#137
Before Ki Baek-woo could greet him or invite him in, Jung Yi-dam walked into the hospital room as if it were the most natural thing in the world. He pulled a chair next to the bed and sat down with the ease of someone in their own home. Like the protagonist of this world, behaving as if this place was also his domain.
“I hear you’ve been busy making a mess of yourself lately? Is that why… you look so pathetic.”
Ki Baek-woo strained his eyes to look directly at Jung Yi-dam. Now that he understood the full extent of Jung Yi-dam’s words and attitude, he no longer wanted to appear vulnerable. The thought that Jung Yi-dam had been looking down on him all this time was horrifying.
What was truth and what was fiction? Who was he and what had he been living for? Had Jung Yi-dam found it amusing to watch him destroy himself while forgetting everything? Had he thought Ki Baek-woo was pathetic? Despite being nothing more than an entity created for someone else’s entertainment, Jung Yi-dam must have thoroughly despised him for acting foolishly based on programmed inputs. He probably used that contempt to justify his own arrogant judgment that he, not Ki Baek-woo, deserved Lee Han-sol.
“I’m the one who deserves to be with Han-sol, not a pathetic wretch like you. After all, I’m the protagonist of this world.”
Those vain thoughts. Ki Baek-woo had no intention of validating Jung Yi-dam’s delusional fantasies. Nor did he want to be controlled by manipulated thoughts created by the system. He couldn’t help it before, but now that he knew the truth, he absolutely refused.
“Why don’t you just lie down like a proper patient?”
Jung Yi-dam halfheartedly tried to stop him, but Ki Baek-woo stubbornly sat up. He clenched his teeth to hide the tingling sensation coursing through his body. He needed to keep his wits about him—to appear composed and avoid surrendering his consciousness to the system.
‘If anything seems off…’
He could always mutilate his own body as he had done before. Ki Baek-woo made no effort to hide these extreme, impulsive thoughts. Noticing his demeanor, Jung Yi-dam laughed out loud. Even through his blurry vision, Ki Baek-woo found Jung Yi-dam’s casual attitude nauseating.
“This look really suits you. Pathetic and shabby, just like your true nature. You’ve finally found clothes that match your status.”
“Congratulations,” Jung Yi-dam said flippantly, clapping a couple of times. With an indifferent expression, he continued his monologue.
“But humans are so dramatic. I’m getting calls several times a day—it’s incredibly annoying. You’ve simply found a form that suits you, yet everyone’s begging me to fix you and save you. I might understand if you were actually dead.”
“…”
“You can’t die anyway, can you? Even if you wanted to, it’s not possible right now. Those idiots don’t know that… Tsk. All they know how to do is cling to me and beg me to save someone.”
Jung Yi-dam’s words—that Ki Baek-woo couldn’t die even if he wanted to—stuck in his mind. Ki Baek-woo felt his mouth go dry with tension. His eyes hardened and his expression grew fierce. Jung Yi-dam met his gaze and twisted one corner of his mouth into a smile.
“Hunter Ki, are you that eager to die? Judging by your actions, I’d say so.”
“…”
“Well… I understand. You’ve finally realized the sins you’ve committed against Han-sol. If you have even the slightest conscience as a human being, you’d feel you have no right to live. Throwing away your worthless life to earn Han-sol’s sympathy might even be a good bargain.”
“Of course, you’d have to actually die for that to work,” Jung Yi-dam sneered, shrugging lightly. Ki Baek-woo still kept his mouth firmly shut, stubbornly refusing to respond.
“After making such a show of trying to kill yourself, unless you have cognitive issues, you should start to realize by now that no matter what drastic measures you take, you cannot die. You can’t escape from here.”
“…Why?”
“Because right now, you’re at a point where you’ll come back to life even if your head gets blown off.”
Again. Jung Yi-dam was speaking as if he knew everything. People who had observed Ki Baek-woo all thought he was simply a tenacious individual who always managed to narrowly avoid death. That was far more realistic than believing a person could die and be reborn multiple times. But Ki Baek-woo was indeed dying and coming back to life repeatedly, and Jung Yi-dam knew this precisely.
‘…He knows everything.’
Ki Baek-woo thought, grinding his molars together. This wasn’t a misunderstanding or exaggeration. Judging by Jung Yi-dam’s mention of “the point where you’ll come back to life,” it was clear he fully grasped the current situation. He definitely knew everything—about this world and about Ki Baek-woo’s circumstances.
This realization ignited a burning hatred within him. It was now evident that Jung Yi-dam had been toying with Ki Baek-woo all along while being fully aware of everything. Despite knowing that every emotion, attitude, and gesture from Ki Baek-woo was artificially manipulated, he had repeatedly experimented on him. As if observing how long Ki Baek-woo could remain ignorant of the truth, or how long Lee Han-sol could endure such a pathetic version of Ki Baek-woo.
