episode_0110

Silence fell between us.

So-yeon tightly pressed her thin lips together.

With her head slightly bowed, she maintained an unknown silence.

She hesitated, as if unsure of what to say, her lips moving slightly as if contemplating.

But it was only for a moment.

So-yeon slowly moved her head, looking straight into my eyes, and then opened her mouth that had been closed for a while.

“You know, right?”

Her lips trembled slightly as if she were being cautious.

“I know better than anyone how difficult it was for you when your parents passed away. I watched over you more than anyone else. I received a lot of help from you and your mother when your parents passed away.”

So-yeon and her mother helped me a lot when my parents passed away.

They always supported me, and because of that, I could find strength.

If I hadn’t received proper help at that time, I might have gone astray.

It was long before I regained memories of my past life.

No, even after regaining memories of my past life, it was the same.

The feeling of being in a game or a world similar to a game was so strong that I sometimes felt like a stranger, floating without a sense of reality. But my parents were my parents.

They always cherished me, raised me, loved me…

I never had such a memory of being loved in my past life.

Oh, damn it.

Just thinking about it makes me emotional.

Phew, calm down, calm down. Convincing So-yeon is the priority right now.

“So I understand why Jin-hyuk wants to catch those guys.”

So-yeon glanced at me discreetly and continued speaking.

“They are dangerous enough to attack Union openly. Not to mention, they are not individuals but a group.”

“Yeah.”

“But you, who are just a hero trainee at best, fighting against such villains is too dangerous. Your late mother and father wouldn’t want you to be exposed to unnecessary danger.”

Well, that’s true.

Honestly, I don’t want to get involved with those guys either.

But that doesn’t mean I can just leave them alone. Knowing what future awaits if I leave them be.

“Of course, I’m not saying to leave them alone. You can ask for help from the police or the Hero Association…”

“You can’t. How are you going to explain it? You can’t reveal your precognition ability to the public. Even if you do, they probably won’t believe you. And if you reveal your precognition ability, you’ll be in danger for no reason.”

If the police or the association try to verify the precognition ability, it would be a big problem, right?

If the fact that I have precognition ability is exposed, hyenas will flock in.

The usefulness of precognition ability is unparalleled, so various groups, organizations, companies, etc., will target me, right?

…Well, I wasn’t a precognition ability user.

“What I’m trying to say is that you don’t need to risk so much to chase after them. Build up your strength, become an official hero, and it won’t be too late to chase after them.”

“I already told you. If we leave them alone, Korea will be in chaos. And I know my life is precious. I have no intention of openly fighting them, nor do I intend to fight alone. I’ve already asked for help from some people, including Yuseolhyun and Roksan-neu.”

Fighting them would be no different from suicide.

Therefore, I needed the help of people like Yuseolhyun, Roksan-neu, Baek Yurin, Lee Siwoon, Kang Daehan, and others as much as possible.

Of course, Soyeon, your help is also invaluable.

From the beginning, you are the core, the essential.

You are the protagonist of the Romance Hero Academy and the unique hero who will save South Korea from evil.

Your talent and ideals will become sharp daggers that pierce the heart of evil.

Definitely.

“Jinhyuk… sigh.”

Soyeon let out a deep sigh, shaking her head as if in pain.

“Ugh… really. I don’t think I can say anything to make you stop.”

“It’s come to that.”

“What’s the point of it coming to that? Ugh, seriously… if I can’t say anything…”

Soyeon bit her lower lip slightly and then sighed helplessly.

“Fine, well… you asked for help, right? Okay, I’ll help.”

“Thank you.”

“No need to thank me. Your parents were important to me as well. Once I heard about their deaths, I couldn’t just sit still.”

Yes, you also owe a lot to our parents.

“Anyway, Jinhyuk can help you, but… don’t think about fighting those guys directly at the scene. Understand?”

“I’ll try not to.”

“To be honest, even that girl with the white hair… most heroes wouldn’t be able to handle her. I don’t know how much stronger the villains in her organization are… sigh.”

She seems worried about various things.

“So they’re going to show up at the auction house in ten days? Is there anyone else who can help? We’re not going to go there and do something on our own, right? Oh, right. You asked for help from Roxanne earlier, didn’t you?”

“I decided to ask for Yoo Seolhyun’s help this time.”

“Yoo Seolhyun?”

Soyeon’s eyebrows furrowed slightly.

“Why Yoo Seolhyun? She doesn’t seem like the type to help with this kind of thing.”

“Well, she has something to gain.”

“Gain?”

“Well… actually…”

In reality, I wanted to ask for help from Roxanne, but there were some obstacles, so I had to give up.

But not Yoo Seolhyun.

Even if what I’m doing isn’t entirely legal, she’ll silently agree if there’s something to gain.

Unlike Roxanne.

If Soyeon knew more about her, she wouldn’t approve.

So, I needed to change the subject for now.

“Anyway, I think I need to focus on those guys for a while, so I don’t have time for dating.”

“…Did you suddenly change the subject?”

“It’s a misunderstanding, just a misunderstanding.”

“…”

Soyeon stared at me for a moment, then brushed her hair back.

“Well, I don’t have time for dating right now.”

“You don’t have to wait. You should try a proper relationship too. How about Lee Siwoon or Kang Daehan?”

“Ha.”

She snorted as if she found it uncomfortable.

“Do you keep saying that?”

