episode_0134

134.

“……”

Yoo Seolhyun’s thin lips trembled slightly with a hint of worry mixed in response to Lee Jinhyuk’s question, then slowly began to close.

Yoo Seolhyun thought absentmindedly.

He seems a bit cold-hearted.

Of course, objectively speaking, it was only natural for Lee Jinhyuk to be worried about Jin Soyeon.

After all, after several months of being resurrected, realizing that his precious childhood friend was not home late at night, how could he not worry?

Furthermore, didn’t Lee Jinhyuk ask Yoo Seolhyun to take care of Jin Soyeon before he died?

He asked him to take care of her well.

Therefore, it could be said that Lee Jinhyuk coming urgently to ask about Jin Soyeon’s whereabouts was a natural course of action.

But why?

His question felt slightly cruel.

Yoo Seolhyun couldn’t quite understand why, but in a corner of his heart, a sharp pain and a frustrating emotion surged.

He couldn’t quite put a name to this feeling and emotion.

Almost like experiencing a new emotion for the first time.

Regret? Cruelty? Resentment? Sorrow? It seemed like a mix of various emotions.

Suddenly, Yoo Seolhyun lightly bit his lower lip.

It’s okay to ask about someone’s well-being, right? Asking if they’re doing well. Asking if they’re okay. Why was it so difficult to say a simple greeting?

Or maybe Yoo Seolhyun’s well-being was not even worth caring about.

It’s understandable since their relationship was at best business partners or close friends.

Unlike Jin Soyeon.

“…Ha. I can’t believe it.”

Yoo Seolhyun shook his head suddenly, shaking off useless thoughts and foolish fantasies.

And he thought to himself that it was unlike him.

Truly, it’s not like me.

“Yoo Seolhyun? What’s wrong?”

“No, it’s nothing.”

Yoo Seolhyun quickly regained his composure and faced Lee Jinhyuk.

He was quietly looking at her.

Yoo Seolhyun let out a small sigh and pursed his lips slowly.

“You asked about Jin Soyeon, right?”

“Yeah.”

How should I say this?

Well, I’ll just say it as it is.

“She disappeared.”

“Huh?”

He raised a question mark above his head.

So Yoo Seolhyun repeated.

“She disappeared about a month after you died.”

“….”

At her words of being missing, Lee Jinhyuk blinked his eyes in a somewhat bewildered manner.

He had worried that she might have made an extreme choice.

Could it be that she disappeared?

Wait a minute.

She didn’t disappear on her own, did she? Could she have been kidnapped?

“I can see what you’re thinking from your expression. Don’t worry, she left on her own.”

“Oh, really?”

Whether to consider this fortunate or not, at least she wasn’t missing because of someone else’s actions, so he should consider it somewhat fortunate, right?

“Jinhyuk.”

“Why?”

“Do you blame her?”

“Out of the blue, what blame?”

“I mean, Jin Soyeon went missing.”

Yoo Seolhyun cautiously licked his lips, glancing away slightly.

“You didn’t properly fulfill your request. The one about taking care of Jin Soyeon.”

“Oh, that?”

I was wondering what he was going to say.

Lee Jinhyuk shrugged his shoulders as if there was nothing to be concerned about.

“It’s not like we made a contract or a promise, right? I just, well, unilaterally asked as a friend.”

“…As a friend.”

Yoo Seolhyun pondered the word ‘friend’ for a moment.

Perhaps he didn’t quite like being called a friend by Lee Jinhyuk.

No, I thought we had become somewhat like friends by now. Sigh.

“And how did you manage to notice and stop Soyeon from leaving the house secretly? It was inevitable.”

If Soyeon had made up her mind to run away(?), even if it was Lee Jinhyuk instead of Yoo Seolhyun, he wouldn’t have been able to stop her.

They don’t even live in the same house.

“By the way, running away… sigh.”

Lee Jinhyuk sighed heavily, scratching his head in distress.

He was quite worried about how to find Jin Soyeon, who had run away.

