Lee Pyeonghwa looked back and forth between the two of us, flustered by the sudden shift in mood. “Wh-what is it? Is it because there’s no one here?”
I wanted to explain, but I didn’t even know where to begin. Han Jaeyeong’s expression hardened.
“If that’s the case, then the assumption that we were randomly stranded in a dimension collapses. Even if the incident itself was deliberate, how did they manage to send us to
this
specific dimension?”
“Huh? What are you talking about…?”
“And if we were transported to a fixed dimension from the start, there should’ve been a purpose, but that purpose isn’t clear at all.”
As I listened to Han Jaeyeong, I stared at the village before us.
It was like a nightmare. In the Yeongjongdo dungeon, I’d seen a landscape identical to one from my past life. Back then, I’d thought it was a fabricated illusion, deliberately created by my sibling from that life to torment me.
(T/N: You might notice sometimes it’s Yeongjong
do
, sometimes it’s just Yeongjong. The “do” behind means island, so it is not a mistranslation)
“My dear sister, welcome home.”
…But it seemed the malice contained in that message ran far deeper than I’d imagined. I closed my eyes tightly for a moment, then opened them again.
“You look like you’ve got something in mind, Jeong Daon.”
Han Jaeyeong was unnervingly perceptive. I’d only shown the slightest flicker of unease, yet they’d caught it immediately.
“No. I was just thinking how overwhelming it all is. I was wondering if there might be another weirdo like last time.”
“That
would
be a problem, yes, but…” Han Jaeyeong studied me with suspicion for a moment, then noticed Lee Pyeonghwa’s confused expression and clicked their tongue quietly. “Just in case, let’s search the surrounding area a bit more. I don’t think we can push forward any farther today.”
“Alright.”
Drawing on past experience, I searched every corner of the village—around the old well, among the ruins—but found nothing of note.
If Leo were here, this would be easier.
Even though sharing the same soul essence meant I could summon him across dimensions without issue, I couldn’t do so lightly while Jeong Dajeong’s safety was at stake. So I had no choice but to manage on my own.
Before long, dusk fell again. The village, which had clearly been abandoned for a long time, already resembled a ruin; bathed in the blood-red glow of the setting sun, it looked even more ominous.
Lee Pyeonghwa asked, sounding a little frightened, “It really does seem like people lived here… so where did they all go? Did some kind of epidemic break out and force them to leave?”
“We have purification stones, so that won’t be an issue. Even if it looks creepy, it’s better to rest somewhere that still has a roof. Let’s stay here tonight.”
Even though Han Jaeyeong had brought a tent, it couldn’t block all the drafts, and sleeping out in the open would drain our stamina quickly. Almost every house was basically a ruin, but a few still had intact frames. We chose the most stable-looking one and unpacked inside. Though “unpacked” was a generous term, considering it was all just bulky military gear.
Once again, I was grateful we’d been stranded while wearing our uniforms. The combat uniforms issued to those with supernatural abilities were exceptionally durable and camouflaged, optimized for exploring environments like this.
We finished dinner with preserved rations. They were convenient, no heating required, but genuinely tasteless. Filling, but not satisfying.
“Looks like we’ll have to catch a bird tomorrow.”
“I’d rather not waste energy on unnecessary things. Do you even know how to cook one? Without salt or pepper, catching it won’t—”
We were in the middle of that pointless conversation when—
Rustle.
Every muscle in my body tensed. The three of us looked at each other.
That sound hadn’t come from any of us, and it wasn’t something the birds we’d seen earlier would make either. It was unmistakably the sound of fabric brushing against fabric, the kind of noise someone makes when they move.
Han Jaeyeong silently mouthed,
Outside the house?
I nodded and gestured for Lee Pyeonghwa to step back. It definitely wasn’t inside the house; the sound had come from somewhere in the village.
Whoosh!
Mana coiled instantly around one of Han Jaeyeong’s arms. Lowering their stance, they peered out through the door we’d left slightly ajar.
“…Huh?”
A completely vacant sound slipped from Han Jaeyeong’s mouth. And as I pressed myself against the window to look outside, I found myself just as stunned.
The scene was deeply surreal. A ruined village, weathered by time and left untouched like an abandoned relic, lay bathed in the red glow of the setting sun. And through the middle of that village, a man was walking toward us. His hair looked red in the sunset, but it must have originally been white.
“Yu Hanul?”
At the sound of my voice, the man reacted at once. Recognizing us, Yu Hanul’s eyes widened as if he were seeing something impossible. “…Daon?”
And at that moment—
The system has detected a “dimension-stranded individual.”
The system has identified User “Jeong Daon”.
The system is preparing guidance for the user.
The system had recognized me.
