Three months passed by.

Cha Kwan could not talk to anyone about her, and he didn’t know how to deal with his complex emotions. All he could do was to continue with his repetitive life.

He went to school, helped his family at the noodle shop, went out with his friends. Slipping back into his ordinary life came easily thanks to him originally being a creature of habit.

Today was a day of habit too.

As he went pass the various market shops on his way to Min Hyun-Ki’s fishery, Cha Kwan absentmindedly gazed at the various goods. Some selling street food, some miscellaneous accessories. The familiar streets reminded him of the first dungeon break he experienced.

If it wasn’t for the dungeon break that day, how long would he have thought this was a normal world?

As a teenager, he recognized the obvious signs and became used to them. But as a kindergarten student, he was living in the dream land back then.

Still, everything worked out fine in the end. His life returned to being ordinary just as it used to be. The addition of fantastical elements had little impact.

Cold air from the fishery hit him like a freezing wave as he went inside. He came here many times after the dungeon break, and going inside would always make him shudder. Whether it was because of the cold, or from the memories, he did not know.

“…t up-” Min Hyun-Ki’s incensed voice cut through his thoughts and made him stop.

Only once he heard Uncle Hyun-Ki snap at someone like that, and that was when he met that elf!

“…uld be glad!... tha… not wiping… sh*t!”

How could such a kind old man turn into a fiend whenever he encountered other species? Cha Kwan waited outside of the office and pondered on that thought.

“Kwan, come in. These little sh*ts are leaving.” Min Hyun-Ki’s roaring voice came as the office door opened from the inside.

“Elder, would you not reconsider?” Said a man with a deep and dignified voice.

Cha Kwan hesitated for a moment before entering. He was curious, and if Min Hyun-Ki said to enter, he thought it shouldn’t be a big deal. This benign uncle was a hunter, after all.

“Shut the f*ck up, your ancestors must’ve had some dog blood mixed in for you to be such an exemplary lap dog! Wolf? Hah! Pui!”

Cha Kwan entered the room right as Min Hyun-Ki spit on the ground. The usually benevolent uncle sat on his chair while two people were respectfully standing in front of the desk. Cha Kwan couldn’t help but do a quick double take as he spotted their blue wolf(?) ears and lush blue tails. Both of them had rather thin figures, but one was noticeably shorter than the other. As Cha Kwan sat down on the couch on the other end, and neither made an attempt to look at him.

“Very well elder. We will take out leave.” Said the tall man(?) with the deep voice. Both of them bowed and turned away. Cha Kwan noticed the short one looked around the age same as he was.

Min Hyun-Ki gave a “Hmph!” and waited for them to leave the shop before turning to Cha Kwan. “How are you holding up?”

The demon was gone in an instant, and the benevolent old man was back. Cha Kwan smiled. “Same old.”

“Breakups are tough, but you’ll get through it.”

Both his family and his friends thought he was going through a breakup, and Cha Kwan couldn’t say anything otherwise.

“I was worse than you back when I was your age.” Min Hyun-Ki continued as he stood up. “Time will heal all wounds. One day when you look back this will be a forgotten memory… Come now! A new batch of mana eels came just in time.”

Min Hyun-Ki patted on Cha Kwan’s shoulder.

* * *

Outside, the two members of the Blue-Wolf tribe walked through the market streets.

“Uncle, why did you let him talk to you like that?” Asked the young wolf. He was warned not to say anything before entering the fishery, and wisely kept his mouth just. Albeit barely.

The man shook his head. “Min Hyun-Ki isn’t simple. On the surface he’s a B-Rank spearman, but he is one of the most respected hunters of humanity. That reputation is well earned; an A-Rank monster is nothing compared to his spear. He isn’t the guardian of Old Seoul for nothing.”

“But-”

“We are not in the wolf territory; always keep that in mind. You will live and learn from humans until you come of age. Others you can offend, but certain people, you must give them face.”

Young wolf pondered on his uncle’s words and thoughtfully nodded.

* * *

Cha Kwan reserved two crates of mana eels, along with 4 crates of regular fish for tomorrow.

