“So… your name is Kim Su-yeon?”
“Yes…”
The atmosphere was dull and lifeless.
“What a strange coincidence. My name is…”
“I know. Kim Yoo-hyun… You’re Yoo-hyun oppa, right?”
Just moments ago, the air between them had been tense—so heavy that it felt almost impossible to interrupt.
“Yeah. You knew?”
“Of course. I’ve heard a lot about you.”
Though it hadn’t escalated to a breaking point, there was definitely an uneasy tension lingering.
But then—
“Haha, you speak so nicely.”
“Oh, oppa, you’re something too…”
Suddenly, the heavy atmosphere lifted, replaced by a lightness that felt almost tangible.
“So, Su-yeon, how have you been all this time? Would you mind telling me?”
“Ah, well…”
Not only had the mood lightened, but—
“Uh-huh. And then?”
“So, I decided to join the Steel Mountain expedition…”
How to put it?
The once stiff air had softened, becoming warm and inviting.
Yes.
From the moment Kim Yoo-hyun revealed his true identity.
“I see.”
After hearing the brief summary, Yoo-hyun nodded solemnly.
Then, he gently raised his arm and carefully stroked Su-yeon’s hair.
Su-yeon closed her eyes softly.
The touch, starting at the crown of her head and slowly moving down, was so gentle and warm it was hard to believe it was a man’s hand.
“You’ve been through a lot, haven’t you?”
The whisper near her ear made Su-yeon’s eyes sting with tears.
They had just met today, and yet those simple, almost cliché words carried an inexplicable comfort and reassurance.
All her worries seemed to vanish, replaced by a cozy warmth that made her want to drift off to sleep right there.
“To be honest, the situation isn’t looking too good.”
Still, a sovereign was a sovereign.
Even from the condensed explanation, Yoo-hyun immediately grasped the state of the war.
Su-yeon opened her eyes slightly.
Seeing Yoo-hyun’s serious gaze so close made her cheeks flush without her realizing it.
“I’m sorry…”
“No need to apologize. You did your best, didn’t you?”
“But the outcome is like this…”
“No. Sometimes, no matter how much we try, things just don’t go our way. There’s a saying: people plan, but the heavens decide. Nothing in this world ever goes exactly as we expect.”
His calm, soothing voice made Su-yeon’s eyes soften with affection.
‘How does he know…?’
It felt as if he understood all the silent struggles she’d endured alone and was gently comforting her.
When his hand slowly withdrew, Su-yeon instinctively pressed her head closer, as if begging him not to stop, craving more of that tender touch.
Her obedient, kitten-like gesture made Yoo-hyun’s lips stretch into a long smile.
And then, tears welled up in his eyes.
Well.
After all, this was the first time a pretty younger sister—someone he’d just met—had shown him the kind of affection he’d always hoped for from his younger brother. The feeling must have been overwhelming.
“Anyway, it’s going to be okay now. I’ll make sure of it.”
“What? No, you can’t.”
“Hm? Why not?”
“You have to go back. To your original world.”
By the way, it was Yoo-hyun himself who had mentioned that he had to return.
But the word “oppa” made her forget that fact completely.
“Su-yeon, if you hadn’t come here in the first place, maybe I’d understand. But now that we’ve met and I know your situation, how can you say that?”
“Ha… but… what if you get hurt? I don’t want that…”
Su-yeon’s voice dropped to a whisper as she lowered her head.
Yoo-hyun twisted his body and grinned widely.
“Haha. Don’t worry! As long as I’m here with Su-hyun, the Northern Continent or any demon is nothing to fear.”
They say even if your mouth is crooked, your words should be straight.
In truth, even just Su-hyun alone could make the whole world seem insignificant, but Yoo-hyun made a point of emphasizing himself.
“Right? Su-hyun?”
With a look of utter disbelief, Yoo-hyun turned his face confidently toward his younger brother.
But unlike what he expected, no answer came for a long moment.
“Su-hyun?”
Finally, Yoo-hyun’s eyes widened as he spotted Su-hyun standing a little ways off, staring blankly.
His younger brother stood there, dazed and powerless.
Before long, tears began to well up in those eyes.
“Su-Suhyun?”
At that moment, Su-hyun immediately turned and ran without looking back, but Yoo-hyun caught his hand before he could get far.
Given their difference in agility, it should have been impossible, but somehow, he was caught.
Su-hyun tried to shake off the grip, then took a deep breath and calmly turned around.