“Wow.” Han Jaeyeong, apparently seeing the system messages as well, let out a relieved breath. “I have no idea what’s going on, but at least we’re no longer classified as stranded.”
“That’s such a relief, really!”
Lee Pyeonghwa looked like she was on the verge of tears. After all, it was already bad enough that an incident had occurred during military training, and then being stranded in another dimension on top of that… It was far too much for a twenty-year-old Hunter who had only just awakened.
“So if we just meet the clear conditions, we can go back to Korea, right? Thank goodness…!”
As she spoke, Lee Pyeonghwa looked at Yu Hanul with shining eyes. It was almost the gaze one reserved for a hero. Naturally, Lee Pyeonghwa was a Korean citizen, after all. There was no way she wouldn’t know who Yu Hanul was.
“Thank you, Hunter Yu Hanul! Did you come here to rescue us?”
At that, Yu Hanul looked back and forth between Han Jaeyeong and me with a troubled expression. Anyone could tell he had no idea what was going on. Contrary to public perception, Yu Hanul was not an omniscient hero.
“Uh… I’m not sure what you mean. Why is Hunter Han Jaeyeong here…? And Daon, aren’t you supposed to be in basic military training? Stranded? What on earth happened?”
As expected, Yu Hanul had wandered into this dimension completely by chance, without knowing anything.
I glanced at the system messages.
The system welcomes User “Jeong Daon”.
The system has activated the quest “Doing Good Deeds Bring Blessings¿”
The damn leash had been snapped back on.
The system is collecting data on the unidentified dimension.
The system has successfully located a “soul core”.
Of course. The system must have passed that information, that it had found a soul core, on to Yu Hanul. Which meant there was a soul core in this dimension as well.
This is the worst.
My ominous suspicions were lining up one by one.
“Don’t even get me started. Do you have any idea what happened?”
While I was lost in thought, Han Jaeyeong explained the situation to Yu Hanul.
When Yu Hanul heard that a trainee named Lee Seunghui had gone berserk after taking illegal drugs, his expression darkened.
“For something like that to make its way into the military… that’s not just negligence.”
“I agree. And there are plenty of other things that don’t sit right.” As they said that, Han Jaeyeong flicked a glance in my direction. “At least it’s only been three days since we were stranded. At this point, does it even count as being stranded, or is it just camping?”
“I don’t think it’s that simple.”
“So then? We’ve got our own circumstances, but how did
you
end up here, Hunter Yu Hanul? We didn’t see any system messages, so we assumed this was an unidentified dimension. Is it connected to Earth?”
At Han Jaeyeong’s question, Yu Hanul’s expression turned awkward.
Why that reaction?
“Yes, I came here while clearing a newly discovered dungeon.”
“Hm… where was this dungeon discovered?”
“This dungeon was found…in Manhattan, New York.”
"What?" Han Jaeyeong frowned. “Why were
you
in New York? The government let you go abroad?”
“I’m a citizen with free will, you know.”
“You’re not just any citizen; you’re Yu Hanul. Why New York? And even if I let that slide, why are you clearing another country’s dungeon in the first place?”
It was only natural that Han Jaeyeong found this so puzzling. Yu Hanul wasn’t completely restricted in his freedom of movement, but as an S-rank Hunter, the conditions for him to travel abroad were extremely strict. There was no way South Korea would let Yu Hanul leave the country for no reason at all.
I looked Yu Hanul up and down. “You’re not a fake, are you?”
“H-huh?”
“…Huh. That
is
a possibility.”
Faced with the sharp gazes from Han Jaeyeong and me, Yu Hanul laughed awkwardly. “What kind of idea is that supposed to be?”
“It could be a doppelgänger. Something that copied the strongest person from our memories.”
“That actually makes sense. It does.”
“You two… you work together better than I expected. Hmm, what should I do? Want to hold hands or something?”
As he said that, Yu Hanul suddenly held out his hand. He was probably inviting us to check his mana.
A perfect opportunity.
“Sure.” I grabbed Yu Hanul’s hand without hesitation.
His palm was rough with calluses, solid and warm. At the same time, I could feel an enormous flow of mana surging beneath his skin. At first, I’d taken his hand simply to confirm whether he was real, but once I actually touched him, I was even more shocked. The state of Yu Hanul’s mana circuits was just…too much.
Isn’t this a monster?
Even swordsmen need to accumulate mana within their bodies to generate aura, that much was obvious.
But still.
Dormant within Yu Hanul’s body was enough mana to casually tear apart a small planet the size of Earth. You could see why the system had designated him a “hero.”
I’m not even sure I could beat him head-on, even with my true power.
