Silence stretched between the two Park Yerims. The older one studied her younger counterpart with careful eyes.
“You look like I did when I was young. Are you so kind of monster?”
“I’m not the monster–”
Park Yerim caught herself mid-sentence. She’d been thinking the people in this dungeon were probably monsters, but sothing held her back from saying it aloud. She scrambled for another explanation.
“I’m from another world.”
“Another world?”
“Like a parallel universe. You and I are both Park Yerim, but we’re a little different. You don’t have any mories of looking like , right?”
The smaller Park Yerim spread her arms wide. Even at fifteen, she was already Awakened. Her hair was cut short, and she stood taller than expected. The blue jewel earrings she wore were completely unfamiliar. Her weapon and countless other details had changed.
“There are too many differences for you to be a monster or Hunter copying my appearance.”
“Exactly! If I were deliberately pretending to be Park Yerim, I would have made myself look exactly like you. But I’m different. I’m still – I’m still Park Yerim – but there’s a difference.”
The older Park Yerim’s brow furrowed deeply. A parallel universe version of herself appearing out of nowhere? It was an incredible story, but the world had already changed beyond recognition. Dungeons and the Awakened – once upon a ti, they would have been dismissed as absurd fantasies.
“For now...”
The older Park Yerim glanced toward the guild building.
“Let’s find sowhere quiet to talk. She’s not an enemy! I’m going to investigate, so stay on standby!”
She called out loudly to the guild mbers before moving ahead.
“Cover your face again. We’re going to my place.”
“Your place? Where do you live?”
“Close by.”
The smaller Park Yerim looked around with barely contained excitent. She was perfectly happy with her current ho, but still – this Park Yerim’s place would be sothing she’d created entirely on her own. A ho Park Yerim had earned through independence and her own hard work. The thought made her heart race, and the figure walking ahead of her seed like a real adult.
‘She’s probably living alone. A studio apartnt, maybe? High-rank Hunters make good money, so it might be a pretty big place.’
“When I was about to start high school, I spent hours browsing real estate sites, planning to move out once I got a part-ti job.”
“He wouldn’t let , said the store was short-staffed.”
“What? Uncle is so cheap! He didn’t even pay you for part-ti work! Did he at least give you sothing in high school?”
“A pittance.”
“Unbelievable! He was exactly the sa!”
Park Yerim grumbled extensively, and the older Park Yerim chuckled softly. The two walked side by side, crossing the street and turning a corner. They were almost at the crosswalk when–
THUD!
“...Huh?”
Park Yerim stopped dead, as if she’d hit an invisible wall. A transparent mbrane flickered into view for just a mont before disappearing. The other Park Yerim, who had stepped through without any trouble, turned back.
“What’s wrong?”
“There’s sothing here.”
Park Yerim reached out, her fingers probing the empty air. Where her hand touched, a hard mbrane materialized. Both Park Yerims’ eyes widened simultaneously.
“What is this? I can’t feel it with my hands!”
“A barrier? So kind of boundary?”
A spear materialized in the older Park Yerim’s grip. She swung the cold spearhead hard against the mbrane.
THUD!
The impact rang out, but the mbrane didn’t budge. Then the Park Yerim outside the barrier activated a skill. An ice thorn ford and shot toward the mbrane – it passed straight through, freezing and shattering the sidewalk beyond.
“My attacks just go through... I’ve seen sothing like this before.”
Park Yerim recalled the incident when she’d rescued the goblins. A transparent mbrane had appeared then too, and only the goblins could pass through freely.
“This is from the dungeon...”
“It’s like a dungeon mbrane. No, it’s exactly the sa. And this type...”
The Park Yerim trapped inside clenched her teeth.
“This is the kind that traps monsters in a specific area.”
“Um, well, that’s...”
“Co to think of it, there are no people around.”
Park Yerim surveyed the area with cold eyes. Empty streets stretched ~Nоvеl𝕚ght~ in every direction.
“There’s no way there wouldn’t be cars or people at this ti of day. This place – we’re inside a dungeon.”
She’d been found out. Park Yerim stared at the other Park Yerim, who was calmly trying to process the situation, not knowing what to say. ‘What should I do? What excuse can I make?’ Just then, Yun Yun popped up beside her.
