Delusive Fate

#075

“Hyung…? Hyung?” Ki Baek-woo said, squinting one eye. He hesitated as if searching through the deepest parts of his consciousness for something vague, as though he had completely lost all memory of the word “hyung.” Then, after a while, he suddenly muttered as if possessed by something.

“Ah, Lee Han-sol. Are you talking about Lee Han-sol? It doesn’t matter, Lee Han-sol. What’s important to me is… not Lee Han-sol… but Jung Yi-dam the healer.”

He said this while pronouncing Lee Han-sol’s name with a confused expression, as if he had no idea who that was.

[Strategy TIP: Obstacles… Let’s erase the X completely, leaving no trace!]

At first, Jung Yi-dam didn’t understand either. How could he have known that the word “erase” written in the information window meant more than just emotions, but the memory itself? In reality, as Ki Baek-woo’s affection for Jung Yi-dam grew, he gradually forgot Lee Han-sol. That is, beyond just losing feelings for Lee Han-sol.

‘Lee Han-sol? That person… I don’t really want to talk about them. To be honest, I can’t remember well. I don’t know why I should be so entangled with that person. Given how quickly they’re forgotten, they probably weren’t that significant to me.’

Ki Baek-woo acted as if he knew Lee Han-sol but didn’t know him at the same time. It seemed as if the name Lee Han-sol triggered something, scrambling Ki Baek-woo’s mind and causing mental confusion. Faced with this bewildering scene, Jung Yi-dam felt strange. It gave him a sense of relief that Ki Baek-woo was becoming completely his, while also causing an inexplicable discomfort.

Did it have to go this far? For someone who had only Lee Han-sol in his life until Jung Yi-dam started pursuing him, isn’t this too forced? It seems like a funny setup. It’s not natural at all. At this rate, it only makes me think that this “reality” is just a moment manipulated by the system. Everything feels fake. Ki Baek-woo being by my side, Ki Baek-woo liking me, everything. Though that can’t be the case.

Jung Yi-dam hid these thoughts behind an indifferent expression. The forced setup was incredibly irritating. It seemed to imply that as long as Lee Han-sol remained clearly in Ki Baek-woo’s mind, he could never truly belong to Jung Yi-dam. Though that couldn’t be the case.

Anyway, the system diligently scrambled Ki Baek-woo’s mind to erase Lee Han-sol, and the more it did so, the more devoted Ki Baek-woo became to Jung Yi-dam. Just like he had been with Lee Han-sol. Jung Yi-dam was satisfied with Ki Baek-woo’s loyalty. He expected that this time he would finally obtain the love he desired. The consistent relationship between Ki Baek-woo and Lee Han-sol, which seemed to mock him as he pursued other targets dozens, no, over a hundred times. Jung Yi-dam dreamed, imagining himself in their place from his memories.

A long-starved wish, Jung Yi-dam’s pure love that had always been hungry, never fully satisfied. There were signs that these were slowly being fulfilled. It was exciting and nerve-wracking.

‘But why…’

Why do I feel this way? Why am I not 100% happy? What’s making me uncomfortable?

Jung Yi-dam felt irritation in a corner of his excited heart. Contradictory emotions were stabbing him from both sides. Why couldn’t he be purely excited? Why did his mood keep…

‘Getting worse? I feel like I’m getting angry.’

Even Jung Yi-dam himself couldn’t explain his extremely divided emotions.

Ki Baek-woo changing due to his pursuit. Ki Baek-woo often confusing Lee Han-sol. When looking at him, extreme emotions surged in Jung Yi-dam’s heart. He was ecstatic about the blind attention Ki Baek-woo gave him, and at the same time felt an unbearable hatred. Jung Yi-dam couldn’t explain why his heart was swaying like a seesaw. In this irrational confusion, the only thing clear was… that Lee Han-sol was the cause.

