Chapter 16: Harang’s Regression: A Battle of Mind and Body

As I crossed through the dimensional gate, a thought crossed my mind.

An ordinary person. No, someone even weaker than the average person cleared a dungeon. Maybe I’m a genius.

“……”

Fear and despair.

But stronger than the lingering effects of the horror dungeon was the overwhelming satisfaction of clearing it.

Is this why hunters challenge dungeons?

A smirk crept onto my lips, and my tail at my waist wagged uncontrollably in delight.

“Ha ha ha!”

I am a god.

That arrogance welled up within me, and I laughed heartily.

Like a fearless general.

And at that moment.

Woooom!

The dimensional gate opened, revealing the original world once again.

“…Q?”

The building was almost empty, with hardly anyone left inside.

Except for Yoon Bora, who was visible off in the distance.

She was sitting with her face buried in her knees.

Why was she sitting there alone?

I quickly ran toward Yoon Bora.

“Bora, what are you doing?”

“…?”

Yoon Bora lifted her head.

Her tear-streaked face and the droplets running down her cheeks were clear evidence that she had been crying.

“Bora, why are you crying?”

Before I could finish my question, she grabbed me by the shoulders.

We were now close enough that our noses could almost touch.

“Ha, Harang?”

Yoon Bora placed her hands on both of my cheeks.

Without adjusting her strength, smack!

My cheeks felt like they were going to burst.

“Ow……!”

The pain almost brought tears to my eyes, but I held them back.

Come to think of it, Yoon Bora was stronger than the monsters I had faced in the dungeon.

Even without a sword, this was a woman who could kill me with just a slap.

A slight chill ran down my spine as the realization hit.

“Bora, why are you doing thiiiiiis?”

Squelch!

Yoon Bora tugged at my cheeks.

She kneaded them like clay, stretching them longer than I thought was humanly possible.

Was this her way of punishing me for rushing off on my own? It hurt so much.

I was certain the swelling wouldn’t go down for at least three days.

Only someone who had been hit this much would understand…

‘Ah.’

I shouldn’t think about that.

Swallowing my tears, I stared up at Yoon Bora.

“It’s… really Harang.”

“Yeah, it’s really me.”

She gazed at my face for a long time and then suddenly pulled me into a tight embrace.

It was a hug filled with unmistakable affection.

“Ugh, um… you were just worried, huh?”

I was genuinely happy, but at the same time, it was a bit embarrassing.

Our chests were pressed together.

“Bora, for now–”

“Be quiet.”

“Okay.”

Yoon Bora’s voice was firm.

She was definitely a bit angry.

From her perspective, it probably seemed like I had recklessly dived into the dungeon on my own.

For someone as good-hearted as her, the guilt must have been overwhelming.

I didn’t want to be scolded by Yoon Bora too.

So, I decided to stay quiet.

‘I… I can’t breathe.’

Yoon Bora’s grip was growing stronger and stronger.

It felt like my body was about to be crushed.

If my chest were a balloon, it would have popped by now.

“Bo… Bora, Bora!”

As I squirmed around in an attempt to survive, I caught sight of someone familiar in the distance.

Jinhyang.

She looked at me with a nonchalant gaze, then wiggled her finger as if to beckon me over.

It was a gesture telling me to come to her.

After that brief signal, Jinhyang stepped into the elevator.

It seemed like she wanted me to come up to the office.

‘Seriously…!’

At least rescue me first!

I glared a bit resentfully at the elevator Jinhyang had just entered.

But she didn’t come back.

Click!

The door to Jinhyang’s office opened.

Of course, I wasn’t the one who opened it—it was Yoon Bora.

After all, I was still in her arms.

“Uh, Bora, could you maybe put me down now?”

“No.”

“I see.”

Being carried like this by a girl four years younger than me…

And in a classic princess carry, no less.

As a human being, this was mortifying.

If anyone saw me like this, they would definitely laugh at me.

Feeling a sudden wave of embarrassment, I lowered my head and noticed the tablet hanging on my chest.

“Oh…!”

Right, I had forgotten to thank everyone.

I quickly grabbed the tablet.

‘It’s dead.’

But the tablet’s screen remained black—it was completely drained.

‘I’ll have to turn on the stream later.’

As I was thinking about that, Yoon Bora continued walking toward Jinhyang.

“I’m here, sis.”

Yoon Bora’s voice lacked energy.

It was understandable, given what had just happened.

However, Jinhyang remained as composed as ever, typing away on her keyboard with an expressionless face.

Tap, tap, tap– tap, tap, tap

Jinhyang continued pressing the keys.

What could she possibly be working on so seriously?

Curiosity got the better of me, and I glanced at her monitor, making sure to be very subtle so she wouldn’t notice.

If she caught me looking, she’d definitely get mad.

‘Huh?’

I was expecting some high-level Hunter paperwork.

