By Zephyria 
✽ ✽ ✽
When he first realized he was in a world of another dimension, not Earth, his initial emotion was naturally confusion. Though the inhabitants had undergone a biological evolution similar to humans on Earth, their civilization was different, and there were ferocious magical beasts and people who wielded supernatural powers. Above all, the biggest problem was that they did not speak the same language.
Once he had adapted to some extent, the emotion he felt was relief.
If the young Tae-un had been swept into that rift and brought here, he wouldn’t have survived. At the very least, Kim Si-baek was an adult capable of surviving and dealing with the attacks of magical beasts. The weight of the sword, which he had held again for the first time in nine years since his retirement, allowed him to survive.
Kim Si-baek never regretted reaching into the rift to save Tae-un. Just as he had done nine years ago.
〈Brother.〉
He could no longer hear the voice of the child who used to call him. However, that voice remained not in his ears, but in his heart, echoing in the depths of his soul. As long as he could hear that child’s voice, Kim Si-baek had to keep his back straight and walk a righteous path without hesitation.
A straight back would tell the child: I am okay, so you are okay too. His own righteousness was the only way to alleviate the child’s guilt.
Even though there was no child watching his back, Kim Si-baek marched straight down the unfamiliar road, hoping that the child—who was far away and whom he might never see again—would not feel a sense of sin.
〈Drifter.〉
With no way to prove his identity, Kim Si-baek could not blend into the city. While spending his days communicating with the people he occasionally encountered through gestures and signs, an oddly ugly bird appeared and spoke to him.
Startled by the fact that he could communicate with a bird—not even a human—the bird, which resembled a young crow, fluttered its wings.
〈Voices uttered through an avatar differ from those of humans. You may understand it as the will being engraved in a language humans comprehend.〉
As it explained, the bird seemed somehow smug.
〈You are a drifter who crash-landed across the dimension boundary. The gods took notice of you early on, and they knew that your spirit does not break even in hardship, and your pride is not stained even by filth. Thus, I ask.〉
The bird, perched on a high branch and meeting his eyes, clacked its beak.
〈What is your true heart’s desire?〉
“Brother. Are you awake?”
Because the shadow of a faded old memory had briefly swept through his mind, Kim Si-baek momentarily failed to recognize the face he saw upon opening his eyes. Only after blinking a couple of times did the blurry image sharpen, and just as he was about to utter the name of the child who had grown so much…
“Si-baek! Si-baek!”
Biyendwe threw herself at him, hugging him as if to cover his entire face, scattering tears.
“All the humans collapsed, and when you lost consciousness too, I was so scared I thought I was going to die! Are you okay? You’re okay, right? We can’t die in a place like this! I don’t want to die without seeing my sister!”
He barely managed to pull the trembling Biyendwe away from his face and gently patted her.
“I just felt a sudden sensation similar to dizziness. I’m perfectly fine.”
“Really? It doesn’t hurt? Huh? Huh?”
“Yes, I’m fine. I’ll make sure to protect you. More importantly, Biyendwe-nim. You’ve broken your speech concept.”
“…….”
Biyendwe’s beak snapped shut, and she preened her feathers as if nothing had happened.
[Death and Beauty pretends not to know what his apostle is talking about.]
When he regained his senses, he realized he was lying with his head on Tae-un’s thigh. As he stood up and smoothed his disheveled hair, Tae-un looked disappointed.
“You could have stayed lying down.”
“Your thigh is too hard; I feel like my neck would hurt if I rested on it for too long.”
“……Uh, this is just, uselessly pretty fashion muscle.”
“Anyway, what happened?”
“We were swallowed when an Id Portal was created.”
Id Portal. It was a phenomenon that hadn’t occurred in Mak Slecht, but Tae-un explained it to him. Derived from the psychological term ‘Id,’ it was a type of instance dungeon where a world of mental imagery related to a specific person’s nature was manifested.
Sure enough, the place where he had been lying until a moment ago was in front of a subway station. The fog was so thick that visibility wasn’t clear, but the MA Department Store building, located five minutes away, was visible. Of course, the only living beings were them and a few people collapsed on the ground nearby.
“The human brain is subjective. Parts that aren’t focused on are hazy, like they’re covered in fog. The scenes you see are distorted in various ways.”
Hearing that, he noticed the steps of the stairs coming up from the underground were higher and steeper than they would be in reality. It seemed the host of this Id Portal had been lacking in exercise.
“Are the people who fainted okay?”
