Creating the Hidden Ending
Volume 1
1. The World Inside the Game
Beyond the blindfold, hazy clumps of light flickered. With my wrists bound behind me, my arms had gone numb from the lack of circulation, and I couldn’t feel anything below my knees after kneeling for so long.
I squirmed in the uncomfortable position, straining my ears as much as possible. Sound was the only thing I could rely on right now. The problem was that what I could piece together from those sounds was just as hopeless.
“……Khh!”
Ever since I’d been dragged to this unknown place, I’d heard groans mixed with the sound of flesh bursting. But now, only the sound of beating remained, without even a whimper. Clearly, the victim had been beaten so badly they couldn’t make a sound anymore.
*Mom…*
Wanting to cry, I called for my mother. When had I longed for my mother this desperately since becoming an adult?
I wanted so badly to beg, to drop to the floor and scream for them to spare me. If not for the hand pressing firmly against the back of my head, I would’ve done so the moment I was captured.
But I knew what that hand warned: a silent threat telling me to stay quiet and not even breathe loudly if I didn’t want to die right now.
While killing my own breaths just to survive, another heavy strike landed against flesh with a *thud*. Startled, I tried to lift my head, but the hand on the back of my head pressed down harder, leaving me unable to move.
“Ah, untie that one’s hands.”
“Their hands as well?”
“Yes.”
It was the first voice I’d heard besides the groans of someone being tormented. But before I could feel any relief, my body trembled even harder. Because the periodic sounds of beating had stopped the moment the voice spoke. If this senseless violence followed any sort of order, then it was unmistakably my turn next.
Why the hell did I have to end up like this?
Tears welled up from the injustice of it all, but I barely held them back. As I forcibly swallowed a sob, someone standing behind me clicked their tongue in annoyance. Even though I felt the restraints on my arms loosen, I couldn’t bring myself to move freely.
A moment later, something metallic clattered to the floor, and the blindfold was slowly removed. My eyes stung at the sudden invasion of light, and I scrunched up my face.
“Ah……”
The clusters of light sparkled so brightly against my retina that I felt slightly dizzy. I ducked my head to avoid the light, and through my blurry vision, I caught sight of an opulent carpet below me. It was the kind of lavishly patterned rug you’d only see in movies, and staring at it reminded me of some B-grade action movie whose title I couldn’t even remember—one where the killer tried to murder a witness simply because they’d seen his face.
If I just don’t look at his face, will he let me live?
Clinging to that faint hope, I squeezed my eyes shut. But my captor apparently didn’t watch movies. He couldn’t even wait that short moment before roughly grabbing my hair and forcing my head up.
My scalp burned, and my teeth chattered violently from the fear for my life. Someone seemed to click their tongue quietly at my uncontrollably trembling body.
Am I going to die here?
To think I might get beaten to death in such an absurd place. I squeezed out tears of resentment and barely managed to open my eyes, only to hear a voice from across the room chiding someone.
“Cho-rok, I told you to treat our guest with respect.”
“……Yes.”
Respect? What respect? Was there such a thing as polite kidnapping in this world? If you were going to be respectful, you shouldn’t have kidnapped me in the first place!
Suppressing my surging defiance, I perked up my ears to assess the situation. But the more I listened, the more unique the unknown speaker’s manner of speech seemed.
His words came with slight pauses between them, carrying an air of leisure that made him sound almost sleepy, while his low, resonant voice felt gentle and kind.
But someone with only a nice voice was sure to have a personality completely opposite to it. Just look at how he’d kidnapped someone as innocent as me, who’d never committed a crime in his life.
Or maybe he’d mistaken me for someone else and grabbed the wrong person.
Even after the hand gripping my hair fell away at someone’s intervention, I clung to that final hope—that perhaps this was all a misunderstanding and he’d captured the wrong person.
By the way, Cho-rok… I felt like I’d heard that name somewhere. Was it the name of a neighborhood dog?
Trembling violently, I tilted my head at the somehow familiar name. At the same time, my eyes finished adjusting to the bright light, and I examined the place where I’d been taken.
It was decorated like someone’s office. And not just any office—one that had been lavishly furnished with no expense spared.
Sunlight poured in through the window across from me, and the dark solid wood desk gleamed brilliantly under the light.
And the tall man leaning casually against that desk looked every bit the master of this place. He wore a white shirt, brown dress pants, and a tuxedo vest—a man who exuded danger at a glance.
When our eyes met, the corners of his lips curved up in a pleasant smile before he lightly tossed aside what he’d been holding in his hand. Someone unrecognizable, covered in blood and unable to make a sound, hit the floor with a sickening thud. The fact that they were still writhing in agony meant they weren’t dead, but they certainly looked to be on the brink of it.
That was when the man noticed blood staining the unique black leather gloves that exposed the back of his hands. He clicked his tongue softly. Even that sound of exasperation carried such languidness that an impatient person might have fainted from the frustration of listening to it.
And I was also on the brink of fainting. Because I finally recognized who the man before me was.
“It’s a shame I must greet a guest while looking like this.”
The man who uttered such a carefree remark in this situation casually peeled off his gloves and threw them on the floor. Something wet splattered as they hit the ground. That was absolutely not a sound leather should make.
I stared at those ominous gloves in revulsion before turning my gaze back to the man. Before I knew it, he had taken an identical pair of gloves from a desk drawer and was walking toward me.
