“You saved me, hyung, you know that?”
“That’s a bit of an exaggeration.”
I shook my head, but Baek Tae-beom’s burning gaze didn’t waver in the slightest. Instead, he grabbed my hand, lacing his fingers tightly between mine, holding on so firmly it felt impossible to pull away.
A sharp sting crept up through my fingers, and I flinched—but Baek Tae-beom didn’t notice. He lowered his head, bringing his face dangerously close. Those golden eyes that had turned radiant the moment he awakened reflected only me.
His nose was so close it seemed we might touch, so I hurriedly turned my head away.
The man before me was Baek Tae-beom, a character from the novel The Apocalypse Chronicles of Another World, which I had read.
“It’s not an exaggeration. If it weren’t for you, I really would’ve died.”
No—you wouldn’t have died even without me.
To someone like me who knew how The Apocalypse Chronicles of Another World ended, his words sounded completely absurd.
Because Baek Tae-beom was the worst villain of the story—he survives to the very end, destroys the world, and kills the protagonist.
“So please, hyung, don’t go anywhere. Okay?”
And I was the only one who sponsored that Baek Tae-beom…
[Your contractor is expressing excessive affection.]
…as his Constellation.
***
The first moment of discomfort hit when I was waiting for the elevator for a part-time job interview.
A faint vibration underfoot made me wonder if it was an earthquake. I looked around, but everyone else appeared unfazed.
Was I the only one feeling it? I turned my head—and that’s when I saw him. A man had appeared next to me, where no one had been just a moment ago. Like me, he stood there waiting for the elevator.
Bleached-white hair, broad shoulders, smooth jawline and high-bridged nose—he was ridiculously handsome. And yet, something about him unsettled me.
It wasn’t just his looks. It was the eerie familiarity of it all.
But I’d never had anything to do with a guy that attractive before, so I brushed it off as my imagination. Shaking my head to clear the thought, I stepped into the elevator as it arrived.
With me, the man, another elderly man, and a father and daughter pair, there were five people inside. The space instantly felt cramped.
Then, just seconds later, something happened.
Thud!
“What the hell?”
The father holding his little girl’s hand exclaimed in alarm.
[System synchronization initializing. You may experience brief nausea. Please remain calm. …Synchronization complete. System #381jh051 has been expanded.]
A wave of dizziness washed over me, followed by a throbbing headache and a strange chime echoing through my mind.
[Dungeon activation commencing. Please exercise caution. …Activation complete!]
[Dungeon <Small Purgatory>]
[Objective: Eliminate the demon-type monster hiding within a human host and escape the elevator.
Reward: 3,000 coins
Penalty for failure: Death
Time Limit: 60 hours]
It’s often said that when people face the incomprehensible, they freeze. And that’s exactly what was happening.
No one spoke. Everyone just stared blankly at the translucent screens floating before their eyes.
THUD!
The elevator jolted again, more violently this time, and the elderly man screamed.
I wanted to scream too, but something else stopped me.
More transparent screens began popping up in front of my eyes.
[You have awakened as ‘One Who Knows of Destruction.’]
[You are now a new Constellation in system #381jh051.]
[Congratulations! You have been born as a new Constellation. You may now view your skills and form contracts with awakened individuals.]
‘What kind of bullshit is this?’
[You have entered Channel #551er5. Current spectator count: 1]
The momentary stupor passed, and I quickly began reviewing everything that had just happened.
The reason I could calm down so fast was simple— I understood this situation better than anyone else.
This bizarre event matched exactly with what happened in The Apocalypse Chronicles of Another World, the novel I’d been reading just yesterday.
Awakening, Constellations, contracts… even the code #381jh051—it was all straight from the novel.
That story ends with the villain murdering the protagonist and destroying the world. I’d been so pissed off by the ending that I didn’t even bother to read the epilogue.
Synchronization likely meant I’d somehow synced with that novel. That had to be the only explanation for this insanity.
‘So then… does that mean I’m now inside the story?’
But that wasn’t the biggest issue.
‘I became a Constellation?’
Constellations were beings who had gained new powers and could form contracts with awakened individuals—almost godlike entities.
They never showed themselves to those they sponsored, so their true forms remained unknown.
But Constellations lent their strength to their contractors… And in exchange, demanded unknown prices.
‘I’m really… a Constellation like that?’
There was no way to accept this situation with a straight mind.
‘This is insane.’
[Constellation ‘One Who Knows of Destruction’ is synchronizing with the Holy Vessel.]
But now wasn’t the time to get hung up on petty details.
I turned my head to look at the man standing next to me. Bleached white hair, and eyes that had suddenly turned a radiant golden hue—he was handsome enough to be considered beautiful, with his pale skin gleaming under the light.
[Baek Tae-beom: Awakened]
So that’s why he felt familiar. Seeing the name floating over his head in shimmering light made me want to bite my tongue.
The man who killed the protagonist Kang Si-hoo and brought about the end of the world in The Apocalypse Chronicles of Another World… was standing right beside me.
