Chapter 157
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 157
Chapter Title: Let's Start Again.
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"Seon-woo..."
"......"
I froze, locking eyes with her.
The more unexpected the person, the greater the shock.
This place... at least from what I could see right now, was hell.
It was a relief that she was alive in this hell.
And it was an even greater relief that she hadn't stayed in that other world but had come here instead.
"Seon-woo... you're... alive..."
Thick teardrops fell from her eyes.
She seemed oblivious to her surroundings... and even to the people behind me.
- Thud.
The modified shotgun dropped straight to the floor.
And then.
- Stagger stagger!
She stumbled toward me in a rush.
"I missed you so..."
It was right then, as she reached out to pull me into an embrace.
- Thwack!
A blade formed of sword energy slammed down in front of her.
"......!"
Her body came to a forced halt.
"Step back."
It was Yi Seo-ryeong.
She had swiftly positioned herself in front of me, gazing at the woman with sunken eyes.
"You'll die."
"Hold on a moment."
I raised my hand to stop Yi Seo-ryeong.
Verification came first. As long as there were no ill intentions.
[Han Su-a]
[What the... how? Seon-woo, Seon-woo. I missed you so much. I'm sorry.]
No hostility.
It was a bit concerning, but... she seemed fine.
I lightly patted Yi Seo-ryeong's shoulder and said,
"She's someone I know. From the world I originally lived in."
At that, Yi Seo-ryeong and Jahwa-yeon's eyes widened.
Yi Seo-ryeong flinched in surprise, immediately withdrawing her sword energy and bowing deeply.
"I-I'm sorry."
"Not at all. Don't worry about it."
She had only done her job.
But Han Su-a just stood there in a daze.
"Someone... you know...?"
She tilted her head.
Perhaps sensing the situation had calmed, the man who had collapsed from the warning shot suddenly sprang to his feet.
"Su-Su-a! These people... they're the rescue team!!"
Well, in summary, we were indeed the rescue team.
He shouted excitedly, spittle flying.
"They're the ones who took down the monster! We're... we're saved now!"
"......Seon-woo? Rescue team?"
Han Su-a's eyes widened.
She looked at me through tear-streaked eyes.
I met her gaze calmly and opened my mouth.
"Can we talk inside?"
I gestured toward the shopping mall interior.
"It's dangerous out here."
"Yeah. Of course."
Han Su-a nodded hurriedly and turned around.
She knocked on the fire door three times in a steady rhythm.
The fire door slowly rose.
"Come in."
Following her lead, we stepped inside.
But even after entering, it wasn't over.
We walked further in.
The shopping mall interior couldn't even charitably be called in good condition.
All that could be felt was the desperate struggle to survive.
As our eyes adjusted to the darkness, countless eyes appeared.
Roughly over fifty people.
There were bedding and tents, befitting a shopping mall, but the tent zippers were tightly sealed.
They flinched at the sound of our footsteps passing by, only locking the zippers tighter.
They held their breath as they watched us enter.
We entered the inner room that Han Su-a guided us to.
- Whirr...
A room labeled Security Office.
Monitors connected to surveillance cameras were on, and in the corner, a makeshift power source of batteries connected in series hummed away.
It seemed to be the heart of this camp, detecting external threats.
"Sit here."
I took a seat on the worn sofa.
"Counselor, I'll go out and brief the otherworlders on the situation."
"Thank you. Please make sure they don't panic."
The team leader bowed and headed outside.
Behind me, Yi Seo-ryeong and Jahwa-yeon naturally stood guard.
Han Su-a sat down in front of me, enduring their piercing gazes.
The odd thing was, there were two S-rank hunters behind me.
Yet she sat there calmly, showing no sign of intimidation.
"Seon-woo."
Her eyes reddened again.
"I never dreamed you'd be alive. It's really... such a relief..."
She fidgeted her lips, seemingly wanting to chat about how she'd been, what had happened—small talk.
But.
"Sorry, this is more important right now."
"Ah..."
"Are these all the survivors here?"
There were more crucial matters remaining.
I wanted to talk too, but that could wait a bit.
She quickly pressed her lips together and nodded.
"Y-Yeah. But..."
The chances this was everyone were quite low.
There had definitely been talk of hundreds...
"Are there other survivor camps?"
At my question, Han Su-a weakly shook her head.
"No. We're all that's left."