But surprisingly, what she was doing was… changing her username for an online stream.

Zanya

Jinhyang-i

Janyang

ᄌ;ᄂhyang

Jinhyang kept trying to input different variations of her name using the keyboard.

But she hadn’t succeeded even once.

Even if she was trying to mess it up, this level of failure seemed like an impressive feat.

‘Now that I think about it…’

[ᄌᄂyang] hadn’t been appearing in the chatroom recently.

Maybe the reason was because she’d been trying to change her nickname.

‘Wait a second…’

Could it be that the person who helped me—that person—was Jinhyang?

I looked at her side profile with a mix of suspicion and anticipation.

“Hey…”

“You’re lucky you didn’t die.”

Her voice was as cold as ice.

It was so icy that it felt like it could freeze someone to death.

‘…No, it can’t be.’

The person who helped me wasn’t great at typing like Jinhyang, but they had a warm heart.

They had done everything in their power to ensure I survived.

There’s no way it could be Jinhyang.

“Impressive. I was wondering what disaster you’d cause next, and now you’re entering dungeons?”

“I didn’t do it on purpose…”

The dungeon suddenly appeared, and I just ran in to save people.

It was like a natural disaster—there was no way to prevent or avoid it.

…Although, with my eyes, I could have avoided it.

“What are you planning to do next?”

“Next time, I’ll definitely make sure something like this never happens—”

“Hah.”

Her sneer cut me off.

It’s hard to trust the words of someone who’s always causing trouble.

How should I explain myself? No, how should I convince Jinhyang to believe me?

As I was pondering this…

“……!”

Suddenly, an excruciating headache struck.

It felt like someone was deliberately trying to crush my head.

“H-Harang?”

Yoon Bora’s voice echoed inside my mind.

Why is this happening? I felt like I was about to lose consciousness.

Truly…

Thunk

Harang’s body suddenly froze.

Even the natural trembling of my muscles and the very act of breathing ceased.

“H-Harang?”

Yoon Bora looked down at Harang, who was still in her arms.

Though his body was stiff like a corpse, it remained warm and soft, making the contrast even more unsettling.

“W-What’s…?”

Yoon Bora glanced toward Jinhyang for help.

But Jinhyang’s expression remained as calm as ever.

‘Ah.’

Seeing that expression, Yoon Bora felt a sense of relief.

Jinhyang only wore that neutral expression when there was a solution.

“What should we do, sis?”

“Just lay him on the couch.”

Trusting Jinhyang’s instructions, Yoon Bora gently placed Harang down on the couch.

After a brief moment, Harang’s fingers began to twitch.

“Harang?”

Just as Yoon Bora anxiously called his name, Harang suddenly shot up.

“Huh, huh?”

Harang made a strange, disoriented sound as he glanced around.

“Harang, are you okay?”

Despite Yoon Bora repeatedly calling out to him, Harang didn’t respond.

He simply kept turning his head, scanning his surroundings.

“Sis, is Harang really okay?”

“Yes.”

If Jinhyang said so, it had to be true.

Feeling a bit more at ease, Yoon Bora continued to observe Harang.

Suddenly…

Thump!

Harang got up from his seat and bolted toward Jinhyang.

His steps echoed loudly, like a child chasing after a toy.

“Don’t come closer.”

Jinhyang warned Harang, her voice cold as usual.

Normally, Harang would have picked up on that icy tone.

But not this time.

“Huh, hehe.”

Harang grabbed onto Jinhyang’s legs—legs that were far longer than his seated height.

“Are you going to let go?”

Jinhyang pushed Harang’s face away.

With her strength, she could have easily thrown him across the room, but she didn’t.

The little guy was so small that even applying a bit of pressure might have snapped his neck.

“Sigh.”

Jinhyang knew exactly why Harang had ended up like this.

She had seen a case of Sudden Regression Syndrome with one of her own employees before.

The body of someone with Sudden Regression Syndrome was akin to that of a newborn.

Harang’s body had only been in existence for three days.

Placing an adult mind inside such a fresh body would inevitably cause it to overload.

The body couldn’t handle the cognitive abilities of an adult, so it disconnected the mind as a last-ditch effort to protect itself.

The only treatment was simply ‘time.’

All it needed was enough time for the brain to fully rest.

Until then, dealing with the inconvenience was inevitable.

“Tsk.”

Jinhyang withdrew the hand that had been pushing Harang away.

No doubt, dealing with the dungeon had consumed a great deal of his mental strength.

And the final blow to his already depleted mind had undoubtedly come from Jinhyang herself.

Since it was partly her fault, she couldn’t say anything this time.

‘Why does he always cause trouble…’

His mind had regressed along with his body, making it impossible to even get mad.

At this point, he was no different from a clueless child.

“Sigh.”

Jinhyang exhaled deeply.

All she could do now was watch Harang’s plump little head, helplessly.