WHOFA 1

After pulling on a black hat and covering half his face with a black mask, he had become a perfectly suspicious human being. Seo Hwa contemplated for a moment before changing the black hat to a yellow one. It was an effort to look even a little less suspicious.

Creak, he opened the rusted iron gate and stepped out. Unlike the gloomy interior of the house, the weather outside was sunny. It felt just like winter had ended. Seo Hwa was about to lower his mask a little to bask in the warm sunlight but quickly put it back on when he spotted people passing through the alley.

He walked down the alley with his head bowed low. The pedestrians had no interest in Seo Hwa. They were busy taking pictures while looking at the yellow forsythia blooming on the wall. Seo Hwa thought it was a good thing he had changed his hat to yellow.

After arriving at the mart, he immediately started piling groceries into his cart. Enough groceries to not have to leave the house for several months were stacked high in the cart. He did not forget daily necessities like body wash, shampoo, toothpaste, and toothbrushes. Even though the world had developed this much, it was difficult to get deliveries to a rural house in the mountains, so he had to come out and shop every once in a while.

He turned a corner to buy toilet paper and came face to face with a large TV monitor. A documentary was just starting in real-time on the TV of the home appliance store right next to it.

[4.10 Grade 6 Dungeon 3rd Anniversary Documentary
Three years after Seo Hwa disappeared. What the Hate Phenomenon left us]

‘Have I been living without a sense of time?’

Seo Hwa did not know that today was April 10th, or even that it was April. He had simply come out to buy groceries and daily necessities because he had run out, and it just happened to be April.

So winter has really ended. No wonder it was so sunny. No wonder the forsythia was blooming. No wonder I wanted to wear a yellow hat…

He fiddled with the dyed black hair sticking out from under his hat. Even if an Awakened dyes their hair, the color fades quickly, so it would not last a few days and would turn white again. In the meantime, the documentary’s opening played.

[The Beginning of the Hate Phenomenon
The Official Announcement of the Grade 6 Dungeon
Hate, Seo Hwa, reveals himself to the public for the first time]
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[The Epsilon Expedition’s Raid on the Grade 6 Dungeon
The End of the Hate Phenomenon and Seo Hwa’s Disappearance
What Seo Hwa Left Us]

A video compiling the three-year journey from six years ago to three years ago unfolded as the opening. It was clear that a lot of money had been spent on it. This documentary was even a three-part series.

‘I should buy some popcorn.’

He should not be doing this here; he should hurry home and watch it comfortably while eating popcorn. Seo Hwa’s mood improved at having something to do.

“Do you think Seo Hwa is really dead? Seeing as he hasn’t shown up at all…”

Seo Hwa, who was about to turn back, paused.

People who had stopped in front of the TV were talking. They did not know that the white-haired man filling the screen was right behind them.

“What do you mean, dead. He’s probably just hiding away somewhere.”

“In a world like this, you think they can’t find someone who’s just hiding? There are surveillance cameras everywhere, everyone knows Seo Hwa’s face, and even Epsilon has joined forces and is tracking him with fire in their eyes. And yet they haven’t found a single strand of his hair. Maybe Seo Hwa is already…”

“Hey. Stop it. Is he the type of person to commit suicide?”

“You never know. The entire planet was his anti-fan. If it were me, I wouldn’t have been able to take it and would have killed myself.”

“You and I might not be able to take it, but Seo Hwa is different. He’s a human who regressed to the past, prepared for everything, including being hated. He sees life from a completely different perspective than us, so we shouldn’t think with our values.”

“I guess so… Then why isn’t he showing himself even when everyone is looking for him so desperately?”

“How should I know. He must have his reasons. Maybe he’s worried he’ll be beaten to death.”

“As expected, he’s upset with us… he resents us…”

The two people stopped talking and glared at each other.

“Why would he resent us?”

“Why did you hit him?”

“…Are you on that side?”

“I guess you are not.”

An awkward silence fell, and then one person patted the other’s shoulder as if to comfort them.

“Don’t worry too much. He himself would know best that people hated him because of the skill’s side effect, so why would he resent us?”

“Then why isn’t he showing up?”

“Maybe he just wants to live quietly. Or it could be because of the Oath Pact.”

“Gais Yung said he terminated the Oath Pact. They even confirmed whether it was true.”

“Then I guess he really does want to live quietly.”

“It is not because there are still people like you who want to beat him until he is dead that he is hiding?”

“…Hey, let’s stop. They say you shouldn’t talk about religion, politics, or Hate even with your family.”

Contrary to their words, their voices grew louder, and just then, a certain man appeared on the TV monitor. The people fell silent.

Thick eyebrows and purple eyes with monolids. A refreshingly straight nose bridge and a linear, strong facial structure. An appearance as if all the masculinity in the world had been gathered together.

However, this silence was not just because he was handsome.

The video currently playing was from the joint training ceremony five years ago and was quite famous.

That day, a civilian had thrown a stone at Seo Hwa, and the man next to him had burned it with a red flame. He had protected Hate. The most hated being in the entire world. A being who deserved to be hated.

At a time when the hatred for Seo Hwa was at its peak, it was an act that went beyond shocking, almost to the point of being bizarre.

Everyone was shocked. The public, Seo Hwa, and the man himself. From the way the man stared at his own hand in a daze, everyone could tell it had been an unconscious act.

“Come to think of it, not the entire planet was Seo Hwa’s anti-fan back then. There was Gam Yigeon…”

“Gam Yigeon fought a lonely battle. How on earth did he overcome the side effect?”

That was Seo Hwa’s question as well.

He knew well, having seen from the side how hard he had tried to somehow suppress the instinctive aversion and hatred. He had even truly overcome it in the latter half of the expedition. It is still vivid even now.

The hot hands, the low groans, the ticklish heat…

I cannot understand. How can he get turned on by something like me? How on earth did he overcome it?

No, in the first place, why did he even try? There was no need to overcome it at all. He could have just hated me to his heart’s content. It would have been fine for him to express his hatred without any regrets. I was that kind of being.

Why does he, every single time, always… me…

Seo Hwa had not the slightest speck of a desire to reveal himself to the world, but if he were to go out just once, he wanted to go before Gam Yigeon.

He wanted to ask him.

‘Why did you block the stone that was flying at me back then?’

What would he answer?

With his characteristically blunt and cool face.

‘It is because I…’

No matter how hard he tried to imagine it, the line was just ‘…’.

It was not that he did not know what kind of answer would come, but that emotion was a kind that Seo Hwa could not possibly understand.

“But seriously, what about Gam Yigeon? He is not going to be unable to wake up like this, is he?”

Seo Hwa, who was about to slowly head back, was once again caught by the pedestrian’s words.

What about Gam Yigeon, he is not going to be unable to wake up like this…?

What is this about? He pricked up his ears.

“It is really scary. When I first heard he had collapsed, I thought he would get better soon.”

“He has been in a coma for a month already, right?”

“Almost two months. They say it is the first time a Class S has been unable to wake up for this long. What are we going to do, really. I still find Seo Hwa extremely repulsive, but separately, I hope he shows up in front of Gam Yigeon once. I am worried he will show up after Gam Yigeon dies.”

“I know, right. Gam Yigeon is searching for him so desperately… They really need to meet while he is still alive.”

The people talked as if it was a pity and then left the front of the TV.

However, Seo Hwa remained frozen in place.

…Who is in what state?

Gam Yigeon… Why?