*
Lee Hyun disappeared, engulfed in a wave of light.
While everyone was bewildered by Lee Hyun’s sudden disappearance, Sowol tightly clenched her fist.
“…He’s gone.”
“Saint! Where did Instructor Lee Hyun go!?”
“…He’s, he’s gone.”
The ominous feeling was indeed correct. After all, Lee Hyun had left. Struggling to hold back tears that threatened to spill, Lena spoke with difficulty.
“Boo… Huhuh… Uwaaaang!”
The tears that she had been trying to suppress burst forth.
Arisha, who didn’t want to show her tears to the departing Lee Hyun, ended up sobbing uncontrollably.
Students, noticing that the trio seemed to know something, rushed to ask, quickly uncovering the truth.
Lee Hyun was a person from another world and had ultimately returned to his own.
“Unbelievable…”
“So, even though he came from another world, he exerted himself to save this world…?”
The students sighed as they watched the trio struggling.
How could they comfort them?
Though they also liked Lee Hyun, it wasn’t to the extent of those three.
It must be painful.
It must be tormenting.
It must be difficult.
Seeing the trio grieving in their own ways, the students quietly stepped back.
Eventually, as only the trio remained in the auditorium, Sowol unfurled her tightly clenched fist.
“I will file for a leave of absence.”
There was no reason to stay at the academy without Lee Hyun.
And there was something that needed to be done.
“Lena, how much research have you done on Dimension Magic?”
“…Ah, it’s not perfect yet…”
“How much more research do we need?”
“…Well, I’m not sure…”
“If there’s anything you need, I will support you as much as possible.”
She would make full use of her position as a saint.
She would also leverage her status as the heir of the Eastern Trading Company.
She would do whatever it takes to find Lee Hyun.
Grinding her teeth, Sowol spoke seriously, and Lena slightly nodded.
“I-I want to help too…”
“…Ah, actually, I-I have something to ask. The King of Rights has broken through the dimensional wall before, right?”
“…I can do it too!”
When did she amass that much power?
Seeing the shocked expressions of the other two, Arisha clenched her fist tightly.
“I had a feeling that the teacher would leave one day. So… just in case, I trained with my uncle.”
“Well done. Then Arisha, you should join us.”
If she had the power to break the dimensional wall, it would surely be helpful.
Though they had rival feelings, it wouldn’t hurt to become allies working together from now on.
Sowol extended her hand towards Arisha, and she grasped it firmly.
“Shall we get started now?”
Hearing Sowol’s calm words, the trio headed towards the dean’s office.
The three of them, having filed for a leave of absence, moved busily.
All three possessed powers related to dimensions, but discovering a specific dimension and moving to it was no easy feat.
But still, they couldn’t give up on Lee Hyun.
The huge longing for him and a tiny bit of resentment.
And finally, the desire to confine him for sure if they caught him in another world.
Their respective hopes became the driving force to continue their arduous research.
A year passed.
Having poured everything they had into their efforts, they were finally ready for their first trial.
“Are we ready?”
“Y-Yes.”
“Yep!”
A massive magic circle formed in the colorless observatory set up in the ivory tower.
Standing inside it, the trio took deep breaths while Lena raised her staff.
Her magical power linked with the magic circle, beginning to emit light.
The light was similar to the one produced when Lee Hyun vanished.
“Ugh…?!”
At that moment, unknown memories flooded into her mind.
It was herself.
The self before meeting Lee Hyun.
After the Asura sect’s raid, the leader of the Eastern Trading Company, So Jongyang, was assassinated, and foolishly, she had allied with the assassins, not realizing they were from the Asura sect.
And terrible memories of becoming an absurd villain, tormenting someone and ultimately facing a dreadful end, invaded her mind.
‘Is this what it means to not meet my master…?’
Realizing that this was instinctively her original fate, Sowol let out a harsh cough.
At that moment, the light disappeared.
“What just happened?”
“It’s, a failure…”
If it had been successful, the dimensional wall would have been right in front of them.
But what they summoned this time was merely another dimension.
Looking at the apologetic Lena, Sowol sighed and shared the memories that flowed into her.
“I think I saw a Sowol in another dimension…”
“…So it was similar, at least. Alright, shall we try again?”
“Isn’t it hard?”
“I’m fine. This kind of thing.”
She had no interest in the version of herself that didn’t meet Lee Hyun.
By meeting someone precious, she had changed.
Sowol clenched and opened her fist, recalling the version of herself that met a terrible end.
