Lv.99 Princess of Dark Flames (Completed Main Story) - Chapter 11

“That golden dog tag of yours, senior. Hunters of the present era don’t carry those anymore.”

At first, he had thought it was a fake.

Yet Si Woo soon realized it was genuine.

The fact that the name had been erased bothered him slightly, but his conclusion that it was authentic remained unchanged.

A first-generation hunter. Unable to easily accept that astonishing truth, Si Woo could not wait for her to open her eyes and immediately looked up the serial number on the tag.

However……

Regrettably, no useful personal information remained.

Not only had thirty years passed since the first generation was active, but back then hunters and ordinary people alike had died like bamboo shoots after rain. The number of missing persons alone was beyond counting. Much data had surely been lost as well.

Even if some record of her still existed, it would be kept by the Korean Hunter Association. Not even an S-rank like Si Woo had the authority to access it at will.

“I am Shin Si Woo. May I ask your name, senior?”

“……I am.”

Eun Ha, slowly moving her lips, suddenly froze.

‘……My voice.’

It would not come out.

No matter how she moved her lips, the sound refused to emerge as she wished. With a strangely stiff expression, Eun Ha brought a hand to her throat.

At that moment, a scene from the past flashed like lightning through her mind.

[The divine beast “Cat Wandering in Darkness” demands two things of you, the thirteenth divine beast: First, never speak of yourself to others. Second, surrender your name to it.] [In short, your name will become its own, and you will no longer be able to use it.]

The restriction the cat had spoken of.

So…… this is what it meant?

Eun Ha spotted a pen and paper on the table. She hurried over and grasped the pen.

“…….”

When she tried to write her name, her hand would not move. It felt as if bound by invisible chains.

In front of the rigidly frozen Eun Ha, Si Woo shrugged.

“……I understand. You can’t easily trust me—or anything I say—yet. That’s only natural.”

How best to earn her trust? After a moment of thought, Si Woo rummaged in his pocket and held his phone screen toward her.

May 12, 2031. The date displayed on the screen.

“……What is that?”

This time her voice came out as intended. Stroking her throat, Eun Ha stared at the rectangular device Si Woo offered.

“A phone. A mobile phone.”

Eun Ha narrowed her brows. The design felt somewhat alien compared to the phones she remembered.

Before her still-suspicious expression, a newspaper was now presented.

May 12, 2031

The moment she faced the newspaper, the light in Eun Ha’s eyes began to waver.

If today truly was May 12, 2031, then she had been trapped inside the gate for thirty years and two months.

‘No, that can’t be.’

It was true she had been trapped for a long time.

Though she had eventually given up counting the days, Eun Ha could assert with absolute certainty: it had not been thirty years.

Did time flow differently inside and outside the gate? Such phenomena—inexplicable by science or common sense—were precisely what made it an Unknown Gate.

Even so—

‘Am I…… fifty-three years old?’

If thirty years had really passed, she was now over fifty. Impossible.

Hurriedly turning around, Eun Ha stood before the full-length mirror in the room.

Her appearance was no different from before she was trapped.

The only changes were that her military uniform had become a dress, and her hair was longer than before.

“I understand the shock is great. This is my first time encountering a case like this too, so I also find it hard to believe.”

Eun Ha’s eyes were shaken. Si Woo quietly watched her.

In the room where white curtains fluttered, a silence heavy as cold water poured down.

After keeping her lips sealed for a long while, Eun Ha slowly raised her head.

“……I want to see it with my own eyes.”

Unless she confirmed it herself, this was not a story she could easily believe.

In a moving car.

Si Woo, gripping the steering wheel, glanced toward the passenger seat.

Eun Ha silently stared at the scenery beyond the window. It felt utterly foreign. Not merely because of the dress she wore.

She looked exactly like someone who had fallen from the sky one day.

“…….”

The outside scenery changed so quickly the eye could barely follow, and even at a glance it was clearly different from the Seoul Eun Ha remembered.

Soon they arrived at their destination, parked in a suitable spot, and got out.

Amid the unfamiliar landscape, Eun Ha turned the corner in the direction her body remembered.

Surely, right there—

‘……It’s gone.’

Eun Ha’s steps halted abruptly.

That place had been a shantytown where refugees who lost their homes after the gate incident lived. It was also the last place Eun Ha had called home.

The address was correct.

