Ch. 16

***

I slowly got up from the spot and moved towards the entrance.

“Is someone coming?” I wondered, still half-awake.

Ever since I had started requesting the delivery food orders to “Please leave it in front of the door and text instead of ringing the bell,” the bell hadn’t rung once. With that in mind, I adjusted myself and moved forward slowly.

Ding-dong.

Just as I reached the entrance intercom, the bell rang again.

“…Who is it?”

On the screen of the intercom, there stood a woman I didn’t recognize from my memory.

She had a petite figure of about 160cm and a cute demeanor that seemed oddly foreign for a Korean. She had exotic features.

No, in fact, the person in my memory didn’t exist in this world to begin with.

“Who’s there?” I asked cautiously, adjusting the intercom.

“What did you say? Right now…” The woman spoke with a shocked expression.

“It’s me, Serin unnie! Your younger sister! Han Seo-yoon… How can you not recognize me…?”

She rattled off her name, seemingly her own, with a dismayed expression.

Han Seo-yoon.

The only contact saved under that name in my smartphone.

“My… younger sister…?” I echoed, feeling my head spin.

I vaguely recalled that the woman on the intercom must be my younger sister.

But how could I address this woman, Seo-yoon, who knew the ‘me’ who wasn’t me anymore?

Amidst various thoughts, I quickly opened the door.

Creak.

As the door opened, revealing my sleepy figure to the woman, Seo-yoon just stared blankly and uttered words.

“…Serin unnie.”

She looked at me with a face that could burst into tears at any moment. Her expression made me feel as if my head was going completely blank.

“Se… Seo-yoon…” I muttered, feeling awkward.

“Did you seriously not recognize me just now, Serin unnie? Is that really what happened?” She asked, sounding hurt.

“Oh, no. I just woke up, so I was a bit… I wasn’t fully awake.” I lied.

“That’s a valid excuse… No, seriously, what’s wrong with you, unnie? Have you been eating properly? Have you been taking care of yourself? You told me not to worry about you… that you were just taking a short break. You said that to me, didn’t you…?” She continued, poking at me.

I didn’t know how to respond to her. Her sad expression made me more bewildered.

‘What kind of relationship do I have with my sister, anyway?’

I didn’t know anything about the past actions of my former ‘self.’

“I… have been taking care of myself.” I said, trying to sound convincing.

“I mean… taking care of yourself like this? Look at yourself, looking so haggard as if you don’t care… about anything.” She said, grabbing my hand.

I was startled by her touch, but she didn’t seem to notice.

“…Your hands are even skinnier than when we last met. You promised to eat properly, right? But you look even thinner now. You promised to eat properly with me.” She said, sounding betrayed.

But I eat what two people eat in a day.

I couldn’t bring myself to say it out loud, so I tried to respond to Seo-yoon somehow.

“I… I just woke up, that’s all. I’m eating properly.”

“What’s the matter, Serin unnie? Did you really just wake up?” She asked, sounding concerned.

“Oh, yeah.”

“You woke up at 4 p.m.?”

Seo-yoon’s question was more than just a question. Even Serin, who had little experience with women, could sense that Seo-yoon was probing the reason behind her late awakening.

“…Seo, Seo-yoon? I was tired yesterday. I went to bed late.”

“Sis, are you really staying home all day? Pretending nothing’s wrong? You haven’t eaten yet, have you?”

Was I someone who neglected my diet? Meeting my sister for the first time, I felt like she was obsessed with my eating habits.

“Well, I just woke up.”

“Fine, move aside. Let me in. Serin unnie, you’re living like this again because I’m not watching you… sigh.”

Serin stepped aside as her sister entered the house.

She noticed the huge bag her sister was carrying.

Vegetables like leeks poked out of the bag, indicating that her sister, Seo-yoon, had planned to cook something.

…This world’s sister was similar to my past sister.

Seeing Seo-yoon like this, I thought that.

At the same time, I bit my lip and clenched my hand.

‘…’

Emotions welled up in my heart.

I didn’t want to think about it, but I couldn’t help avoiding memories of my sister.

Seeing my other younger sister appear so suddenly, I was reminded of the past.

I let out a self-deprecating sigh as my younger sister walked into the house.

……

Bubbling.

The sound of stew boiling.

Chop-chop-chop!

The cheerful sound of vegetables being chopped or the knife hitting the cutting board filled the space.

Han Seo-yoon.

Her younger sister’s appearance was unfamiliar, but the more Serin looked, the more familiar she felt.

She felt like she had seen this person for a long time. She felt like she was not a stranger, but a real ‘family.’

With that thought, Serin laughed bitterly.

She had forgotten her own sister’s face, yet she called her ‘family.’

Her thoughts were absurd.

Then, her younger sister turned to her.

She wore an apron and had a stern look in her eyes.

She looked at Serin with dissatisfaction, whether she noticed the dust in the kitchen or not.

“…Serin unnie, you’re not even cleaning up?”

Honestly, it was cute. Even if she said that with her small stature and cute face, it wasn’t scary at all.

“Recently… I’ve been busy.”

Seeing Seo-yoon like that, Serin blurted out words that sounded sincere to Seo-yoon.

She had fallen into this world, lost in thought, wasting time.

She had accepted the reality of being trapped in this world.

She had solved every meal with delivery food and stayed at home, using only the computer.

She had learned about this world gradually. But she had never stepped out of this house.

Maybe she didn’t realize that this world scared her.

In the world of Dark Ark, she had reached the peak of power, looking down on everyone.

She had enjoyed fighting monsters, fearing nothing in the world.

But now, she was no longer that person.

She had been thrown into this world suddenly, stripped of everything she had achieved in the world of Dark Ark, even her power. Now, she was just Han Serin, a mere woman.

“You can go back now. You’ve suffered enough. You don’t have to endure any more pain.”

…Even now, several days later, she remembered the words that an unknown entity had given her as she was sent back.

“…Serin unnie! Serin unnie!?”

She snapped out of her reverie, realizing that she had been lost in thought while her younger sister waved her hand in front of her.

She had fallen into this world and spent more and more time in her own head, a fact that Han Serin herself knew.

“…Hm?”

“Unnie… What’s wrong? Are you okay? I’ve been calling you several times, but you didn’t answer. I’m so worried, why are you like this?”

Her sister held her hand tightly, showing her concern. Han Serin smiled warmly and shook her head gently.

“I just had some things on my mind, that’s all. Seo-yoon… Don’t worry too much.”

“What’s up, Serin unnie? You smiled so suddenly, I’ve never seen you smile like that before.”

“Did I not smile often?”

“No, you never smiled like that before.”