Chapter 57 – Are You Threatening Me?

The paper cup in her hand fell toward the floor.

*Thwack.*

It was the Team Leader who caught the falling coffee. He held it out to her.

“Why are you throwing away your coffee?”

“Ah, I…”

“Here, take it.”

Seo Hyun-ji dazedly took the cup back.

For a moment, she was at a loss for words.

A Villain.

The most infamous example was the murderer Ryu Ji-tae, also known by his moniker, the Company Man.

“What are you talking about…?”

Seo Hyun-ji said with an awkward smile. He sometimes made absurd jokes, so she figured this was just another one. But his gaze was serious.

“You don’t have to hide it. I already know everything.”

At his words, Seo Hyun-ji muttered to herself without realizing it.

“No, I don’t understand what you mean…”

Villains were a social evil.

They hated, warned, and threatened Hunters.

Among them, the Company Man, Ryu Ji-tae, was famous for taking the most extreme measures.

Seo Hyun-ji knew what Lee Hyunbin meant by ‘Villain.’

An Awakened criminal.

But the meaning Seo Hyun-ji associated with ‘Villain’ was slightly different.

A dimensional traveler.

She didn’t think Lee Hyunbin would know that particular meaning.

“To be honest, I have pretty good instincts.”

“I don’t think they’re very good.”

“Why are you so flustered?”

Seo Hyun-ji was momentarily speechless at his question.

Lee Hyunbin spoke as if he knew everything.

“If you’re going to keep saying nonsensical things, I’m leaving.”

Seo Hyun-ji sighed and stood up from her seat.

“To be honest, I always thought something was strange,”

Lee Hyunbin continued.

“Why are you hiding your power?”

“What?”

“I should probably start with this.”

He gave a bitter smile and spoke again.

“I also came from another dimension.”

“Huh?”

“Well, to be precise, it’s a bit complicated. It would be more accurate to say I returned. I was summoned as a Hero, then came back to where I originally lived.”

Seo Hyun-ji blinked, listening to his words.

Was it just her imagination, or was the Team Leader before her suddenly overlapping with someone she used to know?

***

This was the first time I’d ever seen Seo Hyun-ji this surprised.

Her pupils quaked as if struck by an earthquake.

It was as if she’d just heard the words “The culprit is you” from that little grim reaper in glasses.

This confirmed it.

-Seo Hyun-ji’s Status: Anxious, Wary, Agitated.

The psychological state I saw through Insight always showed her on guard.

At first, I thought this wariness was because she was a celebrity, always conscious of her surroundings.

Storage.

When the Earth Dragon breathed fire, I had subconsciously used my power to put everyone around me into my inventory.

Forcibly, at that.

My consciousness had faded as I used that power as a buff to defeat the Earth Dragon.

In that moment, I had felt something.

The masses were different.

I didn’t know the principle behind it, but the people stored in my inventory had different weights depending on their combat power.

Seo Hyun-ji’s weight felt immense. Even with nearly a hundred people in my inventory, she felt uniquely heavy.

Her presence was even greater than that of the Company Man, the strongest and most threatening individual inside my inventory.

The Seo Hyun-ji I knew was a novice who had just reached level 10, even though she’d been Awakened for a long time.

It could have just been a coincidence. There was still much I didn’t understand about my newly formed power.

So I asked the Demon King to investigate.

To look into Seo Hyun-ji.

The answer I received two days later was just as I had expected.

There were traces of manipulation in Seo Hyun-ji’s past records.

So expertly done that only a true specialist could ever notice.

To break down her defenses as much as possible, I had shown her my hand first.

Now, our relationship would change depending on how she chose to react.

“A Villain. That’s unpleasant.”

Seo Hyun-ji continued speaking in a low voice.

“We’re different from the Company Man and his people.”

She had chosen to be honest.

***

The once-warm vending machine coffee had grown cold.

We sat on the bench, talking while staring straight ahead, not looking at each other.

“I couldn’t believe it at first, either.”

Surprisingly, Seo Hyun-ji said she had come to this world over fifteen years ago.

I had thought Villains only appeared after the Gate crisis began.

But there were people who had crossed over even before the Gates had ever appeared.

