EFME 80

“Is it not allowed?”

“No, that’s not it, but……”

He didn’t know where or how the announcement was made, but he trusted that Muyoung had handled it well. Sunyul, instead of thinking about the chocolates he wouldn’t be receiving, was lost in another thought.

“Does the guild master get a lot too?”

“The guild master? Haha, what kind of audacious person would give the guild master chocolate……”

“Huh?”

“Of course, there are some crazy people sometimes, but……. He doesn’t accept them.”

“I see……”

His heart sank for a moment at the words that he didn’t accept them, but Sunyul soon gathered his courage.

For some reason, it felt like he would accept one from him.

‘If he doesn’t accept it, I’ll just eat it myself.’

Sunyul thought hopefully. In the meantime, the car entered the Jinseong Research Institute.

“Sunyul.”

As he got out of the car, a somewhat familiar voice called Sunyul.

It was Shim Jaehee.

They had said the Office of Special Abilities would also send an observer, and that was Shim Jaehee.

She was someone who would be on Sunyul’s side, so much so that Muyoung, who had been prickly about the office sending someone, immediately agreed when he heard it was Shim Jaehee. Although Sunyul himself didn’t realize it.

“Have you been well?”

“Yes, I’ve been well.”

“Hunter Muyoung isn’t giving you a hard time, is he?”

“Of course not.”

“No hazing at the Cheongyeon Guild?”

“Our guild doesn’t have hazing!”

It was Dakyung who answered Jaehee’s question. Jaehee snorted as if Dakyung’s huffing was ridiculous.

“I wasn’t asking Hunter Maru.”

“There’s no such thing as hazing. Everyone is very nice to me.”

“That’s a relief. How’s your health?”

“It’s good.”

Jaehee nodded and pointed to one side.

“Let’s go, for now. It’s that way.”

“Okay.”

“Today will just be a simple Q&A. I’ll be watching, and nothing like last time will ever happen.”

“……Okay.”

“Don’t worry. If anything happens, I’ll ram right into them.”

“Me too! I’ll blow them away too!”

Dakyung bounced beside him, fists clenched. It was very reassuring. Of course, Sunyul wouldn’t just stand by either if they tried to pull the same stunt as before.

The research was conducted by the institute’s director himself.

“I’m Oh Jinseong. An A-rank awakener, and my hunter name is Liberator. I was a graduate student and awakened while pulling an all-nighter, so I named myself Liberator to mean I was finally liberated. Though I never thought I’d end up opening my own research institute. Haha!”

“……Ah, yes.”

Oh Jinseong chatted lightly about himself for a while. Thanks to him being quite a good talker, Sunyul’s tension eased a little.

Guided by Oh Jinseong, they arrived at a lab that had an atmosphere more like a comfortable counseling room than a research facility.

On the table, as if placed there on purpose, was a vase abundantly filled with fresh, vibrant flowers, and on the plush sofa were animal-shaped cushions.

Sunyul sat in the middle of the sofa and placed a white polar bear-shaped cushion on his lap. Dakyung and Jaehee also sat on either side of him as if to guard him. The atmosphere suggested they would tear Jinseong to shreds if he said one wrong word.

Fortunately, Jinseong was not overly nervous. This was thanks to him being an A-rank awakener himself. Although he didn’t have a single combat-related skill and only pure research-type skills, even for an A-rank.

In any case, Jinseong asked for Sunyul’s permission and turned on the recorder.

“First, I’ll start from the beginning. Do you remember how you disappeared?”

Sunyul shook his head.

The events on Earth… he only remembered them in fragments through what he had seen in dreams.

What Sunyul remembered was…….

He encountered a rift, and from some point on, he was in the dimensional rift, he wandered there for a long time, and then he got out after being told he couldn’t stay there any longer.

That was all.

“I’m not sure. As you know, my memory isn’t complete.”

“Do you know where you were for the past five years?”

“……In the dimensional rift.”

“The dimensional rift?”

“Between Earth and the dungeons… there’s a dimensional rift of nothingness. I was there.”

“How did you know it was the dimensional rift?”

“My constellation told me.”

“Are you always able to converse with your constellation?”

“It’s rather one-sided. It’s mostly them talking to me. Me talking to them is……”

Come to think of it, he hadn’t really tried.

‘Traveler of the Eternal Night?’

He called out inwardly, but there was no reply. Sunyul shook his head.

“There’s no immediate answer even when I speak to it. It’s one-sided.”

“I see……. Did it tell you anything else?”

“It told me about a trait…. There’s a trait called [Otherworlder].”

“Yes, [Otherworlder].”

“It says the reason my body is different from a human’s is because of that trait. It says that because I stayed there for a long time, parts of my body changed for the user’s convenience… it says so in the trait’s description, too.”

“Hmm.”

Jinseong, who had been asking questions without pause, was lost in thought for a moment.

“When it says it changed for the user’s convenience… you mean features like what’s been revealed so far, right? Is there anything else besides that?”

“……That is.”

This time, Sunyul hesitated.

There was.

