The Hero in His Dreams
A soft, loose-fitting cream cardigan draped over a white slip dress. It gave off an effortless, "I woke up like this" vibe while subtly drawing a man's gaze. It was the quintessential "girlfriend look," a style precision-engineered to steal a man's heart.
This was the outfit she had settled on after a long, agonizing consultation with her manager.
After all, looking like she had tried too hard... would have been incredibly embarrassing.
"Have a great date, Haneul!"
"Unni, I told you, it's not a date."
"Sure, sure. Have a great 'not-a-date' meeting. Don't be so nervous. Any guy would fall head over heels the moment they see you looking like this."
"...Okay."
With a fluttering heart, she left her apartment and headed toward the cafe near the guild headquarters.
The closer she got to the cafe, the more her mind descended into chaos.
Should I have dressed up a bit more? What if he thinks I'm being rude? Is this outfit too casual? Maybe I should have worn something more formal. I should have asked what his type was...
No, of course, asking that out of the blue would have been weird, but I could have naturally brought it up in conversation. But because I'm so used to only speaking when it's strictly business, steering things into a casual, chatty atmosphere is so hard.
Ugh, seriously. What is wrong with me? This isn't something to be this nervous about...
Is it because... I can't remember my dream clearly, and it's leaving a bad aftertaste?
Honestly, the dream she had a few days ago was likely the main culprit behind her current state of anxiety. She was certain it had been an incredibly sad dream. But because she hadn't written it down in her journal, she had forgotten the details. A phantom chill lingered at the back of her neck. That lingering unease felt like an invisible weight dragging down her ankles as she walked toward the cafe.
"It's fine... Yeah. There's nothing to be nervous about. The past life is just a past life—"
"Hunter Han Haneul?"
"H-Hyaak?!"
W-Wait, what? What kind of noise did I just make? Did an... an incredibly embarrassing squeak just escape my mouth? Oh my god, this is so humiliating...
"Ah, I'm sorry for startling you. I was on my way to the cafe and spotted you, Hunter Haneul..."
"N-No, it's fine!"
Siwoo. The porter from her past life, and the man whose life she had saved in this one. The moment she looked at his face, all her thoughts evaporated. She had spent so much time preparing topics to bring up naturally, but every single rehearsed line had vanished from her mind.
Okay. Calm down. I can do this. I practiced a lot. Just do it exactly like I practiced.
"...S-So, what kind of drink would you like to order?"
"...Pardon?"
They were still dozens of meters away from the cafe.
You absolute idiot.
"Uh, I'll probably have an iced americano..."
"Ah... I see. Well, taking too long to choose at the counter can be a nuisance to the staff... so I wanted to ask in advance."
"Ah. You're incredibly thoughtful."
"Y-Yes, well... I tend to be..."
No, "I tend to be"? What kind of response is that?! I should have answered humbly!
"Ugh..."
"Hunter Han Haneul? Are you alright?"
"Y-Yes, yes. Let's hurry inside."
"Ah. Sure."
She's actually kind of funny.
Contrary to her outward appearance, she was surprisingly humorous. Given her looks, she usually gave off the strong impression of a cold, aloof beauty.
But she looked a bit different today. A cream-colored cardigan over a white slip dress. Dressed in bright, warm tones with her hair tied back in a casual, active style, she gave off an incredibly approachable vibe. So that's how she dresses in her private life. Getting a glimpse of an S-Class hunter's casual wear felt like an absolute luxury.
"So, you wanted me to give a statement about what happened inside the gate, right?"
"Ah, yes..."
It would be a lie to say he wasn't a little excited, but... to her, this was work. He shouldn't get any weird ideas and just answer her questions as sincerely as possible.
"Hmm. Where should I start? I guess from the moment of the Gate Mutation..."
"Um, S-Siwoo!"
"Yes, Hunter Han Haneul?"
"W-Well, we don't have to jump straight into such serious topics... do we?"
"Pardon?"
"I mean, it must have been incredibly difficult for you. Going through something like that can leave trauma... I was wondering if we could start slowly, talking about how you're feeling, if you've had any aftereffects, or if you've been resting well..."
"Ah... Thank you. I appreciate your concern."
Though her words were a bit jumbled, he could feel her deep consideration for him. The way she stumbled over her words was probably because she was carefully choosing them so as not to trigger any painful memories.
"And... you can speak to me more comfortably. 'Hunter Han Haneul' is so formal... You can just call me Haneul."
"Ah, alright. Haneul."
"Oh, really? You brought your manager into a gate with you?"
"Yes! That's why she was so upset with me afterward, complaining about how terrified she was. Even though I promised I'd keep her perfectly safe, honestly."
"Well, to an ordinary person, just being in a place like that is bound to be terrifying."
