Chapter 51

“...So you’re saying you’re the virtuous one, and I’m the psychopath?”

“Yes.”

“I’m not a psychopath. I know perfectly well what good and evil are. I’m not impulsive either.”

“I know perfectly well what good and evil are too. I’m the good one.”

“You don’t sound like you know.”

“...What?”

“Talking to myself.”

It hadn’t sounded like talking to himself at all. I looked at Im Haekyung suspiciously. The smile had now vanished completely from his face as he simply stared at me.

“Hm... no. I didn’t get as much out of this as I hoped.”

“.......”

“Then....”

Then?

He continued calmly.

“What’s your purpose in all this? Entering this dungeon, joining SH Guild... isn’t it all connected? What are you trying to do?”

“.......”

Again, that foul sensation crept through my head. Like I had to say something, but no idea what the words should be.

I thought I understood why. Maybe that was why Mental Strength was given to me as a passive—an unspoken warning not to break plausibility. Luckily, the system didn’t just slap penalties on me. It seemed to actually erase memories, stopping my subconscious from ❀ Nоvеlігht ❀ (Don’t copy, read here) answering too.

“I probably look like an idiot right now, but... I don’t remember.”

“...Ah. So this is connected.”

Haekyung looked certain. What the hell could he be so sure about from this conversation? Whatever it was, he had to be wrong. Whether original novel or regression, none of the information he thought he had would help him here.

Then, after a pause, he strode right up to me, closing the distance until it felt way too close. He raised a hand and cupped my cheek, locking eyes with me.

His face filled my vision. Every blink, the faint smile that usually played across his features melted into flat blankness.

Blink—his pupils were so pale they were almost golden. It left me disoriented all over again.

Mind Domination (S) is activated.

Mental Strength (S) nullifies Mind Domination (S).

Mental Strength (S) is activated.

Penalty occurs due to rank disparity with the caster of Mind Domination (S).

The status window flickered frantically again. That suffocating pressure, like my thoughts were shutting down completely, surged worse than before.

“Fuck.”

“Who erased your memory? There’s no way there’s a mental-type stronger than me.”

“No one erased anything.”

“Sure. Believe that. As for you....”

His thumb pressed firmly into the hollow under my eye. Instinctively, my gaze flicked upward as my lower eyelid stretched downward under the pressure.

“Drugs, then?”

“No. Orig—”

Original. But the word never completed.

The familiar status window cut me off.

Warning.

Do not damage the con■■ency.

The message halted me mid-sentence. Haekyung prompted me softly.

“Orig...?”

“...Originally....”

“Ah, that’s all you meant?”

The warning flashed bright, overriding even the system message announcing his skill. A warning that trumped the skill of an S-rank mental-type... it was a fresh reminder that there was something outside here.

“.......”

“Jehyun-ssi?”

Warm liquid slid down my nose. I recognized it instantly, just like last time. Haekyung, frowning, lowered the thumb that had pressed under my eye and rubbed beneath my nose.

“Ah, I didn’t mean for this. Fragile, aren’t you?”

“I told you. F-rank.”

“You’re not completely F-rank though, are you? Really F-rank?”

“Yes.”

“Skill correction brought you this far? That’s nonsense.”

When I didn’t answer, he simply nodded and withdrew his hand from my face.

“That’s enough talk for now. I can figure out the rest myself.”

And just like that, the invasive pressure in my head began to recede. I pooled the blood in my mouth and spat it onto the floor, then staggered back into a seat. My vision was hazy, the dizziness unrelenting.

Wiping the blood from my nose with the back of my hand, I crawled toward the wall and slumped against it. My dazed mind drifted further and further, eyelids heavy like they were lifting the whole room with each blink.

The last thing I saw on the timer showed less than twenty minutes left.

***

“Seo Jehyun.”

My eyes snapped open.

I hadn’t meant to fall asleep. Groaning, I cracked my stiff body and turned toward the one who had called me. The guy who had been so unimpressive the first time I saw him was now nearly my height, his build much improved. His black hair, streaked with a faint crimson glow when caught in the light, fluttered in the wind.

