VHN 5

“By the way, Seo Je-hyun.”

“Yes.”

“Is it true that you Awakened this time?”

The tone of the question was quite firm. I replied curtly.

“Yes.”

“…I see. Follow me.”

‘Ah… they suspect me?’

I almost died and my house was half destroyed as soon as I woke up, and now I’m being suspected. My mood was turning sour in real-time. However, arguing here would only get me labeled as a troublemaking complainant, so I followed Ryu Tae-yeong without a word.

Ryu Tae-yeong walked to his car and gestured towards the passenger seat. I obediently got into the passenger seat and fastened my seatbelt. I thought we would all be traveling together, but it was just Ryu Tae-yeong and me in the car.

“The car is small.”

“There’s no need to drive around in a big car, so I’m maintaining it.”

“Seems like you’d need one.”

Ryu Tae-yeong was quite large. The last time he measured his height, it was 185cm, and he was definitely taller than me, who was a little taller than that, so he must be over 190cm. Moreover, he was in good shape, so he seemed even bigger than his height.

As I muttered to myself, Ryu Tae-yeong glanced at me sideways. After feeling his gaze, I turned my body completely to look at Ryu Tae-yeong. The descriptions in the novel overlapped quite a bit. Perhaps because they couldn’t describe the appearance of supporting characters in detail, there were some missing parts here and there.

A handsome face, short-cropped hair, a good body. I heard that some people’s hair and eye color change after Awakening, but Ryu Tae-yeong still had black hair and black eyes.

Ryu Tae-yeong’s story is introduced in detail in one episode after the middle part. Was it around episode 10? This twenty-seven-year-old man’s life and ending are wrapped up in just 10 episodes.

“Why… are you smiling?”

Was I smiling? I wasn’t thinking anything in particular. I erased my expression and looked at the front window.

Ryu Tae-yeong. Twenty-seven years old. His Awakening occurred three years ago when his mother and younger sibling were accidentally caught up in a Gate. The trigger for Awakening is usually dramatic; generally, the potential within a person awakens when faced with a life-threatening crisis. Most Awakenings occur under the influence of the Gate’s energy. Ryu Tae-yeong also Awakened with the determination to save his mother and younger sibling.

Due to that accident, Ryu Tae-yeong’s mother passed away, but his younger sibling survived, and Ryu Tae-yeong became an Awakened and worked in the special forces team.

A typical by-the-book type, a natural-born civil servant. He’s a bit frustrating at times, but after experiencing various events, he becomes a little more tolerant… and eventually, he’s a good man who dies trying to uphold his beliefs.

“Don’t you have anything to ask?”

“……”

“Usually, people ask questions after Awakening. Moreover, you almost died several times earlier, and you even Awakened… you should be surprised, but you keep having no change in expression.”

“I don’t have a sense of reality. My house was destroyed, and I came out in a hurry wearing pajamas, so how could my head be working properly?”

“…Yes. That must be it. First of all, I would like to apologize once again on behalf of our team member’s mistake.”

“I have something to ask. Can I ask a question?”

I didn’t have any questions until just now, but Ryu Tae-yeong kept expressing his suspicion, which made me curious.

“Yes.”

“If I had been hit by the tentacle and died earlier, would that be considered the Hunter’s fault, or would it be considered an unfortunate death swept up in the Gate?”

Ryu Tae-yeong’s mouth closed at my question. I was really curious, though.

“…If the evidence shows that Hunter Kim’s fault was significant, they will be disciplined.”

“Disciplined.”

So, they don’t consider it attempted murder. Since the number of Awakened, that is, Hunters, is small, they can’t punish each one, or they won’t be able to stop the Gates. It was a world where it was easy for Hunters to have terrible personalities.

Unfortunately, the world isn’t only filled with good people like me.

Ryu Tae-yeong muttered to himself, seemingly lost in thought, and then apologized once again. I didn’t feel anything special even after hearing the apology, so I just nodded in response.

