RG 110

“Just to warn you in advance, stopping the Calamity won’t be easy. Even if you stake your life, there’s a high chance you’ll fail.”

“I know.”

“I doubt you know everything. You don’t have enough information.”

“It’s not like I want to be doing this.”

When I muttered that in resignation, the fake gave me a puzzled look. From that, I gleaned something new.

‘Don’t tell me he doesn’t know I have a system?’

It seemed the fake had no idea that the system was forcing me to take on Cha Sahyeon, and using the main characters to stop the Calamity. He believed I was acting on my own free will.

‘In that case, I’d better keep that hidden.’

If he was hiding his cards, it benefited me to do the same. He said we should cooperate, but who knew how things would turn out later? It was safer to have cards in hand for whatever the future held.

“If it’s not something you want to do…?”

“Well, I’ve got my own circumstances too—just like you.”

“Ahh.” The fake chuckled like he understood. “Right. If we’re both hiding things, I can’t exactly beg you to tell me everything.”

“Thanks for the consideration.”

“So? Are you going to accept my proposal?”

“Nope. I refuse.” I paused after that, then added, “…I want to, but for now, I’ll put it on hold.”

“The reason?”

“I don’t trust you, and I don’t like the order of things—getting the reward after stopping the Calamity. If you stab me in the back at that point, I’m the one who gets burned.”

“So, you won’t cooperate until you believe I’m the kind of guy who’ll keep his promises?”

“How am I supposed to trust you when I know nothing about you? That’s why I’m saying—let’s start with a deal.”

“Hm?”

“A deal, at its core, is an exchange of benefits. That’s how trust gets built.”

“I see. You want to build trust through a deal first?”

“Yeah.”

The fake rubbed his chin in thought, then nodded. “Cautious. I like it.”

“So you agree?”

“Sure. Doesn’t matter. When it comes to trust, you’ll end up working with me eventually anyway.”

Cocky, aren’t you? Gaining my trust isn’t going to be that easy. “Let me warn you in advance too. You’re already at a negative trust score with me. If you’ve got any conscience, you’ll accept that.”

“Because of the competitive match deal? Still, I told you my goal, and I explained my powers in detail. Oh, and Song Ji-un, like I said earlier, there’s a right time to meet him. Going now would only hurt you.”

“Hurt me?”

“And not just you—it would hurt our objective.”

“How am I supposed to know that’s not just another lie?”

It all came back to trust. When I scoffed, the fake spoke again with a resigned tone. “Then I’ll give you some other info—something where the results can be confirmed relatively quickly.”

The words “You’re about to pull some nonsense again, aren’t you?” almost made it to my mouth—but I held them back. If it was information, it was better to hear it out first.

Despite being the one who brought it up, the fake fell silent for a long time, lost in thought. He seemed to be weighing which piece of information would be appropriate to share.

“First, when you head back to the hospital later, you’ll run into someone.”

“What?”

“A guy from Yesung Guild. I think his name was Kwon Taehyeok. He’s properly waiting for you, so chances are you’ll bump into him.”

Kwon Taehyeok? Out of nowhere? It was rather unexpected, which ironically made it feel more believable…

‘Why would that guy bother me?’

Right now, I’m disguised as Cover, so it’s probably Cover that Kwon Taehyeok is waiting for—not Cha Seohu.

‘Well, I did ignore his attempts to talk a few times and just ran off…’

This didn’t sit right with me. I frowned, unsettled, and the fake gave me a knowing look.

“I recommend meeting him, even briefly. You might hear something unexpected.”

“I’ll decide that myself.”

“And one more thing.”

The fake didn’t follow up right away this time either, instead tilting his head like he’d seen something strange.

“This one’s pretty unique. A really sensitive type.”

Who was he talking about?

“How do I put this… hmm, a spider?”

“…A spider? Don’t tell me you mean Eun Woojeong?”

“That’s the name, yeah. But I mean it literally—a spider.”

Ah, could it be?

“You mean the leader of Spider’s Web is going to contact me?”

“Right. But you’d be better off ignoring that contact.”

