Chapter 25

After the hunters arrived, the dimensional beings were swiftly dealt with. Compared to the massacre of ordinary people, the dimensional beings were easily killed, and the dimensional gate was safely closed.

The total death toll was 108. The catastrophe occurred because the dimensional gate, which started in a cave near the river, was detected too late.

The news reported on the incident daily, emphasizing the need for more attention to the phenomenon of dimensional gates. Representatives of the nation bowed their heads in apology, but it meant nothing to the bereaved families who had lost their loved ones.

Among the deceased was Kim Ji-sun.

“…It’s my fault. It’s because of me.”

At Kim Ji-sun’s funeral, Ha Seo-ho, Si-ho’s older brother, sat with a dazed expression. Overwhelmed with despair, he kept repeating the same words, regretting the missed calls he hadn’t answered.

If only he had answered the phone then. If only he had gone on the trip with them.

He wouldn’t have lost his mother.

What good is being a future S-class or a promising talent? He couldn’t even protect his own family.

Seo-ho pounded his chest in frustration, but nothing changed.

His heart felt like it was about to burst. His head felt like it was spinning.

Then, his younger sister came into view.

Dressed in mourning clothes, she silently stared at their mother’s portrait.

Si-ho, who had been found next to their mother’s body in the mountains, clutching both her mother’s and her own phone, hadn’t spoken a word since that day. Even when friends visited, she didn’t respond. Seeing her not even eating properly, Seo-ho stood up.

She’s his only sister. The precious sister their mother protected even as she died. He couldn’t let her fall ill from malnutrition.

“Si-ho, let’s eat something. You’ll collapse if you keep this up.”

“Ha Seo-ho.”

At that moment, Si-ho’s voice came out. She was still staring at their mother’s portrait.

“I’ll bring her back.”

After a long silence, she said something strange. Seo-ho, unable to understand, placed a hand on her shoulder.

“Si-ho?”

“I’ll bring our mom back.”

“What are you talking about? Are you okay?”

Seo-ho’s eyes shook. He felt like Si-ho had broken somewhere because of their mother’s death.

This can’t go on. They’ve lost their father, and now their mother. He can’t lose his sister too.

“I can do it.”

“Si-ho! Snap out of it. Mom is…”

“I can do it.”

Then, Seo-ho finally sensed an unusual energy emanating from Si-ho.

As an A-class hunter with the potential to reach S-class, he was talented. But the energy coming from Si-ho now was so overwhelming it made him step back.

“Si-ho, what are you…?”

“…I awakened.”

Upon hearing that, Seo-ho’s eyes widened.

He realized why Si-ho had stayed by their mother’s body that day. And why there hadn’t been a single dimensional being around her.

She had awakened as a hunter that day.

Through Si-ho’s eyes, the memories of that day surfaced.

The mountain forest. The eerie atmosphere with little sunlight. Si-ho was running.

Her mind was filled with only her mother’s voice telling her to run. She was scared, so scared, but she kept running as her mother said.

“Ahh!”

But the human body has its limits. Si-ho, with her small frame and rarely attending gym classes, tripped over a tree root and fell.

It was a downhill slope, so she rolled several times before hitting a tree and stopping.

“Ugh, ugh.”

The impact made it hard to breathe for a moment. Blood streamed down her face. Pain shot through her body. Her knee felt like it was shattered.

As she tried to get up, she groaned and looked at her leg. The rough terrain had taken its toll, and her leg had reached its limit.

“No, this can’t be!”

In a desperate voice, she tried to stand, but her injured leg wouldn’t obey.

Whoosh~

A chilling wind brushed past her ears. Fear crept up again when a figure appeared on the path above where she had fallen.

It was a wolf-like dimensional being, its black fur dripping with blood.

The same small dimensional being she had seen earlier from the car. Seeing it, Si-ho froze in fear.

And hunters always strike when their prey is weakest.

The dimensional being crouched low, then sprang forward with incredible speed, charging at her.

To Si-ho, its leap felt like it was shaking the earth.

Her mind went blank. Her leg wouldn’t move. Her body hurt. Her breathing was still ragged from running. A burning pain rose in her throat.

As cold sweat dripped into her eyes, briefly obscuring her vision.

The dimensional being’s gaping mouth, with its sharp teeth and red tongue, came into clear view.

And then, lightning struck in her mind.

Her vision blurred. But something forced into her body and mind made her fingers move.

Crunch!

A crushing sound echoed through the forest. When Si-ho looked up, a cube of meat was rolling on the ground.

“Haa, haa.”

Si-ho, gasping for breath, looked at her fingertips.

What is this? What is this power? That was definitely her doing.

As if she had always known how to use it, she looked at the power in her hand and staggered to her feet.

At that moment, her body moved as lightly as a feather. Her previously exhausted body now felt incredibly light, surprising her.

And at the same time, she realized this was the awakening of a hunter.

Her brother Seo-ho had often talked about the moment of awakening. Awakening comes suddenly. And the power feels like it’s always been yours, something you can control at will.