This incident occurred when Jung Yi-dam finally surpassed 80 affection points after starting to pursue Ki Baek-woo. That day, Jung Yi-dam and Ki Baek-woo had just finished a meeting about the last raid with their colleagues and center researchers in the briefing room.

“Well… I think we’ve covered everything up to the gate core destruction process. The summary is our research team’s job, so let’s end the discussion here. Thank you for your hard work, Hunters.”

At the end of the long discussion, Ki Baek-woo stood up, gathering his and Jung Yi-dam’s belongings together. He naturally took the lead, escorting Jung Yi-dam. He opened the heavy door of the briefing room and looked at Jung Yi-dam. Jung Yi-dam smiled sweetly. It wasn’t a big deal, but he felt good whenever Ki Baek-woo took care of him so attentively. Just as Jung Yi-dam stepped out into the hallway first, with Ki Baek-woo following behind, that’s when it happened. As if on cue, an urgent voice was heard.

“H-Hunter Ki!”

It was a pale-faced employee from the Central Center’s Hunter Management Team, looking for Ki Baek-woo. Ki Baek-woo looked at the frantically acting employee with an expressionless face. Then, as if protecting Jung Yi-dam, he stood in front of him and asked.

“What’s the matter?”

“W-Well…!”

Jung Yi-dam could feel the hunters and gate researchers who had just been in the meeting glancing at them. The man wearing a nametag that read “Park Sang-yun, Assistant Manager, Hunter Management Team” chewed on his lip as if confused, then launched into a lengthy explanation. Jung Yi-dam held tightly onto Ki Baek-woo’s shirt tail and stared intently at Park Sang-yun’s urgent expression. The gist of what he stammered out with a flushed face was this: Lee Han-sol had gotten into a fight.

Lee Han-sol had been wandering around the Central Center lately. Since Ki Baek-woo wouldn’t deal with him, he came looking directly. Jung Yi-dam had seen Lee Han-sol sitting weakly on a bench near the center’s main entrance a few times. His thoughts naturally drifted towards Lee Han-sol.

When I first saw him, I thought his face looked just like a drop of milk.

As if someone had filled a dropped milk droplet with the prettiest shapes for eyes, nose, and mouth… It was hard to look away from a face that inspired such thoughts. Why does he look like that? If Jung Yi-dam had been even a little more tired at that time, or if his mood had been just a little better or worse, he might have unconsciously muttered such words. It was an impression that made people let their guard down a bit. Beautiful or handsome… such complicated words didn’t suit Lee Han-sol well. Lee Han-sol was just… pretty. When he was nearby, you couldn’t help but keep glancing at him.

It was clearly such a pretty face. Jung Yi-dam hadn’t expected that someone like that could look so empty. Seeing Lee Han-sol sitting alone, looking thin and lonely, made him feel strange. The upturned eyes that usually looked aloof now drooped powerlessly, making Jung Yi-dam so uncomfortable that he couldn’t bear to look for long. He felt an obligation to immediately hug Lee Han-sol and comfort him until he felt better. Seeing Ki Baek-woo coldly ignoring such a Lee Han-sol made Jung Yi-dam freshly aware of the system’s control.

‘Even if it’s because of the system, how can he treat Lee Han-sol like that?’

At that time, Lee Han-sol was in a very difficult situation. It was inevitable since Jung Yi-dam was pursuing Ki Baek-woo. The world was trying to take Ki Baek-woo away from Lee Han-sol and give him to Jung Yi-dam. The more Lee Han-sol struggled not to lose what was his, the more he was pushed into a corner.

‘Isn’t this too much…? It doesn’t seem necessary to go this far.’

Such thoughts came naturally. As if trying to dissolve Lee Han-sol into the deepest darkness to prove how radiant Jung Yi-dam was, the system was endlessly cruel. The main story tormented Lee Han-sol in various ways. One of them was the hatred of the world.

‘There’s no need to be this artificial. Why is everyone picking on Lee Han-sol like this? We could reach the ending sufficiently without doing this… It doesn’t feel good. It’s unsettling…’