Translator: Vine
Translated At: Nyx Scans
Chapter: 52
Busan Jagalchi Market. PM 11:53
As midnight approached, the sound of slippers dragging echoed through the quiet stillness.
The foot clad in slides suddenly stopped in one place.
"...Hey, you okay?"
The gaze of the man, backlit by the moonlight, scanned downwards.
At his feet lay burly men, members of the Immortal guild, scattered like fallen leaves.
It had been four days since the Unknown Gate appeared in Busan Jagalchi Market.
Upon receiving contact from Doctor Plant, Immortal immediately dispatched thirty members.
However, the twenty or so members who had gone in first to raid it hadn't returned for three days.
Among them was the guild's third-in-command, 'Iron Man Do Sungyoon'.
That's why he came.
The Immortal Guild's second-in-command, Heo Jaemin.
Jaemin's eyes scanned the Immortal guild members sprawled at his feet.
Sungyoon wasn't among them.
'That guy Do Sungyoon, not yet?'
Acted so damn arrogant.
I warned him so many times it would be tough without me.
When he gets back, I'll definitely give him a piece of my mind.
When he gets back... when he gets back, that is.
Letting out a low sigh, Jaemin slumped down and checked the condition of the guild members.
Fortunately, they didn't seem to be unconscious or injured.
Just wearing extremely shocked faces.
'Is this the effect of the Unknown Gate?'
Unable to understand, Jaemin crouched down, meeting the eyes of the subordinate hunters who looked completely dazed.
"What happened?"
At that, one of the guild members sitting on the ground moved his stiff lips.
"Bro, boss. A woman went inside the gate."
"What?"
At the subordinate hunter's words, Jaemin slowly lifted his head and looked towards the gate entrance.
"A woman? Who."
"Th-the Princess of Dark Flare..."
"Dark Flare, what?"
"The Princess of Dark Flare. The F-Class hunter contracted with the Wolf Guild."
Jaemin raised one eyebrow strangely.
"So, who is that."
"You know. Black dress, carries a parasol... She was on TV once too."
"I don't know anything like that. There are too many rookies these days."
After the short reply, he slowly stood up.
"But this is strange. How could that woman, supposedly an F-Class, even enter the gate?"
Jaemin scanned the subordinate hunters sitting disgracefully on the ground.
Then he grabbed the cheek of the largest hunter among them and pulled it like clay.
"Huh? You guys couldn't have been insufficient to stop a single F-Class hunter, could you?"
"Ugh... Sowwy..."
Flick.
Jaemin released the hunter's cheek.
The force was so strong that the grabbed hunter snapped back like a rubber band.
Watching their utterly weak state, Jaemin clicked his tongue.
"I can see why Do Sungyoon had a hard time leading you. So pathetically weak."
"You lot don't deserve to bear the Immortal name anywhere."
"..."
Among those watching, no one spoke up.
No, they couldn't.
The Princess of Dark Flare had struck the back of their necks sequentially with the body of her parasol, then leaped into the gate at a speed they couldn't even dream of chasing.
By the time they came to their senses, they were already tumbling on the ground.
Several hunters belonging to Immortal failed to stop a single F-Class concept hunter.
There was no room for excuses for that fact.
"Pathetic lot. When you return to Seoul, 2,000 push-ups and 3,000 sit-ups each. Got it?"
"We're sorry!"
"I said, got it?!"
"Yes, sir!"
They answered as if shouting.
Meanwhile, a shadow slowly approached Jaemin's side.
"Shall I call the Master?"
Jaemin glanced over his right shoulder.
"No. Can't interrupt them. How long has it been since their last date?"
"Anyway, he'll arrive here tomorrow morning as scheduled."
"Then, shall we pursue?"
Whooo.
Jaemin's hair swayed in the sea breeze.
He stared at the gate entrance for a moment, seemingly pondering.
As if possessing a magnetic force, the black vortex subtly pulled nearby leaves and pebbles towards it.
Its mysterious and bizarre appearance looked like a miniature version of a black hole seen only in documentaries.
"...Leave her be. There are only two outcomes anyway."
