I threw out the Australia sightseeing Im Haekyung had suggested and returned home immediately. My condition was not that good anyway, so I could not stay there. I had received treatment at the scene, but I had not fully recovered, so I wanted to return as quickly as possible. On top of that, I had a few things to think about.
I recalled the rest of my call with Im Haekyung.
'Seats?'
— Yes. I heard from Seowon, you see. They said they wanted to go separately?
'Ah-ha?'
— Did you fight?
'Yes.'
At that, Im Haekyung stayed quiet for quite a long time, as if thinking about something.
— Mm, that’s unexpected....
'It’s more unexpected that you were contacting Seowon separately.'
— Haha.... I can contact anyone I want, Jehyun.
Im Haekyung’s voice held a faint trace of laughter, but it did not sound as if they were laughing because they truly found it funny. The bastard stopped laughing at a suitable moment and asked something else.
— If you come into Haeseong, will you tell me what you want to do? I’ve been curious the whole time, but I can’t figure it out at all.
'Hm.'
— I have a clear purpose, you see. I feel like you do too. Am I wrong?
Im Haekyung, who asked in a mutter as if speaking to themself, seemed less like they were truly asking a question and more like they wanted their own guess confirmed. I sank briefly into thought, then answered obediently.
'Ah, I do.'
I reclined my airplane seat and comfortably closed my eyes. It was to organize the thoughts floating through my head.
Purpose.... Right, what exactly had my purpose been?
Kwon Taehan’s purpose was excessively simple. Protect this world from destruction. It was packaged as if “Seo Jehyun” were the cause of destruction, but in truth, that “destruction” simply flowed along with the world’s current anyway. I merely killed that Kwon Taehan at the right time...... and saved him.
But if so, what was “Seo Jehyun’s” goal?
'Do I need to separate them?'
Why had Seo Jehyun, no, “I,” wanted to destroy the world? Because of the words written on the Status Window? Because that was fate?
I could not tell what I had known then, or how far I had known it. Right, this was...... the biggest problem.
The fact that I had far too little information.
The original work provided only biased information from Kwon Taehan’s perspective. I could use what appeared there to a reasonable extent, but it meant I had difficulty grasping my own psychology clearly.
At some point, it had started feeling as if my body were floating. When exactly had that begun?
'When I became aware of it... after becoming B-rank.'
From then on, I felt a strange sense of déjà vu. It was not simply because my conversation with Moros had been striking. It was because it felt like an inevitable change occurring with Kwon Taehan ahead of me.
As if I were being swept up in a massive flow that could never change, like a fixed point.
In the first place, what had been the biggest reason I had tried to keep hold of Do Yehyun and Joo Seowon? It was not simply because I needed a healer and an informant. That thrill of having changed Do Yehyun’s fate, the faint...... sense of omnipotence I had felt because Joo Seowon had not joined Kwon Taehan’s side, and because I had twisted the original work.
In order to keep moving endlessly while knowing nothing, I had needed that kind of achievement.
Clear proof that I had done something. It was not simply because of emotion. I needed proof that could resolve this violent helplessness and make the situation feel pleasant...... proof that I was not being played with by some god’s prank.
Once the intense dissatisfaction was digested, a moment came when I could think rationally.
No matter what I did, I could not escape this place anyway. I, at any rate...... had to go to the ending.
I needed a real purpose, not one too distant or completely fragmentary.
Then where should I learn about “myself”?
The answer to that was also clear.
In any case, they were things sunk deep beneath my mind. Hadn’t I clearly seen them every time my life was in danger? Memories of a “previous round” or a “deleted round.”
'I need all of my memories.'
Then what method could I use to find my memories?
If my mind was tightly suppressing my memories, wouldn’t it be enough to dismantle it? And, truly fortunately, there was one person nearby who had an ability suitable for that.
'Im Haekyung.'
How the hell could a bastard who knew nothing about Regression or the information from the original work approach so closely?
'How?'
I opened my eyes and turned my gaze out the window. We would be landing soon.
***
Im Haekyung, who had just finished two calls in succession, narrowed their eyes.
'Strange....'
Things had progressed faster than expected. No, this was not merely fast. How should they put it? It was no different from only the result suddenly stepping close at an unexpected moment.
Im Haekyung did not particularly like products of coincidence. That was the same whether the result was good or bad. Im Haekyung enjoyed intentional moments that looked like coincidence. What they wanted was not a happy result gained by chance, but a completion where every step they had wanted from the beginning had been calmly taken.
Even if things that pierced through all that displeasure and brought pure amusement still existed.
There had been two intentions in sending Seo Jehyun and Joo Seowon into the S-rank Dungeon this time. One was to measure the degree of affection Seo Jehyun held for his housemate. As for Do Yehyun’s side, that had already been checked in advance inside a Dungeon, so cross-verification was unnecessary. Moreover, when comparing Do Yehyun and Joo Seowon, Joo Seowon was slightly more of a problem in terms of passing on information.
And the other was because an appropriate “moment of nearly dying” was necessary.
