#103
“J-Jaeha hyung?”
Shin Haejun heard Lee Jaeha’s voice along with a strange emoticon. He looked at Lee Jaeha’s face, thinking he might have woken up, but he was still unconscious, not even making the slightest breathing sound.
Over here!
“Shin Haejun esper, it seems… from the phone…”
Even the always rational Hyun Dowoon couldn’t help but be surprised by this situation. With a slightly trembling voice, he pointed at the phone. More precisely, at the emoticon floating above it.
That’s right! We don’t have much time, so we need to talk quickly! Focus!
The emoticon was chatty, and its expression kept changing with each word. Shin Haejun and Hyun Dowoon stared at the emoticon with bewildered faces.
It wasn’t VR or any special video. Judging by its responses, if they tried to understand it rationally, it seemed closest to artificial intelligence.
“What… are you?”
Shin Haejun asked hesitantly, feeling something like an uncanny valley. It sounded like Lee Jaeha’s voice, but listening again, it didn’t quite. Thinking carefully, it sounded like the strange voice that had previously revealed itself to be a character, though the speech pattern was slightly different.
That’s not important! This is a really crucial situation right now! The wave that Chizzi- is barely holding back is about to engulf this world!
“Wave?”
When Hyun Dowoon asked, the emoticon moved up and down as if stamping its feet and shouted.
I said it’s urgent! Choose! There are two things you need to know right now, but because the skill failed, I can only tell you one! Do you want to hear news #1 or news #2?
“Isn’t that too little information? You should at least give us a hint.”
Hmm… #1 is about the fate of this world, and #2 is about Chizzi-!
Number 2 seemed to be talking about an individual, but the name wasn’t clearly audible due to the static-like noise. Hyun Dowoon and Shin Haejun looked at each other. Since it was Lee Jaeha’s phone, they thought it might be referring to the owner, and their minds were set on choosing number 2.
“Tell us number 2.”
You guys… really only think about one thing? Well, that’s not bad. Okay! I’ll tell you about Yeonsoo! The person who made me exist!
“What? Is Yeonsoo… Lee Jaeha?”
Huh? No, it’s not.
They had naturally expected it to be Lee Jaeha, but the sudden appearance of the strange name “Yeonsoo” made both of them frown. They had no idea where it came from, but it seemed to have no connection whatsoever to Lee Jaeha.
They were curious about why this strange emoticon suddenly appeared and what it was, but right now, Lee Jaeha was the important matter, and if it wasn’t information about him, the topic of the world’s fate seemed more urgent.
“Wait, I’ve lost interest. Tell us number 1 again.”
Hmm, really? Are you sure? The main point is number 2, you know?
“Yes, really.”
The emoticon dragged out its words as if warning they would regret it, but Shin Haejun cut it off and answered immediately. He wasn’t naive enough to fall for such tricks.
Well, okay! Anyway, because you killed the main character, the author’s mental state has gone haywire! They’re about to throw their laptop away! Something big is about to happen, and Yeonsoo is receiving the power that was floating around after you killed the main character through Guiding and is synchronizing! That’s why they collapsed, so make sure to tell Yeonsoo this when they wake up! Goodbye!
“What? Wait, wait a second!”
Shin Haejun, who had deduced that Yeonsoo was Lee Jaeha, reached out in surprise, but the emoticon disappeared as if switching off, and the phone didn’t move. When Hyun Dowoon tried to turn it on, only the lock screen appeared, and it had turned into an ordinary phone.
“Isn’t Yeonsoo… Lee Jaeha?”
Shin Haejun stared blankly at the unconscious Lee Jaeha’s face. First, it said it wasn’t Lee Jaeha, then it implied it was. He didn’t know which tune to dance to.
***
Ugh… My eyes stung, and I frowned deeply. Suddenly, a shadow fell, making it a little more comfortable. As I slowly lifted my eyelids, I saw Hyun Dowoon’s large hand slightly covering my face.
“…What happened?”
I asked, continuously blinking as my vision kept stinging strangely. Hyun Dowoon let out a small sigh.
Why is my vision like this? It stung as if I had been continuously exposed to light.
“What, you were still holding hands?”
My hand felt numb, probably because Shin Haejun had been holding it the whole time. I squeezed his hand once and pulled it away.
“You suddenly collapsed… Are you feeling alright?”
“Uh… yes. I feel cool and fine, but my eyes have been feeling a bit tingly… sparkly? since earlier.”