And it wasn’t just his name and appearance that gave him away. The novel had scenes from Baek Tae-beom’s point of view as well—so while not every detail was clear, I still knew what happened during his first awakening, and how he suffered betrayal after betrayal afterward.
Despite enduring hellish hardship, Baek Tae-beom had no talent as a Hunter. He was abandoned even by the Constellations. For two years, he struggled like a madman, eventually falling into darkness and obsessively clinging to the protagonist, who was one of the few people who treated him kindly.
And this cramped elevator was exactly the place where his awakening occurred.
From what I remembered, Baek Tae-beom was the only one to survive this scenario.
‘We’re so fucked.’
That could only mean—I’d become a background extra in the very beginning of the story.
How he survived wasn’t written in the novel. But it clearly hadn’t been a normal method. The book described Baek Tae-beom from two years ago as mild-mannered and kind, naive to the point of being scammed easily.
As expected, Baek Tae-beom now stood pressed against the elevator wall, looking visibly shaken as he stared at the others. He probably hadn’t even realized yet that his eyes were glowing gold.
It was common for awakened individuals to undergo physical changes—developments in muscles, changes in body structure, or shifts in hair and eye color. There was even a character in the novel whose hair changed color every time they used a skill.
“What the hell is this? Hey, do you know what’s going on?!”
“Uwaaah, Daddy…”
“I—I don’t know either. What the hell is happening…?”
“Shit, what the—YOU!”
The man with the intimidating face turned his head—and locked eyes with Baek Tae-beom. Startled, Baek Tae-beom instinctively flinched and tried to back away. But the man lunged forward and grabbed him by the collar.
“Why the hell are your eyes glowing gold?!”
“H-Huh?”
“You—you’re the one behind this, aren’t you? That demon thing or whatever!”
And just like that, the man slammed his fist into Baek Tae-beom’s face.
Too shocked to think, I threw myself in front of Baek Tae-beom and forcibly pried the man’s hand off his collar.
“What the hell are you doing?! You can’t just go around punching people!”
‘You have no idea who you’re messing with—he might literally destroy the world!’
I stepped in out of concern for the man, but it was clear he didn’t take it that way.
“What? Get out of the way! You saw it too, right? There’s a demon hiding among us!”
“And what proof do you have that it’s him? You’re hitting someone without a shred of evidence!”
‘You’re picking a fight with the guy who might kill us all and escape alone, you idiot!’
The man huffed and puffed in anger, but then his daughter’s sobs grew louder, and he sighed before pulling her into his arms to comfort her.
Only then did I finally turn back to Baek Tae-beom.
Even though he was taller and broader than me, he just stood there and took the hit without resistance.
“You okay?”
“…Ah, yes. Thank you.”
‘Are you really thankful, though?’
His expression was… hard to read. He looked at me like I was a prince who’d saved him for the first time.
Getting that kind of look from the worst villain of the novel—it was weird, to say the least. But I had to set that aside for now.
This was two years before the original story began—before Baek Tae-beom turned dark.
In the novel, he definitely survived his first dungeon alone. But with how gentle and naive he seemed right now, it didn’t look like he could’ve killed everyone in here and escaped.
That meant something else must have happened in this elevator—something not described in the story.
What should I do now? At this rate, it was only a matter of time before Baek Tae-beom got falsely accused of being the demon and beaten to death.
Maybe I looked visibly anxious, because Baek Tae-beom, rubbing the cheek he’d been hit on, gave my shoulder a light tap.
“What is it?”
“Could you take a look at this? I… I don’t understand what’s going on.”
He held out his phone to me. On the screen, his social media feed was blowing up in real time with cries for help and strange photos of similar events.
Emergency alerts were flooding in every ten seconds, underscoring just how dire the situation was.
As I scrolled through the chaos, an idea suddenly struck me.
Whatever that incident was supposed to be, couldn’t I just avoid it by getting us out of here first?
After all, for some reason, I was now a Constellation. Which meant I could sponsor an Awakened—give them power and support to clear a dungeon.
“We’ll be out of here soon.”
I kept my voice calm to reassure him, then opened my skill window.
[Skill: Manifestation of the Otherworldly Self
—Humans who gaze upon the true form of a god are said to go blind.]
[Skill: Open Shop
—Opens the store used by Constellations to purchase items.]
[Skill: Message
—Send a message to a specific Awakened.]
…
[Skill: Sponsorship
—You may choose a specific Awakened to sponsor. Minimum cost: 1 coin.]
So this was the only way. I would sponsor Baek Tae-beom and get us out of here.
[Activating Skill: Sponsorship]
[Skill: Sponsorship canceled]
[10,000 coin sponsorship canceled]
[Reason: Insufficient coins]
[Current coin balance: 0]
“…You two. What the hell are you whispering about over there?”
The furious man’s voice snapped me out of it.
I gave him a hollow laugh.
Mister… We’re so, so fucked.
