The plane touched down, and gunshots erupted toward the monsters. An announcement played over the intercom, asking everyone to remain seated for a moment. Before long, the door opened and people began filing in.

“Dad!”

At the front was Gyeol. He ran straight to me and threw his arms around me.

“Gyeol! When did you get on?”

“I’m just going to see you for a bit and then leave. I brought the saintess.”

Behind Gyeol, Emily Spencer approached. She smiled and waved one arm in a grand gesture.

“Dreams really are wonderful. My stats are an F-rank, so my body couldn’t withstand the years.”

“Hello. Your Korean is really fluent.”

“It’s an item.”

“Gyeol brought the saintess here so she can use both skills and items! At least one person can manage it.”

Gyeol slipped out of my arms and glanced around at us one by one before fixing his gaze on Seong Hyunjae.

“There are a lot of monsters, so if anyone’s hurt, we’ll treat them.”

Seong Hyunjae’s ears must have been bothering him quite a bit. No matter how curtly he was treated, our kid is kind.

“It’s fortunate that so many people helped; there aren’t any injuries. Seong Hyunjae, what are you doing? Hurry up and come.”

Gyeol’s words made Seong Hyunjae turn his golden eyes—eyes I recognized from being on the receiving end—toward Gyeol. I reflexively pulled Gyeol back into my arms.

“How admirable.”

“Stay away from Gyeol.”

“I was just giving praise.”

Seong Hyunjae feigned offense and moved toward Emily.

“I’ve always avoided touching children, but now I’m even more cautious at the request of my dear partner. I’ve done well as a guardian.”

“Thirty years of no-contact enforced by yourself—thank you for that.”

“By that standard, Han Yujin would be a child too. Shall I offer to guard him again?”

“I’m thirty-one, and your own child isn’t an adult even at a hundred. Thirty is generous.”

Our Gyeol is so smart already; give him another thirty years of life experience and he could defeat a giant salamander easily. The saintess clapped in mock surprise when she saw Seong Hyunjae’s missing ears.

“You really tore off his ears. You should take care of your face; what a waste.”

Now there’s nothing left but the face anyway. Emily used a skill. Mana gathered on one side of Seong Hyunjae’s face like thick mist.

“Regeneration isn’t instant; it will take about five minutes. Now, everyone, line up. Even if I wake up, the skill will persist, so it’ll help you a bit.”

I felt a smooth yet powerful flow of mana. Protective, reinforcing, regenerative support skills poured over us. Though duration was extended and potency reduced, our bodies felt much lighter.

“And this is a potion made from dream-world materials.”

One of Emily’s bodyguards handed over a bag. It was full of small plastic bottles of water.

“There were no dungeon byproducts, so it’s just purified water with vitamin C plus a healing skill—only mid-to-low grade, though.”

“Thank you. So that’s a vitamin C potion.”

“No. It’s winter, after all. Good for preventing colds, and it tastes like lemon.”

“It’s like lemon tea when you heat it,” the saintess added with a smile. Meanwhile, Seong Hyunjae’s ears regenerated to normal. It was good to see him looking whole again. Gyeol looked wistful but still awoke from the dream with the saintess, and members from the «N.o.v.e.l.i.g.h.t» Hunter Association and other national agencies approached, laptops in hand.

“This is the result of our preliminary survey of the Alps,” a fluent Korean voice announced as a laptop screen came to life. The footage showed a massive castle perched at the edge of a snow-covered mountain range.

“It’s a castle that didn’t exist before, resembling Disney’s Sleeping Beauty Castle.”

…Sleeping Beauty? Should I call him the prince in this case? That Park Hayul is indeed a beauty, but still. Thorny brambles had grown thick around the castle.

“Skilled lucid dreamers attempted spatial teleportation into the castle, but all failed. Within a one-kilometer radius around the castle, dream-power based on imagination weakens.”

“This must be the place.”

It’s helpful to have confirmation. If it had been hidden somewhere remote, we’d have wasted all our time looking.

“We’ve prepared bulletproof vests. We recommend using cold weapons, but this area is like Korea—many people possess firearms. They’ll easily imagine and use guns. Therefore, grenades may be more dangerous than monsters. The vehicles are armored as well.”

