episode_0381

“It’s been a while. I’m Do Jongha.”

The fading afternoon.

At Ban Harin’s request, Do Jongha arrived in a rural village and stepped out of the driver’s seat.

Clunk—

The car parked in front of a crumbling wall.

The first thing Do Jongha noticed was the quiet scent of the countryside.

Even when monsters were born from the “Rift” and hunters with skills appeared,

people lived.

“Ugh—. I’m hungry. Who’s making spicy crab stew? Can I just sneak a bite?”

“Ugh—. Acting up again? Quit yapping and help carry the luggage. What if King Do Jongha comes marching over and licks your forehead with his tongue? We’d be dead. How many A-rank hunters are here, and you’re still fearless…”

“Ugh—. Shut up, all of you.”

Perhaps everyone had returned home early to prepare dinner.

Following Do Jongha, Kim Yoohee—[Dark Dragon Captain]—and her ‘siblings’ noisily piled out of the car, their orange cat ears twitching.

Five kitten-like siblings, identical as twins.

Kim Yoohee, No. 1, No. 2, No. 3, and the youngest.

The foreign car, something a medieval detective might ride, was clearly a four-seater, yet five people emerged from the back.

“King Do Jongha. Last time, wasn’t it also the countryside where ‘Rat’ called us to? Another orphanage?”

“Are we being abandoned?”

“Seems like it.”

“No wonder.”

“Aren’t you scared of the Cat Mom? If she ditches us, we’ll gorge on food and get fat.”

“Ugh, can’t you just shut up for once?! No filter at all!”

Do Jongha snapped with irritation at the kittens whining behind her like ducklings.

Not a single quiet day, but given their background as a former intelligence unit of a major guild, they were annoyingly competent at their jobs.

“…….”

The entrance to the abandoned rural house.

Ban Harin, who had been waiting for Do Jongha, quietly wiped her face.

So noisy.

“Sigh… Sorry. Let me reintroduce myself. I’m Do Jongha.”

“Seems like nothing’s unusual. I’ll leave it to you, Jong Do Ha-nim.”

“It’s Do Jongha.”

You too?

Do Jongha’s glare conveyed the words.

Ban Harin avoided eye contact with a blank expression.

“Those cats came too?”

“Why the sudden attitude? Who do you think you are?”

“Do you pick fights with every face you see?”

Nearby, ‘Rat’ and Kim Yoohee, who had escaped from ‘Hanbit Orphanage’ together, bickered casually.

The quiet countryside turned noisy in an instant.

“King Do Jongha. That guy keeps ending every sentence with ‘nya nya,’ and it’s not cute at all.”

“Why am I being called ‘king’?”

“Isn’t ‘king’ above ‘captain’?”

“You always call me ‘sis’ normally—why the change?”

“……Can’t help it. It’s embarrassing in front of others.”

The evening air in the countryside was crisp.

Do Jongha adjusted the collar of her trench coat and turned away.

The ‘Reverse Cross Bracelet’ on her wrist glinted in the fading sunlight,

and as she looked up at the reddening sky, a frustrated sigh escaped.

“Haah……”

Maybe I should just go home.

…….

Do Jongha, an A-rank hunter with the [Room Retrospective] skill, capable of replaying the past of a sealed space.

Kim Yoohee, a B-rank hunter with a clone-based skill.

The two surveyed the overgrown ruins before greeting Yang Soa.

“No Galaxy sis? We came to bury our faces in Galaxy sis’s softness.”

“Please let Galaxy-nim rest. She won’t even answer calls.”

“No squishy mochi… Fluffy cotton candy!”

“Nyaw?”

To be precise, the kittens merely surrounded Yang Soa to fawn over her,

and Yang Soa merely curled up like a pill bug as Kim Yoohee playfully ruffled her fluffy pink hair.

Still, it quickly confirmed that neither party was dangerous.

“This fluffball’s the client? Fine by me.”

“But I’m the detective here—wait, no. Doesn’t matter. We’ll do it anyway.”

“Thank you.”

The decision was swift.

Kim Yoohee and her ‘siblings’ pulled out four large stakes from the trunk and began driving them into the ground.

An artifact that wrapped the staked perimeter in a thin, tent-like barrier.

