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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 11
Chapter Title: Reunion with the Ex and a Timely Rescue
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Kim Hana
Slurp!
I gulped down the hot Americano and glanced at the woman sitting across from me.
Kim Seoyeon.
The long straight hair I remembered from my memories had been cut into a bob.
Dressed up in a pink off-shoulder dress, her beauty was overflowing.
A stunning woman any man would turn to look at at least once.
She looked so youthful, it was impossible to believe she was 29.
If she had a boyfriend, his shoulders would naturally broaden with pride.
-But Oppa... I'm sorry. A guy without any ambition... I can't keep dating you forever. We're at the age to think about marriage now.
-My friends are all dating and marrying chaebol heirs or big-shot salarymen at famous corporations, but Oppa... Sigh. Whatever. Let's just end it.
Her words from the breakup echoed in my ears.
Five years. A relationship that felt long if long, short if short, had come to an end.
The moment Kim Seoyeon announced the breakup, she blocked my number without hesitation.
So ruthless when she wanted to end it.
"Why did you suddenly want to meet?"
"Just passing by and saw your place. Have you been well?"
What reason would a girl from Jamsil have to pass through Eunpyeong-gu?
No ties to any job or anything there.
'Have I been well?'
No, I hadn't.
But strangely enough.
I thought seeing her again would make my heart race wildly and fill me with longing, but it didn't at all.
Instead, my heart was as calm as a paper boat on a serene lakeside.
'Is it Randolph's influence...?'
Even without using the Fragment of the Broken Golden Rule, everything I'd done as Randolph was etched into me.
Maybe that's why.
This sudden situation didn't faze me at all.
"So-so. You?"
"Me? Same as always. Work, home, work, home. It's killing me."
The complaint of a hamster endlessly running on its wheel of routine.
But I already knew she hadn't come to see me because her routine bored her.
I had a pretty good guess as to the reason.
The profile picture she'd changed right after the breakup—a couple photo with some slick businessman—was now gone.
Honestly, it was absurd.
After jumping ship to someone else, when problems arose, she came crawling back to me.
Was it shamelessness, or did she see me that much as a pushover?
'I was a pushover, though.'
I'd given her everything—liver, gallbladder, the works—like I was ready to hand over my organs.
I thought it was because I loved her that much, but now, with no ties between us, I had zero intention of repeating the past.
I stayed silent, waiting to see what she'd say, and Kim Seoyeon finally spoke.
"A while back, that whole mess happened, right? You were the first person I worried about."
"That mess?"
"'Dismansion War.' The day monsters from another dimension attacked Earth! I thought they were filming a Marvel movie or something."
She was talking about the day the Giant Mantis appeared.
Monsters from Pangeniar appeared in reality, and those summoned to Pangeniar used the Fragment of the Broken Golden Rule to fight back the monsters in the real world.
After that day, people started calling them 'Dismansion Warriors' and praising them.
Warriors from another dimension.
They'd possessed modern humans to fend off the monsters, or so the story went.
The Dismansion Warriors rose to stardom overnight, warning of future threats.
Surprisingly few people mentioned Pangeniar directly.
'Well, an attack from another dimension sounds more plausible than a game turning real.'
Monsters pouring in from the unknown were scarier than an existing game becoming reality.
"You don't seem interested?"
"Can I get up now?"
"...Huh?"
A look of bewilderment crossed Kim Seoyeon's relaxed face.
"We've seen each other's faces. We're not exactly in a position to chat idly."
Ignoring her, I stood up from my seat.
The old me might have clung on, begging to meet again.
Our five-year relationship had always been clearly superior and inferior. I might have pleaded that we couldn't end it with lingering regrets.
But not anymore.
I had mountains of things to do.
No time to be dragged around by others.
"...Is it because of what I said at the end?"
"Not really. Does your boyfriend know you're meeting me?"
Did she think I'd miss it just because she took down the profile pic?
The couple photo was still up on Kim Seoyeon's SNS account.
In other words, she was playing the field.
Testing the waters between me and that guy.
Or maybe fighting with her boyfriend and coming to me to stroke her fragile ego.
Either way, it was the worst.
Her face hardened like stone at my blunt words, as if she hadn't expected me to say it outright.
"That's..."
"Ah! Seriously! Stop following me!"
"Hana-ssi, I'm not a bad guy, I swear!"
Right then.
The café door burst open as a woman ran in screaming, pursued closely by a middle-aged man.
"This is straight-up stalking. I'm calling the cops."
"Please! Just meet me once!"
"I said no!"
Everyone in the café turned to stare at the pair.
I did too, but for a different reason than the others.
A familiar face I'd seen somewhere before.
Where was it?
In an instant, the stalker's— the man's—expression did a complete 180. The pitiful beggar turned furious, his face flushing red.
"You fucking bitch, you think this is a game...!"
"Ah!"
The stalker grabbed the woman's hair.
As she screamed, he sneered.
"Why not just accept it nicely? You had to make it this far?"
His rage had stripped him of reason.
The stalker glanced around and bellowed.
"What're you looking at, you bastards? Got a show?"
