EFME 61

Sunyul slowly opened his eyes.

A pure white ceiling and a distinct smell. It was the hospital again.

Recalling the last situation, he felt utterly sick of it. An absurd crisis would strike, he would seem to have barely escaped it, but then another bad thing would happen…

It would be the same this time, too.

What is it now?

“Are you awake, Mr. Lim Sunyul?!”

“Yes… huh?”

Unexpectedly, the voice from his side… felt so benevolent it was hard to believe it was calling his name. Sunyul, slightly flustered, turned his head.

“Oh my, what do I do… I’m so glad.”

The nurse was looking at Sunyul with incredibly moved eyes. Sunyul couldn’t understand the situation at all.

Why is she acting like that?

While Sunyul was confused, other medical staff quickly rushed in. Their usual perfunctory touch was gone; everyone examined Sunyul’s condition with great enthusiasm and care. Meticulously, as if it were some crucial task.

For some reason, they also closely examined the bandaged area around his neck. Then, with brightened faces, they said.

“We bandaged it because the spot where we removed the patch hadn’t fully regenerated yet, but we’ll take it off for you now.”

The patch, he figured, must be the one the research director had attached. He hadn’t really felt its presence since it had never been activated.

Why would they remove it at this point in time? At a time like this, when they’re extremely wary of the danger I pose.

Don’t tell me they’re planning to attach something worse?

As Sunyul’s expression darkened, the medical staff looked at each other, not knowing what to do.

“Um, Mr. Lim Sunyul?”

“…Yes?”

“There’s nothing to worry about, so you can rest easy.”

Sunyul blinked. There were so many things to worry about; how could they know what they were talking about? Sunyul replied, “Okay,” and watched them cautiously. The staff then tactfully took their leave, telling him to rest.

Various thoughts surfaced and then slowly sank.

Sunyul felt tired and closed his eyes.

Flicker. He had dozed off and opened his eyes. He had only slept for a moment, but his head felt much clearer. Sunyul blinked, then felt a gaze and turned his head.

Muyoung was sitting by the bed. With a very serious face.

“Lim Sunyul.”

Muyoung spoke as if he had been waiting for Sunyul to open his eyes. With a much lower voice, a stiff tone, and a hardened face, unlike his usual way of speaking.

Slightly intimidated by Muyoung, who was acting a bit scary, Sunyul flinched. At that reaction, Muyoung frowned.

“Lim Sunyul.”

“Wh-what is it?”

Sunyul was blatantly gauging Muyoung’s mood. Seeing this, Muyoung recalled what the medical staff had told him. That Sunyul’s reaction was somewhat strange.

Muyoung slowly observed Sunyul. The Sunyul before him now seemed no different from the Sunyul he had seen recently.

“Don’t you remember?”

“Remember… what?”

Muyoung remained silent. Sunyul didn’t understand what Muyoung meant, then suddenly let out a cry, “Ah!”

“I’m remembering all sorts of things. Information? Knowledge? Things like that… It feels like I know a lot more than before!”

Sunyul said, a little excited, but Muyoung wasn’t happy at all.

“Not that.”

“Huh?”

When Sunyul made a face that showed he had no idea what was going on, Muyoung wearily rubbed his face with his hand.

“You really don’t remember?”

“What?”

“That you are Lim Sunyul.”

“Of course I’m Lim Sunyul…”

Sunyul looked at Muyoung with a somewhat odd expression, as if wondering why he would state something so obvious. He thought it might be a joke. But Muyoung was serious.

“I’m asking if you remember being the Lim Sunyul who has lived his life as a hunter from childhood until now.”

“…Me?”

Even after the explanation, Sunyul’s face showed he had no clue.

For Muyoung, who had thought that Sunyul, like everyone else in the world, would have regained his memories, it was a bolt from the blue.

Muyoung’s mind was a tangled mess. Trying to calmly unravel his complex thoughts, Muyoung opened his mouth.

“Then you don’t remember what you said back then either?”

What came out, however, were words that hadn’t gone through his brain.

“What did I say?”

“The last thing you spewed at me before you went into the rift.”

“…”

Sunyul’s eyes darted around. Spewed…? It was a very aggressive tone, uncharacteristic of Muyoung. He had no idea what he was talking about, but seeing Muyoung’s demeanor, he felt it wouldn’t be a good idea to answer honestly.

As if he could get angry at any moment, Muyoung glared fiercely at Sunyul.

“Try to remember.”

“I shouldn’t remember.”

Sunyul said it almost reflexively. After speaking, he was surprised himself and clamped a hand over his mouth. He glanced around, wondering if he had spoken too firmly, but strangely, he didn’t want to take the words back.

Seeing that pathetic sight, Muyoung got angry and put a hand to his forehead.

“…Hah.”

“Um… Mr. Guild Master.”

“What.”

