The two clashed paths as they both lunged for the phone, and Lee Romi’s hand moved toward the back of Guru’s neck.
“No.”
Nayun’s heart pounded as her blood surged.
Her vision spun from the rush of it.
Her mind had never felt this urgent.
“Don’t you touch Guru.”
Lee Romi grabbed the back of Guru’s neck and lifted her clean off the ground.
Such a small child—containing her took only one hand.
She hoisted Guru overhead, and the girl’s pupils quivered.
“Guru!”
Nayun desperately willed her fingertips to move.
A storm of emotions rose, prickling through every strand of hair on her body.
Everything was a complete disaster.
Probably because she’d been walking through a swamp without even realizing she was sinking.
“I always hated you, too. Jjang Nayun.”
The moment Lee Romi said that, it felt like her heart got stabbed.
Her face flushed red with shame.
She didn’t want to know what kind of feelings Romi had when she congratulated her for awakening.
The dream they once shared had been thrown away so easily.
She only ever worked just enough.
Gave up quickly on anything she couldn’t get.
Kept things light. Dumb. Uncomplicated. Easy.
That was Shin Nayun.
So, if Lee Romi had changed—
it was all her fault.
“That’s why Guru is off-limits.”
She wouldn’t let Romi, under someone else’s control, hurt Guru.
Wouldn’t let Guru get injured, either.
No matter what happened—
She wouldn’t let it go.
Tendons bulged all over her body.
Like vomiting blood, she pushed power through her limbs.
Her veins pulsed violently.
Resisting the pressure, her stiff tongue finally twitched.
She had always lived like someone who turned a doorknob without knocking.
If it opened, she went in.
If it didn’t, she turned around.
What moved her now—
for the very first time—
was the desire to keep knocking until the door broke open.
“Leeeee—Romi!”
Ding!
[You have dramatically overcome a threat far beyond your level!]
[Achievement unlocked.]
[Title: Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door]
[When the caster’s strong will is detected, greatly resists all damage and increases all stat effects by 30%.]
[Due to increased mana resistance, debuff has been lifted.]
The moment Nayun saw the achievement, power surged into her body.
Crashing into her like a wave—
was the sense of freedom from being released from the debuff.
And the mighty mana, now flowing through her bloodstream.
Her vision warped.
A burst of explosive mana swept across the room like a storm.
Lee Romi frowned and looked down at her wrist.
Without her even noticing, Nayun had grabbed her wrist.
The wind vanished as if it had never been there.
Only a gentle breeze now wrapped around Nayun’s body.
“Mmm......”
Still smiling, Lee Romi let out a quiet groan with her wrist trapped in Nayun’s grip.
Guru was in Nayun’s arms.
Wide-eyed and stunned, she blinked up at her unnie—and then threw her arms around Nayun’s neck.
As the little girl clung to her, Nayun’s pounding heart finally settled.
Still shaking, Guru rubbed her forehead against Nayun’s neck.
Nayun patted her back with one hand and activated a skill.
[Activating Skill: Silver Vines (S)]
The vines adapt to the caster’s will.
When bound, the target’s mana is temporarily sealed.
Silver-glowing vines wrapped tightly around Lee Romi’s body.
Bound from head to toe, Romi let out a loud sigh.
“I really hate this part of the system.”
Even though she was completely wrapped in vines, Romi was still under the effects of the control.
How?
Nayun furrowed her brows.
Mana suppression was a rare skill—
so rare, she’d even gotten offers from foreign guilds because of it.
Just then, Guru tugged on Nayun’s sleeve.
“Unnie! The phone! Something black’s coming out of it!”
Lee Romi’s eyes locked on Guru with a look of surprise.
She asked in a voice full of wonder:
“You can see it?”
See it?
Guru blinked a giant question mark ◈ Nоvеlіgһт ◈ (Continue reading) in confusion at the strange question—
At that moment, a vine shot out like lightning from under Nayun’s feet and grabbed the phone from beneath the sofa.
Lee Romi pressed her index finger hard against her lower lip again.
