The very being that had plunged me into terror was revealed to be none other than…
“…”
Sakura, slumped unconscious before my very front door, lost in a slumber so deep she was oblivious to the world.
“…What the…?”
Believing my eyes must be deceiving me, I immediately deactivated my Environmental Assimilation ability, then stepped closer to scrutinize her features.
Her face was faintly flushed, her hair a pristine white, and, most notably, her adorably innocent expression stirred an undeniable urge to protect her.
Indeed, upon a second glance, it was undeniably Sakura.
‘But why on earth was she sleeping here?’
My mind became a swirling maelstrom of unanswered questions.
‘Could she have perhaps collapsed from exhaustion here while on patrol?’
No, her shift had ended ages ago.
Had her duties not concluded, she wouldn’t have been able to vent her frustrations to me at the White Deer bar earlier today.
‘Then… could she possibly have come to my house with some urgent business?’
No, that couldn’t be it either.
Not only did Sakura have no discernible reason to seek me out, but she didn’t even know my home address to begin with.
Even a public safety hunter, however dedicated, possessed no means of knowing the private addresses of the residents in her jurisdiction.
‘What is really going on?’
This was the first time a drunken acquaintance had ever fallen asleep outside my home, leaving me utterly clueless as to how I should proceed.
‘First, I suppose, I should wake her up?’
Cautiously, I called her name, gently shaking her shoulder.
“Sakura. Sakura.”
“Mmm… Mmm~”
Thankfully, she didn’t appear to be deeply asleep; after a brief twitch, Sakura slowly unfurled into a full-body stretch.
Her head then slowly pivoted in my direction.
“…Huh? Oppa (TL Note: A Korean term used by a female to address an older male, often a brother or close friend.), why are you at my house?”
‘She’s spouting that nonsense again.’
“This isn’t your house, Sakura. It’s mine. And besides, we’re not even inside a house right now.”
“Hmm…? Oh, right. But this really is my house.”
Sakura continued to utter utterly baffling statements.
Suddenly, she began to whimper, then, clutching my sleeve, she reached for the door lock, attempting to open it.
-Beep-beep-beep! Beep-beep-beep!
A series of shrill beeps reverberated loudly, signaling that the battery was critically low.
‘I had intended to buy new batteries on my way home, yet somehow, I’d forgotten for nearly two weeks now.’
‘I absolutely must remember to buy them tomorrow.’
“No… Oppa, help me. The password isn’t working. It should work like this…”
She, having engaged the door lock panel, deftly entered a password.
However, the password proved incorrect, and the door remained stubbornly shut.
“Is this… broken?”
Sakura asked, her eyes glistening with unshed tears.
As I gazed at her, dumbfounded, a memory suddenly surfaced: Choi Seon-hee’s words to me just a few days prior.
She had mentioned the possibility of a new tenant moving into the building.
Simultaneously, the conversation I’d had with Sakura at the bar also flashed through my mind.
Her lament about running out of money, being forced to check out of her hotel, and needing to find a new home.
And then, today, her joyful announcement that she had finally secured a new place to live.
‘Surely not.’
“Sakura.”
“Yes…?”
“Would you try it over here instead of this one?”
“Hmm…? This isn’t my house.”
Driven by a sudden hunch, I gently guided her across the hall to the front door of the opposite apartment.
Tilting her head in confusion, Sakura methodically entered the password.
-Ding-dong!
Predictably, the door clicked open at once.
“…Wow! Oppa, are you a genius?”
Sakura, whose eyes had been brimming with tears moments before, instantly brightened, now gazing at me with sparkling wonder.
My own mind, however, was in utter turmoil.
‘No, is she really the tenant?’
‘So, both of my neighbors are A-rank Hunters?’
‘Well, shit.’
‘…Do I really have to move?’
Just as I was seriously pondering whether I should pack up and move immediately, Sakura seized my arm, shaking it playfully as she asked.
“But, Oppa. Didn’t you say this was your house a moment ago?”
“Yes. I live here too.”
Forcing myself to endure the burgeoning headache, I gestured towards the apartment directly opposite.
“Oh… I’m, I’m sorry. I thought Oppa’s house was my house. I must have been too sleepy and confused.”
“I told you to drink in moderation, didn’t I?”
At my chiding, Sakura awkwardly scratched her cheek, letting out a sheepish chuckle.
“That… I’ll, I’ll try. Heh. By the way, I never imagined it. I never dreamed that you, Oppa, would be my neighbor. How long have you lived here?”
“For three weeks now.”
“How is it here? Is there anything uncomfortable or anything?”
As I turned towards my own front door, intending to finally go inside, Sakura trailed after me, peppering me with a barrage of questions.
It seemed the novelty of an acquaintance becoming her next-door neighbor greatly amused her.
Offering perfunctory answers to her inquiries, I let out a wide yawn and reached for my door lock.
Yet, something felt off.
‘Why wasn’t the door lock panel lighting up?’
Suspecting a malfunction, I tried pressing the buttons repeatedly, but the door lock remained utterly unresponsive, as inert as a corpse that had embraced eternal slumber.
In that instant, the memory of the door lock’s low battery warning, heard only moments before, suddenly resurfaced.
‘Surely, it hasn’t died, has it?’
‘Please, tell me I’m wrong.’
Despite my repeated attempts, the door lock stubbornly refused to power on.
Ah.
Damn it all.
Just as a frustrated sigh threatened to escape my lips, Sakura tilted her head, her gaze questioning.
“But why aren’t you going in, Oppa?”
The impulse to retort, ‘It’s because of *you*, you rascal!’ was strong, but I merely shook my head.