“No, it’s not your concern. And if Jinhyuk tells you this and then starts dating someone else… I’ll be mad…?”

“Hmm.”

Should I tell her there’s no one I like?

The reason I lied about having a crush was because of the male protagonists.

I lied to keep my distance from Soyeon and avoid unnecessary harassment from them.

But now, I don’t need to worry about those things too much.

“…The Lee Siwoon and Kang Daehan in the game weren’t that great.”

That’s because they were the ones who had tormented me in the game for a long time.

Of course, in the case of Lee Siwoon, he didn’t directly torment me, but most of the time it was his followers who did it, but that didn’t mean Lee Siwoon was innocent.

In fact, he was quite the opposite.

Because of me, I guess you’ve noticed that you’re being ostracized to some extent, but I didn’t stop it.

But a lot has changed now.

I’ve been acting differently from the original, gaining power, building connections, and as a result, the relationships with Lee Siwoon and Kang Daehan, among others, have changed a lot.

“…If I hadn’t regained the memories of my past life, would things have gone according to the original?”

In that case, they would be nothing short of archenemies.

However, regardless of that, I don’t harbor such negative feelings towards Lee Siwoon and Kang Daehan.

After all, the original was something I didn’t directly experience, right?

Of course, I know well that it could happen to future me, but maybe because I haven’t directly suffered harassment, it doesn’t really hit home.

If I had returned after suffering harassment for a long time, it might be different, but I’m just living a normal life and recalling memories of the game I played in my past life.

Looking at Lee Siwoon and Kang Daehan now, all I can think is, “Oh, they’re the ones who harassed NPC Lee Jinhyuk in the game.”

It’s a bit awkward and uncomfortable, but to put it another way, that’s all there is to it.

In the first place, it wasn’t them who directly killed me, but Rebellion.

And they haven’t really harmed me now.

And my relationship with Lee Siwoon and Kang Daehan isn’t that bad.

In the case of Lee Siwoon, we joined forces to drive away the stalker, fight villains, and save Soyeon, and in the case of Kang Daehan, after the ranking match with Baek Yurin, he seems to just about accept me.

At this point, there’s no need to hold a grudge against them, and it could be something that will help me later.

Well… treating the current Lee Siwoon and Kang Daehan as the same as the in-game Lee Siwoon and Kang Daehan might be a bit much.

As I mentioned earlier, so many things have changed.

Personality, abilities, relationships, future, everything.

“Come to think of it, not only them but Soyeon has changed a lot too.”

If it had been the original, she would have still been hanging out with the guys without a care in the world, corrupting me.

She would have gotten along well with the male protagonists.

“But after mistakenly thinking I died, she realized her feelings and even confessed.”

In the game, because I actually died, Soyeon’s mental state crumbled, and she became obsessed with the Rebellion members who killed me.

“Come to think of it, what was Soyeon’s mindset when she fought against the Rebellion members?”

In a female-oriented reverse harem game, after I died, she joined forces with the male protagonists to fight a great evil, but I don’t really know what Soyeon was thinking at the time.

That’s because, despite being a playable character, there was a lack of soliloquies or inner descriptions.

So I had to guess Soyeon’s feelings through her words and actions.

Of course, judging by the outward descriptions, she managed to hold onto her crumbling mental state, received comfort from the male protagonists, built good relationships, received various support, and together defeated the Yoo Dahee group…

“Hmm.”

“What’s wrong? Why are you like that?”

“Soyeon, it’s about you.”

To lighten the tense atmosphere, I jokingly asked her one question.

“If I were to die, would you immediately switch to another guy?”

“What? What kind of nonsense is that all of a sudden?”

“Well, just, you know, it crossed my mind.”

“You said you would stand up against the villains who made my parents die. But now you’re talking about dying already, weakling?”

Soyeon frowned deeply and shot me a sharp look.

“Don’t talk nonsense, really… If you were going to do that in the first place, you shouldn’t have thought about standing up.”

“Um, well….”

“And what? Are you going to switch to another guy right away? Hey, isn’t it too much to say that to a childhood friend who confessed to you?”

“No, you’re popular, right? You can easily make good connections.”

“Haa, Jinhuk… I told you several times before.”

Soyeon let out a deep sigh and glanced at me sideways, slowly licking her lips.

“…I’m not really interested in guys or dating.”

And then, with a hesitant tone, she blurts out a word.

“…Not you.”

“Huh?”

“I-I heard everything! Why are you pretending you didn’t hear, seriously. Ugh….”

Soyeon, unable to soothe her regret or embarrassment for what she just said, caused a scene.

She looks embarrassed.

“I don’t know! I said it for no reason, really!”

“….”

I looked at Soyeon, who was making excuses, and thought.

What kind of feelings and thoughts did the Soyeon in the game have when she brought down the rebellion after I died?

I suddenly became curious.

***

“…Alex, you said you were going to steal all the items at the auction tomorrow, right?”

“But why?”

“Well, the atmosphere isn’t good these days. Just be careful.”

“I’m not worried.”

In response to Yudahee’s words, Alex just shrugged his shoulders.

He was a notorious thief.

He had stolen almost everything he wanted so far.

If there was something he wanted to take, he would take it, and if there was something he wanted to steal, he would steal it.

He had lived like that so far, and he would continue to live like that in the future.

Even if it meant dying because of it.

Thud.