Dungeon aftereffects, otherwise known as the dungeon's curse, were a phenomenon thoroughly familiar to any awakened working as a hunter.
“So you could say the master of the dungeon refuses to go down alone and drags people under with it, like a drowning ghost?”
The reporter's question suited the whole point of the interview, which was to explain dungeon aftereffects to the public as simply as possible.
“Yes, that's not wrong.”
To the master of a dungeon, a hunter was a mortal enemy tearing down its home ground, so the malice a boss monster felt as it died was inevitably intense.
And on the rare occasions when that malice took physical form and reached the hunter, that was precisely how a dungeon aftereffect manifested.
“What kinds of aftereffects are there, exactly?”
“They vary enormously. Anything from sapping your stamina or making you sleep more, to losing the use of part of your body or having your ability sealed away.”
Beyond that, there was no end of outlandish aftereffects: laughing nonstop, changing skin color, losing your hair. Which was why hunters had a saying that drawing an ordinary aftereffect was itself a blessing.
“So do hunters get cursed every single time they clear a dungeon?”
“Hardly. Generally there's about a ten percent chance of picking one up per raid.”
At Dojun's answer, the reporter trotted out the common public perception, exactly as they'd agreed beforehand.
“That's not as terrible as people think.”
COMMENT
ok we get it they suffer from aftereffects but they make fucking bank off it too?? 10% chance of winning the aftereffect lottery for that kind of money sounds worth it to me, they whine way too much;;
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Recalling a comment he'd seen a few days earlier, Dojun explained calmly.
“Sometimes every hunter who enters a dungeon comes out with an aftereffect, and sometimes only a few of them do, but it's far more common for nobody to get one at all.”
“So the drowning-ghost strategy failed. Was the monster's grudge just not up to much? Or maybe it's the monster's first time dying too, so it botches the job.”
“You could read it that way, but the more common interpretation is that since awakened possess the power to stand against monsters, they also carry a certain resistance to the curse.”
“Ah, then do higher-ranked awakened tend to be less affected? I understand that the higher the rank, the higher the defense, and a curse could be seen as a kind of attack.”
“That's right. But the higher the rank, the more often they go on raids, so in the end most hunters wind up with at least one aftereffect regardless of rank.”
Even with a ten percent chance and some resistance to the curse, the risk climbed sharply once raid frequency went up.
Which was why every hunter alive worried about dungeon aftereffects.
“I hear there's a hunter overseas with more than ten of them. Are aftereffects permanent?”
“Fortunately, most of them fade once a certain amount of time has passed.”
“And the minority that fall outside of ‘most,’ the ones with no set expiration date? What can be done for those?”
“You use an item that removes the aftereffect. Assuming you can get your hands on one.”
Dojun smiled faintly and added that such an item had turned up only twice in recorded history, and since both were single-use, no amount of money could buy one now. The reporter let out a sigh.
“So there are hunters who have to carry an aftereffect for the rest of their lives?”
“That's right. Which is why our guild has been focusing lately on developing items that weaken dungeon aftereffects. For example...”
Dojun answered in detail what dungeon aftereffects actually were, what reality looked like for the hunters suffering from them, and what kind of support the items under development needed. Once the interview wrapped up, he gathered his things.
“Thank you for your time, Reporter Park.”
“Don't mention it. I heard you nearly had a dungeon break yesterday? And then you couldn't even rest properly because of this interview. How are you holding up?”
The concern over how tired he looked lasted only a moment before Reporter Park let a little personal curiosity show.
“So has our Hunter Seon Hanul started over again?”
Amnesia.
At the softly whispered word, Dojun nodded readily.
The first time or two, admitting it hadn't been easy. But by the fifth, a person developed a knack for it.
“I thought so. When he's normal he's glued to your side, Hunter Dojun, and he didn't show up today.”
Today's appearance had been arranged to shift public perception of dungeon aftereffects and to press for support in developing items that weakened them.
And out of all the hunters in the country, the reason Dojun was the one giving this interview was that he happened to be the most famous dungeon aftereffect victim in Korea.
“This is the fifth time already, isn't it? I wonder how long it'll take him to get his memories back. I heard the last one was two months?”
“The longest was half a year, so I'm hoping for faster than that.”
Myeong Dojun, the pitiable hunter whose lover kept coming down with habitual amnesia from a dungeon aftereffect.
There wasn't a soul in Korea who didn't know the epithet attached to Dojun's name.
“Of course. The shorter the ordeal, the better.”
When Reporter Park couldn't quite hide that pitying look, Dojun remembered something he'd forgotten.
Come to think of it, wasn't Reporter Park the one who'd run the exclusive on his relationship with Hanul?
In Korea, openly announcing that two men were dating took an enormous amount of courage. And a romance between Dojun and Hanul, both famous as black-rank hunters, had drawn a great deal of attention in more ways than one...
Normally I'd never have agreed to going public.
But Dojun hadn't had another option.
COMMENT
is this real?? MDJ publicly declared war because he was scared someone would steal his boyfriend? like “he's mine even when he loses his memories so back off”???
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Publicly, Hanul had the image of a kind and upright man, while Dojun was known for his cold impression and his unyielding manner.
So people naturally assumed Dojun had been the one to demand they go public, when in fact the one who'd declared war wasn't Dojun. It was Hanul.
We're the same sex, so I can't tie you down on paper just yet. This is the only way I'll feel at ease.
You think it's only one or two people who come sniffing around you while I don't have my memories?
We promised each other forever, didn't we? Hmm? You said you wouldn't abandon me again. That's what it means.
Because of something he'd already done, Dojun hadn't been in any position to refuse Hanul's proposal to go public.
And it did seem like going public might put an end to Hanul's dogged, relentless suspicion.
Sure enough, Seon Hanul settled down to some degree after that, and it made things easier on me too.
When the fourth bout of amnesia came around, the fact that all of Korea knew about their relationship had helped a great deal.
Not that it did anything about Hanul's personality, but it did hand Dojun a good card to play when dealing with a Hanul who'd lost his memories.
“Hunter Myeong Dojun, hang in there.”
Once Reporter Park, who was clearly on friendly terms with Hanul independently, left with that bit of encouragement, Dojun swallowed a sigh and pulled out his phone.
Word of Hanul's amnesia had evidently reached the guild at some point, because his phone had been buzzing with messages from acquaintances for a while now.
Not one of them was particularly shocked, though.
Dojun wasn't the only one who'd grown used to Hanul's amnesia.
He backed out of the rowdy group chat and got straight into the elevator.
“How do I start explaining it this time?”
Yesterday he'd been too frantic stopping the dungeon break, and after that the interview had been too tight on time, so Dojun hadn't managed to explain anything to Hanul yet.
Hanul had surely picked up from everyone's reactions that something was wrong with his memory, but...
“Myeong Dojun?”
Opening the office door, Dojun stared at Hanul, who wore a smile that looked painted on.
With light brown hair and brown eyes, Hanul was a delicate, striking beauty.
He knew exactly what his own face was worth, so whenever he set out to win someone over the way he was doing now, he always wore that particular smile.
I've been looking at it far too long to be charmed by it.
Meeting those eyes, nearly amber in color, Dojun shut the door without much reaction and stepped into the office.
“Sorry. I had an interview already on the books.”
“It's fine. A black-rank hunter must be very busy.”
So that's why he's beaming like that.
Told that Dojun was one of the handful of black-rank hunters in the country, he must have seen plenty of uses for him.
He'd always used hunters who had feelings for him without a shred of guilt, so it wasn't the least bit surprising.
