VHN 2

Glancing at the screen, I saw a considerable number of views. So, he made a lot of money? Was he trying to repay me with money? If so, it was a shame. I had more than enough money myself.

But Im Seong-yeon’s words didn’t end there.

“I’ve known since ten years ago, no, even before that. That this day would come. I’m glad I developed the habit of taking notes since I was young. No one will know this is the Book of Revelation. But I made it known. So, I have no more obligations to fulfill…”

Im Seong-yeon was muttering like a complete madman, so I stared at him as I couldn’t say anything. Im Seong-yeon lowered his head deeply, then suddenly raised it and met my eyes. They were eyes filled with madness.

“You still don’t flinch. I knew it.”

“Usually, when someone is spouting nonsense, the other person loses their words.”

“Haha! No…”

Im Seong-yeon shook his head at my perfectly reasonable response. Was he really going crazy? Well, I had heard that a little madness was necessary for creation.

“You’re a bit special.”

Hearing that, I couldn’t help but laugh.

“Are you complimenting me?”

“Take it as a compliment.”

Im Seong-yeon paused, then gestured towards my phone with his chin.

“Read it carefully. It’s not that long. It ended not long ago, but you could read it all in two days, no. Three days.”

“You’re telling me to buy your work and read it?”

“I’ll send you money if you need it. Give me your account number.”

“Okay.”

I was curious to see how Im Seong-yeon would react, so I obediently sent him my account number. But Im Seong-yeon nonchalantly transferred the money to the account I sent.

[Deposit of ₩54,900 from Im Seong-yeon]

“That’s ₩2,500 short.”

“…Chapter 25 is originally free.”

Is he crazy?

“Anyway, you should definitely read it. As soon as possible. And multiple times, until you memorize it… No, never mind. You have a good memory.”

After saying that, Im Seong-yeon stared intently at me, then opened the car door and got out.

Walking away into the distance, Im Seong-yeon suddenly stopped, turned back, and knocked on the window. When I lowered the window, Im Seong-yeon leaned in, showing only his eyes, and said.

“You’re in it. It’s only natural.”

“Can I sue you?”

But Im Seong-yeon ignored my words and disappeared again. Unbelievable. He put someone in his novel without permission and now he’s telling me to read it.

Was ₩54,900 his last bit of conscience?

I had been half-heartedly dismissing Im Seong-yeon’s nonsense, but I started to recall it piece by piece. That this day would come. Book of Revelation, no obligations. Special…

Hmm. A typical cult follower.

The friend I helped in high school grew up to be a cultist. It was as absurd as a sponsored child becoming a pirate. Besides, I couldn’t understand why he only sent me a web novel link, saying it would be helpful to me. Was he going to give me royalties for featuring me?

By the way, what kind of novel is it that I appear in?

I checked the title of the novel again, which I had carelessly overlooked earlier.

[I’m the Only S-Rank Hunter with Maxed Stats]

Is this bastard… kidding me?

* * *

Putting aside how absurd it was, I naturally didn’t read the novel Im Seong-yeon wrote. I had things to do, and reading Im Seong-yeon’s novel wasn’t even on that list in the first place.

But one thing bothered me. Im Seong-yeon asked me for help when he was 17. He said it would be helpful to me back then. But the first chapter of the novel was uploaded only at the end of last year…

Then this crazy bastard had been planning the novel since then? How did he know it would be successful? No, didn’t he say something about 10 years back then?

And above all, I was bothered that he didn’t specifically tell me what that help was. He just told me to read the novel. Was he just guaranteeing my hobby life? I couldn’t figure it out at all.

But as a result, I did end up reading Im Seong-yeon’s novel. A week after the alumni meeting.

The reason was a chat with a junior who was in the same study group.

There was a junior, a year younger than me, in the English study group I had been attending since the beginning of the year. He was smart and handled chores well, so I liked him well enough.

He and I arrived at the cafe for the study session first, and we went inside ahead of the others.

“What do you want to drink?”

“Ah, I’ll buy my own…!”

“Who said I was buying?”

Where did this overreaction come from? Knowing he was embarrassed by my words, the junior stammered.

“I’ll have an iced mocha latte…”

“Okay. One iced mocha latte and.”

“…with two pumps of hazelnut syrup, add pearl, changed to oat milk, with espresso whipped cream on top, and ah, please add chocolate drizzle too.”

…Is he kidding me?

As I stared at the junior with a dumbfounded look, he stubbornly repeated the order, even with his face reddened.

“Iced mocha latte with two pumps of hazelnut syrup, pearl added, oat milk changed, espresso whipped cream on top, and chocolate drizzle added…”

“Okay. One like that and one iced Americano, please.”

“Okay. That’s ₩12,400 in total.”

He’s really being ridiculous. I take back what I said about liking him. No wonder he was always building a tower of drinks by himself. The face of the part-time worker at the cafe looked pale for some reason.

