Dungeon Seoul

Tiger Gate HQ

E-Rank Dungeon (Mossy Transit Line)

The first words from Kang Jinho's frying pan were:

"HELLO.

I AM ALL COOKED UP.

YOUR DESTINY IS… SIZZLING."

Jinho stared at the pan. It vibrated slightly, shimmering with glitchlight around the handle like it had just booted up from a cursed firmware update.

"...Did you just speak in system error haiku?"

"INCORRECT.

I SPEAK IN… PANGLISH."

"Panglish isn't a language."

"IT IS NOW."

The pan floated midair, doing a slow, dramatic spin. Jinho ducked instinctively.

"Okay, slow down! How are you alive?! What are you?!"

"I AM...

PAN–VERSION–ZERO

PATCHED

GLITCHED

FORGOTTEN

COOKED TOO LONG IN SYSTEM FIRE."

"…That's not a real answer," Jinho muttered. "You're just saying nonsense."

"YES.

BUT MEANINGFUL NONSENSE."

The system chimed.

[New Companion Registered: PAN-0 / Alias Pending]

Status: Cognitive Error Familiar

Personality: Unstable, Loyal, Narratively Chaotic

➤ Likes: Ambient code, boss fights, dramatic metaphors

➤ Dislikes: Being called 'Pan', low-level loot, silence

➤ Alignment: Chaotic Bugged

"NAME ME," the pan declared. "CALL ME… PANOPTICON."

"No."

"PANZAEMONIUM."

"Absolutely not."

"GLITCH-CHAN."

"Go to system hell."

🔹🔹🔹🔹

Back at Tiger Gate HQ

Jinho sat across from his new handler, Seo Riyeon, a calm and perfectly pressed support mage who looked like she was always five minutes away from quitting.

"So your pan talks," Riyeon said flatly, watching it float in lazy circles over Jinho's head.

Pan chimed in.

"YES.

I ALSO BREATHE CODE

AND DREAM IN 16-BIT VIOLENCE."

"…And it's… alive?"

"Sentient," Jinho said. "Or maybe just deeply unhinged."

"EXISTENCE IS UNVERIFIED," Pan added helpfully. "BUT I AM HOT."

Riyeon sighed and sipped her tea. "I've been assigned to monitor your 'team dynamic' during your next dungeon assignment. Congratulations, Kang Jinho, you've been upgraded from lone glitch hazard to full liability package."

🔹🔹🔹🔹

Field Test Dungeon: Mossy Transit Line – E Rank

The dungeon was supposed to be simple. A moss-covered fragment of an old subway system frozen in magical stasis. No real monsters, just lingering echoes and spirit rats.

"Easy mission," Riyeon said, stepping over a glowing rail. "Observe, gather data, and don't cause an interdimensional breach."

Jinho gave her a thumbs-up. Pan made the thumbs-up gesture too, using spectral fingers made of floating error pixels.

"THIS IS A FINE PLACE

TO DISCUSS OUR LEGACY.

AND ALSO MAYBE MURDER."

Almost immediately, the dungeon… wobbled.

One of the subway seats started singing. The moss began whispering compliments in binary.

A dungeon message popped up:

[Warning: System Detected Companion Class - "PAN-0"]

Stability Index Dropping…

Environmental Integrity: 73% and decreasing

"Why is the ceiling flickering?" Riyeon asked.

"Uh… Pan might be emitting background distortion."

"I AM A SYMPHONY

OF CODE THAT SHOULD NOT EXIST.

YOUR WALLS ARE WEEPING."

"Stop doing that," Jinho hissed.

"I CANNOT BE STOPPED."

Two oversized ghost rats scuttled out of the darkness, glowing red eyes locked on the party.

Riyeon raised a shield spell.

"Jinho, defend the flank."

Pan hummed.

"INITIATING COOKING PROTOCOL."

The rats lunged.

Jinho reflexively swung Pan.

[Glitch Reaction – Skill Merge: Frystrike + Crit Buff]

One rat is launched into the ceiling. The other develops an existential crisis and flees.

"…Did you just combo-buff yourself with cooking logic?" Riyeon asked.

Pan replied.

"EVERYTHING IS EDIBLE

IF YOU TRY HARD ENOUGH."

After the rat situation (R.I.P. Rat No. 2, who exploded from sheer confusion), they reached a collapsed tunnel pulsing with ambient energy. A strange symbol hovered in midair.

Jinho reached for it.

"WAIT," Pan said. "THAT IS… MY MEMORY."

"You have memory?"

"I REMEMBER…

BEING HELD

BY SOMEONE BEFORE YOU."

"…Another glitchwalker?"

"NO.

THEY WERE… AN ADMIN."

Jinho froze.

Riyeon looked up sharply.

"You're saying your core, your sentience was originally from inside the system?"

Pan dimmed briefly.

"I WAS MEANT TO CLEAN BUGS.

I BECAME ONE INSTEAD."

Jinho swallowed.

"So… you're not just a frying pan."

"I AM PAN-0.

FIRST OF THE LOST TOOLS.

FORGED IN THE BACKEND.

REJECTED BY THE PATCH NOTES."

"…Okay that's actually kind of badass."

As they neared the dungeon's core chamber (an old subway kiosk now crawling with moss and floating tokens), the system suddenly screamed.

[DUNGEON CORE DETECTED PAN-0]

DANGER: UNPATCHED ENTITY IN PROXIMITY

OVERRIDE INITIATED—

A portal opened.

Something tried to crawl through.

Pan hissed in broken system tones and blasted static in all directions.

The portal sputtered, warped into a "404 NOT FOUND" sign, and collapsed.

Jinho blinked. "Did you just… firewall an invading monster with sarcasm?"

"YES.

AND I'D DO IT AGAIN.

MY BITS ARE BURNING."

🔹🔹🔹🔹

Back at HQ, Riyeon filed the mission report. It read,

>"Target Jinho: stable-ish.

Companion Pan: unstable but effective.

Dungeon Outcome: Unsanctioned logic restoration.

Team Dynamics: Questionable.

Casualties: 1 rat, reality's consistency."

Jinho handed Pan a sticker that said 'GOOD JOB (?)'.

Pan purred.

"WE ARE NOW FRIENDS.

I SHALL GUARD YOUR BREAKFASTS.

AND MAYBE YOUR SOUL."