“Why?”
His voice trembled slightly, probably from heavy breathing.
“Uh… where are you going?”
“None of your business.”
His tone was sharp, full of barbs.
“S-Sorry.”
Yoo-hyun squeezed his eyes shut.
Unlike Su-hyun, he was quick to pick up on things.
“I got distracted for a moment… Are you mad?”
“No? I’m not mad.”
“You are. Sorry.”
“What are you sorry for?”
“Uh… for making you mad?”
“Don’t you know why I’m mad?”
…It was a strange conversation for brothers.
Just then, Kim Su-yeon strode confidently through the murmuring crowd and stepped firmly between them.
“Hey, what’s your problem?”
“Hm?”
“Why are you treating my oppa like that?”
“W-What? Our oppa?”
Su-hyun clenched his fists tightly.
But Su-yeon, arms crossed, continued with a haughty air.
“You’re really funny. Don’t you even remember what you and unnie did? Why? Are we not allowed to do this?”
Su-hyun was left speechless.
It was only natural—he had done things he couldn’t explain.
Su-yeon scoffed and raised her left eye slightly, as if daring him to say something.
But Su-hyun had a powerful ally too.
“Kim Su-yeon! What did you just say?”
The sharp voice made Su-yeon flinch.
Kim Yoo-yeon, who had been silent until now, finally stepped forward.
Of course, she couldn’t just stand by when her beloved younger brother was in trouble.
“Oh my, oh my. Look at you. You talk so funny. How dare you yell at someone?”
“Unnie…”
“Do you have any respect for the person who saved your life? Are you crazy?”
“That’s not it…”
“Shut up. Be quiet. Su-hyun, come here.”
“……”
Yoo-yeon snapped sharply, then opened her arms with an angelic smile.
Su-hyun, pouting, obediently went into her embrace.
Watching this, Yoo-hyun’s eyes sparked with fire.
“What are you?”
His tone was clearly provocative.
Yoo-yeon bared her sharp teeth without hiding it.
“What do you think? You really have to ask? It’s me.”
“Who asked? I’m asking why you’re bossing Su-yeon around?”
“Why not? She’s my real sister. What’s it to you?”
“Then take your hand off. Su-hyun is my real brother.”
“Funny. You must be jealous.”
“What?”
Golden sparks crackled from Yoo-hyun’s shoulders.
“…You wanna fight?”
The voice of the Lightning Witch, Kim Yoo-yeon, turned icy.
“No problem.”
The Sovereign, Kim Yoo-hyun, answered coldly.
“Hyung! If you even touch our unnie’s hair, that’s it. It’s over, really over!”
“Hey! I told you not to yell at our oppa!”
“Su-yeon, can you be quiet?”
“Why are you taking it out on the innocent one?!”
Whenever Su-hyun spoke, Su-yeon jumped in.
When Su-yeon spoke, Yoo-yeon stepped forward.
When Yoo-yeon spoke, Yoo-hyun responded.
And when Yoo-hyun spoke, Su-hyun jumped in again.
It was like a Möbius strip of endless bickering.
The atmosphere turned hostile in an instant, and the mercenary clan members all looked around helplessly, unsure what to do.
Only Jegal Hae-sol smiled serenely, savoring the tea Im Han-na had brought.
“Hmm~.”
Perhaps she liked the taste.
She hummed softly, glanced at the quarreling siblings, and smiled calmly.
Then she said,
“Haha. What a mess.”
Since it didn’t look like it would end anytime soon, Jegal Hae-sol decided to tune out.
She was far more interested in the other version of herself who existed in this world.
What could she be doing right now?
‘She’s not an idiot above level nine. By now, she must have a good grasp of the situation.’
It was a bit self-congratulatory, but not wrong.
In fact, under the Holy Queen’s command, Jegal Hae-sol was busy plotting a scheme to make Kim Su-hyun disappear.
‘But no matter what, that man won’t fall for it.’
As long as Kim Su-hyun was around, no strategy or trap would work.
The power wielded by the Sovereign of Sword was truly overwhelming.
But that was also a problem.
Solving things with brute force was easy.
But that meant Kim Su-hyun would have to commit large-scale slaughter again.
He might even have to kill his comrades or his wife from his original world.
It was a sobering thought, but Kim Su-hyun was only just beginning to regain his humanity.
If the enemy were demons, it might be different, but subjugating the Northern Continent by force would undoubtedly have dire consequences.