Yet not a trace remained of the house where she had lived. Only new commercial buildings and dazzlingly bright signs flashed in its place.

Beside the shops stood a tree adorned with white ribbons.

The tree once called the “Tree of Hope” by the refugees had grown more than twice its size and now looked down at Eun Ha in silence.

‘When this sapling grows taller than any of these shacks, may this nightmarish reality finally come to an end.’

The earnest prayer of someone planting the sapling that day still rang vividly in her mind.

“Now will you believe me, senior?”

Eun Ha stood motionless in place, her expression betraying almost nothing—only the faintest tremor in her clenched fists.

Behind buildings that pierced the sky, the sun was slowly setting.

Eun Ha’s jet-black hair fluttered forlornly. The thick scent of blood carried on the wind reached Si Woo’s nose. It was not a smell that came from ordinary humans.

For over an hour Eun Ha did not move an inch. When the white moon finally hung in the darkening sky and Si Woo had grown somewhat used to the smell of blood, he glanced at the time.

“Shall we head back for now?”

Fixing her gaze on the pine tree, she moved only her lips slightly.

“……Back where?”

Where exactly was there to return to? She had already lost her home twice.

Si Woo, staring at her expressionless profile, turned away smoothly.

“How about we return to my mansion first and finish the rest of our conversation? I’m sure we both still have many questions for each other.”

The black eyes that had been fixed on the pine tree moved slightly. Eun Ha gazed at Si Woo’s retreating back.

……There was no other choice.

Sleep would not come.

The cleaner who had tidied the room brought fresh bedding, pillows, and even pajamas that fit perfectly.

Yet Eun Ha sat on the edge of the table without changing her clothes.

The wall clock pointed to 2:30 a.m. Her gaze shifted from the clock to the window. The moonlight she faced after so many years felt excruciatingly cold—cold enough to freeze her heart solid.

Only the ticking of the second hand walked across the continuing silence.

In front of the doll-like, motionless Eun Ha, a yellow message window popped up.

Ding!

[The divine beast “Cat Wandering in Darkness” reveals itself from the shadows.]

It was the first message window to appear since escaping the gate. Normally she might have been glad……

But before joy, there were mountains of things she wanted to ask the cat.

“……So that’s what you meant by taking my name?”

In the dark room, without turning on the light, Eun Ha moved her lips.

[The divine beast “Cat Wandering in Darkness” cautiously watches your mood.] [It says this was a restriction set at the time of the contract and is now outside its control, then averts its gaze.]

“…….”

Eun Ha silently stared at the message window. Yes, blaming the cat felt strange.

The cat had clearly mentioned the restriction, and the one who accepted the contract had been Eun Ha herself. Back then, trapped in the gate, she had been in no position to pick and choose.

So what she needed to question the cat about now was something else.

“……This.”

Eun Ha removed the tiara from her head and held it close to the message window.

As if reflecting the cat’s reaction, the message window vibrated violently, then began to fade as though fleeing. Eun Ha narrowed her eyes sharply.

“Don’t run. This belonged to you, didn’t it?”

The yellow window, as if caught by the scruff of its neck, gave no response. Eun Ha spoke again.

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

The cat must have known how long Eun Ha had searched for the fifth named monster.

In the end, the fifth named monster had never existed. The final item had been with the cat all along, not a monster.

It would be a lie to say she did not feel betrayed. For so long inside the gate, she had thought of the cat as her only companion.

That was why she wanted to know the reason. With sunken eyes, Eun Ha waited for the yellow message window to reappear.

Only after a long while did the window cautiously rise again.

[The divine beast “Cat Wandering in Darkness” begins intense grooming.]

The cat explained.

It had always intended to give Eun Ha the fifth item someday. But an unexpected external intrusion occurred, forcing it to hand the item over sooner than planned.

“Why didn’t you give it to me earlier? You knew I wanted to escape the gate.”

[The divine beast “Cat Wandering in Darkness” slowly blinks at you.]

After a brief silence, another ding sounded.

[It says it wanted to play alone with you a little longer, and that its only family is its big sister, almost crying.]

Family. At that word, the lips that were about to speak next hesitated. Come to think of it, at some point the cat had started calling Eun Ha “big sister.”

Since when had the cat considered Eun Ha family? When they played together in the Unknown Gate? When they roasted meat after defeating monsters and returned to the hut? When they talked about every little thing until falling asleep?

