I double-checked the writer’s ID, but no matter how many times I read it, the letters remained the same.
Gu Seohyeong. The fact that the name of the enchanter is here must mean one thing.
***
Tang, tang, tang.
A sound of something splattering echoes across the cold marble table. This was the explosive noise that occurs when an enchanter infuses magic into equipment.
– Hunter, what brings you here…?
– Perhaps permission…
However, moments later, the commotion outside the workshop grew so loud that it drowned out the enchanting sounds. However, the enchanter seemed to expect this and spoke to the guards nearby.
“Is there an S-class hunter outside?”
“Yes?”
“If so, please let him in. Ah, I’m sorry, but could you all step aside for a moment?”
Soon, Gu Seohyeong was able to have a private meeting with the guest who arrived at the workshop.
Standing before her was a man with bright hair and monolid eyes. It was none other than Kim Kiryeo, who had once introduced himself as an F-rank Hunter, now visiting the Enchanter’s workshop.
“Wow, you came so quickly. Were you in front of the association when you called earlier?”
The Enchanter adjusted her glasses and attempted to lighten the mood with a casual remark. However, the response she received was somewhat stiff, indicating an underlying tension in the air.
“Gu Seohyeong.”
Kiryeo first asked a question. In a way, it wasn’t an exaggeration to say that he had come all this way just to confirm this.
“Were we classmates?”
“Mhm.”
“But why haven’t you told me until now?”
The brown-haired woman answered calmly.
“…You were the one who pretended not to know me first.”
Is the sadness felt in this sentence merely an error in judgment by the alien? The wizard, who has taken over a human body, momentarily panics at the other’s words, but Seohyeong continues in a grumbling voice.
“Anyway, you haven’t changed a bit. Is it because I’ve become too pretty for you to recognize me? Huh?”
“Ah.”
“If there was something I had changed, I wouldn’t feel so wronged. Honestly, I thought you had completely forgotten about me, so it felt a bit awkward to show it all this time. You know?”
However, there was no response. The blonde S-rank hunter merely stood there, staring at Seohyeong’s face.
‘Hmm…’
Honestly, from this side’s perspective, it’s enough to drive anyone crazy. To finally meet someone who had been close to the body’s original owner, who would have thought that his memories wouldn’t come back even after meeting him face to face like this?
‘Anyway, it’s clear that we’re definitely classmates, right? Yeah. So that’s why that Earthling suddenly suggested we drop the formalities.’
After a brief moment of hesitation, the alien archmage finally opened his mouth.
“Seohyeong-ah.”
“Why?”
“Can you tell me how close we were during our school days?”
“What?”
“I’m sorry, but I forgot all about that.”
The most urgent task now was to fill in the gaps in his memory.
He was eager to gather information about the body, even if it meant relying on someone else. Gu Seohyeong readily agreed to fulfill the request of her classmate.
“Do you forget things easily?”
Anyway, willingly
***
The story returns to the time when Gu Seohyeong was in her third year of middle school, at the moment when she was threatened by delinquents and a certain male student helped him.
“Hey! What are you guys doing?”
First, let her explain the background. Gu Seohyeong and Kim Kiryeo were in the same class during their third year of middle school. However, Seohyeong didn’t memorize his name until the end of the first semester. That’s understandable, because she had never had a separate conversation with her classmate Kim Kiryeo before this incident.
“Are you okay?”
“….”
“For now, let’s stay away from those guys.”
The person with attendance number 1 was a so-called quiet student. He didn’t cause trouble, nor did he stand out in any particular way. He was always in the corner of the classroom, blending in and going about his school life quite quietly.
“The police will be here soon.”
Gu Seohyeong listened to the voice trying to reassure her as she read the name tag in front of her.
[Kim Kiryeo]
And she decided to remember the name of the student who saved her, thinking she would always be grateful to him. This was the first impression of him that remained in Seohyeong’s mind.
But one day, Gu Seohyeong noticed that the student she remembered had come to school looking different from his usual self.
The edges of pain relief patches were faintly visible above his uniform. If he had so many patches on his body, did he suddenly start exercising intensely recently?
A few days later, Seohyeong found out the truth about the patch and was utterly furious. The truth was, Kim Kiryeo hadn’t been exercising at all, but rather, because of the incident that day, he had gotten into serious trouble with the school bullies.
“What? This was all because of them?!”
Gu Seohyeong had been mistaken about the reason she was no longer being bullied. After she had threatened to report them if they messed with her one more time, surprisingly, the bullies stopped bothering her.
“These crazy guys…”
However, the reason things had quieted down around her was simply because, behind the scenes, the target had changed. The group that used to bully her had shifted their attention to Kim Kiryeo. In fact, they were now using even more violence than before.
“I really can’t take it anymore! I don’t care if it makes headlines or not, I’m going to expose everything. Kiryeo, report it right now! And get the school violence committee involved too!”
Gu Seohyeong, saddened by the fact that even the friend who had helped her was now suffering, cried. She was determined to punish the bullies, even if it meant enduring the unwanted attention of the public.
“That’s enough.”
However, only one student firmly stopped him.
“Just leave it alone.”
Eight years ago, Kiryeo had said, “You’re going through a really tough time right now, wouldn’t it be too much to worry about this? It’s not like anything is broken, so honestly, I’m not sure if the teachers will even take this seriously. And lastly, I want to mention that I’d also prefer not to escalate this matter due to my personal circumstances.”
“We’ll be graduating soon anyway.”
The tone of the boy’s voice felt almost transcendental, as if he were an S-class hunter from eight years in the future.