“Je-hyun is likely to be a defense-type Awakened. The shape of the shield earlier was similar to my skill, so it’s probably a similar type and similar grade… I’m not sure, though.”

That’s unlikely. The reason I used a similar ability to Ryu Tae-yeong earlier was probably because of my skill.

[ Mimic(S) ]

A skill that allows you to copy and use the opponent’s skill as is. Just by looking at the S grade, you can tell it’s a rare skill, and if used well, it’s almost like a cheat. The fact that you can copy any opponent’s skill as is sounds like a cheat, doesn’t it?

However, the original me in the novel didn’t use this skill very often. I only used it at crucial moments, so it was memorable, but in terms of frequency, it wasn’t a skill I used every day. I won’t deny that Mimic is a cheat skill, but it’s definitely not a skill you can call a cheat key. Since the skill isn’t fixed to one, the proficiency is bound to be terrible.

I brought up my Status Window in front of me again.

Name: Seo Je-hyun

Age: 24

Grade: F

Titles: Transcender of Space-Time

Seed of the Great Demise

One who ■■ the ■■

Main Skills: ■■ ■■(EX), Mentality(S), Mimic(S), Incitement(A)

Limit Growth Grade: EX

For some reason, this Status Window was quite different from the Status Window of ‘Seo Je-hyun’ in the novel.

First of all, the most strange thing was the grade. The ‘Seo Je-hyun’ in the original work started at grade B from the first time he encountered Kwon Tae-han. Moreover, he had stats that far exceeded the average grade B due to the skill’s correction.

The titles were also strange. The only title Seo Je-hyun in the original work had was ‘Seed of the Great Demise.’ Titles like Transcender of Space-Time or those blacked out didn’t exist either.

‘Assuming that I’ve entered Im Seong-yeon’s novel, Transcender of Space-Time is somewhat understandable, but.’

As I pondered seriously, a hollow laugh escaped me. Wouldn’t the best option be to just get out of Ryu Tae-yeong’s car and visit a psychiatrist? Seriously, if I said I entered a novel, wouldn’t the doctor provide appropriate treatment?

As I thought about it, my expression naturally contorted. I straightened my expression, conscious of Ryu Tae-yeong sitting next to me, and turned my attention to the skills.

Mimic and Incitement were familiar skills. However, the EX-grade skill that was blacked out wasn’t originally mine. Neither was the Mentality skill.

The skills I had, excluding Mimic and Incitement, were Clear Stream Bullet(A) and Pouring Rain(A), both water-attribute skills. Both were attack skills and were my main skills for clearing Dungeons.

So, why are they not here now?

Is it because the ‘Seo Je-hyun’ in the novel and I are different people? But if you’re going to compare me to the real me, it shouldn’t be ‘Hunter’ Seo Je-hyun with this Status Window. No, before that, I couldn’t understand how this was even possible in the first place.

I tried to calm down and recalled the novel again. Kwon Tae-han’s beginning in the novel is at twenty-five. Considering that there’s a setting that he’s the same age as me, the point in time in the novel isn’t now but in the future that hasn’t come yet.

Then, what birthday is Kwon Tae-han on now? I needed to know how many times Kwon Tae-han had died to grasp the extent of Kwon Tae-han’s resentment. The first… no, the second. Or even further back when his mentality was completely shaken would be good.

If Kwon Tae-han’s hatred for me is at its peak, I won’t be able to avoid death with this grade. Kwon Tae-han is a kind-hearted person, but that doesn’t mean he never thought about killing me.

Ah… Im Seong-yeon, that bastard. If I knew this world would come, I should have written something from my perspective instead of Kwon Tae-han’s. Having ambiguous information is of no help at all.

I pondered for a moment and checked the phone book. It was as clean as if it had been initialized. It’s understandable that my parents’ numbers are missing, but even the Hubae’s contact information that I studied with until recently is gone.