Everyone who met his eyes quickly looked away.
"Oppa, don't get involved. Things are already chaotic these days... The cops will come."
She was right.
Someone must have called them. In a few minutes, the police would arrive and subdue the stalker. No need to step in and make trouble.
Then my eyes met the woman's whose hair was grabbed.
Desperate eyes pleading for help.
"Oppa?"
...I couldn't just stand by.
I remembered who she was.
The woman who'd saved a child when the Giant Mantis appeared.
"What the hell are you?"
"Let it go."
"You little punk, what? Let it go? You wanna get hurt?"
I grabbed his shoulder and spoke, twisting his face even more.
His eyes flashed like a madman, radiating killing intent.
"Funny?"
But even that killing intent felt downright cute to me now.
Lately, I'd crossed the line between life and death multiple times in battle.
I'd charged into places where swords and spears flew and corpses piled up, without a shred of fear.
I'd survived impossible difficulties and instilled terror in soldiers.
No way I'd fear a unarmed stalker with just glaring eyes.
Crunch!
"Aaagh!"
I squeezed his shoulder, and the stalker screamed.
Right now, I felt like I could shatter it.
Even without using the Fragment of the Broken Golden Rule.
"Stop! Stop! Ack!"
The stalker writhed in agony.
'What the hell is this guy's grip strength...!'
The scrawny-looking stalker trembled. Once grabbed, he couldn't budge.
It felt like his muscles were tearing, bones grinding to dust.
This wasn't human strength.
"Stop?"
"Y-Yes! Stop!"
I clicked my tongue softly. Why not listen the first time?
"Cough!"
Thud. I let go, and he lost balance, collapsing pathetically on the floor.
The woman who'd been watching the fallen stalker bowed her head to me.
"Th-Thank you."
"Are you okay?"
"Yes... Ah! Behind you!"
I turned, and there was the man, unfolding a MacGyver knife, charging with the blade raised.
"Die!"
But I already knew.
I sidestepped slightly and tripped the oncoming stalker.
Thud!
He slammed his head into the floor and passed out without a twitch.
*
Five minutes after the situation ended, the police finally arrived.
"You'll need to come with us to the station."
After assessing the scene, the police tried to take me in, but Kim Hana stepped forward.
"This person only helped out purely. I was the one who reported the stalker."
"Even so, since an assault occurred, you all need to come to the station."
"Assault? He pulled a knife—should we have just watched?"
"Procedure doesn't allow exceptions."
"...This is Kim Hana, reporter from CK Broadcasting. Mind giving me your name and rank?"
She handed over her business card, and the police officers' eyes shifted to annoyed resignation.
CK was a major network, one of the top five in the country. A bad article from their reporter could cost them their jobs.
"Then, as a witness..."
"Witness? What if I get tangled up? Forget it—I'll handle it myself as the victim, so don't drag innocents into this."
The stalker was a renowned plastic surgeon.
In a world where money and fancy lawyers could turn nothing into something.
No way she'd let harm come to her rescuer over some freak chance.
The police blinked at the spirited Kim Hana.
'She looks more like an anchor than a reporter...'
'Straight shooter.'
Normally, victims would be trembling or crying in fear, but Kim Hana was defending a total stranger.
A rare sight even for the cops.
Soon, murmurs rose around Kim Hana.
"Isn't that her? The one from YouTube recently..."
"Yeah. The one who saved a kid from a monster? I think she was on TV too."
"Didn't she get an award?"
"Kim Hana. Same name. It is her!"
The incident that blew up YouTube and TV not long ago—the Dismansion War.
When otherworldly monsters attacked around the world, it wasn't just Dismansion Warriors who rose to fame.
Ordinary people who acted like warriors.
Kim Hana was one of them.
She'd thrown herself at the monster to save a child, then rushed to rescue the child and his mother afterward.
The video hit five million views overnight. She got officially hired at CK and received a commendation for righteous citizenship.
"...Understood. The reporter can go directly."
Problems with someone like her would blow up bigger.
The police had no choice but to yield.
Before leaving, Kim Hana pulled out another business card.
"Thank you so much today. Here's my card."
"It's fine."
"...Ah, is the woman with you your girlfriend?"
Kim Seoyeon, mistaken for my girlfriend.
I shook my head with a smile.
"No relation at all. I don't have a card myself."
"Then, could you write your number?"
She pulled out a pen and paper from her bag and handed them to me.
I wrote my number without hesitation.
Randolph... no, Park Hyun-myeong's name too.
"Park Hyun-myeong? Nice name. I'm Kim Hana."
"Yes. Saw it on your card."
"I'll call you. Coffee tomorrow if you're free? Or dinner's fine too. On me."
"I won't say no."
"Great! See you!"
With another bow, Kim Hana left the café with the police hauling the stalker.
...What a whirlwind of a woman.
"Wow, insane. She's a hundred times better in person."
"She could be a celebrity instead of a reporter."
"Gives off some Seol-yoon vibes. No wonder the stalker latched on."
I slowly turned amid the admiring murmurs.
"..."
There stood Kim Seoyeon, her face colder than a north wind blizzard, staring silently at me.