lmao how much of a spoiler is a spoiler on the main relationship? on plot twists? Imma rant a bit ig? If you want more lmk
--- MAJOR Spoiler Alert----
A sketchy summary based off my piss poor memory of what happens:
/// A bit of plot:
I can't remember if they stated it in the manhwa but the reason why the guild is looking for Seo Yoon (SY) is because the Grand Dungeon from 10 yrs ago is gonna reappear and as the only sane survivor, they need his information on what's inside.
After the current dungeon, the guild talks to SY, and SY finds out about the Grand Dungeon that's gonna reoccur in like 2-ish months and mentally he's not doing great, but he also realises how important his information is, so he talks through area by area of what monsters, attacks, etc that he encountered in the dungeon. Using this information, the guild builds a strategy on how to fight back, creating better weapons etc.
SY realises, that in the 10yrs he's been out of dungeoning, humanity and the Gaia system has evolved immensely and unlike the Revengers from 10 years ago, with Inventory and the preparation they made thanks to his information, it seemed beating the dungeon was possible.
/// KJH:
In the meantime, Kwon Jihan (KJH) is listening to SY detailing his trauma, the deaths, the starvation and pretty much feels hurt for him. KJH thinks something is off about the way SY is doing his hobbies for example, SY gifts KJH a hand-knitted sweater and KJH is happy about it but then SY tells him that he already gave one to 99 other people and when KJH feels a bit sour, SY also says he'll stop knitting completely. Later, they also played an online game together and despite SY appearing to enjoy the game, he only stopped ranking when he reached Gold when he could've gone higher. (If you didn't catch on, the wills left to SY were knit 100 sweaters and reach Gold rank in the game) (These are just two examples of the wills left behind from my memory so they're probably out of order).
It comes to a head when the two are making conversation after climbing a mountain, when KJH calls SY out on the fact that SY is fulfilling the last wills of his dead comrades. Before this, the family of the dead Revengers had approached SY to ask about their last words and SY had vaguely said something about their last words were to knit a lot, climb a mountain, exercise, bake etc and KJH draws the connection between the Revenger's last words and SY's "hobbies". During the conversation, SY is trying to be calm cause there's nothing wrong about fulfilling the last wishes of his former comrades, however he lets his guard down and slips up. Here's the quote from SY when he was talking with KJH about the wills he had to fulfill:
“That's what I'm saying. It's easier when you die. When this is all over, the first thing I'll do is run up to those people and ask them. Why did you do that to me? Did you feel comfortable leaving such a will and dying? I’ll even throw a few punches.”
[I went hunting for the quote cause I wanna show that SY didn't blatantly expose his thoughts- it was subtle cause he was relaxed but KJH caught onto it]
Because of "When this is all over" and "It's easier when you die" KJH realises that SY doesn't imagine a future for himself after fulfilling the wills. Also in the current dungeon at chapter 48, it finishes with SY attempting to indirectly off himself with KJH by his side. KJH saw him smiling at the prospect of of death back then so yeah, this was basically a confirmation for KJH about what SY is thinking but he doesn't directly confront SY on it, instead he does little things, like trying to buy SY a PC to get him to play the online game more (SY threw his old one out the instant he finished the gaming will cause he didn't want to get addicted and attached to living).
More spoilers w/ plot twists
--- MAJOR spoiler alert ---
/// Cont. plot
When the Grand Dungeon opens 300 awakeners enter. They were hand-picked by SY and KJH and are a mix of S-C. Everyone from the two teams of Perfect are there. However, once the dungeon closes, a notification appears that says there are 301 individuals inside and everyone is shocked and confused. Before this, there was a cult that appeared that wanted the Grand Dungeon to flood saying it was the will of God so people was suspecting that one of those cultists could have snuck in until a female awakener confesses that they're pregnant with a few weeks old fetus and that was probably what was counted. Everyone else is relieved but others are still kinda doubtful, but there's nothing they can do anyways, so they continue into the dungeon.
The plan was to conquer within a month (or was it 11 days...? don't remember the timeframe) which seems impossible at first glance, but the dungeon is basically a replica of the one from 10yrs ago so everyone knows what they'll be encountering and is prepared. SY calls this mission 'revenge' for what happened 10 yrs about but tells KJH that he thinks that he can only call it successful if there are no deaths so that's what both of them are trying to do.
