Episode 9: Lee Seolhwa and Yun Se-ah

 

“Se-ah, did you just come in from outside?”

‘Judging by the timing of her words, she must not have arrived long ago.’

Assuming she arrived earlier than I expected… If Lee Seolhwa had already uncovered the whole truth, she would have immediately fired ice magic at my face. I thought there were no CCTV cameras in the lab, but unfortunately, looking up now, I can see they’re functioning perfectly.

Turning my head slightly to look behind Yun Se-ah, I see scattered pieces of flesh still lying messily around, and behind them, a middle-aged woman with white hair covering her mouth while staring at me.

Looking at her face, I instinctively knew.

‘So that’s what she looks like. Yun Se-ah’s biological mother.’

That person—Yun Se-ah’s birth mother, who wasn’t even described in detail in the original work.

Thanks to Yun Se-ah’s memories that flowed into me, I know her all too well.

Yun Seong-ho, who was wealthy due to potion patents but was mocked as a nouveau riche commoner.

Kim Gyeoul, who was thought to be an esper from a fallen noble family… but was quickly demoted from the family’s hope to a mere political marriage pawn due to her insignificant abilities.

Their meeting was fateful.

Their marriage was quickly arranged, filling the Kim family’s financial gaps while Yun Seong-ho joined the Kim family as a member—what should have been a simple win-win situation…

Unfortunately, the Kim family only saw Yun Seong-ho as a moneyed commoner, which became the real problem.

‘When Yun Seong-ho’s Yuseong Group grew into a major corporation so influential that it reduced the Kim family to nothing, they immediately abandoned Kim Gyeoul and demanded he marry another family member. Disgusting.’

Their shameless desperation to leech off him was palpable even from here.

Yun Seong-ho refused their offer after seeing through their greed, but… the real problem came afterward.

Blinded by jealousy, the Kim family began harassing Kim Gyeoul—criticizing her table manners at public events, sabotaging her with wrong dress codes to humiliate her at parties…

And when they used their media outlets to spread fabricated affair scandals, breaking Kim Gyeoul’s spirit, it became the final blow. She became a shut-in, consumed by misanthropy.

‘And the starting point of those affair scandals… was me.’

The reason was simple. While Yun Seong-ho and the rest of the family had white hair and blue eyes, I was the only one who didn’t.

The Kim family used that as “proof” to mass-produce affair rumors. Because of them, Kim Gyeoul just watched from her room like a hikikomori, indifferent to whatever happened to me.

‘She has her own story, but… from Yun Se-ah’s perspective, she’s not someone to forgive.’

Hmm, I went on too long about Kim Gyeoul… Anyway, after thinking all this, what happened next was—

“Release this right now.”

“No. At the very least, I need to tell you what happened here.”

I was being interrogated by Lee Seolhwa while completely restrained.

Since she didn’t immediately blast me with ice magic, I thought she had just arrived. But it was a trap, which was disappointing.

…

…

…

‘I’m encased in ice, but it doesn’t feel like frostbite or anything.’

She used weak ice to avoid harming me, but even as I struggled with all my might, she subdued me with just three fingers—an overwhelming difference in power.

‘Yun Seong-ho was only C-rank, so I could handle him, but Lee Seolhwa is top-tier A-rank, practically S-rank material. If I could beat her at this age, I’d be the next S-rank.’

Even if I wanted to use [Hypnotic Evil Eye], I’ve never tried it on someone with similar mana levels, so I can’t guarantee success.

With my untested psychokinesis and an empty pistol, there’s no way I can beat Lee Seolhwa.

‘Why did you even come here?’

I should have dealt with Kim Gyeoul before killing all the researchers.

“……How pathetic, crawling out now that your life is in danger, Mother.”

“……!”

This isn’t ideal… I’m just annoyed that things have gone completely off track.

So much so that even Yun Se-ah’s usual speech patterns are breaking.

If she had just stayed locked in her room, everything would have ended perfectly.