“Though sometimes, landscapes from my childhood remain in my mind.”

Scenery that existed only in another world, different from the modern era.

A bird as massive as an airplane soaring through the sunlight, and demi-humans, unlike any person, strolling through a marketplace.

“The elders on our side don’t like the Company Man. The hardliners, that is.”

I had stumbled upon a bigger piece of information than I’d expected.

The number of people who had crossed dimensions was larger than I thought.

And I learned that these dimensional travelers were divided into factions.

The moderates, which Seo Hyun-ji belonged to.

People who chose to live peacefully, adapting to this world.

The hardliners, which the Company Man belonged to, were extremely hostile toward Hunters and committed crimes.

That Company Man fellow acted like he was a lone wolf, but he actually had a whole crew.

I had suspected as much.

“Those people are hostile to government agencies and don’t hesitate to go out and kill Hunters.”

“Do you know why the Villains—I mean, the hardliners—are trying to summon monsters from the other world by offering sacrifices?”

“Because they hate this place.”

I wasn’t so sure. From what I’d seen, there had to be another reason.

For example, perhaps they wanted to bring something they desired from that other side.

That was the feeling I got.

A feeling that the Earth Dragon they summoned this time might not have been what they were actually after.

It felt more like a test.

“How do you travel between dimensions?”

“I don’t know. I came over when I was a child.”

“How big is that hardliner faction?”

“I don’t know. Our stances are so different that we’ve been estranged for a long time…”

She really didn’t know anything.

“You just cursed me out in your head for not knowing anything, didn’t you?”

She’s like a mind reader.

Honestly, I hadn’t expected her to have any groundbreaking information.

After all, she was a Villain openly appearing on TV.

Still, she knew surprisingly little.

“But the Elder might know.”

“The Elder?”

“Yes, there’s someone who manages our clan. He would know a lot about the hardliners.”

“Can I meet him?”

Seo Hyun-ji’s expression turned serious at my question.

“Of course not!”

“Why not?”

“Why should we trust you?”

That stung a little. After all this time, she still doesn’t know what kind of person I am?

“I thought we had established some trust, since you admitted to being a Villain.”

“Who would even believe me if I told anyone else what we just talked about?”

She had a point. When I told people I was a Hero, they just treated me like a man-child with a bad case of chuunibyou.

“And stop calling us Villains.”

“Then what should I call you? Dimensional travelers?”

“Settlers. That’s what we call ourselves.”

It didn’t matter to me what they were called.

In truth, even though Seo Hyun-ji claimed they were moderates living peacefully and adapting to this world, I couldn’t completely trust her.

Whenever a group of people gathers, conflicting ideas are bound to clash.

“The government has declared war on Villains. Whether you’re hardliners or moderates, it will be difficult to escape the tightening net.”

A faint smile appeared on Seo Hyun-ji’s face at my words. Then, she spoke with confidence.

“They’ll never find us.”

“But I found you.”

“All I have to do is deny it.”

It seemed Seo Hyun-ji didn’t know how this world worked yet. She seemed to think I had found her out based on instinct alone.

“If it were me, this is what I’d do. I’d use data from research on natural magic stones to develop a mana-scanning device and use it to find Villains.”

Normal people don’t have magic stones. But Awakened individuals do.

“What do you think will happen if they start rounding up every unregistered Awakener who possesses mana?”

“…”

It would become possible to hunt down Villains.

“Of course, such a device hasn’t been developed yet. But it might be created someday.”

After all, various studies utilizing natural magic stone resources were already underway.

“Even without a device, there are Support-class individuals with detection abilities. If they start using those people to search one by one, your hideout will eventually be discovered.”

“Are you threatening me?”

Seo Hyun-ji glared at me.

I smiled, the corners of my mouth curling up.

A threat?

This wasn’t a threat. This was persuasion.

“It’s persuasion. If you truly want to settle here and live in peace, you have to make a choice.”

Seo Hyun-ji’s face hardened slightly.

“It would be difficult to meet the Elder right now anyway.”

Seo Hyun-ji sighed and rubbed her forehead, as if there was no escape.

“He’s currently back in our original world.”