First area (Lava):
- Using Terraforming and Ice Age when the other skill is on cooldown, they traveled across the land
- When both were on cooldown, they all flew for a bit
Second area (Swamp):
- SY's magic power levels isn't so hot, and because he can't recover with potions due to his resistance skill, he separates from KJH to rest and recover in the shielded area
- The base gets attacked so SY defends and enters mana depletion state
- SY almost tries to off himself by walking under a crumbling cliff but gets stopped by a voice in his head and loses consciousness
Third area (Labyrinth):
- After seeing SY getting so injured, KJH gets crazy angry
- Got blessed by a God of Wrath and given a berserker skill
- Entire labyrinth got demolished by berserker KJH in like, 2 days so by the time SY woke up, they were already at the fourth stage
Fourth area (Temple):
Even though lots were injured, everyone was still alive. Because of inventory no one has to starve like the Revengers did 10 yrs ago.
Before SY lost consciousness, he heard a voice. Turns out Hwasim has <<Gaia's Heart>>. <<Gaia's Heart>>'s true ability is to influence and manipulate memory/suggestions/impressions which is how he appeared as a C-rank in front of KJH even though he has <<Gaia's Eye>>. <<Gaia's Heart>> has 3 slots of usage and it carries on between users. When Hwasim got the skill, 2 out of 3 were already filled. They were labeled "Seo Yoon and Lee DoMin" and "Seo Yoon in front of the black dungeon gate".
I don't remember if this was stated in the manhwa but there was a gate to a black dungeon that appeared after the fourth area. Originally there were 5 survivors but Lee Kangjin went missing before they left the dungeon. To recover the memories, they have to find the mediums of the memory to unlock.
"Seo Yoon and Lee DoMin"
They find a pair of boots outside the the temple and SY recognises it as Lee Domin's. Through that they unlock "Seo Yoon and Lee Domin". Turns out the truth is that due to everything, Lee DoMin had a bout of insanity and went out of control. He killed a nearby Revenger, in front of Lee Kangjin while he was trying to call for SY to help. SY arrives and Lee DoMin tries to attack him so Lee Kangjin kills him. Lee Kangjin thinks SY is in shock and <<Gaia's Heart>> is used before SY realises. What they don't know was that SY had realised that Lee Domin was still alive and only appeared to be dead due to <<Gaia's Dream>> but because of how his memory was erased, Lee Domin was buried and left in the dungeon, as no one else knew he was still alive. He was the 301st person that appeared on entry. Lee Domin ended up assimilated into the dungeon. This was the driving factor as to why SY wanted to die- he subconsciously felt guilt for leaving his best friend in the dungeon.
"Seo Yoon in front of the black dungeon gate"
SY recovers these memories once they reach the black gate. There are two ways to clear the dungeon. First, defeat all the monsters inside the black gate. Second, have a sacrifice die in place and then the dungeon will be calm for 10 yrs, before reappearing. As only Gaia users can enter, Lee Kangjin was hesitating cause he didn;t want to die but the SY of 10 yrs ago stated he wanted to go. Lee Kangjin didn't want that so SY was knocked out and he went in instead. He left a will, to not stand out and live without pressure of being a hunter.
Originally, the plan was for SY and KJH to enter the black gate together and detonate the bomb KJH has in his inventory. However, this required SY to deploy <<Deep Field>> to protect the both of them from the blast but when SY checked his mana, he just fell short. So instead SY uses <<Gaia's Land>> to send KJH outside the dungeon and enters the black gate alone, like the prophecy foretold.
oops, just realised I didn't finish LMAO
ending (this is part 3)
--- MAJOR spoiler alert---
/// Cont. plot (2)
So while KJH is getting dragged out of the Grand Dungeon, he's desperate and is pleading with SY to not go, but he's already getting swallowed up by the exit gate. SY meanwhile is also pretty distraught as he had just resolved himself to live on. He initially entered the dungeon because in the prophecy, if someone had to enter the black gate alone, he didn't want it to be KJH. But then he got close to KJH, and now he wanted to be with KJH. But now, since there's no other option, because he doesn't want to risk KJH with a shield that only has a 50% rate of survival, he decides to sacrifice himself cause he believes in another 10 yrs, humanity will find a way to clear the Grand Dungeon without any deaths.
After KJH is forced to enter the exit gate, it seems something is getting in the way of his exit. There is some being, not Gaia or a God, who has stalled his exit and quote, tells KJH:
Please take good care of my friend.
[Yeah I'm sure we all know who this is ;-;]
When KJH opens his eyes, he's back in the Grand Dungeon and enters the black gate.
Inside the black gate, SY was slightly stalled as the gods watching was trying to get him to wait and even the system was slow which let KJH arrive in time before SY could confirm the second option.
KJH is angry at being left behind and SY is in despair cause he can't protect KJH because after using <<Gaia's Land>>, his mana is even worse than before.
