Chapter 12: I hate the world

To be honest, I didn’t know.

I knew she remembered me from her past life, but I didn’t expect her to miss me.

Lee Seon’s death was over 20 years ago.

I thought enough time had passed for Jung Hwayoon’s feelings to have faded… but maybe not.

“Director, first… how about warming up a little? At a café or somewhere like that.”

– Nods.

I held the umbrella over Jung Hwayoon and led her to a nearby café.

If she stayed wet for too long, she might catch a cold.

She wasn’t drenched, but still…

Ding-ling.

As we opened the café door, a small bell chimed above us.

“Welcome,” came the usual greeting from the staff.

“Is coffee okay for you?”

“…Yes.”

After confirming Jung Hwayoon’s order, I added one more for myself.

The sound of coffee beans being ground filled the air, and soon, a fragrant cup was placed before us.

I approached Jung Hwayoon, who was seated by the window, and handed her a steaming mug.

Sips.

The mouth that used to always choose strawberry milk now sipped coffee.

Outside, the downpour continued.

A brief silence.

I simply watched her fingers gently fidget with the coffee cup, stacked in her hands.

“…Why aren’t you asking?”

It was Jung Hwayoon who broke the silence.

Her voice was quiet, sunken.

Her fingers, which had been fiddling with the cup’s edge, came to a stop.

“Aren’t you curious… why I was crying?”

Blunt, straightforward.

But I couldn’t answer just as directly—I had too many secrets.

Even if I told her everything now, she’d probably just think I was insane.

I had to earn more trust before revealing that I already knew why she had been crying.

Before telling her that my real name had once been Lee Seon.

“Everyone has their own reasons. I thought it would be rude to pry into yours, Director.”

In any case, now wasn’t the time to confuse her with an unbelievable, surreal truth.

I had to focus on connecting with her as Yoo Seoa, not Lee Seon.

Another silence followed.

This time, I took a sip of my own coffee.

It had cooled slightly—just enough bitterness, just enough sweetness.

“There was someone… like you, a long time ago.”

Jung Hwayoon spoke again, her voice low and murmured, carried on a deep breath.

The story that began slowly was about someone who had once been me.

“Seemed too honest at times, but never crossed any lines. Didn’t ask first—just waited for me to speak when I was ready…”

Her words trailed off, and her eyes grew red.

Her voice, which had paused for a moment, trembled ever so slightly as it resumed.

“No matter when or where… they always felt like someone who was on my side. Just the feeling of them holding my hand… gave me such comfort.”

Was that really how I was?

I couldn’t remember—those things had come naturally to me, like second nature.

Instead of answering, I turned my gaze outside.

A sliver of sunlight was breaking through the thick clouds.

The sound of rain was fading.

Jung Hwayoon’s voice came through more clearly now.

“Maybe because I was a whiny kid. Whenever things get hard, I still feel like whining to that person. Even though they’re already gone…”

Was it that today had been especially difficult for her?

Or did she just want someone—anyone—to listen?

Or maybe… maybe it meant she didn’t see me as a threat anymore.

Whatever the reason, it didn’t really matter.

Even if I was just a bystander she used to voice her thoughts, at least that meant I was present.

“If it’s okay with you, I don’t mind being the one you lean on. What do you think?”

So I offered her my use.

Told her I could keep being that quiet support—a bamboo forest to vent to.

“I’ve got a younger sibling five years younger than me, so I’ve mastered the art of handling whining.”

I gave her a reason to keep me around.

“…Are you trying to flirt with me right now?”

“Probably, yes.”

Clink.

Jung Hwayoon gently placed her cup down.

Maybe she found the situation absurd—she smiled faintly.

Outside, the rain had finally stopped.

“I told you, didn’t I? That I wanted to seduce you and finally live a better life.”

“Most people usually keep that kind of thing to themselves.”

“Being honest is one of my few virtues.”

From beginning to end, I hadn’t lied.

There were just a few things I hadn’t said.

“It may be presumptuous, but if there’s anything I can help with… I will.”

“…Didn’t think I’d ever be pitied by a junior employee…”

“This is just a personal offer. You’re free to take whatever you find useful from it.”

The choice was still hers.

It had to be her own will that brought her to me—I couldn’t take that choice away.

And so, that day’s conversation ended there.

Her voice no longer trembled.

In fact, she seemed a little relieved.

The fact that I had been the reason—was a meaningful step forward.

“I enjoyed our date, Director.”

When we finally arrived at her home, I threw that one-sided comment her way from the driver’s seat.

And instead of saying “I understand,” she said “thank you.”

That too, was progress.

“I must’ve been quite the bother to someone who’s already off work.”

