“Hello?”
Feeling intimidated without having done anything wrong was a first in Lee Haru’s life. Lee Haru had nothing to be ashamed of.
Even if the original owner of the body he had possessed had sold himself and attempted suicide, just as those people claimed—had that caused them any harm? The answer was a resounding no.
People like that, who were always eager to gossip, only saw others’ misfortune as dried squid to chew on for entertainment.
“Wait… did he just say hi to us…?”
“Yep. Mind if I join? This table looks like the best spot.”
Without hesitation, Lee Haru sat down in the empty chair at the table where the men were seated. The half-eaten burger and lone French fry they were holding slipped from their hands and dropped onto the tray with a plop.
“What kind of burger is this? It looks tasty too.”
Picking up two slices of pizza with practiced hands, he addressed the man seated to his right.
From a distance, the three of them looked like old friends sharing a casual meal.
“W-What the hell is going on…?”
The man was utterly dumbfounded. If he counted the times he’d badmouthed Lee Haru in front of him, it would easily exceed the number of fingers on one hand.
He’d said worse things than today too. But all this time, Lee Haru had reacted as if he were invisible—never once responding—so this sudden turn of events caught him completely off guard.
“The fries look good too. Did you know? If you stuff a bunch of fries into your burger, it tastes way better. It’s kind of a secret trick I use.”
The man’s pupils trembled violently, like someone being harassed by a predator. Watching Lee Haru beam and take an enormous bite of a pizza slice bigger than his own face was downright surreal.
“Dude… this isn’t a dream, right…?”
“I-I don’t think so…”
Even grabbing his colleague’s arm and shaking it didn’t help make it feel real. One thought echoed in his head: they had to get the hell out of here.
It wasn’t just them—everyone from the part-timer to the passersby outside the shop were gawking like they’d just seen something out of Ripley’s Believe It or Not.
Freak.
Judging by the dried bloodstains on the white outfit Lee Haru was wearing, it was clearly the same one from his suicide attempt. He had come down here without even changing.
The rumors had already spread far and wide within the Association.
After all, the person who had first discovered Lee Haru’s unconscious body had wasted no time running their mouth to anyone who would listen.
“Hey, let’s go.”
Thankfully, his colleague was the first to regain his senses. He must’ve concluded that the best course of action was to avoid Lee Haru like the plague. You don’t avoid shit because it’s scary—you avoid it because it’s dirty.
But the moment the two of them stood up, Lee Haru set down his pizza and grabbed their arms with a firm grip.
“Hey, do you know—mmph I had something to say.”
With his cheeks puffed out like a squirrel hoarding snacks, he looked up at them. It could’ve been seen as cute, but to the two men, it was like being dragged into the middle of a horror movie.
“Aaaagh!”
“He’s totally lost it!”
As they frantically scratched at the arms he’d grabbed and ran for their lives, Lee Haru let out an awkward chuckle.
It really seemed like everyone in this novel world was ridiculously shy.
Losing interest in the fleeing men, Lee Haru turned his attention back to the food. Fortunately, pizza in this world tasted exactly like it did in the one he came from.
If the author had decided to spice things up and create a world where pizza was eaten with chocolate instead of tomato sauce, that would’ve been a nightmare.
“…Should I get one more?”
He was sure he’d ordered plenty considering how hungry he was, but now only scraps remained on the tray.
The immediate crisis was over, but his stomach was still growling. Rubbing his belly, Lee Haru stood up and headed back to the kiosk.
***
“No matter how many times I look, he’s freaking gorgeous.”
After unintentionally giving the part-timer a front-row seat to a mukbang masterclass, Lee Haru was now admiring himself in the mirror.
When he raised his right hand, the man in the mirror raised his left.
This time, he reached up and pinched a cheek that looked like it didn’t have an ounce of fat on it. A faint twinge of pain made the reflection scrunch up his face.
“Wow. Even scowling, he’s beautiful.”
The appearance was a far cry from his original face. Back then, when he frowned, people would instinctively lower their heads thanks to his dark skin and sharp eyes.
But this face—no matter how hard he tried to look intimidating—was built to elicit admiration, not fear.
“He looks like this, and he’s an S-rank Guide. What could he possibly be lacking?”
He spent quite a while observing the body he had possessed in the bathroom mirror. Then, as the rumors about Lee Haru that he’d picked up throughout the day floated back into his mind, his expression grew blank.
Depending on the novel’s worldbuilding, S-rank Guides were never people to be looked down on.
On top of that, Lee Haru’s appearance, while tinged with melancholy, was stunning enough to make heads turn ten out of ten times he walked down the street.
