“I realized I was a game character when I was thirteen. It really messed me up at first, but as you can see, I’ve adjusted pretty well. How about you, Yiseo?”
Seo Eunwoo began by sharing his own story.
“I was nine.”
“Oh… wow.”
Seo Eunwoo’s expression froze in shock, his mouth slightly open. He reached out and gently covered Yeon Yiseo’s hand on the table with his own. That response came naturally—only someone who’d gone through the same thing would understand just how painful and disorienting the awakening could be.
“It’s fine. It was a long time ago.”
Yeon Yiseo shrugged like it was nothing. As Seo Eunwoo looked at him with worried eyes, Yeon Yiseo posed a question.
“So what are you planning to do, Eunwoo?”
“Hmm? Planning? …Ah. You’re asking why I wanted to twist the original story, right?”
At the question, Seo Eunwoo straightened up in his seat. Something in his body language made Yeon Yiseo sit up a little straighter too.
“My goal is the android.”
“…Sorry, what?”
Yeon Yiseo wasn’t sure he’d heard correctly. It made sense—the word that had just come out of Seo Eunwoo’s mouth sounded completely out of place, almost surreal.
“Ah. I guess you don’t know about the additional characters, huh?”
“…Yeah, I guess not.”
More accurately, he hadn’t even known they existed.
“I’d been meaning to ask—what did you do in your previous life, Yiseo?”
“Oh. I was a programmer on the development team for SickVill.”
Seo Eunwoo’s eyes widened.
“Wait, that… Whoa. I remember that. It made the news. There were rumors going around among players that the person involved was a programmer for SickVill. That was you, wasn’t it?”
His eyes grew even wider. He was talking about the aftermath—after Yeon Yiseo had died. Hearing about what had happened posthumously, Yiseo’s gaze took on a flicker of curiosity.
“I got pulled into this game because of my little sister. She was pretty sick, and SickVill was the only thing that really gave her joy while she was in treatment. Whenever she started talking about it, it was like she lit up from within. I started playing it myself so I could bond with her. That’s how I got to know the story inside and out.”
Eunwoo gave a little shrug, then brushed some of his bangs behind his ear as he continued.
“How far do you know the character list?”
“Up to Arthur—the Black British noble.”
“There was one more character added after that. The android I mentioned came in after Arthur.”
That explained why Yiseo didn’t know. Still—an android? A love interest that seemed like it had come from a completely different setting? The idea alone was startling.
“Actually, I’m pretty sure you’ve seen him at least once.”
“…What?”
He couldn’t help but be shocked by the follow-up. Seen him? That meant the android was someone close by—or at least someone he’d interacted with. But who? He couldn’t even begin to guess.
“Sirius.”
“WHAAAT?!”
Yeon Yiseo nearly yelled, his eyes flying wide. When heads turned in their direction, he clapped a hand over his mouth. Still, the shock didn’t fade.
“S-Sirius, as in, that…”
“Yep. Ethan’s bodyguard. The very one you know.”
His mind went blank. What in the world had happened to the story?
“That’s not… There’s no way… Technology hasn’t advanced that far yet…”
“If this ever got announced, the world would flip upside down. He’s still just a prototype, and it’s all classified.”
Eunwoo lowered his voice. Yeon Yiseo stared at him blankly. Was it really okay to be talking about this in public—at a wide-open café like this? The question climbed all the way up his throat but stopped short of leaving his mouth. If he was saying it, it must be true. He decided to believe that.
Still… No matter how far AI had come, could an android really hold someone special in their heart?
Could it really feel emotions? Care for someone like a person would?
Honestly, Seo Eunwoo could’ve had his pick of people. So why choose Sirius? Yeon Yiseo looked at him, silently asking the question. Eunwoo caught the meaning in his gaze and explained.
“Humans… their emotions change. But Sirius doesn’t. He doesn’t react to pheromones like some beast, either. If I was going to choose a partner, I wanted someone like that. That’s why he became my target.”
He added softly, “He’s the hardest to romance, though.”
Doesn’t react to pheromones like some beast. Eunwoo hadn’t gone into detail, but there was clearly some painful history behind those words. In that case, Yiseo could understand. It made sense.
“Ah…”
As if something had suddenly occurred to him, Eunwoo let out a small sound and leaned forward, his face suddenly very serious.
“Just in case… please don’t meet with Sirius or talk to him one-on-one.”
“…Huh?”
The request came out of nowhere, and Yeon Yiseo struggled to grasp its meaning. Don’t meet him alone? Don’t talk to him? Out of context, it sounded like he was trying to keep Sirius from straying.
“Why—”
“Because of affection levels.”
Eunwoo answered a beat faster than Yiseo could finish his question. Even so, the explanation wasn’t exactly clear.
“Affection levels? You mean, in the game…?”
Eunwoo nodded solemnly.
“You know how tough it was to play as Seo Eunwoo in SickVill, right? It was ridiculously hard to raise affection, but super easy to lower it. And you, Yeon Yiseo…”
“…Oh.”
It finally clicked.
In the original game’s tie-in novel, My Beloved Beta, there was a setting where affection toward Yeon Yiseo would shoot up rapidly from the smallest gesture—especially compared to Seo Eunwoo.
Some players had complained that it made Eunwoo too hard to play, but others had praised it because the payoff felt more rewarding.
“Well, the game’s one thing. Reality’s got to be a little different, right? I’ve been Ethan’s secretary for ages and nothing’s ever happened.”
Yeon Yiseo offered some pushback. Since joining Dymine, there hadn’t been any real incidents with Ethan. But Eunwoo seemed certain of his own logic.
“I tested a bunch of things with Ethan before I ever met you. I think the reason those things don’t apply to you yet is because your story hasn’t officially started. But you haven’t tested that, have you?”
He took a sip of juice and continued.
“Once the affection starts to rise, it’s already too late. I’m still dealing with the fallout myself. There’s no reason to take unnecessary risks, right?”
He was firm. And considering everything that had already happened, Yeon Yiseo couldn’t exactly argue. He nodded in agreement.
Eunwoo, hearing that response, leaned back in his chair with a satisfied expression.
“But… what about the others, then?”
“They’re on their own.”
His answer was chillingly blunt.
“But not you, Yiseo. If anything happens, you tell me right away. Got it?”
Then his expression suddenly shifted, warmth taking over as he spoke. Yiseo let out a soft laugh.
“Why are you so nice to me?”
“Because you’re different from the others. And more than that, you’re the only one I can talk to about all this, comfortably. When I was a kid, I tried telling my parents that this world was actually the game I played before I died. I got thrown in a mental hospital and diagnosed with delusional disorder.”
Seo Eunwoo said it flatly, like it was just another fact of life. Yeon Yiseo, hearing it, felt a deep resonance inside.
“Looking back, it’s a miracle I didn’t end up stuck there. I pretended not to know anything, acted like I made a mistake, like the illness just went away. It was so suffocating—having to hide everything just to keep my parents from worrying. And the way they were always watching me like I might go off again… I never want to experience that again.”
His expression twisted as he recalled the past. And Yeon Yiseo could almost touch the weight of what he must’ve felt.
“Finding someone I could finally tell all this to without worrying about their reaction—it was such a relief. You get that, right, Yiseo?”
He did. Yeon Yiseo had gone through the same kind of thing.
“Do you know how happy I was when I realized you were an Engaged Player? How thrilled I was? That’s why I talked to you so impulsively. I don’t want to lose someone like that.”
Seo Eunwoo’s voice was full of sincerity. And then, softening a little, he turned the question around.
“So, what were you planning to do, Yiseo?”
