I Was Kidnapped By The Strongest Guild
Chapter 287: Back to Normal

Yoon Hyunseo and Han Taehwi's pupils shook.

It was thanks to me perfectly hiding my identity.

"Gyeoul, Gyeoul...?"

"Yes. I'm Han Gyeoul."

"What...?"

While the two of them blinked, trying to grasp the situation, Guild Master Im Mi-young wore an expression of complete understanding.

As expected of a guild master, her ability to assess the situation was impressive.

"...It was undercover work? Yeomyeong Guild is quite remarkable."

Remarkable, she said.

I felt shy yet pleased by the praise.

I started to puff out my chest a bit, but after noticing the others' gazes, I quickly pulled back.

No matter how I looked at it, I didn't think I'd done anything that impressive.

But our Master seemed to have a different opinion.

"It's not Yeomyeong that's remarkable."

"Pardon?"

"It's just our kid who's remarkable."

Plop-

Our Master placed his hand on my head.

The gentle tapping felt like praise for a job well done.

My tail, which had been swaying gently, began to wag even faster.

"Master, you've become such a doting parent. I thought you were someone who wouldn't bleed even if stabbed."

Chae Juyeon chuckled and held up one finger.

Was she really going to test if he'd bleed?

I naturally looked up at our Master, but it was my cheek that got poked instead.

Poke-

"Meow."

"Everyone knows Gyeoul is amazing, so don't worry."

Chae Juyeon said this as she lightly pinched my cheek.

I wanted to tell her that nobody would know, but with my cheek pinched, it was hard to speak.

Only a weird sound came out.

"By the way, did the White Snow Guild really come in first?"

"Ah... It was all thanks to Harang... I mean Gyeoul. She was incredibly good at finding monsters."

Yoon Hyunseo's face turned red.

She scratched her cheek, seeming embarrassed.

"That's right. Gyeoul is amazing. She's got a good eye for people too, so she doesn't team up with just anyone."

"Well..."

"Let's work together properly. After all, Gyeoul has personally vouched for you."

Chae Juyeon offered her hand to the White Snow Guild members.

Starting with Guild Master Im Mi-young, then moving on to guild members Yoon Hyunseo and Han Taehwi.

After shaking hands with each of them in turn, she started kneading my cheeks again.

"Gyeoul's cheeks are seriously addictive."

Chae Juyeon kneaded my cheeks and then stretched them out.

Even though my cheeks were being pulled, it felt nice.

Maybe I just enjoyed Chae Juyeon's touch.

After all, she was someone who really cared for me.

As I sat there quietly, enjoying Chae Juyeon's touch, Han Taehwi muttered softly.

"Looks like we met a prodigy. We just teamed up because she seemed like a little sister."

"Y-yeah..."

The two of them looked at me with dazed expressions.

My expression as I looked back at them was as blank as Gaeul's.

With my cheeks being pulled, that expression came naturally.

I didn't know why.

'I feel like I'm becoming dull...'

As I was thinking this to myself, the two guild masters, Chae Juyeon and Im Mi-young, started discussing their contract.

Our Master also mentioned how to deal with the cheaters.

"Gyeoul, the adults seem busy. Should we have our own little after-party over there?"

"Sure. Sounds good."

Yoon Hyunseo, Han Taehwi, and I moved to an empty table in the cafe.

We talked about everything that had happened and managed to wrap things up nicely.

**

After finishing the after-party at the cafe, I returned home.

Feeling sad about parting, we took dozens of photos.

I was also reluctant to say goodbye, so I gave my phone number to the White Snow Guild members.

I told them they could come to play anytime since I'm usually at the park.

'We ended up coming in first after all.'

We ranked third overall, but first among the parties.

That was certainly a rank worth bragging about.

"Hey, kids."

I ran quickly towards the children in the park.

They were playing in the swimming pool playground, but as soon as they saw me, they swam over.

"King abubup."

Levinas tried to call my name as she approached, but her mouth went underwater, creating bubbles.

Bubble bubble, seeing the bubbles continuously rising from the water, it seemed Levinas was still calling my name underwater.

"Master!"

Gaeul, Saebyeok, and Levinas.

The children surfaced in order.

Shake shake-

As if on cue, they shook off the water and then threw themselves into my arms.

"Gyeoul, is the Academy over?"

"Yeah. Our team came in first, and I ranked third overall."

"Wow. Well done."

Saebyeok patted my head.

Just that felt like all the reward I needed.

"What were you doing, Saebyeok?"

"I was waiting for you, Gyeoul."

"For me?"

"Yeah. It seemed like Gaeul had something to tell you. So we waited together."

"Gaeul did?"

I turned to look at Gaeul.

Gaeul usually waits for me anyway, but she did seem like she really wanted to say something now.

"Master! Master!"

Left foot, right foot.

Gaeul started the jumping dance she'd learned from Levinas.

She looked somewhat urgent.

"What's wrong?"

"Gaeul home...!"

"Gaeul's home?"

"Uh-huh!"

Gaeul grabbed my wrist and ran forward.