Ki Baek-woo felt rage and resentment bubbling up inside him. The fact that Jung Yi-dam had used the system-controlled Ki Baek-woo to hurt Lee Han-sol, desiring him while simultaneously harboring the twisted delusion that Han-sol existed solely for him—and that he had done all this knowingly—was unforgivable.
It was Jung Yi-dam who had repeatedly manipulated Ki Baek-woo according to the system and predetermined storyline. It was Jung Yi-dam who had reduced Ki Baek-woo to a mindless idiot who shot himself in the foot. Knowing that he was the protagonist of this world, knowing that everything here was forcibly arranged for him as the protagonist, knowing that a system that manipulated people at will was operating—Jung Yi-dam knew all of this, yet he continuously lurked around Ki Baek-woo. Despite this, he was jealous of Ki Baek-woo and coveted Lee Han-sol.
‘Someone like you doesn’t deserve to be by Han-sol’s side.’
He had said those words with greed glistening in his eyes. While concealing the truth, as if attempting to brainwash him.
‘Someone like you is too inadequate to be by Han-sol’s side. Your love isn’t perfect.’
He had arbitrarily judged and trampled on Ki Baek-woo’s feelings. He had spoken cruel words. As if he wanted to crush Ki Baek-woo’s heart, as if the only perfect beings in this world were Lee Han-sol and Jung Yi-dam alone. Despite being the protagonist of a world full of nothing but falsehoods. Despite being the most fraudulent existence himself…!
I want to kill him. Right now.
Thump, thump. Ki Baek-woo’s heart pounded heavily. This wasn’t a simulation of love created by the system or scenario. This was anger and murderous intent—genuine emotions that Ki Baek-woo felt himself.
Ki Baek-woo had been deceived by each and every crushing word from Jung Yi-dam. Every time Lee Han-sol died, the game reached its ending, and the system disappeared, whenever his consciousness returned, he was beside himself with the horrific events that had already occurred. Without knowing the true cause of how things had turned out this way, he suffered like raw fish being sliced alive, and then died.
Hearing only Jung Yi-dam’s words that everything was his fault, he believed it was truly so. Without even thinking to look for the cause, he just wallowed in self-hatred. He repeated the same situation helplessly. Unable to help Lee Han-sol, he left him trapped in the same time loop over and over. Until Han-sol’s overflowing feelings were completely drained.
All that time, Jung Yi-dam had merely observed their suffering. Despite knowing everything, he had kept his distance as if trying to drive a wedge between Ki Baek-woo and Lee Han-sol. And he had half succeeded, leading to this situation. Ki Baek-woo had been abandoned, and Lee Han-sol was covered in wounds.
I want to kill him. Right now.
Ki Baek-woo’s hands twitched with the desire to grab Jung Yi-dam’s throat. That straight neck, exposed defensively above the beige sweater, looked as if it existed solely to be snapped. No matter how poor his condition, such a task would be nothing for Ki Baek-woo. He wanted to kill him.
I feel like I have to kill him.
Despite being nothing without the system. Despite being a fake that couldn’t exist without lies…
Ki Baek-woo clenched his fist and desperately restrained his murderous intent. He thought to himself. He would eliminate the system. Somehow, he would find a way to destroy it and rescue Lee Han-sol. And if the system collapsed along with this vast fictional world—if all the lies disappeared—only one thing would remain.
‘My devotion to hyung.’
Despite the system manipulating his mind countless times and twisting his emotions, Ki Baek-woo’s feelings for Lee Han-sol remained unchanged. Even if Lee Han-sol trembled with disgust, never forgave him, or hated him and refused to ever meet him again—despite all that, these persistent, unpleasant feelings that would never disappear from his life. Only that would remain here.
So Ki Baek-woo, now knowing the truth, was no longer afraid of Jung Yi-dam. The protagonist built on lies was merely an enemy to be eliminated along with the system, not a god. Ki Baek-woo’s only god was Lee Han-sol. Therefore, Jung Yi-dam’s serpentine words could no longer shake Ki Baek-woo.
Finishing his thoughts, Ki Baek-woo struggled to suppress his rising disgust. He needed to act rationally. There was much to learn from Jung Yi-dam. The first thing he needed to do now was escape this world with Lee Han-sol. So they would never have to repeat this nightmare again, so Lee Han-sol wouldn’t have to experience a twenty-sixth tragedy. The confrontation with Jung Yi-dam could come later. Telling himself repeatedly that now was the time for patience, Ki Baek-woo finally spoke. His rough, cracked, low voice pronounced each word precisely.
“Tell me.”
“Tell you what?”
“How to stop the system.”
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