This time, it’s my turn.
I knew it intuitively. If I didn’t do as he wished, my blood would soon stain those new gloves.
Praying inwardly for him to stop, as if reciting sutras, I kept my eyes on him. As he drew closer, my gaze was forced higher and higher to meet his.
He was tall, with broad shoulders to match, and his neatly swept-back hair revealed a clean forehead. He was undeniably handsome—so much so that admiration would be the first reaction. A beautiful man with a bizarre atmosphere, speckled with drops of blood on one cheek.
Honestly, he just looked like a crazed bastard who happened to be extremely handsome.
“You are Yeon Seon-woo, correct?”
Ah. That single question shattered my hope that they might have grabbed the wrong person.
The man raised the corners of his mouth as he spoke in that unique cadence of his. His attitude was just as languid as his tone, making him appear incredibly arrogant and jaded.
And what composure in a situation like this. There was no doubt he was completely out of his mind.
How terrifying was it to have such a person squatting in front of me, smiling meaninglessly? I swallowed dryly at the tension, seeing the flimsy mask of a smile he wore.
If I wasn’t mistaken, he was the protagonist of this world—someone capable of bending everything to his will, obtaining and achieving anything he desired.
I had no idea why such a person would kidnap someone as ordinary as me, but—
“Master, there’s… blood here.”
Suddenly, a hand appeared from behind me and gently wiped the cheek of the man sitting across from me. I’d forgotten there was someone behind me, and the surprise nearly stopped my heart.
But my state was of no concern to them. With careful, delicate movements, as though handling fragile glass, the person wiped away the blood.
Madmen. It was blood. Not sauce, not paint, but the blood of someone they’d beaten, and they wiped it off him like that.
“Dear me, how rude of me in front of a guest.”
“…….”
I doubt rudeness is limited to a bit of blood splatter.
I wanted to argue that dragging me here by force and leaving me in this state was far ruder, raising my eyebrows in displeasure before quickly lowering my gaze again. It was a mistake born of momentary irritation that made me forget who was standing in front of me.
Perhaps pleased by my obedient attitude, the man wiping the blood from his cheek smiled with a strange expression. I shot him sidelong glances and cursed inwardly.
He had definitely shown me this violent scene on purpose. A hint that if I didn’t behave quietly, I would soon end up like that.
*Fuck, fuck, fuuuck!*
“Yeon Seon-woo?”
While I was inwardly screaming curses, the man called my name again. Honestly, I wanted to shout that I didn’t know such a person, to demand why they’d dragged an innocent man into this mess.
But the suffocating killing intent that thickened when my answer was delayed made me keep my words to a minimum. Instead, I answered meekly.
“Yes.”
“You are Yeon Seon-woo himself, correct?”
No! I’m not, dammit, I’m not the Yeon Seon-woo you’re looking for!
“……Yes.”
Experiencing the marvelous phenomenon of my mouth betraying my mind, I bit hard at the inside of my cheek. One thought I couldn’t erase kept circling back—that I was pretty much screwed.
“I heard you’re a skilled mentalist. Is that also correct?”
He’s onto me. I keep telling him it’s not me!
“I am a Mentalist, but I’m not very skilled.”
I twisted my inner reply to sound as agreeable as possible.
But maybe I twisted it too much? The man, silent for a moment, slowly tilted his head. His formerly smiling face hardened into something eerie, somehow terrifying.
Watching his expression change in an instant brought to mind a lion leading its pride. A lion lounging leisurely atop a wide rock on the plains, only to transform into a predator the moment something threatened its pack.
A smile that could turn feral and bare its teeth at any moment, hiding a violent wildness—that was exactly the kind of person before me.
So please, don’t give me that dead serious look. I think my heart might go into arrest.
“That’s a bit of a problem. If you’re not, you might end up like that man over there.”
See! You bastard, you really did show me that on purpose, didn’t you?!
Biting down the urge to confront him, I forced a pathetic, servile smile, trying to look as pitiful as possible.
I hate myself like this too.
“Please, couldn’t you spare me?”
“Of course I should keep you alive. You’re a guest I went through great trouble to invite. That man is still alive too.”
Yes, strictly speaking, he is “alive.” The problem is he’s only “alive.”
Does merely breathing count as living? I hate pain more than anything in the world, so I reflexively frowned at those words before quickly bowing my head again.
My goal right now was to suppress my temper, roll over like a tongue inside a mouth, and get out of here without a single blow.
“Yeon Seon-woo.”
“Y-yes.”
I deliberately drew out my words, making my voice crack slightly as if I were about to cry. I thought maybe if I at least pretended to cry, he’d take pity on me.
Then a hand reached up from below and grabbed my chin, forcing it up. Startled by the sudden contact, I looked up at him in confusion. Meeting my gaze, the man slowly examined my face and smiled gently.
Setting aside that we were the same gender, it might have been fluttering to have such an incredibly handsome man do this, but goosebumps rose over my skin first.
“I don’t really like it when people fake cry.”
“I-I-I wasn’t faking! I-I was really crying……”
Bring me anyone who wouldn’t cry in this situation, I dare you!
I quickly scrunched up the corners of my eyes to squeeze out tears. Seeing that, the man looked down at me with a strange expression, not removing his hand from my chin, and spoke again.
“Don’t speak casually.”