“Why don’t you try Guiding for a moment?”
His voice sounded like he wanted to test something, so I obediently took his hand and focused my energy to start Guiding. Suddenly, a changed window appeared before my eyes.
*View Mercenary Status*
*Enhance Mercenary* – Consumes Gold/Love Coins.
*Mercenary Rest*
*Hire Mercenary* – (2/2)
*Dismiss Mercenary*
The phrase about being sealed… it’s gone?
Just as I was surprised and tried Guiding for a moment, suddenly a small groan burst from Hyun Dowoon’s mouth.
“Hnng…!”
Thinking something had gone wrong, I quickly pulled my hand away in shock, but Hyun Dowoon’s hand followed and held on tightly. Then, for a while, he swallowed hard as if holding something back.
“Congratulations on becoming an S-class guide.”
“…Really? Can you feel the difference?”
He nodded at my question. Then he whispered that it was a “sensation he had never felt before.”
I’m not sure what exactly happened, but it seems I’ve really become an S-class guide…
‘Now my power has really… fully returned.’
It was the S-class power I had envied so much all this time, but I couldn’t quite feel it yet. I don’t know why it was delayed, but it seems my power has returned after Kim Sehyun’s death.
“And while you were unconscious, um… we found out somehow that something big seems to have happened to the world. Because a major character has died.”
Come to think of it… that’s right?
I had been worried about ‘what to do now that the main character is dead’ for a moment, but I had forgotten about it while talking with Shin Haejun. Is everything really okay now? How is the story progressing from here?
“Wait… I need to go to the bathroom for a moment-”
I pretended to suddenly remember something and tried to get up quickly. But Shin Haejun grabbed my arm and wouldn’t let go.
“Why? Whatever it is, you can check it here, can’t you?”
“Huh? I really need to go to the bathroom…”
I said again, feeling tense as it sounded like he knew something. Shin Haejun stared at me intensely for a moment before letting go. As I hid my awkward feelings and slipped into the bathroom, I felt his sharp gaze following me like a knife.
‘Why so scary…’
Nothing could have happened in this short moment, but I couldn’t help feeling nervous.
Worried that he might barge in, I wasted about a minute before calmly turning on my phone and going to the author’s Twitter.
‘I wonder if there’s any information?’
As I looked for any new content, there wasn’t much, but I saw several comments on the most recent post.
(Notice) GRBB @Green_baby01
[Here’s a couple drawing of Sehyun and Haejun by the godly artist Ppoya(@Ppoppo)!]
│
I only sell BL romance fantasy @HLBL
[Oh my god, it’s so beautiful ㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ]
What is this? I was briefly annoyed at seeing a drawing I didn’t want to see, but as I scrolled down, I noticed strange content.
It started with concerns like “Are you sick?” and ended with questions about when the next chapter would be uploaded. It was content that had accumulated over several days.
‘What’s going on?’
Could it be on hiatus?
I thought it would be good if I could at least see the comments on the post, and suddenly a flickering comment window appeared before my eyes. As soon as I saw that window, I realized. The reason my eyes had been stinging was because the comment window had been constantly flashing inside my eyelids while I was unconscious.
Comments (88)
Or****: F***
└My current mood
└This is really s***
Nx****: A great novel that kills the mental health ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
Hi****: The most waste of money novel of the year award
└The writing doesn’t deserve stars and the comments don’t have enough likes
GG****: Is the latest chapter not coming out because it’s unsalvageable?
└Did the author run away?
└I thought Sehyun had died but surprise, he didn’t, I was looking forward to it but what is this ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
Ts****: Knock knock knock, so what happened?!!!!!!!! What are you going to do!!! Are you going to feed Dowoon-Haejun to us?!!
└Will this even have an ending
The comment section was in chaos with readers’ colorful curses. Some wondered if the author might be sick, others said it didn’t make sense to be fine after doing this, that it was a waste of money, that they wanted a refund, how could they suddenly go on hiatus without notice, the publisher should make an announcement, the platform should do its job properly, and so on.
It was clear that the author’s mental state had collapsed and they couldn’t handle the aftermath.
‘What’s going to happen now?’
With Nine being the only one I could rely on, I had no choice but to open the game. But… Nine, who always greeted me, didn’t appear at all.
All my pets, levels, weapons, everything was the same, but only the system had disappeared. I blinked and tapped my phone.
“Nine?”
What on earth is going on? Did this happen because the author lost their writing?
I had no idea how the current situation was unfolding or what the future held.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
