Chapter 57: Are you threatening me?

The paper cup of coffee in her hand plummeted toward the floor.

Tak.

The one who caught the falling coffee was the Team Leader. He handed it right back to her.

“Why are you throwing away your coffee?”

“Ah, I….”

“Here, take it.”

Seohyeonji reflexively accepted the coffee again.

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

Villain.

Most notably, there was the infamous office worker serial killer, Ryu Ji-tae.

“What are you talking about….”

Seohyeonji said with an awkward laugh. He did have a habit of making silly jokes, so she thought it must be one of those again. But his eyes were serious.

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

At his words, Seohyeonji unconsciously murmured,

“No, I really don’t know what you mean….”

Villain was a term for a social evil group.

They hated Hunters, warned, and threatened them.

Among them, office worker Ryu Ji-tae was especially famous for his hardline approach.

Seohyeonji knew exactly what Lee Hyunbin meant by “Villain.”

Awakened Criminal.

But to Seohyeonji, the meaning of “Villain” was a little different.

Dimensional Traveler.

She didn’t think Lee Hyunbin would necessarily know that nuance.

“Actually, I’ve got pretty good instincts.”

“They don’t seem that good, though?”

“Why are you so flustered?”

Seohyeonji was left speechless at Lee Hyunbin’s words.

Lee Hyunbin spoke as if he knew everything.

“If you’re just going to say nonsense, I’m leaving.”

Seohyeonji let out a sigh and stood up.

“Honestly, I thought it was a bit strange.”

Lee Hyunbin continued.

“Why are you hiding your strength?”

“What?”

“I should start with this.”

He gave a wry smile and spoke again.

“I also came here from another dimension.”

“What?”

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

Hearing his words, Seohyeonji blinked in confusion.

Was it just her imagination, or did the person she thought she knew now overlap with the Team Leader before her?

It feels like this is the first time I’ve seen Seohyeonji so surprised.

Her pupils trembled as if hit by an earthquake.

Like when the ‘bespectacled reaper’ tells you, ‘You are the culprit.’

Now it’s certain.

• Seohyeonji’s condition: anxious, wary, nervous.

Through Insight, I could see Seohyeonji’s mind was always in a state of vigilance.

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

Storage.

When the Earth Dragon breathed fire, I instinctively used my power and stored all the people nearby in my Inventory.

By force, at that.

I used that power as a buff to take down the Earth Dragon, and then lost consciousness.

In that moment, I realized something.

There’s a difference in mass.

I don’t know the mechanics. But the people in my Inventory seem to weigh differently according to their combat power.

Seohyeonji’s presence was overwhelming. Even with nearly a hundred people in my Inventory, hers stood out uniquely.

Her presence was even greater than the most dangerous person in my Inventory—the office worker.

The Seohyeonji I knew had been Awakened for a while, but was just a beginner who had barely reached level 10.

Maybe it was just coincidence. There are still many things about my new power I haven’t figured out.

So I asked the Demon King to investigate.

About Seohyeonji.

And the answer I got two days later was as expected.

There were signs that Seohyeonji’s past records had been tampered with.

So well done only an expert could notice.

To break down her guard as much as possible, I showed my hand first.

Now, depending on how Seohyeonji takes it, our relationship will change.

“Villain? That’s offensive.”

Seohyeonji continued quietly.

“We’re not like those office workers, not like those people.”

She chose to be honest.

The warm coffee from the vending machine had gone cold before they knew it.

Sitting on the bench, they spoke without looking at each other’s faces, staring ahead.

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

Amazingly, Seohyeonji said she’d come here over 15 years ago.

I thought Villains only appeared after the Gate Incident.

But there were people who’d come here even before the Gate Incident happened.

“Sometimes, I still remember scenes from my childhood.”

Landscapes that only existed in another world, so different from the modern world.

A bird as big as an airplane blocking out the sunlight, or market streets filled with people of nonhuman races, different from humans.

“Our elders don’t like the office workers—so, the hardliners.”

I’d gained more information than expected.

There were more Dimensional Travelers than I’d thought.

And now I learned they had their own factions.

Seohyeonji’s was the moderate faction.

People who had chosen to adapt peacefully to this world.

The office workers, the hardliners, were said to be extremely hostile to Hunters, even committing crimes.

That office worker guy always seemed to act alone, but turns out he had his own group.

I’d suspected as much.

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

“Do you know why Villains—that is, the hardliners—offer sacrifices to summon monsters from another world?”

“It’s because they hate this place.”

I wasn’t so sure. I felt there was another reason.

Maybe they wanted to bring something they needed from the other side.

It just felt that way.

Maybe the Earth Dragon they summoned this time wasn’t even what they really wanted. It felt more like a test.

“How do you travel between dimensions?”

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

“How big is the hardliner group?”

“I don’t know. We’ve kept our distance for so long because our views are so different…”

She really doesn’t know anything.

“You’re cursing me in your head for knowing nothing, aren’t you?”

She’s got an uncanny intuition.

Honestly, I hadn’t expected some amazing secret.

She even appears on TV as a Villain, after all.

Still, she really doesn’t know much.

“But maybe the Overseer would know.”

“Overseer?”

“Yes, there’s someone who manages our people. That person would know a lot about the hardliners too.”

“Can I meet them?”

At my words, Seohyeonji looked serious.

“Of course not!”

“Why not?”

“Why would I trust you with that?”

That stung a bit. Haven’t you seen enough of me to know?