“…….”
You bastard. You speak however you want to me.
Frightened and furious, I glared at him before accidentally making eye contact. I quickly averted my gaze and nodded obediently. Only then did he release my chin.
They say if you cry, you lose—and by that standard, I had already lost completely. Because I really wanted to cry.
“Good. Then shall we get to my question? Yeon Seon-woo, you know me, right?”
Who wouldn’t recognize a face that appeared on TV every time you turned it on? And I daresay I knew far more intimate details about this man too.
So I nodded cautiously, and the man narrowed his cool eyes in a gentle smile. Not that the cold light within them was hidden in the slightest.
“Who am I?”
Who am I? Whooo am I?
I sincerely wanted to scream that question in annoyance. You’re the protagonist of this fucked-up game world!
“It’s Hunter Lee Je-hee…….”
Hiding my true feelings, I answered obediently. Lee Je-hee smiled brilliantly, pleased with my response. It was the same smile I’d seen hundreds of times while playing the game.
Yet for some reason, his face felt unfamiliar, and I lowered my gaze.
Damn, I think I peed myself a little from fear.
* * *
One month before being captured by Lee Je-hee, I had woken up in the morning and fallen out of bed in surprise at the unfamiliar scenery of a strange house. It wasn’t my small, precious studio apartment that I always saw. It was as if I’d been moved in my sleep—I’d opened my eyes in a house I’d never seen before.
“What, what is this? Where am I?”
Panicked, I scrambled up and dashed into the living room. Wondering if someone had really moved me, I searched the entire house, but I was alone in the space.
Had I gotten so drunk I wandered into the wrong house? But I didn’t drink yesterday.
In fact, I’d gotten off work early, come home, and gone to sleep satisfied after seeing the ending of a game I’d been playing for a week. So why had I woken up in an unfamiliar place?
“This is driving me insane…….”
I continued looking around the house in bewilderment. The place I’d woken up in looked like an ordinary home. A typical 20-pyeong villa with a standard layout.
Standing blankly in the living room and looking around, I started moving hastily again. I didn’t know what was going on, but I thought I should get out before I was mistaken for a burglar.
Afraid the owner might show up and scream “Thief!”, I urgently checked for my phone and wallet. Even if I left, I needed taxi fare—no, at least bus fare—to get home.
With that in mind, I searched around and eventually found a wallet that didn’t belong to me. Reaching inside for money, I saw something that wrapped me in a bizarre sensation.
A very unpleasant, ominous feeling.
〈Hunter’s License
Name: YEON SEON WOO
Hunter Certificate Number: SP9002-B7853MH5801
Nationality: Korea
Address: Sadang-dong, Dongjak-gu, Seoul, XX-X
The above is formally registered as a Hunter with the KHU.
Korea Hunter Union〉
“……What is this?”
The mysterious object labeled “Hunter’s License” had a photo on it, and the person in the photo was me. The name written beside it was the familiar name I’d used for twenty-nine years.
But everything else was an incomprehensible jumble of words and numbers.
A Hunter? What kind of word was this, something you’d only expect from a “I Fell Into Another World and Became a Hunter” light novel?
Unable to believe this absurd situation, I let out a hollow laugh and sat down on the couch. Then I must’ve triggered the remote beneath my hip, because the TV on the wall turned on and a news broadcast began to flow out.
[In response to the news of Guild Master Lee Je-hee of the Yeolmu Guild’s broken engagement, many citizens are shocked while others remain skeptical. With the truth of this sudden breakup, barely a month after the engagement announcement, in question, many have been requesting confirmation from the guild, but the guild has maintained a steadfast silence, deepening suspicions. Meanwhile, Hunter Shin So-ra has been confirmed to be in seclusion, cutting off all external contact, and Master Lee Je-hee is reportedly unreachable as he is currently attending a World Hunter Union conference……]
“What is that? ……Some new variety show?”
The serious anchor’s voice was funnier than comedy. It was clearly a news report, yet the content was ridiculously nonsensical.
A guild, a hunter, a master. This wasn’t some children’s game.
Could a news program that ought to pursue public interest and fairness spout such insane nonsense? And what were these names, Lee Je-hee and Shin So-ra, anyway? They were the same as the protagonists of the game I’d been immersed in until yesterday, and I let out a hollow laugh.
“Has the news gone crazy? ……Wait, Yeolmu Guild Lee Je-hee?”
A strange sense of disquiet swept down my nape, and I tilted my head.
Hunter Lee Je-hee. How many times had I seen that phrase in the game *The Regressing D-Rank Hunter*?
With a stiff face, I looked down at the Hunter’s License in my hand again. Then slowly raising my eyes to the TV screen, I unwittingly muttered.
“Status Window.”
[Yeon Seon-woo Lv. 52
Class Rank: C-Rank
1st Class: Supporter
2nd Class: Mentalist
Awakened Trait: - (Non-Awakened)
Physical Attack Power: 52
Magic Attack Power: 204
Physical Defense: 82
Magic Defense: 30
Status Ailment Resistance: 1,052
↓Expand]
Staring at the translucent blue-tinted panel floating in the air, I opened my mouth in a daze. The Yeolmu Guild, Lee Je-hee, Shin So-ra, Hunter, and this transparent panel called up by saying “Status Window”—it was all exactly what I’d seen in *The Regressing D-Rank Hunter*. A game boasting insane freedom but notorious for its brutal difficulty due to the lack of a save function.
