Real World.
Seojin woke to pale light pressing through the blinds and the faint hum of the city coming back online.
It was Morning.
His throat was dry; his limbs felt oddly light, like he'd slept for a week and an hour at the same time.
"Right…," he muttered, rubbing his eyes. "Time runs faster in there."
Faster—always faster—but by how much? No one knew. It shifted like weather: sometimes a few hours in the real world bled into a whole day over there, sometimes more. The only constant was that the time in GFS was faster.
He swung his legs off the bed—then froze.
Someone was in the room.
A figure sat in a chair beside him, copper-ginger hair catching the morning glow, chin tipped toward his face like she'd fallen asleep watching him.
Her curls had settled into soft, plush waves over her shoulders, a few wispy bangs feathering her brow. Up close, the rest of her features fell into place: a tidy heart-shaped face; a small, upturned nose; full lips relaxed in sleep. Her eyes were closed, but the shape of them—almond and long-lashed—still read as warm even in the dim.
"Eunha-" The name tore out before he caught it. His pulse jumped. His hand moved on its own.
But his fingers passed through her like fog.
He exhaled, jaw tightening as the little scare bled into a colder expression.
"Tch."
He couldn't wake her or throw her out. He couldn't do anything except look at the ghost of someone who wasn't a ghost.
He sighed, got up, and went to the bathroom. Instead of wasting time, he gave up caring about her for now.
A quick hot shower, just enough to wash off the sweat and clear his head. He ate standing at the counter—cold rice, kimchi, and a fried egg.
And Done, Seojin was ready to go back in.
Since Eunha was in the bedroom, he did not go there and came to the living room.
Seojin pulled the blinds halfway, the room slipping into a comfortable dim. He sat, leaned back, and let out a long breath.
"Wait for me," he said, voice cold and steady. "We will meet soon, Eunha.....Hyunwoo."
He closed his eyes and, slowly, reality started losing weight—sounds dulled until there was silence… only to be broken a heartbeat later.
[Welcome to Gods' Fallen Sanctum]
Seojin was gone. Loki was back.
"I should message Haeun and get rid of all this stuff quickly. Then I can turn on the portal", he muttered while opening the friend list.
"Loki-nim!" The voice landed steady and rough-edged.
Seojin looked over his shoulder. and saw Sergeant Han, striding up with his party.
"You're finally here, Loki-nim," Sergeant Han said. "We had no way to contact you, so we waited."
"My bad, I forgot to send a friend request." Seojin then sent him a friend request. "Call me next time."
"I will, Loki-nim," said Sergeant Han with a short nod.
"Oh, and I didn't introduce myself earlier", Sergeant Han put his hand forward, "Han Joon-seok, Sergeant, Seoul Metropolitan Police, Organized Crime & Kidnapping Task Force. Most call me Sergeant Han."
"Nice to meet you, Sergeant Han. I am Loki," Seojin said, and left it there.
Sergeant Han read the signal and asked no more.
"Can we buy now? We pooled a decent amount of TLE."
Seojin nodded, knelt, and brought out the common and uncommon goods.
"Whoa—look at this haul!" the greatsword warrior breathed.
"There are uncommon skill books!" the assassin—Minho—lit up. "My skill can jump two tiers!"
"Ah… I don't think we can afford all of—" the mage started, overwhelmed.
Most of them had seen only crude and the occasional common. Staring down a spread of uncommon-tier loot made them jump in joy like kids.
"Oi, quit acting like kids", said Sergeant Han in a playful tone.
Seojin noticed the sergeant wasn't picking anything.
"You're not buying?", he asked.
Han scratched his cheek, almost sheepishly, "I gave my TLE to the kids, haha."
'This guy.'
Seojin clicked his tongue, then tossed Han a set: uncommon warrior armor, gloves, boots.
"Take it."
"I can't accept without paying. The kids said this is—"
"Useless to me," Seojin cut in. "You can come and pay me later."
Han's silence held a beat, then: "…Thank you, Loki-nim." The gratitude sounded like something hauled up from the ribs.
When the party finished buying what they needed, they waved and headed out. Seojin tallied 120 TLE from the sales.
He was about to contact Haeun again when another voice cut in.
"Um, Mister Loki, can we buy now?" a mage girl asked, hopeful.
He looked up. At some point, a ring had formed—dozens of players, expectant.
'Sigh. Doing this one by one will be a pain.'
He was about to start anyway when a stroke of crimson caught his eye.
She didn't enter the plaza; it felt more like the plaza realized she'd been there longer than it had. Haeun sat on a broken stone bench—legs crossed, posture effortless. A black bolero gleamed under the town's ash light; a crimson drape fell in a disciplined line, pooling like a tame flame. One gloved hand rested on her knee; the other was under her chin, supporting her cold yet beautiful face.
When her gaze found Seojin and his her, she nodded. The smallest angle at her lip: not a smile—recognition.
… She was here? Since when?
"Sorry. Prior engagement," Seojin said, and cast [Vanish].
"Ah—Mister Loki, wait—!" the mage girl called, but he was gone.
He appeared in front of Yoon Haeun.
"It's good to see you again, Miss Haeun".
"You as well, Mister Loki," she replied—unhurried, cool as shade.
"Shall we—"
She pinched the seam of her glove into place and cut in, neat as a wire.
"Before we trade, how will you be compensating me for the breach of contract?"
Seojin paused. "Breach? Contract?"
"As before," she said, calm as if reciting the weather. "You bring the loot, and I pay you after looking at everything. We talked bulk, and I paid a little extra up front—which, in business, acts like a retainer. That usually means I get first look before you sell to anyone else. You sold to others first."
'Is that how contracts work?' Seojin wondered.
He didn't know. He'd studied Korean Literature, dropped out in the third semester because of having no money, and learned to survive through hard work; he had no knack for negotiation. In front of him stood Yoon Haeun, Heiress to the Yoon Group, one of Korea's top five chaebols. If she called it a contract, it felt like a contract. He believed her. He believed he'd actually breached it.
"I'm sorry to have broken your trust, Miss Haeun," he said at last. He drew out a Rare mage skill book and a staff, holding them out. "Will these be enough to make it right?"
Haeun studied him for a few seconds.
Haeun studied him for a long, quiet second—eyes steady, measuring."…Trust doesn't come back that way, Mister Loki," she said, voice soft but unyielding.
Remembering all the rumors about her from his previous life, Seojin knew she would not let this go. So he was debating how to handle this situation so it would not become a pain later on.
'Should I just ki— No'.The thought hit a wall as soon as it formed. 'I don't kill people because they're inconvenient. Not even if I can.'
'And it seems like it is my fault...I think',
"There is a way to earn it back and continue our partnership," Haeun said, cutting neatly through his silence."
A faint curve touched one corner of her mouth—too slight to be a smile, too deliberate to be chance. Her gaze sharpened like a hunter sighting movement in tall grass. When she spoke, it was low, velvet-calm:
"Take me to hunt a Rare-tier boss with you."
Seojin frowned under his hood.