Chapter 103: Round 0

My eyes flew open.

Instinctively, I knew. That hazy feeling where dream and reality didn’t quite split.

'Same as back then.'

But this wasn’t the end I’d seen with Kwon Taehan in the quest-type dungeon. No, this looked earlier than that.

Whatever. I’d figure it out once we started talking.

For now, Taehan looked a hell of a lot better than he had back in the Triceless Dungeon.

'Well, maybe not completely fine.'

We were in some alley behind a building. I’d never been here before, yet I knew exactly where it was. Must’ve been Seo Jehyun’s memories bleeding through.

'Near where Kwon Taehan lives.'

Slumped against the wall, Taehan raised only his head to glare up at me. His hair, tinged red in the light, looked like plain black in the dark. A few cuts marred that annoyingly handsome face.

His eyes swelled with something complicated. Resentment, maybe?

He ground his lips and spat curses.

“Fuck....”

“Taehan, who the hell do you think you’re swearing at?”

Just like before, the words left my mouth without my will. Though honestly, even ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) if it had been, I’d probably have said the same.

“You’ll never... understand me.”

“Why the fuck do I need to understand you?”

That really baffled me. Taehan? Sure, he looked like shit, suffering hard. But what, he thought he was the only one? Everyone’s life is a fucking mess. It’s not like just existing is easy when dozens of Gates pop every day and monsters crawl out of them.

Most of all, the idea he’d come here expecting my understanding was laughable.

“Ha, you....”

He opened his mouth, then snapped his head away. Watching him like that wasn’t frustrating—more like fascinating. How could anyone think like this?

“What the hell do you even want?”

“...What?”

His brows twitched with annoyance. Good, so I’d pissed him off. Not that it mattered; once my mouth opened, words just kept spilling.

“You said you’d save the world, right? At first I thought, what kind of bullshit is that? But fine, let’s say you’re right, that this dungeon happened for a reason, that you’ve got some duty to save the world. Then just fucking do it!”

“You don’t underst—”

“Not about understanding or not. Why should I give a shit about understanding you? Am I your dad?”

“......”

I finished and exhaled a laugh. Taehan’s face twisted more and more.

The memory came back in slow clarity—why Taehan was losing it at this point in time.

Right, back then the whole country was ripping him apart. Over bullshit, too.

The reason he’d become public enemy number one overnight?

A few days earlier, a sudden Dungeon Break had erupted near a middle school in Seoul. Taehan rushed in to stop it. But unlike usual, he couldn’t clear it easily. Variables had spiked the dungeon’s rank from B upward in a flash.

Realizing he couldn’t both save civilians and clear the dungeon, he called for Special Response Team backup. But before they arrived, there were casualties.

That part could’ve been written off as a tragic accident. Too bad for him, though—Taehan had seen the corpses piling up right in front of him, lost his focus, and botched a skill shot.

He ended up injuring people—not monsters—with his own attack.

And of course, that moment went straight up on social media.

No criminal charges, since they admitted the urgency of the situation. But that only made things worse. The public dragged him for it ten times harder.

Ugly truth. He was only twenty-five, still just a kid.

He’d tried to save the world and ended up the nation’s punching bag.

The despair he felt had to be crushing. A nobody loser turned S-rank, finally found a purpose, tasted self-worth for the first time... and this was the payoff. The higher you climb, the harder you fall.

Frankly, it was a miracle he hadn’t killed himself.

I bent one knee, crouched down to meet his eyes. His gaze twisted with emotions he couldn’t pin down—guilt, regret, or maybe....

“Taehan.”

“......”

“You’re not actually mad at me.”

“...What?”

“You just needed someone to take it out on. And that happened to be me. But honestly, I don’t care. You can vent, curse me out, whatever.”

I grinned and brushed his messy hair back. A tall forehead and sharp brows came into view. He didn’t swat my hand away, just froze.

“You want my understanding?”

“......”

“But how could I? You keep insisting on doing weird shit.... No family, no friends, yet you bust your ass living like this. I don’t get it.”

“...That’s...”

“Doesn’t matter. Even if you explained, I wouldn’t be convinced.”

I closed my mouth there. Taehan just chewed his lip instead of answering.

Not like that was the only thing incomprehensible about him, but this time was special.

“You stepped up and got shit on. Overnight you went from national hero to monster. And you still want to keep saving the world?”

The phrase itself was so ridiculous I almost laughed. Like some kid’s anime line he was desperate to make real.

If he flipped the switch now and decided to go against the world, I’d get it. Hell, that would even make more sense.

But he still spouted bullshit.

“...It’s not some grand goal. I just want things back the way they were.”

“Why? You should’ve given up on that hero-dream crap back in kindergarten. You that delusional? Or addicted to the high of being worshipped as a savior?”

“No... it’s just, if I don’t... I’ll...”

He trailed off, chewing his lips again—looked ready to bleed.

Finally, after mangling them enough, he spoke.

“...You don’t know how I lived. So you can’t understand me.”

“Well... fair point.”

I knew the basics, but that was it. Parents dead in an accident when he was a kid, scraping by on part-time jobs, isolating himself further and further. His awakening was the only thing that pulled him out.

