A Dangerous Secret and a New Lead

“Hyung, I went grocery shopping today and made fried tofu rice balls… Oh! Right. Hyung, did you enjoy the lunch I packed for you?”

“I sure did. I had a hell of a time defending it; my party members kept trying to snatch a bite.”

“Maybe I should have packed more?”

“What do you mean, pack more? They can feed themselves.”

Han Seong-hun smiled contentedly, recalling the homemade lunch that had made him the envy of his team today. Seeing his smile, Han Sol laughed too.

However, even now, Sol didn’t forget to probe into Seong-hun’s daily life under the guise of casual conversation.

“Hyung, what did you do today?”

“Let’s see… today, we went to a dungeon called the Hanging Garden….”

Without any suspicion, Seong-hun chatted about the dungeon raid and the conversations he’d had with others. Since it was still a month before the “Monster Invasion” was set to occur, Sol kept asking these questions, hoping the name ‘Baek Heedo’ would finally crop up. But today, like every other day, there was no mention of him.

‘If I tell Hyung I’m an Awakened—and a C-rank at that—how will he react? He’ll definitely tell me to stay home and not follow him. He still thinks of me as a kid….’

The truth was, even if he were R-rank instead of C-rank, Sol wasn’t sure if his brother would ever allow him to step into “the other side.” So, for now, he kept his status hidden. Since most people couldn’t tell who was an Awakened unless it was explicitly stated, Seong-hun didn’t suspect a thing.

However, every time his brother opened a gate to leave, Sol would wait about an hour before opening his own gate to go searching for the nineteen-year-old Baek Heedo. Unfortunately, there was no news of where Heedo was or what he was doing.

‘I should have asked Heedo more about his past when we were together.’

Lamenting how little he actually knew about the man he loved, Sol visited the snowy fields where they had spent their final moments. Because it was the location he had arrived at when he first opened a gate in this life, he could now navigate the terrain with his eyes closed.

Perhaps that was why. For just a split second, he let his guard down.

[Groaaaar!]

‘Damn it, a Snow Field Goblin!’

Snow Field Goblins looked similar to Orcs but had skin as white as snow. They were low-level monsters, but the problem was that the current Han Sol lacked the skills to fight even the weakest of foes.

His status window currently looked like this:

[Player: Han Sol] Level: 80 Class: Debuffer Rank: C Skills: — Heavy Steps (Power 30/31) — Darkened Pupils (Power 30/31) — Shrouded Hide (Power 30/31) — ? (Power 2/20)

After his regression, the power of the question-mark skill had increased by one, but since he didn’t even know what it was, it was useless. As for his other skills, none of them were offensive. He couldn’t actually kill a single goblin.

To make matters worse…

[Gueeeck!] [Gack! Gack!]

Snow Field Goblins were pack monsters; they never traveled alone.

Since a gate cannot be opened while a monster is aggroed on an Awakened, Sol was in a life-or-death crisis. If he had returned with something like Ramon’s Cursed Ring, it might have been different, but he had returned completely empty-handed. He had no artifacts.

‘…Damn it.’

Sol bit his lip, realizing he had been far too complacent wandering “the other side.” His first priority was to escape.

“[Heavy Steps]!”

Fortunately, the goblins had lower magic resistance than him, so the debuff landed successfully. He cast the spell to slow their movements and scrambled to find a cave to hide in. Fearing more monsters might be inside, he threw a few stones first; once he confirmed it was safe, he ducked inside.

But the moment he entered, he froze in shock. Because inside…

“Sol-ah?”

“…Se-Seong-hun hyung.”

It was the one person he never wanted to run into on “the other side”: his brother.

Sure enough, Seong-hun was staring at him as if he couldn’t believe his own eyes.

“Sol-ah, why are you here…?”

“……”

“Why else? Because he’s an Awakened.”

The people who appeared to be Seong-hun’s teammates chimed in as they watched his shell-shocked expression.

“So you’re Han Sol. I’ve heard a lot about you.”

“Based on what Seong-hun said, I thought you’d be a total shrimp, but you’re quite handsome.”

“Hey there.”

“…Han Sol. Come here.”

Despite the party members’ attempts to lighten the mood, it was useless. The low, sinking voice of his brother—a man known as a Transcendental even among R-ranks—dominated the space. Sol had no choice but to sheepishly approach him.