To the place where the portal to my hometown was.

"Why the portal...?"

"Home! Home!"

Gaeul pulled my hand towards the portal.

It seemed like she wanted to go in, but we couldn't enter carelessly yet.

"Can we come back if we go in?"

"Heh."

Nod nod.

Gaeul nodded her head several times.

Her tail was wagging rapidly too.

"Hmm..."

Gaeul knew more about the portal to my hometown than anyone else.

It should be fine to go in, but I couldn't help but worry about what might happen.

'What should I do?'

I paced back and forth on the grass, arms crossed.

Just then, Yeoreum came running towards us, waving her hand.

"Kids, what are you doing in front of the portal?"

"Ah... Gaeul wants to go in."

"G-Gaeul does...?"

Yeoreum's gaze turned towards Gaeul.

Gaeul was just wagging her tail with shining eyes.

"She says we can come back out again."

"Like last time?"

"Yeah. It seems like Gaeul wants to show us something..."

Can we go in?

I asked Yeoreum with my eyes.

"Hmm... Then why don't I come along this time?"

"Together...?"

"Yeah. I don't know why, but Gaeul seems to instinctively know the situation over there. If Gaeul says we should go, it's probably fine."

That's true.

In that case, maybe we should give it a try.

I nodded to Yeoreum.

"Gaeul, let's go in."

"Heh!"

Gaeul held my hand, and Yeoreum grabbed my other hand.

This put me in the middle, with my hands held by both of them.

"Kids, we'll be back soon. Just wait a bit, okay?"

"You'll be back soon, right?!"

"Well, I'm not sure, but we'll try to come back as early as possible."

After saying goodbye to the children, we were about to enter the portal when-

"Yaaaaaah!"

Pitter-patter-!

Levinas ran past us and into the portal.

Thanks to Gaeul's ability, the veil was open, so she could easily enter.

"L-Levinas!"

Surprised, we followed Levinas into the portal.

What we saw inside was a completely new, different world.

**

After entering the portal, Yeoreum quickly surveyed her surroundings.

Gyeoul and Gaeul were there, and somehow Saebyeok had followed along with Levinas.

"Oh my, everyone came in."

Yeoreum clenched and unclenched her fist repeatedly.

As expected, there was no mana in her body at all.

Of course, that didn't matter.

This was a situation they had practiced many times before.

"Kids, be careful and stay close to me, okay?"

"Okay...!"

Tap tap tap.

The children made their own unique footsteps as they clung to Yeoreum.

Even though they were in an unknown world, the warmth of the children helped ease the tension.

'Where are we?'

Yeoreum looked around.

Familiar trees, flowers, and other plants.

She had expected to be transported inside the building where Gyeoul used to live, but surprisingly, they were in the middle of a forest.

'Did the transfer location change?'

This happened sometimes.

That's why Yeoreum wasn't too surprised.

'I should try to find something...'

Without mana, would her information ability be useless?

Just as Yeoreum thought this, a translucent window appeared before her eyes.

"Huh?"

Why is this happening when I don't have any mana?

Yeoreum looked at the children.

They were surveying their surroundings with cautious eyes.

Could it be that only I can see this?

Gulp, Yeoreum swallowed and examined the translucent window.

[The time axis has been fixed.]

[Portal reuse cooldown is one week.]

The time axis was fixed.

It meant time would no longer rewind.

But one week?

Blinking, Yeoreum noticed the date at the bottom of the window.

"Gyeoul, what year is it now...?"

Yeoreum told Gyeoul the year and date shown on the window.

A bright spring day in March, but the year was a bit strange.

Gyeoul couldn't help but freeze in place.

'Time has gone back way too far...?'

The world's time had rewound to the distant past.

Gyeoul counted on her fingers and realized time had gone back to when she was eight years old.

"Gasp."

Is this what they call a regression story?

Surprised, I stood there with eight fingers extended.

My strange posture must have worried Yeoreum, as she gave me a concerned look.

"What's wrong?"

"E-eight years old... I'm eight years old..."

"...? Yeah. You're eight years old, Gyeoul?"

Yeoreum shrugged her shoulders.

She seemed to be asking, "So what?"

Seeing her nonchalant reaction, Gyeoul was able to calm down.

'Is that how it is...?'

Getting younger was much better than the world ending.

It was surprising, but a situation I could handle.

'So in this world, am I eight years old?'

My age is confusing.

As I was counting on my fingers, trying to calculate my age-

Levinas, who had somehow climbed up on a rocky cliff, waved to us.

"King! Come here! There's something over there!"

"What's there?"

I carefully moved up to the cliff.

At the end of Levinas's pointing finger, I saw a neat city.

Tall buildings and cars moving on the roads.

The world had returned to normal.

Now we just needed to find the cause of the destruction and eliminate it.

Seeing the cleaned-up city, Yeoreum clenched her fist tightly.

---

6/6 (+2) Enjoy the bonus chappy!

Please give the book a rating and a review on NovelUpdates.

Search the lightnovelworld.cc website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.