If measured coldly, Seo Jehyun was an existence who provided sufficient interest and questions, but his variables were far too large. In any case, Im Haekyung had been in a fairly sharp conflict. Whether to keep him by their side like this, or...... cut off their interest around here.
They believed Seo Jehyun would not die, but at the same time, it was not a belief held with all their power. However, even if that happened... there was no direct loss.
'Though my heart would hurt.'
That was sincere. In any case, Im Haekyung was a human being with attachments. Well... nothing had happened yet that would be enough to form an attachment.
In any case, since they knew a covenant had been placed between the two, they had intended to activate that “condition” once. An S-rank Dungeon was a place where danger lurked, and Joo Seowon was a type with many worries and emotions, so if that kind of “moment” came, they might break the covenant.
There had been no purpose of killing them or immediately splitting the two apart. In the first place, Im Haekyung had not thought it would be possible. That was why they had planned to resolve it slowly over time, but....
'The result....'
On top of that, there had been one more unexpected variable. Because an S-rank rookie Hunter had suddenly appeared, insisting that they would go to Australia personally.
The protagonist of that incident where public opinion had been ruined just a short time ago because of Seo Jehyun’s traffic accident.
Im Haekyung was aware that relationships could always change and could twist even because of small incidents... but they had not predicted that two such incidents would occur in succession like this.
Would they know if they firmly caught either Kwon Taehan or Joo Seowon and rummaged through their mind?
'But that’s lower priority.'
And most of all, if Seo Jehyun himself was not absorbed in his relationships with others, there was no need to dig. Though several variable factors always had to be kept in mind.
Im Haekyung rose from their seat with a subtle smile. For now, it was time to handle the matter at the top of the ranking.
***
There were more reporters gathered at the airport than I had expected.
'What the hell?'
This was the first time I had received such one-sided and serious attention since I had been covered by the media at age ten for being adopted.
Questions rang out the entire time I forced my way through the crowd and crossed the airport.
“Has your relationship with Hunter Kwon recovered?”
“Has your transfer to Haeseong Guild been confirmed?”
“How much do you think you contributed to this Dungeon clear?”
“Is it true you are close friends with Guild Master Im?”
“Was that accident really sudden acceleration? Suspicions are still being raised...!”
I responded to none of them and stubbornly pushed through the crowd.
“Ugh!”
“Whoa, you’re, you’re going to fall!”
“Wait! Don’t push!”
“Ack! Ah, ow! There’s a person here!”
Ah, fuck. If I had known it would be like this, I would have asked Im Haekyung to station some guards at the airport.
“Let’s move, please.”
“Please give us an answer!”
What fucking answer?
Just then, one reporter who had been persistently following me and trying to speak to me completely blocked my path and asked,
“Hunter Seo Jehyun! Is it true that you searched for Hunter Chase Holt until the very end?”
The tone of the question was quite sharp. I quietly listened to that question, mixed with suspicion, then answered with a smile.
“Move.”
“.......”
As soon as I left the airport like that, I immediately caught a taxi. The taxi driver, who looked fairly old, kept glancing at me through the rearview mirror the entire way home, then asked,
“Heh heh.... Are you a celebrity? Or that, what do you call it.... an, an awakened person?”
“I’m just a manager.”
“Manager? That’s strange. I feel like I saw you on the television....”
“Maybe you’re mistaken. Or maybe you’re remembering wrong.”
Looking at his face, I almost added the impression that he seemed about old enough for that sort of thing to happen, but adding detail to the lie became annoying, so I soon stopped.
Even after that, perhaps because he was bored, he kept trying to start conversations, so instead of answering, I checked the messages I had fallen behind on. There were a few messages that seemed like they needed replies, but I had no intention of doing it right away, so for now I read all of them and ignored them.
The driver, who had been talking hard, became quiet at some point. The car drove along the road for quite a while and arrived in front of my house.
“Keep the change. Thanks.”
After paying in cash and unloading my luggage, I headed home for the first time in quite a while.
When I brought the luggage inside and opened the door, a familiar structure came into view. A familiar house, and...... a familiar person too.
“Hi, Yehyun.”
When I greeted Do Yehyun, who had been sitting quietly on the sofa and looking at the door, Do Yehyun sprang up from his °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° seat and walked toward me.
His gaze lingered on me for a long time, then naturally moved behind me.
Then, instead of asking a question, he said in a quiet voice,
“I missed you.”
I ran a hand once through Do Yehyun’s hair, messing it up, then answered simply.
“Yeah, me too.”
Do Yehyun quietly looked up at me. He looked as if he wanted to ask something, but was hesitating over whether it was all right to ask. Instead of resolving that question, I lightly tapped his cheek with my finger and said,
“Yehyun.”
“Yes?”
“I’m planning to move... so can you pick the house again this time?”
It was a home address leaked to a capable informant. If trust had broken, I had to prepare for anything. Even if it was something that did not look like it would happen at all.
Do Yehyun blinked, then answered calmly.
“I’d like that.”
