‘What on earth is going on…………?’
I blinked blankly, staring at the people gathered in the living room of Ban Eunhyeol’s temporary apartment.
Just before arriving here, I had assumed it would just be the Four Heavenly Kings, me, and Yeon Hayeon—a cozy group of six, hanging out together.
But why was Mark, who used to be ranked number one in America, sitting here?
Not only that, James was seated next to Mark, and beside him, Cha Hyunseo stood with arms folded.
I hurriedly dragged Ban Eunhyeol into the kitchen.
“What’s going on?”
Ban Eunhyeol sighed, pressing his forehead, and explained how this situation came to be.
“So, Mark needs to stay for a while because of the NADA fan club gathering, and he asked to crash at your place? Those two came along because Mark was here?”
Ban Eunhyeol silently nodded, covering his face with one hand.
It seemed like he was blocking his view entirely, as if just looking at them was giving him a headache.
I clamped a hand over my mouth in shock.
Since the gate disappeared, NADA, who was from another dimension, had vanished too, so I thought the fan club would naturally dissolve.
But the fan club members declared they’d cherish NADA forever and were still having regular meetups.
That much I already knew, but for Mark to still be my fan, and even fly to Korea for a fan club gathering?
I had no idea whether I should feel happy or uncomfortable about this.
“Then why isn’t he staying at James’s place…?”
I asked Ban Eunhyeol the question that had been bothering me since I first heard about Mark.
Mark and James had grown up as childhood neighbors.
So why wasn’t Mark staying at James’s house, but instead at Ban Eunhyeol’s, with whom he wasn’t even that close?
Besides, Ban Eunhyeol didn’t like Mark much.
That was because Mark had once teamed up with the former Dungeon Management Bureau chief to dig into NADA’s true identity.
Of course, I didn’t particularly like Mark either.
Still, since I managed to avoid any trouble and even made Mark fall into a hallucination instead, I held no grudge.
He was just a little uncomfortable to be around.
After glancing toward the living room, Ban Eunhyeol leaned in and whispered in my ear.
“James lives with Hyunseo, and Hyunseo is the landlord. They said there’s no room, so Mark was told to find a hotel.”
“So you agreed to let him stay here?”
“Mark helped me find this apartment. He basically helped me prepare for independence—kind of hard to refuse.”
Now that I thought about it, I had heard that Mark helped a lot when Eunhyeol was preparing to live on his own in America.
I hadn’t heard the details, but I didn’t know Mark had actually found this apartment for him.
Seeing my eyes go wide in surprise, Ban Eunhyeol added an explanation.
Since any contact with the Four Heavenly Kings was closely monitored in real time, Mark did a lot to help out, since he could meet Eunhyeol without being watched.
‘Guess they let their guard down around the former U.S. number one.’
Eunhyeol’s parents apparently didn’t keep close tabs on who he met in America.
Mark was fairly well off even before becoming an Awakened, so there wasn’t much reason to be suspicious.
I looked around the apartment, sighed, and asked,
“There are two rooms, so I guess it’s fine. But with the college entrance exam just a month away, is this really okay?”
“I told him I’d kick him out to a hotel if he gets in the way of my studies.”
Mark understood it was an important time, so he usually stayed quiet.
That was a relief, but seeing someone who used to be ranked number one in America just sitting here, after the gates had vanished, still felt surreal.
While we were having our whispered conversation in the kitchen, James called us.
“Hey! Come hang out with us!”
We forced awkward smiles and went to the living room.
As we squeezed in between the Four Heavenly Kings and Yeon Hayeon, the conversation turned to updates about our lives.
James said he was still working as an English teacher, just like before he awakened, and Cha Hyunseo had started working at his father’s company.
Until now, I hadn’t known much about Cha Hyunseo, but I learned he was the only son of a pretty major corporation.
‘Just how many corporate heirs are in this room…?’
The Four Heavenly Kings and Yeon Hayeon alone came from extraordinary backgrounds, but even their friends were anything but ordinary.
James, the teacher, felt like the only relatable one.
