Is This Earth?
Is this Earth?
…A strange ceiling.
The first sensation I felt the moment I opened my eyes was pure relief.
Above me stretched something pale and soft-looking.
Between the gaps, a few blue leaves peeked out slightly.
As my mind cleared, the sharp, sickly light unique to mana, the corpse-like white glow from polluted crystals, and some other strange light enveloped my whole body.
This light was gentle and warm.
It seeped into my skin without stinging or burning.
…Sky.
Thinking back, it wasn’t the ceiling at all but the sky.
Yeah, the sky wasn’t that grayish smog—it was originally this blue.
“Ugh.”
I grabbed the floor with my hand.
Then I felt the cold, uneven soil.
When I loosened my grip slightly, the soil slipped between my fingers.
Before I knew it, only a dry twig remained in my hand.
How long had it been since I’d seen earth like this…
I moved my body by putting strength into my other hand as well…
“Wait.”
I froze after sitting up halfway.
Because my legs had probably been mangled by a dragon and were in terrible shape by now.
“!”
I opened my eyes just a slit and carefully lowered my head.
First, scratches everywhere on the leather armor caught my eye.
Clumsily sewn seams that didn’t match the armor’s color were a bonus.
Below that, the familiar weight of the belt, pockets, and the belt digging into my hips with the dagger hanging from it.
“Ah…”
And below the knees, there were two feet.
Both in their proper places, completely fine.
Just in case, I slapped my thighs hard.
“Ah!”
It hurts.
A clean, extremely simple pain.
Not the piercing pain of broken bones or the heavy feeling of lack of blood, but pure pain.
“…”
How?
Concluding, I hadn’t died,
nor had I become the blood scattered on the cave wall as a sacrifice for black magic.
Nor had I turned into the creepy ghost that had spoken to me in the dark forest.
I don’t know why, but.
“Wow!”
I don’t know how the situation is going, but for now I raised both hands high in a victory V.
Good is good.
I’ve lived a hard life, calculating everything one by one.
After living, I realized that just worrying about the bad things is enough to keep me busy.
“Hah.”
Organizing my thoughts, I sat up.
And I took a deep breath while looking at the blue sky and green trees.
Of course, as expected, there was no strange bubbling sound of blood boiling inside, nor any aching sensation.
I pushed myself up from the ground with one hand.
There was a thudding sound, but fortunately all joints were working normally.
Probably my face would be reflected in the mirror, laughing like an idiot.
So what.
I stretched a bit and stretched my body, appreciating the surrounding scenery.
Trees stretching high toward the blue sky.
No need to look closely; they were all real trees alive and well.
And as I walked around and looked around, familiar but small things began to catch my eye one by one.
From the high-rise building rising far away to the sign saying ‘Beware of Snakes!’
Seeing this, several memories flashed through my mind.
The memory of fighting a nine-headed snake while crossing the Central Continent.
Or waking up in a tent made of withered branches in the middle of the night.
“Hehe.”
A bad smell of laughter leaked out from somewhere.
It was my own laughter.
Amazing, me.
Now, even when thinking alone, I’ve reached the point of laughing at myself.
On the way back, where did it break?
“Hehe.”
And while thinking that, I chuckled again.
Ah.
I’m happy.
This world, which smells of faint car exhaust gas instead of the stench of rotten corpses, is so good.
Although I can’t be sure yet, this place is probably the real Earth.
I stepped forward vigorously toward the source of the familiar scent.
The sound of leaves crunching under my boots was very pleasant to hear.
“Is this Gangseo-gu?”
“Yes. It’s about 100 meters away from the residential area.”
“Ha… Just my luck.”
Inside the busy meeting room.
One person was checking the monitor, and another was on the phone with their hand on their ear.
Documents were flying around, and the man standing on the podium was pointing at the map and saying something.
If it were a normal company, the meeting would have already been stopped.
But since it’s a place that handles all work related to hunters and gates, this much commotion was normal.
“Rank is.”
“A-rank.”
“Ha… Our guild can’t handle this. The guild master went down to Jeju.”
“Our guild went on an overseas expedition as a group.”
“Huh? Can’t help, why did you come here?”
The man in front of the nameplate saying ‘Manhae Guild’ said so.
But as if he couldn’t help himself, the man standing opposite also shrugged his shoulders and shook his head.
“It’s a civilian residential area.”
“Right.”
“And if someone doesn’t enter now, monsters will escape today?”
“Right.”
Inside the meeting room filled with various alarm sounds and phone rings, the two men let out a short sigh.
Because they had received a call and rushed here from the guild as representatives, but realized the situation was more complicated than expected.
Central area, an A-rank gate that occurred in a civilian residential area.
