She guided Cheon Geon-young with the familiarity of a seasoned tracker. It was after they had grown accustomed to the dizzying cliffs. Yoon Tae-ha, who had been looking at the compass, stopped. It was after nine hours of walking along the canyon. That too was the result of shortening the time by using long-distance teleportation several times in between.

“Here it is.”

Looking around at the surrounding scenery, she was certain. The entrances to the free city of Cocytus were scattered throughout the vast canyon, and one of them was under a rock shaped like an eagle’s head.

“You’ll be surprised when you go inside.”

She held out her hand to Cheon Geon-young. He naturally took the offered hand. Yoon Tae-ha stuck her hand into the part corresponding to the eagle’s beak and activated the device.

Soon, the ground where the two were standing ominously shook, and with a rattling sound, the floor sank downwards. Cheon Geon-young hugged her from behind, protectively wrapping his arms around her waist. Yoon Tae-ha patted his arm and said,

“It’s an elevator. You don’t have to worry.”

Even though it was an illegal operation without any safety devices. Her last words trailed off. Cheon Geon-young looked up. The blue sky was becoming incredibly distant.

A moment later, the device that had led them underground stopped. Yoon Tae-ha jumped out first.

Cheon Geon-young was speechless at the sight before him. Yoon Tae-ha, who had been watching his reaction, chuckled softly.

Intense neon signs brightly illuminated the city. Holograms for advertisements were constantly projected onto the exterior walls of skyscrapers that jutted out sharply like icicles. The city itself felt like a light source because of the holograms.

“Even if it’s not 100 floors, quite a few tall buildings have sprung up, haven’t they? Has the population grown in the meantime?”

A hovercraft that looked like a water scooter sped past above their heads, and the pedestrians weren’t surprised by it. Long escalators connecting various parts of the downtown area looked like thick spiderwebs. A reddish sphere, clearly artificially suspended, floated leisurely in the dark sky.

Advertisements for newly released rifles played without restraint, distracting their attention. Mercenaries with huge spears or greatswords strapped to their backs were also noticeable. Carrying anti-monster weapons in opaque bags was mostly illegal in the city.

It gave the impression of a city that people living within law and order would have no reason to visit. Half of the pedestrians were covering their faces with masks and large glasses.

When Cheon Geon-young turned his head, vehicles he had never seen before were swerving across the roads. Yoon Tae-ha crossed the street, avoiding them as if she was used to it.

“Let’s go to a hotel I know for now. A lot of Arc agents come and go there. It would be troublesome if we stayed at some random hotel and were misunderstood as having other intentions.”

Soon, they arrived at their destination. In the unmanned hotel lobby, four very large bodyguards stood around with guns.

Heading to the front desk where there was no one, she entered a few codes into the machine and obtained the number of the room they would be staying in.

“I paid for a year-long stay.”

She shrugged at his curious gaze.

“It’s expensive, but if a large-scale dungeon opens up in the Green Sea, this hotel also gets full, and people get pushed down to the hotels below. If you hang around there, troublesome things can happen later.”

“Does each district have a different manager?”

“There’s the Cocytus City Alliance. Most of it is managed by them. But there are bound to be some more dangerous areas. After all, anyone can come in here as long as they know how.”

While they were talking, the elevator that had gone up to the top floor came down to them. As they went inside together, the elevator doors closed with a soft chime.

Inside the narrow space, they stood at a slight distance from each other. Yoon Tae-ha was staring intently at the changing numbers on the control panel.

Cheon Geon-young seriously looked at her profile. Suddenly, the moment they first met in Yeouido came to mind. Unlike himself, who couldn’t take his eyes off her, Yoon Tae-ha didn’t seem to have the slightest interest in him. He remembered being the only one who had been watching the other through the elevator doors.

What would it be like if she smiled? He had even imagined it as he pleased. Looking back, the existence of countless gazes that coveted her had bothered him since then.

“I don’t know if you remember.”

Yoon Tae-ha opened her mouth when the elevator was about halfway up.

“We were in the same elevator when we first met. It was when I was going up to the 19th floor. Before we met in the conference room.”

Did that mean he was etched in her beginning too? Cheon Geon-young couldn’t stop his thoughts from swelling arbitrarily.

“You might not remember.”

Cheon Geon-young turned his gaze and anxiously checked the numbers on the control panel. Oblivious to this, the woman calmly recalled her first impression.

“Looking back, the reason my physical condition was strange back then must have been because you were a guide compatible with me.”

With Yoon Tae-ha’s quiet conclusion, the elevator doors opened. Cheon Geon-young slowly pulled and held her wrist. Yoon Tae-ha slyly interlocked her fingers with his.

The two of them left, and the empty elevator headed down forlornly.

*

Lev, who had been licking his front paw, met Yoon Tae-ha’s eyes.

