# Chapter 2
It was like being on a movie set perfectly recreating 2005.
“This doesn’t make any sense!”
Despite my outcry, there might be people who would welcome such an environment from the past. There are all kinds of people in the world. And if I squeezed my brain until my happiness circuits were completely fried, I might be able to accept this with an open mind.
Since this novel was set in 2005 Korea, I had essentially flown back almost 20 years in time.
Knowing the general international situation that would unfold, I could start raising funds now to fully invest in future cryptocurrencies and aim for a life-changing opportunity. I could think of my family and friends suddenly disappearing as accelerating the independence that would have happened in the distant future anyway. My physical age had also gotten three years younger, so I could consider this a chance to redesign my life…
If this weren’t an internet novel, I might have tried to accept this random situation more quickly and positively. That was my personality after all.
Yes, if I weren’t just an extra character destined for self-destruction in this novel, I might have accepted reality without resistance!
But I couldn’t deny reality forever. I needed to go to school first.
My twin brother, Seong Haemin, had somehow managed to get me excused for being absent while I collapsed and refused to eat or drink for several days, but I couldn’t miss any more school. My diligent personality that never skipped school couldn’t have disappeared so suddenly, and even in this situation, I was calculating advantages and disadvantages and making plans.
Not knowing how to return meant I might have to live here for the rest of my life. And if I missed any more classes, it could affect my future life.
In other words, at this rate, the title might change to “Seoul University Student Becomes a Delinquent Teenager Who Habitually Skips School in Another World?!” and I couldn’t accept that. If by any chance I had to live and die here forever, I was motivated by the sole determination that I needed to earn the same university acceptance letter again.
‘I never imagined I’d be repeating a year in this way…’
But if I was given a situation I couldn’t change, I had no choice but to accept it. Even if I’d entered a novel’s world, my personality—quick to accept reality and resign myself to it—hadn’t changed.
Pencil case, spiral notebook, file folder, water bottle. I hastily packed my bag and left home. I was confused about what I should do and how I should do it, but for now I had no choice but to focus on studying hard. After all, someone like me who had only studied for college entrance exams and regular exams couldn’t possibly know how to do anything other than study.
For now, I was a student, so I decided to study while thinking things through slowly. I chose to think as positively as possible.
‘Even if I’ve become a novel character, I don’t have to act like one!’
Whether the novel characters killed each other, fought, played gang games, got into brawls, or sought revenge—it was none of my business. I’d escape through studying.
With that mindset, the moment I stepped into the elevator, I realized something important.
I didn’t know the way to school.
“Hah…”
Nothing was going right from the start.
By the time I finally reached the school—after stopping random people on the street to ask for directions—the school entrance time had long passed.
‘Is this really okay…?’
The anxiety of being late was tremendous for a (former) high school senior who had never missed a class no matter how sick I was. Besides, wasn’t being late like this an internet novel cliché? Those characters seemed to think of school as just a plaza for meeting friends when they were bored.
Suddenly, I remembered an image file I once found in my sister’s hard drive in a folder called “Cyworld Vibes♥Banner Pics.” Just remembering it made my skin crawl.
“For the crime of being a student, imprisoned in the penitentiary of school, confined to the prison cell of the classroom…” and so on.
“Ugh.”
When I discovered that back then, I immediately wanted to shake my sister who wasn’t even home and ask, “You like this kind of stuff? Seriously?”
But in this world, there was no sister to grab by the collar. I corrected my thoughts that were trying to take a detour and tried to reassure myself. Even if I was late today because I didn’t know the way to school, I could live as a diligent student from tomorrow…
I tried to think calmly, but as someone who had gritted my teeth to maintain perfect attendance and even received an award for it, this unauthorized tardiness was my first, and the discomfort creeping up was unavoidable. Maybe I should have been late a few times when I was in school before. I took a deep breath and moved forward.
Come to think of it, I didn’t even know which class I was in. Damn it. I stopped my confident stride toward the building and stood awkwardly in the schoolyard, trying to recall, but there was no way I could remember. I knew nothing.
Well, I should be grateful just for knowing that the character I’d ended up as was 17 years old.
