I Was Kidnapped By The Strongest Guild
Chapter 115: A Familiar Dream

I had experience using the subway in a past life.

However, I had never experienced using the subway for 'free'.

How do free riders get past the ticket barriers?

It had been over ten years since I last used the subway, so I couldn't remember.

'Maybe I just jump over...?'

I looked around for a way but didn't see any free riders.

Sophia kept her mouth shut as if telling me to figure it out myself.

"King, this is blocking our way!"

"Okay."

While I was pondering, Levinas approached the ticket gate.

"Open sesame, frog."

"Frog?"

"Yes. It's a spell to open doors! I read it in a fairy tale!"

Despite Levinas's spell, the ticket gate didn't respond.

Nevertheless, Levinas didn't panic and observed the people nearby.

Beep-beep-

When someone placed a card over the gate, it opened with a light mechanical sound.

Levinas mimicked the sound of the card with her mouth.

"Beep-beep."

Despite the cute sound, the barrier didn't open.

Levinas, undeterred, started to crawl under the barrier.

She moved at the slow pace of a crawling turtle.

"Levinas, you shouldn't do that."

As I reached out to grab Levinas's ankle to stop her, I also got down to crawl.

That's when someone blocked our way.

"You kids."

"Huh?"

Crawling, Levinas and I looked up.

A woman, a station employee, looked down at us with a stern expression.

"You're not supposed to be on the floor."

"Sorry..."

'You kids.'

I was just trying to stop Levinas.

To the employee, it appeared I was an accomplice.

Embarrassed by the situation where I couldn't just say it wasn't only me, I bowed my head deeply.

"You shouldn't play here. There's a play area over there; shall we go there?"

I thought we would be fined for fare evasion.

Had she mistaken it for playing?

She was quite lenient, perhaps because young Levinas was involved.

"We weren't trying to play..."

"Oh? Then what?"

"We heard we could use the subway for free, but we don't know how..."

"Oh... If that's the case, there's an entrance over there."

The employee pointed to a gate that could be opened freely.

I couldn't believe we had been puzzling over this when the solution was right beside us.

"Should we go through there?"

"Yes. You can go through there, but maybe I'll just let you through here."

"Yes..."

We were already more than halfway through.

Reluctantly, Levinas and I crawled across the floor and through the ticket gate.

"Alright. What about your friends..."

Before the employee could finish speaking, Saebyeok pushed her head under the barrier.

The station employee looked down at Saebyeok crawling on the floor with a bemused expression.

"There's a door right there."

The employee glanced at Sophia, who was still outside the ticket gate.

Sophia sighed and moved towards the door.

"Hey, subway police! Where do we catch the subway?!"

"You need to go down one more level from here to catch the subway."

"Wow! Going even further underground from here...!"

Levinas ran down the stairs.

After thanking the station employee, I followed Levinas.

We arrived at the subway station.

Levinas was glued to the screen door, looking at the tracks.

"It's the railway!"

"Indeed."

It had been almost ten years since I last saw the tracks.

Unintentionally, I found myself sticking to the screen door just like Levinas.

'To think there'd come a day I'd ride a train.'

Does this bring me one step closer to being an ordinary person?

My tail couldn't hide its happiness, wagging from side to side.

-A train is now arriving. Please step back from the platform edge for your safety.

An announcement came from the speaker overhead.

Just as we stepped back behind the safety line in response to the announcement,

Thrum-thrum-!

The train roared past us.

The noise was painfully loud for us unprepared beast-kin.

Our tails stood on end from the shock.

"......!"

Levinas and I both pressed our ears shut.

We lost our balance and fell backwards.

"Be careful."

"Yes..."

Sophia caught me as I was falling back.

Next to me, Saebyeok was holding onto Levinas.

'What's this.'

Levinas's and my reactions were exactly the same.

Perhaps it was the instinct of the beast-kin kicking in.

"Wow, King, Levinas was really startled."

"Yes. Me too."

I remained frozen in place until the train doors opened.

I couldn't stand up and stayed in Sophia's arms.

'Incredible.'

Who knew a simple train ride could be such an experience?