“It’s fine. I didn’t see this as work.”

“…See you next time.”

With those words, she turned and walked toward her door.

I watched her figure shrink through the passenger side window before turning the steering wheel.

It took me another hour and twenty minutes to get back to my officetel.

Beep beep beep.

I keyed in the door code and stepped inside.

Tossed the cheap umbrella I’d bought for 6,000 won at the convenience store onto the entryway floor.

Hoo.

Feeling the chill return to my body, I picked up the knitting needles that had been left on the table.

Swish, swish.

The soft sound of yarn being woven filled the room.

That day, the knitting lasted a little longer than usual.

The painkillers I bought at the convenience store, unfortunately, didn’t do much.

***

Time moved slowly.

However, time kept flowing steadily.

Nothing much had changed since the day I arbitrarily dubbed a “date” with Jung Hwayoon.

Just the same old days as always.

As usual, I got to work early in the morning and left on time—an everyday routine repeated again and again.

If there was anything that had changed, it was the atmosphere when I happened to run into Jung Hwayoon.

In the past, she wouldn’t have even recognized me, but these days, she’d acknowledge me first.

“Oh, Seo-ah. Where are you off to?”

“I’m thinking of dropping by a café. I heard they recently changed their coffee beans.”

We’d walk side by side down the long hallway of the office building, exchanging small talk.

For a relationship between a new employee and the executive director, it had progressed quite a bit.

Creak

“Thank you for your hard work today.”

“You too~”

It was already time to clock out.

As I heard the familiar sound of coworkers getting up from their chairs one by one, I tidied up my desk and reviewed the upcoming week’s VIP guest list once more.

Executives from overseas branches arriving right on schedule.

And a certain idol group who had booked an extended stay around the same time caught my eye.

Sunrise—the boy band Seoyeon liked.

But whether in the past or now, the stay of VIPs at the hotel always required extra care.

They were the kind of people who wouldn’t hesitate to make a fuss if something wasn’t to their liking.

‘Should I ask Seoyeon about them?’

While I could handle the executives, I didn’t really know much about current idols.

I didn’t even know their basic food preferences, so it made sense to ask someone who probably did.

More than anything, the idol group’s requests were oddly specific—

Some of them were hard to understand from the hotel’s point of view.

Anyway, I mentally organized my weekend to-do list and stood up, heading toward the elevator.

By the time I arrived at my officetel, it was already 7:30 PM.

“Hmm, there are still some eggs left. Thank goodness.”

I made a simple dinner with the ingredients left in the fridge and headed to the VR treadmill.

Soon, I put on my VR headset, and the familiar lobby screen spread out before my eyes.

It was part of my routine.

I had a set time to play Battle of Legends to help manage my mental state and condition.

My current rank was Platinum, 72 points.

Just a few more and I could enter the promotion match to Emerald tier—my first goal.

I took a deep breath and hit the “Ranked Match” button.

Doo-doong

[Match Found!]

Finally, the familiar notification screen appeared before me.

In VR, my right hand instantly pressed the “Accept” button.

***

“Guys, I’m tired too, okay!? Do you even understand how miserable I feel right now?!”

A slight whine.

And a male voice, thick with frustration, filled the stream’s audio.

– We gotta push through the demotion match.

– A man giving up at Emerald 0 points? Trash-tier.

– How are we supposed to know how you feel?

– Change the stream title to ‘Demotion Incoming’ lol

– Don’t know~ Don’t care~ no feelings here~

– Just play already

“Huh? You don’t care? Even if I do this?”

Click click

[gugu99]

Chat: 999+ / Temp bans: 2 / Kicks: 0

“Even this doesn’t make you care!!”

With the viewers going wild, the streamer was on the verge of making an example out of one unlucky viewer.

The man’s streaming name was Nabel, and he was staging a kind of live hostage situation.

He was a popular streamer on the platform Ppajijik, and currently at risk of demotion to Platinum.

He had just lost a grueling 38-minute ranked game.

“If I press this—this damn matchmaking button again, y’all are gonna snipe me, I know it. You think I’m crazy!?”

– Hmm.. must be silver rank

– Everyone, hands off your keyboards!!!

– Hey Kim, queue up already

– Why is this guy stuck at Emerald 0? lmaooo

– Whine whine whine whine jingle bells~

– Honestly, the sniping was kinda harsh

– But didn’t Nabel throw the last teamfight himself?

As the chat continued to explode, Nabel rubbed his face in frustration—a silent signal to his viewers about just how crushed he felt.

Back in the early days of Battle of Legends, Nabel had once reached the “top tier” known as the Celestials.

He had even ranked #1 before, so to be facing a demotion to Platinum now was humiliating.