If my memory was correct, Seong Haejun in the novel was only occasionally mentioned in the early parts before suddenly popping up as a villain in the latter half. So even though I’d read the novel, there was no way I could know detailed information about Seong Haejun. It seemed like even the author had forgotten about his existence and then suddenly remembered, “Oh right, where should I fit this guy in?” and just threw him in.
“Sigh…”
I couldn’t help but sigh at my miserable situation. A desolate, sandy wind blew along with it.
Still, I thought I should enter the building. I could grab anyone I met inside and ask if they knew me or which class I was in, or I could go to the faculty office and tell a blatant lie about fainting on the way to school and losing my memory. I couldn’t just stand here forever.
Just as I was about to move—
Vrrooom—.
I froze at the sound of a motorcycle coming from behind me.
‘Ah, wait. Just a moment.’
The acrid smell of oil mixed with the schoolyard dirt stung my airway like needles.
“Huh? Haejun!”
“…Is that the twin brother?”
“Cool…”
“Oh? Is that the rumored Jjuni?”
I was screwed.
I should have gone into the building earlier to think.
“Haejun, weren’t you supposed to be at school already?”
“Haejun, hi! Kyaa, nice to meet you! I’m Sihu, teehee!”
I was thinking maybe I should just respond naturally and move on… but hearing that bizarrely cute affectation made me think, ‘This isn’t right.’
I stood frozen, then as Seong Haemin’s (and his friends’) voices grew closer behind me, I ran without even looking back.
“Haejun, Haejun!”
I could hear Seong Haemin desperately calling me from behind, but I fled in a hurry, not even knowing where I was going. In situations like this, running away was the answer—even the ancient sages who wrote military strategy books said that panicked fleeing was the solution!
Forget everything else, just don’t get involved with the main characters!
‘Please leave me out of your friendship!’
They were just Seong Haemin and his friends, but why was I running away so frantically, like a woodcutter who had spotted a tiger while crossing a mountain at night?
I needed to think about Seong Haejun’s position in the original novel.
Seong Haejun was a sickly twin brother who was cherished and cared for by Seong Haemin. He himself had no interest in gang activities and lived as an ordinary extra character who studied diligently. But later, he becomes corrupted and turns into a villain.
If you’re thinking ‘Suddenly a villain?’, then your brain is functioning normally.
Seong Haemin, who loved the female protagonist, dies in the middle of the novel while trying to save her. Because of this, Seong Haejun holds a grudge against the female protagonist, believing she caused the death of his precious twin. He then plots revenge against the innocent female protagonist, fails, and ultimately meets his demise.
In other words, a character who meets an unreasonable ending that could only be used in a melodramatic TV show trying to attract viewers for a 40% ratings breakthrough!
But I wasn’t the Seong Haejun character from the original novel, and Seong Haemin meant no more to me than a passing stranger. So even if Seong Haemin died, I wouldn’t think it was the female protagonist’s fault, and I had no plans for revenge. I had even less intention of joining hands with the bad guys.
In other words, if the connection to Seong Haemin was severed, I could become an ordinary student.
That was my immediate goal—to distance myself from the protagonists’ lives of constant fighting and life-risking romantic drama through the simple method of not building relationships with them.
‘And after that, I could live a second life here, or maybe even…’
Gasping for breath, I entered the building. My lungs felt like they were about to burst. I awkwardly wiped the beads of sweat covering my forehead.
I hadn’t noticed while staying at home, but after coming here, perhaps due to lack of exercise, my body seemed to have weakened. Just from that little bit of running, I was excessively out of breath and my vision was swimming. I felt like I was about to faint. I quickly crouched down and put my head between my knees.
As I stayed still in that position, blood gradually returned to my head and the dizziness subsided. Slowly, I lifted my head from between my knees. My condition was much better than before.
“Phew…”
I closed my eyes tightly and opened them again to shake off the slight remaining dizziness. The marble-patterned tile floor came into view.
Yes, now that I was feeling more clear-headed, maybe I should look for my classroom…
“Ah, geez! You scared me!”
“…”
As I was thinking, I suddenly noticed someone’s legs right in front of my face and jumped in surprise, landing hard on my backside.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
