EFME 108

Sunyul took off his wig and removed his mask. The wig and mask, which had been naturally attached as if they were originally Sunyul’s, came off smoothly. Sunyul put them into his inventory.

He was just about to head to the guild when a message arrived.

Our Kind and Gentle Guild Leader

Come to the Awakener Hospital.

Kim Jaehoon will be waiting for you in the first-floor lobby.

Sunyul’s [Warp] could only take him to places within his line of sight or places he had already visited. If he was told to come to the Awakener Hospital, it must mean the hospital where Sunyul had been hospitalized.

[Using the skill ‘Researching Magician: Warp’.]

As soon as Sunyul used the skill, the space changed immediately.

Sunyul was standing in the hospital’s underground parking lot. He went up to the first floor, looked around, and immediately ran into Jaehoon.

“Hey, over here.”

Jaehoon greeted him warmly.

“So, how was the job? It wasn’t too hard?”

There was a clear note of worry in Jaehoon’s voice. Unable to answer readily, Sunyul rolled his eyes.

It wasn’t hard, but getting hit on the head was a bit annoying. However, instead of confessing honestly, Sunyul asked what he was curious about.

“What about the missing person? Is his condition okay?”

“He’s fine, which is why I’m asking you this.”

“That’s a relief….”

“Kwon Muyoung is currently in the missing person’s hospital room with the ability users.”

“Ah, yes.”

“Let’s go up.”

Sunyul nodded.

“But why did you look for me?”

“Well, you’ll know when you get there.”

Jaehoon replied vaguely. Sunyul tilted his head. It was truly a mystery.

Two ability users were standing guard in front of the missing person’s hospital room. Sunyul followed Jaehoon and carefully entered the room.

Along with several people surrounding the bed, Muyoung could be seen.

Sunyul was incredibly glad to see Muyoung, but given the circumstances, he held it in and merely greeted him. Muyoung offered a slight smile to Sunyul.

The eyes of the people watching them grew wide as if they were about to pop out, but only the two of them accepted the situation naturally.

At that moment, the man on the bed spotted Sunyul, and his eyes lit up. The ability user next to him calmed down the man, who was trying to get up by any means. After raising the bed, the man finally calmed down once Sunyul stepped closer.

“Y-You’re Mr. Lim Sunyul, right? You’re really the real Mr. Lim Sunyul?”

“Pardon? Yes…. Of course I’m real.”

The man’s eyes moved busily as he examined Sunyul’s appearance. Dumbfounded by his urgent confirmation, Sunyul stood there quietly.

After a long moment, the man swallowed hard and opened his mouth.

“Because I saw you, Mr. Lim Sunyul.”

“Pardon?”

“In, well, that strange darkness.”

In an instant, Sunyul’s heart dropped with a thud.

When talking about a strange darkness, a certain place naturally came to mind.

“…A strange darkness?”

“Yes. The day I went missing… a strange hole or something formed, and I fell straight down. The place I fell into was a strange… place like outer space. Though I could breathe. I was half out of my mind there, and I repeatedly woke up and fell back asleep in a very hazy state….”

“…Yes.”

“But I think I saw you there, Mr. Sunyul? It was a bit blurry, but definitely… he looked just like you.”

People’s gazes focused on Sunyul. With a face that looked somewhat shaken, Sunyul shook his head.

“I don’t know. Could you have seen wrong?”

“No. Where else is there a face like this for me to mistake it!”

“Is that so….”

“Then, when I snapped out of it, it was a dungeon.”

“He was discovered in a D-rank dungeon. It was a massive stroke of luck.”

The ability user next to them added an explanation. At those words, the man grew agitated again and abruptly bolted upright.

“But that makes no sense. To think it’s only been four days since I disappeared. I, I definitely thought at least a few weeks had passed….”

“Please calm down. If a few weeks had passed, you would have starved to death long ago. There’s no way you’d be alive like this.”

“Yes, yes. I know, I know, but….”

The ability user calmed the agitated man down. However, the man could not be easily appeased. Sunyul firmly grasped the man’s hand. Feeling the warm heat, the man looked back at Sunyul.

“Calm down for now.”

“Mr. Sunyul….”

“I don’t know why you saw me either. I’m sorry.”

The man stared intently at Sunyul’s face. Soon, a look of worry washed over the man’s face.

“Are you okay? Did I say something I shouldn’t have? I’m sorry, I just… thought maybe you had helped me in some way, Mr. Sunyul.”

“No. It’s my own issue. I’m fine.”

Sunyul said with a smile. Sunyul probably thought he was smiling like usual, but it was a somewhat mechanical smile.

“Then, are you saying you really don’t know anything, Mr. Sunyul?”

The ability user next to them asked. Sunyul nodded.

“Not at all.”

After exchanging a few questions and answers with the ability user and saying goodbye to the man, Sunyul left the room with Muyoung.

Sunyul walked while holding Muyoung’s hand. Even though he was standing perfectly fine, it felt dizzying… as if he were barely keeping his balance. It felt like he would collapse right then and there if he let go of the hand.

It just came to his mind.

That the flow of time in that place moves incredibly slowly.