…Though to be fair, this was partly just part of his stream persona.

Regardless, his mental state wasn’t great.

“Alright. I’m gonna take a short break. If I queue now, I’m gonna throw the game for sure!”

With that, he cut his webcam feed—and as expected, the chat blew up.

Most of the viewers genuinely thought he had stepped away.

– Oh

– He’s probably gonna nap again lol

– Just play one clean match and call it a day!

– Ehhhhuuuuuu

– Shouldn’t call him a total sissy, right?

– Trash-tier

While chaos raged like a medieval riot in the chat, Battle of Legends’ ranked queue sound played in the background.

This was Nabel’s trick—he’d pretend to cancel matchmaking on stream, while secretly queuing on a second monitor to avoid snipers.

“If I get stream-sniped again this round, I’m done. I’m quitting. For real this time!!”

Eventually, Nabel’s webcam turned back on, along with the game screen.

Hoping, praying that this time, he’d get real teammates instead of toxic snipers, he checked his team’s profiles…

[Forgiveness is faster than permission] – Archer 100%

A very unusual profile caught Navel’s attention.

The legendary Archer One-Champ that was only heard of in rumors.

“Ah…”

A profile that was impressive, but in a bad way, and Navel couldn’t help but sigh.

As expected, the chat in the stream was flooded with ‘ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ’.

ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

Let’s go play, let’s go play, let’s go play, let’s go play, let’s go play, let’s go play, let’s go play, let’s go play.

ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ Archer One-Champ ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

YouTube clips are sweet~

Nick

Look at this crazy ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

‘Navel, execution’

“No! Why! Why do I always get stuck with these kinds of people?! What did I do wrong??”

It wasn’t even a Thief One-Champ, but playing against an Archer One-Champ meant a sure loss.

In other words, it meant that Navel’s tier was about to drop from Emerald to Platinum.

The reason Navel kept staring at the profile with the nickname ‘Forgiveness is faster than permission’ was because of that.

All Navel was hoping for was someone to quit.

But unfortunately for Navel, the game started anyway.

Out of the 12 players in the ranked game, not a single one hit the surrender button.

“Sigh… I hate the world! I hate it so much…!”

And so, with a face full of frustration, Navel entered the wide battlefield of Baore.

At the same time, Navel’s teammate, the Warrior, moved toward the top lane.

The enemy also had a standard Knight-Priest combo.

The early game was tense.

It was a nerve-wracking battle, where Navel carefully avoided incoming skills, trying to seize an opportunity for a counterattack.

For a moment, Navel even forgot they were streaming and focused solely on the opponent ahead.

The chaos in the chat was no longer heard.

“Heal, heal me, Priest! People are dying! My body is bleeding out, what are you doing!!”

As the enemy Knight retreated, Navel, who had been receiving the Priest’s heals, immediately tried to use a charge skill, not missing the opening.

The problem was, Navel failed to notice the enemy Priest’s binding skill.

Suddenly, a chain of blue and white bound Navel’s Warrior tightly.

The enemy Knight, who had seemed to retreat, quickly advanced toward Navel.

“Uh, uh-oh!”

Before Navel’s sigh even finished, the enemy Knight was right up close.

BANG-!

The shield slammed, and the sword came down.

The Priest’s heal had already been interrupted.

If Navel tried to run, they were bound, and if they stayed to fight, their HP was almost at death’s door.

“Ah, ahhh….”

Overwhelmed with despair, even Navel’s voice seemed to falter.

At that moment.

Suddenly, an arrow flew from off-screen, piercing the back of the enemy Knight’s head.

Staggering.

“Uh… what…?”

The enemy Knight wobbled before being struck by another special arrow and fell into a stunned state.

In the split second, another arrow flew and blocked the enemy Priest’s path.

The Priest trying to back up the Knight was also blocked.

[Forgiveness is faster than permission (Archer): Now]

Two mysterious words appeared.

Yet, instinctively, the large sword was swung.

BANG!!

Seizing the short gap, Navel’s Warrior successfully retaliated.

The shadow of death that had been looming suddenly shifted and turned toward the enemy.

[Hey, lady (Knight)]

Not Navel (Warrior)

[Acorn Acorn (Priest)]

Forgiveness is faster than permission (Archer), a double kill happened in an instant.

The previously noisy chatroom fell silent.

Navel also paused for a moment.

“…What just happened…?”

Turning their head, on the rock across the battlefield, a blonde Archer stood proudly.

The distance was so far that unless zoomed in, it was hard to even tell it was an Archer.

-??????

-Did they shoot from that distance?

-Is it a bug???

-How did you do that, you damn jerk.

-Seriously, how did you do that?

-??

-Can it reach that far?