It was peaceful around me. For once in my life, there was no one shouting or suffocating me with their emotions.
I could not even recall when I had such a peaceful night of sleep.
Of course, nice things could not last forever, and I slowly began to feel the movement in my hand and my arm. It indicated that I was not dead.
Since I could feel my eyelids move, I knew that it was time for me to wake up. But I selfishly kept holding on to the sensation of sleep. I did not want to wake up.
Unfortunately, I was too trained to sleep in like that, and my eyes flew open before my mind registered what was happening.
I sprang up from the bed, and the first thing I did was grab the man in white that was trying to come close to me and check up on me.
"H-Hey, it's alright. I know you are startled, but you need to calm down. I am just trying to help you out."
The person in white tried to reassure me, likely to make me put my guard down, but I did not let them go.
If I recall correctly, the officer who was in charge of my training had informed me that there were various groups out there, waiting to capture me and study me. That was how precious S-class were.
But I was more surprised by the fact that I had been recognized by someone. I usually had a mask and even masked my pheromones when I worked as a hunter.
'Does this mean someone betrayed the government and sold me out? I need to figure out who it is. And once I do, I need to report them…'
I unconsciously put pressure on the doctor's neck, but not enough to harm. It was just enough to knock him out.
The poor nurse who was on duty looked startled and did not seem to know what to do.
"Where am I and who is in charge here?"
I asked the nurse calmly. She looked like a civilian, so I did not hurt her.
"I… you are at the state hospital. You were brought in here—"
The nurse tried to speak, but her legs gave way under her. Her soft and sweet scent marked her as an omega, while the doctor from before was a beta.
I did not pay much attention to her words once she stated that this was a state hospital. It seemed as if this nurse did not know anything after all.
'So, the organization that brought me here keeps their staff ignorant. That does not surprise me. Hmm, should I break the window and jump down? That would be the fastest way to break free.'
I looked at the window with an interested look and moved toward it.
The nurse panicked as she saw me approach the window and her eyes widened.
"A-Are you thinking of jumping from there… don't—! I don't know what you went through, but we can resolve this…"
The nurse babbled, likely trying to make me reconsider what I was about to do. But I ignored her and looked down the window.
I was at the 10th floor, a steep fall for most humans and even most hunters. But for an S-class like me, it was nothing special.
After all, I was the top hunter before I went inside the dungeon.
'Let's run first and then think of what to do next.'
As I made my decision about whether I wanted to jump or not, the nurse had finally gotten herself under control and called for help.
"Hey, someone help—! There is a patient trying to end his life. He knocked out the doctor—"
The nurse spoke, and I decided to act before anyone could come and foil my plans.
One of my feet left the window sill when I felt a strong scent enter the hospital room. It was undoubtedly alpha, and it was potent enough to make even me halt.
'What the hell—! I don't think I have ever smelled anything this strong. If I were anyone else, this would have brought me down to my knees.'
My instincts warned me not to turn around and keep going. I knew that if I turned around, something horrible would happen.
"Hey, what are you doing—"
The person who stepped into the room asked. The husky and strong voice made me falter for a whole minute. It seemed enough for the owner of that voice to walk over to me and grab my arm.
"Come down from here. I am sure we can talk about whatever is bothering you—"
The owner of the voice spoke softly now, and I could feel my pheromones responding to the man.
'This is dangerous. I need to escape now. I don't know what would happen if I don't run—'
My fight-or-flight instincts responded, and I yanked my hand out of the alpha.
"Hey, wait—! You—!"
The alpha tried to speak, but it was already too late for him to do anything because I had already jumped out of the window.
Before anyone could react, my feet touched the ground and I bent my knees to land on the ground like a cat.
And without looking back, I kept running toward the outside of the hospital.
Jumping the fence around the hospital was easy enough for me with my S-class capabilities, and before I knew it, I was out and about.
The city I landed in did not seem familiar, so I decided to look around to see if I could get anything by looking around.
But I saw nothing but buildings and shops.
And then I saw the thing that made me halt as well as reconsider everything I knew about my situation—a billboard that had a very familiar face on it.
The female in the billboard looked stunning but visibly older than when I had last seen her.
She was Lee Hara, a famous B-class Alpha hunter who had made a name for herself because of her starting acting career. She had never wanted to be a hunter in the first place, but there had been no way for her to opt out once she had awakened.
"Looks like Lee Hara did make her debut after all."
I commented as I looked at the billboard, and I got some weird looks because of this.
Then, a person wearing a Lee Hara shirt walked toward me and grabbed my collar. I considered retaliating, but his words stunned me too much to do that.
"Don't you dare insult my goddess Lee Hara like that. She pretty much set up the standard for hunter celebrities 10 years ago. If you speak anything negative about her, I'll kill you—"
The man who grabbed me was a fully grown adult, but he still behaved like a kid. However, that was not why I felt shocked.
No, the reason I felt shocked was because what he said finally registered in my mind.
'Ten years? Wasn't Lee Hara excited for her first movie role just last week? Did she have an old movie or something she acted in before?'
But as much as I wanted to believe this, I knew that it was not possible. After all, Lee Hara was a public figure, and much of her achievements were well documented.
If she had starred in a movie, that would have reached my ear as well.
So there were only two possibilities that came to mind—one, this was not the same world I used to live in, and I had somehow jumped dimensions where Lee Hara became a public figure way earlier than expected.
Or, I had somehow travelled forward in time ten years later.
Thankfully, it was easy enough to guess which part it was.
There was one more possibility—that someone had messed with my mind, but I refused to believe that fact.
I am an S-class, and that meant I had some resistance. Also, my ego as an S-class would not survive if I had been tricked.
"Hey, what is today's date?"
I grabbed the Lee Hara fan who was still speaking about how his goddess did not deserve this treatment and how 'normies' needed to stay out of the fandom.
The man looked shocked when I grabbed him, and he tried to grab me back, but my pheromones stopped him.
"H-Hey, are you an omega—"
The man tried asking, but I was losing my patience now.
"I don't have time for this bullshit. Give me your phone. I will check for myself."
I grabbed the phone the Lee Hara fan had in his hand, and as expected, it had the image of Lee Hara as the screensaver.
But that was not what I wanted to see.
'Ah, so I did somehow travel forward in time. Should I feel surprised by this fact? Somehow, I feel more relieved than I feel shocked.'
I finally let the fan go and also threw his phone toward him. My curiosity had been answered already.