“I’ve heard of dungeons like that too! That ans the monster can’t get out, right?”
“Yun Yun!”
At Park Yerim’s scolding shout, Yun Yun tilted her head as if to say, ‘what’s wrong?’ The Park Yerim inside the mbrane looked at Yun Yun with curiosity.
“You’re a goblin, right? I’ve never seen you before. Aren’t goblins supposed to be unable to enter dungeons?”
“Right! She’s a monster that looks like Little Kim Seobang turned into Big Kim Seobang. Originally, I couldn’t enter.”
“Stop calling a monster! Don’t say that!”
“Why not?”
“So I am a monster? As expected?”
The Park Yerim inside the mbrane spoke with surprising calm. Her expression barely changed.
“I think that’s probably the case... are you okay with that?”
“To be honest, it doesn’t feel real.”
Park Yerim took a couple of steps back, studying her flustered younger self.
“A doppelganger species? It feels strange, but not necessarily bad. Maybe because I seem perfectly fine.”
The self who had awakened at fifteen and joined a major guild stood before her. If what she’d said earlier was true, she seed to be on good terms with other high-rank Hunters as well. She’d called Kang Soyeong, Evelyn, Han Yuhyun, and even Seong Hyunjae without hesitation.
“You really joined the Haeyeon Guild? When I was fifteen, I think I would have joined the Breaker Guild.”
“Because the Haeyeon Guild Leader is Mister’s younger brother.”
“Mister... right, what’s a breeder?”
“That’s Mister Han Yujin. Mister ca to find , said I had talent. That’s how I awakened.”
“Mister did?”
“You call him Mister too... huh? Wait a minute. Mister said he’d never t before, right?”
He had definitely said he’d only seen her on TV, never t her in person. But the pre-regression Park Yerim was calling him ‘Mister’ quite familiarly. Park Yerim was about to question her in detail when she stopped and looked back at Yun Yun.
“What we’re discussing now isn’t for others to hear. I’m sorry, but could you step aside for a mont?”
“Okay! I won’t eavesdrop, so don’t worry, Little Kim Seobang!”
“Thanks.”
Yun Yun disappeared, and Park Yerim continued.
“Do you know Mister Han Yujin? Have you actually t him?”
“Even if I have, it has nothing to do with you. I’m different from you.”
“That’s just it! I an, that’s the thing! Since we’re inside a dungeon and this is before the regression anyway, it should be okay to explain. Actually, you’re both my future and my past!”
“...What?”
“Mister Han Yujin ca back to the past. He regressed. Originally, I would have beco just like you, but Mister ca to the past and found , so things changed. This is a dungeon, but I think the people from the future and past who actually existed have appeared as, well, monsters.”
Park Yerim looked on the verge of tears, saying she couldn’t explain it well herself. The Park Yerim inside the mbrane pondered for a mont, then nodded slightly.
“So I’m not just so fantasy of the future created by the dungeon. I actually existed.”
“Yes! Exactly!”
“To go back to the past... he could do sothing like that too. I know Mister Han Yujin. I’ve even t him several tis in person.”
“Really? But Mister didn’t rember at all...”
Given Han Yujin’s personality, there was no way he would pretend not to know. And hadn’t he even confessed about the regression? There was no reason to hide the fact that he knew Park Yerim. The Park Yerim inside the mbrane frowned deeply, looking at the bewildered Park Yerim.
“It’s been a while since I’ve seen him. Mister said it wouldn’t be good for to know him, so he told not to co around! But since a year ago, I haven’t been able to contact him at all. Before that, he would at least reply to my HunterTalk ssages. Did the Haeyeon Guild Leader do sothing?”
“If it’s Han Yuhyun, it’s entirely possible.”
Park Yerim agreed seriously.
“Didn’t he lock Mister up in his house and completely cut off all outside contact? Still, I don’t think he would have gone as far as erasing his mories.”
During the Choi Seokwon incident, many people had lost parts of their mories. So there was a high possibility that an item capable of manipulating others’ mories had appeared. But she didn’t think Han Yuhyun would have gone so far as to tamper with Han Yujin’s mories.
At Park Yerim’s words, the other Park Yerim looked completely baffled.
“What do you an, locked up in his house? Han Yuhyun doesn’t even look at his brother. He seed to hate him. He never ca to see Mister. I’m certain of it.”
