It took two days to find Seo Kyung.
It shouldn't be difficult for a lawyer to find someone. It wasn't supposed to be. But this time, he had no starting point. He didn't know the man's name or affiliation. All he had was a face he'd glimpsed at a crosswalk. Around 185 centimeters tall, short hair, broad shoulders, black jacket, physical enhancement Awakened. That was all.
Normally, he would have given up there.
Woo-joo did not give up. After his awakening, Insight had advanced another level, and it kept pointing in the same direction. Find that man. Everything starts from there.
He went to a Rift Management Bureau field office. While he was there to register as an Awakened, he watched the people in the registration waiting room. People there to register as Awakened, people there to report rifts, and people there to file complaints involving guilds. Woo-joo sat in a chair and listened to the conversations of those coming and going.
Insight read the structure of the conversations. Who belonged to which guild, who was a freelancer, and which rifts they had raided recently. Fragmentary information connected in his mind.
There were four mid-sized guilds operating in the area. Of those, two were centered around physical enhancement Awakened. One was Ironclad Guild, and the other was Frontier Guild. Among the conversations he'd overheard in the waiting room was a mention that an Awakened from Frontier Guild had recently raided a C-rank rift. A C-rank rift, a C-rank Awakened. It might be him. It might not.
After completing his registration, he left. E-rank Awakened Kang Woo-joo. The information displayed in his status window was sparse. Rank: E. Unique ability: Insight. Everything else was blank. He had no skills, and his stats were close to the minimum. But that wasn't important right now.
Back at the office, he searched the public Awakened database. It was a system operated by the Hunter Administration, and users could view only the basic information Awakened people had consented to disclose. Name, rank, affiliated guild, and area of activity. Most photographs were private.
Three people matched Frontier Guild, C-rank, and physical enhancement. One name made him stop.
Seo Kyung. Twenty-eight years old. C-rank. Physical enhancement.
The moment he saw the name, Insight reacted. There wasn't enough evidence to call it certainty, but it was too vivid to dismiss as intuition. This was the man.
His contact information wasn't public. But the number for his guild office was.
Woo-joo called.
"Frontier Guild."
"Hello. I'm Kang Woo-joo, an attorney at Jungyul Law Firm. I'm calling because I have something to confirm regarding Seo Kyung, one of your Awakened members."
His title as an attorney was useful for opening doors. The person on the other end hesitated briefly, then said they couldn't provide Seo Kyung's personal number but could pass along a message.
The next morning, a call came from an unfamiliar number.
"Hey, what does a lawyer want with me?"
The voice was rough. Not low or deep—just rough. There was more curiosity than suspicion in his tone.
"Are you Seo Kyung?"
"Yeah. But drop the formalities and just call me Seo Kyung."
"Seo Kyung, could I speak with you in person?"
"About what?"
Woo-joo thought for a moment. He couldn't tell him the truth. If he said, 'The moment I saw you, something like a memory flashed through my mind, and I felt like I was walking behind you,' the man would think he was crazy.
"I have some questions regarding an Awakened-related legal consultation."
It wasn't a lie. Awakened-related legal consultation was genuinely within his field, and there were any number of things worth asking an Awakened affiliated with a mid-sized guild.
"Legal consultation? For me?" Seo Kyung laughed. It was a short, rough laugh. "Sure, sounds interesting. Where should we meet?"
They made plans. Three p.m. the next day, at a café near the office.
Woo-joo arrived at the café first.
He sat by the window and ordered an Americano. Five minutes before three. The café was quiet, and the afternoon sunlight slanted in through the window.
At exactly three, the door opened.
Seo Kyung walked in.
He looked the same as he had at the crosswalk. Short hair, broad shoulders, rough features. The only difference was that today he was wearing a gray zip-up hoodie instead of a black jacket, with a white T-shirt underneath. The moment he opened the café door and stepped inside, Woo-joo could read his physical ability. The force with which he pushed the door, the angle of his shoulders as he passed through the narrow entrance, the speed with which his gaze swept across the room. Every movement belonged to a trained person.