“Se-ah, how could you say that to your own—”

“Shut up. I told you never to show your face in front of me again.”

Thanks to my earlier statement, Lee Seolhwa couldn’t pressure me further.

‘Yun Se-ah, I don’t know how you feel about these people.’

Even under brainwashing, Yun Se-ah was soft-hearted enough to sacrifice herself to save her cute juniors and the world. If she were here now, she’d probably forgive Lee Seolhwa and Kim Gyeoul if they sincerely apologized…

‘But unfortunately, I can’t hear your voice.’

That moment, the self-hypnosis I swore to myself in front of the mirror.

Standing before the mirror, I muttered to myself, “Take care of me.”

‘If I leave this world, will you return to this empty body? Or will you vanish like dust, forgotten?’

Most likely the latter. Back then, Yun Se-ah in the mirror turned to dust and disappeared.

‘In that case… I’ll have to be a little selfish, Yun Se-ah.’

While the protagonist laughs and defeats the final boss, I’ll make sure those who obsessed over an ordinary extra like me… pay the price.

“Sigh… If you want the truth… I killed them. I trapped them in a transparent barrier made with psychokinesis, hypnotized them to see each other as enemies, and made them shoot each other. Though, since they were former heroes, I finished them off with a bomb for a clean sweep.”

“………!!!!”

As I calmly stated the facts, Lee Seolhwa and Kim Gyeoul couldn’t hide their shock, their eyes trembling.

“What’s wrong? Those trash experimented on my body alongside Yun Seong-ho when I was a child. They deserved to die.”

Even after my detailed explanation, the ice restraints only tightened. Lee Seolhwa remained silent.

“And… well, Chairman Yun Seong-ho fell off a cliff to his death. The world will think, ‘Yun Seong-ho, who revolutionized pharmaceuticals, tragically died in a car crash after sudden acceleration sent him over a cliff…’ The truth is, he died without even feeling a fraction of the pain I endured.”

“………”

-Crackle…!

The ice grew even stronger. My limbs were losing sensation—a dangerous sign. My instincts screamed that I needed to shake Lee Seolhwa’s resolve quickly.

“What’s the matter? If you were truly a hero, you’d have executed a villain like me who killed family members—even if estranged—long ago.”

“Be quiet…”

“What, are you trying to atone for the abuse now?”

“Please, just shut up…!”

-Crack!

‘………!’

In an instant, the ice encasing me rose to my chin.

‘This is dangerous.’

I couldn’t move a single finger.

I knew Lee Seolhwa didn’t intend to kill me… but at this rate, I’ll be sent straight to prison.

I’ll lose any chance to help the protagonist.

‘Good thing psychokinesis doesn’t require hand movements.’

But can I break this ice…?

‘It doesn’t seem like lethal ice, so it’s worth a gamble.’

“Hypocrite. What’s the difference between you and Yun Seong-ho?”

“……….!!”

Now—the moment Lee Seolhwa’s resolve cracks—is my only chance to break free.

I quickly focused my mind and deployed a powerful psychokinetic barrier around my body.

-Crash!

Lee Seolhwa’s ice shattered weakly.

“Se-ah, I really…!”

Thinking I was targeting Kim Gyeoul, Lee Seolhwa panicked and flew behind her to shield her. But unfortunately, that wasn’t my goal.

-Click!

A pistol now in my hand.

As I slowly moved to leave the lab and head home, Lee Seolhwa shouted, asking what I was doing. But it didn’t matter.

-Bang, Bang!

I shot and shattered the frozen parts near the exit. That should be enough to open it manually.

-Crackle…!!

‘Ah, just take Kim Gyeoul and leave.’

In an instant, the lab door was frozen shut again, with Lee Seolhwa blocking it.

Of course, she must be furious. Even from my perspective, this was an insane gamble.

“You, that magic circle is…”

Unfortunately, while I had a surefire way to win… it was only in theory.

“It’s a magic circle set to crush my skull if I’m completely restrained or subdued.”

Upon hearing this, Lee Seolhwa froze.