“This is insane…….”
My gaze automatically turned back to the TV. Beyond the screen, an incredibly handsome 3D character waved his hand. Below, the caption read: “Master Lee Je-hee departing to attend the World Hunter Union conference.”
Am I crazy, or is the world crazy? Or else…….
I hurriedly found my phone and went online. I typed in every word I could think of—Hunter, Guild, Lee Je-hee—and searched. Articles related to him popped up in droves, treating Lee Je-hee as if he were a real, living person.
How could this be?
Lee Je-hee was definitely the protagonist of the game I’d played. *The Regressing D-Rank Hunter* was literally a title referring to the game’s protagonist, Lee Je-hee.
The game followed a typical story where you played as Lee Je-hee, gathered companions, leveled up, and saved a world in crisis.
And I was a player who had seen the game’s ending. It was a game with high freedom where you could romance any character, but I had ignored everyone else’s affection and focused solely on Shin So-ra.
Thanks to that, in my playthrough, the ending showed the two of them getting engaged. As someone whose favorite character was Shin So-ra, it had been a very satisfying ending.
I hadn’t seen every ending, but I’d thought it was good enough and closed the game…….
Yet now, a news broadcast was reporting that Lee Je-hee and Shin So-ra’s engagement had broken off. The very first article that popped up when I searched for Lee Je-hee was about that.
And if this article was true, that meant—
“……Crazy! You’re telling me I’m inside a game?! Not just any game, but one that’s already reached its ending?!”
The moment I realized that fact, I grabbed my head and screamed. It was unbelievable, but it was reality.
* * *
Fuck, if you’re going to throw someone into a game without their consent, you should’ve at least sent them near the start! Then I could’ve held onto the same hope as web novel protagonists—that if I cleared the game, I could return to reality. But what the hell am I supposed to do shoved into a game that’s already reached its ending?
“Fuuu…….”
Sitting on my knees in what appeared to be Lee Je-hee’s office, I rubbed my eyes with the back of my hand, feeling like I might cry.
It was so unfair. This whole shitty situation, and the fact that I—who wasn’t even the real Yeon Seon-woo—had to suffer through it.
It had already been a month since I came to this world.
At first, I’d simply thought I’d entered the game. But there was another Yeon Seon-woo here with the same face and name, and I had become that Yeon Seon-woo.
He’d never appeared in the game, but “this Yeon Seon-woo” was also a Hunter. As a Supporter with little ability, he had no guild affiliation and ran a private business called the “Happiness Management Clinic”—a somewhat ambiguous figure.
No wonder he never appeared in the game. He was such a total loser.
I’d spent that time doing my best to find a way back while gradually learning how this world’s Yeon Seon-woo had lived. That was only natural, because even in a game world, making a living wasn’t easy. Mooching off someone else’s money was hard no matter what world you were in.
If there was one fortune, it was that I could use my abilities as a Hunter without difficulty.
“Come sit over here.”
Just then, Lee Je-hee, who’d been sitting on the sofa lost in thought, pointed to the seat opposite him. Thinking he was finally treating me like a guest, I quickly tried to stand, only to freeze. My legs had been kneeling for so long that they’d cramped up, and I couldn’t move.
But I had no allies here. When I didn’t move at Lee Je-hee’s invitation, the cruel bastard standing behind me grabbed my arm and forcibly hoisted me up.
Argh! This crazy bastard!
I screamed loudly at the terrible pain in my numb legs.
“It hurts! Cramp! I have a cramp! Stop it!”
“…….”
The man who’d been looking at my writhing, begging figure with contempt suddenly froze in the middle of forcing me up. My legs and the arm he was grabbing hurt, but I used that pause to glare fiercely at him.
“Cho-rok, you’re hurting them. Let go.”
“Yes.”
And the moment I heard that name, I quickly lowered my gaze. Now I remembered who he was.
Psycho Green, Han Cho-rok.
He was one of the characters in *The Regressing D-Rank Hunter*, someone Lee Je-hee had taken in as a child, after which he followed Lee Je-hee’s words as if they were his life. He was also a mad dog who would cut down anyone without hesitation for Lee Je-hee, and an S-Rank Berserker-class Hunter with the ability to back it up.
If I remembered correctly, his Awakened trait after Awakening was… Berserker? That was Han Cho-rok for you—a man who became a frenzied warrior while maintaining a face that looked utterly indifferent to everything.
Wow, fuck. I almost got mauled to death by a mad dog because of a mistake.
Grateful that my head and neck were still intact, I cautiously raised my eyes as innocently as possible while crouching. I couldn’t afford to pick a fight unnecessarily.
Everyone around here was dangerous, so I had to watch my step. One was a madman who’d regressed hundreds of times to sit at the top of the world. The other was the madman beside that madman.
“Yeon Seon-woo, let’s just talk like this. Sit comfortably and listen.”
Yes, lie flat on the floor. So comfortable I could cry.
Suppressing my desire to retort, I looked up at Lee Je-hee, who was seated on the sofa. The height difference naturally made my gaze rise upward. Assuming such a submissive posture was infuriating, and I ground my teeth while forcing a servile smile.
“Your consideration is truly…… impreffive.”