Back in their original world.

Those words held many implications. And surprisingly, I heard the answer I had been hoping for.

“The power to travel between dimensions.”

This was the person I had been looking for.

“The Elder brought most of our people here. And he’s still bringing more over.”

If I could find this Elder, I could get a clue about how to return Katrinne and the floating island to where they belong. No, I might even be able to get his help directly.

I had obtained some unexpectedly good information.

“I don’t know if I’m doing the right thing. *Haa.* Spilling everything without permission.”

Seo Hyun-ji said with a sigh.

One thing I could say for sure was that trusting me and telling me was the right choice.

“You’ll be praised for it. Probably.”

“I don’t know. Because of you. Anyway, you said you’re from another dimension too? That hero summoning thing I’ve only heard stories about?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“It doesn’t suit you.”

Seo Hyun-ji laughed.

“So with that in mind, Hyun-ji, how about you put yourself in my hands?”

Seo Hyun-ji blinked, her reaction delayed.

I didn’t care what she misunderstood.

I was going to put her in the knighthood and work her to the bone.

***

Seo Hyun-ji became the third member of the knighthood.

Checking her information, I found out she was also a Dual Awakener.

No wonder her mana felt too high for a level 1.

‘Come to think of it.’

Me, Katrinne, and now Seo Hyun-ji.

All of us were Dual Awakeners. We possessed both the abilities we had in the other world and the abilities we Awakened here.

‘Seol Ji-hoon was said to be a dual class, too.’

Perhaps the Dual Awakening ability only manifested in those who had traveled between dimensions.

If so, that meant Seol Ji-hoon, the S-rank Hunter from Tushin Guild, might also be one of the settlers.

‘Seo Hyun-ji said she didn’t know about Seol Ji-hoon.’

If she, a moderate, didn’t know him, he might be an individual affiliated with the Villains.

In any case, I’d be meeting him soon when the high-rank dungeon opens, so I could see what kind of person he was then and decide.

I took Katrinne to the guild. Now that she was officially joining the team, she needed to sign a proper contract and get her license.

She also needed some basic training. Her reliance on buffs for everything was a problem. What would she do in a situation where she couldn’t use them?

“Seo-yeon is joining our team too?”

“Yep.”

Kim Tae-yang and Kim In-ho looked bewildered upon seeing Katrinne, who had joined the team today.

“I know Seo-yeon goes to Raon Academy, but is it okay? She’s still a student.”

It was a natural concern. On the outside, she looked like nothing more than a young student.

“It’s not like she’s so hard up that she has to work at such a young age, right? You’re making good money these days, Team Leader.”

So that’s what he meant.

“Our Seo-yeon may look like a shorty.”

“What are you talking about, Ajeossi? I just have good proportions.”

“And besides being a glutton who eats like a pig.”

“Ajeossi, growing kids are supposed to eat a lot, you know?”

Are you the only one who got hit by a growth spurt?

It was better to show them rather than tell them.

“Tae-yang, come here for a second.”

“Why? Huh? Why are you suddenly hitting me… Ack!”

Kim Tae-yang, who had taken a low kick, rolled on the floor, screaming that I was a demon.

“Seo-yeon.”

“I’m charging for every single healing skill.”

“Not even a family discount?”

Katrinne hesitated for a moment at my words. Then she held up her index finger and said,

“One hundred won per use.”

“…”

“Ah, but I’m a, uh, a worker now, right? I should get paid.”

I silently handed her 100 won.

To be fair, she had a poor concept of money even when she was a lord in the other world.

Here, where you could just swipe a card for everything, it was even worse.

Once the money was in her hand, Katrinne wore a satisfied expression and instantly healed Tae-yang’s fractured bone.

Seeing this, Kim Tae-yang kicked the ground with his injured leg, like a blind man checking his newfound sight.

“That’s our Seo-yeon. Top-notch performance.”

“You’d better watch yourself.”

“Whoa, awesome. What was that? Lee Seo-yeon, you were a healer? That’s sick!”

Only Kim Tae-yang, who hadn’t grasped the situation, was jumping up and down and laughing in amazement.

Kim In-ho’s face had turned pale.