Chapter Text
“Hello, nice to meet you again” he reached out his hand to shake his classmate's hand. It’s a little weird that despite them being in the same class for half a year now, they still haven’t introduced themselves properly. Even though Jinho isn’t an extrovert type, he still makes an effort to blend in with the other kids. but somehow, he and this guy rarely crossed paths or talked with each other. Fortunately, both of them are grouped together for this week's assignment.
“I’m your classmate, Jung Jinho” he smiled politely at the short and thin guy in front of him. He’s very excited at the prospect of getting to know a new ‘friend’.
The guy's whole body stiffened and nervously took his offer of a handshake. Jinho can feel the smooth feeling of the guy's soft hand. He can picture it clearly, the fragile and thin bones covered by the meat and skins, the blood circulating in the veins going faster and faster from high tension.
“....i’m Lee Kiyoung….nice to meet you” despite being visibly anxious, the guy, lee kiyoung, still looked at Jinho right in the eyes. There’s no fear in those clear brown eyes. Only Apprehension and reluctance. As if, he’s being told to hang out with an unpleasant person or suspicious stranger. To be fair, that is Jung Jinho's position in his eyes right now. Which is quite interesting since Lee Kiyoung is the only witness of Jinho pushing one of their classmates from the stair that ended up being reported as ‘accidental death’.
Maybe, this is the sign from fate that they should get to know each other.
……………….
‘Fuck’ Kiyoung cursed in his head over and over again for the hundred times. but, still maintain a calm face and smile in front of the others.
Despite already going through some terrifying and frightening shits, he still held on a tiny hope that this is all just a dream and he will soon wake up to his sister complaining and extorting his money directly from his wallet. But alas, he can still feel the real sensation of piercing the monster skin with his spear. Even though he never managed to use it correctly from hyunsung professional opinion.
Can you blame him for indulging in a little bit of a naught dream in this hostile situation ? being transported suddenly to another dimension and put in a battle royale fighting monsters is not really what he expected when he hit the accept button for a game. Kiyoung really regrets not getting the automatic spam deleting app. Letting go of a couple of yen will really be worth it rather than being in this situation.
It’s really only by a stroke of continuous luck that Kiyoung managed to survive. Well, not really. He's not much of a self deprecating person that he won’t recognize his own ability and appreciate it a little. It’s mostly thanks to his ‘mind eyes’ skill that he found the perfect meat shield, future powerful archmage, and the most important of all a regressor. Kiyoung still remembers vividly at their fateful first encounter, when Kim Hyunsung saves them like the main character from a shounen manga that his otaku friend would gush fervently.
The handsome and stoic face of the regressor suddenly lit up a bit when he saw Jung Hayan with them and nervously talked to her like a socially inept kid. Jung Hayan of course is a little bit Apprehensive and unsure of Kim Hyunsung despite being saved by him.That means, even in the previous timeline Hayan is an important piece in the future. Thankfully, she seemed to warm up to Kiyoung's friendly and brotherly approach really fast. Which means Kiyoung has something to be tied up with Hyunsung even if they separate later.
Of course, just because Kiyoung has sat on the regressor bus doesn’t mean the journey will be a smooth one. Oh no. In fact the road is very rough and has more holes than a swiss cheese. Like, having to realize that Jung Hayan has somehow become obsessive with him in a short amount of time. Kiyoung still remembers when Park Hyaeyoung looked up at him with a betrayed look, as she burned to ash. If he said that it doesn’t disturb him to burn someone alive to death, it would be a lie. But, if given a choice of picking her or Jung Hayan, of course he would pick the future genius archmage rather than some nobody with no talent. Not to mention, hayan seems to care very much about him. Maybe a little bit too much. Which is just fine since it will be easier to manipulate her to do what he wants.
Kiyoung would still curse out that damn pig for putting all kinds of ‘love talk’ in Hayan's head. Which in turn changes their dynamic from what he wants, a brother-sister relationship, into a romantic one. Which he hesitantly accepted . It's Just a little bit of tweaking in the plan. Even if they ended up together, Hayan will still be the genius archmage and can protect him. That is good enough.