Just in case, I checked the messenger app, but there were no attempts to contact anyone, not even search history.

‘Is there no balance in my bank account either?’

I went into my main bank account to check the money, and there was a slight change in the balance. However, in this case, it had increased rather than decreased.

[Balance: 23,210,783,100 won]

Instead, the stocks and funds I had disappeared, and my officetel under my name was split in half, leaving only cash assets. I didn’t know my assets exactly, but I don’t think it was in the hundred billion won range. Did my parents get taken care of, and that’s what’s left in cash? If so, it should be much more than this.

‘How different is it from reality?’

If I exist, my acquaintances should also exist, but as of now, there’s no place to contact. I could search SNS or do some research, but I don’t have the time right now.

I wanted to kick the dashboard, but I didn’t want to become a troublemaking complainant who harasses civil servants, so I quietly looked out the window.

Should I find the existence that knows the most about this situation? Who could it be… Kwon Tae-han?

At that moment, the Status Window flashed wildly in front of my eyes.

Prepare for the coming destruction!

As I looked at that sentence, understanding slowly dawned on me. ‘Prepare’ for destruction?

The duty given to Kwon Tae-han in the Status Window is ‘Save the world from destruction.’ It was easy to grasp the intention of this. However, ‘prepare’ for destruction means that I am the subject.

‘Am I supposed to play the role of the original mastermind?’

The moment I raised the question, the Status Window spewed out information.

Welcome, One who ■■ the ■■, ‘Seo Je-hyun’!

Currently, it is the ‘probation period’ before the start of Regressor Kwon ■■’s ■th life.

■■ssibility for destruction… 7%

Warning.

Do not damage the ■■ssibility.

Penalties will be imposed if you do not comply with the warning.

‘What is this?’

It’s all blacked out. Still, there was a lot of information that I could recognize because it was blacked out with conscience.

I should skip the first line entirely, and the second line is that it’s the probation period before the start of Kwon Tae-han’s fifth life as a regressor. And below that is the possibility for destruction. Since it’s originally a novel, the word possibility is natural.

‘Probation period…’

The point when Kwon Tae-han dies and wakes up is three months before meeting ‘Seo Je-hyun’ in April. So, there are roughly six months left from today, October 7th. Is that six months what they’re calling the probation period? Moreover, the fifth life?

The novel couldn’t cover all of Kwon Tae-han’s thousand lives, so it only focuses on important checkpoints. Among them, the 2nd life that starts it all, the 5th life that is the limit where the mind is worn down, and the 999th and 1000th lives that are close to the ending.

If it’s Kwon Tae-han in his fifth life… it’s when his animosity towards ‘Seo Je-hyun’ is at its peak. Rather, after this, his mind gradually conformed to fate and was worn down. But why bring Kwon Tae-han from this time?

And the warning not to damage the possibility wasn’t there for Kwon Tae-han either. Then, is it only given to me who recognizes this world as a ‘novel’?

It’s probably not just the dictionary definition of possibility. It probably means to walk the path for destruction like the ‘Seo Je-hyun’ in the original work.

Then, does that mean I have to kill Kwon Tae-han 994 more times in the future? I have to kill a guy with endless potential for growth? Moreover, according to the original work, ‘I’ eventually met an ending where I was killed by Kwon Tae-han.

Does that mean I should follow the original work and eventually die?

‘Why should I?’

As I questioned inwardly, the last line flashed noticeably.

Penalties will be imposed if you do not comply with the warning.

What’s the penalty? But this time, the Status Window didn’t seem to have any intention of spitting out information and remained silent.

‘Then, I can just find out myself.’

I need to know what the penalty is so I can live while keeping the line appropriately. There were plenty of ways to damage the possibility. I chose the easiest one among them.

“Hunter Ryu Tae-yeong.”

“Yes.”

“I don’t know exactly when, but you will die in the Jungle Dungeon.”

“Yes?”

It’s a spoiler, you bastard.