The incident of the bank robbers getting shot and arrested quickly disappeared from the news. The major media outlets didn’t bother digging into it. There were plenty of other good stories to cover.

No one wanted to get caught up in an investigation that led nowhere. The investigative team was drastically reduced, leaving only two detectives.

Detective Oh Moon-seong read an article about the attempted murder case involving the president of AKX Pictures, his girlfriend, and their legal advisor.

“The Korean police are always doing their best to ensure the safety of the citizens?”

Detective Lee Seong-hoon approached and glanced at the article.

“Ah, this case? It happened in the jurisdiction of the police station that caught the 24-hour serial killer, right? Those guys hit the jackpot.”

“It took them less than two hours to rescue the victim and arrest the criminal. I heard from a friend at that station that the guy who caught the serial killer was the one who got this one too. But get this—he’s just a patrol officer. A patrol officer.”

“The violent crimes unit there must have been grumbling about having to babysit a patrol officer when they first brought him in. But once they saw the results, it must have been a whole different story. What kind of patrol officer does this? Damn.”

“And what about you? You’re a sergeant, but you can’t even do what that patrol officer did?”

“And you, sir, are a lieutenant. Can you do it?”

“Fair point. Hey, what’s the update on the armor-piercing bullets? Do we know where they were made?”

“They still don’t know.”

“How come? Because the bullets were too deformed?”

“That’s part of it, but they also couldn’t find any match, even when comparing them to armor-piercing bullets produced overseas.”

Oh Moon-seong scratched his head.

“This is driving me crazy. We’ve got nothing. The higher-ups saw the dead end and pulled everyone else off the case, leaving just us.”

“Since we don’t have any leads, can we just call it a day? The higher-ups don’t seem to expect anything from us anyway.”

“Call it a day? What about all the other cases we put on hold because we were stuck on this bank robbery shooting?”

The two detectives weren’t assigned exclusively to this case. A pile of other cases was waiting for them on their desks.

“So… another late night?”

“Another late night.”

Seo Sora pulled out two buffet meal tickets.

“Ugh! I’ll treat you, so just shut up!”

Seo Jung-woo asked, “What’s that?”

“Meal tickets for a fancy buffet where you can eat all you want!”

“What? A buffet?”

He recalled going to a buffet as a kid. His mouth started watering.

“You didn’t put this on my tab again, did you?”

“Nope. The president bought them as gifts to promote us. I told him I should be the first to get one, so I managed to snag two. Officially, they were given to me.”

“Nice work! Turning down a gift would be rude! Let’s go right now!”

The moment Seo Jung-woo entered the buffet, his jaw dropped.

“Whoa! Incredible!”

In his old world, where synthetic wheat made from chlorella, synthetic rice, and monster meat were staple foods, such a sight was unimaginable.

“There must be over a hundred different dishes.”

Seo Sora rolled her eyes.

“Why are you acting like you’ve never been to a buffet before?”

It had been almost twenty years since he last went to one.

Seo Sora took a modest portion of light dishes and sat down.

Seo Jung-woo, on the other hand, piled food onto two plates like a mountain. His stacking technique was so impressive that nearby diners stole glances at him in awe.

Seo Sora scowled at him.

“You pig.”

Seo Jung-woo sat down and said, “Huh? What was that? I couldn’t hear you. I couldn’t hear you, so I don’t think I can give you any more songs.”

She raised her fork high in the air.

“If anyone dares to call you a pig, I’ll stab them. So eat up and relax.”

Seo Jung-woo started eating.

It was delicious.

‘Man, I really love this world.’

Meanwhile, Seo Sora’s plate had only a small portion of food. It was clear she had grown up in abundance.

The Seo Sora from his world would have piled food onto her plate just like he had.

‘There’s no way to bring her over here, though.’

Teleportation skills were meant for single-person use. Bringing others along wasn’t possible.

After emptying both plates, he went to get more food. As he returned, he overheard a couple at the next table talking.

“‘If We Could Meet Again’ is really good, isn’t it? It’s by a rookie girl group called 4cats.”