Exploring the subway with everyone was more fun than I imagined.

It wasn't bad.

It felt like I had become a child again.

---

---

"Huh."

When I came to my senses, a ruined city came into view.

Damaged bodies hung on the railings, and overturned vehicles emitted black smoke.

I was sure I was on the subway, but where was this place?

Confused by the situation, I simply followed the path.

'That's...'

Someone was standing at the end of the road.

Happy to see him, I approached but then froze in place.

"Growl..."

The rotting skin and bloodshot eyes.

It was immediately clear that he wasn't human.

"Ah."

This is dangerous.

As I started to back away from the creature,

Crunch-!

I accidentally stepped on an empty can rolling on the ground.

"Grr!"

The creature charged at me in response to the noise.

It moved with a monstrous speed, hard to believe it was once human.

"Ugh...!"

I needed to run.

But why couldn't I move?

I bit my lip hard enough to bleed, trying to force my body to move, but it remained frozen.

"Gah!"

The creature, standing right in front of me, opened its mouth wide.

Just as its fangs were about to sink into my neck, someone shook me.

"Woah...!"

"......?"

I blinked and looked around.

It took a few seconds to realize I had been dreaming.

"Phew."

Maybe I watched too many zombie movies.

Of all things, I dreamed of zombies.

As I was rubbing my eyes, I realized something soft was attached to my cheek.

"Wow, King, did you wake up...?"

The soft thing was Levinas's cheek.

Our cheeks were stuck together because she had been carrying me.

"Where are we?"

"We're on our way to the park... The King fell asleep on the subway, so Levinas is carrying..."

Levinas's arms, carrying me, were trembling.

Her steps were so unsteady it looked like she might fall at any moment.

"Young one, if it's too hard, hand her over to me."

Sophia reached out her hand towards me.

Levinas, stumbling, turned her back to Sophia.

"No, I don't want to. Levinas will carry the King."

"Stubborn."

Her tone was disapproving, but she didn't seem to be in a bad mood.

What exactly happened while I was asleep?

I looked at Saebyeok for answers, but as always, she remained silent.

"Levinas, I can walk on my own now."

"Is, is that so...?!"

"Yeah. You can put me down now."

"Okay...!"

Levinas, still trembling, set me down.

I couldn't believe she had carried me all this way.

"Thanks for carrying me."

"Yeah!"

Was my gratitude the reason?

Levinas burst into giggles.

I was simply grateful to her for exerting herself on my behalf.

---

---

After sending Levinas and Saebyeok home first, Sophia sat on a bench with Gyeoul.

She was concerned about the moans Gyeoul had made in her sleep.

"Gyeoul, did you have a scary dream earlier?"

"A dream?"

"Yes. You were moaning a lot in your sleep."

"Yes. I had a really scary dream."

"A scary dream?"

How terrifying the dream must have been for her to sweat so much in her sleep.

Sophia looked at Gyeoul with worried eyes.

"I dreamed I was caught and eaten by monsters in a ruined world."

"Is that so."

"Yes. I was torn apart by zombies."

It was a relief that it was just a dream.

While Gyeoul felt relieved inside, Sophia was making serious conjectures on her own.

'Zombies...'

Sophia remembered a drawing Gyeoul had made in the past.

A drawing of Gyeoul hiding quietly, avoiding people bleeding.

'Could it be...'

If that wasn't just a metaphor?

If Gyeoul really came from such a world?

Knowing the concept of 'possession,' Sophia couldn't easily dismiss it.

"Gyeoul, have you actually seen zombies before?"

"No, I've never seen them for real."

"Is that so?"

It's a relief if she's never seen them for real.

Sophia sighed in relief.

"But it did feel familiar."

"Familiar...?"

"Yes. It's like I have seen them before."

"What does that mean...?"

Sophia's complexion turned pale.

Gyeoul's words were ominous.

"The dream was just too realistic, I guess."

"Alright. Let's go inside and rest."

"Aren't you coming, Sophia?"

"I'll just get some air before I head in."

"Okay. Then I'll go in first."

Gyeoul entered the guild building, and Sophia was left alone, lost in thought.

Maybe Gyeoul...

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