The all-knowing Player (Solo Leveling)

Friends (2)

"How are you feeling?" Yool asks as I enter the kitchen while rubbing the sleep off my eyes.

"I'll get over it, somehow." I answer. "How did you do it?"

"That's the thing. We didn't." Seon-Ji appears behind me.

"But... you seemed to be doing well when I woke up."

"We didn't want to scare you. You didn't remember us, we had to act rationally. As if nothing had happened." Yool explains.

I can see his grip around the ladle tighten. He slightly shakes his head and focuses on the liquid dough that he lets flow in a pan. Seon-Ji joins him and peeks over his shoulder.

"Pancakes!" she gasps happily. "Is today a special day?"

"I just thought that we needed it after what happened yesterday. Especially..."

He doesn't finish his sentence but a glance in my direction is enough for us to understand. I can't express how grateful I am to have them by my side. They have always been there. Not only since I woke up after the double dungeon, but since the very beginning. I know it.

I open a closet and pull out three plates to set the table. I move in the kitchen naturally as if I had spent my life there. After all, maybe I did. Maybe I just can't remember well. Since I dreamt of the double dungeon, there are things that I know about the past as if I had lived as Hee-Jin since the beginning. Like the fact that Yool only bakes pancakes on special occasions, or that Seon-Ji isn't allowed to go in the kitchen since the day she almost burned the whole apartment trying to use a toaster.

Once the table is set, Seon-Ji places a plate with some pancakes on it. We start the breakfast while Yool finishes cooking the last ones so that we can eat them while they are still warm. He joins us not too long after with freshly baked pancakes, letting Seon-Ji cheer at the sight. We laugh and talk, making sure to avoid any subject that could lead us to think about the double dungeon or what happened yesterday. I am thankful for that. They know exactly how to make me comfortable and, for a moment, I forget about all of it. I'm just a normal girl who enjoys her breakfast with her siblings. Finally at home.

[*]

"Hee-Jin!" Hae-In calls me while waving at me as I join her in front of a coffee.

"Hae-In, how are you?" I greet her.

"I'm fine. But-" She stares at me for some time. Are my dark circles still visible? I spent my two last days sleeping, but they just refuse to leave my face. Maybe I should have done something to hide them, but I couldn't find any makeup. She offers me a reassuring smile and opens the door of the coffee. "How about we head inside first?"

I nod and follow her to a table in the corner of the room, where we aren't too visible. I sigh in relief. As one of Korea's nine S-rankers, she attracts attention wherever she goes. I could already notice that when we exchanged a few words on the street.

"Chief Woo Jin-Chul told me about your visit to the association yesterday." she starts after we ordered drinks. "How are you feeling?"

"Uh. Well... It's been complicated. I feel better now, though. But why did he tell you about it?"

"Since you told me about the double dungeon, I looked up some more info about it in the association's files and asked him to keep me updated about it. What happened there-" She shivers. "-was a simple massacre. I can't believe that some hunters were ready to kill their colleagues. But I'm glad that you survived. Honestly, I don't know if I can consider that you were lucky because of this horrifying situation."