Seo Kyung found Woo-joo. Their eyes met.
Then it came again.
It was weaker than at the crosswalk. There was no flash of light, and his vision didn't turn white. Instead, a powerful intuition pressed in on him. Something like an inexplicable certainty. He knew this man. He knew the look in his eyes. He knew the way this man walked.
Seo Kyung sat across from him.
"Attorney?"
"Yes. I'm Kang Woo-joo."
"I'm Seo Kyung. But are you really a lawyer? You're way too young."
"I'm thirty-two."
"Four years older than me. Guess that makes you my bro." As soon as he sat down, Seo Kyung glanced toward the counter. "I'll go get my coffee." He pushed back his chair, stood, and went to the counter. He ordered an iced Americano and returned thirty seconds later. Even during that time, Woo-joo was reading Seo Kyung's gait. It wasn't that he spoke casually to someone he'd just met. This was simply his default tone. He wasn't free of suspicion; he was the type who didn't hide it.
"So what's this legal consultation about?" Seo Kyung asked as he sat back down.
Woo-joo brought out the questions he'd prepared. The contract structures of Awakened affiliated with mid-sized guilds, compensation systems during rift raids, and examples of disputes between guilds and individuals. They were things he genuinely wanted to know, and the answers could also serve as reference for the lawsuit against Taegang Guild.
Seo Kyung answered more earnestly than expected. His manner was rough, but his content was precise. He spoke frankly about his guild's contract terms, the division of raid proceeds, and even his complaints.
"Honestly, our guild's contract is a complete mess. But all mid-sized guilds are like that. It's not like we have a legal team the way a major guild does. The guild master throws something together, and we sign it."
"You never had the contract reviewed?"
"You need somewhere to get it reviewed first. How many lawyers specialize in Awakened-related cases?"
It was true. The Awakened-related legal market was still in its early stages. Major guilds had their own legal teams, but mid-sized guilds and freelance Awakened were left in a legal blind spot.
The conversation continued for about thirty minutes. While asking questions, Woo-joo was also reading Seo Kyung. Insight showed him the man's structure.
Rough but honest. Talkative, but knew the point. Loud, but knew how to listen. And this wasn't someone who liked fighting. He was someone who didn't back down when a fight was necessary. He knew the difference.
"But, bro." Seo Kyung took a sip of his iced Americano. "Be honest. You didn't find me because of some legal consultation, did you?"
Woo-joo's hand stopped.
"Why do you think that?"
"A feeling. Your eyes are weird. You keep looking at something else while you're asking me questions."
Being able to read what Insight showed him wasn't Woo-joo's privilege alone. Seo Kyung knew how to read people too. His method was simply different. If Woo-joo read structure, Seo Kyung read the air.
Woo-joo was silent for a moment. Then he spoke.
"We passed each other at a crosswalk a few days ago. Do you remember?"
"A crosswalk?" Seo Kyung tilted his head. "Not really. There must've been a lot of people."
"It's normal that you don't remember."
"But you remember? Even though we only brushed past each other?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
Woo-joo didn't answer. He couldn't. He couldn't say, 'I felt like I was walking behind you.'
Seo Kyung looked at him. Five seconds. It was a long time. Then he laughed.
"You're a strange guy, bro."
"I hear that often."
"No way. There's no way someone like you hears that often." Seo Kyung leaned back in his chair. "But I don't know what it is. Talking to you feels comfortable. Weirdly comfortable."
Woo-joo felt it too. The same thing. Seo Kyung was someone who could say it out loud, while Woo-joo was someone who couldn't.
"May I ask one more question?"
"What is it?"
"Have you had any strange dreams recently, or felt anything you couldn't explain?"
Seo Kyung's expression changed. It wasn't that his smile disappeared. His eyes simply became different. The playfulness drained away, and something beneath it rose to the surface.
"...Why are you asking that?"
"If you answer, I'll tell you first."