“They’ll wake up soon. Research shows that because a person’s consciousness is like a small microcosm, they faint from the shock when they’re forcibly swallowed like this. As a hunter, I’m used to it, so I woke up quickly. You woke up incredibly early, even though it’s your first time experiencing this.”
“Ah, that’s why Biyendwe-nim was fine.”
[Death and Beauty boasts that this is precisely the proof of a god.]
Now that he was awake, Biyendwe had clearly regained her composure and returned to her usual attitude. Though she still refused to leave his side for a second, terrified of the unfamiliar world.
“But there’s something a bit strange.”
Tae-un rubbed his chin.
“If you’re unlucky, you get swept in randomly, but usually, people who have a connection to the portal creator’s perception are the ones swallowed. I’m somewhat well-known, so that makes sense for me, but I don’t know why you were dragged in too, Brother.”
“Well, I guess I was just unlucky. More importantly, is it just us? Do we have to clear the portal by ourselves?”
“There’s a high possibility others are scattered around. Once the civilians wake up, we can gather in one place.”
As time passed, the other fainted people began to wake up one by one. They were terrified upon realizing they had been swallowed by an Id Portal, but they immediately felt relieved upon seeing Tae-un. Kim Si-baek tilted his head at their synchronized reactions.
Once most of the people regained consciousness, Tae-un took out a penlight. The specially made penlight cast a long beam of light through the fog. Unlike fields where magical beasts dwell, the creation of an Id Portal cannot be predicted, so civilians were said to be familiar with basic light signals just in case.
“Since synesthesia is distorted, as long as we aren’t attacked by magical beasts, joining up will be quick. Depending on how you think, you can actually walk straight through buildings or objects in the outer areas of the portal. It’s hard to maintain the perception of passing through because the fixed notion of objects is so strong, though.”
Hearing that, he touched a car stopped on the road. His hand sank right through.
[Death and Beauty shows curiosity.]
While Tae-un blinked the penlight to search for others and Biyendwe became interested in passing her body through objects, Kim Si-baek greeted the gathered people.
Except for one high school student who said he had come to the department store for the school’s anniversary, the rest were adults. After briefly exchanging names, he asked casually.
“By the way, is Guild Master Tae-un very famous? Everyone seems to recognize him.”
The high school student, who identified himself as Bae Jihan, made a fuss as teenagers do.
“You look close to the Guild Master, how could you not know? He’s been famous since before I was born; how could you not know him?”
“I was abroad for a long time.”
“The Guild Master is freaking famous abroad too. Were you in some remote area without internet for like 20 years?”
When Kim Si-baek fell silent, having been hit right on the mark, a person who identified as a luxury boutique employee quietly chimed in. He couldn’t remember the face, but it seemed to be the person he had met while clothes shopping with Tae-un.
“He’s an S-class hunter, and he’s tall and incredibly handsome. He’s much better looking in person than in photos—well, he’s a bit scary, but…”
“Plenty of hunters started guilds relying only on their abilities and failed, but he grew his to be more successful than guilds under conglomerates! I think that’s the most amazing part. My dad kept failing at business because of his entrepreneurial disease and got divorced by my mom.”
“He’s been famous since he awakened. The Great Cataclysm was the only case in the world where four S-class awakeners manifested in the same location…”
People were fascinated by the existence of a rare person whose brain didn’t know Tae-un, and they shared various pieces of gossip. Since engaging in mundane conversation would help relieve their tension, Kim Si-baek listened quietly before asking again.
“Then the other S-classes who awakened together…”
A young woman, who hadn’t been participating in the conversation, finally couldn’t resist and spoke in a timid voice.
“T-the same-age group. Hunter Seo Gae-un and Hunter Pi Min-hyeong…”
“And Sister Benedicta!”
Bae Jihan jumped in and suddenly lowered his voice to a whisper.
“When I realized I was trapped in this Id Portal, I was so upset because I thought if I died here, I’d be stuck in Silver forever without even raising my tier. But wow, holy shit, I can’t believe Tae-un is here. I mean, not Tae-un, but the Guild Master. Honestly, I’m freaking glad we’re trapped together.”
He was excited, saying that his friends would be jealous if he got to watch the clear from a comfortable first-class seat.
“It would’ve been a total jackpot if Seo Gae-un and Pi Min-hyeong were trapped here too…”
Before Bae Jihan could finish his sentence.
The light of a penlight from afar drew closer, and a tall man carrying someone on his back came running excitedly.
“Tae! Introduce me to your lover!”
Since it was the voice of Pi Min-hyeong he had heard over the phone, Kim Si-baek looked up with a welcoming expression, only for his face to be stained with horror.