VSP 150

“Uh, Mom.”

On the way home, Sejun’s mother called him. He flinched when he saw the name ‘Mom’ on the car’s Bluetooth screen, but he answered naturally. She sounded worried. She started by asking if he’d eaten and then asked about the news from yesterday.

“Don’t worry about me too much. The lower-rank hunters are the ones who should worry. I’m fine.”

-But you’re an S-rank hunter. They’ll drag you everywhere. I’m so scared every time I see the news.

“There’s nothing to be scared of.”

Sejun chuckled. It was futile to worry. Even if everyone else died, Sejun would survive.

-There’s a lot of talk about terraforming and all that, and when the siren sounds, you have to run to the shelter without hesitation. There’s a lot of hoarding going on in every supermarket right now. It’s like a war has broken out…

Terraforming.

It seemed the Association had reached a conclusion close to the truth.

He hadn’t been in control of his body yesterday when the announcement was made, so he hadn’t known about the news.

“…”

Sejun’s face looked listless for a moment. He felt the specific stiffness and heavy feeling that followed sex.

He knew they’d done it, but he didn’t remember the details. It wasn’t his experience. However, he could tell it was an affectionate act.

It was funny to think that Cha Dogyeong could be such an affectionate man, but it also made him sigh.

Could we have been like this?

Sejun shook his head. It wasn’t the time for sentimentality. This world will soon turn into a dungeon. Monsters would invade even without a gate, and the world would become a mess. Asura, the Final Dungeon’s boss, would be at the end of it.

“It’ll be okay. Don’t worry too much.”

Sejun comforted his mother. It wasn’t an empty promise. Terraforming would probably stop if he killed Asura. The world would see a happy ending again. If he succeeded, that is.

His mother sighed and hesitated before she spoke.

-Sejun.

“Yeah.”

-Don’t push yourself. Others might call you selfish, but Sejun, your life is more important to me than anyone else’s.

Sejun fell silent. He could feel her desperate wish for his safety.

“…Yeah, I know.”

-Eat well. Okay?

“I will.”

The call ended. The light turned red, so Sejun looked around. He’d left the residential area near Dogyeong’s house and entered a crowded district, but the streets were still empty. He saw people at a distant supermarket. They piled goods into their carts. A fight had broken out in one corner.

It was the desperate movement of people who realized a disaster was coming. Sejun sighed because the sight wasn’t pleasant.

“Why’s my heart pounding like this?”

]What? Do you have an arrhythmia?]

Ruya had stayed quiet during the call, but he spoke up immediately. Sejun shook his head.

“Arrhythmia? I don’t get sick. You know that.”

[It’s just not like you to have a physical reaction like that.]

That’s true. Sejun agreed. It wasn’t like him. The author wanted to create Sejun as a perfect character, and Sejun had benefited from that. His body didn’t feel pain, and it was too strong to suffer injuries.

But what was the point? The author hadn’t given him what really mattered. Besides, Sejun knew why his heart was pounding. This was likely the original owner’s emotion. It was a reaction to Sejun’s choice to reveal his secret.

[Why’d you show him that? I think it would’ve been better to keep those secrets.]

Sejun scoffed.

“You don’t know Cha Dogyeong?”

[I know him. He seems a bit different in this world.]

“His obsession with me is the same. It’s even worse here because we are so close.”

[That’s… true.]

“That’s why I showed him. If I didn’t push him away, he would’ve hovered around me to stop me from leaving.”

He felt sorry for this world’s Sejun, but he had his own goals here. He couldn’t help it.

“If we break up over this, then our relationship was only worth that much. Right?”

[You’re cold.]

Sejun didn’t care that Ruya clicked his tongue. He wasn’t lying. If they broke up now, the relationship wasn’t strong to begin with.

“I still feel a bit sorry.”

He could’ve hidden the truth forever if he wanted. He remembered Cha Dogyeong’s expression. He hadn’t said a word while Sejun revealed his mission and the world’s secrets.

‘So, when I said I’m the original, I meant it. You’re the protagonist here, and I’m the protagonist there. Do you understand?’

Sejun had tried to get a reaction, but there was none. It was a boring audience. He had lost interest quickly. That indescribable face looked closer to expressionless than angry. It was impossible to know what he was thinking. But Cha Dogyeong couldn’t be fine on the inside.

“I feel a bit sorry… so maybe I should help him.”

[How?]

“How else? There’s only one thing I can do.”

Fighting, breaking things, and destroying. That was what Sejun did best.

“Dungeons will overflow soon.”

He would have plenty of chances for that from now on.

[I guess. Asura is their control tower.]

Asura. He was the Final Dungeon’s boss and the dungeons’ control tower. He was a symbolic boss. Dungeons increased and their difficulty rose just because he was about to awaken. He was so iconic that he appeared in both stories.

The light turned red again, so Sejun held the steering wheel and looked at his reflection in the window. His face looked cold, unlike this world’s Sejun. They had the same body, but a small change in the soul made him look so different. It was amazing.

That was why Cha Dogyeong recognized him immediately. He felt a pang of guilt for ruining the relationship. But he didn’t regret it.

‘You were going to reveal it someday anyway, right?’ Sejun made an excuse to his reflection.

“…Anyway.”

Sejun sighed. It was a habit now. It was a heavy sigh of an exhausted man, but he didn’t realize it.

“You’ll be able to run wild, Ruya.”

[I love that.]

He felt his summon’s joy. Ruya was as bellicose as Sejun. The latter smirked. He could feel Asura. He felt the dungeon’s energy as it began to boil. He felt like the asphalt outside the window was sizzling.

The final battle would start soon. He hoped he could reach his ending when that time came.

The world felt gloomy after that day, as if it were a global mourning period. Everyone was restless because they knew the disaster was coming. The atmosphere among hunters was especially tense.

Rumors spread that something stronger than the previous Final Dungeon was coming. Ghost stories claimed lower-rank hunters would be used as meat shields. Many hunters posted on communities that they would retire. Other people called them cowards. Everyone wasted their energy on daily conflicts.

Sejun didn’t care. He just watched the fights for fun. The rumor about a stronger boss was actually true. He thought the person who spread it had a bit of a divine gift.

He didn’t just enjoy the chaos, though. Sejun began his activities in earnest after that day. Dungeon difficulty rose, and the number of A-rank dungeons spiked. Everyone was busy.

Sejun took the dungeon raid rights while the officials were distracted. It wasn’t hard since he’d done it before. He ignored the rule that required at least two hunters. He began to clear dungeons alone.

Rumors spread quickly. They said Sejun was clearing A-rank dungeons by himself. They said he had a new summon and cleared them incredibly fast.

They said he was just like Cha Dogyeong.