By Zephyria Two and a half months ago.
It was about two weeks and two days after Lee Sa-young fell asleep. Bae Won-woo, with a blue bruise around his eyes and bandages wrapped all over his body, called people together. Of course, he didn’t remember, but Cha Eui-jae, the 11th-ranked Hunter and a regular at the Hanover Soup Restaurant, the very person who had bruised his face, was also present.
“……”
“……”
“……”
Thus, a small number of people were invited and gathered in one place. Although Bae Won-woo said he had carefully selected them, an awkward silence flowed through the Wave Guild conference room. People sat sparsely around the large table.
J, Bae Won-woo, Jung-bin, Min-gi Seo, Yoon Ga-eul, Hong Ye-seong….
Cha Eui-jae, who prided himself on being shameless, was unusually bowing his head. After all, he had beaten up more than half of the Hunters present, so he couldn’t help it. Of course, he didn’t remember. He was glad he had his mask on. He glanced at Jung-bin.
Jung-bin had a bandage around his head….
Eui-jae cautiously asked.
“…Are you okay?”
“Yes? Ah, yes. I’m fine. Nam Woo-jin treated me, too.”
Jung-bin smiled gently, as if to reassure him. However,
“Why does Shield Guy have a bruise on his eye? Who hit him?”
It seemed that even he couldn’t maintain his composure in the face of Hong Ye-seong’s question, which was so innocent that it was malicious. Eui-jae pretended not to notice Jung-bin’s shoulders twitching. Bae Won-woo, who was rolling an egg over his bruised eye, grumbled.
“Keep it down.”
“Wow, did you really get hit?”
“No, I didn’t.”
“Okay, let’s stop with the jokes.”
The moment the conference room door burst open, the awkward atmosphere in the room turned sharply. A sharp murderous intent poured out, as if it would suffocate anyone who even brushed against it. Nam Woo-jin, who was taking the brunt of the murderous intent, raised his chin without any change in expression.
“Is this how Hunters greet guests these days? I don’t mind, but that student over there looks like she’s about to faint.”
Everyone’s eyes turned to Yoon Ga-eul, who was sitting in the corner. Ga-eul was pale and sweating profusely. Bae Won-woo, with a flustered expression, gathered his energy.
“Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to. I’ve been on edge lately….”
“I-It’s okay….”
“Oh, would you like some juice? Everyone, let’s have some juice. I think we need something sweet.”
Bae Won-woo hurriedly got up and opened the refrigerator in the corner of the conference room. Hong Ye-seong peeked in.
“Why is there a refrigerator in the conference room?”
“Because there are guys who get angry when their sugar levels drop.”
Grape juice and orange juice were placed in front of the people. Nam Woo-jin, who took a sip of orange juice, spat out briefly.
“Lee Sa-young is asleep.”
“No, really? Is he really sleeping?”
Nam Woo-jin crossed his legs and turned to sit sideways. Then, he retorted bluntly to Bae Won-woo, who had a dumbfounded expression.
“There are absolutely no signs of brain death. On the contrary, he was in the same state as someone in a deep sleep.”
“But is it okay for him to sleep this long?”
“A Black Hole became a Whitehole, and whales flew in the sky, so what’s the big deal about sleeping a little longer? It’s perfectly possible.”
“But….”
Nam Woo-jin held out his hand to cut off Bae Won-woo’s words.
“Of course, it’s not normal. His body is perfectly maintained even without separate nutrition. Muscle atrophy isn’t happening either. He’s just existing there. Like time has stopped.”
Like time has stopped. Eui-jae bit his lip. Bae Won-woo muttered gloomily.
“That’s right….”
“He’s not just any Hunter, he’s the Guild Master. You won’t be able to hide his absence for long. First, think about how to deal with it.”
“The secret….”
“I’ll keep it. I’ll cooperate as much as I can, but….”
Nam Woo-jin clicked his tongue.
“The moment his absence is revealed, that old fox of a chairman won’t stand still. Have a plan in place.”
“Yes, thank you.”
“……”
Eyes that had burned white swept around the conference room. The gaze stopped at Cha Eui-jae. Nam Woo-jin stared at Eui-jae with a suspicious look for a moment before turning and leaving the conference room.
Silence returned.
“……”
Bae Won-woo, who had been tearing at his hair, looked at Yoon Ga-eul.
“Jung-bin told me that our Guild Master went to save the student. Do you have any idea why? We need to know the reason to try anything.”
“Ah, I do have one thing that comes to mind….”
Ga-eul swallowed hard.
“It’s just a hypothesis, so please don’t take it too seriously.”
Her glasses glinted.
“I met the Lee Sa-young of that world in the Destroyed world. He saved me for whatever reason. And not long after, J and Lee Sa-young came to the Destroyed world to save me.”
Bae Won-woo’s cautious gaze turned to J, Cha Eui-jae. Eui-jae nodded lightly in agreement. Ga-eul, who had been biting her lip, asked.
“But can two of the same person exist in one world?”
“…What?”
“The person I met… was constantly wandering that world. Waiting for the end that would come someday. He wasn’t leaving the Destroyed world of his own volition. But then Lee Sa-young Guild Master appeared there, so there were two Lee Sa-youngs in one world.”
One world, two Lee Sa-youngs. The laws of the System are absolute, and the System desires balance and order. Eui-jae muttered. A distorted voice came out.
“One disappears….”
Or the two merge.