“No matter what you do, the circle will activate faster. To stop me, you’d have to kill me, Lee Seolhwa-ssi.”

“Se-ah, you really…!”

“I know why you came. From the moment you ran away in disgust, you’ve lived with guilt toward Mother and me.”

“Just… release that magic circle first—”

“You must have been happy thinking you could atone, huh? Even though you ran away like a coward when I was being experimented on. Ah, but she never blamed you. She thought you ran away because of me.”

At these words, even Kim Gyeoul’s eyes wavered from afar.

“Instead of resenting the family that slandered her over hair and eye color, she cursed her own daughters. While her eldest daughter endured torture-like abuse, she cowered in her room—what kind of mother does that?”

“N-no, Se-ah, I—”

“Shut up! Because of your damn attitude, I (Yun Se-ah) was forcibly implanted with monster blood, corpses, body parts, even monster eyes by that bastard Yun Seong-ho!!”

As if to emphasize how much I’d overused it, bloody tears streamed from my activated [Hypnotic Evil Eye]. The two of them looked completely broken.

‘Good, the ice on the door has weakened.’

I should be able to break through with psychokinesis now.

“Well… Since Yun Seong-ho conducted the experiments in secret anyway… and thanks to this Evil Eye, I could kill him… I’ll let the human experimentation slide. If you two really want to atone… I’ll give you a chance.”

“…….”

They remained silent, staring at me intently.

“Renounce your inheritance. And… keep playing the hero or rotting in your room—do whatever you want. Just don’t show your faces in front of me again.”

“Th-that’s…”

“After inflicting every possible wound, now you want to extend a hand for reconciliation? Disgusting.”

“……Fine. If that’s what you want.”

It was an incredibly rude demand—essentially, “Give up your inheritance and get lost.” But Kim Gyeoul weakly agreed before collapsing unconscious.

“Mom!”

Lee Seolhwa rushed to catch her, and in that moment, I opened the lab door and prepared to head home.

“And… this underground lab, today’s events… never happened, okay?”

-BOOM!

After saying that, I closed the metal door. Just then, I got a text from Deok-bae.

[010-1256-1257]

[Young miss, it’s Deok-bae. Miss Seolhwa and Mrs. Kim left without incident, but…]

‘Ah, Deok-bae.’

[010-1256-1257]

[I think I’m going to freeze to death, young miss.]

Come to think of it, Deok-bae’s legs were frozen earlier.

I quickly thawed his legs, gave him brief instructions, and sent him home.

Since Deok-bae was Yun Seong-ho’s personal secretary, he was well-paid and even given a national ID, so he’s no longer a nameless orphan but a proper citizen.

‘Still, Lee Seolhwa really seems to feel guilty toward Yun Se-ah.’

If it were me, I’d have turned her into frozen meat and shipped her to prison by now. She must have been tormented by guilt.

‘She doesn’t suit me. Maybe Yun Se-ah, but…’

But Yun Se-ah is gone now.

Only I—the player who once controlled the game—remain.

-Tap, tap!

Using Yun Seong-ho’s fingerprints, I’d already secured all the data from his smartphone.

Records of being blackmailed by guilds like Naseon Guild, contracts with obscure mercenary guilds to assassinate competitors, and the ugly truth behind Yuseong Group—far from just a corporation.

“Now then… what should I do with these secret ledgers~♪”

…

…

…

The next day.

[Yuseong Group Chairman Yun Seong-ho Dies in Cliff Fall After Sudden Acceleration]

[Stock of Luxury Car Company Used by Yun Seong-ho Drops 18%, Further Decline Expected]

[Interim Chairman Kim Deok-bae Steps In to Fill Void Left by Yun Seong-ho’s Death]

[Kim Family: “Since our family member died, it’s only right that a Kim takes over Yuseong, not an outsider.”]

[Interim Chairman Kim Deok-bae to Hold Emergency Press Conference on December 30 After 3-Day Mourning]

The world was in chaos over Yun Seong-ho’s death.