To be honest, even if Spider’s Web did reach out, I’d have to ignore it anyway. I’m getting discharged starting tomorrow and going back to the office with Cha Sahyeon. To meet Spider’s Web, I’d have to sneak out at night as Cover, and I wasn’t comfortable leaving the kid alone. Still, regardless of my own plans, hearing a third party explicitly advise against it made me curious.

“Why?”

“Because you’ll end up meeting them soon enough anyway.”

“The Spider’s Web, you mean?”

“Yeah. Before that, it’s better not to. For the sake of what’s coming.”

He didn’t seem like he was lying. Then again, since the moment we first met, I’ve never once gotten the impression that he was lying.

“I’ll handle it myself. But I’ll keep it in mind.”

With a faint smile that said well, of course you will, the fake let out a light sigh, looking somewhat relieved. “That’s enough for today. It’s gotten quite late.”

“…Huh?”

Late? What do you mean, late? Did I mishear?

“Alright, time to head back.”

“Wait, hold on! What did you just—!”

Piiing!

Before I could finish my sentence, a strong wave of dizziness hit me. The Milky Way, which had been floating above my head, came crashing down on me. As I clenched my teeth against the dizzying sensation, I shut my eyes tightly.

‘What do you mean, “it’s gotten late”? What kind of BS is that?!’

***

“Ugh…”

My head was spinning. As I groaned and opened my eyes, I saw Song Ji-un—no, the fake—sitting comfortably on the sofa across from me.

“Don’t ever do that again. It was disgusting.”

“I was as careful as possible. Strange how it still turned out like that.”

My body was lying neatly on the sofa. It was clear now—my physical body had stayed here while only my consciousness had gone to that space that felt like the universe. I had no idea how such a thing was possible. But one thing was certain: that fake had something far beyond just a skill—something transcendental.

“Your body seems unusually fragile.”

“Shut up… You crazy—!”

Just as I was muttering curses, I checked the time and shot up from the sofa like a spring.

‘Ten o’clock? It’s ten at night?’

Thinking I might’ve misread it, I rubbed my eyes, but the clock didn’t change. It was truly 10:23 p.m.

I’d left the hospital as soon as it got dark, and thanks to taking a taxi, the trip hadn’t taken long. Even after arriving at the Circle Guild, I’d only had a very brief private chat with Ryu Seonghyeon. So, logically, it should be no later than 9 p.m.—yet somehow it was already past 10. I couldn’t make sense of it.

‘I’m screwed.’

The image of Cha Sahyeon, who was probably waiting alone in the hospital room for over four hours, made a cold sweat break out across my back.

As I stood there staring blankly at the clock, the fake finally seemed to realize what was going on and looked apologetic. “Ah, did I forget to mention? Time flows a little faster in that consciousness space compared to reality.”

“…” I seriously wanted to kill him. “…You’re gonna pay for this.”

“Ahem, I’ll keep that in mind.”

I wanted to corner him and squeeze out at least one more useful piece of information, but right now, getting back to the hospital as quickly as possible was more important.

I was about to dash out of the office when I realized—

‘Wait, no.’

If I left now, I’d run into the remaining guild members still in the building. Judging from their presence, there were about three or four of them still on the first floor. If I ran into them, I’d have to stop and greet them, which would waste even more time. And I could still sense Ryu Seonghyeon’s presence on the second floor.

‘No way… Is he still waiting for me?’

No, that couldn’t be it. I’d already finished talking with him earlier—why would he wait for me this late? I shook off the unnecessary thought and turned away.

“I’m using the window.” It was better to sneak out than bump into guild members.

I opened a window just big enough for one person to slip through and climbed up onto the frame. Before leaving, I gave the fake a warning.

“Hey. I’m gonna check if the stuff you told me turns out to be true. Until then, don’t contact me. If you drag me into that godforsaken space again, I’ll scrap the whole deal.”

“What a rude, ridiculous guy. Fine, whatever.” The fake grinned but agreed without resistance.

I gave him the middle finger one last time, then leapt out the window without hesitation.