……How could he say he gets wet.

“What is it?”

“Well, it’s just.”

Sunyul couldn’t say it right away and only moved his lips. Just then, Jaehee immediately intervened.

“Wait, he’s finding it difficult to speak.”

“……Ah.”

He didn’t think he had shown it much, but Jaehee noticed right away and helped him. Finding that a little amazing, he turned to look at Jaehee, and she gave a slight smile before looking forward again. Jinseong bowed his head slightly in apology.

“I’m sorry. I think I got a little excited.”

“No. It’s okay.”

“If it’s related to your privacy, you don’t have to say anything.”

“Yes, then… I’m sorry, but please skip this question for now.”

There was another reason why Sunyul passed on the question without answering.

Sunyul wasn’t sure if it was a good idea to say that this trait dissolves things that enter his body. While he thought it wouldn’t happen, the memory of the experiments was still vivid.

Jinseong nodded obediently. And for a while, the Q&A about Sunyul continued. They were trivial questions, but Sunyul felt a faint headache coming on.

“Um, actually, the important thing is about the rift.”

“……”

“You don’t remember anything related to it, right?”

“No.”

“There are ways to induce memories, and they are safe methods. How about trying something like that—.”

“I don’t want to.”

Sunyul cut him off firmly.

“I will never do something like that.”

“Yes, I’m sorry. I absolutely do not mean to force you. Please rest assured.”

Jinseong felt that Sunyul’s attitude might not be a simple emotional issue. Though he couldn’t be sure.

Figuring it wouldn’t be easy, Jinseong wrapped things up.

It was a good thing he hadn’t scheduled any other tests for today.

One of the mysteries surrounding Sunyul was that when someone used a skill to view his status window, Sunyul’s status window would appear along with an item window.

He had wanted to run a few checks on that, but Sunyul looked quite exhausted just from the Q&A alone.

Jinseong, like many others, had a fondness for Sunyul, so he didn’t feel good about doing something that would distress him. But if it was to stop the rifts, he had no choice.

Meanwhile, Sunyul came out of the research lab, pressing his forehead. The head that had been throbbing a little while ago was now painfully throbbing as if being pierced with an awl.

“Sunyul, are you having a hard time?”

“Hyung……”

“It’s okay.”

“What do you mean, okay. Let’s take a short break.”

“……Okay.”

Sunyul obediently followed Jaehee. Jaehee asked another researcher and found an empty break room.

She had Sunyul sit down, and while he closed his eyes and slumped over, Jaehee and Dakyung whispered among themselves. Soon, a sweet smell wafted over, and the two of them carefully called out to Sunyul. Sunyul opened his eyes.

Before him was a sweet cocoa with melting marshmallows.

Sunyul blinked at the cocoa. For something from a vending machine, the quality of the cocoa served in a mug was quite high.

“What is this?”

“It’s a collaborative cocoa by Ms. Jeongwol and Dakyung.”

“I borrowed the mug from a staff member here, I brought the cocoa and marshmallows specifically for you, and I sent Hunter Maru to a convenience store to buy milk and told him to heat it up.”

“I got scolded for heating it up too hot……”

“You heated it to a temperature that would scald Sunyul’s entire palate, of course you’d get scolded, wouldn’t you not?”

“Just speak informally like before……. We’re not on official duty anymore anyway.”

“Right, Jeong Dakyung. Behave while this old lady is being nice.”

“Yeees……”

Listening to their conversation made him laugh for no reason. Sunyul reached for the cocoa. The cocoa that Dakyung had heated up while getting scolded was at a moderately warm temperature, just right to sip immediately without being too hot.

The warm and sweet taste and aroma were incredibly familiar. The sense of stability from that familiarity gradually calmed his throbbing head.

“How is it, Sunyul. Feeling a little better?”

“Yes, I’m okay.”

“Phew, that’s a relief.”

“Thank you. Thank you too, Dakyung.”

Jaehee nodded with satisfaction. And she also told him what brand of cocoa she had given him. Saying it was a product Sunyul used to enjoy.

Indeed, whether he had his memories or not, his taste hadn’t changed, as it was incredibly delicious, so Sunyul ended up taking a note of the brand Jaehee mentioned.

“Hyung, shall we go now?”

“About that. Dakyung, you go ahead first.”

“Huh? Why?”

“I have a place to stop by for a moment.”

Dakyung’s eyes widened, then he immediately clung to Sunyul.

“Where are you going? Let’s go together, hyung.”

“Um, I want to go alone.”

“Huh, you can’t……”

“I can’t? Am I still being watched by any chance?”

Sunyul said it with deliberate sadness. At that, Dakyung was startled and shook his head vehemently.

“What?! No, of course not!”

“Please. Let me be alone.”

Today, when he wasn’t with Muyoung, was his chance. He didn’t know when another chance would come if not today.

Because there wasn’t much time left until February 14th.

“Okay, hyung……”

He had only exaggerated a little, but Dakyung had completely fallen for it. Thus freed, Sunyul finished all his cocoa and stood up.