While the kittens hammered the stakes, Do Jongha scouted the surroundings.

‘A normal rural house… but left abandoned for too long.’

It had been empty for over ten years.

The red-tiled roof was covered in nameless vines, and the stone path between the house and gate was cracked like drought-stricken fields.

The garden plot, once growing vegetables, was now knee-deep in weeds swaying in the autumn breeze.

Mold-covered wooden floors.

Tilted sliding doors.

A bedroom full of cobwebs…

Few places embodied ‘abandoned’ as well as this.

Fluff… fluff…..

Then, Yang Soa, her face shadowed,

struggled to move her legs before collapsing on the wooden porch.

“……I’m… home…”

A greeting to someone.

A voice pushed out with difficulty.

No reply returned.

Whatever had happened, it couldn’t have been good—

so Do Jongha stayed silent.

“The stakes are done. What now?”

“Just looking around. Scared a ghost might pop out like back at the orphanage.”

“Let me check.”

Whoosh!

[Dark Dragon Captain] Kim Yoohee, having planted the stakes around the house, set down her massive hammer.

At Do Jongha’s words, she nodded firmly—before grabbing ‘No. 1,’ who had been poking Yang Soa’s hair, and hurling her straight into the dark house.

Crash!

The orange kitten, tossed through the broken sliding door.

“NYAAAAAAAA—!”

Moments later, ‘No. 1’ came scrambling out, covered in bugs.

Kim Yoohee nodded in satisfaction.

“Seems safe enough.”

“Ever heard of mirrors?”

Do cats have extra lives?

‘Rat’ sighed and began picking bugs off ‘No. 1’ rolling on the ground.

Most were cockroaches.

Flick—

The orange kitten tumbled through the overgrown garden.

‘Rat’ instinctively glanced up.

‘Ah… a jujube tree.’

Amid the wild weeds stood a single jujube tree.

A common sight in the countryside.

Perhaps because it was October, ripe jujubes hung in clusters, greeting ‘Rat.’

A jujube tree growing in a garden plot.

An inexplicable unease pressed on her shoulders.

“…….”

“Best not to eat it.”

Ban Harin, who had approached soundlessly, rested a hand on ‘Rat’s’ shoulder.

Her eyes, activating [Observation Skill], scanned the tree.

An ordinary tree.

Likely about 20 years old.

“…….”

Staring blankly at the jujube tree,

Ban Harin soon deactivated her skill and returned to Yang Soa.

I wasn’t planning to eat it anyway—so why warn me?

‘Rat’ lifted the dirt-covered ‘No. 1’ and headed back to Do Jongha.

“Thanks.”

“No prob.”

Still smiling lazily, ‘No. 1’ followed ‘Rat.’

Her voice was oddly calmer than before being thrown into the house.

Was there a switch in personalities?

‘Rat’ shook her head and walked on.

“NYAAAA—!”

Soon, Kim Yoohee, victimized by ‘No. 1’ shoving bugs into her clothes, rolled on the ground.

Do Jongha ignored the ruckus and activated her skill.

Huuuuung…

The four stakes vibrated, emitting a translucent mist.

The grayish smoke linked stake to stake, forming a giant mosquito-net-like barrier.

A makeshift ‘sealed room,’ created by artifacts.

Do Jongha couldn’t use her skill outside one—hence the expensive purchase.

“Let’s begin.”

“…….”

“I’ve never replayed something this old—no idea how it’ll go.”

A forsaken rural house.

Inside the fabricated sealed room, Do Jongha glanced at Yang Soa.

The girl kneeling on the porch, face buried in her fluffy wool-like hair, nodded weakly.

Half-asleep voice,

but the resolve in her eyes shone like stars.

Do Jongha smirked, gathering mana.

No clue why she was suddenly called here, but since it involved Galaxy,

she’d help however she could.

Every day since meeting her felt new.

Like all the ‘painful memories’ had been swept away by a sparkling wave.

So please—

let Galaxy be happy.

Whoooooosh!

Having peered into the past of ‘Hanbit Orphanage,’

Do Jongha touched the ‘Reverse Cross Bracelet’ on her wrist and activated her skill.

Blue ‘mana’ poured from her body like particles, filling the ‘sealed room.’

[Room Retrospective].

A skill to replay past events within a sealed space.