“That can’t be right! That guy Han Yuhyun – he put his life on the line for Mister. When Mister was captured, he was crying and trying to go after him without even treating his wounds. Liette unni said she thought she’d have to clean up two corpses.”
The Park Yerim inside the mbrane asked back in amazent.
“Crying? The Haeyeon Guild Leader? For real?”
“Yes! And he’s a total Mister-clinger. If he weren’t the Guild Leader, he’d follow Mister around all day. When Mister is next to him, he has the most satisfied expression in the world – it’s not even funny...”
Park Yerim’s words trailed off. She rembered Han Yujin’s words about how they hadn’t reconciled as quickly this ti around.
“Could it be that the two of them haven’t reconciled yet?”
This was a point in ti when the Park Yerim who had awakened at eighteen had risen to deputy guild leader and established herself as a Hunter. She must have been active as a Hunter for at least a year – that ant a full four years had passed.
For the two of them to have been estranged for over seven years. Considering the Han Yujin and Han Yuhyun she’d observed over the past few months, it was almost impossible to believe.
“It seems they’ve reconciled now.”
“Oh, yeah. They get along really well.”
“Obviously Mister was the one who accepted him. Obviously.”
Park Yerim grumbled, but still muttered that it was a relief.
“Anyway, since I’m the monster–”
“Don’t call yourself a monster! For now, I’ll be Tang Ye! You’re older, so you’re the unni. And I’m the one who ca in, and I’m your junior as a Hunter – anyway!”
Park Yerim – Tang Ye – declared. They could be divided by past and future, or pre-regression and post-regression, but she didn’t want that. It was better for Park Yerim to just be Park Yerim. Tang Ye let out a huge breath as if to sort through her complicated feelings.
“I don’t know why Mister doesn’t rember , but could it have remained in his subconscious? Is that why he ca to find ? Not just a simple coincidence.”
‘Could it be that he ca to find because he knew ?’ At the words that held a hint of hope, Park Yerim shrugged.
“How would I know? What exactly did he say when he ca to find you?”
“Just that he knew I would beco an A-Rank Hunter in the future. He needed soone to protect him then.”
“Then whether he had the mories or not, he ca to find you – .”
“But!”
Tang Ye shook her head vigorously.
“There are so many A-Rank Hunters! Hundreds. More than a thousand? So if he didn’t have the mories, it feels like it was just coincidence and luck... it’s a bit – how should I put it – it makes lose confidence. I received so much from Mister. Because Mister ca to get , I left my uncle’s house early, and I t so many good people.”
Tang Ye rambled on about what had happened. Park Yerim listened attentively to the jumbled story, mixed up in ti and place.
“So the thought that I might not have been the Hunter Mister actually wanted – it makes a little scared and sad.”
“I don’t think that’s it.”
Park Yerim said bluntly. Tang Ye’s eyes widened.
“How can you be so sure?”
“Because I’m the best.”
Her confident voice continued.
“Even if I had never t Mister, even if we were complete strangers, what A-Rank would catch his eye other than Park Yerim? I awakened, I worked hard, and I beca an exceptionally outstanding Hunter.”
She’d heard many tis that she was on par with an S-Rank. It was also said that she wouldn’t fall behind any A-Rank in terms of experience.
“Because I’m amazing, he ca to find .”
“You are?”
“I am.”
Park Yerim smiled.
“I am you.”
Because it’s Park Yerim. Because it’s , and no one else. Park Yerim also laughed, tears welling up in her eyes though her face was bright.
“So Mister ca for because it was . Because I worked hard. Because I was good enough to be worth rembering.”
‘I made my own place. It was Park Yerim’s place, created by Park Yerim.’
“Thank you.”
“Why are you thanking when you’re ?”
“Still, to be honest, if Mister hadn’t been there, I would have had a harder and lonelier ti, and I thought I would be more... shabby than I am now. But you’re really cool. I was living well.”
“Of course.”
“Because I was living so well, that’s why I’m here.”
To the brightly smiling Park Yerim, Tang Ye said with a grin. Park Yerim responded:
“So what are you going to do now?”
“Huh?”
“You can only clear the dungeon by defeating the monster, right?”
Oops. Tang Ye’s expression instantly hardened.
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