"......"
"Everyone else got eaten or died."
Eaten or died.
It was about time to hear about this world.
"But there are people trying to kill us."
"Huh?"
People trying to kill us?
There was no reason to delay the conversation any longer.
I opened my mouth.
To convey all the information about this world.
"So, Noona... no, you..."
The term of address hesitated for a moment.
Seeing that, she gently lifted the corner of her mouth.
"Call me comfortably."
I said it as calmly as possible.
"Anyway, there's something you need to hear."
"Yeah..."
I stared straight into her eyes.
"On Earth."
After I left.
"What happened?"
Han Su-a tilted her head, looking puzzled.
"On Earth? What do you mean?"
I began explaining slowly.
About this world and Entropy Earth.
The fact that a chunk of the Seoul they lived in had been ripped away wholesale and transferred here.
That we were a rescue team here to save those who had come to this place.
That if they escaped this island... a peaceful place existed.
And that this phenomenon was called a Dimensional Transfer.
We plan to safely evacuate you all.
But only those willing to live by the laws and rules.
"We don't take looters or murderers."
Her pupils slowly dilated. It was hard to believe.
Of course it would be shocking.
If they had kept living here without the transfer, the future would have seemed obvious.
But not anymore.
They could live.
"Is that... really true...?"
They could go back.
To a world with hot water and safety.
"Yeah."
I nodded.
Then Han Su-a's expression subtly changed.
Her eyes gradually welled up.
"Seon-woo, then your sudden disappearance back then was..."
Han Su-a asked in a trembling voice.
"Yeah. A Dimensional Transfer."
I had come here the same way.
"Ah... haa..."
She let out a sigh of relief and rubbed her dry face.
"That day, when you said that and vanished... I really..."
"......"
At that moment.
A spark ignited in Han Su-a's eyes.
She looked at me cautiously and spoke.
"Then, that last conversation we had..."
Her gaze fixed on my lips.
Expectation.
Perhaps hoping that even that farewell notice had been due to the unstable situation.
However.
"That hasn't changed."
"......Huh?"
I drew a cold line.
It was too late to take it back.
Too much time had passed, and I had changed too much.
If... there hadn't been a Dimensional Transfer, maybe.
But even that was a meaningless hypothetical.
I.
Three days before the Dimensional Transfer.
Had said goodbye to her.
"We broke up."
"......"
Then.
- Swish.
Han Su-a slipped her hand into her chest.
And slowly pulled out something hanging around her neck.
- Jingle.
A necklace made of leather cord, with a silver ring dangling at the end.
I recognized it. It was our couple's ring.
"Seon-woo. Back then, I was really too young."
"......"
"For three years... I've reflected so much. On how wrong I was."
Wait a second.
"......What?"
My brows furrowed.
Three years?
It had already been eight years since the Dimensional Transfer, that I had lived here.
That long span was eight years.
Yet only three years had passed for her?
Verification was needed.
"Noona, how old are you now?"
Calling her by the old term seemed to please her, as she smiled.
"Yeah, Noona's... been three years since then, so twenty-six."
Han Su-a answered naturally.
A calculator whirred in my head.
Before the transfer, I was 21.
She was 23 before the transfer.
Definitely two years older than me.
But now, I was 29, and she was 26.
The flow of time was different.
While I spent eight years here, this place... Entropy Earth had only seen three years pass.
[That's possible!]
[Time flows differently in each dimension!]
So that's... how it was.
As I felt dizzy.
Han Su-a took one more step toward me.
I sensed Yi Seo-ryeong twitching behind me, but I raised my hand to stop her.
"Seon-woo."
Han Su-a's voice was wet.
"I still haven't forgotten you."
She held up the silver ring she had removed from her neck.
"For three years... it was pure hell, but I never forgot you for a single moment. I endured believing you were alive, holding onto this ring."
She gently took my hand.
"Seeing you alive like this makes me so happy... This place too, in a way, was for the day you'd return someday. So please..."
And she looked up at me.
"Can't you give me another chance?"
"......"
A suffocating silence flowed.
I looked down at my old lover holding my hand.
- Thump, thump.
My heart raced.
It could be excitement, but it might not be.
I couldn't answer that clearly either.
That I had loved her was an indisputable fact.
Complicated emotions brushed through my chest.
This was pity.
Looking back.
I had always been weak to this pity.