To clear it, manpower is lacking, and leaving it would be dangerous because civilians are living there.
Stuck between a rock and a hard place.
The current situation where they couldn’t do either was too frustrating for the man.
Thinking it couldn’t go on like this, the man who had been sighing repeatedly grabbed a passing employee and spoke.
“Have you contacted the Baekho Guild?”
“We’re currently moving to the gate with the prepared hunters.”
“Estimated arrival time?”
After glancing at the tablet, the employee answered the man’s words.
“27 minutes.”
“…”
“It’s rush hour, so traffic is congested.”
There was a brief silence between them.
Of course, the meeting room excluding them was still chaotic and noisy.
“No other raid teams?”
“No available personnel.”
“Ah, tsk…”
But despite each having different methods and communication, everyone’s faces in the meeting room were gloomy.
Because the Cheongryong Guild that went to support was an A-rank hunter and B-rank hunters, basically a B-rank guild.
They didn’t know that it was impossible to solve an A-rank problem with that.
Even the Cheongryong Guild members themselves heading to the gate right now.
And at that moment.
“…Then, shall I go?”
The employee on the phone quietly closed his mouth at the small voice.
Then the hand flipping through documents also stopped, and the noise inside the meeting room subsided as if it were a lie.
When did they start listening to this? Where did they hear it?
Everyone thought and looked at one place.
The small break room behind the meeting room.
There, a woman with golden hair tied in a ponytail was putting down a paper cup and smiling.
“Since I just returned, today is free.”
“…Shin Hunter-nim?”
And one association employee who had regained his senses hurriedly stood up from his seat.
“Because the association president asked so much.”
She waved her hand lightly and continued.
“It wasn’t that the words ‘don’t call for trivial matters’ meant to not call at all when needed.”
The gazes in the meeting room naturally gathered on her.
“But it’s A-rank.”
“I know.”
The blonde woman nodded as if she knew and said.
“I’m doing it because I can.”
In a voice as if saying something too obvious.
“And it’s a civilian area?”
At that, the employees having a serious conversation simultaneously let out a sigh of relief.
And naturally, there was no opposition.
“…Understood.”
Because she was one of the only two S-rank hunters in South Korea.
“Transmit to the Gangseo-gu site. The raid responsible has changed to Hunter Shin Seo-ah.”
Shin Seo-ah.
By now we had arrived at the downtown area.
Around us were bright signs and people’s voices.
And I was in a place a bit away from such scenery.
At the end of a dark, relatively quiet alley.
“I’m dizzy…”
In that world, there was no such bright and noisy place.
If there was, I would have been eaten by a passing dragon before long.
I also wasn’t familiar with this environment.
So I ran away.
To a dark alley that normal people would never enter.
“Hoo…”
I leaned against the surrounding wall and organized my plan.
When moving to a new area in the past, I always went to the group of survivors nearby.
Following footprints or combining hints left behind.
And there, I got nearby maps, listened to information, and found usable things.
But in the current situation…
“No need.”
Although there was no food, map, or information, at least this place was Earth.
Definitely.
Because before turning the suspicious corner, throwing a stone didn’t cause anything to happen, and throwing it inside an abandoned building also didn’t.
So, this is a world where you can live healthily with two arms and two legs as long as you don’t make enemies with weird uncles.
“Then…”
First, move.
Also, use the path where there are as few people as possible.
“Where should I go.”
I looked for a cross somewhere beyond the building, but it wasn’t visible.
That means I had no choice but to walk forward.
And walking without thinking is my specialty.
“Hoo…”
But what was so easy normally became difficult here.
At first, I understood with my head that I had finally returned to Earth.
But the problem was my senses.
My instinct was warning me of this terrible peace without the smell of rotten flesh or the presence of a monster about to pounce from behind.
“I’m really going crazy.”
Until I came here, it was peaceful and good.
But now, even that peace was making my stomach turn.
“Hoo…”
Yeah.
My body also needed time to adapt to this peace.
I closed my eyes and focused entirely on the firm touch of asphalt under my feet and the pleasant noises from afar.
Yeah, this is Earth.
It’s okay.
Nothing happened.
I walked with all my might so that my body and instinct could accept this fact directly.
Then I felt the stiffness in my body slowly loosening.
The touch of asphalt under my feet became softer.
The sound of people and the lights of still-unlit signs became dimmer.
“Eh?”
And the disgustingly familiar rotten flesh smell was driven deep into my lungs.
“Eh?”
So, when I opened my eyes, the disgustingly familiar gray dust greeted me.
And in sequence, old furniture and chandeliers on the floor.
A bizarre life form of a form I’ve seen a lot from somewhere was a bonus.
“Fuck?”
Wait a second.
This isn’t it.