"But despite that, you were incredibly calm, Siwoo. You even hunted monsters yourself. Even if the guild provided you with self-defense items... it must have been terrifying."
"Hmm. I guess I'm naturally a bit thick-skinned... and honestly, I have dreams like that quite often."
"...Dreams?"
At the word "dreams," Haneul blinked, looking puzzled. Was that too out of the blue?
"A dream about fighting... I guess you could say. A dream where I wield a sword and hunt monsters."
"You dream about that... often?"
"Yes. They're incredibly vivid. Maybe that's why fighting didn't feel entirely foreign to me. It's a bit strange, right? A dream is just a dream, after all..."
"Could you... tell me more about those dreams? In detail?"
Haneul leaned in closer, listening intently. She's curious about my dreams? How unusual.
Well, plenty of people were interested in dreams, whether it was dream interpretation or looking for lucky dreams. Back in school, some kid had even asked him to teach them lucid dreaming because they wanted to have dirty dreams. Of course, they gave up almost immediately after realizing they had to keep a dream journal.
"Well, I tend to have a wide variety of dreams..."
"Ah, yes. A variety..."
"Yeah. If I watch a martial arts movie, I dream of being a warrior. If I watch a hunter documentary, I dream of being a hunter. That sort of thing."
"Ah... T-Those kinds of dreams..."
"I've also dreamed of being a hero, or sometimes the hero's porter."
"What? A... porter?"
"Yes. A porter, not even the hero. Pretty unusual, right? I figured it was just because I work part-time as a porter."
In truth, he had taken the part-time porter job specifically to make his dreams of being a porter more vivid. But saying that out loud would definitely make him sound like a weirdo.
"...What was the dream like?"
"Hmm, nothing special. I was childhood friends with the hero... and ended up becoming her porter. We traveled, hunted monsters, things like that."
Talking about this dream in front of Haneul felt a bit embarrassing. After all, the hero in his dream looked exactly like her.
"I see... U-Um, by any chance... what was the hero like? Her appearance, or..."
"The hero..."
She looked exactly like you...
"...She was cute. And beautiful."
"Pfft, haha... I-I see...? I wonder how cute she was... Since she appeared in your dream, was she... like your dream ideal type?"
"Hmm. I suppose so. If I had to choose, she was definitely my ideal type."
"I see... Then, what about me?"
"Pardon?"
"If you compare that hero to me, who is more beautiful?"
"...What?"
Wait, is this a green light? No, don't get ahead of yourself. She was an S-Class hunter. She was probably just asking out of genuine curiosity.
"Of course you are more beautiful, Haneul."
"Really? Which part of me is more beautiful?"
Well, you look exactly the same.
"...Your heart?"
"My heart? But you said she was a hero...? If that's the standard, there's no way I could win...?"
"Because you saved me, Haneul... To me, you are the best."
"I see... Pfft. That's true. I did save you, Siwoo."
Did she like his answer? A soft, genuine smile spread across her face as she nodded. He had only ever seen her expressionless face in videos, so this was fascinating. She looked so much like the hero in his dreams. Without thinking, he pulled back his finger to perform a reality check. It wasn't a dream. So reality can be this beautiful, too.
Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god!
Lying on her bed, she buried her face in her pillow and kicked her feet in sheer excitement. Oh my god, Siwoo had that dream too!
He really was the porter from her past life. It wasn't just a dream... it was real. She had suspected it ever since he used Sword Qi, knowing it couldn't be a normal dream, but a tiny sliver of doubt had remained. It would be a lie to say she had never wondered if past lives didn't exist, and if dreams were just dreams...
But it was real. Siwoo and she, the porter and the hero, were bound together by the ties of their past lives. A connection so profound that even death couldn't sever it. That was why they had been reborn and remembered each other once again.
The reason he became my fan... must be because I look like the hero, right? Hehehe.
How would Siwoo react if he found out? What if he knew she was the hero? What if she told him those dreams weren't just dreams, that she remembered her porter, and that she remembered her days as the hero? How would Siwoo... how would her porter react?
Oh. Should I ask the guild to hire Siwoo as a full-time employee? He came as a part-time porter... Yes. I'm sure he'd love it if we offered him a permanent position. Then I could protect him every single time.
She was so happy. Knowing that what she remembered was also remembered by him. It brought her an almost incomprehensible level of joy. It was so overwhelming that she was startled by how intensely emotional she could be. Her heart pounded, sending a rush of heat through her body.
But... when he said I was more beautiful, that was just lip service, right?
A tiny worry nagged at her. Siwoo's answer back then had felt a little awkward.
Does that mean... the hero wasn't like that?
No. She was overthinking it. He was probably just saying what she wanted to hear because she was right in front of him. She shouldn't let it get to her.
"..."
And with that, she drifted back into the world of dreams.