EFME 56

Sunyul woke up from his sleep.

“Hah…”

The dream, the past, the memories, connected piece by piece. Then, the memories became tangled.

Sunyul rushed out of the room and headed frantically to the bathroom. He retched into the toilet, but nothing came out.

The floor seemed to draw near, then it flipped with the ceiling. Everything grew distant, then close, then distant again. His senses were a mess.

“Lim Sunyul.”

He heard Muyoung’s worried voice, but he wasn’t in the right state of mind to answer. Unable to stand properly, Sunyul swayed, and Muyoung lifted him into his arms.

Returning to the guild master’s office, Muyoung placed Sunyul down on the sofa. Sunyul’s hands, which had been flailing as if unwilling to be separated from Muyoung, dropped to his sides.

After fidgeting for a little longer, Sunyul slowly came to his senses. Muyoung watched over Sunyul with concern.

“Are you okay?”

“I’m, okay…”

Sunyul replied in a somewhat listless voice. Muyoung observed Sunyul worriedly.

“What happened?”

“I had a dream… I felt sick. I’m okay now.”

“The anxiety.”

“…”

“Are you anxious?”

Sunyul couldn’t bring himself to say no and wiped his dry face with his hands. He wanted to pretend he was fine, but it was difficult.

Buildings that had collapsed from the waist down, deeply gouged roads, overturned and burning vehicles, dead and injured people scattered everywhere. And the pitch-black darkness visible beyond the gaping rift…

Thinking of it all, he slowly started to feel suffocated.

“Lim Suny-ul.”

“Ugh…”

“Breathe.”

“…”

“It’s okay.”

The moment Muyoung’s voice entered his ears, he truly felt like it was going to be okay. Sunyul reached out and held onto Muyoung. Muyoung hugged Sunyul, who couldn’t bring himself to do more than that. The broad embrace held Sunyul securely.

There was a heavy scent of cologne. Smelling the familiar fragrance, Sunyul struggled to part his lips.

“Guild Master…”

“What is it?”

“It’s just. I’m anxious…”

He didn’t know why he was anxious, but a vague anxiety was simply choking him. Muyoung patted Sunyul on the back.

“Don’t be anxious.”

“…”

“I’ll be by your side.”

By my side.

Sunyul mulled over Muyoung’s words. He liked those simple words. If someone is by your side, you’re not alone. It felt like if the two of them were together, they would never be lonely.

“I, I want you to stay by my side, Guild Master.”

Sunyul said honestly. Instead of answering right away, Muyoung was silent for a moment.

“…Okay.”

The slow words carried a definite weight. Like a promise that would never be broken.

Muyoung’s words made happiness bloom inside Sunyul. As the happiness grew little by little, the anxiety gradually disappeared.

‘I hope I can always be with the Guild Master.’

He was already with him enough, but he wanted to be together more, and more. Not just in painful moments like this, but in happy moments too. He wished Muyoung would always be with him. He wished Muyoung would be there in all of his futures.

His heart pounded. This time, not out of anxiety, but simply out of joy.

Sunyul burrowed deeper into Muyoung’s embrace.

⊹₊｡ꕤ˚₊⊹

Before long, it was the day of the 6th anniversary of the rift incident.

Muyoung was to attend the memorial ceremony with Jaehoon.

Bada, Dakyung, and Jihyun, who usually looked after Sunyul, were all inside a dungeon.

Therefore, today Sunyul was left in the care of Yoon Garam, the head of the item production team. Along with Yoon Garam were two other researchers.

“The three of you, watch him well. Don’t let anyone else get close for no reason.”

“Don’t worry. The security here is tight, who would get in?”

Muyoung’s face didn’t look very reassured. He wrapped an arm around the shoulder of Sunyul, who was standing beside him, and whispered.

“You can be with them for just one day, right?”

“Yes, it’s okay.”

“Be careful. Don’t wander off on your own.”

Sunyul nodded his head. Muyoung removed his hand from Sunyul but still lingered, unable to take a step.

“Hey, let’s go. We’re going to be late.”

“…Be careful.”

“I’ll see you later.”

Sunyul saw Muyoung and Jaehoon off. Then he was left with the three people, including Garam.

“Please take good care of me today. I’m the B-rank hunter, Pyochang. My real name is Pyo Junseo, but just call me Pyochang.”

“Please take care of me too. My name is Lee Dahae, from the same team as Team Leader Yoon. Call me whatever’s comfortable.”

“I’m Lim Sunyul. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

“Make yourself comfortable.”

“Yes, thank you.”

“I’m going to get some work done. Hunter Pyochang and Ms. Dahae, you can rest easy.”

“Should I help with something?”