She didn’t know. But “since when” was not the important part right now.

[The divine beast “Cat Wandering in Darkness” begins trembling, saying the outside world is dangerous, terrifying, and that everyone seems to hate it.]

Because their souls were bound by the contract, if Eun Ha left the gate, the cat could no longer remain there either.

Eun Ha gazed at the violently shaking yellow window. Though her knowledge of divine beasts was shallow, she remembered hearing somewhere that cats are territorial animals.

“……Don’t be afraid. It’s all right.”

At her indifferent murmur, the window trembling like an aspen tree suddenly stopped.

A few seconds later.

[The divine beast “Cat Wandering in Darkness” cautiously asks if you have come to hate it. Its golden eyes look exceedingly sad.] [The divine beast “Cat Wandering in Darkness” sponsors you 100,000 coins as an apology. Would you like to put them in your bag? ▶ Yes / No]

Eun Ha, momentarily lost in other thoughts, turned back to the yellow window.

Though only text, though the cat’s form was invisible, she could clearly picture it utterly dejected.

Staring at the message window, Eun Ha spoke in an even tone.

“No matter the outcome, the fact remains that I was able to escape that place because of you.”

[The divine beast “Cat Wandering in Darkness” perks up its ears. Its triangular ears twitch happily.]

“Still, I’ll accept this.”

Eun Ha pressed the floating “Yes” button. She didn’t yet know what coins were used for, but she felt they would surely be useful someday.

[You have acquired 100,000 coins!]

A triumphant fanfare utterly unsuited to the moonlit, silent room rang out.

That night, until the moment she finally fell asleep, Eun Ha was tormented by loud purring.

Several days passed.

Si Woo gave Eun Ha a room for several days, saying she must be suffering severe physical and mental shock—and that he bore some responsibility for her having fainted.

He truly kept his word not to pry until she felt ready.

He certainly did not seem a bad person. Though their first meeting had been like that, he appeared to genuinely care for Eun Ha.

Inside the spacious room he had provided, Eun Ha sat on the edge of the bed, blankly staring out the window. Far away, she seemed to hear the faint cry of a baby bird. The sunlight stabbing at her eyes made her slowly turn her head.

The realization that thirty years had passed grew stronger, and what followed was emptiness.

Suddenly a booklet as thick as a dictionary entered her vision. The one placed motionless on the table—

‘Just in case you’re curious.’

She had received it from Si Woo yesterday afternoon.

Below it was stamped the seal of the Hunter Administration Association.

He had said she could burn it if she didn’t need it, but Eun Ha had left it on the table as it was.

She lightly touched the first page with her finger, then stopped. Her sunken black eyes trembled faintly.

‘Friend.’

The cat had said it was Eun Ha’s one and only friend.

Eun Ha too had friends. Comrades from training camp who fought together for a better future. Colleagues inside the gate who entrusted their backs to one another.

Their current fates must be recorded somewhere in that thick registry.

It took a full day before she finally opened the first page. Under the indifferent moonlight instead of fluorescent light, Eun Ha cautiously turned the pages.

Her hand stopped at page 113.

That day. The day Eun Ha was trapped.

· Cha Eun Ha – Deceased

Her name, as the squad leader at the time, was listed at the very top. It seemed the world believed Cha Eun Ha had died.

She had not emerged for years—thirty years in outside time. The declaration of death had been inevitable.

Eun Ha’s jet-black eyes slowly traced the letters downward.

· Song Ha Bin – Deceased

· Park Gyu Yeol – Deceased

· Kim Seong Min – Deceased

Trying hard to ignore the faces, voices, and expressions of her comrades that rose anew in her mind, she turned the page again.

· Choi Jeong-i

· Kim Gyu Chan

· Lee Yeon Hwa

Biting her lower lip hard,

she turned the page once more.

· Choi Ji Yong

· Yang Ha Neul

· Kwon Hye Ju – Deceased

Merely seeing those names listed indifferently caused the nightmarish memories of that day to replay vividly before her eyes.

The hand gripping the registry tightly left deep creases as if about to tear the pages. She no longer wanted to look at this thing.

The moment she bit her lip and was about to hurl the registry away in fury,

a short line of text at the very bottom of the page caught her eye.

· Baek Yi Jun – Survived