“By the way, your entrance exams are coming up soon, right?”
“Just about a month left.”
“It’s nice to see you living a normal life. Honestly, back when we were busy closing gates, even though you were stronger than us, I worried because you were still students. Right, Hyunseo?”
“That’s right.”
Cha Hyunseo shrugged as he replied.
Apparently, Han Jibin was deeply moved to hear that James and Hyunseo worried about us.
He immediately went over to James, gave him a big hug, and said with emotion,
“I never knew you cared about us that much. Let’s meet up often! Even if the gates open again, I’ll protect you.”
“We’ll protect ourselves, so you just stay safe.”
James grinned and pinched Han Jibin’s cheek.
I’d been worried about these unexpected guests, but the atmosphere turned warm and cheerful.
But maybe because Ban Eunhyeol and I had just checked out the rooftop of Jangnam High,
Even as we laughed and chatted, a vague uneasiness crept up my back.
I tried to shake it off, telling myself I was just being oversensitive.
***
The top-ranked outcast in the dimension where the gates opened, and the extra from an internet novel in this dimension.
Their bodies had swapped and everyone’s memories had been altered, but there were places untouched by that influence.
[We really miss our true lord.]
[The new lord is way too weird! Don’t you think?]
Bisharp and Red sat idly on Danah’s sofa, looking up at the ceiling as they talked.
The wraiths remembered everything that had happened, their memories unaltered.
That was because they weren’t living humans.
Even though their master had changed to Idanah, they remained bound by subordination, so they had no choice but to obey her orders. Still, their relationship remained awkward.
Idanah felt the same and made no effort to become closer, so she often left them at home like this.
Beep, beep, beep—
Just then, the sound of the door lock’s password being entered was followed by the front door opening.
Idanah
Having come home, Idanah glanced at Bisharp, Red, and Sahin sitting on the sofa, then immediately went into her room.
Red grumbled, looking dissatisfied.
[How long are we going to be stuck here?]
Unlike Bisharp and Sahin, who had originated from this dimension’s dungeons, Red was used to the other dimension and always wanted to return.
Being around Idanah without her real self nearby made that longing even stronger.
[Hey, hasn’t the new lord been acting strange lately?]
[You mean the way she’s been raiding dungeons way more than before?]
Sahin, who was sitting on the sofa reading a newspaper with his legs crossed, nodded and showed them the article.
There was a story about Idanah making headlines for closing gates at a fearsome speed and performing as well as before.
When her body first changed and the gates reopened, Idanah had been too scared to properly clear dungeons.
So she used to summon the wraiths en masse and stay in the background herself, but lately she’d been using her skills—and even fighting hand-to-hand when needed.
Because of this, people were delighted that the number one ranker who had been acting strangely was back in form, though some criticized her, asking what she’d been doing until now.
The wraiths, watching this sudden change up close, were baffled.
They had no idea what was going through Idanah’s mind as she cleared the dungeons.
While the wraiths talked among themselves in the living room, Idanah emerged from the bathroom connected to her room, muttering irritably.
“Hah, just when will I be able to cross over to the other dimension?”
The reason she’d been raiding dungeons so much lately was to find a way to cross dimensions.
She had even visited the rooftop of Seonam High, where Ban Eunhyeol had supposedly crossed over, but couldn’t find anything like a dimensional gate.
But soon after, she came up with another plan.
She would wait for an S-rank gate to open and try entering as many gates as possible whenever they appeared.
‘Because you never know where you’ll find a way to cross over.’
Danah was well aware that she’d crossed dimensions by entering an S-rank gate.
So she had to wait for another S-rank gate, but just in case, she decided to check out every dungeon she could.
“I hope an S-rank gate opens tomorrow.”
Idanah muttered desperately as she lay on the bed.
‘I’m probably the only one hoping for an S-rank gate to open.’
She let out a self-mocking laugh and looked around her room with bitter eyes.
She used to think being alone was better, but lately she found herself missing the family and friends she’d left in the other dimension.
She pulled the blanket over her head and tried to fall asleep as quickly as possible.
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