“Can we block access around the castle?”

“Since dream-power is weak there, yes. Skilled lucid dreamers can fly or teleport elsewhere, so control outside this zone is impossible.”

“Everyone’s excited, too.”

It’s chaotic out there right now.

“Yes. That’s why there’s growing concern. If this world persists, some will abandon reality entirely.”

“Don’t worry. It’ll end in a few days at most. We can announce in advance: The dream world will disappear in about a week.”

If the system applies, we can prevent a repeat of this. After all, this is a virtual space created by transcendent power, not the real world. New recruits or other troublemakers will probably adjust it to be just an ordinary dream.

“Understood. Everyone will rush to take leave.”

I hope no one gets too absorbed. I want them to treat it like a vacation at most.

“Has anyone heard from Hunter Noah or Hunter Riette?”

Everyone shook their heads. No news yet—what could have happened? Thanks to Myeong-woo’s help, I could at least check my status window. My keywords were intact, so nothing seemed terribly wrong.

The prepared vehicles lined up in front of the plane, and we moved toward the stairs. Cheers erupted when people saw us. Monsters continued to spawn, but the moment they appeared, they were swallowed by the crowd. The monsters must feel like extras in a zombie movie. Since it’s a dream, they can throw themselves recklessly, and even if they die, they wake up and fall back asleep to return.

“SF! SF!”

“Reveur!”

“Get lost! Feet!”

I could catch curses starting with F in both SF and Dream. It sounded like someone shouted ‘I’m a hunter too’ just now. The translation item really is convenient. Yerim, sir supports unifying Korean worldwide, too.

“Don’t worry about the monsters!”

“We’ll catch them all! All kill!”

I heard quite a bit of Korean as well. Because of his size, Peace had to ride in a separate large vehicle, and the rest of us split into two cars. The vehicles began to move slowly. Even with horror resistance off, monsters still filled the streets and all manner of violent noises roared out, but I wasn’t scared at all. After all, as far as I looked out the window, everyone had happy faces. It felt like marching through the middle of a festival.

Reporters seemed to be working in the dream too—news played on small TVs attached to the cars. People with painted faces linked arms and sang. Elderly folks swapped their canes for old-style guns in unison. Others handed out balloons and snacks.

‘If only this ends well.’

If everyone can return with good memories, that would be enough.

[We’re preparing a mega concert in front of the Eiffel Tower.]

A voice crackled over the radio.

[We’ve lined up as many famous stars as possible. We’ll draw the public’s attention there and increase the number of soldiers to steer them away from monster hunting.]

“I want to see that too!”

“Then let’s go?”

At my words, Yerim’s face twisted.

“You’re still thinking of facing Park Hayul alone, aren’t you?”

Yuhyun quietly grabbed my arm. Hyunah clicked her tongue.

“Chief Han never changes.”

“She’s better than before, though. In the old days, she wouldn’t have said anything and would already be gone, ugh, Yuhyun. That hurts.”

“We should tie her up now.”

“Well, sister isn’t wrong, but…”

Mun Hyunah nodded slightly and continued.

“In reality, big brother is F-rank and the rest are S-rank, but here there’s not much difference.”

“Exactly.”

“Honestly, the rest could become a burden. Especially Park Hayul, since he’s only friendly to big brother. I’d have gone alone too.”

“Sister!”

At Yerim’s cry, Hyunah reached out and held Yerim around the throat. Yerim struggled, but Hyunah didn’t budge, stroking her hair roughly.

“Our Yerim is still young.”

“Ah, sister!”

“It’s a dream, so you can follow big brother~.”

“How cruel!”

“If you get caught, big brother won’t be able to move an inch.”

Yerim stopped struggling. She blinked slowly, then spoke.

“…I know I shouldn’t get caught. Uncle must have been thinking something bad at that time too.”

She seemed to mean when she was caught by the Mer-Queen. I felt like I should console her, but Yerim let out a big sigh.

“I got out fine, but I was really scared. Hey, Han Yuhyun.”

Yuhyun, who was clutching my arm, looked at Yerim.