What could she have been thinking to run away like that?

Could it be revenge against Lee Jinhyuk?

If so, it’s even harder to understand.

She must know that it’s impossible to seek revenge against Lee Jinhyuk alone.

It would be foolish to act alone in a situation where there is not much information about the other party.

Even if she wanted revenge, she should have known to work with the male protagonists in the game, but why alone…

“So, is Soyeon’s whereabouts still unknown?”

“No. Not exactly.”

She sighed heavily.

“I used the power of me, Lee Siwoon, Kang Daehan, and Rocksan, among others, to track down Soyeon.”

“Oh.”

Yes, if they all pooled their resources to track her down, they could have found her.

Unless someone was hiding her whereabouts.

“After checking her credit card transactions and traffic information from CCTV, we were able to track down Soyeon twice.”

“Twice?”

“Yes. The first time, I tried to persuade Soyeon, but failed.”

Yoo Seolhyun looked embarrassed.

“Soyeon… she’s changed a lot.”

“…”

“I tried my best to talk to her, but it was no use.”

“Is that so.”

“So, the second time we found her, I tried to capture Soyeon by force.”

“Was Soyeon in that state? To the point where force was necessary?”

“Yes.”

Looking at Lee Jinhyuk cautiously asking questions, Yoo Seolhyun nodded without hesitation.

“To be prepared for any situation, we assembled a considerable number of people to subdue Soyeon. Including top and upper-level skilled individuals.”

“Wow.”

From a logical standpoint, it was an excessive setup.

At best, they would need top and upper-level skilled individuals to subdue academy trainees.

To an outsider, it might seem like an excessive show of force.

But the fact that Yoo Seolhyun, a person of her caliber, needed this many people to subdue Jin Soyeon was evidence of Jin Soyeon’s abnormal skills.

“With this many people, I thought it would be enough.”

“Did you miss her?”

At Lee Jinhyuk’s question, Yoo Seolhyun nodded with a troubled expression.

“Soyeon’s growth rate was abnormally fast, but I never expected it to be this much… Honestly, not just me, but everyone on the scene was surprised.”

“…”

“She single-handedly evaded the team that included top and upper-level skilled individuals?”

Even if Jin Soyeon was a fast-growing chicken, it was still astonishing that she showed that much growth in just a few months.

To grow at such a rapid pace, she would have needed to level up by defeating dungeons, villains, monsters, etc., systematically.

But how could Jin Soyeon have leveled up systematically without enough information?

What exactly happened?

“That was a month ago. I can’t even imagine how much stronger she’s become now.”

“…”

“And she also attacked Baek Yurin.”

“What?”

Why would she attack Baek Yurin?

“Because of that, there are many rumors about Soyeon.”

“Baek Yurin…”

“Ironically, the victim, Baek Yurin, defended Soyeon. There was a bit of a misunderstanding.”

Lee Jinhyuk furrowed his brows.

Jin Soyeon’s reason for attacking Baek Yurin, what could it be?

In fact, there is one thing that comes to mind.

Because Baek Yurin was one of the members of Rebellion.

But Jin Soyeon wouldn’t know that fact.

How did she find out?

“Soyeon’s abnormal growth rate, the sudden attack by Baek Yurin, Baek Yurin’s misunderstanding… Ah, could it be.”

One thought passed through Lee Jinhyuk’s mind.

“Yoo Seolhyun.”

“Why?”

“What happened to my dimensional ring?”

“That? It’s your personal item, and it seems like you have no relatives, so I gave it to Soyeon. Why? Are you worried that I took it?”

“No, it’s not that, sigh….”

Lee Jinhyuk sighed deeply, rubbing his forehead.

Could it be that Soyeon… read the notes and notebooks about the settings and strategies for the Romance Hero Academy and future plans that I wrote after recalling memories of my past life?

I put all the notes and notebooks in the dimensional ring pocket.

If Jin Soyeon used that information to grow herself and realized that Baek Yurin was a member of Rebellion, then it all makes sense.