Turning his gaze away from the black crack, Jaemin added lowly.
"Die inside, or die coming out."
Around the large black vortex, crackle, tiny black sparks fizzled sporadically.
"—yah."
Soft.
There was a familiar scent too.
The smell of doenjang jjigae (soybean paste stew).
The moment she recognized it, Eunha snapped her eyes open.
"Eunha."
"...!"
And froze.
"It's already 9 o'clock. Time for breakfast, right?"
"Mom..."
...ma?
A hoarse sound escaped her parted lips.
Hair loosely tied with a pink scrunchie.
Eyes exactly like Eunha's, as if proving their mother-daughter bond.
Even the worn-out apron she had insisted on wearing for over 10 years, despite being told to buy a new one.
"Isn't it too late to be sleeping in just because it's Sunday?"
"What were you doing up so late last night?"
Ignoring her scolding mother, Eunha stiffly turned her head to survey her surroundings.
Unmistakable.
This was the house she lived in with her mother over 30 years ago.
No matter how much time had passed, she couldn't forget the scenery of the house she had lived in for over a decade.
Before being moved by the familiar face and scenery before her, Eunha felt a sense of question.
'What is this.'
She was definitely in Busan Jagalchi Market.
She remembered having trouble with the Immortal guild members, knocking them out, and then jumping into the gate...
"Goodness. Our daughter is still half asleep."
"Go wash your face and come back. Breakfast is ready."
Her mother nudged the blankly staring Eunha into the bathroom.
Standing stock-still in the small bathroom, Eunha slowly scanned the interior.
Two toothbrushes standing in a cup.
The artificial cactus on the top shelf.
The sticker she had put on the bathtub sometime ago.
Even...
<12th Gyuhong High School Alumni Reunion>
...the towel with the tacky embroidery that her mother had received sometime ago.
Everything was exactly as she remembered.
Fiddling with the towel, Eunha suddenly parted her lips.
"Cat."
Closing her mouth for a moment, she called out again.
"Cat, are you there?"
No yellow message window appeared anywhere nearby.
This time, she slowly lifted her palm.
Normally, flames should have flickered to life, but not even the smallest spark appeared, let alone flames.
Her expression hardening slightly, Eunha lifted her head, and—
"...What?"
—through the bathroom mirror, her eyes met with a girl who looked both unfamiliar and familiar.
Her reflection in the mirror had a much younger face than her current one.
Furthermore, the hair that used to cover her waist was gone, replaced by a short bob that didn't even reach her shoulders.
Due to the high school hair regulations, she had kept her hair short until she was 19... Wait.
'Did I somehow return to the past?'
If not that...
'Is this the Unknown Gate? Is this a hallucination?'
That was the most plausible inference.
Though, for the inside of a gate, the scene was too vivid.
Even the cold sensation of the bathroom tiles on her bare feet felt realistic.
While standing stock-still, lost in thought, a knock came at the door.
"Eunha, are you still there? The food's getting cold."
At her mother's urging, Eunha left the bathroom.
Sitting at the cozy dining table, she stared at the breakfast menu with slightly strange eyes.
White steam curled up from the earthenware pot containing the doenjang jjigae.
"The lady downstairs shared some kimchi she had leftover from kimchi-making yesterday."
"You said you liked her kimchi last time, didn't you?"
Eunha simply stared blankly at her mother, who bustled around moving dishes and chatting.
"She said she could share some salted pollock roe if we need it, should I get some?"
"Our daughter likes salted pollock roe, right?"
"...Yeah."
Something hot surged up her throat.
Honestly, she wasn't really listening to what her mother was saying right now.
She couldn't hear it.
Just watching her living, moving mother, she let out ragged breaths.
She had never imagined a day would come when she would see her mother like this again.
Her mother's back looked smaller than Eunha remembered.
Unconsciously, Eunha slowly reached out towards that back.
"Oh my."
Finding her daughter suddenly hugging her from behind strange, her mother's eyes widened.
Eunha hugged her mother tightly with both arms.
'Just for a little while.'
It didn't matter whether the mother before her was real or a well-made fake.
She just felt like staying like this for a moment.