“Who’s prettier, me or them?”

“You, of course! You’re way prettier!”

Seo Jung-woo looked over at Seo Sora.

She was grinning from ear to ear.

“They think our song is really good. Hehe.”

Seeing her like that, he couldn’t help but chuckle.

‘Well, at least she’s happy. That’s good.’

The next morning, Seo Sora skipped her morning classes and dropped by the company.

President Oh Dong-cheol scolded her the moment he saw her.

“Sora, I see your face is glowing, and you’re full of energy. So, I take it you already used the buffet meal tickets I gave you? Just how much did you eat?”

“You gave them to me to eat!”

“You need to maintain your figure if you want to look good on camera!”

Seo Sora’s eyes sparkled.

“Camera? Did we get a broadcast appearance?”

“No.”

“Then did we get an event scheduled?”

“It’s only been a few days since the song was released. It’s too soon for that. The song hasn’t even been counted in music show rankings yet.”

“But we’re already on the real-time music charts! I saw we were ranked third on the way here!”

“Even so, it takes time for that to affect broadcast rankings, and…”

“And what?”

“I tried pushing for some variety show appearances, but the broadcasters are hesitant.”

“Hesitant? What, do they think we’ll eat them alive?”

“It’s because Nana was a kidnapping victim. If they bring her on now, the show turns into a current affairs program instead of a variety show. If they phrase their questions wrong, the network will get slammed with criticism.”

“Oh.”

Oh Dong-cheol raised his voice.

“It’s fine! Just wait a week. I’ll book schedules left and right! Even Hyeong-jin is out there making deals right now.”

Yoon Nana, who had arrived earlier, spoke up.

“Since we don’t have anything scheduled today, and I don’t have classes, I should go pay my respects.”

Seo Sora asked, “Pay respects? Where?”

“The police station.”

“Huh?”

“I need to thank the detectives who rescued me.”

The twins, Park Ha-yeon and Park Da-yeon, raised their hands enthusiastically.

“We want to go too!”

“Yes! No school even in the afternoon!”

Yoon Nana asked Seo Sora.

“Sora, do you want to come too?”

Seo Sora smiled awkwardly.

“Uh? Uh, um. I have class…”

She wasn’t confident she could pretend not to know Seo Jung-woo if they ran into each other.

“Have a good time. Really.”

Yoon Nana, Park Ha-yeon, and Park Da-yeon took the subway to the police station. Their faces had never been made public, so naturally, no one recognized them on the train.

But the detectives recognized Yoon Nana.

Team Leader Kwon Byeong-cheol, who had been there when Seo Jung-woo rescued her, raised his hand in greeting.

“Oh? Yoon Nana!”

Yoon Nana quickly bowed her head in greeting.

“Hello!”

“Hahaha. What brings you here?”

“At the time, I was so out of it that I couldn’t properly thank you.”

“We already got plenty of thanks at the hospital, haha.”

“I thanked the other officers, but I never got to thank the detective who saved me.”

“Ahh, you came to see Jung-woo. Jung-woo, she’s here for you.”

Seo Jung-woo was looking at the monitor when he heard that and turned his head toward Yoon Nana.

“Gasp!”

He was so surprised that he shot up from his seat.

Detective Jo Min-seok said to Baek Sung-min, “Jung-woo must’ve been really focused. He didn’t even notice Yoon Nana coming in.”

Baek Sung-min sighed. “Now he’s even got focus. Comparing him to us just makes me feel worse.”

But it wasn’t Yoon Nana that had shocked Seo Jung-woo.

It was the twins who had come with her.

‘Why are they here?!’

He knew those twins.

He had never met them in person, but he had seen them countless times as the wallpaper on Park Cheol-woo’s monitor.

‘They’re Uncle Cheol-woo’s twin daughters!’

Hunter Park Cheol-woo was the one who had composed "If We Could Meet Again" in that other world. His wife and daughters had gone missing due to monsters. In that world, a disappearance meant something different. It meant not even a body remained.

From then on, Park Cheol-woo became a hunter to get revenge by killing monsters. Many hunters fighting on the frontlines of that world had similar stories.

