I Was Kidnapped By The Strongest Guild
Chapter 376: Don't Lose Hope!

I ran toward Sophia and Encia.

But for some reason, their reaction to seeing me was strange.

They looked like they'd seen a ghost.

"G-Gyeoul, is that really you...?"

"Yes..."

Thump thump-!

I could hear their hearts pounding.

Sophia, who never lost her composure, was stuttering.

Seeing this reminded me of their earlier conversation.

About how Levinas hadn't recovered since everyone had become... something.

Could something have happened to this world's version of me?

As I pondered different possibilities, Sophia's mana washed over my body.

The warm mana wrapping around me automatically brought a smile to my face.

"It really is you, Gyeoul. How did you wake up...?"

"Wake up?"

"Yes. It's been two months since you closed your eyes."

Closed my eyes.

It sounded almost like death, but that didn't seem right.

After all, Sophia had asked how I'd woken up.

Perhaps this world's version of me was in a deep sleep.

'Was it some kind of curse?'

Maybe I'd been brought here to take the place of this world's sleeping Gyeoul.

But I doubted my presence alone would change much...

Hmm.

Feeling frustrated, I rubbed my lips and slowly removed my robe.

Encia gasped when she saw my face.

"Gyeoul...!"

Encia jumped up urgently and hugged me.

Her hands were trembling so much that her strong grip made my whole body shake.

"Encia."

So this world's version of me was loved by family too.

Though that made me happy, I didn't want to monopolize the love meant for the unconscious me.

I didn't want to lie to our family who cared for me so much.

So I decided to tell the truth to our family at least.

"Encia, Sophia, I'm actually not this world's Gyeoul."

"What do you mean...?"

"I'm Gyeoul from another dimension. I came through a portal and ended up here."

"What...?"

Encia and Sophia glanced nervously at something.

A temporary building set up in one corner of the park.

For some reason, it was surrounded by an incredibly powerful mana barrier.

"Gyeoul, did you really come through a portal from another world?"

"Yes. I came with the children."

"The children...?"

As Sophia finished speaking, the children came running over with their robes off.

Sophia and Encia flinched when they saw expressionless Saebyeok, then gaped at innocent Levinas.

Finally, seeing Gaeul with her usual bright expression made them look like they might cry.

"H-how..."

"Ah..."

"Sophia? Encia?"

I poked their cheeks gently.

They just stared at us without responding.

"...Yes, you must certainly be from another dimension."

Sophia said this while stroking Levinas's horns.

Levinas's horned rabbit eyes went wide at the touch.

"A shark is touching Levinas's horns!"

"Ah... I'm sorry..."

"It's okay! You can touch more!"

Levinas pushed her head forward, asking for more petting.

Seeing this, Gaeul pushed her head forward too.

"Gaeul too."

"Y-yes."

Sophia bit her lip hard as she patted Gaeul's head.

She seemed especially sad when interacting with Gaeul.

'What happened to this world's Gaeul?'

As I stood there helplessly in this confusing situation, just breathing-

ROAR-!

A thunderous sound came from the sky.

Startled, I looked up to see a massive dragon leading a group of smaller dragons approaching us.

"Eek!"

"Everyone get down!"

"Urk."

People panicked at the sudden appearance of monsters.

Some dropped to the ground while others just stared blankly upward.

'What's going on?'

How could so many monsters appear outside a dungeon?

How could this happen in Yeomyeong of all places?

As I stared up at the monsters in confusion-

CRASH-! BOOM!

With loud crashes, the dragons started falling one by one.

Far away, weaving between the dragons as they fought-

It was our Master.

**

"Gyeoul, better keep your robe on just in case."

"Okay."

Sophia started leading us somewhere.

To the temporary building surrounded by the mana barrier.

"Sophia, what's going on here?"

"Well..."

Sophia hesitated.

Did she not want to tell us something difficult?

I took Sophia's downturned hand in mine.

"Sophia, portals open to ask for help, right?"

"Yes, you understand well."

"I might be able to help, so please tell me honestly."

I wrapped my tail around Sophia's.

Flick flick - I felt her tail start to wag.

"...Do you know about Lotus?"