Seo Kyung looked at Woo-joo. For a long time. Then he set down his iced Americano and spoke.
"It's not a dream. But sometimes something strange happens. When I enter a rift. When I'm walking inside a dungeon. I feel like I'm alone, but not alone. Like someone's behind me." Seo Kyung scratched his head. "Sounds crazy, right? But it's real. I feel like someone's walking behind me. And like that person is watching me."
Woo-joo's heart stopped for one beat.
Someone walking behind him.
That was him. The him who had walked behind Seo Kyung in the first timeline. Seo Kyung was feeling that sensation from the other side.
"It doesn't sound crazy."
"What?"
"I've felt something similar. When I saw you at the crosswalk."
Seo Kyung closed his mouth. For the first time, he had nothing to say. Seeing this rough, loud man fall silent carried a strange weight.
"...Bro, have we met before?"
"No."
"Then why is this happening?"
"That's why I asked to meet you. To find out."
Seo Kyung stared at Woo-joo for a long while, then slowly nodded.
"Okay. Let's find out." Seo Kyung held out his hand. "But don't use formal speech with me, bro. It makes my skin crawl."
Woo-joo took his hand. Seo Kyung's hand was large and rough. His grip was strong, but he was controlling it. He was the kind of person who adjusted his strength to match the other person.
"I'll try."
"That's formal speech too."
It was just after Seo Kyung returned from the counter with a second iced Americano. The conversation was becoming more natural, and Seo Kyung was about to start talking about his time in the military.
Woo-joo's gaze stopped.
Outside the window. A woman was walking along the sidewalk in front of the café. A black coat and short bobbed hair. She was slightly taller than average. She walked quickly, her gaze directed straight ahead. But the moment she passed the café window, Woo-joo's Insight reacted.
It was a different kind of reaction from the one he'd had when he saw Seo Kyung. When he saw Seo Kyung, it had been the sensation of walking behind him. This was the sensation of sitting across from someone and studying the same map. A scene flashed through his mind and vanished: in a dark, expansive space, someone's finger was resting on a map spread open before them. That finger belonged to the woman.
Without realizing it, Woo-joo leaned toward the window.
The woman stopped walking. As she passed the café, she turned her head and looked inside. Directly at Woo-joo. Their gazes met, and the woman's eyes narrowed. She was sensitive to being watched. The type who could sense someone looking at her even while walking.
The woman opened the café door and entered.
"Bro? What's wrong?" Seo Kyung followed Woo-joo's gaze, then looked at the woman standing by the entrance.
"Huh?" Seo Kyung's expression changed. He looked surprised. "Si-a?"
The woman looked at Seo Kyung. A slight change passed over her cold face. It was closer to confirmation than surprise.
"Seo Kyung," Han Si-a said. "What are you doing here?"
"Drinking coffee, obviously. What brings you here?"
Han Si-a looked at Woo-joo, seated across from Seo Kyung. Three seconds. It was brief, but a great deal passed within it. Her eyes were collecting everything: Woo-joo's clothes, his posture, the distance between him and Seo Kyung, even the number of coffee cups on the table.
"Who's this?"
"Oh, this is Kang Woo-joo. He's a lawyer." Seo Kyung pointed at Woo-joo with his thumb. "We met for the first time today."
"I'm Kang Woo-joo," Woo-joo said.
Han Si-a dipped her head slightly. "I'm Han Si-a. I'm a civilian consultant for the Hunter Administration." Then she asked Seo Kyung, "You're Min-hyuk's junior, right?"
"Yeah. Min-hyuk was my senior in the military. She's his older sister." Seo Kyung explained to Woo-joo, "I served with Min-hyuk."
Han Si-a pulled out the empty chair and sat down. It was a natural movement, but Woo-joo's Insight read what lay beneath that naturalness. She hadn't sat down because she wanted to. She sat down because there was something she wanted to confirm.