And now, those very twins had appeared here. They had grown much more than the children in the photos, but there was no doubt they were the same twins.

The twins casually chatted as they looked around the detectives’ office.

“It’s been a while since we’ve been in a place like this.”

“Seriously. We used to come here all the time as kids.”

Seo Jung-woo had been so visibly shocked that even the others were slightly taken aback.

Detective Baek Sung-min, trying to lighten the mood, laughed and spoke to Yoon Nana and the twins.

“Hahaha. I’m a big fan of you four— Oh? One person isn’t here? I mean, I’m a big fan of you three!”

Park Da-yeon clapped her hands together.

“Wow! A fan! We have a fan! This is amazing!”

“Do you have a CD? Could I get an autograph…?”

“Huh? We only have one song out, so we don’t have a CD yet.”

“Oh, I see. Then maybe on a photo…?”

“We don’t even have promotional photos. The president pushed everything so fast that we barely managed to record.”

“Oh, I see. Well… that’s a shame.”

“When our CD comes out, we’ll sign one for you!”

“Haha. Thanks!”

Seo Jung-woo, needing to confirm something, asked Park Ha-yeon and Park Da-yeon.

“What year were you two born?”

“Us? We were born in 2000.”

“We’re seniors in high school!”

It was a bit vague. Seo Jung-woo pressed further.

“What month is your birthday?”

“March.”

Seo Jung-woo thought of the parallel dimension branching theory.

‘The dimension must have split while their mother was still pregnant, and they were born in this world instead. Since the split happened while she was pregnant, they really are Uncle Cheol-woo’s daughters.’

Park Da-yeon turned to Park Ha-yeon.

“But to make a CD with autographs, we need more songs. Do you think Dimension-nim will give us more?”

“Probably?”

“I really hope so.”

Seo Jung-woo quickly spoke up.

“Of course I will!”

‘Your dad’s going to push you to the top. Of course, he will—it’s his own daughters. Ah, but I shouldn’t mention that the twins are alive in this world yet. Still, I should go get another song from him this afternoon.’

Park Da-yeon bowed her head slightly.

“Thank you for saying that!”

“No, I should be the one thanking you.”

“Huh?”

“It’s just something like that.”

If the song did well, the profits would go straight into Seo Jung-woo’s bank account.

The initially awkward atmosphere quickly warmed up.

Yoon Nana looked at Seo Jung-woo and said, “I really wanted to thank you in person.”

“I… just did what I had to do.”

The atmosphere had now completely turned pleasant. With three beautiful girls visiting, the male detectives couldn’t help but smile.

Detective Baek Sung-min, wanting to take a picture with them, straightened his collar.

‘One with each of them separately. And one with all three together.’

Yoon Nana turned to Seo Jung-woo.

“Um, could we take a picture together…?”

“If a detective’s face becomes too well-known, it could be a problem when going undercover.”

“Ah, that makes sense.”

The twins clapped their hands.

“Wow! Detective oppa is so cool!”

“Super cool!”

Detective Baek Sung-min, realizing he had no excuse to take a picture anymore, brushed invisible dust off his clothes and sighed internally.

‘Ugh. I really wanted to take a picture and brag about it everywhere. Those girls are definitely going to make it big. A picture with future celebrities is worth so much…’

Yoon Nana quietly studied Seo Jung-woo. When she was rescued, the sunlight had been too blinding for her to see his face properly.

‘Seeing his face up close… it feels strangely comforting. Like I’ve known him for a long time. Maybe because he saved me?’

No.

It was because he looked a lot like her best friend, Seo Sora.

After greeting the detectives and making their rounds, Yoon Nana and the twins left quickly so as not to disturb their work.

After they left, Baek Sung-min grumbled.

“Ah, it felt like angels had arrived just now, but as soon as they left, it’s back to our gloomy office.”

Jo Min-seok corrected him.

“Not angels—4cats. They’re not angels, they’re cats.”

“Lucky you.”

“Huh? Why?”

“You’ve got thick arms.”