“I think this time you should leave it to uncle.”

“……”

Yuhyun certainly understood. But being by my side was more important than the danger. When I said ‘together means death, apart means life,’ Yuhyun would choose the former. She might hesitate because it puts me in danger too.

“Let’s get closer first and then decide. I might be the only one who can enter the castle anyway.”

“That’s true. Maybe only big brother can open the door.”

Or Seong Hyunjae. But letting Seong Hyunjae in would be too risky. I can’t now go around begging, Please bring your little moon. Maybe I’ll bury Seong Hyunjae in an air-raid shelter somewhere.

The road narrowed and the crowd thinned. In their place filled fighter jets, helicopters, and infantry units. Under a sky where night and day were indistinguishable, the moonlight shone as always, high and aloof. I recalled the moonlight I’d faced countless eons ago. The night’s eyes that stared back at me.

‘We can’t resolve this with words now.’

Neither side could back down or yield. I can’t let go of my people. I have to bring back my little sister. The crescent moon wants to save the world. It’s trying to create a new source to prevent the world from consuming itself.

‘…Comparing it makes it so personal.’

If it weren’t my affair, I’d have told myself to step aside. I couldn’t help but wonder if it was right. But no matter how much I agonized, the conclusion remained the same. Even if I repeated this dozens of times by regression, I’d be doing the same thing each time. I’d struggle to embrace every person I met again, every sister who multiplied into dozens.

What else can I do when this is who I am.

“Is there anything to eat?”

I didn’t know. Let’s just have a snack.

“We’re here,” the commander, who looked East Asian, said as we stepped off the truck. It wasn’t Korean military uniform—was he Korean? Can a foreigner be a military commander? I’d never thought so; maybe he naturalized.

“That over there is Sleeping Beauty Castle.”

I saw the castle towering at the end of the range. Tall thorny hedges formed a fence around it, with a large gate. The path was wide and neatly paved like an illustration in a fairy tale. I took a step forward. Tilting my head skyward, I saw moonlight slanting down like a curtain drawn aside—avoiding the castle.

‘In this place, does Park Hayul’s power surpass the crescent moon’s?’

He might not be fully bound to the crescent moon yet. The monsters also refrained from approaching the castle.

“Let’s approach slowly,” said Hyunah, and we transferred into an open-topped military truck, advancing at a crawl. The moonlight circled just beyond a certain radius. Monster summoning stopped. We halted about a hundred meters from the castle.

“Seong Hyunjae and Director Song, absolutely do not enter.”

They’re the ones the crescent moon wants to capture—or eliminate. Nothing good can come from entering Park Hayul’s castle.

“Hwangrim, wait quietly too.”

“I adults have had plenty of time coming.”

Hwangrim grumbled that it wasn’t very fun. Even if Seong Hyunjae ignored him, Director Song probably did too. Seong Hyunjae didn’t seem particularly interested in Hwangrim either. Unless I paired them up, they wouldn’t interact.

“Peace, take care of Yuhyun and Yerim.”

—Kreung.

Peace, sensing he’d be left behind, thumped his tail in displeasure. Yuhyun also wore a sullen expression.

“I’ll go up to the gate with you.”

“Me too, uncle!”

“Just right up to the gate.”

It’s calm here, so it should be fine. Director Song looked at me with heavy eyes.

“Be careful.”

“Yes. Thank you, Director Song.”

I felt sorry asking both Seong Hyunjae and Hwangrim to stay behind. At least military officers and Korean hunters from Haeyeon and Sesung were preparing to go back in. Gyeol and Mari would combine their powers for a faint skill boost.

We made our way toward the gate. Since it’s a dream, Hyunah led the way, unharmed, and a few other hunters flanked us.

“Should we knock or something?”

Hyunah looked up at the gate. There probably wasn’t a doorbell—then came an irritating sound:

Knock knock—

Before we could react:

Crunch!

“Brother!”

Yuhyun screamed as her shoulder heated up. The thorny brambles writhed. Sharp-barbed vines lunged straight for Yuhyun but slammed into me instead. Damn Park Hayul.

“Block it!”

Hunters shouted as thorns began to rain down.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep