I Was Kidnapped By The Strongest Guild
Chapter 263: I'll Definitely Return

Gyeoul walked out of the portal with a blank expression.

She looked at the floor, then brushed off the dust on her stomach.

What had she seen and experienced to leave her so drained?

Yeoreum urgently knocked on the curtain.

"Gyeoul!"

Tap tap-

Hearing the knocking, Gyeoul came to her senses and scurried out of the portal.

She was still holding Gaeul's hand tightly.

"I'm back."

"Um... about ten minutes...?"

"Ah..."

She thought they'd been gone for a long time.

It was shorter than expected.

Yeoreum sighed in relief and hugged both children tightly.

"Did anything happen inside?"

"No, nothing happened."

"Hmm...?"

She looked like something had happened.

Yeoreum swallowed hard as Gaeul handed her the smartphone.

It was the smartphone she'd given Gaeul to record with.

"Ta-da!"

"Oh, yeah. Thanks."

Yeoreum clutched the smartphone tightly.

After a while, she connected it to the tablet she'd brought.

She wanted to watch the video on a larger screen.

"Is it okay if I watch the video?"

"Yes. I'm curious too, let's watch together."

Gyeoul sat on Yeoreum's lap as she sat on the grass.

Then Gaeul sat on top of Gyeoul.

Yeoreum smiled at the children stacked like a tower, then carefully played the video.

-G-Gaeul...

The video started with Gyeoul's image.

There was also a house that could be called abandoned, having been unmanaged for a long time.

Since it was filmed clumsily, the camera sometimes moved to the chest or stomach area.

-Master's house.

-House? Is this Gaeul's house?

-Our house! Our house!

In the video, Gaeul pointed at Gyeoul with her finger.

Then she bent her wrist to point at herself.

Yeoreum understood what this meant.

This must be the survival base for the two children.

-Our house...?

Gyeoul looked around puzzledly.

Gaeul also looked around here and there with the camera.

-Huh?

-What's wrong?

-No dust?!

Gaeul's surprised voice.

What did it mean that there was no dust?

Had someone come to clean?

She couldn't understand any of it.

Yeoreum found all of this frustrating.

-What do you mean there's no dust?

-No dust! Paper stuck!

Rip rip-

Gaeul mimicked tearing paper.

Then she pointed to a single sheet of paper with her finger.

It was a clean paper with no signs of being torn.

She seemed to want to say that the torn paper had been put back together.

'No way...'

The accumulated dust had disappeared, and the torn paper had been mended.

It felt like 'time reversal' was happening.

Things she'd only speculated about were actually occurring.

'My goodness.'

Yeoreum's heart pounded.

In this reversed time, if they could just deal with the source of the zombie virus, Gyeoul's world could regain peace.

'Are they asking us to intervene while they turn back time?'

Because if time was reversed but nothing changed, the same future would just repeat.

The role of changing the future fell to Yeoreum.

What kind of will of the world could make such a miracle possible?

To calm her trembling hands, Yeoreum stroked the children's heads.

Even then, the video continued to play steadily.

-Gaeul, why did we come here? Can we go back out?

-Yeah. Sleep.

-Sleep?

Gaeul flopped down on a rag.

She also patted the space beside her.

Everyone could understand that she meant for Gyeoul to lie down next to her.

-O-okay...

Gyeoul lay down on the rag following Gaeul.

Then the screen went dark.

Gaeul had stuck close to Gyeoul, covering the camera between them.

In the darkness, giggling sounds could be heard.

The screen rolled around as the two children played.

So that's why their clothes got dirty.

They were playing on the rag.

Yeoreum brushed off the dust on the children's clothes for no particular reason.

-Master good.

-Yeah. I like Gaeul too.

The children, who had been lying down playing, moved to a nearby deflated ball.

They happily played with the ball that didn't roll well.

In the short ten-minute video, Yeoreum could see a lot.

Unmanaged items.

Among the objects that had exceeded their usable limits, something caught her eye.

On one wall, there were many Chinese characters for "正" drawn.

Yeoreum knew well what this meant.

Survival period.

A quick count showed over a hundred "正" characters.

It meant they had lived like this for at least 500 days.

'Since they were babies...'

Gyeoul was eight years old.

She first saw Gyeoul two years ago.

If Gyeoul came to this world at six years old, it meant she had lived like that since she was four.

Had she lived alone like that in a ruined world?

Or was there someone who took care of Gyeoul?