The words came out slurred from gritting my teeth so hard, but at least my servile smile remained intact. Seeing that, the bastard smiled with satisfaction, looking languid with his legs crossed.
“I suppose I am rather like that.”
“…….”
Have I ever seen such a shameless bastard? You kidnapped me like this and call yourself considerate?
As I glared at him in disbelief, a metallic *shing* rang out, and a gleaming blue sword rested on my shoulder. I mean, I’d understand if it were just words, but why bring out a sword?
“Do not carelessly release killing intent before the Master. Consider this your only warning.”
Someone as innocent as me wouldn’t even know how to harbor killing intent, and I wanted to argue that, but realizing words wouldn’t reach him, I looked at Lee Je-hee instead. That was a plea for him to intervene. However, the man only smiled, with no intention of helping.
“He’s a bit sensitive to killing intent. Be careful.”
A child? Where’s a child here? Surely he’s not referring to that over-180cm, greyhound-looking bastard?
I glanced at Han Cho-rok with a disgusted expression and obediently opened my mouth.
“I’ll be careful. I really will, so could you please put this away……”
As they say, even if you roll in a dog’s mess, it’s still the world of the living. Desperate to survive, I begged, and only then did Lee Je-hee gesture for Han Cho-rok to step back.
Seeing the sword that had been at my neck withdraw, I let out a long sigh of relief and sat cross-legged on the floor. Watching me, Lee Je-hee laughed as if amused.
“I like your cooperative attitude. Shall we get to the main point?”
“Yes!”
So you like cooperation. You think it’s real cooperation? It’s just that I have no power.
Still, I answered brightly, as if I’d do my best to cooperate. I just hoped he wouldn’t mistake my smile for genuine fondness.
“Cho-rok, bring me the investigation file on Yeon Seon-woo.”
“Yes.”
At Lee Je-hee’s order, Han Cho-rok, who’d been standing at attention behind me, approached the table in front of the sofa. He picked up a file folder from the table and respectfully held it out to Lee Je-hee.
Unable to move even that much on his own—what a lazy bastard. Suppressing the urge to click my tongue, I watched silently. Having openly admitted to investigating me, Lee Je-hee tossed the folder toward me as if reading it were too bothersome.
“Yeon Seon-woo, I heard you’re a Mentalist from the Supporter line and mainly use skills related to status abnormalities. Is that correct?”
“……Yes. That seems about right.”
I picked up the folder that had fallen right in front of my knees and examined its contents before answering. If this report was all true, Lee Je-hee knew more about “this side’s Yeon Seon-woo” than I did.
“I dislike imprecise answers, so answer properly.”
He seemed displeased again for some reason, his words immediately shortening. But I really don’t know, bastard.
“Yes, that’s correct.”
Answering under blatant duress, I saw Lee Je-hee slowly straighten his languid upper body. Now it felt like we were truly getting to the main point, so I straightened my back and focused on his voice.
“Your specialty is putting opponents to sleep through status abnormalities or creating emotional changes, correct? I also heard you run a ‘Happiness Management Clinic’ using that ability.”
I hesitated at the unpleasant implications, then obediently nodded, feeling his gaze fix upon me.
Most of the Hunters who visited the “Happiness Management Clinic”—a ridiculous name that this world’s Yeon Seon-woo had come up with—suffered from depression due to frequent combat. They complained of insomnia, lethargy, emotional numbness, and Yeon Seon-woo provided them with the necessary emotions and states.
Though they were temporary buff skills, unexpectedly, people who came once kept returning, so he apparently had quite a few regulars. Not that he’d ever imagined it would lead to him being kidnapped.
I truly don’t know why I have to suffer like this because of someone who merely shares my face and name.
“Then I shall place a request as well.”
“……With me?”
“Yes.”
“You, Hunter Lee Je-hee?”
“You seem to enjoy speaking at length. I don’t. It’s tedious.”
Lee Je-hee, who had maintained an attitude of being annoyed by everything, smiled while meeting my eyes. I quickly lowered my gaze, wondering if a person’s smile could possibly look so ominous.
“No, it’s just that I really don’t understand. If you need abilities related to status abnormalities, there are many others besides me who can do it……”
My question was natural. Wasn’t Lee Je-hee the one who had maxed out his stats through hundreds of regressions? On top of that, with overflowing wealth, fame, and power grasped in his hands, why had he kidnapped a mere C-Rank like me to make a request?
“I need you because it’s you.”
Crazy, so that’s the famous Lee Je-hee-style flirting that he spouts as naturally as breathing.
In a game where everyone around him was romanceable, he had tossed out such lines regardless of gender. Recalling the comments on game strategy sites about how that was part of his charm, I slightly furrowed my brow.
As if reading my dissatisfaction, Lee Je-hee remained kind. Or rather, his expression alone was kind.
“Just do as I say. Knowing the reason won’t change your situation.”
Goodness, telling me my place too—how kind of you.
His very realistic advice jolted me back to my senses, and I smiled at Lee Je-hee. Since I couldn’t curse, I smiled instead.
Being powerless really is…… a dog’s life.
“That is true. But if it doesn’t work out……”
Nodding, I lifted my gaze to lay the groundwork for the possibility of failure. But then, as if on cue, Lee Je-hee slowly turned his head, and my words trailed off.
Following his gaze, I turned to see a pulp of blood barely breathing. So that look was a silent threat: Do you want to end up like that too?