Talk about terrible luck. Of all places to run after escaping those goblins, I stumble right into Hyung’s camp…

“Explain this. Now.”

“…I wasn’t trying to deceive you.”

“Since when have you been an Awakened?”

“Only a few days.”

“A few days?”

“Yeah.”

“Then, how did you open the gate?”

Sol caught his brother’s eye and offered an answer that was only a partial lie.

“Hyung… I just thought about how much I wanted to see you, and it opened.”

“…What?”

As expected, the anger on his brother’s face shifted into bewilderment. He seemed unable to doubt Sol’s words.

“Is this a mutual brother-complex…?”

“Lucky you, Seong-hun hyung.”

“Look at him clenching his jaw so his mouth doesn’t hang open from joy.”

The party members teased him mercilessly. But Seong-hun was not a man to be easily swayed. Without a word, he grabbed Sol’s arm and immediately opened a gate.

They crossed back to “this side” and returned home. Once inside, Seong-hun commanded Sol to sit at the dining table.

“What would you have done if you hadn’t run into me? Do you have any idea how many monsters are in that sector?”

“…I-I’m sorry.”

“You ran into the Snow Field Goblins, didn’t you? Those white, orc-looking things.”

“…….”

“I heard them acting up and assumed someone was passing through. If I had known it was my own brother, I would have bolted out there immediately. Have you even imagined how much I would have blamed myself if I’d lost you because I was being careless?”

“I’m sorry… .”

All Sol could do was beg for forgiveness. Seong-hun narrowed his eyes at the pathetic apology, then suddenly dropped a sharp question.

“Is that why you’ve been asking me so much about ‘the other side’ lately? Because you awakened?”

“No! That’s not it! I really asked because I was curious about how you were doing and what you were up to.”

“…….”

“Please believe me.”

Seong-hun didn’t look entirely convinced, but seeing Sol’s dead-serious denial, his sharp aura softened significantly. However, when he asked for Sol’s rank, Sol truly felt like running away.

“What’s your rank?”

“…It’s C-rank.”

“From now on, never—absolutely never—open a gate when I’m not with you. Understand?”

“…I understand.”

As expected, the moment his brother heard the rank, he assumed Sol was incapable of doing anything on his own. It was a bitter, sad realization. It meant he was a brother who couldn’t be relied upon. Sol wanted to be someone his brother could lean on….

“…Haa.”

Seeing Sol’s dejected expression, Seong-hun let out a long sigh and asked, “Sol-ah, do you really want to go over to ‘the other side’ that badly?”

“…Yes.”

“It’s not as cool as you think. Kids who go in thinking it’s a game usually can’t last a few days before coming back.”

Realizing his brother was trying to talk him out of it, Sol felt he had no choice but to be somewhat honest about his situation.

“It’s not like that. It’s… there’s someone I need to find.”

“Someone you need to find?”

“Yes.”

“Who is it?”

“Baek Heedo… have you heard of him by any chance?”

“Baek Heedo?”

Seong-hun looked like he’d never heard the name before, but he asked with sudden gravity, “Why are you looking for this person?”

“…That… I’ll tell you after I find him.”

Even if he was his brother, Sol couldn’t exactly say, “He’s the boyfriend I might fall in love with in the future.”

However, this secretive attitude seemed to hurt Seong-hun’s feelings.

“Do you not trust my abilities? If he’s an Awakened, I know most of the big names. Even if I don’t know him now, I can find anyone within a few days.”

“No, it’s not that… .”

“Then let me ask one thing. Are you looking for him for a good reason, or a bad one?”

“A good reason! You can’t be mean to him, Hyung.”

“…I’m liking this guy less and less.”

Despite his grumbling, Seong-hun muttered the name “Baek Heedo, Baek Heedo…” a few times to memorize it. Since it was a sign he would help search, Sol felt a wave of gratitude.

“Thanks, Hyung.”

“I didn’t say I’d find him yet.”

“Still… with your skills, you’ll find him in no time.”

“Ha, honestly. When did I say I’d do it? Don’t get your hopes up. If I find him and he’s some weirdo, I’m never letting the two of you meet.”

“He’s a good person… .”

Sol spoke softly, taking a deep breath to steady his trembling heart.

“…He’s a really, really good person.”