Kiyoung has confidence to handle this type of ticking bomb.He already had a bit of experience of being together with one and still surviving with all his limbs attached. The one he previously handled is a little bit different in terms of mentality. but, he feels he would be capable of handling Hayan's obsessive and murderous love a bit better than his previous one.
‘Speaking of murderous stuff and violent tendencies, is that guy still alive or has he finally gone behind the bars?’ Kiyoung briefly thought about an unsettling person that he had the misfortune to know as a classmate in middle school. They never really talked for half a year despite being in the same class. until by some stroke of (un)luck(yness), they had a group assignment together. And conveniently, it was a two-people group project. That means, he’s stuck alone with him for weeks.
‘Knowing him he would be delighted and excited at the prospect of being transported to another dimension where the strong eat the weak’ Kiyoung shudders a little, as he remembers the way that guy smiles whenever he sees something he deemed ‘interesting’.
‘Whatever….wherever he is now is not my problem anymore’ Kiyoung decided to just focus on the present situations right now instead of wasting time thinking about ‘that guy’. Right now, he is walking side by side with Deokgu and Hayan back to the survivor camp without Hyunsung. They are still feeling a bit uneasy as Hyunsung still hasn't returned. Strangely enough, the entrance of the camp was barricaded when they arrived. Lee Jihye approached them slowly with a customary smile on her face.
“Kiyoung-oppa and Deokgu-oppa are here? Hyaeyoung-ssi and Hyunsung-ssi…”
“Park Hyaeyoung is dead and Hyunsung-ssi will be back soon.” Kiyoung calmly respond
“Ah, I see.”Lee Jihye closed her eyes for a moment before nodding her head and continuing to speak.
“By any chance…”
“It’s a long story. In the meantime, did you have any trouble at the shelter?”
“Umm… May I speak with you in private?” Lee Jihye’s expression didn’t look good. Something was going on.
‘Why was it that bad feelings were never wrong?’ kiyoung face grimmed a little as he told Hayan and Deogku to go inside first. Kiyoung needs to check Hayan's reaction first. as he is worried that Lee Jihye would be torn limb from limb otherwise. Thankfully she doesn’t make a fuss and just glances back a few more times before going into the shelter. It was only when the two of them were no longer in sight that Lee Jihye slowly began to speak.
“How did Park Hyaeyoung die?”
“She brought it on herself. Screaming in a place where there were a sh*t-ton of monsters. That’s why Kim Hyunsung isn’t with us right now… Want to know the details?”
“No, thank you. I can roughly imagine what happened.” Kiyoung noticed her glancing furtively at him. He had an inexplicable feeling that she had a rough idea of what had happened. Of course, it was only a guess, but it meant that Lee Jihye caught on faster than he expected.
“I’ll sum it up quickly.”
“What happened?”
“Yoo Seokwoo, as well as a few others, went outside.”
‘I knew things would turn out like this.’
“When?”
“Yesterday morning.”
“You-”
“I know as well. I couldn’t let them leave without permission.”
“Then… Why?”
“To be honest, ever since Kiyoung-oppa and Hyunsung-oppa left together, they constantly told me that they wanted to go out to hunt. I don’t know if he made up his mind after seeing Kiyoung oppa’s magic, or if he had had enough of the situation he was in, but he left to go hunting with a few, like-minded men. Idiots… Of course, at first, I was able to convince them that it made more sense to go after Kiyoung oppa returned, but…”
“……”
“I’m just a powerless woman, aren’t I?”
Kiyoung had a rough understanding of the situation. It seemed that his display of magic in front of them had adverse side effects.
To begin with, Yoo Seokwoo was at a disadvantage after the trouble he had caused for Jung Hayan.It was no wonder, then, that he would consider his options given his status had dropped.
