I Was Kidnapped By The Strongest Guild
Chapter 375: Another World

Han Yeoreum looked back and forth between me in the bag and Gaeul with her puffed-out chest.

Each time she looked between us, the corners of her mouth lifted slightly higher.

"So what Gaeul needs most to survive is Gyeoul?"

"Yeah."

"That's right. We definitely can't do without Gyeoul."

Han Yeoreum patted Gaeul's head, praising her.

Seeing how happy they both looked, I couldn't help grinning.

"Hehe, look at Gyeoul's expression."

"Is my expression weird?"

"No, it's adorable - you've got that blank look like Gaeul."

"Blank look?"

Did she mean Gaeul's signature vacant expression?

Did I really look like that?

As I turned to look for a mirror, Levinas, who had been putting carrots in her bag, came running over.

"Levinas wants to put King in too, what should we do?!"

Thump thump thump-

Levinas stomped her feet urgently.

The house had good soundproofing, so we didn't need to worry about noise complaints.

"Hehe, our Gyeoul is quite popular, isn't she?"

"Yeah! King is the beast-kin's star!"

Ahem.

Levinas was proudly showing me off.

My blank expression softened at the sight, and my tail started wagging.

I felt nothing but gratitude that everyone cared for me so much.

"Gyeoul is definitely essential, but we can't put her in the bag."

"...?"

Gaeul's confident expression instantly changed.

Her face seemed to ask 'why?'

"Bags are for objects only. Our Gyeoul isn't an object, right?"

"Heuk...!"

Gaeul nodded, then came back to me.

She lifted me up and carefully set me down next to the bag.

"Master no bag."

"Yeah, I'm no bag... wait, no."

I accidentally copied Gaeul's way of speaking without realizing it.

Was it because I had that blank look like her?

Or was I starting to pick up family members' speech patterns?

I carefully looked around at my family, but no one seemed to notice my odd way of speaking.

"Master."

Gaeul smiled brightly and ran into the room.

She came back with her arms full of items.

She wobbled back and forth, struggling with the weight.

As I moved closer to help, something seemed off.

The items she brought were too familiar.

My clothes and arrows.

Levinas's doll and storybook.

Even a hairball Saebyeok had coughed up before.

None of the items Gaeul brought belonged to her.

"Gaeul, there's nothing of yours here?"

"Yeah."

Gaeul stuffed all the items she'd brought into the bag.

Then she placed a photo on top of the bag.

It was a picture we'd taken together with the children.

"Gaeul packed hope, didn't she?"

Han Yeoreum approached us and smiled as she looked at what Gaeul had packed.

Her eyes were fixed on our photo in the bag.

"Hope?"

"Yes. It's the most important thing for survival. Even more than water or medicine."

"Ah..."

So Gaeul had packed memories of time with family.

In a way, her bag might be better than what I'd planned.

"Hmm... then I want to pack hope too."

"Levinas too! Levinas wants to pack too!"

Items filled with memories of family.

That's what we needed to pack.

I put something in my bag and giggled.

"So what did you both put in?"

"It's a secret."

"Ah! Levinas's is a secret too!"

Levinas was keeping it secret too?

What could she have packed?

Though I was curious, Levinas wouldn't tell me no matter what.

**

I carried the emergency bag we'd made with the children to the tent.

Levinas had suggested we hide the bags in the underground den.

"But wouldn't it be better to keep the bags in the guild shelter?"

"Huh? Isn't the den we made together safer?"

"Hmm..."

Well, if Levinas said so...

Saebyeok and I went down into the den and carefully placed the children's bags.

Since they were preservation bags, the contents wouldn't spoil for a while.

"Woah."

The children must have packed quite a lot.

Just as I was rubbing my arm, I felt it.

Woosh-!

A massive wave of mana surged nearby.

"Huh?"

"Um..."

Saebyeok and I poked our heads out of the den.

The den was so deep we had to stand on our tiptoes on the foothold to see out.

A huge portal had appeared right in front of us.

A portal rippling with blue light.

Its appearance was all too familiar.

It looked exactly like the portal that had sent me to this world.

