The cat and Eun Ha were bound by contract. Therefore, if Eun Ha left the gate, the cat could not remain in the gate either.
Eun Ha stared blankly at the vibrating yellow message window. She had little knowledge of cats, but she had heard somewhere that cats were territorial animals.
“……Don’t be afraid. It’s okay.”
As she muttered indifferently, the trembling yellow message window stopped moving, with a click.
A few seconds later.
[The divine beast ‘Cat that Wanders the Darkness’ tentatively asks if you hate it, its golden eyes looking very sad.] [The divine beast ‘Cat that Wanders the Darkness’ donates 100,000 coins to you as an apology. Would you like to put it in your bag? ▶ Yes / No]Eun Ha, who had been momentarily lost in thought, turned her eyes back to the yellow message window.
Although it was just text, and the cat’s form was not visible, its utterly dejected appearance seemed vivid.
Eun Ha opened her mouth in a calm tone.
“The fact that I could escape that place thanks to you does not change.”
[The divine beast ‘Cat that Wanders the Darkness’ perks up its ears. Its triangular ears seem to twitch happily.]“Still, I’ll take this.”
Eun Ha pressed the ‘Yes’ button that appeared before her eyes. She didn’t yet know where or how to use the coins, but she thought they would come in handy someday.
[You have acquired 100,000 coins!]In the moonlit, quiet room, a fanfare sounded out of place.
That night, Eun Ha was plagued by a noisy lullaby until just before she fell asleep.
[This is the time separator]Days passed.
Si Woo gave Eun Ha, physically and mentally shocked, his room for a few days, saying that he was partly responsible for her fainting.
Si Woo, who promised not to pry until she spoke, really behaved that way.
He didn’t seem like a bad person. Though their first meeting was so, he seemed genuinely to be taking care of Eun Ha.
In the spacious room he had given, Eun Ha sat on the bed, staring blankly out of the window. She seemed to hear the distant cry of a baby bird. She turned her head slowly from the sun that seemed to poke her eyes.
The realization that 30 years had passed gradually intensified, followed by emptiness.
Suddenly, a book as thick as a dictionary came into Eun Ha’s view. Lying idly on the table, it was─.
‘In case you’re curious.’
It was what she had received from Si Woo yesterday afternoon.
Underneath, the seal of the Hunters Association was stamped.
He said to burn it if she didn’t need it, but Eun Ha just left it on the table.
She picked up the first page with her index finger and quickly let go. Her sunken black eyes faintly trembled.
‘Friend.’
The cat said it was Eun Ha’s only friend.
Eun Ha had friends too. A friend who fought with her in the training center for a better future. Colleagues who trusted each other’s backs inside the gate.
Their current state would be somewhere in that thick roster.
It took a full day to open the first page of the roster. Instead of the fluorescent light, she used the faint moonlight as a companion, and carefully opened the roster.
The hand that was turning the pages stopped at page 113.
<March 26, 2001 – Gangwondo Yangyang Namdaecheon Cclass Gate>
That day. The day when Eun Ha was trapped.
· Cha Eun Ha – Deceased
Eun Ha’s name was at the very top, who was the squad leader at the time. It seemed that she was known to the world as deceased.
She, trapped in the gate, did not come out for several years, or 30 years in outside time. The judgement of death must have been natural.
Eun Ha’s jetblack eyes slowly traced down the text.
· Song Ha Bin – Deceased
· Park Kyu Yeol – Deceased
· Kim Seong Min – Deceased
Ignoring the colleagues’ faces, voices, and expressions that kept coming to mind, she turned the page again.
· Choi Jeong Yi Deceased
· Kim Kyu Chan Deceased
· Lee Yeon Hwa Deceased
Biting her lower lip hard,
She turned the page again.
· Choi Ji Yong Deceased
· Yang Ha Neul Deceased
· Kwon Hye Joo – Deceased
Just looking at those names listed indifferently brought back the vivid memories of that nightmare day.
The hand that gripped the roster tightly left a deep crease on the page as if to tear the paper. She didn’t want to see this stuff anymore.
At the moment when she was about to throw the roster away in anger, biting her lower lip hard,
A short line of text located at the very bottom of the page came into view.
· Baek Yi Joon – Survived
The Villainous Demon Lord Laid an Egg for Her (Female-Dominated)
Several months after transmigrating into a book, Yu Wu found herself facing the demon lord Li You, who could no longer conceal his dragon horns. With one hand on her aching waist and the other gripping a sharp sword, she stared at him.
The demon lord’s eyes were red with fury:
“This is all your doing! Today, I won’t rest until I kill you!”
Yu Wu rubbed her temples. Putting aside the taboo against bloodshed during pregnancy, wasn’t it this very man who willingly walked into her trap that day?!
Warnings:
- Male pregnancy.
- Height ratios are set to mirror typical male-female height proportions.
- Characters include a foot-loving demon lord and an eldest daughter from an immortal family’s concubine lineage.
