The Dimensional Swordmaster C5

Chapter 5 How I Ended Up in Another World (5)

In the end, Gong Siyoung surrendered. When the guild master gives an order, there’s no room for negotiation.

He knew better than anyone—because they were brothers—that Gong Sijin was the kind of man who could smile warmly while beating someone half to death.

Though his lips jutted out in defiance and his eyes gleamed with restrained irritation, Siyoung obediently followed his brother’s command.

It hadn’t even been that long since they’d last parted, and now he had to face that lunatic again. Pressing his aching forehead with his fingertips, Siyoung made his way to the location his brother had mentioned.

The Yeollak Guild operated out of a ten-story private building.

The first and second floors housed the lobby, lounge, cafeteria, and café—comfort facilities for hunters. The third to fifth floors were offices, the sixth floor was for meetings, the seventh held training rooms, and the upper floors—eighth through tenth—were reserved for the guild’s executives.

Gong Sijin had taken Yurian to the sixth-floor conference room. Told that the man was waiting there, Siyoung quickened his pace.

He walked down the quiet corridor and stopped in front of Conference Room 2. The moment he opened the door, loud chatter burst out to greet him.

“No, but listen! Back when I first became a Hunter, things weren’t like this! Kids these days have no discipline, I tell you!”

“Oh, there he goes again! Senior Choi, you’re overreacting! What’s with all this talk about first-gen and second-gen like we’re talking about old cell phones?”

Choi Youngun and Kim Taeseung—Gong Sijin’s most trusted aides—were bickering animatedly. Between them sat Yurian, chiming in with occasional comments.

“So this side’s second generation? And that side’s first?”

“There’s a class difference! I mean, look at dungeons these days—they’re practically easy mode! Back in my day, we had nothing! If you were unlucky, you could be stuck inside for months, even years, until you cleared it!”

“Years? No, I get it, but seriously, if you spend years locked up fighting nonstop, your mind’s gonna break! That’s not even humanly possible!”

“Exactly! Things are way too comfortable these days!”

At Youngun’s nostalgic rant, Taeseung interjected heatedly.

“There he goes again…! But hey, our generation has its own struggles too, you know!”

As the two men squabbled, Yurian laughed and grabbed their hands, pressing them together as if to make them reconcile. In an instant, the tense air dissolved.

“Hunters really have it rough, huh? It’s always the ones at the bottom who get run ragged.”

“Right? We’re the ones breaking our backs while the guild—”

“…What do you think you’re doing?”

Siyoung’s voice cut sharply through the room. Caught mid-sentence while badmouthing the guild, Choi Youngun flinched, shoulders stiffening.

“Haha, ah, Hunter Siyoung—you’re here?”

As if nothing had happened, Kim Taeseung also straightened up instantly, posture perfect. Yurian, on the other hand, merely looked on with amusement, fascinated by how quickly their attitudes flipped.

“Oh, right! I totally forgot about the briefing! Well, I’ll be off then!”

“Yes, I should get going too. Thank you for your time, Hunter Siyoung.”

Both men bowed hastily and made for the door. Yurian waved cheerfully after them.

“See you later!”

“Hang tight! Next time, I’ll take you to the best restaurant—!”

Taeseung’s voice faltered halfway as he caught Siyoung’s glare. Pretending not to notice, he shut the door in a hurry.

Once the room fell silent again, Siyoung slowly turned to Yurian.

“…What exactly were you all talking about?”

They’d barely known each other an hour, and yet the mood in the room had felt like an old class reunion.

Neither Choi Youngun nor Kim Taeseung were easy to talk to, especially not for strangers—so how in the world had Yurian managed to charm them like that?

Siyoung’s gaze grew colder by the second.

Yurian only shrugged lightly. “Nothing much… just life stuff.”

There was nothing malicious in his expression—just an easy, guileless smile.

But Siyoung knew better. What you saw was never the whole story.

He silently reaffirmed his resolve: whatever that man truly was, he would not let himself get caught up in it.

“We met in the dungeon, didn’t we? You were Gong Siyoung, right?”

“We’re not exactly on first-name terms here. Anyway, follow me. I’m in charge of you until your rank assessment tomorrow.”

Without waiting for a reply, he headed for the door. When Yurian didn’t move immediately, Siyoung shot him an impatient look. The man scrambled to his feet.