A trait of hunters who wielded flame. His cracked voice asked:

“How bad’s the pain?”

“Bearable.”

But even I could hear how strained my voice sounded. That was when I noticed the dull ache in my abdomen. Looking down, I saw blood seeping slowly through the cloth tightly wrapped around it. The deep-voiced hunter hovered his hand over the wound.

“Don’t.”

Don’t what? The word spilled reflexively, though even I didn’t know what exactly he was trying to do. But he was firm.

“I used up all the potions. With this much bleeding, you won’t last.”

“Then I’ll stay here. Go on without me.”

“No....”

“What, you want me to tag along? Fucking seriously?”

“Yes.”

The memories returned gradually, piece by piece. And then I realized who he was.

“Kwon Taehan.”

“...Why?”

So it really was Kwon Taehan. How could he match the description from the novel so perfectly? Granted, since it was written from his POV, there weren’t many detailed descriptions, but enough slipped in through others’ perspectives. Black hair with a crimson sheen, thick eyebrows, a sharp handsome face, the habit of biting his lip, and a burn scar at his neck.

Lim Sungyeon might’ve been a bastard, but he had talent for descriptions.

I wanted to express some admiration, but this body—this Seo Jehyun—moved with words and actions already decided. He slapped Taehan’s hand aside and twisted his lips into a smirk.

“Even if I don’t want it, you’ll force me along, won’t you?”

“.......”

“That’s your justice?”

“Don’t twist it like that.”

“If you want to sear me, then sear me. Whether I die of shock or burns, it’ll all be the same.”

Taehan looked genuinely shaken, his eyes trembling despite himself. I grinned, watching him, and kept talking.

“You don’t want to save me. You just need someone at your side. I told you I’d stay here. Clear the dungeon, come back, pick me up. That’s not enough? You have to drag me along no matter what?”

“...No.”

“Then do you want me to beg you to save me?”

Cold sweat poured down my face, my blood pressure dropping by the second, fingertips going numb. I was dying. But I didn’t let out a single groan, locking eyes with him as I spoke.

“Ha... this is funny.”

He ignored me, finally pressing his hand against the wound. If Taehan wanted to, I couldn’t stop him. I was a dying man with no strength left in my limbs, and he was an S-rank flame hunter who could conjure fire at will.

Completely disregarding my will, he cauterized the wound. The pain piled pain upon pain, an unbearable sensation. I clenched my teeth and didn’t let a scream escape. Inside, though, the thought came: crying and writhing would’ve been more entertaining.

I agreed. It would’ve sunk guilt into him more effectively.

Once the bleeding stopped, Taehan hauled me upright. His voice was steady.

“Want me to carry you?”

“Taehan... it’s already too late.”

“What?”

I forced the lingering pain down, tilting my head back to look at the sky. This place definitely wasn’t Earth. Three moons floated above, their faces marked with strange sigils. And the sky was far too bright for night.

The ground of black sand, the distant burning plains, the flames hemming us in like a barrier—it was all bizarre.

A dungeon. That much was obvious. Would the status window show? Instinct told me it wouldn’t. Because the original story wasn’t from my POV—it was from Kwon Taehan’s.

Black sand. Blazing fire. Three moons.

This dungeon would later be named Tricelene, borrowing from myth.

And it was also where Kwon Taehan’s first life ended.

The boss here was the moon goddess Selene, blazing between a white horse and a black horse, paradoxically creating night by burning. Each time she birthed the night, new creatures would spawn endlessly within the dungeon. And in the night, they were unstoppable.

“It’s night. We’re fucked.”

I muttered, and Taehan raised his gaze. Like a paintbrush sweeping across the canvas, black night spread rapidly from the horizon. He whispered under his breath:

“It’s just their last gasp. You nearly killed me earlier....”

He actually believed that? I looked at him with incredulous eyes, and then I understood. No—he wanted to believe it. That was his hope.

And staring at him, I realized.

He had to die. If I didn’t kill him now, someone else would.