#076
Kim Sehyun was certainly the protagonist of this world.
He was the perfect protagonist who heard the ‘voice that tells the future’, presumably a constellation, and met other protagonists Shin Haejun and Hyun Dowoon to gain wealth, fame, and love.
However, Shin Haejun, who had been a bit prickly but cute enough to be affectionate towards Lee Jaeha, was cold and rough after the regression, almost unrecognizable. Hyun Dowoon, who had been kind and gentle, showed no interest in Kim Sehyun at all.
On the day they were supposed to form a pair contract, Kim Sehyun couldn’t even see Shin Haejun’s face. He wrote the contract terms with Shin Haejun’s secretary, stamped the signed contract, and could only see his face for the first time at the announcement event.
It would be more interesting if Lee Jaeha went to the announcement party to see.
And following the voice’s guidance, Kim Sehyun invited Lee Jaeha to the party. He thought he should follow the prophecy.
He thought everything was going well until he moved Lee Jaeha to the downstairs apartment to use his power and insisted on entering dungeons together.
Although Shin Haejun was still cold and chilly, Kim Sehyun thought he would eventually come to like him, just as he had liked Lee Jaeha before the regression, who had seemed ‘like a protagonist’.
However, because of the decision to go to dungeons together, Lee Jaeha caught Hyun Dowoon’s attention and got entangled with Shin Haejun. After that, everything was a mess.
The voice that told the future occasionally said things would happen this way or that, but none of it came true.
As the situation turned out like this, Kim Sehyun became convinced that Lee Jaeha was the root of all evil.
Above all, Lee Jaeha drew people’s attention by using strange powers in the dungeon. Clearly, Kim Sehyun, being S-rank, should have been in the spotlight, but while people said F-rank wasn’t much, they were secretly fascinated by Lee Jaeha.
‘If it weren’t for the guiding…’
At some point, Kim Sehyun started wishing Lee Jaeha would disappear. He even wished he would die. So when he heard a voice in his head saying, ‘This won’t do. We need to kill Lee Jaeha here. And it would be good to save the protagonist. Okay, let’s make it so that Kim Sehyun’s power becomes complete if Lee Jaeha dies in the dungeon,’ Kim Sehyun was overjoyed.
That’s why he wasn’t worried even as they were being sucked into the suddenly opened portal. Although it would be a big problem if the prophecy was wrong again, it was a golden opportunity to get rid of Lee Jaeha.
And as prophesied, Shin Haejun saved Kim Sehyun. Everything should have started going right now.
…Or so it should have been.
“We agreed to kill him! Why isn’t he dying!”
In a sudden burst of anger, Kim Sehyun shouted, covering his mouth with a cushion to avoid being heard by others.
Lee Jaeha, who he thought would surely die, returned unharmed with Hyun Dowoon. He had planned to comfort Shin Haejun and worm his way into his heart while the two were gone, but Shin Haejun acted like a madman and didn’t even look at Kim Sehyun. When he said thank you for saving him, Shin Haejun glared at him as if he wanted to kill him instead.
No matter how he thought about it, he didn’t want to admit it. That Lee Jaeha, not himself, was the true owner of the S-rank power, and that even in this changed world, he was still struggling.
“You’re my constellation, you’ve been guiding me all this time! You said I was the protagonist! Take responsibility for me!”
If only he had properly manifested as S-rank from the beginning, it would have been perfect. What reason was there for Lee Jaeha to be involved in this? No matter how he thought about it, he couldn’t understand.
Why did it turn out like this? The dungeon… get them out of the dungeon…
Unlike usual, the voice sounded very confused. The voice, mixed with anger and frustration, continued brokenly, and suddenly there was a bang, as if something had been struck. Like the sound of hitting some kind of machine.
This won’t do. To kill him plausibly, we need to get them out of the dungeon first… Let’s make monsters burst outside the dungeon.
The voice, which had been silent for a while, soon came up with a new prophecy.
‘Monsters bursting outside the dungeon?’
Shocked by these words, Kim Sehyun staggered outside. Then he saw that an exit portal had appeared in front of the house’s main gate.
“Everyone, come out! A portal has appeared outside!”
As he shouted this, Kim Sehyun smiled grimly. The exit portal had appeared as prophesied, so he hoped that this time, Lee Jaeha would surely die, even if it was outside.
Then everything would start going right.
***
For some reason, a portal suddenly appeared, and when we came out through it, we could finally relax.
There was chaos outside because we hadn’t come out for a long time after entering the dungeon, but quite a few important people had come in.
Reporters were trying to make a fuss, saying things like ‘What happened in the B-rank dungeon’ and ‘I heard an F-rank guide actually cleared the dungeon, that’s why they couldn’t come out’, but surprisingly, the people who had gone in with us defended me.
They said my clearing was excellent, and we couldn’t come out due to unexpected variables.
I was surprised that people spoke up for me first like that, but I learned the truth when Shin Haejun told me what happened after I disappeared.
