The fact that the cat could talk wasn’t really important to me.
Ah, so there are talking cats in this world too. That was about the extent of my reaction.
The problem was the sentence the cat had just said.
The boss.
Why was he angry? Our organization’s basic protocol was to stand by until orders came. So just because I’d been holed up in my room for a few days….
“Both me and the boss are super mad, meow. You didn’t respond, meow. I cried and cried until my voice went hoarse, meow!”
Ah.
I remembered now—over the past few days, there’d been a cat crying loudly outside my house. It had even scratched at the wall, and I’d wondered if it was in heat.
I’d completely forgotten about the existence of talking cats. Well, I hadn’t seen one in years….
“Is the boss really mad?”
“You’re in big trouble, meow. He’s calling you to the hideout, meow!”
“What?”
Being called to the hideout almost never happened. The boss was an extremely meticulous, germophobic person.
Wasn’t he also the type who relayed orders to his members through cats, precisely to prevent information leaks?
Given that someone like that had been unable to reach me for days, I might have come under suspicion.
…….
He couldn’t possibly have called me there to kill me, could he?
“I should go.”
“Hurry up and go already, meow.”
Whoosh.
The cat turned around.
“Wait.”
“Meow?”
I still had an important matter to settle.
“Where exactly is the hideout located right now?”
“…N-meow seriously.”
The cat shook its head. Even though it was an animal’s face, somehow I could sense its exasperation.
***
I wiped off the blood and changed into a suit. Once ready to head out, I picked up the cat. The moment my hand touched it, the cat went berserk.
“I don’t wanna die, meow! I don’t want to get electrocuted, meow!”
I ignored it and put it into a cardboard box. A box I’d picked up from the trash.
“Nyaack!”
“We’re taking a taxi, so behave.”
I could feel furious kicking from inside the box, as if to say, why does it have to come along too?
It couldn’t be helped. Right now, I was in a position where I needed help in various ways. And this talking cat was perfectly suited for the role of helper.
I caught a taxi on a nearby road. After giving the driver an address near the hideout, I turned to look out the window.
Even then, the thumping sounds from the box didn’t stop. Probably because of that, I could feel the taxi driver’s gaze on me.
‘I told you to behave….’
The closer we got to the city center, the more tall buildings there were. But here and there, unnatural gaps appeared between the buildings. Probably places where gates had occurred.
The scenery six years later wasn’t much different. Even by then, the technology to build structures in midair hadn’t been developed.
Whether there were people or buildings there, gates opened indiscriminately. There were plenty of people in this place who’d had their lives taken that way….
At that moment, a certain face flashed by momentarily in the scenery rushing past the window.
The car stopped briefly at a red light. As if noticing my reaction, a puzzled voice came from inside the box.
“Meow?”
It was a small sound, but it echoed quite loudly in the quiet taxi.
“Sir. That thing in the box—don’t tell me that’s a cat?”
“…No.”
“What do you mean, no. It clearly is. You’re not going to abandon it somewhere, are you?”
I leaned toward the window and looked at the sidewalk across the street. The distance made it so I could only see the back of his head. A man with long hair tied up high was walking among the crowd.
A face I couldn’t forget no matter how hard I tried. The atmosphere was different from how I remembered him, but it was unmistakably Choi Haegang. He was joking around amiably with someone in the same combat uniform.
‘Who’s that with him?’
Compared to Choi Haegang’s height, the other person was shorter, so I could only see a head of red hair. I was trying to guess who it might be when Choi Haegang suddenly turned around.
“!”
Startled, I jerked back from the window. My eyes met the taxi driver’s, who’d been watching me through the rearview mirror.
“I thought it was odd that a normal-looking person like you would be heading there…. You shouldn’t do that, you know. What did the cat ever do to deserve that?”
Before I could explain, the light changed. The taxi driver clicked his tongue and started the car.
To be precise, he tried to start the car.
The car only made a loud engine noise without moving forward at all.
“Huh? Why’s it doing this?”
The taxi driver fiddled with the gear lever, then suddenly noticed something and shouted.
“Aaaargh! It’s, it’s a gate!”
A gate?
Wait a second. Of all places, here?
I hurriedly tore my eyes away from the window.
The car was sinking rapidly, like it was being swallowed by a swamp. Before I knew it, more than half the vehicle had disappeared beyond the gate.
By the time I checked outside the window again, a black hole had already spread out completely around us.
‘…Well, fuck.’
This wasn’t my intention, Boss.
My head went blank, and I squeezed my eyes shut.
My body lurched forward. I grabbed the front seat with one hand to keep from falling.
Crash!
The sound of impact rang out, and the moment I opened my eyes again, I was in a completely different world.
Sunlight streamed in through a window with no glass.
Looking around roughly, I saw all sorts of cooking utensils hanging on a stone wall. Knives and bowls of various shapes, a pot hanging over a hearth.
It was an old kitchen, the kind you’d only see in fairy tales.
Except everything was abnormally huge.
Like I’d walked into a giant’s house.
I let out a sound of admiration.
‘Ah… a nostalgic place….’
This was the place where I’d first met Choi Haegang, before regression. The dungeon where I’d killed every single survivor….
Including Choi Haegang’s friend.
Was that today? I should’ve put up more of a fight about not going today. Damn it, I really didn’t want to run into Choi Haegang again….
The nightmare-inducing face I’d seen through the taxi window earlier came back to mind.
I felt a headache coming on and grabbed my head, when an irritating sound came from the front seat.
“Ngh, gnngh….”
It was the taxi driver. He was groaning, clutching his thigh. Looking closer, his shin was bent backward.
It seemed the front of the car had taken the impact when it fell through the gate.