“Are you sure that I’m the Lim Sunyul who was a hunter? Aren’t you mistaken about something?”

“…”

Right, he had to make that clear first. What was important now was not Muyoung’s personal feelings. For Sunyul, his life was on the line.

Muyoung pondered where to begin his explanation.

“The easiest way to tell is… although some information is hidden, your system window shows up as a normal human’s. It says Lim Sunyul.”

“A human’s…”

“Your item window still pops up like before… but for all we know, you might have swallowed some item that hasn’t been digested.”

At those words, Sunyul felt a bit queasy and touched his stomach. But that wasn’t the important thing. Even if he had eaten poison, something else was more important right now.

“I don’t know where your dream began and where it ended.”

Sunyul also didn’t know how much he should say.

“You’re not an item, you’re a human. A human who, until five years ago, was living perfectly fine, mixed in with us in society. What’s more… you’re also the hero who resolved the rift incident five years ago.”

The words sounded completely foreign.

“Me?”

“Yes.”

“…When you say I lived mixed in with society, do you mean I lived normally like other people?”

“Yes. Though you were more on the capable side than normal. It’s not for nothing that you were a quick learner. You were just re-learning things you already knew, so of course you’d be fast.”

“…”

“Most of the people you’ve met so far were people you knew before. Don’t you remember?”

“Then were the Guild Master and I acquainted too?”

“Do you remember something?”

Sunyul shook his head and fidgeted with his hands.

“I’m not sure. Then… how did the Guild Master and I know each other back then?”

Sunyul, who had been looking bewildered, asked with sparkling eyes.

He wanted to say that such a thing wasn’t important in the current situation… but he couldn’t bring himself to say it in front of the expectant Sunyul.

“I went to meet some kid who had awakened as an S-rank.”

“Me?”

“Yes.”

“Wow, and then? What did we do?”

“We said hello and parted ways.”

“…Is that all?”

“I think you got my autograph, too.”

He searched his memory, but nothing plausible came to mind. Disappointed by the rather anticlimactic first meeting, Sunyul quickly lost interest.

From Muyoung’s perspective, this was a reaction he hadn’t anticipated in many ways. For one, he never thought Sunyul wouldn’t have regained his memories, and it was also strange that he didn’t want to regain them. He hadn’t even considered the possibility that he would be completely uninterested.

To Muyoung, it seemed like Sunyul had no sense of reality at all. So, what should he do? Should he add a bit more reality to the situation?

Hitting a wall, Muyoung answered the phone that had been ringing for a while.

“What.”

─What do you mean, ‘what’? Did Sunyul wake up?

“Lim Sunyul has no memories.”

─…What? What does that mean?

“He hasn’t gotten his memories back, so come in quietly. Don’t startle the kid.”

He didn’t know if he heard correctly. The call was immediately cut off, click, and not long after, the door flew open.

Bang!

“Sunyul!”

Bada, the caller from a moment ago, rushed in like a tidal wave. In an instant, Bada was at the bedside, grabbing Sunyul’s hand.

“S-Sunyul.”

Tears dripped, drip drip, from his usually fierce eyes. Sunyul, who had been maintaining his composure until a moment ago, was extremely flustered.

“I’m sorry. I… I’m so sorry.”

Bada’s body collapsed. Kneeling on the floor, Bada pressed his forehead against the back of Sunyul’s hand and shed tears, drip, drip.

Sunyul blinked rapidly. It was surprising enough that Muyoung had been angry at first, but Bada crying was truly a shock. He didn’t know Bada very well… but Bada had the impression of someone who wouldn’t cry even if stabbed with a knife.

For such a person to cry just calling his name.

He didn’t think Muyoung was lying. But it was hard to believe he was ‘Lim Sunyul’… Seeing Bada’s reaction, it suddenly felt real.

The possibility that he might be ‘Lim Sunyul’.

“…Am I really Lim Sunyul?”

“Yes.”

“Of course.”

The sniffling Bada also lifted his head and answered.

“Look at your status window. You might be able to see it now.”

At Muyoung’s advice, Sunyul, with a trembling heart, called out for his status window.

‘Status Window?’

[Lim Sunyul/Lim Sunyul]

Grade: EX

Stamina: C+

Strength: C

Agility: B—

Magic Power: EX

Traits: Savior (EX), The Strong’s Duty (S), Fruitful Autumn (S), Guardian of the Territory (S), Crouching Winter (S), Otherworlder (S), Lost Child of Dimensions (S), Reload (A), Eagle Eye (B), I’m Fine On My Own (B)

Skills: Polar Night (S), Marksman of the Magic Bullet (S), Sanctuary Proclamation (S), Researching Magician (S), Radiant Summer (S), Blooming Spring (S), Judgment of Light (A), Blessing of Protection (A), Meteor (A), Liberation (A)

Constellation: Traveler of the Eternal Night

Something popped up.

Something quite long.