“No. Your job today is just to be here, Ms. Dahae.”

“Yes, I’ll do that.”

A quiet atmosphere was established where everyone went about their own business. Sunyul turned on his smartphone and fiddled with it, then, when the time came, he turned on the live broadcast.

The broadcast showed the memorial park located in Seongnam. Amidst the solemn atmosphere, Sunyul felt his heart grow heavy.

He recalled the scene from his dream, of the moment the rift opened.

Sunyul felt a throbbing in his head and touched his forehead. Even though his head hurt, the thoughts continued.

Many people died. Because the rift had opened in a densely populated area, those who couldn’t evacuate met their deaths right there. It was a tragic event, but at the time, there was no opportunity for rescue efforts.

The names of those countless people were inscribed in the memorial park. Sunyul’s heart was heavy. If only he had entered the rift a little sooner, he might have been able to save them…

“…”

His head hurt terribly whenever he thought about it.

[‘Traveler of the Eternal Night’ says that there isn’t much time left.]

‘What isn’t?’

[‘Traveler of the Eternal Night’ says that what was forgotten will return to its original state.]

What was forgotten.

Sunyul felt a chill in a corner of his heart. That wasn’t important. No, it was better if it didn’t come back.

Sunyul frowned and lifted his head to look out the window. Out there, there would be protestors denouncing him even now.

As Valeria’s warning became known, people began to regard Sunyul as something akin to a disaster. The gazes directed at him grew colder than before.

‘I’m human.’

Even as he tried to steady his heart, he couldn’t completely stop it from shaking.

“Excuse me, just a moment…”

Just then, Pyo Junseo staggered to his feet. Garam looked up and asked with a puzzled expression.

“What’s wrong?”

“Ah, no, I just… the bathroom…”

Pale-faced, he dashed to the bathroom. Remarking that he must have been in a hurry, Garam shrugged his shoulders.

“Come to think of it, I haven’t given our guests anything to drink. Ms. Dahae will have coffee. Mr. Lim Sunyul, would you like juice?”

“Ah, yes. Anything is fine.”

“Juice it is, then.”

“I’ll get it, Team Leader.”

“This is my lab. I’ll get it, so you sit.”

Having said that, Garam quickly returned with coffee and juice.

The room was a bit dry, so Dahae drank the coffee coolly. Dahae was someone who could drink just about anything well. Sunyul, watching her, also took a sip of orange juice.

As she finished the coffee in an instant, Dahae felt that something was wrong.

“Uh, ugh… Team, Leaaad…er…”

Before she could finish her sentence, Dahae collapsed, and Garam walked towards the door. Then, with a click, the door locked.

[‘Traveler of the Eternal Night’ warns you to get up and run away right now.]

“…”

Sunyul also wanted to escape, but his body felt unusually heavy and limp. Sunyul looked at Garam. As if he’d never worn a worried expression, Garam was now looking down at Sunyul with a blank face.

Garam’s gaze swept over Sunyul, and then the live broadcast of the memorial ceremony that Sunyul had on.

“That person’s name is written there too.”

“…”

“If it wasn’t for that incident, we would have been married. But because of that damn rift, we never will.”

He seemed to be speaking calmly, but a refined, long-held anger could be felt. Garam took a small vial and a syringe out of his white coat. Seeing this, Sunyul’s body trembled.

“The rift… I didn’t do it.”

“They said you might be connected to it.”

The syringe pierced the top of the vial. The medicine filled the syringe.

“Even if you weren’t before, a rift might happen because of you in the future.”

“…No. That’s not true.”

“How can I believe that?”

Having filled the syringe with medicine, Garam approached Sunyul. Sunyul tried to run, but his body wouldn’t move.

“Don’t, don’t do this… I really, haven’t done anything wrong.”

Sunyul pleaded desperately, but Garam did not open his mouth. Instead, he grabbed Sunyul’s arm. He tried to pull away, but he couldn’t even shake off the hand that wasn’t holding him very tightly.

With a stinging sensation, the needle went in. In an instant, all of the medicine inside was injected into Sunyul’s body.

“No, no…”

There was no time to tremble in fear.

Starting from the injection site, his body stiffened. Soon, a severe dizziness, incomparable to what he felt before, along with an indescribable, bizarre pain, overcame Sunyul.

“…”

Unable to even make a sound, Sunyul writhed and fell to the floor.

Slowly, his consciousness faded. Sunyul had a premonition of death. In a deep blue sea, he alone was slowly being pushed down into a pitch-black sinkhole. Into a place so deep, so very deep, that its bottom was unknowable.

Just as everything seemed to be sinking completely…

At a certain moment, as if by a lie, it returned.