Everyone was amazed by the power of my items during my clearing, and they felt sorry that I got caught in an anomaly. Of course, as days passed without us coming out, opinions changed to wondering if we were already dead and how we could get out…
“Are you tired? Are you okay? You could have slept in the car.”
“You look very tired, Jaeha.”
We had to waste a lot of time being held up by reporters in front of the dungeon. Shin Haejun and Hyun Dowoon, who had briefly explained the situation to the reporters, approached me.
“I’m fine, I’m fine.”
“Let’s go home quickly. I’ll bring the car.”
I shook my head at Shin Haejun’s words. While the two were dealing with the reporters, I had already called a taxi. The taxi was expected to arrive in a few minutes.
“I have a lot to think about today… I want to go alone.”
When I said this and mentioned that I had called a taxi, Shin Haejun’s face widened in shock. He apparently hadn’t expected me to say I was going alone.
“If you’re not going to ride in Shin Haejun’s car, you could ride in mine.”
“No, I really already called a taxi.”
I also rejected Hyun Dowoon’s offer, which he quickly made, seizing the situation.
The two then stood beside me like abandoned cats, restless until the taxi arrived, and when I opened the taxi door, they quickly disappeared.
‘What’s this?’
When I turned my head, I saw a familiar car racing madly behind the taxi. It was Hyun Dowoon’s car. Soon, Shin Haejun’s car appeared in the first lane, lightly overtaking my taxi and driving ahead.
It’s not like it was some kind of escort vehicle, but seeing the two cars following in front and behind made me sigh anew.
‘It’s heavy, so heavy.’
I understood their concern, but I wished they would leave me alone when I wanted to be by myself like now.
As I closed my eyes and leaned against the window, suddenly my phone rang loudly. The caller was Shin Haejun.
‘Should I not answer?’
I hesitated for a moment and then flipped my phone over. I didn’t want to answer, but I also didn’t feel like hanging up first.
“Um, the phone keeps ringing.”
However, as it kept ringing, stopping, and ringing again repeatedly, the taxi driver muttered in an uncomfortable voice.
I reluctantly picked up the phone to turn off the alarm sound.
‘Huh? Hyun Dowoon?’
Then I realized that not only Shin Haejun but also Hyun Dowoon had been calling continuously.
Something must have happened. I quickly answered the phone after confirming that several missed calls had piled up in a short time.
“Hello?”
– Jaeha, pull the taxi over to the side of the road.
“What?”
– I’m telling you to either get in my car or Shin Haejun Esper’s car.
It wasn’t like he was trying to persuade me earlier, why so suddenly? As I hesitated, a bit surprised, I heard Hyun Dowoon shouting loudly.
– Look out the window!
I looked outside as instructed. But I couldn’t see anything.
“There’s nothing… Aah!”
Suddenly, something dropped in front of the taxi with a thud. The startled driver swerved the steering wheel, moving to the first lane.
I hurriedly opened the window and looked back. Then I saw what looked like a giant bee rising back into the sky.
“What… what is that? Why are there monsters?”
– I don’t know either. It’s a phenomenon I’ve never seen before. There’s a small portal open above the taxi you’re in right now. Monsters are pouring out of the black portal.
Entrance portals are white, exit portals are black. So… it meant the dungeon was spitting out monsters.
The dungeon break I knew was like a black hole. Objects around it get sucked into the dungeon, not monsters coming out.
This was the first time I’d seen monsters directly coming out like this. Even Hyun Dowoon seemed flustered, wondering if what I knew was correct.
– Jaeha, you’re no different from an ordinary person outside the dungeon! Stay close to someone, whether it’s me or Shin Haejun Esper!
“Wait… wait! What about the taxi driver?”
– Whether you ride together or whatever, just stay next to someone who can protect you!
At Hyun Dowoon’s urgent words, I hurriedly explained the situation to the taxi driver.
“Mister, I’m a guide, and the cars in front and behind us have Espers in them. Right now, for some reason, a portal has opened in the air where our car is. If you don’t want to die by monsters, it’s better to pull over and switch cars.”
“What, what are you…!”
As the shocked driver tried to say something, there was a loud buzzing sound from outside. It was already unpleasant enough if they were just bees, but now there were gigantic bees flying around, which felt terribly unpleasant.
“Quickly! We might die if we stay like this!”
When I urged him, the driver changed lanes, pulled over to the side, turned on the hazard lights, and breathed out roughly.
“That’s all well and good… but how on earth do we get out of here?”
At the driver’s voice full of anxiety, I was also flustered, not knowing how to deal with the situation.
The only one I could trust was Hyun Dowoon, who was on the phone right now. I asked Hyun Dowoon for help through the phone.
“It’s too dangerous to get out! It looks impossible no matter how I look at it…!”
– I’m coming to get you now.
Soon, I saw Hyun Dowoon’s car screeching to a halt behind our car.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