What is this? What the hell is this?
Lee Je-hee had seemed somewhat unhinged even when I played the game, but ultimately, he was a hero who protected the weak and saved the world. But what had changed him into this?
Simply because the game had reached its ending?
One month into being in this game world, I knew that Lee Je-hee had become a hero by defeating the Keymaster and stopping the Outbreak. You couldn’t avoid knowing; turn on the TV and articles and news about him poured out. Even entertainment gossip shows were noisy with talk about Lee Je-hee.
People were fanatical about him, pouring endless attention his way. He’d even been featured in textbooks as the hero who saved Korea.
He wasn’t a hero in an all-spandex suit from the movies or a fictional hero in an expensive suit. He was a living hero, a legend itself.
And that great hero was doing this to me.
“It won’t not work. Just do as you normally do.”
But why is this great hero doing this to me?
“What do you mean by ‘as I normally do’……?”
“Put me to sleep.”
“……Do you have insomnia?”
“That’s one thing.”
So it’s not just insomnia. A very troublesome premonition made me frown secretly at Lee Je-hee before smoothing my expression and forcing a laugh.
Yes, I am a spineless person.
“But as you know, my level is low, and my class rank is only C-Rank, so I don’t know if I can do it well…… I’m honestly telling you this because I think it would be better to look for someone else.”
Meeting his eyes with sincerity, I tried to convey that I wasn’t refusing because I didn’t want to do it, but purely out of concern for him.
Of course, that was a lie. It was because I didn’t want to do it. Powerless people who learn the secrets of the powerful have short lifespans, and they get shot even if they stay still. Having consumed countless movies and novels from an early age, I knew that perfectly well.
“It’s possible because it’s you, Yeon Seon-woo. Normal status abnormalities are usually classified under attack skills, not support skills. So they don’t work on me. My own defense and resistance are too high for ordinary skills to take effect. In contrast, a Supporter’s abilities can be used regardless of resistance. Like Heal, which works on anyone.”
Only after hearing Lee Je-hee’s words did I understand why I’d been dragged here. Sleep-inducing status effects were usually attached to attack skills. And mediocre attack skills would never work on Lee Je-hee.
Supporters held buffs that removed status ailments and raised attack power, defense, movement speed, etc. In contrast, “this Yeon Seon-woo” possessed status ailment-inducing skills as buffs because his 1st Class was Supporter, but his 2nd Class through advancement was Mentalist.
The Mentalist was an extremely rare class that held almost none of the general skills necessary for dungeons. Even if it had them, their effects were very weak compared to other Supporters.
Meaning it was a rare class but not a good job. One look at the skill window made it obvious why Yeon Seon-woo had given up on Hunter work and opened a clinic with such a bizarre name.
If such a job had really appeared in the game, I would’ve abandoned the character and raised a new one, calling it a trash class. That was how useless it was in combat. But for what Lee Je-hee wanted, it seemed perfect.
“So…… what you want, Hunter Lee Je-hee, is a sleep effect?”
“Yes.”
His immediate, unhesitating answer was resolute. Afterward, the bastard named Cho-rok standing behind me glared at me, eyes flicking about as if to ask why I wasn’t doing as told immediately. How much could I even do in this situation?
“Shall we begin then?”
“……Yes.”
That was the only answer I could give to Lee Je-hee’s words. That was the only way for now.
* * *
After that conversation, which had been nothing short of a threat, Lee Je-hee brought me to a different space connected to the office.
A place with only a chair under a dim mood light—it seemed like a deliberately prepared rest area. Probably a spot made to briefly come and rest when tired from work.
“Then I shall begin. Please relax and close your eyes.”
I, who had followed Lee Je-hee like a duckling, stood blankly and surveyed the dark space with unfamiliarity. In the meantime, Lee Je-hee was lying stretched out on a recliner in a very comfortable posture.
As I hesitantly approached, the bastard named Cho-rok who had followed me—I didn’t even know he had—made another *shing* sound as he drew his sword.
So he was a Berserker, huh. He draws his sword even if I breathe a little too loudly.
“Do not attempt anything foolish.”
“Unfortunately, I’m not capable of such things.”
“Do not forget that I am watching you.”
As if I could forget, with that overwhelming presence?
I raised both hands in resignation, staring grimly at the sword once again digging beneath my jaw. Han Cho-rok still looked displeased, glaring at me threateningly. If Lee Je-hee hadn’t opened his mouth in that uniquely languid tone, he probably would’ve kept it up for who knows how long.
“Cho-rok, go out and take it easy for a bit.”
“But……”
“It’s fine, so go.”
“……Yes.”
Having received an obvious order to leave, Han Cho-rok glanced at me with dissatisfaction. Lee Je-hee was the one who told him to leave, so why take it out on innocent me?
Because I’m the easy one, of course.
I could only force a hollow smile at the obvious attitude. But even my laugh, which looked as harmless and innocent as could be, couldn’t erase the light of suspicion from his eyes.
“I shall wait outside. Please call if you need anything.”
Han Cho-rok sent a lingering gaze toward Lee Je-hee before dragging his reluctant feet out of the room. As I watched his drooping shoulders with contempt, I heard laughter from below and furtively lowered my gaze. Lee Je-hee, reclining with his back deeply settled, was letting out a snickering laugh.
Not knowing what to say in this atmosphere, I chose the safest words and blurted them out.