What is divided into two must become one. The laws of the System would probably come to that conclusion. Ga-eul looked back and forth between Jung-bin and Eui-jae.
“This is a slightly different topic, but hasn’t the frequency of falling objects from the Whitehole decreased since Lee Sa-young Guild Master fell into a deep sleep?”
“……”
Jung-bin replied with a troubled expression.
“I’ll look into that.”
“The Lee Sa-young of that world and the Lee Sa-young of this world are fundamentally the same being.”
It was then. Min-gi Seo, who had been standing like a shadow in the corner listening to the story, raised his hand.
“Wait, how can you be sure of that?”
“What’s with you all of a sudden?”
“Because there’s nothing certain. I heard the general story from Jung-bin Hunter, but that place is already a Destroyed world. Shouldn’t we consider the possibility that the fundamental nature we know has been altered while he was alone?”
“That’s….”
Ga-eul’s gaze wandered around the room and stopped at Eui-jae. Eui-jae, noticing her gaze, widened his eyes and pointed at himself. Then, he mouthed.
‘Me? Why?’
Ga-eul’s expression changed ambiguously. She rolled up the gym pants under her skirt and subtly avoided his gaze.
“…I felt like they were the same being. No, um, I’m sure of it.”
“Do you have any basis for that?”
“Yes, I do.”
“Please tell us what it is. Even for the sake of trust.”
“……”
Ga-eul, who had been hesitating, lowered her head and muttered.
“…Obsession.”
“…Excuse me?”
Min-gi Seo, who had been retracing Ga-eul’s gaze, covered his mouth with a shocked expression. Eui-jae also looked at Ga-eul, speechless. Why was she saying such a thing while looking at him? Then, someone stepped in to fill the gap in the conversation.
“Their Souls must have merged, then.”
“What?”
Everyone’s eyes were on Hong Ye-seong. Hong Ye-seong, who had been folding a paper airplane out of scrap paper and flying it, blinked.
“If their fundamentals are the same, that means their roots are the same.”
“So what does that mean?”
Bae Won-woo asked gruffly. Hong Ye-seong clicked his tongue and jumped up from his seat.
“Okay, I, this genius, will explain it in a way that’s easy to understand. Anyone want to lend me a cup? Oh, I’ll use this. You’re not going to drink any more, right? Excuse me.”
Hong Ye-seong snatched Jung-bin and Bae Won-woo’s glasses and placed them side by side on the table. The two people, who had their well-drunk juice stolen, had bewildered expressions on their faces, but he didn’t care. The transparent glasses contained the same grape juice, although the amounts were different. Hong Ye-seong pointed to the glass on the left.
“What does this look like to you?”
“A glass, right?”
“That’s the container. What’s inside?”
“Grape juice.”
“What about this?”
“That’s also grape juice.”
“Okay, then….”
Hong Ye-seong poured all the juice from the right cup into the left cup. The grape juice, filled to the brim, teetered precariously. He pointed to the glass again.
“Okay, let’s say they were merged against the will of the grape juice due to some trigger. Then what is this?”
“Grape juice….”
“That’s right. If you combine the same juice, it won’t become wine. Okay, now let’s replace this grape juice with Lee Sa-young’s Soul.”
Eui-jae unfolded his arms. It made sense when he heard it. Jung-bin also widened his eyes slightly in surprise.
“The Lee Sa-young over there was holding onto a world, right? Then his Soul can’t be ordinary. The Lee Sa-young we know isn’t ordinary either….”
Hong Ye-seong tapped the glass with the end of the paper airplane. The surface of the full juice shook precariously, as if it would overflow at any moment.
“Since those two Souls have been put into one body. Isn’t it like this cup, filled to the brim? So it’s an emergency, and he’s asleep for now.”
“Wow….”
Bae Won-woo, who had jumped up, started clapping loudly with his hands as big as pot lids.
“Hong Ye-seong is a fucking genius, he’s crazy.”
The corners of Hong Ye-seong’s mouth began to creep up. Min-gi Seo, who had been standing like the Grim Reaper in the dark corner, also clapped his hands.
“To make the Deputy Guild Master understand at once… you’re really a genius.”
“What? Am I the world’s greatest genius, the hand of God sent down from the heavens, the best Artisan, Hong Ye-seong?”
“I didn’t say that far.”
Eui-jae, ignoring the comedy unfolding before his eyes, tapped the armrest of his chair. It was the most reasonable and persuasive story among the hypotheses that had been presented so far. Soon, he couldn’t shake off his suspicion and glared at The Artisan.
‘That crazy brat, isn’t he the Hong Ye-seong I saw in the Memorial Dungeon?’
In fact, it was possible. Every syllable of his words felt intelligent, unlike the Hong Ye-seong he knew. As if noticing the confusion in his head, Jung-bin, who had quietly approached, bent down, covered his mouth with his hand, and whispered in his ear.
“I call that his intermittent genius state.”
“Is he always like that?”
“Very rarely.”
Was it the same context as a broken clock being right twice a day? At that moment, Bae Won-woo, who had been clapping, asked worriedly.
“Then is there no other way but to wait? Is there no way we can wake him up?”
“Huh? If Lee Sa-young’s condition is really like this cup….”
Hong Ye-seong tapped the edge of the table with his hand. The table creaked and shook, and the cup shook along with it. Eventually, the juice couldn’t maintain its balance and a few drops flowed down the cup.
Looking at the juice pooled under the glass, Hong Ye-seong shrugged.
“Even the smallest stimulus could mess it up.”