She swallowed the hot Americano and looked at the woman sitting opposite her.
Kim Se-yeon.
The long, flowing hair I remembered was now cut short.
Wearing a pink off-shoulder dress, she was all dolled up, making her beauty even more radiant.
A woman so beautiful that any man would turn his head at least once.
She looked so young that it was hard to believe she was 29.
If she had a boyfriend, he would naturally feel proud and his shoulders would rise.
- You're a good person, but... I'm sorry. I can't keep seeing someone with no future. I'm at the age where I need to think about marriage.
- My friends are all dating and marrying people from famous companies or fakes. But you... sigh. Forget it. Let's just end it.
The words she said when they broke up echoed in her ears.
Five years. A long time if you think about it, but a short time in a relationship.
After breaking up, Kim Se-yeon immediately blocked her number.
When she was so cold about breaking up, why now?
"Why did you suddenly want to see me?"
"Just like that. I saw your place while passing by. How have you been?"
What could a person living in Jamsil have to do with passing by Eunpyeong?
There was no connection to her workplace either.
'How have you been?'
Of course, she hasn't been well.
But something strange happened.
She thought she would be trembling and nostalgic when she saw her again, but she wasn't at all.
Instead, her heart was as calm as a paper boat on a still lake.
'Maybe it's because of Randolph...'
Even without using the fragments of the Broken Golden Rule, everything she did as Randolph was imprinted in her mind.
Is that why?
This sudden situation didn't make her flustered at all.
"Alright, I've been fine. How about you?"
"I'm the same, always. Work, home, work, home. I'm about to die."
A monotonous life that made her tired.
But she already knew that she didn't come to see her because she was tired of her daily life.
She had a rough idea of the reason.
The profile picture she changed right after they broke up. The couple photo with a fancy businessman that was now taken down.
Honestly, it was ridiculous.
She broke up with me and now that there's a problem, she's come back to see me.
Should I call her shameless, or does she really see me as such a pushover?
'I was a pushover, wasn't I?'
A relationship where she seemed to take everything, even her liver and gallbladder.
She thought it was that good, but now, with no connection left, she had no intention of repeating the past.
With the intention of seeing what she had to say, she remained silent, and Kim Se-yeon spoke.
"Didn't you worry about me after that incident a while ago? You know, the one with the monsters?"
"That incident?"
"'Dimension War.' The day monsters from another dimension attacked Earth! I thought it was a Marvel movie being filmed."
She was talking about the day the giant mantis appeared.
Monsters from Pangea appeared in reality, and people summoned to Pangea used the 'Fragments of the Broken Golden Rule' to defeat the monsters in reality.
After that day, people started to praise them as 'Dimension Warriors.'
Warriors from another dimension.
They were said to possess the bodies of modern humans to defeat the monsters.
The Dimension Warriors warned of future dangers and quickly became stars.
Surprisingly, few people directly mentioned Pangea.
'Well, an attack from another dimension sounds more plausible than a game becoming reality.'
Monsters from the unknown are naturally more frightening than a game becoming reality.
"You don't seem interested?"
"Can I get up now?"
"··· Huh?"
Kim Se-yeon's relaxed expression turned to confusion.
"Seeing your face was enough. We're not the kind of people who can just chat."
Regardless, she got up from her seat.
If she were the old her, she might have tried to hold on and ask for another chance.
Their five-year relationship was clearly one-sided. She couldn't end it with lingering feelings and beg for another chance.
But not now.
She had a lot to do.
She couldn't waste time being dragged around by others.
"······ Is it because of what I said last time?"
"It's not that. Does your current boyfriend know you're seeing me?"
Does she think I wouldn't know just by taking down the profile picture?
The photos on Kim Se-yeon's SNS account were still up.
In other words, she was playing the field.
She was testing the waters between me and her boyfriend.
Or she had a fight with her boyfriend and was meeting me to boost her self-esteem.
Either way, it was the worst.
Kim Se-yeon's expression hardened like stone at her direct words, as if she didn't expect her to say it outright.
"······"
"Ah! Really! Stop following me!"
"Ms. Hana, I'm not a bad person, okay?"
At that moment.
A woman ran into the cafe, screaming, and a middle-aged man chased her closely.
"This is clearly stalking. I'm going to report it to the police."
"Please! Please, just meet me once."
"I really don't want to!"
Everyone in the cafe turned their attention to the two.
She was the same. But for a different reason.
A familiar face, as if she had seen it somewhere before.
Where did I see her?
Suddenly, the stalker's expression changed completely. The pitiful man who was begging started to frown and his face turned red.
"Damn bitch, you think I'll just let this go...!"
"Ah!"
The stalker grabbed the woman's hair.
As the woman screamed, the stalker sneered.
"Wouldn't it be better if you just went along with it? Do you have to make it this bad?"
A look of lost sanity.
The stalker looked around and shouted.
"What are you looking at, you bastards! Is this entertainment for you?"
Everyone who made eye contact turned away.
"Bro. Don't get involved. Things are already tense... The police will come."
Kim Se-yeon was right.
Someone must have called the police. They would come in a few minutes and handle the stalker, so there was no need to get involved and cause trouble.
Suddenly, she made eye contact with the woman whose hair was being pulled.
A desperate look, as if begging for help.
"Bro?"
······ She couldn't just stand there.
She remembered who the woman was.
The woman who saved a child when the giant mantis appeared.
"What, you?"
"Stop it."
"Kid, what? Stop it? I'm not letting go?"
She grabbed his shoulder, and the stalker's expression twisted even more.
His eyes flashed with a murderous intent.
"Smiling?"
But that murderous intent was just cute to her now.
She had crossed the line of life and death several times recently, engaging in battles.
She faced places where swords and spears flew and bodies lay, without a trace of fear.
She survived in an impossible difficulty and even instilled fear in soldiers.
There was no way she would be afraid of a stalker who only flashed his eyes without a weapon.
Gwaah!
"Aah!"
She tightened her grip on his shoulder, and the stalker screamed.
She felt like she could crush his shoulder right now.
Even without using the fragments of the Broken Golden Rule.
"Stop! Stop! Ow!"
The stalker writhed.
'What kind of strength does this guy have...!'
The stalker trembled. He looked frail, but once grabbed, he couldn't move.
The pain was so intense that his muscles were tearing and his bones were turning to dust.
This was not human strength.
"Are you going to stop?"
"Y-Yes! Yes, I'll stop!"
She clicked her tongue. If you listen the first time, it would be better, right?
"Keh!"
She let go, and the stalker lost his balance and fell to the ground in a mess.
The woman, who had been watching the fallen stalker, bowed to her.
"T-Thank you."
"Are you okay?"
"Y-Yes... Ah! Behind!"
She turned her head to see the man who had already pulled out a survival knife and was charging at her.
"Die!"
But she already knew.
She slightly turned her body and tripped the stalker's foot.
Kung!
The stalker hit his head on the ground and immediately fainted.
*
It took about five more minutes for the police to arrive after the situation was over.
"We need to take you to the station as well."
When the police, who had roughly assessed the situation, tried to take her, Kim Hana stepped in.
"This person only helped. I'm the one who reported the stalking."
"Even so, a physical assault occurred, so you need to come to the station."
"But it's an assault case? The other person even had a knife. Are you saying I should have just watched?"
"Principally, we can't help it."
"······ I'm Kim Hana, a reporter for CK Broadcasting. May I ask your name