"What's gotten into you all of a sudden?"
Her mother seemed slightly flustered but didn't show any displeasure.
Looking at her daughter clinging to her back like a cicada, she clapped her hands.
"Oh right. The university acceptance results are announced tomorrow, aren't they?"
University acceptance results...
At those words, Eunha released her mother and checked the calendar hanging on the wall.
—September 1997.
Indeed, it wasn't the 'present'.
The moment that date registered, a foolish sense of relief washed over her from deep within.
Perhaps she had been secretly wishing for it all along.
That all of it had been a dream.
That day, her mother hadn't died.
"You worked hard for so long, so you'll definitely get in."
"Our daughter is good at everything."
This time, her mother gently hugged Eunha.
Her touch felt so real, warm, and comforting that Eunha, without pushing her away, simply let herself be held.
"Preparing for the entrance exams must have been really tough, huh?"
"Our daughter is acting like a baby for once."
Eunha, held by her mother like a child, tightly gripped her mother's clothes.
And forced her lips to move, as if squeezing the words out.
"A little."
A little, it seemed to have been hard.
"You went through a lot, my pretty daughter."
The hand gently stroking her hair moved down her cheek, tucking stray hairs behind her ear.
In that instant, Eunha saw it.
The left hand stroking her head. Specifically, the left wrist—'it' was missing.
The worn-out wish bracelet.
Her mother's treasure and keepsake, never taken off since Eunha gifted it.
It felt like waking up from a dream she never wanted to end.
Frozen stiff, Eunha instinctively clasped her own left wrist.
"...Mom."
The moment Eunha, fiddling with the wish bracelet, opened her mouth—
Meow—
A cat's cry came from somewhere.
"Oh my, a cat. How cute."
Eunha's house was a second-floor villa, so stray cats or sparrows often rested on the windowsill.
Following her mother's gaze, Eunha's eyes met with a black cat sitting on the balcony windowsill, staring intently this way.
Meow— Meow—
The cat cried repeatedly, as if it had so much to say.
It even lifted its front paw, tapping lightly on the glass window.
"Oh dear. Is it hungry?"
Poor thing. Her mother murmured.
Glossy black fur, golden eyes like perfect replicas of amber.
As if drawn by them, Eunha began walking towards the balcony.
The house, which she had never thought small, felt incredibly cramped now that she looked again.
Just a few steps from the dining table reached the balcony door.
Perhaps she had already grown accustomed to the ultra-luxurious officetel Siwoo provided.
But she still liked this place.
The bookshelf smelling of wood.
The leather sofa draped with an old blanket.
The orange living room light that was always on.
Small things she thought she had forgotten but never had.
Looking back, it was all happiness.
"Eunha?"
Her mother looked at Eunha, eyes wide.
Eunha, walking towards the balcony, paused her steps momentarily.
"...Mom, would you be happy if I got into university?"
Something she had always wanted to ask.
But the answer that came back wasn't what Eunha expected.
"What are you talking about all of a sudden."
A brief silence flowed.
Right. The mother before her wasn't the real mother.
What expectations did she foolishly harbor?
A self-deprecating smile twisted her lips faintly.
Eunha, no longer intending to wait for an answer, took a step again.
—Intended to take a step.
"It was Mom's wish for our daughter to go to university. Of course I'd be happy."
Pause.
"And an American university, no less. Mom would brag about it to all the neighbors upstairs and downstairs?"
Eunha glanced back slightly.
Her mother was looking this way too.
"...Really?"
"Of course."
At the unhesitating reply, Eunha blinked slowly.
As if deeply engraving this image, this moment, behind her eyelids, very slowly.
"Okay. That's good."
Her lips, always held tightly in check, bloomed into a full, radiant smile.
"I'll be going now."
With that smile as her last, Eunha turned away without hesitation.
Her mother didn't ask where she was going.
She didn't hold Eunha back.
She only said this.
"You should eat before you go?"
Eunha, still facing away, slowly opened the balcony window.
"...Next time."
Screech.
The late summer wind slipping through the open window fluttered her short black hair.
"I'll eat next time."
There was still much work left to do.