Tick. Tock.

Soon, tiny crimson specks formed human-shaped figures in the blue-tinted room,

rewinding like an old videotape as

the ‘red mannequins’ began reconstructing the past.

—”NYAAAA!”

‘No. 1’ rolling in the garden.

—”You always call me ‘sis’—why stop now?”

—”……Embarrassing in front of others.”

Kim Yoohee and Do Jongha’s conversation.

The sealed room turned, advancing into the past.

A day, two, three…

Mana depleted steadily.

Tick!

Then, ‘Rat’ approached Do Jongha, augmenting her with [Speed Control].

Tick! Tock—!

The rewind accelerated; mana consumption slowed.

Had her skill always been this erratic?

Tick!

A month ago, half a year, two years…

Wiping away a nosebleed. Still manageable.

Within the hastened timeflow, Do Jongha gritted her teeth and stared into the past.

…….

…….

“……Ah…”

How far back had she gone?

Yang Soa’s voice, swallowing hard, reached her.

Tick.

Do Jongha halted the rewind.

Whoosh…

The rushing scenery normalized,

and a moment from the past began replaying before them.

…….

“…….”

A skill replaying the past within a sealed room.

In the blue-tinted world, a single red mannequin sat on the wooden porch, gazing at the sky.

A hunched old woman.

The elderly figure, rubbing her aching knees, passed the time.

“…….”

Seared into memory,

yet too vague to recall clearly.

Fluff…

Yang Soa willed her trembling legs forward.

Approaching the porch where the ‘old woman’ sat.

Fluff… fluff…

Even after all this time,

even if she could no longer remember your face,

even if, sometimes, on hardest days,

there were moments you didn’t cross her mind—

“…….”

Why, then,

does facing you in memory

hurt so deeply?

“Gran…”

Plop…

She sat on the wooden porch.

Beside the red mannequin staring emptily at the sky.

The blue-tinted world mirrored the scenery she remembered.

A tidy home, a small vegetable garden.

No jujube tree in sight.

Yang Soa lifted a trembling hand,

reaching for the ‘old woman’s’ wrinkled fingers.

Rustle…

The mannequin, shaped by the skill,

crumbled like sand at her touch.

Fluff—!

Startled, Yang Soa recoiled.

The red particles reassembled into the ‘old woman.’

“…….”

A past-replaying skill.

Like retrieving a photo from an old album.

She hadn’t truly returned—

“……Nyaw…”

Crouching, Yang Soa carefully laid her head on the ‘old woman’s’ lap.

A girl grown into a woman, resting on her grandmother’s knees.

Regret seeped through her fluffy pink hair.

Rustle…

Observing this, Ban Harin turned to Do Jongha.

“…How far back did you go?”

“Cough—! Roughly… 20 years… Cough!!”

Do Jongha spat blood as Kim Yoohee rushed to support her.

Had she overdone it?

Ban Harin retrieved an [Silver Steel Potion] from her coat.

“Ugh… I’m fine. Wouldn’t have made it this far without ‘Rat’… What even is this skill? Does it level up?”

Time perception had warped beyond expectations.

Do Jongha scowled, wiping her mouth.

Not long ago, trying to replay just four years at Hanbit Orphanage nearly drained her mana dry.

“…….”

Yet ‘Rat’ seemed equally stunned,

staring blankly at her own hands.

Her long rat tail flicked nervously.

—Thud-thud-thud!

But then,

through the open blue gate,

a tiny fluffy bundle tumbled into the house.

—”Gran~!”

A child.

So round it looked faster rolling than walking.

Had she tumbled down the hillside? Leaves and twigs clung to her ankle-length pink hair.

Fluff—!

Yang Soa bolted upright from the porch, staring at the incoming ‘little girl.’

—”Gran~! I got this and shared it!”

—”Oh dear, our Soa’s back?”

—”I got this and shared it!”

—”Let’s see what you shared, then.”

—”Sheep! Sheep!”

The excited ‘girl’ fluffed up her hair and dove into the ‘old woman’s’ arms.

‘Gran’ understood perfectly, stroking the cotton-candy locks.

“…….”

Her wrinkled fingers plucking leaves from the child’s hair.

She loved that touch so much, she’d deliberately take the wooded path home.