“If I hadn’t awakened, I probably would’ve died. No... I would’ve.”

“Why?”

“Didn’t want to live. Had no reason to. And more than anything... life ahead looked too damn long.”

He wanted to die because the road stretched too far? Even as I mulled that over, he kept talking.

“I was drowning in inferiority. Wanted to live right but had no idea how.”

“And you just happened to awaken then?”

“...I haven’t told you everything. It wasn’t purely my choice. There’s another reason I have to erase dungeons.”

“What a load of crap.”

He dropped his head, then snapped it up to lock eyes with me.

“I see messages telling me to save the world from destruction.”

“Ever considered checking into a psych ward?”

So all this duty was just mental illness. Suddenly, it all made sense. Yet he only gave me a crooked smile and replied.

“Believe it or not, doesn’t matter.”

“Religion?”

“...Point is, I did awaken as S-rank. And if someone out there gave me this mission... I want to set the world back. Make it safe again.”

Couldn’t tell if it was religion or delusion, but either way it looked serious.

So I humored him.

“Set it back, huh?”

“...Yeah.”

Stupid.

Even putting aside the religion or mania, it was nonsense.

“Your powers would vanish. You’d be back to some shut-in who never leaves his room.”

“If the world goes back, I won’t. I’ll still have my experiences.”

“......”

“I won’t live like before.”

His voice was weak, but steady. I stood up again. No need to listen to a lunatic rant further.

'Better talk when he’s sane.'

But just as I turned, he grabbed my pant leg.

“Seo Jehyun.”

“......”

“...You’re leaving?”

“Yeah.”

Looking down at him felt oddly strange. And then, shamelessly, he asked.

“...Stay with me.”

I frowned and gently pushed his hand away.

“Why?”

“Don’t go.”

“Why the fuck not? You want me to sit here listening to your bullshit?”

“Didn’t you say you wanted to live kindly?”

“Yeah, doesn’t mean I’m a pushover. And I’m already kind.”

“Then just... one more kind act.”

'Crazy bastard.'

I stared at him, then sat down again. Not crouched this time—just dropped onto the filthy ground like him, eye to eye.

How the hell could someone act this pathetic? Still... he really was kind.

Not that I had to indulge him clinging to me in some dark alley.

'When did he start depending on me this much?'

When I dragged him out of that dungeon half-dead? When I solved some trivial problem of his? Or just because I treated this broken wreck like a human being?

Whatever. Not my concern.

He looked worse than before. Cuts ringed with bruises, lips torn and bleeding from all his biting. But it’d heal fast. He was S-rank.

More than the blood on his face, it was his eyes that caught me—staring straight at me.

I met his gaze and, impulsively, spoke.

“If you’re human... you should live kindly.”

“Right. So stay with me tonight....”

I burst out laughing, cutting him off mid-sentence.

“Ah... yeah. People should live kindly. That’s why I like you, Taehan. Even if you do incomprehensible shit.”

“...You’re kind.”

“I know.”

“Even when you talk like this, if your actions are kind... then you’re kind.”

You dumb fuck. I clicked my tongue inwardly but smirked anyway.

Then, a voice echoed in my head.

'Jehyun.'

'....'

'Goodness is a good thing.'

And suddenly, the “me” perfectly blended into this moment began to stir awake. The self that had been erased while immersed as “Seo Jehyun.”

'What the hell?'

I’d become so absorbed I’d even forgotten this wasn’t reality. A jarring wrongness surged inside, but I couldn’t change it. My mind was shackled to the scene.

The past I couldn’t alter replayed on, and I was both participant and observer.

How the fuck was this happening?

“Seo Jehyun” opened his mouth.

“I had a mother once.”

Taehan blinked at me, confused.

“She’s still... alive, isn’t she?”

“Seo Jehyun” smiled. Interest and impulse tangled in his head.

And right before his mouth opened again, I realized it—this wasn’t some “grace period” setting. This wasn’t just narrative filler. This was my real story. Not the fictional Jehyun with dead parents and an inheritance, but my actual family history.

Which meant... was “Seo Jehyun” actually me? Could I even separate us?

'Fuck, stop overthinking.'

I cut off the spiraling thoughts. No matter how tempting, I had to focus on the moment. Eventually I’d wake up. Better to wring out one more clue while I could.

“Seo Jehyun”—no, I—answered Taehan’s question with a smirk.

“Who knows.”

“...What do you mean?”

“Was she ever there?”

Something restless stirred inside me. Taehan, softhearted idiot that he was, would pity me even if I spouted nonsense. He’d act like he understood.

But the truth was, I didn’t need his understanding. This was just impulse talking.

Should I say it or not?

The hesitation lasted a blink. I spoke without pause.

“I was adopted.”

“...What?”

“If you dig around, you’ll find the articles. Not that you’d ever bother.”

“Articles?”

I remembered the flashing cameras back then, blinding me. I’d never been in the spotlight so much in my life.

Taehan frowned.

“So your parents now... they’re your adoptive parents?”

“Halfway.”

Not that he’d really get it.

I shut my mouth for a beat, then kindly explained.

“I was adopted by my biological father.”