#087
[A story of a poor person being loved by chaebol heirs, defeating villains, and walking the path of success]
Hm…?
What’s different from the introduction I saw before? Isn’t it the same content, just more concisely summarized?
“Nine, this doesn’t seem very different from what I already know.”
Just by reading the introduction, I could tell that the original story would follow such a flow. Feeling annoyed that I had to endure humiliating remarks from Kim Sehyun for this, I asked, and Nine immediately denied it.
: That’s not true!
“But this is already content I know.”
: Yeonsoo, think carefully about the sentence!
Think carefully about the sentence?
“I… don’t really get it.”
I mumbled, feeling confused. Nine changed her emoticons as if exasperated and then spoke clearly, one word at a time, as if teaching a child.
: The ‘who’, ‘when’, ‘where’, ‘how’, and ‘why’ are missing.
‘The five W’s are missing from the logline?’
The protagonist is Kim Sehyun, so… it’s a story about Kim Sehyun being loved by Hyun Dowoon and Shin Haejun, defeating Lee Jaeha, and walking the path of success, right? Then isn’t ‘Kim Sehyun’ the ‘who’?
‘Wait a minute.’
If that’s the case, Kim Sehyun should either directly defeat Lee Jaeha or indirectly contribute to his downfall. But haven’t I been nearly dying in the dungeon all this time?
‘To begin with, does the protagonist in a romance novel… directly kill the villain?’
But they said this was something that would definitely happen. So my death is confirmed anyway. Am I going to die at Kim Sehyun’s hands?
‘No!’
I slapped both my cheeks hard. The pain snapped me back to reality.
Even if it’s something that will definitely happen, I didn’t want to die helplessly. Nine wouldn’t have told me this as a reward just to make me fear my future death. Even if it’s something that absolutely can’t be changed, there must be some loophole, which is why she told me.
‘Let’s think carefully.’
When focusing solely on my death in that sentence. If Kim Sehyun isn’t the subject, it’s true that it doesn’t specify who kills me, when, where, how, or why.
This meant that I had to live with the constant awareness that I could die anytime, anywhere, in any way.
: I didn’t say you’d die! ‘Defeat’ includes many actions!
That’s… true. I automatically thought of death when it mentioned the villain’s defeat, but it wasn’t explicitly written that I would ‘die’. The author would naturally want to dispose of me through death, but it meant that even if I don’t necessarily die, things could be resolved in other ways.
‘It seems like it’s up to me to change things.’
Unlike the introduction, the logline was abbreviated, so many details were omitted. As such, it seemed that the key was that while it would come true like a ‘prophecy’, the method could change in countless ways.
Perhaps Nine wanted to tell me to act more proactively because of this.
“If it’s a story about Kim Sehyun being loved, why hasn’t that happened yet?”
If it’s something that will definitely happen, shouldn’t there be some sign of it? I thought it should be something I couldn’t change even if I wanted to.
Looking at Kim Sehyun’s current situation, it seemed impossible for him to receive love from those two people. If they were to fall in love by some forced means, it should have happened already.
Honestly, Kim Sehyun had more opportunities than me. He lived in the same house as Shin Haejun, and as an S-class guide, he had plenty of chances to approach Hyun Dowoon. But no spark of emotion had developed between Kim Sehyun, Shin Haejun, and Hyun Dowoon.
Now that Kim Sehyun’s character issues have come to light, it doesn’t seem likely that the two would suddenly turn around and feel love for Kim Sehyun, no matter what.
‘Is it because Kim Sehyun isn’t the protagonist?’
The logline didn’t specify a clear name. If the logline must be adhered to, but everything else doesn’t have to be… and that’s why Kim Sehyun’s fate isn’t unfolding as described in the introduction? Couldn’t I change fate if I tried?
I couldn’t know for sure if this was really the case. But I decided to believe it.
Because that would help me move forward with more strength.
***
Hyun Dowoon, Shin Haejun, and I sat with serious faces, staring at the laptop in front of us.
We were planning to conduct an experiment on Shin Haejun using the laptop delivered through a secretary. If Shin Haejun realized he was a character in a novel by looking at the laptop, the experiment would end immediately. If not, I would have to quickly create an item and proceed with an additional experiment to cut through space.
“It doesn’t look particularly special…”
Shin Haejun muttered, narrowing his eyes as he looked at the laptop. His face showed disbelief as he looked at the apple-shaped logo engraved on the surface, probably thinking ‘where did they get this knockoff from?’ It made sense since this company didn’t exist in this world…
“Let’s start it up first.”
