Young Seong Ha-ri

I felt someone’s presence.

I lifted my head toward the source. Under a streetlamp, a girl was walking this way. She wore a black school uniform different from the Academy’s, her short black hair brushing her shoulders. Something long—over two meters—hung diagonally across her back.

“Whoa. Tons of kids gathered here. Oppa, are you a spirit summoner too?”

She was short. Her chest was only just budding. Baby fat still clung to her face.

The moment I saw her, I knew.

She was Seong Hari from her middle-school days.

I checked Seong Hari’s status window without thinking.

A hollow laugh almost slipped out the second I saw it. Those stats were absurdly strong for a middle schooler. Of course, compared to the Seong Hari outside, they looked pitiful.

Could I win if I fought this Seong Hari right now?

The opponent was still Seong Hari. Stats you could read on a screen weren’t everything.

…If I used every ability I have, I might just manage it.

I snapped out of the thought and sighed. What the hell was I doing, measuring myself against a middle schooler?

“Oppa. Are you mute?”

Seong Hari strode closer. It felt a little mean to say, but for such a pretty face she had almost no manners.

“…What do you want?”

“Oh, so you can talk. You’ve been staring at me with your mouth shut this whole time. I thought you were a mute.”

“I asked what you want. Did you fall for me or something?”

“Are you crazy?”

She snapped, face dead serious. Her reaction actually stung a little. The Seong Hari outside the dungeon was crazy about me.

She stopped mid-approach, keeping roughly ten meters between us.

Is she wary of me? For wariness, that’s a pretty big gap.

I realized the reason a beat late. Lower spirits clustered around me. They were watching Seong Hari carefully, ready to bolt the second she took another step.

“I’m just curious. A spirit summoner I’ve never seen before showed up near my house. If you were ordinary I wouldn’t care, but… I’ve never seen spirits follow someone this willingly. What’s your name, oppa? Mine’s Seong Hari.”

I hesitated for a second.

Should I give her my name?

This place was a dungeon world built on a parallel timeline. Nothing I did here would affect the outside.

“Sung Yujin.”

“…Your surname is Seong too? Are you from our family?”

“No. Same last name, that’s all.”

“Ah. Well, that happens. But you don’t even flinch when I say I’m from Jinryeongseongga?”

“The main house of Jinryeongseongga is right nearby. Why would I be surprised if you’re one of them? You just want to see the spirits, right? Come closer and look.”

“I do, but… the spirits hate me.”

“Do it like this.”

I reached out and scooped up the nearby spirits. They came easily. High spirit affinity, maybe—none of them tried to flee. Most people couldn’t even touch a spirit in its ethereal form, but I had the Spirit Eye.

“Y-you can’t treat them so roughly. They’ll get angry.”

“Let them get angry. Come closer and look.”

“…….”

I already knew the truth: the spirits feared and hated Seong Hari, yet Seong Hari herself loved spirits.

After a brief pause she approached, sat beside me, and stared hard at the captured spirits.

“…They’re thrashing so hard to escape. It’s pitiful and cute at the same time.”

“Why are you staring like you’ve never seen one? You’re from Jinryeongseongga—don’t you see spirits every day?”

“I’m a special case. The second they spot me they run. When I walk into the house they all hide. I know it can’t be helped, but… it still feels like I’m being left out. It makes me a little sad.”

“…….”

“I’m jealous of you, oppa. The spirits come right up to you without any walls. Normally they’d burn power just to get away… the fact they aren’t means it’s because of you. Does it have something to do with those eyes?”

I gave a small nod.

“This is the Spirit Eye.”

“Spirit Eye! I’ve heard of it. One of the best abilities a spirit summoner can have… This is the first time I’ve seen it for real. …Are you sure you’re not family?”

“If I were from Jinryeongseongga, you’d already know who I am.”

“True. That makes sense. Oppa, want to come to my house?”

“…You really did fall for me.”

“I did not!”

Seong Hari punched my shoulder. She was only joking around at the ridiculous line, but it still hurt.

“You’re hanging around near our house—doesn’t that mean you have business there? I’ll guide you. Dad and Grandpa will like you too.”

“…No. I have no business with Jinryeongseongga.”

“Then why are you here?”

“Just because.”

“…Suddenly you sound super suspicious.”

She narrowed her eyes at me. I released the lower spirit I’d been holding. It seized the chance and fled into the distance. Seong Hari watched it go with eyes full of lingering attachment.

“One piece of advice from a senior in life: don’t act so friendly with strangers.”

“I’m not a kid. And I’m not the type who acts friendly with people I’ve just met either.”

I gave her an incredulous look. Her face flushed.