“It’s a shame to part ways. There’s still so much I want to know...”
The vines gripped the phone tightly.
“I hope we meet again.”
She waved her fingers gently.
CRUNCH!
The phone shattered.
At the same moment, Lee Romi’s eyes fluttered shut.
“Romi...”
Nayun caught her as her body collapsed, all strength gone.
“The phone—what—what do you mean, control? What even is that?”
Lee Romi sat on the sofa, her face buried in both hands.
Guru and Nayun were sitting across from her, facing each other from the opposite couch.
She was speaking in Korean, sure, but Guru couldn’t understand a single thing she was saying.
“I seriously don’t get what you’re saying. What’s a debuff, even?”
All Romi could remember was that Nayun had come to the film set, furious, and she’d lashed out and said some cruel things in return.
And now suddenly, she was being sat down on a sofa and interrogated—how did the debuff get applied, who was that person, did she remember being controlled?
Romi furrowed her brows into a scrunched-up ᄆ.
Was Nayun bragging about being a Hunter now?
When she twisted it in her head, it kinda sounded like that.
“Are you getting revenge because I pissed you off a little, Jjang Nayun?”
At the sound of that nickname, Nayun flinched.
Romi saw her reaction and bit her lip, lowering her gaze.
“I’m sorry, Romi.”
“You’re seriously apologizing right now?”
Are you dumb or something?
Romi let out a groan of frustration, face still buried in her hands.
Why was she clinging to a failed idol trainee who couldn't even debut, instead of just yelling back?
But Nayun simply laced her fingers together and looked up, voice calm, like she was remembering something.
“After I awakened, everything was just chaos. The moment I left the Awakening Center, reporters swarmed me, and there were crowds camped outside my house...”
Everyone wanted to know which guild she was going to join, whether she’d accept the U.S. scout offer.
She ended up deciding everything by getting swept along in the moment.
Becoming a Hunter felt inevitable.
She thought Romi would understand that too.
So they never had the time to truly talk, not once.
“That’s enough. I don’t need to hear all that—”
“I’m slow and forgetful, but this one thing—I remembered.”
“Remembered what?”
Romi snapped back, pouty.
Nayun smiled.
“Your SNS username.”
“I actually checked it again this morning. If you really meant everything you said... your handle wouldn’t be what it is.”
Romi was speechless.
Her face, hidden beneath her hands, began to flush red.
“The things you said earlier—none of them were entirely sincere, right?”
Our memories don’t just contain your jealousy and my indifference.
They also hold your kindness, and my affection.
Those traces were left all over the places we touched.
“Sorry for being so clueless.
Sorry I wasn’t there for you when things were hard.”
Romi was silent for a while—
and then finally spoke.
“......Just go. I wanna rest.”
“Ah, okay. Rest well.”
Nayun stood up, taking Guru’s hand in hers.
As she reached the dressing room door, she paused and looked back.
“Romi. My number’s still the same.”
“So?”
“If you ever remember something about today...
or even if you don’t have a reason.
You can call me anytime. I’ll be waiting.”
Nayun stepped outside.
As the door shut behind her, Romi picked up her shattered phone.
She dragged her thumb across the cracked screen, and glass splinters stung her fingertip.
“Ow!”
God, this is so annoying.
Grumbling under her breath, Romi opened her SNS.
Her handle: @zzangrome_.
She’d made it on impulse when she found out what her classmates were calling Nayun behind her back.
“Jjang Nayun means Nayun is the best, okay? So stop twisting the word.
King Sejong is probably crying in his grave.”
“You think King Sejong invented ‘jjang’? Wow, Lee Romi really is hopeless.
Even idols have to be smart these days.”
“Whatever! Jjang Nayun means Romi’s bestie, the best—Nayun.
That’s what it means, and that’s what I’m calling her. Got it?
You jerks are just mean.”
“Ughhh—don’t act like you’re all sweet and innocent.”
“I’m not pretending, okay?”
Just like I know you well—
you know me just as well.
The parts that were sincere.
And the parts that weren’t.

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