Though eight years had passed, the portal's appearance was still fresh in my mind.

The question was why I'd entered that portal back then...

As my thoughts swirled in confusion, I saw Gaeul and Levinas walking toward the portal.

The two children approached it in a daze.

This was different from their usual endearing blankness.

Did the portal have some kind of charm magic on it?

Why would a portal that opened seeking help forcibly kidnap people?

"K-kids...!"

I frantically climbed out and ran toward the portal, but the children had already stepped inside.

"Oh no..."

In that moment of hesitation, I saw the portal entrance starting to close.

It seemed to be a portal that blocked additional entries.

Without delay, I sprinted toward the portal before it could close completely.

Saebyeok ran beside me.

Woosh-!

The massive portal swallowed my body.

What I'd expected to be terrifying actually felt surprisingly warm and pleasant.

**

After crossing through the portal, I immediately looked for the children.

Thankfully, they were right nearby.

"Huh?"

"Eh?"

The children stood there, just blinking endlessly.

Having been in a trance, they naturally felt confused.

"Kids."

I rushed toward them, but for some reason they didn't turn to look at me.

They just stared upward with blank expressions.

"What are you looking at?"

"The park. The park is strange."

"Huh?"

Looking around, I saw Yeomyeong Park - familiar yet somehow wrong.

The park that had once showcased beautiful flowers and grass was withered and twisted.

And the guild building in the distance...

'It's destroyed?'

The upper floors had collapsed and the middle was smashed, though somehow the building still stood.

It felt like we'd arrived in a post-apocalyptic world.

Yet it didn't feel completely desolate, thanks to all the people filling the park.

"What's going on?"

People had set up tents throughout the park.

Their clothes were extremely worn.

It looked as if countless people had taken refuge at Yeomyeong Guild.

"What in the..."

Just as I gaped at the indescribably dark atmosphere, Saebyeok put something over my head.

It was a huge robe that covered my entire body.

Finding clothes was easy with all the worn garments scattered on the ground.

"Gyeoul, I don't think this is our world."

"R-really?"

"Yeah. It seems like we're in a different dimension..."

If this was a different dimension, why did we need robes?

As I fiddled with the hem of my robe questioningly, Saebyeok put robes on Levinas and Gaeul while explaining:

"There might be versions of us in this world too."

"Ah..."

Having two of the same person in one world would certainly cause problems.

I pulled the robe Saebyeok gave me down firmly.

"Let's look around first. With so many people nearby, it shouldn't be too dangerous."

"Yeah, let's do that."

We walked around the park wearing our robes.

Our first destination was the park's pond.

'The pond...'

Our once-impressive pond now showed its bottom.

Fortunately it wasn't completely dry, but the water only came up to ankle depth.

'Good grief.'

My pond that had boasted such diverse fish.

Not a single fish remained.

As I stared blankly down at the pond, I heard them.

"...We don't have much water left."

"I see, and what about food?"

"Argo went hunting, but it's nowhere near enough."

I heard Encia and Sophia's voices from the edge of the pond.

My ears perked up at these familiar voices in this dark world.

"Has Levinas still not recovered?"

"No... not since everyone became like that..."

"...Enough. Let's not talk about that."

Sophia and Encia gave off a somehow bitter atmosphere.

Were these this world's versions of Sophia and Encia?

I wanted to cheer them up.

I desperately wanted to hug them and melt away their sadness.

But...

Would it be okay for a different world's version of me to do that?

I carefully turned to look at Saebyeok.

"Hey Saebyeok..."

"Yeah. Let's go comfort Sophia and Encia."

As always, Saebyeok understood exactly what I was thinking.

My gently swaying tail kept brushing against the robe.

'Even in a different world, they're still Sophia and Encia.'

They'd surely welcome me warmly.

I rushed toward them.

"Sophia, Encia."

Pitter-patter.

I ran toward them making typical feline footsteps.

At my voice, they both flinched, then turned toward me as if in slow motion.

"Sophia, Encia."

I called their names again.

Sophia's staff started trembling.

Encia collapsed as if she'd seen a ghost.

Her usually strong legs had given out completely.