Chapter 46

[46] Oppa, Wait Here for a Moment

Some couples might be fine with seeing each other briefly once a week, but Sia and I certainly weren’t.

Ever since our miraculous reunion, we’d wanted to be together all the time, wherever we were.

But as if fate were playing a cruel joke on us, until recently our energies had been incompatible, and we could meet for only three hours a week.

Now, though, we’d be able to spend more time together.

“Really? How much more?”

I asked Rokan, my voice brimming with excitement.

If Sia had been here, I wondered how she would have reacted.

She probably would’ve thrown her arms around me, jumped up and down, and shown just how happy she was.

Perhaps he liked seeing my reaction, because Rokan answered with a warm smile.

“I’d estimate around four or five hours a week. It’s all thanks to how quickly you’ve grown. Congratulations.”

“What about Sia? Does she know yet?”

“Of course not. I only noticed during our spar just now. We’ll have to check later to find out the exact amount of time.”

At Rokan’s words, I clenched my fist in excitement.

To some people, an extra hour or two each week might not seem like much, but for Sia and me, every hour was precious.

“I was supposed to see Sia tomorrow, too!”

“You look like you can hardly wait to tell her. Go on, tell her.”

Just as Rokan said, I immediately picked up my phone and called Sia.

[Yeah, Oppa! I was just about to call you before bed. I guess we were thinking the same thing.]

“Looks like it. Oh, Sia, I have some good news.”

[What is it? Tell me!]

At the mention of good news, Sia’s voice grew excited, too.

Before I got to the news itself, I told her about my sparring session and what Rokan had said about the dungeon, to build up the suspense.

And once I’d finished explaining, I finally told Sia that we’d be able to spend more time together.

From now on, we could see each other for around four or five hours a week.

As soon as I finished, Sia let out a shriek of happiness so loud it nearly pierced my ears.

[Kyahhhhh! That’s amazing! So tomorrow, we can be together longer than three hours, right? Right?]

“Yeah. We don’t know the exact amount yet, but we’ll have at least one more hour together than before.”

[Kyahhhhh!]

Seeing how happy Sia was made me happy, too. But her shriek was so loud over the phone that I lowered the volume a little.

“So, besides the café we were planning to visit tomorrow, we should think of one more place we can stop by.”

[Yeah! I’ll think of somewhere, too!]

“I’m at your grandpa’s house, so I can’t talk for long. Let’s call again tomorrow morning.”

[Okay, Oppa. Dream about me!]

Throughout the call, Sia stayed in high spirits, unable to contain her excitement.

Let’s see, what should we do with an extra hour or two?

It was nice to think about it, but first, I had to get in some more training.

“I’ve caught my breath. Let’s get started.”

“I think you should rest a little longer.”

“I have a date tomorrow, so I want to get home early and go to bed early. I can’t be tired when I see Sia.”

At my answer, Rokan burst into hearty laughter.

“Young love, eh? Young love.”

The next day was my date with Sia.

It had been a whole two weeks since we’d last seen each other, and we’d have more time together than before. I found myself humming as I got ready.

Near the café we were planning to visit, there was a trendy tteokbokki place with an old-fashioned snack-shop feel. I was sure Sia would love it if we went together.

After the tteokbokki, we could head to the café, then take a walk in the nearby park.

Oh, or maybe we could go to a coin karaoke booth for the first time in ages.

Or since we could just teleport, we could squeeze in some sweet couple time at her place or mine.

While I happily imagined all the possibilities and got ready for our date, a notification popped up. I had a KakaoTalk message.

Since it was almost time for the date, I assumed it was from Sia and opened my phone.

But the sender was none other than Yuna.

[Min-jun, what are you up to?]

The moment I saw the message, I realized I’d forgotten about it. But there was nothing I could do now.

I hadn’t meant to, but somehow I’d given Yuna my number the last time we met.

I wondered how I should reply, then decided to just leave it unread.

I never usually left anyone’s messages unread, no matter who they were from, but this time was an exception.

Sia might not like it.

Besides, I needed time to think about how to handle this, so it was probably better to reply later anyway.

I muted Yuna’s KakaoTalk notifications and went back to getting ready.

Once I was all set, I headed straight to our meeting place.

As expected, Sia had arrived before me again.

“Oppa!”

The moment she spotted me, Sia ran straight over and threw herself into my arms.

I gently patted her back and hugged her tightly.

“It’s been two weeks. You’ve been doing okay?”

“Not really. So much has happened over the past two weeks.”

Just as Sia said, those two weeks had been eventful.

It would’ve been a lie to say I’d been doing fine.

Even putting everything else aside, Sia must have been worried sick while I was unconscious for several days.

“When I first found out you were trapped in the Gate, I thought my heart was going to stop.”

“I can imagine. You must’ve been so scared. I’m sorry I made you worry.”

“It’s okay. It wasn’t your fault. Besides, we can spend more time together today than usual.”

That morning, Rokan had told me that I could spend exactly four and a half hours with Sia. Sia had found out from Rokan around the same time.

Now that she knew we could spend one and a half times as long together as before, she was already in high spirits.

“Still, we shouldn’t waste a minute. Let’s hurry. We can’t just stand around here.”

Sia adorably urged me along, and we headed to our first stop, the snack shop.

It was an ordinary little place that looked old and worn—the kind you might find outside an elementary school anywhere in the country.