Hyun Dowoon lightly ignored Shin Haejun’s skeptical gaze and turned on the laptop. Then, as we had seen before, he found and opened the novel file.
“Take a look at this text… Hm, it seems to be of no use.”
Shin Haejun’s face had changed to a blank, doll-like expression again. His red eyes, staring at the screen, shone like soulless jewels, which was a bit creepy.
“Just looking at the laptop doesn’t seem to solve the problem.”
Hyun Dowoon said with an expressionless face as he turned off the laptop. It seemed we couldn’t proceed easily.
“Then… I guess we have no choice but to use my item.”
For that, we’d have to wait for a dungeon to open. Because I can only use items inside dungeons.
‘I should make the item first.’
Since we don’t know the conditions, it seemed best to use an item that cuts through space like last time and then experiment. I was still a bit concerned about that space that ‘couldn’t be perceived.’
The dagger that ‘cuts anything with a 1% probability’ that I used last time had broken, so I needed to craft a new one. It wasn’t an easy item to make, but the crafting materials were well stocked in my inventory, so I just needed to create the item.
“Why did you suddenly… Oh, it didn’t work, I see.”
After a while, Shin Haejun’s eyes became clear again. He was confused for a very brief moment, but soon realized the situation. There was no way we would suddenly stop the experiment.
“It looks like we’ll have to try another method. We’ll have to wait until a dungeon opens.”
Hearing that, Shin Haejun looked at the laptop with a slightly disappointed face.
“…Still, it’s good that we have another method left.”
Shin Haejun, who had briefly shown a disappointed expression, muttered as he composed his face again. He seemed particularly obsessed with finding the truth, perhaps because he didn’t like being the only one who didn’t know anything. He seemed to want to fully understand what was happening to him.
“Well, we can’t help that for now… Shall we decide how to proceed for the time being? Jaeha would be very uncomfortable without any rules.”
Hyun Dowoon clapped his hands once to change the atmosphere. I rolled my eyes.
“Why don’t we start with Jaeha telling us the rules he absolutely wants to keep?”
Hyun Dowoon said with a slight smile. What rules would be absolutely necessary…
“Ah…! If the two of you fight, you have to leave immediately!”
Since it seemed we’d have to stick together all the time, watching the two of them fight would shorten my lifespan. I set a strong rule for my own peace of mind.
“Well… We’ll try.”
“I’ll do that.”
Surprisingly, both Hyun Dowoon and Shin Haejun accepted it cleanly. I thought it was unexpected for them to accept so readily, but it was better than them making a fuss.
“I’d like to move immediately.”
Then Shin Haejun said something unexpected. When I opened my eyes wide in surprise, he calmly explained his thinking.
“I intend to keep Kim Sehyun away as much as possible, but nothing in human affairs is perfect… He might appear again and try to cause harm.”
The three of us would be together, but we couldn’t be certain that there wouldn’t be any gaps at all. Moreover, we couldn’t know what harm Kim Sehyun, with his tail on fire, might try to inflict on me.
“You’re not wrong. Want to come to my house? He doesn’t know that place.”
“By that logic, he wouldn’t know the new house I’d move to either.”
At Hyun Dowoon’s words, even Shin Haejun insisted I should come to his house. I shook my head repeatedly, then realized that Hyun Dowoon was quite angry at Kim Sehyun. He always called others ‘Esper Shin Haejun’, ‘Guide Kim Sehyun’, or ‘Mr. Jaeha’, but this time he didn’t even mention the name.
With his pair with Shin Haejun broken and even earning the center director’s dislike, it would be quite difficult to continue as a guide. Of course, it’s not my concern.
“I’ll! I’ll buy a house. I’d like to think of it as just receiving help from you two…”
Living in someone else’s house would cause a mountain of worries. When I strongly expressed my wish, the two readily agreed.
“Lastly, it’s my turn. Hmm… Except when we inevitably have to go out. When we’re at home together, I’d like all three of us to be together.”
“…Tch.”
Shin Haejun clicked his tongue softly at Hyun Dowoon’s words. I’m not sure what Shin Haejun was trying to attempt, but anyway, Hyun Dowoon made a proposal that would allow him to defend perfectly while giving up a bit of his own offense. Shin Haejun, who had been contemplating for a moment, seemed to think it was better and nodded, accepting the proposal.
‘This way… what about the love coins.’
It seemed I would have to tell them to go out one person at a time during the day for exactly 3 days. As for the last day… I’m not sure who I should spend it with.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