“I will send them in the morning as usual.” Said Min Hyun-Ki, then added absentmindedly. “I’m not sure you can even carry one box yourself…”

Boxes packed with fish and ice; how could a middle school kid carry even one? Cha Kwan agreed.

“Hmm… Why don’t you start working out? It’ll be good for you at your age, and might help take your mind off things.” Min Hyun-Ki paused for a moment. “Doesn’t that Ma kid run a gym nowadays?”

Cha Kwan nodded. “Ma family gym.”

“Yes, that’s the one. In this day and age, you should take care of your body, even if you’re not awakened. Same goes for your parents too. I keep saying it, but they just brush me off! Hmph!”

Seeing Min Hyun-Ki’s playful anger, Cha Kwan smiled. “I will talk to them about it.”

“Atta boy!”

He said his goodbyes and found himself on the market streets. Ma Yong, being the son of the gym owner, had frequently offered discounts in the past to lure him to working out. He had always brushed it away; his life was ordinary, what would he do in the gym?

But now, it didn’t seem like such a bad idea.

He passed by the corner that sold crispy waffles. A few blocks ahead, was the place where he heard the break sirens for the first time. Back then he was deeply focused on the concept of crispy waffles. How crispy could a waffle be? His child mind thought it was the most interesting thing in the market!

Cha Kwan stopped and looked back. After the event, the thought of a crispy waffle had left his mind. He used this route at least once a week for the past few years, but this was the first time he paid any attention to that particular food stall.

‘Why not.’

Though he wasn’t hungry, he went back. The owner was currently making a new batch, evidently there was some demand for this crispy waffle.

Cha Kwan watched the owner pour the batter on the waffle iron in silence. As a noodle shop owner, he subconsciously evaluated the stall.

The flour was from a cheaper brand that his father avoided. In the back, where a new batch of batter was being made, he spotted the same brand of butter they used. Though this one was in a smaller plastic container, and therefore was more expensive.

His parents purchased butter in bigger containers only available with bulk purchases. Only reason someone would buy the smaller version would be either space concerns, or because they couldn’t afford the upfront cost.

“Mom! Can I go to the PC bang with my friends?” A child appeared from the back and ran to the person preparing the batter. The woman seemed troubled for a moment, but a smile came easily after looking at her son. “Of course.” She answered.

Cha Kwan immediately spotted the health code violation as she took out money with the same hand she used to scoop out butter!

But more than that, he noticed the difference in their clothing. The mother was wearing worn out sandals, a shirt that had seen better days underneath the apron. An apron, whose true color was long lost due to uncountable number of stains. Meanwhile, the boy was wearing pristine clothes. The difference was too much to be a matter of work clothes versus daily clothes.

Cha Kwan had grown up in a noodle shop. He knew the difference.

New batch of crispy waffles were thrown into the table by the owner, presumably the husband. With a skin color could only be a result of lifelong work under the sun, the husband’s clothing was similar to his wife. These people were doing everything they could so that their child could live a better life.

Everything about them was ordinary.

Cha Kwan purchased two crispy waffles with no whipped cream, and thoughtfully started eating them as he walked the path back to the noodle shop.

Waffles had little taste; the experience was being carried by the crispy texture. Truthfully, he could make better ones at home. But of course, he knew he couldn’t make thousands of them per day with the same consistency!

A deep sigh escaped from Cha Kwan’s lips after he finished the waffles. Things that he thought was important, suddenly became unimportant. But he did not notice this perspective shift. He entered the shop from the back door and switched to his work clothes.

“You came back? Good, table 6 wants japchae, prepare mushrooms.” Said his father, Cha Kang-Dae.

After thoroughly washing his hands and wearing food grade gloves, Cha Kwan started preparing ingredients right beside his father.

“Dad, we should get memberships at the Ma gym.” He said absentmindedly.

* * *

Two months later, during a yet another ordinary day in the first grade of middle school, Cha Kwan found something in his locker.

A light pink envelope.