“You admitted you were a Villain and told me, so I thought we were building some trust.”

“Even if I told someone else about this, who would believe it?”

She had a point. When I said I was a Hero, everyone just thought I was some middle-aged man with a chuunibyou.

“And stop calling us Villains.”

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

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

I don’t care what they’re called.

Honestly, even though Seohyeonji says her people are moderates, peacefully adapting to this world, I can’t trust her completely.

People always have clashing thoughts when they gather.

“The government has declared war on Villains. Whether you’re a hardliner or a moderate, it’ll be hard to escape the tightening net.”

At my words, Seohyeonji smiled and spoke confidently.

“They’ll never find us.”

“I found you, though.”

“I can just deny it if you say it’s me.”

Seohyeonji still doesn’t seem to understand this world very well. She probably thinks I only found her thanks to a lucky hunch.

“If it were me, I’d use research data from Natural Mana Stones to create a Mana Scan Device and track down Villains.”

Ordinary people don’t have mana stones. But Awakened individuals generate them.

“What do you think will happen if we round up all the people who have mana but haven’t registered as Awakened?”

“….”

It’ll make searching for Villains possible.

“Of course, such a device doesn’t exist yet. But it might, someday.”

There’s ongoing research using natural mana stone resources, after all.

“Even without a device, there are Supporters with search-type abilities. If the authorities use them to track people one by one, eventually your hiding places will be exposed.”

“Are you threatening me?”

Seohyeonji glared.

I just curled up the corners of my mouth in a smile.

Threatening.

This wasn’t a threat. It was persuasion.

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

Seohyeonji’s face stiffened slightly.

“Anyway, it’d be hard to meet the Overseer right now.”

Seohyeonji sighed and rubbed her forehead, as if she had no way out.

“They’re back in the original world right now.”

Back in the original world.

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

“The power to cross dimensions.”

This is the person I’ve been looking for.

“The Overseer brought most of our people here. They’re still bringing people even now.”

If I could meet this Overseer, I might get a clue to return Karin and the Floating Island to where they belonged. No, maybe I could even get their help directly.

I’d gotten valuable information I never expected.

“I don’t know if I did the right thing. Sigh. I just blurted out everything without permission…”

Seohyeonji spoke with a sigh.

One thing was clear: she was right to trust me and speak.

“You’ll be praised. Probably.”

“Who knows. All because of you. By the way, you said you came from another dimension too? That Hero Summoning people talk about?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“It doesn’t suit you.”

Seohyeonji laughed.

“In that case, Seohyeonji, would you consider joining me?”

Seohyeonji blinked, then belatedly reacted.

Whatever misunderstanding she has, I don’t care.

Either way, I’ll have Seohyeonji join the Order of Knights and put her to work.

Seohyeonji became the third member of the Order of Knights.

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

No wonder her mana was so high for a level 1.

‘Come to think of it…’

Me, Karin, and now Seohyeonji.

All of us are Dual Awakened. We each have an Awakening ability from the other world, and another from this world. Two different powers.

‘Seol Jihoon was said to have a Dual Class, too.’

Maybe the Dual Awakening ability only appears in people who have crossed dimensions.

If that’s the case, the S-rank Hunter Seol Jihoon of the Fighting God Guild might also be one of the Transmigrants.

‘And Seohyeonji said she didn’t know Seol Jihoon.’

If Seohyeonji, a moderate, doesn’t know Seol Jihoon, then maybe he joined the Villains’ side.

We’ll meet soon enough when the upper-level dungeon opens, so I’ll judge what kind of guy he is then.

I took Karin and went to the guild. Since she’s officially joining the team, we need to draw up a contract and issue her a license.

She needs some basic training, too. This girl just relies on buffs for everything. What will she do if she can’t use buffs?

“Is Seoyeon joining our team, too?”

“Yeah.”

Kim Taeyang and Kim Inho looked bewildered when they saw Karin joining the team today.

“I know Seoyeon goes to Raon Academy, but isn’t she still a student? Is this okay?”

A natural concern. On the surface, she’s just a young student.

“She’s not in such a hard situation that she has to work for a living at her age. Besides, Team Leader makes good money these days.”

So that’s what you meant.

“Our Seoyeon might look short…”

“What are you saying, mister? She’s got great proportions!”

“Except for eating like a pig, she’s just a glutton.”

“Mister, kids eat a lot when they’re growing!”

You think you’re the only one growing?

Better to show than to talk.

“Taeyang, come here for a second.”

“Why? Huh? Why are you—ouch!”

Kim Taeyang tumbled across the floor after a low kick, screaming that I was a devil.

“Seoyeon.”

“I’m charging for all my healing skills from now on.”

“Still, we’re family. Don’t I get a discount?”

At my words, Karin hesitated a moment, then held up a finger.

“One hundred won per session.”

“…”

“Well, I’m a worker now, too, right? I have to get paid.”

I quietly handed over a hundred won.

Even when she was a feudal lord in the other world, she had no sense of money.

Here, all you have to do is swipe a card, so even less.

Once the money was transferred, Karin healed Taeyang’s broken leg in an instant, looking satisfied.

Kim Taeyang tested his leg like a man who’d regained his sight, kicking the ground.

“As expected of our Seoyeon. Her skills are solid.”

“Behave yourself.”

“Wow, awesome! What is this? Lee Seoyeon, you’re a healer? That’s amazing!”

Kim Taeyang, not realizing what was going on, just jumped in place, laughing in amazement.

Kim Inho had turned pale.