A Familiar Nightmare
Han Yeoreum had taken the subway in her previous life. What she had never done was ride it for free. How exactly were free riders supposed to get past the turnstiles? It had been more than ten years since her last ride, so the memory was hazy. Maybe I can just walk through…?
She glanced around for a clue, but no other free riders were in sight. Sofia simply pressed her lips together as if to say, Figure it out yourself.
“King, this thing is blocking our path!”
“Yeah.”
While Han Yeoreum was still puzzling over the gate, Levinas marched right up to it.
“Open, frog!”
“Frog?”
“Yep. That’s the magic word for opening doors! I saw it in a picture book!”
The turnstile remained unmoved. Undeterred, Levinas watched the people around them. Beep-beep— Someone tapped a card on the reader, and the barrier swung open with a cheerful chime. Levinas mimicked the sound with her own mouth.
“Beep-beep.”
Cute as it was, the gate stayed shut. So Levinas dropped to all fours and began crawling underneath like a turtle, slow and determined.
“Levinas, that’s not allowed.”
Han Yeoreum crouched down to grab the girl’s ankle—only for someone to step directly in front of them.
“You two.”
“Huh?”
Both of them looked up from their crawling positions. A stern-faced station attendant stood over them.
“We don’t crawl on the floor here.”
“S-sorry…”
The attendant had said “you two,” which meant Han Yeoreum had been marked as an accomplice even though she had only been trying to stop Levinas. She bowed her head in defeat.
“If you want to play, there’s a playground over there. Shall we go?”
Han Yeoreum had braced herself for a fine, but the attendant seemed to think they were just children playing around. Because Levinas was so young, the woman was surprisingly lenient.
“Actually, we weren’t trying to play… We were told we could ride the subway for free, but we didn’t know how.”
“Ah… In that case, there’s an entrance right over there.”
The attendant pointed to a simple metal door that could be opened at will. Han Yeoreum could hardly believe they had been agonizing over the turnstile when the real exit had been beside them the whole time.
“We can go through there?”
“Yes. Though since you’ve already come this far, you might as well exit here.”
“Okay…”
With no other choice, Han Yeoreum and Levinas crawled the rest of the way through the gate.
“All right. As for your friends behind you—”
Before the attendant could finish, Saebyeok shoved her head under the barrier as well. The woman stared down at the black-haired girl with a weary expression.
“…There’s a door right there.”
She glanced at Sofia, who was still outside the gate. With a sigh, Sofia headed for the door.
“Subway police! Where do we board the subway?!”
“You need to go down one more floor.”
“Whoa…! We have to go even deeper underground…!”
Levinas bolted down the stairs. Han Yeoreum thanked the attendant and hurried after her.
At the platform, Levinas pressed herself against the screen door, eyes sparkling as she peered at the tracks.
“It’s a train track!”
“It sure is.”
Han Yeoreum hadn’t seen real tracks in nearly ten years either. Without thinking, she found herself glued to the screen door beside Levinas. To think I’d actually get to ride a train again. It felt like one more step toward becoming an ordinary person. Her tail swayed happily from side to side.
—The train is now arriving. Please stand behind the safety line.
The announcement echoed from the ceiling speakers. As they stepped back, a thunderous rumble-rumble—! shook the platform. The noise was painfully loud to beastkin ears. Their tails shot straight up in alarm.
“……!”
Both Han Yeoreum and Levinas clapped their hands over their ears at the same time. The sudden movement made them lose balance and topple backward.
“Careful.”
“Okay…”
Sofia caught Han Yeoreum. Beside them, Saebyeok had caught Levinas.
Strange. Their reactions had been identical. Perhaps it was some shared beastkin instinct.
“Wow, King, Levinas was really surprised.”
“Yeah. Me too.”
Han Yeoreum stayed frozen in place until the train doors opened, still cradled in Sofia’s arms.