Even if Yu Hanul had been a hero in a past life, he wasn’t that much older than “Jeong Daon” in this one. He couldn’t have had all that much time to build up power, so how had such a monster come into existence?
I finished my scan quickly and let go of his hand. Yu Hanul gave an embarrassed smile. “That’s not what I meant by ‘check thoroughly,’ you know.”
“You told me to see if you were real.”
“Well… fair enough. If you’re reassured, that’s good.”
I hadn’t really been that anxious to begin with. Even if he
were
a doppelgänger, perfectly imitating an S-rank Hunter like Yu Hanul would’ve been absurd. I’d just needed an excuse to gauge his strength.
In our current situation, Yu Hanul was undoubtedly the most reliable card we had.
“So, why New York?”
“Well, it’s classified for now.”
Lee Pyeonghwa hesitantly raised her hand, looking uncomfortable. “Should I step outside?”
“Going off alone would be dangerous in a situation like this…but it can’t be helped. The people involved are all here anyway.” Yu Hanul spoke with a slight grimace. “I asked the International Hunter Association to investigate the leak path of that ‘smoke’ item.”
He was referring to the item that had thoroughly screwed over every Hunter present during the Gwanghwamun Dungeon Break, the one that had instantly disabled mana circuits.
Now that I thought about it, it had been said to originate in the United States.
“If that item keeps circulating, it’s a problem not just for me, but for all Hunters. It neutralizes us far too easily.”
“Huh. That’s gutsy.” Han Jaeyeong sounded faintly impressed. “So what, did you march up to the Association President and slam paperwork in her face?”
At that question, Yu Hanul shook his head. “Of course not. Estella wouldn’t tolerate that kind of hostility.”
Estella. Her name appeared so often in the news that even I knew it well. She was the head of the International Hunter Association, and once known as the strongest Hunter alive. An American S-rank Hunter, around sixty years old. Her list of achievements was so long it would make your mouth sore just reciting them. Because of that, a common online debate was whether the current Estella or Yu Hanul would win if they fought.
Koreans liked to insist that Yu Hanul would obviously win since Estella was already sixty, but that was naïve. A Hunter’s strength didn’t necessarily correlate with their physical age. If she lacked ability, she wouldn’t still be sitting in the position of Association President. After all, Hunters inevitably developed egos as strong as the power they wielded.
“I did, however, protest that if she created the item, she should take responsibility for it.”
“And what did she say?”
“She said she’d thoroughly investigate where it leaked from and pass along the results.”
“Nice words.” Han Jaeyeong scoffed. “If the culprit is someone inside the Association, they’ll obviously protect their own.”
“I think so too,” Yu Hanul replied. “But that doesn’t mean I can afford to do nothing.”
I didn’t know Estella personally, but if even Yu Hanul was wary, let alone Han Jaeyeong, that said enough.
I’d like to meet her in person at least once.
I had my own way of seeing straight through someone’s soul. Even if they’d been reincarnated, I was confident I’d know the moment we met. If the Enemy of Humanity was hiding within either the Central Management Office or the Hunter Association, then Estella, as the Association’s head, was naturally one of the suspects.
“Still,” Han Jaeyeong said, “that doesn’t explain why you’re clearing dungeons in New York.”
“…There isn’t really a big reason,” Yu Hanul answered after a pause. “Staying inside the Association all the time was starting to feel stifling, and since I was already there, I thought I’d train a bit and clear some unexplored dungeons.”
That was what he said, but in reality, he’d probably come because of the system’s information about the soul core.
Han Jaeyeong, unaware of that, clicked their tongue. “Honestly, being nice also has its limits. At that point, you’re just doing another country favors.”
“It’s not necessarily like that— Wait.” Yu Hanul abruptly stopped mid-sentence.
Rustle.
In the brief silence that followed, the sound came again. It was the same noise we’d heard before encountering Yu Hanul.
So that sound wasn’t him?
The timing had been so perfect that we’d naturally assumed the earlier noise came from Yu Hanul.
But it hadn’t.
Shing.
Yu Hanul quietly drew his sword. And then…
Tap, tap!
Light, rapid footsteps rang out.
“Stop right there!”
Behind one of the collapsing houses, someone was running away after spotting Yu Hanul’s drawn blade. Judging by the sound alone, they were extremely nimble, but—
I stretched out my hand.
Crack, crack! Boom!!
Crash!
“That was way too violent!”
“Better than letting them get away.”
If they escaped into the alleys, things would get complicated. So I chose the simpler solution: collapsing the entire house where the unknown figure was hiding. The already crumbling structure disintegrated completely under even that small spell.
And when the wall vanished, standing before Yu Hanul’s drawn sword was—
“…A child?”
A small child in rags, crouched low and trying to hide behind the wall that was no longer there.