After a quick round of treatment and being granted a week off, I left the Guide Center and headed home. All I wanted was to take a long shower, eat a proper meal, and collapse into bed for some desperately needed rest.
But something kept nagging at me—like I was forgetting something important.
“……”
It wasn’t until I got close to my apartment that it finally hit me.
“My home… is gone.”
Where my apartment used to stand, there was now an empty lot cordoned off with yellow police tape. For a moment, I’d completely forgotten— That the building had been at the center of the dungeon outbreak.
The dungeon might’ve vanished, but the apartment had already been reduced to rubble. Of course there was nothing left. How could I forget something like that?
I’m screwed.
I didn’t even have any money on me. When I escaped, I only took what I needed to survive. Everything else had been left behind. Now what? Should I contact the Team Leader? Maybe the Guide Center had some kind of emergency assistance.
Not that a lowly D-Rank Guide like me was likely to get hotel fees covered or anything. Still, if I really had nowhere else to go, maybe I could crash in one of the Guiding Rooms—they had beds, at least. Would the government compensate me for the apartment? That wasn’t something I’d seen mentioned in the original story, so I’d have to dig into it myself.
I let out a sigh and stood there for a while, staring bitterly at the empty lot before turning away.
“Hyung!”
“…Huh? Kang Biso…?”
“I was just about to come find you! What are the odds? Guess we’re meant to be, huh?”
Just like in the dungeon, Kang Biso appeared out of nowhere, his cheerful voice completely catching me off guard. Seriously, does this guy have a tracker on me or something? How does he always find me?
“What are you doing here?”
“Well, if you don’t mind… want to stay at my place for a bit?”
…What the hell is he saying now?
“…Come again?”
“No, no! Not in a weird way! Hyung, you lived around here, right? But your apartment got destroyed in the dungeon. Who knows how long the rebuilding’s gonna take?”
Okay, he’s not wrong.
“There’s plenty of room at my place, and it’s not like we’re total strangers. People should help each other out in times like this. Just treat it like your own home until you figure things out. What do you say?”
He kept glancing up at me, clearly gauging my reaction. I didn’t know what to do. But… honestly, it was a pretty tempting offer. I was homeless and broke in a world I barely understood anymore. The guy offering me a place to stay might as well have had angel wings.
Still…
Something about him made me uneasy. He might be acting like a sweet, clingy little brother now, but Kang Biso was still a Villain. A dangerous one, too—completely unpredictable.
Sure, the part of the story where the Villains play a major role was still a ways off, but now that the protagonist had shown up, I needed to be more careful. Getting involved with someone like him could only end badly. The smart thing to do was keep my distance.
“I—”
“Aaaaaaah! Hyung!”
Just as I opened my mouth to turn him down, Kang Biso cut in.
“I can tell just by the look on your face! You were about to say no, weren’t you?”
“……”
“Then at least come over for tonight. You’ve got nowhere else to go right now, right? Just take the night to rest and think it over. Please?”
“But…”
“Oh, come on, hyung~ Seriously. It’s not like I’m asking you to move in permanently—just one night. Can’t even do that? I’m saying this for your sake, but if you keep looking at me like that, I might actually cry.”
“Hm…”
“My place is really nice. Big, clean, quiet. I’ve even stocked up on all your favorite snacks.”
“…Still…”
The more he talked, the more my resistance wore down.
“If it doesn’t work out, you can always switch to a hotel tomorrow.”
…One night wouldn’t hurt, right?
“Come on, let’s go~ Hyung~.”
Ha, look at those eyes.
The way Kang Biso looked at me—so earnest, so sincere—it was almost unsettling. His gaze was crystal clear, completely free of hidden motives. It genuinely felt like he was doing this for my sake, purely out of concern.
What should I do? What can I do?
The truth was, I didn’t have anywhere else to go. Even if I went back to the Guide Center, there was no guarantee I’d be allowed to stay. Worse, just being spotted around there might get my hard-won leave revoked.
Given the situation, crashing at his place for one night seemed like the smarter move. I let out a quiet sigh.
“Whew… is your place close?”
“Thirty minutes by car!”
“Then… I hate to impose, but just for tonight… I’d really appreciate it.”
“Impose? Come on, don’t be ridiculous. I’m glad! Honestly, it doesn’t even have to be just for tonight. I’d be happy if you stayed as long as you wanted.”
Kang Biso lit up like the sun, the brightest I’d ever seen him, and without missing a beat, he linked his arm with mine and gently tugged me toward his car.
“Let’s go, hyung. You must be exhausted.”
At this point… screw it. All I wanted was to lie down somewhere that wasn’t a hospital bed. Giving in with a tired shrug, I let him lead the way.
***
The place we arrived at was absurdly massive—and luxurious.
“This is your house?”
“Yup. Come on in.”
The moment I stepped inside, I couldn’t help but gape. Okay yeah, this was definitely worth bragging about.
Kang Biso gave me a quick rundown—where I’d be sleeping, the bathroom, the kitchen—then gave me a little push toward the guest room.
“Go ahead and take a shower. You’ll feel better.”
“Alright. I’ll be out soon.”
“I’ll start dinner. Any food allergies or stuff you can’t eat?”
“Nope. I’m good with anything.”
“Great! Take your time—I’ll call you when it’s ready.”
He looked even more cheerful than usual as he headed into the kitchen, while I stepped into the attached bathroom.
It was enormous, just like the rest of the house. I stood there for a moment, dazed, before slowly peeling off my clothes.