KJH tells SY to try create a skill. SY has an attribute called 'Creator', that was never used or relevant cause there wasn't a need for it before. The skill he creates can't be arbitrary and has to align with his personality, goals and beliefs. SY thinks about himself and what kind of skill will be created and he realises that what he has always wanted the most is to protect good people. The skill that he, <<Little Salvation>>, creates grants salvation to those who need it and it makes a safe house called, <<Little Saviour's Safe House>>. It takes the form of KJH's home (gee I wonder why), and they set the bomb off and clear the black gate.
SY is rewarded with a B-class Soul gem from Gaia and the description says it's a soul of a person who died in the Black Dungeon 10 yrs ago (;-;-;), if scattered, the soul can be reborn.
SY is then granted permission to visit the observer due to his contribution to clearing the black gate (Contribution- SY:9 , KHJ:1) (LMAOOOOOO), which KHJ protested until he was also granted permission. The reason the Grand Dungeon appeared is to give the people on Earth a chance to save themselves. If they couldn't then the planet would go extinct. Everything before it was meant to be a tutorial to help clear the Grand Dungeon but because Earth grew too fast, the Grand Dungeon appeared much earlier than it was supposed to, which is why the first Revengers were so hopelessly outclassed with only 2 yrs of preparation. Now that they've cleared the final test, they will encounter stronger monsters but will also get stronger as better rewards and more awakened will also appear. The observer also implied that they could becomes gods later down the line.
The observer then tells them that there is a new manager in the Gaia system that is being trained which can not be separated from it (Ahhh Lee Domin....) and SY is immensely relieved.
When they return, SY's weapon spirit (exisiting soul) (I'm actually not gonna bother try say its name cause SY's naming sense is... unique), is SUPER mad and sad about being abandoned. First time was the 10 yrs when SY thought it was lost, and the second was before entering the Black Dungeon, SY threw his weapon at KJH and told him to take care of it as KJH knows how to unbound weapons to their owner. The weapon spirit and KJH grow pretty close to each other throughout the novel so they're pretty cute loll
There's a short epilogue where, we see the Revengers discussing with each other about what their last words will be, like who's gonna make sure SY sleeps in a bed, eats three meals a day.... because they all want SY to live
In the side stories, SY and KJH are dating. SY wanted to be under the radar but was persuaded by KJH to let him tell one person. KJH told Tae Jae-sik, who while is SY's good friend, is a super big loose-mouth and literally spilled the beans so many times that everyone now knows they're together (the public doesn't know SY's civilian identity, so that's still under the wraps).
SY has gotten better after the Grand Dungeon and is taking less meds, meanwhile KJH has started taking meds cause he now suffers from anxiety due to how SY tried to kill himself. At first, he was even triggered by SY saying "goodbye" cause that was SY's last words to him before KJH was forcibly dragged into the exit gate. But he's going through therapy so he's getting through it. KJH is also desperately trying to find a status resistance nullification potion and SY also wants to find one, to relieve KJH's anxiety about SY's health.
Meanwhile, SY and KJH are taking on the many different wills that were left behind. SY is knitting his 101st sweater, they are climbing more mountains (despite the will saying that they only needed to climb 10) etc, and they are thinking of taking a vacation for an entire year (basically a honeymoon). KJH would probably never consider that before meeting SY, but one of SY's goals throughout the novel was try to get KJH to relax and have more hobbies. They start their vacation by visiting the writer for "Love on Han River" (name is probably wrong, but it's the kimichi drama that SY is always watching). The guild tried to track them down because it was kinda suspicious that it held similarities to real life. KJH got super into it when he watched it with SY early on in the novel so he was also excited to visit. Turns out the writer is an extra-terrestrial being who was trying to subtly warn other stars about the Grand Dungeon's trial without seeming crazy. When they're talking to the writer, they say they can travel between stars so KJH ditches their initial plan to go around different countries for their honeymoon and wants to go exploring the galaxy instead. Which they do (better chance to encounter a status nullification potion too).
The story ends with SY being thankful for the last wills of his fallen comrades that let him endure the last 10 years.
HOLY SHIT THAT WAS LONG
Yes, it is! When KJH and SY were climbing their first mountain together, SY mentioned that one of the mountains he climbed in the past had beautiful scenery and told KJH to check it out himself. He never planned to go back himself cause he'd already fulfilled the will after climbing the last mountain with KJH but after the Grand Dungeon, they climbed that mountain together and scattered the gem there.
I CANT TAKE THIS I NEED TO KNOW THE REST OF THE STORY PLEASE GIVE ME ANY SPOILERS
Especially for the ending of the novel ヽ(`Д´)ノ