No one wanted all their efforts to travel to the present day to end up for nothing.
“In the end, it really comes down to talking.”
Je-gal Hae-sol chuckled softly, caught between choosing the easy path and the difficult one.
She regretted not having Ko Yeon-ju’s presence right now.
From what she’d heard earlier, it seemed the northern continent’s factions—except for the Mercenary, Istanbul Row, and Hamil Clan—had united against each other.
The divide was so deep that dialogue was nearly impossible.
That left only one option: to sow discord between the Sacred Queen’s faction and the Eastern faction.
If she could split their alliance, at least one side might be open to negotiation.
The key was figuring out how to drive a wedge between the two camps.
“There’s no one better suited for this mission than Ko Yeon-ju… Damn it.”
As Je-gal Hae-sol calmly sorted through her thoughts, her expression suddenly twisted in frustration.
The noise around her was unbearable, making it impossible to concentrate.
Shaking her head, she lightly summoned her magic.
In the next instant, with a pop like fireworks, her entire form scattered like a spray of water.
It was her warp ability.
And then—
A shadow lurking outside quietly slipped away without a trace.
“How’s the mission going?”
— We failed.
“Failed?”
— It was impossible to infiltrate the interior. At best, we managed to get close to the fortress…
The shadow inside the communication orb reported the failure plainly, causing Ko Yeon-ju to furrow her brows.
Right now, what they needed most was information.
How had the demon army been wiped out? Who was this new user that had appeared? And so on.
— Still, we managed to capture footage of a man believed to be that user…
It was information, but hardly a success.
To be blunt, it was just a recording of his appearance.
Not much, but better than nothing.
“Is that all?”
Her tone was sharp.
After all the trouble to send in a spy who failed to deliver, her irritation was understandable.
What annoyed her even more was the spy’s casual attitude despite the failure.
Plus, when Thanatos appeared, the shadow had panicked and fled on its own, leaving no room for forgiveness.
Sensing this, the shadow bowed deeply.
— I apologize. If given another chance, I will make up for my mistake.
“How?”
— Though we failed to gather intel…
“Though?”
The shadow pulled something from its cloak.
A recording orb.
— I brought something even bigger.
“Bigger? What is it?”
— First, the surroundings…
“…!”
The shadow’s voice suddenly dropped.
Ko Yeon-ju wasn’t naive either.
She quickly moved to a different spot and crushed the communication orb in her hand.
“Speak now. No one else is around. If it’s nothing, deal with it yourself.”
— Heh. Look at this.
The shadow brought the recording orb close and activated it.
Ko Yeon-ju took a deep breath as the footage played.
Kim Yu-yeon and Kim Su-yeon, two sisters, were fighting alongside two unfamiliar men.
But her gaze wasn’t on the four of them—it was fixed on a woman calmly sipping tea on the sidelines.
“Je-gal, Hae-sol…?”
— That’s right.
“No way. She was with me just yesterday…!”
— Have you forgotten her warp ability?
Ko Yeon-ju opened her mouth to protest but stopped herself.
Je-gal Hae-sol’s specialty was already well known.
But the full extent of her ability was known only to herself.
It wasn’t impossible that she could travel incredible distances in an instant.
“Did you catch what they were saying?”
— Not exactly… But judging by how they were arguing over Je-gal Hae-sol…
The shadow trailed off.
Ko Yeon-ju could guess what was coming next.
“Is there a chance your identity was discovered?”
She muttered skeptically.
— I can’t be certain, but I think it’s unlikely.
“Maybe you were baited? Like, they knew you were there…”
— That’s possible. But even if they copied her appearance, could they replicate her ability perfectly?
“That’s nearly impossible. I’ve never heard of anyone…!”
Just then—
— Pop!
With a small noise, the Je-gal Hae-sol in the recording vanished in an instant.
All that remained were shimmering droplets of magical energy scattering in the air.
— What do you make of it?
Ko Yeon-ju’s eyes widened as she stared at the screen, speechless.
No matter how many times she replayed it, there was no doubt—it was a warp ability.
After a moment, the stiff line of her mouth curled into a chilling smile.
“…Look at this.”
The situation was starting to shift in a strange way.
---------------------------= Author’s Note =---------------------------
Uheh heh heh, ehehe.
Uheh it uheh it uheh it uheh it uheh.
Uheh heh heh, heung heung.
Uh-hng heung heng heung hang hang.