Chapter 158: The World Without Gates

The sharp rise in her voice sent her heart into a restless flutter.

The heretic who refused to turn her head stood in front of her, arms crossed, while Dana stood by the window.

“I didn’t expect you to come so soon.”

“I could come every day. Until you change bodies.”

“…Just wait.”

When Dana first told her what would happen in the future and said they had to switch bodies, she begged for more time under duress.

It was because she would be in trouble if she stayed in this dimension after the swap but ended up with nothing.

Everything she enjoyed originally belonged to Dana, but if she returned to her original body, stripped of all that and left with nothing, she would inevitably need Dana’s help.

Unless, by some chance, even after switching bodies, she could continue living the life of Dana—the former top-ranked awakened and current model—in this dimension, but that was too uncertain a gamble to take and risk being cast out empty-handed.

‘It’s for a good cause.’

Though giving up this body was painful, she bit her lip, hoping at least to keep her status intact even if the body changed.

Dana had long since realized that the quest’s reward was that their identities would remain intact while only their bodies swapped, unnoticed by anyone—but the heretic had no way of knowing this.

With a firm resolve, she looked straight at Dana, who approached her, and said,

“Fine. Swap.”

“Really? No regrets?”

Since she didn’t know when Dana would come again, she had fully enjoyed everything this body had to offer.

She shopped without restraint and purposely took on lots of work, keeping busy without a moment’s rest.

Thinking she had said enough goodbyes to this beloved body, she spoke sharply.

“Change me quickly once you decide. I don’t know when I might change my mind.”

***

I looked into the heretic’s eyes, which, despite her firm answer, looked filled with regret, and then shifted my gaze to the status window.

[Do you want to switch bodies?]

The status window, which had never appeared before, suddenly showed up.

It seemed the heretic had truly made up her mind.

“I’ll switch right away.”

There were no options on the window, so I responded for her.

‘This feels strange.’

Until the conversation with Kang Yedam about the disaster that would come in the future, I never imagined things would go this way.

Who would have thought switching bodies would be the solution?

Since the gate was opened due to the possession by an outsider from another dimension, maybe switching bodies and being recognized as a member of that dimension would make the gate disappear completely?

There was still no way to predict anything for sure.

But if the gate did disappear completely, I’d be infinitely grateful.

No more people getting hurt or dying, no more suffering caused by dungeon breaks.

No more.

No more.

[Warning!]

Abnormal access detected.]

[Dimensional boundary error detected.]

[Error! Error!]

I stood still, waiting as familiar status windows appeared one after another.

‘What is this?’

It was the same status window I saw when I was first possessed.

‘Could the body swap process be the same?’

I remembered the dimension detecting me as an error and forcibly possessing me back then.

I glanced at the heretic to check her condition.

She was staring blankly at the empty air, wearing a confused expression as if she was also looking at the status window.

[Initiating error recovery process.]

In an instant, the surroundings changed.

It was a cave-like dungeon that looked very similar to the S-rank gate I had entered when I was first possessed.

“What, what is this?!”

The heretic, having never experienced such a dungeon before, shouted in fear.

“It’s a dungeon. Just stay still for now.”

“What? How can I just stay still here? Isn’t something wrong with this?”

“I come here every day. I earned money by hunting monsters in places like this. Everything you enjoyed came from these dungeons.”

At my cold words, the heretic shut her mouth, sensing my meaning.

Of course, I fully understood the fear someone feels when entering a dungeon for the first time.

But I wasn’t in a mental state to soothe the fear she felt.

[Recognizing outsider in dimension pw-486.]

I swallowed dryly and focused on the words “outsider.”

[Error recovery in progress……………]

Then, as if my soul was floating out, my trembling vision shifted.

‘Huh?’

I saw the familiar gentle face before me.

Her short stature and wavy brown hair came into view.

The heretic looked up at me with a bitter expression.

It seemed the body swap was successful.

[Recovery completed.]

A moment later, the status window indicating recovery completion appeared.

The error likely meant our souls were in different dimensions, and recovery meant swapping bodies so each belonged properly to their respective dimension.

[Recognizing dimensional resident in dimension pw-486.]

[Quest success! Reward: ‘Maintain status in chosen dimension’ applied.]

[System intervention in progress: status input.]

‘So I’m no longer an outsider?’

I read the status window several times, overwhelmed with emotion.

The heretic, relieved to hear her status remained unchanged, suddenly weakened and collapsed to the ground.

[All processes completed.]