Had Gran noticed? Even after removing all the leaves, she’d keep stroking lovingly.

—”Gran~!”

Happiness lived in the old woman’s embrace.

The joyful little girl’s bright laughter spilled out.

Yang Soa quietly watched the memory unfold.

“…King Do Jongha. Can I put that squishy fluffball in my mouth?”

“No.”

Nom.

“Nyaw…”

Kim Yoohee, unable to resist, quietly walked over and nommed on the real Yang Soa’s cheek instead.

A substitute for the miniature version.

Shortly after, ‘No. 1,’ ears perked, ambled over with a lazy smile and hugged Yang Soa tight before leaving.

“…….”

Noisy cats.

Yet oddly comforting.

Yang Soa steadied her pounding heart.

—”Gran~! Here!”

Meanwhile,

the past ‘girl’ handed something to ‘Gran.’

A ripe jujube.

A common countryside sight.

—”Oh? You got a jujube… For me, dear?”

The tiny fluffball nodded eagerly.

Warm wrinkles deepened around Gran’s mouth as she accepted it gratefully.

—”……Thank you.”

—”Sheep! Nyaw!”

—”Jujubes are sweetest in October… Should we plant one?”

“…….”

—”I’ll buy lots tomorrow and plant them.”

—”Sheep! Sheep!”

A jujube tree.

‘Rat’ glanced back at the garden plot.

The tree there now bore sunset-hued fruit.

Was this the tree planted for that ‘girl?’

Guess Harin was right not to eat it.

“…….”

Watching this happy memory,

the daily life of ‘girl’ and ‘Gran,’

Yang Soa’s eyes brimmed with sorrow.

“…It’s a happy memory. Why cry?”

‘No. 1’ murmured.

Still smiling languidly, she wiped Yang Soa’s damp eyes while hugging her.

“Whoa, ‘No. 1,’ why act so out of character?”

“Captain Kim, kindly shut up.”

Kim Yoohee, moving to pick a fight, was swiftly silenced by Ban Harin.

Yang Soa scratched ‘No. 1’s’ chest with her round horns.

“…Memory…”

“Hm?”

“That… last day…”

Yang Soa whispered.

The last day.

—”Sheep! Sheep!”

—”Yes, let’s wash up before dinner.”

Back then.

When she was little.

When she gave Gran a jujube received from ‘someone,’

happiest as always,

that night.

—”Dinner’s done, teeth brushed… Bedtime?”

—”Sheep! Sheep!”

—”Yes, sleep with Gran.”

Gran died.

…….

…….

Time flowed.

Fast-forwarded.

—”……”

—”Nyaw… nyaw…”

Dinner finished,

tucked into soft blankets, the ‘girl’ drifted off.

—”……”

—”Nyaw… nyaw…”

‘Gran,’ watching the sleeping ‘Yang Soa’ with a smile,

rose quietly and stepped outside.

Rustle… rustle…

Silently. Careful not to wake the child.

Creak…

Sliding the door open,

she stepped onto the moonlit wooden porch.

—”……”

—”It’s been a while.”

Beyond the porch,

stood a dozen masked ‘hunters.’

A sight Yang Soa had never seen.

—”……”

—”Didn’t expect you alive. We preserved the corpse found two years ago at the ‘facility’… A fake, it seems.”

—”Quiet. You’ll wake the child.”

‘Gran’ lifted a nearby walking stick and descended into the yard.

The masked hunters warily distanced themselves.

Red mannequins reconstructing the scene.

“Cough!”

Do Jongha coughed blood, waving a hand.

Instantly, their masks disintegrated into sand.

“Whoa. Fancy trick.”

“Cough… Never mind. Recognize anyone?”

Unmasked faces emerged.

Among them—Yang Soa’s ‘Team Leader.’

Two decades younger, but Yang Soa recognized him instantly.

“…That man.”

Zap.

Meanwhile, Ban Harin, scrutinizing the uncovered faces with [Observation],

pointed at a man in the center, golden eyes gleaming.

The one who’d spoken to ‘Gran.’

Their leader?

“That’s the man currently managing the association in place of Go Yeong-in.”

“New chairman?”

“See? More reliable than interrogating that ‘Team Leader.’”

“Says who?”