But the autographs laminated and displayed on the walls, along with the crowds of men and women in their twenties and thirties—not schoolchildren—made it clear that this was a beloved local favorite.

After we managed to find a seat and place our order, we started chatting.

“Wow, how did you find this place? You really picked a good one.”

“After finding the café, I looked around for good places to eat nearby. This place had the kind of food and atmosphere I thought you’d like. Then I looked into it a bit more, and apparently it’s really good.”

“Hehe, I can’t wait. You really know me, Oppa.”

With a contented look, Sia closed her eyes and breathed in the spicy aroma of tteokbokki wafting through the snack shop.

Seeing how cute she looked, I suddenly felt like teasing her.

While she had her eyes closed, I leaned in and gave her a quick, light kiss on the lips.

The moment our lips touched, Sia’s eyes flew open. Then her cheeks started to turn red.

“Come on, Oppa. People are watching.”

“We’re in a corner. I don’t think anyone else saw.”

She bashfully squirmed, but I could tell she was delighted by my surprise kiss.

We chatted and shared a few more sweet moments until our food arrived.

Tteokbokki, sundae, fish cakes, and gimbap.

“Enjoy, Sia.”

“You too, Oppa!”

Our happy meal began.

Sia looked so smitten with the tteokbokki that a smile never left her face as she ate.

Seeing that bright smile, I understood how someone could say they felt full just from watching someone eat.

“How is it, Sia?”

“Oppa, you found the perfect place! You know how there’s modern-style tteokbokki and the kind from old-school snack shops? There aren’t many places that still make the old-fashioned kind, so it’s hard to find. But this tastes exactly like the tteokbokki I remember. And it’s delicious, too!”

Clearly impressed by the taste, Sia excitedly described every detail like a food vlogger.

And, just as I’d expected, she ordered another serving of tteokbokki.

“I might get a few portions to take home when we leave.”

...She really liked it.

At this rate, maybe we could just stay here instead of going to the café.

We’d eaten more than half of our food when Sia asked,

“Oppa, have you thought about what we’ll do after the café?”

The next stop on our date had come up.

“Well, I’ve thought of a few things. What about you, Sia?”

“I’m happy doing anything with you, but I did think of a few things—”

Before she could finish—

Rrrumble…

The entire restaurant suddenly began to shake violently.

“Yaaah!”

“What—what’s happening?”

“Is it an earthquake?”

“No, it’s not an earthquake—”

The ordinary customers couldn’t tell what was causing the shaking, but I could. From the unstable flow of mana in the air, it was clear—

“A Gate Break!”

Sia seemed to sense the same thing. She shouted the same words at the same time as I did.

A Gate Break.

It was a phenomenon that occasionally occurred when a Gate wasn’t cleared before its deadline. In rare cases, a Gate could suddenly appear out of thin air without any warning at all.

Things had been quiet lately. What was this sudden disaster?

And judging by the amount and flow of mana, this was definitely a high-rank Gate that had broken.

A high-rank Gate Break. In Seoul.

There were sure to be a lot of casualties.

I was scared, too, but in a situation like this, I had to follow procedure—

Wait.

While my thoughts were in a jumble, I happened to meet Sia’s eyes.

She looked deeply annoyed by what was happening.

She wasn’t afraid.

It was easy to forget sometimes, but Sia was a dragon.

A dragon with power beyond that of a nation—beyond the reach of even the strongest SSS-rank Hunters, who were considered the pinnacle of their kind.

Frowning, Sia muttered just loud enough for me to hear,

“Those lizard bastards. How dare they interrupt my date with Oppa when we finally get to spend time together?”

If she meant lizardmen, the mana I sensed was far too intense for that.

“Oppa, stay right there. Wait for me, okay?”

As the people inside the restaurant panicked, Sia quietly slipped outside.

She was probably going to deal with the Gate Break.

I wanted to go with her, but I could tell instinctively that I’d only get in her way.

So for now, I’d do what I could.

“It looks like a Gate Break.”

I raised my Hunter ID and loudly informed everyone that I was a Hunter.

“A Gate Break?”

“Ahhh! What do we do?”

The words sent everyone into a panic. Some were so shocked that they collapsed or even fainted on the spot.

“You’ll be safer if you stay here for now. We should assess the situation first. If this goes on for a while, then we’ll move to a shelter.”

With Sia on the scene, it was unlikely the situation would drag on, but I still had to follow procedure.

I told everyone to hide in a corner in case anything happened. I’d keep watch outside the restaurant, and if any monsters headed our way, I’d send a signal to evacuate—or hold them off.

‘Though I’m not sure I can stop them.’

Judging by the flow of mana, the monsters seemed to be high-rank ones—probably more than I could handle.

After calming the frightened customers, I carefully peered outside and checked the monsters emerging from the open Gate.

They were too far away to make out clearly, but based on their shape and size, they had to be—

‘Wyverns.’

I’d have to get closer to tell whether they were A-rank mini wyverns or S-rank wyverns. But one thing was certain: with monsters of that rank in such numbers, this area would be devastated in the blink of an eye.

If Sia weren’t here, that is.

She hadn’t dropped her polymorph, so I couldn’t see her clearly. I hurriedly pulled a Hunter’s telescope from my storage space and searched for her.

Perhaps to avoid being recognized, she had taken the form of the red-haired goddess I’d seen when we first reunited.

With an expression that showed just how displeased she was at having her precious time interrupted, Sia unleashed a merciless meteor barrage of fury on the wyverns.