“You two seem very close.”
“He’s peculiar and troublesome. But also cute.”
“…….”
This bastard, he got a lot of flak in the game for his unconscious flirting regardless of gender, so he really is a natural, huh?
Calling a grown man “cute” was a heaven-defying remark that made Lee Je-hee seem insane. But sensing him opening his eyes, I quickly donned a servile expression. Seeing my mouth open as if about to say “Hehe,” Lee Je-hee narrowed his eyes and smiled.
“But how long are we going to keep doing this?”
“Ah, yes. W-well, let’s begin.”
“Very well.”
If I made even the slightest mistake from now on, I’d become that pulp of blood from earlier. With trembling heart, I moved behind the recliner where Lee Je-hee lay and took a silent deep breath.
I couldn’t be confident how well my ability would work on Lee Je-hee. But regardless of level difference, a healer’s heal always lands, so it shouldn’t be completely ineffective.
As he said, attack-class skills varied greatly in effect depending on the target’s defense and status ailment resistance, but buff-type abilities generally weren’t restricted by such things.
With trembling hands, I raised them near Lee Je-hee’s face and brought my fingertips close to his temples. Activating the skill “Status Transition,” a long status window appeared in my vision.
[Preparing Status Transition. Please set the status to transition to.]
Pressing one hand to Lee Je-hee’s forehead, I examined the settings window that had appeared with my other hand. Since many Hunters who visited the clinic complained of insomnia, the word “Sleep” appeared at the top of the settings window. Selecting it without hesitation, the completed skill activated just like in the game.
[Activating Status Transition skill. Applying ‘Sleep’ status according to the set value.]
As the skill activated, warm energy gathered at my fingertips. Feeling it flow through the other’s skin, I lowered my gaze to check Lee Je-hee’s state. He had been lying with a blank face and closed eyes, but he slightly furrowed his brow before slowly relaxing his expression.
Did it work? Did I really succeed?
I hadn’t used this ability for very long either. Having only recently learned how to use it, I couldn’t bring myself to remove my hand right away and focused my mind. After some time passed, a faint, barely audible breathing rhythm continued evenly.
Silently exhaling, I carefully removed my hand so as not to wake him. The Status Transition skill only required contact during activation; after activation, there was no issue maintaining the skill even from a distance within a certain range.
After confirming Lee Je-hee was asleep, I retreated from the chair and sat cross-legged in a corner. I could feel my mana draining bit by bit as time passed, a sign that the Sleep skill was properly active.
Only then did the reality that I had safely completed Lee Je-hee’s request sink in, and I let out a sigh mixed with relief. Then, intending to organize my thoughts during the remaining time, I leaned my back against the wall and closed my eyes.
*The Regressing D-Rank Hunter*. Abbreviated as *HoeDiHeon*, it was an action RPG famous for its high degree of freedom. It also incorporated weak dating-sim elements, allowing the player to see an ending with anyone.
Here, “with anyone” was meant literally. It was a world that allowed same-sex romance, so regardless of gender, as long as you raised affection, you could see the final ending. Because of that, it was popular across all demographics.
Furthermore, though the story and character settings were a bit childish, the setting was Seoul, fitting for a Korean-made game, which made it especially popular among Korean players.
The one who contributed most to that popularity was undoubtedly the game’s protagonist, Lee Je-hee. When the incredibly handsome 3D character was put up on subway station billboard ads, it was utter chaos.
Riding that word-of-mouth hype from before launch, it garnered enough popularity to spawn fan cafes despite the fatal flaw of having no save function. Thanks to that, the company that made the game, despite being a new studio, sat on a pile of money—meaning the rest was history.
I too had become curious about that immense popularity and started playing. According to the game description I read while downloading, *HoeDiHeon* was about D-Rank Hunter Lee Je-hee, who regressed every time he died thanks to his Awakening skill.
Thus, the player started playing as Lee Je-hee, who had just gained his regression ability. The problem was that there was no save device in the game, so if the character died during play, you returned to the beginning. If not for the fact that, befitting a regressor, you restarted while retaining skills and level-up stats, it would truly have been a diabolical setting.
Therefore, in *HoeDiHeon*, rewards and progression routes changed completely depending on the companions currently recruited, the time of death, and the methods used. Among these, the most important factor was “when you die,” so without strategy guides shared among users, clearing dungeons and building affection with characters was difficult.
Even I had purposefully died many times while looking up guides. I think I died about three hundred times to raise the protagonist’s stats, and I almost quit when my mental broke after dying while trying to defeat the Keymaster near the end.
Fuck, I should’ve quit back then…… Then I might not have gone through such absurdity.
In any case, *HoeDiHeon* was a PC game centered on single-player that simultaneously required gathering companion NPCs for cooperative play.
That is, you had to recruit desired companions around Lee Je-hee, run dungeons to grow your characters, occasionally stop Outbreaks triggered as events, and find and defeat the final boss, the Keymaster, to see the ending.
According to that setting, Lee Je-hee was a Hunter with immeasurable stats depending on how many times he had regressed, despite being an S-Rank on the surface.
In my final playthrough where I saw the ending, over three hundred insane regressions had stacked experience that carried over, maxing out both Swordsman and Mage stats to their highest values, and through the regressor’s perks, he had monopolized all sorts of hidden skills and top-tier items.