I expressed my condolences inwardly and handed over my card. The junior was muttering something behind me, but I was so fed up with the several-line order he had placed that I couldn’t hear anything.

As soon as we received our drinks and sat down, the junior started talking as if he had been waiting for this moment.

“Thank you for buying. No, it would have been okay for me to buy it. If I had known Seonbae was going to buy it, I would have just had an iced Americano.”

“When were you discharged from the military?”Ah, it’s been a while, but for some reason, when I meet my senior, my tone of voice.”..”

He’s really being a pain. If I had known beforehand that he was the type to become stupid when he opened his mouth, I would have sealed his mouth shut forever.

Anyway, once his mouth was opened, there was no sign of it closing. I was listening with one ear and letting it out the other, but a familiar title caught my ear.

“…so I thought Seonbae was like that too. Hehe, it’s probably just a coincidence that the names overlap.”

“Wait. What?”

“Yes? I said it’s probably just a coincidence that the names overlap…”

“No, before that.”

I frowned and looked at the junior, wondering if I had heard something wrong. He flinched greatly and stammered as he repeated himself.

“There’s a character with the same name as Seonbae in ‘NASHeon’, but his personality isn’t very good, so I misunderstood.”

“What’s NASHeon?”

“It’s a web novel… it’s called <I’m the Only S-Rank Hunter with Maxed Stats>, it’s quite famous. Do you happen to read web novels, Seonbae?”

“No.”

I chewed on that ridiculous title, <I’m the Only S-Rank Hunter with Maxed Stats>. There was only one reason why this title was familiar. Because it was the title of the novel Im Seong-yeon had told me about a few days ago.

No, it’s already unbelievable that I appeared in it without permission, but what? He portrayed me as someone with a bad personality?

Im Seong-yeon had clearly forgotten that I had helped him.

It was quite shocking that the friend I helped in high school repaid my kindness with malice. It was none other than portraying me as someone with a bad personality?

That night, I started reading the novel Im Seong-yeon wrote. I made up my mind to remember each and every ridiculous description and sue him.

And as soon as I read the novel, I couldn’t help but laugh again.

The ‘Seo Je-hyun’ there was not just someone with a bad personality, but a crazy psychopath villain who betrayed the protagonist several times.

* * *

“How, could…”

I felt my breath being cut off as I clearly looked at the figure in front of me.

There was too much information, and I couldn’t organize it in my head.

It was probably because the bleeding was so severe that my brain wasn’t working.

But one thing was clear.

The person in front of me was none other than Seo Je-hyun.

That was my last memory.

.

.

.

“Huh.”

I hurriedly got up. A familiar ceiling, a familiar room.

This is, could it be…

I frantically checked the date and, unbelievably, I had returned to five years ago.

And that was three months before I met Seo Je-hyun.

‘Is this even possible?’

“Is this really possible?”

I was so dumbfounded that I couldn’t even laugh.

The novel begins with the protagonist, Kwon Tae-han, being betrayed and killed by ‘Seo Je-hyun’, then returning to five years ago. In his second life, Kwon Tae-han is given the duty to save the world along with a status window. Conversely, ‘Seo Je-hyun’s’ goal is the destruction of the world, and he kills ‘Kwon Tae-han’, who is saving the world, several times. Kwon Tae-han, who is naturally kind, tries to persuade ‘Seo Je-hyun’ even after being backstabbed several times, but the result is always the same.

It was even kindly described that ‘Seo Je-hyun’ is a psychopath who cannot empathize with the pain of others but imitates it, becoming a disaster. It is said that he even smiled when killing Kwon Tae-han, perhaps to emphasize his psychopathic aspects.

‘What does this bastard think of me?’

Im Seong-yeon, that bastard, is repaying my kindness with his shit.

The content aside, the novel was full of choppy sentences and nonsensical developments, but it was popular, which was amazing. No, it might be natural since people are lacking dopamine in reality.

Even I would be amazed if the world suddenly split and people Awakened, becoming superhumans.

Anyway, I carefully watched the evil deeds of ‘Seo Je-hyun’ in the novel and read it chapter by chapter. Because I read it much more carefully than usual, it took me a full three days to read the novel.

I recalled the contents that had become clear in my head because I had read it so diligently.

I had read the novel, and if this was the kind of help Im Seong-yeon was talking about, then I should definitely sue that bastard Im Seong-yeon.

Yes. Let’s sue him.

A smile naturally appeared on my face as I thought simply. I smiled faintly and went to sleep. I had lived a life of being a web novel addict for three days without any plans, so I was extremely tired.

And after feeling like I had slept longer than usual, I woke up.

We enthusiastically welcome ‘Seo Je-hyun’!

Feeling unfamiliar in a familiar space, with a large translucent window floating in front of me.