“Oh dear…. Are you okay?”
“Ugh, aaargh….”
No proper response came back.
Looking around, the other people caught in the gate seemed to be in similarly bad shape as the taxi driver. Since the gate had opened at dawn, there weren’t many people, at least.
Given how gates swallow people feet-first and send them falling diagonally through the air, it was easy to injure the lower body during entry.
It was also common to get hurt by objects—trees, sidewalk blocks, and the like—that got pulled in along with you. With more people, it tended to get worse, but at a glance, this dungeon’s casualties seemed lower than average this time.
“Mreow—”
Of course, the cat in the box was perfectly fine.
When I released the grip I’d been keeping on it to stop it from coming out, someone knocked on the window.
Knock knock knock.
I locked eyes with a pretty-faced man through the taxi window. He mouthed something. Probably asking me to open it.
‘I want to ignore this.’
Red hair, combat uniform…. That was definitely the man who’d been with Choi Haegang earlier. I’d been curious about his identity, but that didn’t mean I wanted to see him from this close.
‘Ngh….’
But we’d already made eye contact. The best course of action was to act as normal as possible, so as not to draw this man’s suspicion.
The moment I opened the car door, the man, now much closer, asked with a worried expression.
“Are you okay? Are you hurt anywhere?”
“I’m fine. But the driver….”
When I pointed to the front seat, he glanced over and his eyes widened. He hurriedly opened the driver’s door and began administering first aid, his movements practiced and precise.
I observed the man carefully.
‘What was his name again.’
His demeanor was unusually composed. Plus, the reddish glow in his eyes and hair. That was characteristic of a fire-type Awakener.
Now that I thought about it, I recalled some fire-type Awakener having cleared this dungeon. I couldn’t remember his face well, though.
‘Was that him?’
Once he finished the first aid, the man carried the taxi driver out of the car. He told me to follow him, then moved quickly. He seemed to be heading toward a corner spot hidden behind some shelving.
When I got up, the cat—which had somehow gotten out of the box—trotted along after me.
I called out to the back of the man’s head.
“What’s your name?”
“Huh?”
…Bad timing, maybe. I smiled naturally and offered an excuse.
“From your outfit, you seem to be a Hunter.”
“Ah….”
“I was just wondering if you might be someone famous. The way you handled the first aid so confidently.”
Breathing hard from the weight of the taxi driver, he answered after a moment.
“It’s Hajae. Yeom Hajae.”
He then mentioned that he belonged to a guild called “Atlas,” and added:
“Don’t worry. He’s unconscious, but the first aid was done properly.”
“Atlas….”
Looking now, several people had stepped up and were moving the injured out of sight behind the shelves. Choi Haegang was among them.
“Are those people also from Atlas?”
“Yes. Most of the guild members came along. So please don’t worry.”
So Atlas was the name of the guild I’d half-destroyed.
Yeom Hajae spoke to me even as he breathed heavily with exertion.
“You, um….”
“Kim Cheolsu.”
“…I see. Mr. Kim Cheolsu, are you—”
“I’m a civilian.”
He nodded.
“Where were you headed?”
“I was on my way to the animal hospital.”
I lifted up the cat walking beside me, putting it on display.
“Meow—”
“Aw, so cute. Our Nabi.”
“Kyaack.”
“Whoa. Lay your fur down.”
The cat bristled its claws.
“Keep that up and you’ll get static shock and it’ll hurt.”
“Nyaa….”
It calmed down. To put on a heartwarming little scene, I rubbed the cat’s belly vigorously. In truth, since I had no idea where to even touch it, it was more like I was just roughly groping it at random.
“…….″
Yeom Hajae glanced at me, then quickened his pace without a word.
“Haegang-ah!”
“Hyung.”
When we arrived behind the massive shelving, Choi Haegang took over carrying the taxi driver. After laying the driver down properly, Choi Haegang said he’d go help others and left immediately.
Keeping my eyes fixed on his retreating back, I leaned against the wall. Yeom Hajae and the cat sat down beside me.
‘Is it really okay for him to be the only one resting, even though he’s part of the same guild?’
While I was thinking that, Yeom Hajae broke the silence.
“We should be able to get out soon.”
“Yeah….”
“…….″
The conversation died out weakly. I was too busy observing Choi Haegang.
“Are you okay?”
“…….″
I had no intention of keeping up a long conversation with this Hunter. I wanted him gone quickly, since I didn’t want to get tangled up with him. When I didn’t answer, he turned his head to look at me.
“Mr. Cheolsu?”
“Yep. Of course I’m fine. Cheolsu’s totally fine.”
I rolled my eyes over and smiled at Yeom Hajae.
“More importantly, are you okay, Hunter? You looked like you were having a hard time.”
“Ah, yes. It’s embarrassing, but I have weaker physical strength than most Hunters.”
He certainly looked it. Thin arms and legs, skin pale as flour. I’d killed him easily before regression too, so I probably just didn’t remember him well.
While subtly sizing him up to gauge his combat ability, he clenched his fist.
“But my ability is good, so trust me. I’ll definitely protect you, Mr. Cheolsu.”
“Haha. Reassuring….”
Big talk from someone who got taken out by my ability in one second flat. Hiding that thought, I spoke gently.
“Thanks for worrying about me. Like I said, I’m not hurt anywhere.”
But the response that came back was unexpected. After what I’d just said, Yeom Hajae, who’d gone quiet for some reason, suddenly sat up straight.
“…Citizen. You don’t have to push yourself.”
He said something strange.
He looked at me, hesitating as if there was something he wanted to say. I felt a sense of unease.
“You’ve, um… been shaking pretty badly since earlier.”