"Yes..."

"...Those fools caused this disaster with their reckless experiments."

"What...?"

Sophia's explanation was shocking.

The secret organization Lotus had been researching ways to forcibly open portals, and when it failed, countless portals had opened.

"The machine creating the portals must be somewhere, but we can't search for it while protecting people."

Just as Sophia finished speaking-

ROAR! Another thunderous roar echoed.

This time, a Minotaurus-type monster wielding an axe came charging from the horizon.

CRASH-!

Once again, our Master dealt with it.

"Ah..."

So they were gathering people together to protect them from the constant monster attacks.

I could understand how things had gotten this way.

"And then you and Gaeul..."

"Me and Gaeul?"

"...Yes, let's go see inside. Prepare yourself - it might be shocking."

"...Okay."

Woosh-

We passed through the mana barrier and entered the building.

Inside was a pure white space that looked like a hospital room.

On the only bed lay none other than 'me'.

My body was covered in mysterious magical items.

An oxygen mask covered my nose, and blue liquid flowed through needles in my arms.

"......"

"......"

Everyone fell silent at the shocking sight.

But what shocked me wasn't this world's 'me'.

It was the terrible condition of Levinas, who sat beside 'me' providing care.

Her horn was broken at the tip, her rabbit ears were cut off.

Dark circles hung under her eyes, and her face had lost its innocence.

Ignoring her own condition, Levinas was reading me a storybook.

"The horned rabbit... said to the slime..."

Levinas mumbled in the weakest voice I'd ever heard from her.

"......"

Is this what happens to Levinas without me?

As I stared blankly at Levinas, Encia pulled out a potion and approached her.

"Levinas, please, won't you drink just one potion...?"

"......"

Levinas looked at the potion with dead eyes, then weakly opened it and pushed it toward my mouth.

But the 'me' on the bed showed no response.

Levinas didn't seem disappointed by my lack of response.

She just stared down at me with lifeless eyes.

"Wake up soon and with Levinas..."

Levinas couldn't finish speaking and hung her head.

What should I do?

Should I go comfort her?

But I wasn't this world's Gyeoul - would that make things worse?

As I hesitated at a distance, unable to approach-

Pitter-patter-

Our Levinas ran toward this world's Levinas.

And then.

"You dummy!"

Thunk-!

Our Levinas brought her fist down on the other Levinas's head.

The hit must have hurt - Levinas grabbed where she'd been struck.

Sophia muttered quietly watching this:

"...The other world's Levinas is quite aggressive."

"Oh, no. This is the first time I've seen her like this too."

"Is that so...?"

"Yes."

Why had Levinas hit her other self's head?

I decided to watch from behind for now.

"W-what...?"

The struck Levinas looked up at our Levinas with wide horned rabbit eyes.

It was the first emotion this Levinas had shown.

Thankfully it seemed her emotions weren't completely dead yet.

"Don't give up! Levinas isn't this weak!"

"Why are there two Levinas...? Are you Levinas too...?"

"Yeah! I'm Levinas, the strongest horned rabbit!"

Ahem.

Our Levinas puffed out her chest, but this world's Levinas just hung her head.

"Levinas isn't a horned rabbit anymore..."

"Huh? Why aren't you a horned rabbit?"

"...My horn is broken. Levinas is weak now."

Levinas's broken horn.

Seeing it, our Levinas furrowed her brow fiercely.

"Dummy! There are rabbits in an another world without horns! They dig well and are strong even without horns!"

"L-liar... How can they dig without horns..."

She didn't know about hornless rabbits?

Had this world's Levinas never visited my hometown?

As this world's Levinas looked on in disbelief, our Levinas giggled and pulled out her smartphone.

"Look at this!"

Though I was far away, I could see clearly.

On the smartphone screen was Levinas smiling brightly while holding a hornless rabbit.

It was a photo from when we'd visited my hometown.

"Th-there really are rabbits without horns...?"

"Yeah! Amazing things happen in this world! So!"

Ahem.

Puffing out her chest even more, Levinas declared with absolute confidence:

"Don't lose hope! King will wake up again! It might seem impossible, but King will rise!"

She stood proud without a hint of doubt.