The vast amount of time Sunyul had spent.

The weight of that time, which he had only vaguely guessed at but had been denying, suddenly leaked out and crushed Sunyul.

After walking for a while, Muyoung abruptly stopped in a lounge. Muyoung turned to look at Sunyul.

“Lim Sunyul.”

“….”

“Are you okay?”

“That gentleman.”

Instead of answering Muyoung’s question, Sunyul brought up the story he should have mentioned earlier.

“I think he probably fell into a rift between dimensions.”

Sunyul couldn’t tell if his own voice was carrying properly.

He felt lightheaded.

His head throbbed.

Familiar sensations and pain tortured Sunyul. Perhaps they would eat away at Sunyul for the rest of his life. Just as they had done before, and would continue to do in the future.

“Living things do not change in that place. They don’t age, and they don’t get hungry. That’s why… he would have been able to endure for weeks or even months…. For some reason, after entering that rift, it seems he dropped into a dungeon.”

“…Is that so?”

“Yes.”

“I see.”

Answering calmly, Muyoung grabbed Sunyul’s arms.

“I understand, so calm down.”

“I’m fine.”

Sunyul said it like chanting a spell.

I’m fine. I have to be fine. This much is nothing….

But reality was not a fairy tale, so the magic spell did not come true.

Sunyul was trembling.

Muyoung silently gazed at Sunyul. He watched him, and then, as if he couldn’t bear to watch any longer, he pulled Sunyul into a tight embrace.

“You don’t have to be fine.”

“….”

“You don’t need to force yourself to stand. You don’t need to calm down, and it’s fine to just lean on me, so don’t strain yourself. Not for anything.”

Tears rolled down Sunyul’s cheeks. Sunyul clung to Muyoung. He held on tightly, as if he were holding onto the single lifeline he had found in the darkness.

Muyoung’s hands trembled faintly. Muyoung applied heavy strength so that his hands holding Sunyul wouldn’t shake.

Muyoung had deduced what Sunyul must have gone through.

Sunyul, who was said to have been in a rift between dimensions.

The missing person, who said he felt like he had spent at least a few weeks even though he had only disappeared for four days.

If that missing person’s perception was true.

Then Sunyul, who had disappeared for five years….

Just how much time, exactly, had he let flow by?

“….”

The mere imagination of it was so dizzying that it took his breath away. From a moment ago, messages loudly rang out stating that his [Imperturbable Mind] trait was activating. If not for the trait, he might have broken down unseemly a long time ago.

Muyoung only hoped that what had crossed his mind was not the truth.

After a while, Sunyul spoke in a much calmer voice, as if he had composed himself a bit.

“…I’m fine.”

Sunyul hesitantly stepped away from Muyoung. Muyoung didn’t want to let Sunyul out of his embrace, but since Sunyul kept wriggling to get away, he had no choice but to let him go.

Sunyul looked around for no particular reason. Fortunately, there was no one there. However, this was a lounge in a corner of the hospital where anyone could pass by. He felt embarrassed thinking about whether someone might have seen them.

“You’re not pushing yourself to say that, right?”

“Yes, I really… feel better now.”

Sunyul smiled with a face that looked somewhat sorrowful to be called completely fine. Muyoung firmly gripped Sunyul’s hand.

“Let’s go home now.”

“Home?”

“Yeah. Since the missing person has been found.”

Sunyul shook his head.

“It seems disappearances are happening over on that side too.”

“What?”

“It seems someone… is handing people over in exchange for money.”

Sunyul relayed the story he had heard.

“…I’ll investigate it separately.”

“You investigate separately, and I’ll investigate from the inside too. That would be faster.”

“But, Lim Sunyul.”

“If they were really captured and went missing because of bad guys, we don’t know what might have happened to them. We have to find them quickly. Right?”

“I’d rather send someone else, so you back off.”

“I want to find them.”

If he hadn’t touched this matter at all, it would be a different story, but he didn’t want to give up on a task he had once taken on. However, because he also fully understood Muyoung’s heart, Sunyul offered a compromise.

“I’ll try a little more.”

“…Do as you please.”

Instead of breaking Sunyul’s stubbornness, Muyoung chose to accept it. Because past or present, Lim Sunyul was a person who couldn’t turn a blind eye to the difficulties right in front of him.

“I’ll give you a ride in my car.”

“Pardon? But….”

“It’s just that I don’t want to leave you alone right now. I’ll drop you off at least somewhere nearby.”

“…Okay.”

Since Sunyul didn’t want to be alone either, he eventually got into Muyoung’s car.

Uncharacteristically, Sunyul was silent. Glimpsing at his profile as he closed his eyes looking a bit exhausted, Muyoung drove carefully.

It would have been nice if the road to Sunyul’s goshiwon were long, but it wasn’t that far, and the road wasn’t blocked either, so they arrived in no time.

“I’ll be going in now.”

Muyoung hurriedly caught Sunyul, who was about to warp inside the goshiwon.

“Wait a moment.”

Muyoung leaned over toward Sunyul and kissed him. Somewhat intensely, as if he couldn’t endure it for another second. Sunyul hesitated for a moment as if a little flustered, but soon responded.