‘No. 1’ chuckled at their bickering,

patting Yang Soa’s shuddering shoulders.

Determined not to miss a second, Yang Soa forced her half-lidded eyes wide open, watching ‘Gran.’

“…Gran…”

She’d lived, terrified of dying.

Became an adult drowning in guilt.

The grandmother she thought she’d killed—

what had really happened?

Creak…

Meanwhile, ‘Gran’s’ story advanced toward its conclusion.

—”You picked quite the prize.”

—”……”

—”Visited the kid this morning. Figured we’d ‘manage’ her too. On the way, handed her a jujube… Then found you here.”

Whoosh.

‘Gran’ raised her walking stick.

Thud-thud-thud.

‘Something’ unseen moved, wrapping around the hunters’ throats—severed heads hit the ground.

Rustle…

Invisible threads lingering in the air.

Half the hunters decapitated instantly; survivors drew weapons warily.

—”Hah… Haha… That the kid’s ‘skill?’ Your [Imitation] never fails to impress.”

—”Clean up and leave. We’ll live like the dead.”

—”Tch—shown us this, and you expect us to go?… That skill kills people. That child needs control.”

Step by step.

The inevitable finale approached.

Shing.

The man sheathed his weapon, gesturing behind him.

Summoning someone.

—”Skills are tools—depends how you use them.”

—”Your opinion.”

—”……”

—”A child trips, lashes out angrily—people die. No one conquers anger forever, old woman.”

At his gesture,

a figure watching from the back stepped forward.

—”……”

A woman shrouded in a wide robe.

Her mask, removed earlier by Do Jongha, revealed her face under the moonlight.

—”Control is necessary. For the world’s proper course.”

She reached for her own face.

Peeling off the mask?

‘Gran’s’ eyes widened abruptly, staring.

—”……You—”

Under the robe—an unremarkable woman’s face.

The wind fluttered the robe’s edge,

revealing a silver bell-shaped brooch.

“…….”

“…That woman. Seen her before?”

“The nun at the orphanage? The one beside the director?”

“Her?… Didn’t she die in that fire four years ago?”

“Don’t know. And this was twenty years back.”

A silver bell.

Ban Harin reflexively wiped her face, watching.

…….

…….

(Why’d my sense of time slow earlier?)

(Skill malfunctioned.)

Something felt off.

An unsettling discomfort lingered.

(…Half the attackers wiped out by a beehive victim.)

(So just take it?)

A reversal skill.

‘Rat’ had mentioned it after being attacked—how something hit her, flipping her skill.

In Ban Harin’s near-perfect recall,

only two hunters had such skills.

One was Kang Nari, who could invert an object’s properties.

(Star-nim is… preoccupied. And Harin, you’ve only been at the orphanage a month.)

(Later. When a new child arrives, let’s visit Star-nim together. There’s an opening today.)

And the other—

Ban Harin dredged up the memory.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Growl…

Four years ago, at the orphanage.

The ‘Silver Bell Nun,’ amused by Ban Harin’s stomach’s angry protests,

placed a hand on the girl’s belly and activated her skill.

—Click.

A switch-flipping sound.

Suddenly, the hunger vanished.

(This is my skill. Inverts things—just flipped your hunger.)

(….)

(Could you invert a whole person?)

(Doubt it. I’d faint from mana drain first.)

(Haa…)

(Leave Star-nim be for now. Rest well.)

But now—

the realization hit.

That woman.

In this moment twenty years ago.

Who was she?

Why had she sought out Yang Soa’s grandmother?

And why—

did Ban Harin feel such crushing unease?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Too much overlapped.

The orphanage’s fate—

Han Sooah’s involvement—

the forgotten past—

Yang Soa’s suffering origins—

‘Gran’s’ true end—

And now,

the silver bell.

Ban Harin clenched her fists.

Had she remembered wrong?

—The past never lies.

Then—

was the discomfort now

the resonance of buried truths clawing free?

…….

…….

The final moment arrived.

—”…Any last words for the child?”

—”Spare the courtesy.”

—”She’s got a daughter too. Pretty little bunny.”

Then—

as the robed woman reached toward ‘Gran’—

someone covered Yang Soa’s eyes.

…….

…Crunch!

Too late to block the gruesome sound.

(To be continued in Episode 382)