Not only would he think about gaining incomprehensible powers, but he, himself, must have secretly thought about wanting to be like them. With the exception of Lee Jihye, who was considered to be a manager, the power of Kim Hyunsung, Park Deokgu, and Lee Kiyoung, was absolute here.
Kiyoung sighed briefly before speaking again.
“Wasn’t it your job to prevent this?”
“I tried my best to stop them. Kiyoung-oppa’s return was later than expected, so people got nervous… How could I refuse to let him go when he said they wanted to send a rescue team?”
“Rescue my ass… Usually, those sh*theads wouldn’t give a fuck… Is that why you barricaded the entrance?”
“Yes. We don’t have to die together, do we?”
That explained why the entrance was completely blocked off.
If Yoo Seokwoo and the other self-proclaimed rescuers were pursued by monsters, they might have thought to ask the shelter for help.Seeing as she had blocked up the entrance and kept it shut tight, Lee Jihye also seemed to be thinking of protecting the shelter in her own way.
“I wish those stupid, trouble-making fuckers would just die… It seems like the wrong person died. What to do… People are definitely going to be scared… People who can fight, do you still need more of those?”
“The more the merrier.”
To be honest, the one attacking the dungeon was only Kim Hyunsung. And The person who thought it feasible to fight and that we needed to bolster our forces was not Lee Kiyoung, but Kim Hyunsung. He seemed to believe that they had no choice but to expand forces before progressing to the lower floors.
It was while they were talking about one thing or another that they sensed the presence of someone else somewhere. kiyoung turned his head naturally and saw that several figures were coming towards them.
‘Yoo Seokwoo?’ The one walking in front seems to be Yoo Seokwoo. However, the three figures behind him were humans he had never seen in the shelter before.
Wait,
No.
“I guess the one guy who wanted to die the most came back alive. He even brought back baggage…” Kiyoung can hear Jihye bristled annoyance beside him. but, he can’t really focus on anything except on one of the guys Yoo Seokwoo brings.
‘Shit’ Kiyoung tried his best to keep his poker face on. his inside was shaken and rattled as he recognized one of them. That guy…….
Jung Jinho.
‘Fuck’
‘Why is he here !?’
Kiyoung has already questioned the gods or whatever entities methods that brought them here. transporting people from earth randomly and putting them immediately in a life or death situation with only a brief explanation, Is definitely not a good welcoming party for what they call ‘the chosen hero’. But now, he really wonders if they actually want to save their continent or not.
‘[You were chosen as a hero to save the dying continent.] My ass’ kiyoung feels a shiver down his spine, as he can feel a familiar intense glare from someone he unfortunately knows and still remembers. That guy's smile at him definitely indicates that he remembers kiyoung too.
How could kiyoung forget that guy when the very first clear memory that he has of him is the scene where Jinho pushed down one of their classmates from the stairs and Instantly killed her. The next day, her death was ruled out as ‘accidental fall’.
[Checking the status window and talent levels of the player Jung Jinho.]
[Name: Jung Jinho]
[Title: N/A ]
[Age: 29]
[Disposition: Calculating Killer]
[Class: Battlemage - Rare grade]
[Stats]
[Endurance: 25/Growth potential: heroic or higher]
[Agility: 23/Growth potential: heroic or higher]
[Vitality: 24/Growth potential: heroic or higher]
[Intelligence: 20/Growth potential: rare or lower]
[Endurance: 23/Growth potential: heroic or lower]
[Luck: 15/Growth potential rare or lower]
[Mana: 08/Growth potential rare or higher]
[Attributes: N/A ]
[Overview: An undeniable talent, it’s impossible for him to develop badly. Overall, he’s so amazingly well-balanced, naturally, there aren’t many things he couldn’t do. If he dutifully pursues growth, it’s possible that he will be able to rise to the top. His disposition is the kind I can’t get behind. I recommend not getting any closer. This person could be too dangerous for player Lee Kiyoung.]
‘shit’ Kiyoung really feels like crying right now at the unfairness of the universe.
‘...i really should have bought the automatic spam delete’