At the words that I needed to meet Yoo Seon-je, Han Seo-hyeon got angry first.
“Are you still only caring about that guy even in this situation?”
“I’m not just caring about him…”
I was about to say that I should at least check if he’s alive since I threw my body to save him, but I forcibly closed my mouth at Han Seo-hyeon’s gaze. If I said such a thing now, I felt like I would really get hit.
I changed the subject.
“We need to settle this situation, don’t we? We can’t stay here forever.”
The Gate has already been cleared.
“What is there to settle? That woman was a traitor.”
“No, it’s not betrayal. She was brainwashed.”
“Brainwashed? By whom, no, wait! Is it that Seol Rok-jin bastard’s doing?”
“Yeah, I told you. His ability is brainwashing. Lee Hye-won is a victim.”
Leaving Han Seo-hyeon struggling behind me, I came out of the tent.
The world outside the tent was all green, as if it was a lie that everything had been frozen.
I wonder if this was the original scenery of this world.
Han Seo-hyeon, who had followed behind me before I knew it, spoke to me.
“Maybe because it’s an S-rank Gate, it doesn’t close right away. The remaining time is written in the sky. And the exit is in the middle of the castle.”
I raised my head and checked the time engraved in the sky.
41 : 23 : 06
The time this Gate will last. When that time ends, this world will be completely closed.
Suddenly, the woman’s words came to mind.
‘She said this world will just repeat, and the hardened fate can’t be changed.’
The ending of this world was already decided. No matter how hard we try, there’s no way to save a world that has already hardened.
Shaking off thoughts about her, I said to Han Seo-hyeon:
“You stay here for now.”
“What about you, Boss?”
“I told you, I need to meet Yoo Seon-je.”
“Are you going alone?”
“Yeah.”
“Why?”
Han Seo-hyeon’s face was full of dissatisfaction.
“Because I have something to talk about with that guy alone.”
“If that bastard tries to harm you…”
“No matter what, would he harm the benefactor who saved his life at the risk of their own? Don’t worry and stay here. If you have nothing to do, pack up or something.”
“Pack up?”
“Yeah.”
I said looking at the time floating in the sky. I don’t plan to use all that time in here.
“We need to get out of here.”
* * *
Agent Smith. The moment he saw his face, Yoo Seon-je couldn’t help but freeze.
Kang Yi-sin.
It was a face he never thought he would see here.
At Babel Academy, Kang Yi-sin was famous in many ways.
The shame of Babel.
He remembered people whispering in his ear, wondering why on earth he was at this school. Honestly, Yoo Seon-je thought the same thing several times.
Why is someone like that at this Babel, he thought.
It’s not that he disliked Kang Yi-sin. To be honest, he didn’t even have enough interest to have such emotions. He just thought it might be better for Kang Yi-sin himself to leave this Babel.
Because Kang Yi-sin had no possibility at all.
‘I heard he became a murder suspect.’
Even when he heard that the guy had become a murder suspect, he didn’t become particularly interested. The Kang Yi-sin that Yoo Seon-je saw was someone who wouldn’t be strange at all to live at the bottom of society.
It was unexpected that Jeong Ho-san, who was always attached to his side, allowed Kang Yi-sin to become like that, but thinking that their friendship wasn’t eternal either, he felt rather refreshed.
After making such a fuss, so you guys ended up here too, he thought.
He thought he would never hear Kang Yi-sin’s name again, or see that shameless face again.
It was certainly like that, until Kang Yi-sin threw his life to save him.
There were so many things he wanted to ask, how the guy who always struggled without a single proper talent came to have so many talents, and how he came to be here.
But what he wanted to ask first was, why on earth did you save me…
Even for that conversation, he needed to talk with Kang Yi-sin, but the sand mage who had called Kang Yi-sin ‘Boss’ blocked Yoo Seon-je’s way.
“I’ll take care of the Boss, you get lost.”
A young voice that didn’t match the face in his 40s. At that voice, Yoo Seon-je raised the corner of his mouth.
“Who are you?”
“None of your business.”
Although he didn’t believe the claim of being a secret agent sent by the Awakener Association at face value, he didn’t know such a delicate voice was hidden behind that fierce face.
A soft voice as if puberty had just passed.
Just like how Kang Yi-sin had put on someone else’s face, that guy must be doing the same.
“Hiding your identity and coming in here. What for?”
Yoo Seon-je asked, taking a step forward.
“Did you really come to save me?”
At those words, the man began to glare at him with a terrifying face.
“I told you to get lost.”
At those words, the sand that had been settled around began to rise fiercely again. Yoo Seon-je quietly looked at ‘Agent John’s’ face. For a moment, he thought about fighting with that guy, but soon put that thought aside.
Whatever it is, Kang Yi-sin is not an enemy. If only Kang Yi-sin wakes up, he’ll be able to hear the answer to this story.
Yoo Seon-je stepped aside to let Kang Yi-sin’s subordinate pass. The guy who lifted Kang Yi-sin with sand left their side swiftly.
After Kang Yi-sin and his subordinate left, Yoo Seon-je handled the situation. In a situation where their leader, Team Leader Lee Hye-won, was revealed to be a traitor, what needed to be done was simple.
First, detain her and question why on earth she committed such an act.
It was also his role to pull together the supporter team, but Yoo Seon-je didn’t even glance at them.
Yoo Seon-je, who confined Lee Hye-won in the underground prison, just waited in front of it for Lee Hye-won to wake up.
He was going to find out why she betrayed him.
But when Team Leader Lee Hye-won opened her eyes, she was already not the person Yoo Seon-je knew. Team Leader Lee Hye-won, with her pupils dyed yellow, just rushed at Yoo Seon-je like a beast.