While Sakura certainly bore some blame for depleting the battery by repeatedly attempting the password, the ultimate fault lay with me for forgetting the code and neglecting to replace the batteries.
Upon this realization,
“It seems the door lock’s battery is dead.”
“Ah…”
As I offered this with a wry smile, Sakura’s expression tightened, and she clasped a hand over her mouth.
“That… that’s because of me, isn’t it? I’m, I’m sorry, Oppa.”
“No, it’s not. It’s my fault for not replacing the batteries on time.”
“Th-then what are you going to do now?”
“There’s nothing I can do. I’ll go to a nearby convenience store… Ah, the convenience store is far. Should I look for a motel or something?”
“…Oppa.”
Just then, Sakura seized my arm with a firm grip, then gestured towards her own apartment with her free hand, posing a question.
“Uh… would you like to sleep at my place tonight?”
“…Pardon?”
My mind froze instantly.
‘Who was staying at whose house?’
“Me, at your house, Sakura?”
“Yes… After all, if it weren’t for me, Oppa would be inside his house by now. I’m sorry, so just until morning, until it’s bright outside. That should be fine, right?”
‘Well, I’d certainly appreciate the offer, but…’
‘Still, that’s a bit much…’
“That’s true, but… even so, that’s a bit much, isn’t it? Grown men and women shouldn’t enter the same house together.”
I shook my head dismissively, politely declining her proposition.
However, Sakura merely chuckled at my reaction.
“…Heh. Were you planning to do something bad?”
She inquired, her gaze raking over me with an unexpectedly alluring glint.
This was a striking departure from the usually adorable Sakura I knew.
“No, that’s not it. I just thought you might be doing it out of obligation, despite being scared, Sakura.”
“Oppa, I’m an A-rank Hunter, you know? Why would I be scared of you? If you tried anything, I’d just *wham-bam* (TL Note: An onomatopoeic word suggesting a swift, powerful, and decisive action, often implying a quick beatdown or forceful push.) and send you flying.”
‘Ah, she had a point.’
Just as I scratched my head, attempting to conjure another excuse, Sakura flashed a wide smile and declared.
“And… it’s only natural to help a friend in need, isn’t it! Come on, hurry and come in.”
With those words, Sakura swung the door wide open and stepped into her apartment.
After a moment of hesitation at the doorway, I exhaled a deep sigh inwardly.
‘Yes, it was a genuinely difficult situation, and refusing such a generous offer of hospitality would be utterly impolite.’
‘I would simply sleep and then depart.’
‘Yes, just sleep.’
“Excuse me.”
I cautiously stepped across the threshold into Sakura’s apartment.
As if to plainly declare that she hadn’t been living there long, a substantial pile of unpacked boxes and bags lay stacked near the entrance.
Venturing further inside, I found Sakura rummaging through a closet, scratching her head as she spoke.
“I’m sorry… I can’t find any men’s clothes no matter how much I look. Do you want to wear my pajamas instead?”
She then held out her own charming pink pajamas, asking.
‘Seriously, would that even be appropriate?’
“It’s fine. I’m just going to sleep anyway. I’ll get up tomorrow and shower at my own place. Do you have a blanket? I’ll just sleep on the floor in the living room.”
“Oh, I have that. Hmm… Oh, here it is. This one for underneath, and this one to cover yourself with. And this is a pillow.”
From a corner of the dressing room, she handed me two large blankets and a pillow.
“You should go to sleep, Oppa. I’ll shower and then sleep.”
“Ah, yes. Thank you. Sweet dreams.”
“You too, Oppa.”
Receiving the blankets and pillow from her, I spread one on the floor in front of the sofa and carefully lay down.
Then I closed my eyes.
But sleep wouldn’t come easily.
Since I usually slept on the floor, it wasn’t particularly uncomfortable.
However, perhaps because I was not in my own home, but in an acquaintance’s, I simply couldn’t drift off.
-Shhhhhhh…
The sound of the shower, which had started a little while ago, was also distracting.
“…Hmm.”
Eventually, tossing and turning, I pulled out my smartphone from my pocket.
-Deciduous tooth.
-Sixth deciduous tooth.
Out of boredom, I searched for the terms I had obtained from the memory of today’s blood victim, but the results only showed human baby teeth.
As expected, these don’t seem to be officially active entities.
That’s a bit unsettling.
Just as I was about to turn off my smartphone with a lingering sense of unease, I searched for something else.
-Otherworlder.
-Hero.
-Kim Min-chul.
The heroes who had been dragged to another world with me, and who had used me as a sacrificial pawn.
I searched to see if they, too, had returned, but I couldn’t find any relevant information.
Those who defeated the Demon King are incredibly powerful.
And if such individuals had returned to Earth, the world would have already been turned upside down by now… Given how quiet the internet remained, for some unknown reason, it seemed they hadn’t returned yet.
‘If I were to meet them again…’
I wasn’t sure.
In the past, I would have gnashed my teeth, determined to get revenge no matter what, but now I had something far more important than revenge.
I didn’t think I’d stake my life on revenge.
Of course, if they were to try and block my path again…
‘I’ll repay them twofold for what I received.’
Then, I wouldn’t stand idly by.
‘Ah, is this a flag (TL Note: A literary term referring to an event or detail that foreshadows future plot developments.)?’
I hoped not.
-Creak.
Just then, the bathroom door opened, and a wave of warm air emanated from within.
I cautiously raised my head, spotting Sakura emerging from the bathroom, her hair and skin glistening wet, clad in pink pajamas.
“Phew~”
With a contented wiggle of her fingers, she headed straight for her bed…
Wait.
Why wasn’t she going to her bed? Why was she coming this way?