Yeoreum's face turned pale at that moment.

Tap tap, Gyeoul patted Yeoreum's thigh.

"Um, you know..."

"Yes...?"

"Is that place my, my..."

Gyeoul trailed off, fidgeting with her fingers.

In the tense silence, Yeoreum bit her lip.

She instinctively realized what Gyeoul was about to say.

"What's wrong?"

"...Nothing, it's nothing."

Gyeoul swallowed her words.

Even so, Yeoreum could tell.

That Gyeoul had realized something.

Yeoreum could only open and close her mouth silently.

---

---

"Hmm..."

I walked alone in the park.

I wanted some time to think.

Yeoreum and Gaeul were slowly following me from a distance, but I didn't have the mind to care about that now.

The 'our house' Gaeul had mentioned and the nostalgic feeling strong enough to cause homesickness.

I thought that place might be my home and hometown.

'What is this?'

The lifeless world was very different from the hometown in my memories.

Yeoreum seemed to know something, but she didn't look like she was going to tell me.

'Is she hiding something from me?'

I wasn't particularly disappointed.

I knew how kind she was.

If she was hiding something from me, it must be for my sake.

'I've been hiding things from the kids too.'

I had told Yeoreum that I came from another world.

Most of the adults in the guild had found out, but I hadn't told the children yet.

It was because I feared that if I returned to my original world, I might have to say goodbye to this world forever.

So I hid it.

Because it was hard to see Levinas and Saebyeok facing farewell.

Yeoreum might be hiding the truth from me for similar reasons.

"......"

Does she only want to show me good things?

I'm the same way.

I wanted to show the children good things and let them experience happy events.

However, there was no need to cover the children's eyes with my hands.

Sharing sadness together is what makes a real family.

'If I want to know the truth, I need to be honest first.'

I heightened my senses to detect the children's presence.

Just then, Levinas was coming out of the guild building.

"Levinas!"

"King! Let's play!"

Levinas greeted me energetically as always.

Somehow, I felt like a criminal.

"Levinas, I've been hiding something from you until now..."

"Hiding?! What did you hide?! Did you hide carrots?!"

"Well, you see..."

"Huh?!"

Levinas's rabbit ears perked up.

Closing my eyes slightly at her attentive attitude, I said,

"I actually came from a different world."

"Wha! Really?!"

"Yeah. So someday I might have to go back to my original world."

I carefully opened my eyes after finishing.

Contrary to my expectation that she'd be shocked, Levinas just opened her eyes wide.

"Are you going on a trip?! Is Levinas coming too?!"

"Ah, no, Levinas has to stay here. Everyone's here, you know."

"Huh? But it's not everyone if King isn't here?"

"W-well..."

It was a statement full of kindness.

That's why telling the truth was even scarier.

"When will King come back if you go?!"

"I don't know. I'll try my best to come back, but I might never be able to... Of course, this isn't happening now, it's for later..."

"Never come back...?"

"Maybe... But I'll do my best to come back again."

"......"

Levinas pressed her lips tightly together.

She stared at me for a long time with an expressionless face, then suddenly ran towards the guild building.

"L-Levinas...!"

Levinas took the elevator up to our home.

I hurriedly got into the adjacent elevator.

Although the elevator rose quickly, that time felt like an eternity.

Is she disappointed in me?

I clasped my hands together as if praying, then ran out quickly as soon as the elevator doors opened.

The door to our home was open.

As I entered, I saw Levinas packing something into a bag.

"L-Levinas..."

What is she putting in there?

I slowly approached Levinas.

Then Levinas held out the bag with a serious expression.

"King, here!"

"What's this...?"

"It's a travel bag! If you have this, you won't be sad even if we're apart!"

The bag was filled with items full of our memories.

There was the floating disc we rode once, and horned rabbit cards filled with carrots.

"You're not angry?"

"Why would I be angry?!"

"Because I hid the farewell..."

"I'm not angry! You said you'd try your best to come back! King is someone who does what they say they'll do!"

Ahem.

Levinas puffed out her chest.

It was the confident Levinas I always saw.

That confidence was blooming from her faith in me.

"Yeah. I'll try my best... no, I'll definitely come back."

"Got it! Levinas will be waiting! So... so come back quickly...?"

Sniff.

Levinas sniffled.

Looking closely, her eyes were a bit red too.

She wasn't completely okay after all.

Levinas was just holding back her sadness for my sake.

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