“So, I can finally change my clothes now?”

That made Siyoung glance him over. His hair and clothes were still caked with sticky monster blood—a hideous sight.

He must’ve been uncomfortable all this time, yet hadn’t complained once. Amazing. He’d had enough energy to chatter endlessly before, but not a word about that?

Everything about this man irritated him. Frowning, Siyoung gestured curtly.

“I’ll get you some clothes. Go wash up first. There’s a shower upstairs.”

“Oh, seriously?”

“Do I look like I’m joking?”

Yurian chuckled softly at his gruff tone and followed closely behind. Suddenly, he reached out and grabbed Siyoung’s hand.

Startled, Siyoung jerked back like he’d been shocked. Yurian blinked.

“What’s wrong? You scared me.”

“You—! What do you think you’re doing, grabbing me out of nowhere?!”

“What, it’s not like I grabbed your ass or something,” Yurian replied, utterly shameless. His wide, innocent eyes only made it worse.

“I just didn’t want to get lost! The place is a maze, you know?”

“You—!”

Siyoung was about to scold him for making excuses, but then he remembered—on the way up to the meeting room earlier, Yurian had gotten lost three separate times between the lobby and the sixth floor, wandering off in the wrong direction every single time.

So… maybe he really had just been worried about getting lost.

Should I believe that? Or not?

Suppressing his frustration, Siyoung sighed and nodded reluctantly.

“…If you absolutely have to hold onto something, then grab here.”

He pointed at the hood of his jacket. Yurian said nothing—just reached out and grabbed it.

But he pulled too hard. Siyoung choked, stumbling forward.

“Who told you to grab like that! You nearly strangled me!”

“Seriously? You told me to grab it, and now you’re mad? Make up your mind.”

Frowning, Yurian looked exasperated by his constant complaints. Before Siyoung could snap back, Yurian raised both hands in surrender.

“Alright, alright, don’t get all worked up. I’ll behave. Just lead the way, yeah?”

With that, he pushed the door open and stepped into the hallway.

Watching the man stride ahead, Siyoung swallowed a deep sigh.

“Oh, I remember now.”

Standing beneath the shower, Yurian muttered as warm water poured over him. Opening his mouth, he let it fill before spitting it out and turning off the valve.

The sudden stop of the water flow made him exhale in awe.

No matter how many times he saw it, it was amazing. So all this wasn’t magic? Really?

When Siyoung had taken him to the bath earlier, Yurian had been shocked for what felt like the hundredth time.

Back home, even getting a bucket of half-clean water had been a luxury—but here… this place was practically heaven.

The water was clean enough to drink, pouring out endlessly. When he’d fumbled with the unfamiliar shower at first, Siyoung—annoyed but patient—had come over and shown him how to use it, step by step.

Turn this to start the flow, wash with that, control the temperature here.

Thanks to his curt but thorough explanation, Yurian had managed to bathe without trouble afterward.

Now, shaking water off his hands, he mulled over the thought that had just come to him.

That man—Gong Siyoung—why did he feel so oddly familiar?

At first, he’d assumed it was just because the guy was handsome. Beautiful people often looked vaguely familiar, like faces from a half-remembered dream.

But that wasn’t it. It wasn’t that he’d seen Gong Siyoung before—more that he knew something like him.

“Our little Ggambi’s exactly like that.”

Ggambi—the cat raised at the “Green Flag,” the tavern near Yurian’s old mercenary corps.

Jet-black fur, one white paw like a tiny sock, and big golden eyes that gleamed with mischief.

The resemblance to Gong Siyoung was almost eerie.

Not just in looks—the attitude too.

That same prickly, aloof energy. The way both hated people, yet always hovered nearby anyway.

Ggambi, who’d circle him warily but always stay close. Siyoung, who glared at him like he was a nuisance, yet still made sure to take care of him.

“Yeah… yeah, they’re really alike. Even the face.”

Ggambi’s black fur and Siyoung’s black hair—basically the same.

Sure, there were other people here with black hair, but there was something different about Siyoung. Something that made him stand out.

Most of all—the tiny mole on Siyoung’s left cheek.

Just like the small patch of white fur on Ggambi’s face.

“Colors reversed, but… the same spot, right?”