Before I could have a proper conversation with her, the status window appeared confirming all tasks were finished.

My vision blurred, then gradually I saw the outside scenery again.

It was the construction site where Yeon Hayeon and Ban Eunhyeol had found the gate.

Yeon Hayeon looked puzzled, scanning around, and Ban Eunhyeol turned her head sharply toward me.

My body had reverted to the one before possession, but the two hadn’t noticed any difference.

Apparently, their memories had been altered to believe this was how I had always looked.

‘So the status input means manipulating people’s memories?’

Adjusting to my higher vantage point, I observed their reactions.

They didn’t seem to realize my change, but standing before them in my new body made me nervous for some reason.

“Did it work?”

I expected at least some fuss, but Ban Eunhyeol was surprisingly calm.

‘So she really doesn’t notice.’

Though a bit disappointed she didn’t recognize my change, I smiled happily, knowing I had succeeded in what I so longed for.

“Yeah. It worked.”

I gave a short answer and smiled brightly.

Ban Eunhyeol chuckled softly and ruffled my hair.

“Good job.”

Then she pulled me into a tight hug.

I wondered if this was really the end, feeling strangely unsettled despite the solution.

But the status window’s message of success was all I had to believe.

As I basked in joy in Ban Eunhyeol’s arms,

“My body feels weird.”

Yeon Hayeon, watching us with a pleased expression, suddenly looked confused, examining herself curiously.

“Looks like all my awakened powers are gone! The status window said the outsider disappeared and the gate was deactivated.”

Yeon Hayeon kept moving her unfamiliar body as if trying to find something, then stretched her hand forward.

“It’s true. No skills are coming out.”

She must have been trying to use a skill.

“Since the gates are gone, there’s no need for awakened anymore. Everything’s back to how it was.”

“Aw, you disappointed?”

I explained calmly, and Ban Eunhyeol teased me playfully.

“Maybe a little? You got pretty used to the changed world, huh?”

“Well, now we have to get used to a world without gates.”

“What’s there to get used to? Just live like we did before.”

Yeon Hayeon tilted her head at the word ‘get used to,’ then clapped her fists together and grinned.

It looked like she was ready to get back to the guild activities she’d neglected while running the guild.

Watching Yeon Hayeon adapt so quickly, I smiled, but suddenly felt an emptiness around my neck.

When I touched the back of my neck, I noticed my hair was suddenly much shorter.

The hair in my hand was no longer brown but black, swaying lightly.

I had always kept my hair long, but the heretic had cut it short, saying it suited this body better.

After confirming this, other changes besides my elevated viewpoint started to catch my eye.

My fingers were longer and more slender, and my arms were longer than before.

‘Feels strange.’

Even though I had reclaimed my body, I felt awkward and kept fiddling with my hair.

“Let’s go. We need to see how the world has changed with our own eyes.”

Ban Eunhyeol grabbed my hand firmly and led me out.

We left the construction site and headed toward the bustling downtown where many people gathered.

***

The gates had disappeared.

The status window announcing the cancellation of the outsider’s possession and the deactivation of the gates appeared before everyone’s eyes worldwide.

At the same time, the powers of the awakened vanished, and gates scattered across the world closed.

People cheered, welcoming the return to a world as it was before the gates opened.

Dungeon authorities and various guilds naturally disappeared.

There was no purpose for them in a world without gates.

Institutions and organizations that had sprung up rapidly vanished as quickly as they had appeared.

Of course, not everything returned peacefully to normal.

Though there was noise in the process of stabilizing the world, most welcomed the disappearance of the gates.

“Hey, everyone! Did you pack everything?”

“Just need to load the sea gear in the trunk.”

“Let’s head to the villa quickly!”

And we, too, celebrated the world without gates and lived ordinary daily lives.

It seemed like incidents I only saw on Inso (Insos) happened even more often now, but it was better to witness those than to see people in danger.

‘Sahin, Bisharp, Red… I miss you all, but I have to get used to life without commanders.’

Though I felt empty without the commanders who always stayed by my side, I was doing my best to adapt quickly.

No matter how uncomfortable it was, I would grow accustomed to these Inso-like incidents and to a weakened life without commanders and powers.

I silently made a firm resolution and looked at the large car before me and my excited friends with heartfelt emotion.

Today was the day we were all going to Ban Eunhyeol’s villa for a summer retreat.

Eunbada finished loading the luggage and got in first, followed by the rest of us.

After all we’d been through, it was finally time to rest comfortably.