He wasn’t the only one that saw it. “Did someone mistake your locker as Ma Yong’s?” Said Sander as he put books into his, right beside Cha Kwan.

The assumption made sense, since Ma Yong had become quite popular among the same year girls. The boy that got rejected every year like clockwork, was now rejecting others!

Cha Kwan idly flipped the envelope and saw his name own name on the back.

“To Cha Kwan?” Sander stared at the envelope with a dropped mouth. A confession? Wasn’t this a big deal? But before he could make a fuss about it, his eyes met Cha Kwan’s serious stare. He barely swallowed his loud cheering. “I-I-I gotta, you know, forgot something at home. Yeah. I’ll…”

Cha Kwan watched Sander leave before opening the envelope.

-I like you. If you feel the same way, please come to the basketball court.-

‘…’

According to his own assessment, Cha Kwan had average looks. In the past four months he wasn’t really active outside the class either, save for going out with his close friends. He didn’t have any impression of the girls in his class, let alone the entire school. Even before the unfortunate event, the idea of dating a middle-schooler, he found it creepy!

What was the proper etiquette here? Should he go and personally reject? Should he just silently ignore? In his previous life Cha Kwan was never confessed to, but in this one this was the second time.

If he went to Ma Yong for advice -and he could in fact, give valid advice- the destroyer would certainly blow up the situation.

‘…Probably best to ignore it. She already brought up a condition to accept anyway.’

“Um, d-did you read it?”

A shy, and definitely female voice from behind interrupted his thoughts. He slowly turned back and saw a 3rd year girl, holding her hands in front and not daring to look up. Before he could respond the girl continued.

“I… I like you. Please go out with me.”

‘Well, sh*t…’

The girl was quite cute for a third-year middle-schooler, but Cha Kwan had no impression of her. And most importantly, she was a middle-schooler!

“I’m sorry.” He thought it was best to end it quickly! “I do not want to date anyone.”

“… I… Sorry, sorry to bother you…”

The unnamed girl first walked away, then started running. Cha Kwan shook his head. He knew the pain of rejection from his previous life. But this was just middle school, and they weren’t acquainted in the first place. The heightened emotions would go away in a flash.

He closed his locker and placed the lock while in deep thought.

‘… I should make one of those crispy waffles.’

Strangely, the idea of a crispy waffle became exceptionally clear.

* * *

After the first dungeon disaster in 1986, non-human species became a normal part of everyone’s lives. Seeing them on TV, reading news about them, everyone was used to it after nearly 100 years. Even Old Seoul residents were used to seeing the occasional elves, dwarves, beast tribe members, or even fairies!

In a climate like that, seeing two foreigner girls walking streets filled with concrete buildings wasn’t anything newsworthy. If not for their incredible beauty, even the little kids playing on streets would not have paid them any attention.

The girls walked around for some time. If anyone were to follow them, they would realize these girls were looking for something.

“This place really isn’t anything like Seoul I know…” Said Isabelle Delacroix. A French girl that came to Korea to attend the Seoul Awakened Academy. She looked around, opened the map app in her phone to make sense of where they were. Upon realizing they were roughly at the location, she sighed as she looked at the small park right in front of them.

“My house should’ve been there. Somewhere in that park.” She said with yet another sigh. “I’m not sure if I should be sad or relieved…”

Rose Elliot gazed at the western style park, clearly made with haste in mind, rather than a place to relax. The difference was subtle, and she would not have noticed it at all, if not for being born in America in this life.

“My house should’ve been north of here; you saw the little tailor shop near the bridge? That’s roughly where my family lived. The neighborhood didn’t look as rich back then.” Rose said with melancholic smile.

Both were originally from Earth. The normal Earth. Both had reincarnated into this world. The world of a video game they played religiously.

“No matter.” Said Isabelle with an old Korean accent. When they were inside the academy, she controlled her speech patterns to match the current day. But now, her old habits had resurfaced without knowing. “I wanna eat ramyeon.”

Rose nodded. “For me it’s gungjung. My mother used to make it every other Tuesday. I haven’t eaten it since that time…”

Isabelle looked at Rose with a frown. “Aren’t you from a rich family in New New York? Couldn’t you hire a Korean chef?”