There was no need to say which was the better life now.
Therefore, her longing for Lee Hyun only grew stronger.
“I’ll do it again.”
As her magic activated, light spread out once more.
This time, Lena saw herself in the light.
The self who had not met Lee Hyun.
Always alone in a dilapidated cabin, she had been dragged along by those who came to seek her and became the Witch of Silence, committing numerous evil deeds.
Upon seeing that horrific image, Lena dropped her magic staff.
“Lena?!”
“Did you see it too…?”
The version of herself that hadn’t met Lee Hyun.
Each time she recalled her sorrowful, lonely, and painful self, her heart ached.
“Boo… M-Master… Master…”
It was because of Lee Hyun that she was who she was today.
As Sowol reminisced about her longing for him, tears welled up in her eyes, and both Sowol and Arisha warmly embraced her.
“It’s almost time. Soon we’ll be able to meet Master. So…”
Let’s hold on a little longer.
Nodding at her words, Lena agreed. Right. They couldn’t just stop here.
They already knew that meeting the person they wanted to see wouldn’t be easy.
So, they’d just keep going.
Lena gritted her teeth and stood up.
“I’m going to try again.”
This time, she would surely confront the dimensional wall.
Clenching her teeth, Lena used her magic, and once more, a cluster of light enveloped them.
“A…”
Memories began to flow into Arisha as well.
The future when Lee Hyun hadn’t left.
The world where the Asura descended, crumbling before them, where everyone died and battled while feeling pain and despair.
‘Did the teacher know about this future…?’
Was that why Lee Hyun thought it so important to overthrow the Asura sect? She couldn’t know.
But everything would eventually resolve once she met Lee Hyun.
Arisha ignored the memories tormenting her and endured the light, and when it faded, a massive wall stood before her.
The dimensional wall that she had long sought.
“…Arisha. I’m counting on you.”
“W-If we break this, we can reach the place where Master is.”
Nodding to their exchange, she clenched her fist.
Her strength and magical power were collecting in her fist.
Watching in anticipation, Sowol and Lena swallowed hard as Arisha swiftly extended her fist.
– KWAANG!!
The wall blocking the gap between dimensions crumbled, revealing a bright white light.
The trio instinctively felt it.
That this was another dimension. The place where the person they so desperately wished for awaited.
“…Let’s go.”
Sowol stepped forward.
There was no hesitation or fear.
What she felt was only anticipation.
What would Lee Hyun say when they met? Would he be happy? Or would he be sad?
Whatever his emotions were, she had no intention of letting go now.
“As soon as we meet, I’ll think about how to confine the Master.”
“Before that, there’s something I want to do!”
At Arisha’s energetic remark, the two raised their eyebrows.
Holding them close, Arisha chimed in cheerfully.
“I’ll prove that the teacher is mine!”
She didn’t need to hear what that meant.
So Sowol and Lena smiled faintly, knowing they shared the same thought.
The light began to intensify. Suppressing their tension, they endured the light and found themselves in a large house.
It was quite spacious.
They arrived at a home filled with many unknown objects and looked for Lee Hyun but couldn’t find him.
Had they failed?
As Lena dropped an anxious hum, Arisha shouted.
“It’s the teacher!”
Pointing at a lifelike painting hanging on the wall, Arisha exclaimed.
In the painting, there was a man and a woman nearing old age.
“Who could it be?”
“Isn’t it… Master’s mother…?”
From the woman’s face, they could see traces of Lee Hyun.
As Sowol silently gazed at the painting of the seemingly pained woman, she fiddled with the artifact she had brought.
If she used the artifact’s power to heal her, could she recover?
“It seems like this is the teacher’s house?”
There was a photograph on the table featuring Lee Hyun and the woman.
Does that mean they had come to the right place?
Just as they felt a glimmer of hope, a noise suddenly erupted from the iron door.
– Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep!
When the tension-stricken trio turned their heads in that direction, the door swung open.
“Uh…? Why are you all here?”
At those words, the three burst into laughter and rushed toward him.
It was Lee Hyun.
Their beloved.
As they hugged him tightly, Lee Hyun looked quite flustered, and Arisha grinned and said, “Got you.”
“I-I’m not letting go anymore.”
“No, wait! Wait! What’s going on…?”
“Let’s talk later.”
Sowol closed the door and pulled him inside the room.
Throwing him onto the rather spacious bed, Sowol smirked faintly as she began to unbutton her shirt.
“Right now, that’s not the urgent matter.”
