truth to the bottom…

Seeing that Kang Jinha did nothing but stare blankly at the viewing screen with those beautiful yet vacant blue eyes of his, his complexion ashen, Doctor Cho could not help but feel a pang of sympathy. "Kang Jinha-ssi?"

Kang Jinha blinked and sluggishly moved his gaze to the doctor. It was only then that he realized that he had been clutching his shirt so tightly that it became wrinkled all over. He loosened his grip and curled his fingers, feeling a tingle of numbness from the pain.

"Is there…" he asked, his voice barely a whisper. "Is there a cure?" 

Doctor Cho's heart gave out for the pitiful young man. Alas, as much as he wanted to offer a firm reassurance, he had no choice but to speak the truth, "Due to the special circumstances, only the medical staff and higher-ups in the government know about this matter. I can provide a comprehensive report to the people above, but they might have to bring your grandmother to a research facility for more observation. Will you be okay with that?" Before Kang Jinha could answer, he hurried to add as though fearing that the young man would refuse, "Take your time to think about it, but you should know that we don't have much choice. So far, only guides with healing ability can remove this corruption and they are firmly protected by the government. We can only rely on them to save your grandma."

Kang Jinha promptly sucked in a breath. 

Guide— another term that only emerged in the recent two years. They possessed a completely different ability than Espers, yet no less important.

For Espers who needed to stand in the front line of humanity, they had a steep price to pay. Just like the saying goes – with great power comes great responsibility – they had to deal with the sequela caused by ability overuse. Mental exhaustion and sensory overload were the first signs, followed by insomnia, extreme mood swings, hallucination and frenzied madness. By then, Espers would become an equal threatening force if not worse than monsters. 

This was where Guides came into play. Their abilities enabled them to soothe and calm manic Espers, pulling them from the brink of insanity. They might not possess high offensive power, but they were still an indispensable part of the force.

Guides were Espers' counterparts – that's a well-known fact everyone accepted over time. 

Just like dungeons and monsters, Espers and Guides were also divided into similar ranks. The higher it was, the rarer it became. 

So far, there was only one S-Class Esper found within the country, while the strongest guide at present was… merely at A-level – the one with healing ability Doctor Cho was talking about.

Kang Jinha himself was a Guide, albeit only an F-level one. 

How did it feel like to be the lowest rank Guide? 

If someone asked Kang Jinha this question, then he would say that he felt no different than any normal human. At most, people would find it refreshing and calming to be in his presence… but that's it. He only had enough power to guide Espers with the same rank as him, and even an E-Class Esper could drain him of strength and leave him exhausted for days. 

Guides like him were a dime a dozen, and the world of D-Class and above was already beyond his reach. Which was why he felt so grateful to Doctor Cho for willingly lending him a hand.

A-Class Guide with a healing ability… 

Just the mere thought of it was enough to instill a sense of awe and respect. If that person was willing to use their power on Grandma, her illness would definitely be cured! 

Taking a deep breath, Kang Jinha bowed his head in gratitude, his voice solemn, "Thank you, Doctor… I will leave my grandma in your care." 

***

Leaving the doctor's office, Kang Jinha walked toward the ICU ward with floaty steps. Somewhere between rushing his grandma to the hospital and the lengthy talk with Doctor Cho, night had fully set in, swallowing any remaining lights on the distant skies. 

The visiting hour had already ended and Kang Jinha needed to wait until tomorrow if he wanted to see his grandma, thus he made himself content with staying outside the ward. It gave him a sense of security, knowing that she was only separated from him by a single wall, still alive and breathing. 

As long as she was okay… as long as she did not leave without a word again, everything would be alright. Kang Jinha would be alright. 

Arriving outside the ICU ward, Kang Jinha found an empty chair among other distraught family members and collapsed unceremoniously on it. He bent down until his head was nearly buried between his knees, his hands clasped so tight behind his neck that his knuckles whitened. 

Slowly, very very slowly, he released an exhale and… let himself unwind. 

He had been in an extremely frantic state since waking up, his nerves stretched to a taut. And it wasn't until now that he had the chance to fully digest what was happening. 

As the muted voices and chaotic footsteps washed over him, the sense of surrealism, absurdity, and shock that had been numbing him finally melted away bit by bit. 

Faintly, the pitter-patter of raindrops hitting the glass pane reached his ears and Kang Jinha raised his head blankly, noticing that it had started to drizzle outside the window. But he knew that the rain would only grow heavier as the night progressed and persist until tomorrow morning. 

Even the weather is the same.

With a shaky exhale, Kang Jinha finally acknowledged his current situation—

He had died and returned to ten years ago, when he was still nineteen. 

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[1] Jeongdo: a fictional city. 

In this story, each place and location will be the author's pure imagination to avoid clashing with real life matters :) thank you for understanding