Both of them from influential families, with resources they couldn’t even dream of in their previous lives.

Rose shook her head. “I didn’t want to arouse suspicion at first. Then, it became harder and harder to think about my family…”

Isabelle put her arm on Rose’s shoulders. “Looks like you got lucky in both lives.”

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to-”

“It’s fine. I don’t miss my previous family, but I know I would miss my father, mother, and two brothers if I were to reincarnate now.”

Rose couldn’t help but bit her lips. “Do you think we’ll go back? You know, after clearing the main quest?”

“Who knows. If given option I sure would like to stay, at least I can deal with the monsters here.” Isabelle glanced at Rose’s expression. “Personally, I don’t think we will. It’s not as if two us got any cheats, or a message from a divine will of sorts. Besides…” Isabelle trailed off in deep thought.

“What?”

“… I think we might be looking at this the wrong way.”

Rose and Isabelle walked through the streets in silence. After some thought, former understood what the latter meant. Such a development wouldn’t be surprising in the game.

“You mean we didn’t reincarnate as the side characters, but we were the side characters to begin with.”

The two first met as Isabelle was preparing ramyeon in the school cantina. In a school that hired famous chefs from different dimensions, one making her own food naturally attracted some attention. After they realized both of them were from Earth, Rose tried to tease Isabelle for role-playing her character. Only to realize Isabelle wasn’t doing anything of the sorts.

Isabelle nodded. “I played the game a lot, but with so many characters and so many events, I had no idea the game version of Isabelle loved ramyeon. I just wanted to eat my favorite food! I wouldn’t have started a company to import ramyeon to France otherwise.”

Rose was taken aback. “You did what?”

Isabelle looked away. “What was I supposed to do? I was rich, but couldn’t find any ramyeon.”

“You could’ve bought them from the internet?” Asked Rose in disbelief.

But Isabelle shook her head. “I get the feeling that you don’t know how rich we are. I wanted ramyeon, so as the daughter of the richest guild in France, naturally I couldn’t ‘buy some off the internet.’ Starting a company and marketing ramyeon to the French was the obvious choice.” She said matter of factly.

Rose opened and closed her mouth in rapid succession. Isabelle seemed to have slipped into the elite status in a way that she couldn’t.

“Now I can eat all the ramyeon I want, and make some pocket money off of it. You’ve never done something like this?” Upon seeing Rose shaking her head, Isabelle nodded. “Rose in the game was a quiet, down to earth girl that didn’t tout her family’s riches. While Isabelle was the stereotypical rich girl with a terrible attitude.”

“You’re not-”

“Oh shush. I know myself. After living in hell for 16 years I’m not going to take any sh*t from someone else.” Isabelle said with a smile. In this world, she really liked herself.

“Again.” Isabelle continued. “I think the game depicted ourselves, rather than us entering the bodies of the side characters. And that’s a problem.”

“Yun So-Jin.” Said Rose. The main driving force of the plot. Originally, she was the protagonist of the novel, but in the game version she became a side character that advanced the plot.

Isabelle thoughtfully nodded. “I looked into the Yun group and how they’re faring these days. It seems like they’re on the rise, but I can’t find anything to tell which route we’re in. It’s a shame that the game never focused on Yun So-Jin’s family.”

The novel and the game told the same story, but the latter had the added feature of branching storylines, and dozens of major endings. The player could stay faithful to the novel and get the same ending if they wished, but that required tremendous amount of planning. No one would be able to get a happy ending in their first playthrough, let alone the ultimate novel ending.

“The protagonist is male, so at least we can eliminate the shattering ending.” Said Rose thoughtfully.

The reason for their confidence in assuming that this was the game version, was because of the protagonist. Ma Yong didn’t exist in the novel version, but here he was alive and well. Living in Old Seoul as an unawakened civilian. For now, at least.

The two discussed their knowledge while walking through the Old Seoul streets. Thanks to Rose’s silence spell, no one else could hear them.