Looking at Lee Hye-won pouncing like a beast, Yoo Seon-je realized something was strange.
It’s the third day since confining her in prison.
Yoo Seon-je couldn’t find out anything from her. Why she suddenly betrayed him, whose instigation it was, and so on.
Fortunately, someone who could answer those questions was walking here.
“You look fine.”
At Kang Yi-sin’s words, Yoo Seon-je answered with narrowed eyes:
“Thanks to someone.”
Without realizing it, he ended up scanning Kang Yi-sin’s face first.
Since it was a guy who collapsed vomiting blood right in front of him, at least as human decency, it would be right to worry.
“Are you okay?”
“Oh, perfectly fine.”
Seeing him lightly rotate his arm while saying that, he certainly didn’t seem to have anything wrong with his body. But just three days ago, Kang Yi-sin was on the verge of death.
“Why did you save me?”
Yoo Seon-je asked looking at Kang Yi-sin’s face.
“I thought… you disliked me.”
“I do dislike you.”
It was an answer without any hesitation, to the point of making the person who asked feel awkward. As if that wasn’t enough, Kang Yi-sin continued speaking in an excited voice.
“To be honest, you as a person have absolutely nothing to like. Except for your overflowing talent, your personality is the worst. If it was just a bad personality, I wouldn’t say anything. Arrogant, unable to care for those around you. Look at this time too, how dogmatic you were.”
Yoo Seon-je frowned at the insults coming out one after another, as if wondering how he had endured until now.
“But not to the point of letting you die.”
At that answer, Yoo Seon-je’s eyes trembled. There wasn’t a hint of playfulness on Kang Yi-sin’s face as he said that.
Did he save him for such a reason?
“The you I knew wasn’t such a stupid person.”
“Haha, I didn’t expect you to say that. Honestly, you don’t know anything about me. To the great Yoo Seon-je, the shame of Babel wasn’t even worth remembering.”
He was at a loss for words at that. That’s right. Did he know enough about Kang Yi-sin to say this isn’t like you?
“That’s right, I know almost nothing about you.”
Until now, Yoo Seon-je had never been interested in anyone. Especially for Kang Yi-sin, who was called the shame of Babel and was so insignificant, he had even less interest.
But now for the first time, he became curious. Who on earth Kang Yi-sin is.
* * *
Is he treating me quite like a benefactor because I saved him anyway? I threw words at Yoo Seon-je, who was responding quite sincerely to my words unlike before.
“That’s not what’s important now. I mean Team Leader Lee Hye-won. We can’t leave her like that, can we?”
“I was trying to find out why she betrayed us. But she wouldn’t communicate.”
“Well, that’s because the Team Leader didn’t betray us of her own will. She was just brainwashed.”
“Brainwashed? By whom?”
“It’s obvious. Someone who wants to kill you.”
At those words, Yoo Seon-je’s eyes became fierce.
“Do you know who that person is?”
“No, not at all. All I know is that you might be in danger here.”
Ray interjected at my words.
—You do know.
‘What’s the use of knowing Seol Rok-jin is the culprit? We’ll only destroy ourselves by picking a fight we can’t win. Confronting Seol Rok-jin head-on should only be done when all preparations to defeat him are complete.’
If we give an opening, we’ll be stripped bare. Seol Rok-jin doesn’t abuse his ability for various reasons, but if he feels he’s in danger, he changes instantly. We shouldn’t recklessly provoke Seol Rok-jin.
So I plan to thoroughly pretend not to know.
“You came all the way here after hearing I might be in danger? Even though your life might be in danger?”
That’s right, but seeing that shameless face, I really don’t want to admit it.
Until the situation became like this, I could have glossed over it by saying I was just tracking the Top, but everything went awry when I threw my body to save Yoo Seon-je.
“Don’t misunderstand. I had no intention of dying to save you.”
I said flatly to Yoo Seon-je who was staring at me.
“It’s not like I threw my body because I was particularly worried about you.”
I felt like that guy might be having some unnecessary misunderstanding. I really don’t like that guy at all. The reason I saved Yoo Seon-je was solely because he would be helpful to this world.
—If that guy’s potential wasn’t S-rank?
‘What do I know, I would have let him die.’
Ahem, I cleared my throat and said:
“Anyway, don’t misunderstand. Next time something like this happens, I’ll just let you die.”
“How did you know I would be in danger? Because you’re a ‘secret agent’ as you say?”
“Well, something like that.”
“What happened to being chased as a murder suspect?”
“Hey, what’s important here isn’t what my situation is. I don’t matter. What’s important is what you’re going to do from now on.”
I deflected the barrage of questions.
I wanted to make him forget that I’m Kang Yi-sin too, but unlike Seol Rok-jin’s brainwashing, my lies had limits. In cases like this, there was a high possibility that lies wouldn’t work.
It’s impossible to try to hide my identity from a guy who has known me for several years already. Rather than making clumsy lies, it’s better to just hide the truth appropriately and let him misunderstand the overall picture.
“As I said earlier, the Team Leader is in a state of being brainwashed by someone. That’s why she’s not communicating.”
“Is there a way to break that brainwashing?”
“Hmm.”
I don’t know of any method.
If it were the me from before, I would have said without hesitation, ‘Let’s kill her’. Because that’s the only way to escape Seol Rok-jin’s brainwashing.
Seeing that she’s somehow alive in that state, it seems he set her as a ‘main’, and it’s difficult to break the brainwashing of a main under normal circumstances.
But well, once. It wouldn’t be bad to give a chance just once.
“I’ll take a look directly and judge.”