It was his turn to gape in surprise and stick out his tongue. His adorable fangs were white even in the dark. Yoon Tae-ha mimicked Lev, making her mouth round. The cat blinked once like a calf and quickly lowered his fluffy front paw.

Yoon Tae-ha said with excessive politeness, “I interrupted your private time. Please continue.”

Lev turned back into human form and vigorously ruffled his hair.

“Even so, I can’t show myself biting someone’s foot to other people.”

“Cute.”

“Of course. But my pride is a separate matter.”

Yoon Tae-ha pulled out a chair and sat opposite Lev.

This was the balcony of another hotel right next to the hotel she often stayed at. Yoon Tae-ha already knew that Lev’s hobby was to admire the night view from here through unauthorized entry.

So, whenever she came to Cocytus, this place naturally became their meeting point. Jumping over a few balconies wasn’t a special thing for them.

Lev gave a satisfied smile at the esper who had precisely kept the promised date.

“Where’s your guide?”

“He was sleeping when I left.”

“Now?”

“I don’t know now.”

She pulled out a round chair and sat down, looking out at the street.

A city that closed its eyes and pretended not to see each other’s flaws. There was even a biting joke that no one who hadn’t committed at least one minor crime could set foot on Cocytus’s soil.

A suggestive advertisement for esper-only drugs on the opposite building caught Yoon Tae-ha’s attention. It said it would take you there in one go. She wondered if it meant it would take you to heaven all at once.

“It seems like the population has increased. There are buildings I haven’t seen before too.”

“Cocytus has been connected to another free city for a while now. If you use the warp gate, you can reach Pollux, a city in the New Continent, in 15 seconds.”

Lev had a proud attitude as if he had opened the warp gate himself. He twirled the ends of his hair with his fingers and flicked his curly hair upwards.

“I told you things would get better for people like us. Just imagine how convenient it will be when all the free cities are connected by warp gates.”

The reason legitimate organizations didn’t touch this place was simple. It was a habitat for troublesome bugs that would cause problems if they roamed outside. Moreover, those bugs were major customers for various weapons and drugs.

It was a well-known fact among those in the know that new drugs became popular in free cities like Cocytus before they received deliberation and distribution permits.

New materials poured out of the dungeons every day, and it cost a fortune to conduct safety evaluations for each material. Due to increased esper human rights, companies had to withstand pressure from regulators every time they went through clinical trials.

Pharmaceutical companies that wanted to ignore safety and extract confidence in efficacy secretly protected free cities. Weapon companies also slyly got involved. In the post-rift era, this kind of city was land protected by two powerful forces that raked in money.

That’s why Yoon Tae-ha didn’t feel pleasant when she came here. Because of a vague thought that her future self, unable to open her eyes without painkillers someday, might also die somewhere in the city’s alleys.

“My eyes hurt because of the signs, so teleportation was more difficult than before.”

“But you feel more at ease, right? This is the only land where no one can monitor you.”

She replied with a lukewarm smile. They soon moved into the district where the guild’s bases were concentrated.

After leaving the district with tall buildings, they arrived at a district densely packed with low-rise buildings, each with a distinct appearance. It was a maze where first-time visitors were likely to get lost.

Lev happily weaved through the similarly looking buildings. Yoon Tae-ha followed Lev, keeping a wary eye on her surroundings.

Before long, they arrived in front of an ordinary gray building with no sign. Lev identified himself and opened the door. As they entered the building, the door locked again with a heavy clunk.

The sound felt somehow chilly, so Yoon Tae-ha turned around.

“Hurry up! Chertan said he has something to say!”

But at Lev’s urging, she moved forward again.

*

Cheon Geon-young left the hotel lobby not long after Yoon Tae-ha disappeared.

Scanning the empty seat next to him, he changed his clothes without hesitation. Pulling his hat down low, he even put on the non-prescription glasses he had never used since buying them and left the building.

It was because he had received a call from Changcheon.

He crossed the street with a leisurely gait, like someone out for a stroll. Thanks to the eye-catching advertisements, it wasn’t difficult to find the building Changcheon had mentioned.

As Cheon Geon-young headed to the meeting place, he noticed a man sitting on a bench in front of the opposite building, reading a newspaper. It was someone who had completely hidden his face behind the newspaper. But the shape of his hands was familiar. Instead of going straight into the building, he chose to stand in front of the unfamiliar man.

The man wearing a fedora flinched at the sound of someone approaching and stealthily raised his head. Cheon Geon-young confirmed the man’s face.

It was a stranger. The man with a face he had never seen before looked up at him with a puzzled expression. A look of discomfort was clear on his face. Ignoring the other’s reaction, Cheon Geon-young pointed to the building.

“Let’s go in together.”

“……”

“The scar on your little finger. It’s not completely covered.”

At that sound, the unfamiliar man jumped up from his seat and entered the building first. Cheon Geon-young, slowly scanning the faces of the pedestrians coming from the opposite direction, followed him.