“It’s just… you somehow don’t feel like a stranger, oppa. How do I put it… hard to explain…”

“Like family?”

“No, no. You’re not family. …Mm. Not family, but kind of like family…?”

“You fell for me.”

“I said no!”

We’d only talked for a short while and her favorability had already risen.

Still not enough time to properly conquer Seong Hari… Should I just jump her?

The real question was whether I could completely overpower her. I wasn’t confident I could fully subdue this middle-school version of her.

I sighed and stood up.

“…You’re leaving?”

“Yeah. It was fun talking to you.”

“You’re really not coming to my house?”

“No interest in Jinryeongseongga.”

“…Goodbye. Will we meet again?”

“If luck’s on our side.”

“What’s that ‘if luck’s on our side’ supposed to mean?”

I left the grumbling Seong Hari behind and started walking. I planned to find Ryu Hana. I had a good idea where she was. If the original story held, she’d be looking for her parents in their younger days.

Kuuung.

The ground rumbled.

I stopped and looked back. My eyes met Seong Hari’s as she stood in front of the bench. She looked just as ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠startled.

If it isn’t Seong Hari, the cause is somewhere else.

Kuuung, crack, kuuung.

Trees shattered. The earth shook.

Seong Hari and I both turned toward the source of the noise. Behind the bench, among the clustered trees, a mud giant was heaving itself upright.

At the monster’s appearance Seong Hari quickly put distance between them. She pulled the spear that had been hanging diagonally across her back.

“…A middle schooler with a spear.”

“I got permission from the Hero Association.”

Thinking about the era, it wasn’t that strange. In the future people would call this the Age of Upheaval—or the Age of Chaos.

What a pain. Should I just bail? Jinryeongseongga is right nearby.

This world was fake. Even if someone died here, it wouldn’t affect the outside.

But Seong Hari kept catching my eye. Imagining this young—almost childlike—Seong Hari dying soured ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠my mood instantly. I decided to take the mud giant down.

Someone moved before I did. Seong Hari. She created a Barrier Field in midair, stepped on it, and charged the mud giant that still hadn’t fully risen.

Kwaaaang!

An explosion rang out—the sound of Seong Hari’s swinging spear. The mud giant’s right arm flew off. It thrust its left arm at her.

She twisted in the air to dodge, but the motion was a little clumsy. Part of the fist clipped her body. Seong Hari went flying.

Chalna.

I dashed behind the airborne Seong Hari and caught her, using my own body as a cushion.

“Ugh…. Oppa…?”

“That was reckless. What were you thinking, charging in like that?”

“Well… I’ve fought mud giants a few times. If you land one big hit before they fully stand up, they go down right away…. But this one feels off.”

“That so…?”

“Hey, are you going to move your hand? Enjoying feeling up someone else’s chest?”

“It just happened.”

Without meaning to, I had squeezed Seong Hari’s chest firmly. Unlike the future Seong Hari, this one’s breasts were smaller than my hand, so the feel was completely different.

Seong Hari raised her right arm and drove her elbow into my gut.

“……!”

I let out a silent scream and fell away from her. I almost threw up on the spot. She glared at me, face bright red.

“You pervert bastard. I didn’t think you were like that…”

“It was an accident, an accident. You already forgot I just saved—”

I cut myself off and whipped my head around.

The mud giant’s massive body turned crimson. Complex black patterns rose across its surface.

The mud giant itself wasn’t a demon. It was only a monster corrupted by demonic power. The real demon was probably hiding somewhere, watching this whole scene.

A demon appearing out of nowhere… coincidence?

A demon had shown up near me by chance. Yet the demon itself stayed hidden and attacked through a monster. Hard to call that coincidence. My thoughts tangled.

The mud giant opened its maw wide toward us. Dozens of stake-shaped rocks rained down. Seong Hari and I used footwork to put distance between ourselves and the giant.

Crackling.

Lightning flashed once in my hand and vanished. The mana that left my body reacted in the sky.

Kwaaarrrrrung!

A single blue-white bolt of lightning slammed into the mud giant’s crown. Its head caved in slightly, then reformed.

Of course it’s mud—lightning barely works.

I clicked my tongue and looked for another method.

“Oppa! Spirits! Use spirit arts!”

“I can’t use spirit arts.”

“What?! Th-then summon spirits and fight!”

“I can’t summon spirits right now.”

“…….”

Seong Hari eyed me with open suspicion.

I summoned Hwaryeon Bido.

If lightning wouldn’t work, I’d just go in and cut it down myself. Luckily my eyes could ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠see exactly where the mud giant’s heart was.

Acceleration.