“Still…”
Gu Seohyeong tried to persuade him to report it several more times after that, but the other person was quite stubborn.
Moreover, a few days later, he told her not to talk to him anymore. He suggested that it would be better to keep her distance, as the group would spread strange rumors if a celebrity got too close to someone of the opposite sex.
“You can stop pretending to know each other now.”
At this point, their relationship was worse than before the incident.
‘Does this kid hate me?’
As a child, Gu Seohyeong briefly questioned this. If Kiryeo didn’t want to get close to a celebrity, then why did he muster the courage to save her?
As you know, school violence is predicated on the presence of many bystanders. Helping the victim of bullying can put them at risk of becoming the next target—something that actually happened to Kim Kiryeo—so most people are forced to remain silent.
“Why did you step forward?”
But Kiryeo answered this question quite simply.
“Oh, actually, I was bullied for a short time in elementary school too, you know?”
“Ah.”
“But when I see all the students gathered in the playground on days like the sports festival, I can’t help but feel this way.”
“What do you mean?”
“If only there was one person on my side out of all those students, I would have no more wishes.”
Really, just one person.
He continued the conversation normally.
“So I’ve just thought about it since then. I decided that when I see someone struggling in the future, I won’t ignore them…”
Kiryeo said that his intervention was purely for his own satisfaction, and since he was content with the outcome, he told her not to worry about it anymore. With statements like these, his character could be naturally inferred.
“I see.”
Kim Kiryeo was a good student. Moreover, he was a precious connection that helped Gu Seohyeong endure her hellish middle school years.
However, that childhood friend saved her once again as an adult.
“I was really surprised when I put on my glasses and saw your face.”
Finishing her recollection, Seohyeong tied her disheveled hair back up again.
“By the way, Kiryeo, you haven’t changed at all, have you? You’ve always been so blunt, just like before~”
She started reminiscing in a bright tone, but somehow, as the story progressed, her expression gradually grew dimmer.
“It’s the same when you see someone in need and help them.”
And the reason Seohyeong’s expression darkened was.
“I still remember what kind of person you were…”
Kim Kiryeo hadn’t recognized her at all when they reunited. The experiences they shared, her name, and even her face—none of that seemed to matter much to that S-class hunter. Thinking about it made her feel rather depressed.
“Wait a minute.”
But at that moment, the man sitting across from Seohyeong noticed her expression and said casually,
“Gu Seohyeong, there’s something you need to know. This is a bit of a secret, but…”
“Huh?”
“The reason I didn’t remember you is due to a sort of pathological issue.”
He was confessing the truth.
“I lost my memory.”
“What?”
“I lost my memories haphazardly due to brain damage. For a while, I even forgot my own name.”
The creature wearing someone else’s skin comforted Seo-hyung as he said that.
“Anyway, that’s why I didn’t recognize you… If I had been in my right mind, I probably would have recognized you right away. So please don’t take this too personally.”
In response, Seohyeong’s eyes widened in shock as she asked back.
He lost his memory?
“Oh, wait. Memory loss?! Did that happen while you were working as a hunter?”
The man in the suit nodded slightly at the question.
Strictly speaking, it wasn’t entirely incorrect since Kim Kiryeo had reincarnated after completing his registration as a hunter.
“Oh my gosh! I heard your job was dangerous, but I never imagined you went through something so serious…!”
Seohyeong muttered with a serious expression, but then the alien archmage smoothly changed the subject.
“Don’t worry. I’m a lot better now. As you can see, I’m doing fine in my daily life.”
“I, is that so?”
“Anyway, since this is the case, would you mind telling me more about my past?”
“Ah.”
“I thought I might remember something if I listened to you.”
However, Seohyeong made a troubled expression.
“Sorry, all I know is up to my third year of middle school…”
Of course, she didn’t know much about Kim Kiryeo’s past either.
“You were the one who kept your distance from me, and that happened the year we became high school students.”
“Dungeon Shock?”
Seohyeong nodded and recalled the past.
“Of course, after the shock had subsided, I remembered the email where we used to exchange video files and tried to contact you, but… at that time, you didn’t reply.”
Up to this point, Kim Kiryeo’s whereabouts after entering high school are completely unknown.
“That’s why I thought you were dead.”
Why hadn’t Kiryeo checked that email? Seohyeong wanted to ask that if he were alive, he should have at least replied to her, but she quickly stopped.
‘No, there might have been some circumstances. Kiryeo must be frustrated not remembering right now, so I shouldn’t put any pressure on him.’
It’s okay. No matter how fate has twisted, she has ultimately reunited with her benefactor.
Gu Seohyeong looked at the blonde awakener dressed in a suit and smiled casually.
“Anyway, do you know how shocked I’ve been lately? Hey, you said you were F-rank, and then suddenly you show up as an S-rank hunter…”
Her old friend wasn’t much different from the one in her memories.
The sharp Sambaegan eyes. While she couldn’t say it was a good thing, it certainly left a strong impression on her mind.
Seohyeong stared at Kiryeo and said,
“Still, I was really happy when I heard that you were an S-class.”
As she spoke, a faint glimmer of tears gathered at the corners of her eyes while she smiled.
“I’ve always thought that good people like you would do well in the future.”
“….”
“But I never thought this would actually happen.”
However, there was no response. For some reason, the blond man had been staring at the window without saying a word since earlier.
“Wow, look at me! Can you wait here for a moment? By the way, I have an enchantment I need to finish this morning. I’ll be right back!”
While Gu Seohyeong went off to work, the man sitting in the corner seemed lost in thought.
Tuk, tuk.
He tapped his index finger against the table, creating a rhythmic sound.
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