God, it’s been forever since I’ve had a real shower.
When I glanced in the mirror, I saw something that surprised me—my chest was firmer, the muscle more defined. It actually looked like my body.
To think that frail, bony shell I’d inherited from Hwang Seol-bin had transformed this much in such a short time. As my reflection slowly shifted into something more familiar, a strange mix of comfort and unease settled in.
Was I turning back into my original self? What was happening to this body?
Ugh, whatever.
There was no point overthinking it right now. I’d figure it out later.
I sank into the warm bathwater, and the moment my body relaxed, it felt like the stress I’d been carrying melted away. Even the mental fog started to lift.
Alright, let’s review where I’m at.
Episode One: Dimension Travel.
Kim Yong-ha crosses over, ends up in a dungeon, gives Guiding to a few Espers, and meets the male lead, Kim Seong-gyeong, for the first time.
Episode Two: Adjustment.
That’s where I come in. My role was to help Kim Yong-ha—still dazed from the dimension travel—get settled into life at the Guide Center.
Thanks to Hwang Seol-bin’s help, Yong-ha gradually adjusted to this world. Then he started to notice something off—Yoon Yi-hyeon gaslighting Seol-bin—and grew suspicious. Yoon Yi-hyeon didn’t like that one bit. That tension between them? That was the whole point of this arc.
After that, the story picks up: the world finds out about the appearance of an S-Rank Guide. Espers and Villains alike start gathering, and things spiral into chaos—kidnappings, confinement, the works.
Not that any of that mattered to a background extra like me.
Man… lying here like this, I’m seriously getting sleepy.
The heat of the water and the lingering exhaustion from everything I’d been through were dragging me under. I forced myself to wake up before I nodded off, quickly finished my shower, and stood in front of the mirror.
Without glasses, my face looked… sharp. Pale skin, soft brown hair, big, intense eyes with no double eyelids, and two distinct beauty marks under my eye.
People always said I looked like some spoiled noble’s son. I never liked it much.
I slipped my glasses back on and changed into the clothes Kang Biso had set out for me.
As soon as I stepped into the hallway, the smell hit me. Something delicious was cooking.
“Mmm… smells amazing.”
Without even realizing it, my feet followed the scent to the kitchen.
“Oh? You’re already done?”
Kang Biso greeted me with a grin, wearing a ridiculous floral apron that didn’t suit him at all—and somehow suited him perfectly.
“Yeah. What are you cooking? It smells incredible.”
“Kimchi stew. You must be starving, right? The rice is done too. Go ahead and sit—I’ll dish it out.”
When he smiled, deep dimples formed in his cheeks. I’d noticed them before, but they really were too cute. Cute enough that I had this weird urge to poke them with my finger.
Poke—
“Uh, hey… hyung?”
“Ah…”
Crap. I’d only meant to think it, but somehow my hand had already moved on its own. I’d poked his dimple. Kang Biso just stood there, wide-eyed, staring at me in stunned silence.
I pulled my hand back quickly, scratching my head with an awkward laugh.
“Ah… sorry. Your dimples were just… way too cute.”
At that, his face instantly brightened. His eyes curved into cheerful half-moons, practically glowing. He clearly loved being called cute.
“I’m really that cute?”
And there it was again—those dimples blooming once more. Only this time, it was deliberate. He was obviously trying to look cute now.
Still… it worked.
I reached out and gave one of them another firm poke.
“Yeah. You’re cute.”
Sure, I meant the dimples, but I wasn’t exactly denying that he was cute, too. With that effortlessly handsome face, following me around like a puppy, calling me hyung in that cheerful tone… yeah. It was cute.
Hard to believe this was the same guy who, in the novel, tormented Kim Yong-ha as a twisted, manipulative Villain. How the hell was this the same person?
They felt like completely different characters.
This sweet, affectionate guy—was he really going to start receiving Guiding from Kim Yong-ha soon? And after that… kidnap and imprison him like the cold-blooded Villain he was written to be?
The thought made my expression sour. Yeah… I really didn’t like that part.
“Hyung, come eat.”
While I’d been lost in thought, Kang Biso had already finished setting the table and was waiting for me with a smile.
“Thanks for the food.”
I sat down and scooped up a steaming spoonful of kimchi stew.
“Wow… this is amazing.”
The moment it hit my tongue, I couldn’t help but let out a small gasp. Spicy, rich, and full of depth—it hit all the right notes.
“Right? I make killer kimchi stew.”
“It’s seriously delicious.”
I nodded in genuine approval, and Kang Biso beamed like he’d just won a prize.
I dove in without holding back. After everything that’d happened in the dungeon, I hadn’t had a proper meal in days. I didn’t care how I looked—shame had no place at this table. I was basically inhaling the food.
“There’s plenty, so take your time. You’ll get a stomachache at this rate.”
“Can I get another bowl of rice?”
I held out my empty bowl without a shred of hesitation. The more I ate, the more my appetite grew—like the hunger I’d been ignoring was finally catching up with me.
Sitting here, in this warm house with a hot meal in front of me… Only now did it truly sink in—I’d made it out of that dungeon.
And no matter how much money you offered me, I was never doing that again.
Still, the real story was just beginning. Once the next dungeon popped up at the Guide Center, my part in all this would be over. My role would be complete.
That thought alone filled me with satisfaction. I scooped up another mouthful of rice and shoved it into my mouth.
All the while, I had no idea— Kang Biso was watching me from across the table, smiling.
Not the sweet kind. But the slow, dangerous kind. A smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes.