Even the air of sadness he carried made him seem like he had a deep, poignant story, which only added to his charm—it was almost impossible to dislike.
“Ah. So that’s what this is.”
Then Lee Haru came to a realization. It was clear that everyone had seriously misunderstood something.
“Come to think of it, even in my original world, people who were too successful or too beautiful were constantly plagued by rumors.”
Hordes of cockroach-like people hid behind anonymity, doing everything they could to brand high-achievers with scarlet letters and drag them down.
If that was the case, there was only one conclusion: for someone this angelically beautiful to be targeted with such malicious gossip, it could only mean one thing.
“Man, everyone’s just ridiculously jealous.”
The suicide attempt part was true. After all, when he first woke up in this world, his wrist had been gushing blood.
But the rumor about him selling his body like some cheap escort? That seemed clearly false.
If he was an S-rank Guide, there would be enough Espers begging for his guidance to form several laps around a track. So why would he need to sell himself?
“I’m sleepy…”
After eating to his heart’s content and spending some time pondering over the new life he’d possessed, his eyelids felt as heavy as lead.
Lee Haru took off the bloodstained clothes he’d been wearing and placed them in a basket tucked into the corner of the bathroom.
When he stepped into the shower booth and turned the faucet, warm water poured out instantly.
“God, money really is everything… At first, I thought this was some Gwanggong’s house, but guess not. The rumors are nasty, yeah, but I’ll find out for sure tomorrow.”
Back in his original home, even after switching the faucet to hot, the shower still spit out cold water for at least a minute.
Wasting water while waiting wasn’t an option, so he’d grown used to starting with a cold rinse and finishing off with a splash of warm water.
“I really got lucky.”
He could’ve ended up in a much worse environment than the one he used to live in. But here he was, freshly showered, wrapped in a soft towel, lying in a bed so fluffy it felt like paradise. Replacing the blood-soaked sheets, blanket, and mattress with new ones the moment he’d returned home had been a fantastic idea.
“But wait… what genre is this story supposed to be…?”
Judging by the fact that malicious rumors were dogging Lee Haru, a Guide, it probably belonged to the female-targeted romance genre.
“So… am I the top or the bottom? I’d really prefer to be the top…”
He could adapt to either role, but he definitely preferred to be the one on top rather than the one underneath. Still, with Lee Haru’s appearance, there was no way he’d be the dominant one—so he started preparing himself mentally just in case.
“Multi-seme… or single-seme…”
Mumbling half-asleep about whether the novel was ‘multi-seme, one uke’ or ‘one seme, one uke,’ Lee Haru’s eyes finally drifted shut.
Soon, the only sound filling the wide bedroom was the soft, peaceful breathing of someone sleeping like a child.
***
“Thank you.”
After politely thanking the taxi driver, Lee Haru stepped out, holding a single modest travel bag.
“This place is really nice too.”
Tilting his head back, he could barely glimpse the white facade peeking out over the towering wall.
After staying at home for several days, Lee Haru had finally decided to visit the Guide Management Department. He’d needed time to figure out how to navigate this world. Fortunately, no one had come by the house during that time.
The man who had spoken to him when he first woke up—throwing down a few words before storming out—seemed to assume Lee Haru had access to his address, but sadly, Haru had no memory of that.
Eventually, he’d managed to track down the address of the house he’d been assigned to. It was far too distant to walk, so he hailed a cab and came in comfort.
Even after glancing around the area, it was clear that there wasn’t a soul in sight. The other mansions nearby were scattered far enough apart that privacy seemed guaranteed.
Lee Haru walked up to the outer gate and, without hesitation, pressed the doorbell.
—Who is it?
By the tenth press, a low voice slid through the speaker and tickled his ear.
“Ah, finally! I’m Lee Haru.”
Lee Haru brought his face close to the small red light on the intercom to make sure it was clearly visible.
—……
A long silence followed. Then, with a loud clank, the heavy gate slowly creaked open.
“They even have stepping stones.”
As soon as he stepped inside and spotted the elegant path of stone slabs, a bright smile bloomed across Lee Haru’s face.
The house looked like something straight out of a drama or a movie—a lavish home fit for a conglomerate family.
The place where he first woke up had also been a luxury mansion, but personally, Lee Haru preferred this one, with its strong scent of greenery.
“The house is so big, just walking through it takes forever.”
By the time he reached the main door, sweat had begun to bead on his forehead. He wondered if he needed to ring a bell again, scanning his surroundings for a button.
“……Nice to meet you, Guide Lee Haru.”
A low voice dropped from above, just as Lee Haru was wiping his forehead with the back of his hand. He froze mid-motion.
His eyes followed the sound—and widened in an instant.
