Black was the first one to move. Without saying anything, he entered the portal and vanished.

After his disappearance, Fox clicked her tongue.

"Good."

To her response, Tan also added, "Yeah. Less gravity-related trauma for the rest of us."

Despite his complaint, there wasn’t much hostility in his voice anymore. It sounded more like the exhausted grumbling of someone who had barely survived.

Shortly after Black, the three of us also followed him out. And the moment my body passed through the portal, a familiar sensation swept across my skin.

The world twisted, and my vision turned dark for a moment, then we emerged back into reality.

Fresh air soon entered my lungs. The smell of dirt and grass replaced the smell of blood and the temperature dropped noticeably.

The sun was already descending toward the horizon. Golden-orange light covered the world while long shadows stretched across the ground.

We had spent far more time inside than I initially thought.

The Gate behind us rotated with more intensity and soon vaporized into nothingness. And after walking a little ahead, Tan also placed me down.

I tried to keep myself standing on my feet but it was a little difficult as my legs began to shake under the pressure of my weight. Yet, I didn’t let myself fall back down.

Phew~

Subconsciously, I quietly took a step away from the others. The first thing I wanted right now wasn’t money or rewards. And it definitely wasn’t another Gate.

I wanted to go home. My thoughts naturally drifted toward a girl who probably had no idea how close I had come to dying today.

"You."

Fox sheathed her daggers and glanced toward Black.

Hearing her, Black pointed at himself and, to confirm, repeated, "Me?"

"Try not to develop another personality in our next mission."

"I don’t have multiple personalities."

Black tried to dodge the conversation but it was difficult since it was two against one.

"You absolutely do," Tan immediately added.

Black opened his mouth then closed it. And ultimately decided not to argue.

Soon afterward, the group naturally split apart.

Tan left first. Fox followed not long after, but Black remained standing for a few moments before looking toward me.

"You got stronger."

His words made my body stiffen slightly. However, before I could answer, he continued.

"Not physically."

If I hadn’t gotten stronger physically, then what did he mean by me getting stronger?

"Your eyes changed."

Then without another explanation, he turned around and walked away. I stared at his back for several seconds.

Honestly, the more I learned about him, the less I understood.

Eventually, after giving up, I let out a sigh.

Whatever his secret was, it wasn’t my problem right now. I had more important things to do.

So I started walking home.

... 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎

The sky gradually darkened as I made my way through the city. Street lamps began lighting up one after another as people also returned from work.

Everything felt strangely peaceful compared to what had happened only a few hours ago.

Yet despite the calm surroundings, my guard remained raised.

More specifically... toward Elena. I just hoped she wasn’t home or hadn’t found out about what I did today, which I thought was impossible for someone like her. Because, somehow she knows everything.

Still, after everything that happened inside the Gate, the last thing I wanted was another problem waiting for me inside the villa.

So when I finally arrived at the front gate, I immediately became cautious.

Slowly, I entered.

The garden was quiet as always. There were no signs of movement or any strange noises.

After reaching the door, I entered the villa itself. Then I found out that the living room, the kitchen, and the dining room were all empty.

However, only after checking several rooms did I finally relax.

’She isn’t here. Thank God.’

Without wasting another second, I immediately headed upstairs.

Step.

Step.

Step.

My pace gradually increased and turned into a jog, then into a run. The exhaustion from the Gate didn’t matter anymore.

All I wanted was to see one person.

Soon, I arrived outside Viora’s room. And without making any noise, I slowly opened the door.

Click.

The room was dimly lit by the soft orange glow entering through the window.

For a moment, I simply stood there without entering and when I did, my eyes found her.

She was curled up beneath a blanket while the evening sunlight painted parts of her face gold.

My shoulders relaxed immediately and strange feelings spread through my chest which were relief, warmth, and comfort.

I don’t know how long I stood there staring at her.

Maybe seconds... Maybe minutes... But for some reason, I didn’t want to look away from her. Not yet.

Then, when my body had finally reached its limit of standing, I slowly walked toward the bed and carefully sat down beside her.

The mattress sank slightly beneath my weight, which made Viora stir and her eyelashes tremble as a frown appeared on her sleeping face.

For a second, I thought she would wake up.

Instead, she simply shifted closer. Her hand moved across the blanket as she was searching and looking for something.

Or rather... for someone.

Eventually, her fingers found my blood-drenched sleeve.

The moment they did, her expression relaxed completely and a small smile appeared on her face.

"...Love... You..."

As I heard those words, I froze and leaned in closer to hear more.

’Love me? Is she dreaming about me? Please let it be me.’ I hoped inwardly.

"Mommy... Daddy... Love you..."

Hearing her words, the smile on my face vanished instantly.

"..."

I don’t know what I was expecting.

Maybe I wanted to hear my name.

Maybe I wanted to believe she was dreaming about me.

But in the end, the person she was looking for wasn’t me at all. It was them; her parents. The people she could never see again.

I had almost forgotten something important.

To me, Viora was a character from a story.

To me, her tragic past was something I had read on a screen.

But for her, it was her whole life.

The orange sunlight continued pouring through the window while evening slowly turned into night.

Sitting there and hearing her talk about her parents, I realized that I had a very long way ahead of me if I wanted to live peacefully and make a safe world for Viora.