You could call him the ultimate final boss of this world.
Of course, I didn’t know how many times the Lee Je-hee before me had regressed, but judging by the atmosphere he gave off, it wasn’t a small number.
However, like the popular hero stories these days, the protagonist Lee Je-hee was neither purely good nor purely evil.
Infinitely cold and ruthless to enemies. That was Lee Je-hee’s motto.
But did that mean he was a warm and affectionate person to his own people? Not exactly. For Lee Je-hee, the present was an unreachable mirage, since he never knew when he might be thrown back to the past.
Could such a person show something like sincerity to anyone? Could this reality he was living now ever feel like his own life?
The character profile said no. Lee Je-hee had no intention of living his present with all his might. Because he never knew when everything might reset.
Perhaps that was why his head had gone a bit crazy. I knew very well because I’d played the sub-quest where he killed anyone and everyone indiscriminately to see how the future changed. I’d been pretty passionate about it too, since collecting all death endings there gave a hidden skill.
In short, he was just a handsome crazy bastard.
And that was a charming character when playing the game. Now that the game had become reality, he only felt terrifying and frightening.
He wouldn’t know that he had reached the ending. Which meant he could commit such insane acts without hesitation at any time.
So the moment I realized this was the world inside the game, my thought was “Avoid him!” I’d tried my best to avoid him and find a way back to the real world.
After all, ‘Yeon Seon-woo’ wasn’t even a character who appeared in the game, so I didn’t think it would be difficult. Rather than actively getting involved and risk being recognized as a romanceable character, avoiding him quietly should be easy. I wanted to avoid him precisely for that reason.
That was what I should have done…….
The plan I believed to be perfect had turned to foam, because Lee Je-hee had come looking for me himself.
Most people who visited the clinic were Hunters. Yeon Seon-woo provided them with temporarily infused emotions, relieving their deficiencies.
So perhaps what Lee Je-hee wanted was the same? Maybe too many regressions and battles had broken something in his mind. That would explain why his engagement with Shin So-ra had broken. If so, everything fit perfectly.
Honestly, as long as my life was guaranteed, it wasn’t bad for me. If anything, getting close to Lee Je-hee meant hearing more things, so I might find a way back more easily.
He was the protagonist of this game world, after all.
The biggest problem in the game world wasn’t the dungeons. Of course, if dungeons weren’t periodically cleared, Breakdown would occur and monsters would pour out, but if managed well, there was no problem. They were closer to good hunting grounds for growing characters.
But Outbreaks were different. Outbreaks, where hordes of monsters flooded through Gates that appeared anytime, anywhere, had been the most difficult quests even when playing the game. And these Outbreaks occurred because of a monster that created those Gates.
Namely, the Keymaster.
Originally, the Keymaster, who hid its body, appeared in any dungeon at random probability, and if you missed killing it then, that region would suffer under the terror of an Outbreak that could trigger at any time.
But the problem was that being the final boss, it was hard to kill. With its high intelligence, the Keymaster was rated above S-Rank, at S+.
Even I had run dungeons for two days straight trying to catch it, and finally managed on the third day.
And because the scene had cut away immediately after, I hadn’t known what reward you got for killing the Keymaster. There seemed to be some hidden Easter egg-like thing, but since I’d turned off the game after seeing the ending, it was impossible for me to know. I’d never seen anything about it on the game community forums either when I went in looking for guides.
Maybe the Keymaster’s final reward, related to dimensions, had something to do with my current situation? If so, this chance to obtain information beside Lee Je-hee was all the more golden.
Because currently, Lee Je-hee was the only person in this world who had killed the Keymaster.
However, the biggest problem was that there was no guarantee for my life…….
“Guess I really have no choice but to lie completely flat.”
Surprised by the mutter that escaped me without realizing, I clamped my mouth shut. Worried he might have woken, I examined the sleeping figure. Fortunately, the skill seemed to be working well; he was deep asleep, not even making a breathing sound. If not for the slight rise and fall of his chest, I might have checked whether he was breathing at all.
As I quietly observed Lee Je-hee like that, the corners of my mouth slowly crept up.
Let’s squeeze him dry. Since it’s come to this, I need to use Lee Je-hee as much as possible. It’s just a matter of tucking my guts away for a while, isn’t it?
I’ll suck out every last drop and toss him aside. And then I’ll escape this shitty world and return to my original one.
It was while wearing such a wicked smile in the darkness that a *ding* sounded, and another status window appeared.
[Achievement ‘Heart of an Ambitious One’ unlocked. ‘Ambition’ is added to Status Transition settings.]
[Achievement ‘20 Settings Collected’ unlocked. The skill ‘Dreamer’ is unlocked.]
[The skill ‘Dreamer’ can only be activated on targets under the Sleep status ailment.]
“……!”
This is insane! I never imagined I’d witness a new skill being created like this.
So to add settings to Status Transition, I have to experience those states myself.
I quickly opened my skill window and examined the newly added skill, feeling a strange emotion. It was good, but not entirely good, since it felt like another step further from the reality I’d lived in.
It was the feeling of confirming with my own eyes that I had truly fallen into a strange world.
At that miraculous yet complicated, inexplicable feeling, I let out a long sigh and worried about how to return. And how to butter up Lee Je-hee, who was anything but easy, to extract the information I needed.
My head throbbed at the difficult problem.