Incredible. She never imagined a simple train ride could be this eventful. Exploring the subway with everyone had been far more fun than expected. Returning to a childlike state wasn’t so bad after all.
**
“Huh?”
When she came to her senses, a ruined city stretched before her. Mangled corpses hung from railings, and black smoke rose from overturned cars. She had definitely been on the subway—where was this?
Confused, she walked along the road in a daze. At the end of the street stood a figure. Heart lifting at the familiar sight, she hurried forward—only to freeze in place.
“Grr…”
Rotting skin, bloodshot eyes. It took only a moment to realize the thing was no longer human.
“Ah.”
This is dangerous. She tried to back away, but her foot crushed an empty can.
Crunch—!
“Grrk!”
The creature lunged at the sound, moving at a speed no human should possess.
“Eek…!”
She needed to run, but her body refused to move. She bit her lip hard enough to draw blood, yet her limbs stayed locked.
“Kah!”
The monster’s jaws opened wide right in front of her. Just as its fangs were about to sink into her neck, someone shook her shoulder.
“Waaah…!”
“……?”
Blinking, she looked around. It took several seconds to realize she had been dreaming.
Phew. Too many zombie movies, apparently. Of all things, a zombie nightmare.
She rubbed her eyes and felt something soft pressed against her cheek.
“Wow, King, you’re awake…?”
The soft thing was Levinas’s cheek. The girl was carrying her, which explained why their faces were stuck together.
“Where are we?”
“W-we’re on the way to the park… You fell asleep on the subway, so Levinas is carrying you…”
Levinas’s arms trembled beneath her. Her steps were unsteady, as if she might collapse at any moment.
“Kid, if it’s too hard, hand her over.”
Sofia reached out. Levinas wobbled but turned her back on the older woman.
“N-no. King is Levinas’s to carry.”
“So stubborn.”
Sofia sounded exasperated, yet not truly annoyed. Han Yeoreum looked to Saebyeok for answers, but the quiet girl simply walked in silence as always.
“Levinas, I can walk on my own now.”
“R-really…?!”
“Yeah. You can put me down.”
“Okay…!”
Levinas carefully set her down, still shaking. Han Yeoreum could hardly believe the small girl had carried her all this way.
“Thanks for carrying me.”
“Yep!”
Levinas beamed and let out a bright giggle.
**
After sending Levinas and Saebyeok upstairs first, Sofia sat on a bench with Han Yeoreum. The soft whimpers the girl had made in her sleep still worried her.
“Winter, did you have a scary dream earlier?”
“A dream?”
“Yes. You were groaning quite a bit while you slept.”
“I did. It was a really scary dream.”
“A scary dream?”
How frightening could it have been for her to break into a cold sweat? Sofia looked at her with concern.
“I dreamed I was in a ruined world and got eaten by monsters.”
“…Is that so.”
“Yeah. A zombie bit me and everything.”
Thank goodness it was just a dream, Han Yeoreum thought with relief. Sofia, however, was drawing far more serious conclusions on her own.
A zombie…
She remembered a drawing Han Yeoreum had once made—people bleeding while the girl hid in silence. What if… What if it hadn’t been a metaphor? What if Han Yeoreum truly came from such a world?
As someone who knew the concept of “possessors,” Sofia couldn’t dismiss the possibility.
“Winter, have you ever seen a zombie in real life?”
“No, I haven’t.”
“I see.”
If she had never seen one, that was a relief. Sofia let out a breath.
“But it felt kind of familiar.”
“Familiar…?”
“Yeah. Like I’d actually seen one before.”
“What do you mean…”
Sofia’s face went pale. The words carried too much weight.
“Maybe the dream just felt too real.”
“…Understood. Go inside and rest now.”
“Aren’t you coming, Sofia?”
“This old one will get some air before heading in.”
“Okay. Then I’ll go first.”
Once Han Yeoreum entered the guild building, Sofia remained alone on the bench, lost in thought. Perhaps Han Yeoreum was…