Remembering that, Si-ho’s eyes widened.

With this… With this, I can protect mom too!

Si-ho started running through the mountains. The mountain she had struggled to climb before was now easy to traverse.

Her ability was spatial in nature.

She thought about teleporting to where she had left her mother, but if she did, they might miss each other, so she chose to run.

Her short legs wouldn’t have taken her far anyway.

“Mom!”

She shouted several times, her voice echoing through the forest. And then, it happened.

“Si…”

A woman’s voice echoed from somewhere. Hearing it with her now-sensitive hunter’s ears, Si-ho ran madly towards it.

After awakening, her fear seemed suppressed. Instead, she felt relief and exhilaration.

“…ho.”

As the voice grew closer, color returned to Si-ho’s face.

It’s mom. Mom’s still safe!

“Mom, I…!”

As she called out and burst through the trees into the forest.

She saw it.

A woman’s torn body, missing a head, and a dimensional being standing over it.

The dimensional being, its mouth smeared with blood and flesh, looked at Si-ho. Its black eyes shone with cruel clarity.

Then.

The dimensional being opened its mouth.

Si-ho clearly heard her mother’s voice.

The voice’s owner was swallowing her mother’s head.

And it kept repeating the last words her mother had uttered.

“Ah, ahhh.”

Words failed her. Faced with an incomprehensible reality, Si-ho’s thoughts threatened to shut down.

The horrific scene before her eyes. She kept screaming for it not to be real.

But reality confronted her. It told her not to look away, that this was the result.

A chilling tongue whispered in her ear.

Thud!

And the dimensional being leaped. Its teeth, like when she first awakened, flew towards her for its next meal.

Tears streamed down Si-ho’s eyes. Then, indescribable rage burst forth.

The light in the area was sucked away.

“Guh, guh!?”

The dimensional being, subjected to hundreds of spatial teleportations in an instant, convulsed before Si-ho. She teleported all the nearby branches into its body.

“Gyaaah!”

The dimensional being’s scream echoed through the forest. But Si-ho didn’t stop.

She felt like she had to vent all her lost anger to survive.

“Si, ho, ya.”

And when the dimensional being called her with that voice one last time.

Si-ho compressed its head into space, crushing it. With that one move, the dimensional being’s movements completely stopped.

Having extinguished its life, Si-ho blankly stared at it before turning to the corpse.

She stumbled towards the torn body and lifted the headless torso.

Hugging it, she began to shed tears.

“I’m sorry.”

Her heart ached so much she could only say that.

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry, mom. I’m sorry for running away. I’m sorry. I’m sorry.”

That day, she cried the most heart-wrenching tears of her life.

Seo-ho, who had seen it all, looked at Si-ho with trembling eyes. He couldn’t fathom the depth of the pain she had endured.

So, what Si-ho had been doing since then was different.

She, who had seemed to have given up everything, had been planning and decided to execute a method she had conceived in her mind. She hadn’t given up yet.

Drip, drip. Blood started flowing from Si-ho’s nose. The droplets of blood soaked the floor.

“Mom can’t go like this. She suffered so much raising us.”

Her eyes, red from crying so much, trembled. Like a broken doll, her mouth moved on its own.

“Ha Si-ho, wait. You’re going out of control! Whatever you’re trying to do, it’s dangerous!”

Seeing this, Seo-ho shouted at her, sensing the dangerous aura emanating from her.

“It’s okay.”

But his voice didn’t reach her.

The air in the area began to flow in reverse. The whirlwind that hit her turned the funeral hall into chaos, and Seo-ho was swept outside.

Seeing the distorted space around her, Seo-ho couldn’t approach her.

“Ha Si-ho! No!”

“It’s okay. I’ll bring everything back.”

Even as Seo-ho desperately reached out, a flash ignited.

When the white light seemed to swallow everything, the funeral guests erupted in chaos.

Seo-ho, ignoring everything, dashed back in as soon as the light disappeared.

As he entered the room, using his abilities to the fullest.

He noticed something appearing before Si-ho, covered in noise.

Seeing this, Seo-ho felt an intense chill. Realizing something had gone terribly wrong, he drew his ice-crafted sword.

His eyes slowly widened.

“Si-ho, Seo-ho? What’s going on?”

Standing in the now noise-free space, looking around in surprise, was none other than their mother, Kim Ji-sun.

Dressed as usual, she looked at them alternately, and Seo-ho staggered back. What… what is this situation?

Kim Ji-sun seemed completely unaware of what had happened. Her eyes, as if she had never experienced death, were filled with confusion.

“Mom!”

As he stared at the unbelievable scene, Si-ho rushed into her arms.

Kim Ji-sun, though startled, smiled and patted Si-ho’s head.

“Our daughter, why are you like this?”

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry for being late.”

It’s mom. That person is definitely our mother.

“…Si-ho, what did you do?”

But unable to accept the situation, Seo-ho asked again. Si-ho didn’t answer. She just cried endlessly in her mother’s arms.