"If you don't mind," Han Si-a said, looking at Woo-joo, "you were looking at me from outside just now, weren't you?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
It was a direct question. She didn't beat around the bush. Woo-joo thought for a moment. He couldn't be as honest with her as he had been with Seo Kyung. But he didn't think he could lie to this woman either.
"I felt something difficult to explain."
Han Si-a's eyes moved slightly. They were analytical eyes. If Seo Kyung read the air, Han Si-a read data. Even now, she was probably recording every change in Woo-joo's speech, gaze, and breathing.
"This may sound strange," Han Si-a said slowly. "But I felt something similar. As I was passing in front of the café, I felt someone inside watching me, so I turned around to confirm that gaze, and..." She paused briefly. "I felt something strange at that moment. Like I knew this person."
Seo Kyung set down his iced Americano. He looked back and forth between Woo-joo and Han Si-a.
"Wait. You felt it too?"
"Felt what?"
"Bro told me something similar. He said he saw me at a crosswalk and felt like he knew me." Seo Kyung scratched his head. "And I felt like someone was walking behind me in the dungeon."
Han Si-a's gaze sharpened. From Seo Kyung to Woo-joo, then back to Seo Kyung. Her eyes cross-checking the information.
"Are you saying all three of us felt something similar?"
Woo-joo nodded.
The café fell quiet. Afternoon sunlight slanted in through the window, spilling light over the cups on the table. Seo Kyung's iced Americano and Woo-joo's Americano. Han Si-a still hadn't ordered anything.
"Could we exchange contact information?" Woo-joo asked.
Han Si-a looked at him. Her eyes were sharp, but something beneath them was wavering. She felt it too. Something inexplicable. And she was the kind of person who couldn't simply let something inexplicable go.
She took a business card from her coat pocket. It was clean and stamped with the Hunter Administration logo.
"Contact me. But next time we meet, I'd like to hear something more specific."
"That's what I intend to do."
Seo Kyung crossed his arms and leaned back in his chair.
"Hey, bro. Explain this to me too. What's with the atmosphere?"
As he put Han Si-a's business card away, Woo-joo answered.
"I don't know yet either."
It wasn't a lie. He truly didn't know. But the direction was becoming clearer.
It was after seven when they left the café. Han Si-a got up and left first, followed by Seo Kyung and Woo-joo.
Seo Kyung walked with his hands in the pockets of his hoodie.
"Bro, I've got a C-rank rift raid tomorrow. Want to come?"
"I'm E-rank."
"I know. But your ability is Insight, right? It's not a combat ability. Just watch from the back. I'll protect you."
As they walked, Woo-joo looked at Seo Kyung in profile. He was the type to invite someone he'd just met into a dungeon. Was he reckless, or did he have good instincts?
"I'll think about it."
"That means yes, right?"
"It means I'll think about it."
Seo Kyung laughed. Loudly enough for it to echo through the street. Several passersby turned to look.
"You're really something, bro."
They parted in front of the subway station. Seo Kyung went down the stairs, while Woo-joo decided to walk home. He watched Seo Kyung's back disappear down the stairs.
His back.
Seo Kyung's back.
It was the same back he'd seen in his dream. The back that had walked ahead of him across a dark, damp stone floor. Now it was walking down a subway staircase, but the outlines overlapped.
Woo-joo turned and walked away.
As he walked, he sorted through everything. Seo Kyung felt it, and Han Si-a felt it too. The directions were different, but the sensations came from the same root. He felt the sensation of walking behind Seo Kyung. Seo Kyung felt the sensation of someone walking behind him. And Han Si-a had stopped walking the moment she sensed Woo-joo's gaze through the café window.
This wasn't a coincidence.
And there had been four people walking in his dream. If one was Seo Kyung and one was Han Si-a, who was the remaining person?
The night air was cool. Woo-joo walked with his hands in his pockets. Insight was quietly turning over in his mind, but there was still no answer. The pieces of the puzzle were simply coming together.
Something would unravel whenever he was beside Seo Kyung. And today, Han Si-a had appeared.
When two coincidences overlap, they aren't coincidences anymore.