“It’s tricky. There’s quite a bit of information that Soyeon shouldn’t know.”

He felt worried because he had written down a lot of things that came to mind without any order.

“Anyway, I need to meet Soyeon as soon as possible.”

“Jinhyuk.”

Yoo Seolhyun called out.

She was looking at him with a solemn gaze.

“Soyeon has changed a lot.”

“Oh, yeah. I thought she might.”

“Don’t take it lightly. She has changed more than you think.”

“Huh?”

At Yoo Seolhyun’s serious words, Lee Jinhyuk hesitated for a moment.

“It’s been almost half a year since you died.”

To be precise, 5 months.

From summer to winter.

The time Lee Jinhyuk died was not short at all.

“While it may be a short time for some, it may be a long time for others.”

Yoo Seolhyun added quietly.

“To the point where her personality has completely changed.”

“….”

“You think that by meeting Soyeon again and letting her know that you’re alive, everything will be resolved, but it won’t be as easy as you think.”

“Why?”

He had already expected that Jin Soyeon would be shocked and lost.

But if the reason Jin Soyeon is lost is because of Lee Jinhyuk’s death, wouldn’t it be solved by letting her know that he’s alive?

“Soyeon, you know. She seems to have been active in the shadows for a few months. To get revenge. Eliminating villains alone.”

“Ah.”

“Drugs, human trafficking, organ trafficking, illegal clubs, etc., she must have seen many types of human scum while single-handedly destroying multiple organizations.”

It was absurd to think that she had been uncovering and dismantling several illegal organizations for months, but with Lee Jinhyuk’s future information and Jin Soyeon’s power combined, it wasn’t entirely impossible.

Was Jin Soyeon rapidly growing by single-handedly destroying illegal organizations attached to South Korea?

Isn’t she being too reckless?

“When I met Soyeon again after she disappeared, I could see that she had changed a lot. Her expression, tone, gaze… the bright appearance from the past was nowhere to be found.”

“Well, th…”

“She told me herself. Some villains tried to imitate your appearance, imitate your voice, and delude themselves into thinking it was you. Phew, it’s a good thing Soyeon’s mother went on a business trip abroad.”

“….”

It was inevitable that she would become a target of those villains after roaming around alone and dismantling them.

“It won’t be easy to convince her like I did.”

She said with conviction.

“You trying to persuade her yourself might actually be risky. Soyeon could react extremely.”

“But still, I have to meet her and try to persuade her somehow.”

Ignoring Yoo Seolhyun’s words, Lee Jinhyuk calmly opened his mouth.

“I can’t just leave Soyeon alone.”

“…Alright. That’s like you.”

Yoo Seolhyun soon contained a bitter smile.

She knew that Lee Jinhyuk would say something like that.

Wasn’t it Lee Jinhyuk who was willing to sacrifice his life for Jin Soyeon?

Seolhyun knew better than anyone that he wouldn’t hesitate at such words. Yes, if that’s the case…

“I wonder what Soyeon is doing right now. Ugh, seriously…”

Lee Jinhyuk quietly pictured Jin Soyeon in his mind.

What Jin Soyeon said during the survival experience kept echoing in his head.

– Don’t leave me alone.

– Don’t let me go astray.

– Don’t give up on me.

“…”

Lee Jinhyuk made a silent vow.

As per Soyeon’s request in his dream, in his subconscious, he never intended to leave Jin Soyeon alone.

He wouldn’t leave her alone, let her go astray, or give up on her.

He would hurry to find Soyeon and restore their daily lives to normal.

By any means necessary.

***

In a drug manufacturing factory in Gochang-gun, Chungcheongbuk-do.

“…”

A girl stands there.

Dark black hair reminiscent of coal fell in droplets of blood from her twisted hair. The droplets of blood formed puddles around her. The surroundings were filled with people’s screams and bloodstains.

And there stood a beautiful girl alone.

It was none other than Jin Soyeon.