“Player-nim, Player-nim.”
“……”
“Player-nim, please wake up. Emergency, emergency.”
“……”
“Heo Wonyoung, wake up.”
Wonyoung woke from his deep sleep at the grating voice. His eyes were strangely dazzled, and he saw the glowing sphere floating around near his pillow.
Startled, Wonyoung first looked to his side. Fortunately or not, Heegang wasn’t there. Even so, Wonyoung lowered his voice just in case and asked.
“What if Baek Heegang sees you appearing like this?”
“More importantly, it’s an emergency!”
“What emergency?”
“Look at this.”
Wonyoung displayed the affection window in front of Heegang.
Kyung Taerim
644/999
Ki Siyeon
658/999
Wonyoung looked over the affection window, which was no different from when he’d last checked it, then froze at the end.
Baek Heegang
000/999
“Wh-what is this? Why is Baek Heegang’s affection……”
“That’s what I’m saying!”
“……?”
At the System’s reaction, Wonyoung felt heat surge through him for a moment.
“‘That’s what I’m saying’? Is that how you should be talking? As the System, you should know the cause! Where did another bug pop up? No, I know this is a beta test, but aren’t there too many bugs?”
“P-Player-nim. That’s……”
“It’s already a problem that Baek Heegang witnessed you, and before we can even solve that, another bug. Where is the game creator and what are they doing? What are you doing?”
“No, wait a minute!”
The System hurriedly interrupted Wonyoung’s continued barrage of harsh criticism.
Wonyoung waited with a dissatisfied expression, ready to hear the System’s excuses at least. But then.
“It’s not a bug, Player-nim……”
“……What? What nonsense is that now.”
As Wonyoung asked, sensing an ominous feeling, the System replied in a dejected tone.
“Baek Heegang’s affection toward Player-nim has completely disappeared……”
“What, did you say?”
“Baek Heegang no longer has any affection for Player-nim.”
What does that even.
Wonyoung’s mind went blank for a moment, then he quickly came to his senses. No matter how he looked at it, it didn’t make sense.
“You expect me to believe that? Just today during the day he made such a fuss and we even slept together.”
“But this isn’t a bug. I checked for certain. Baek Heegang’s heart has changed.”
At the System’s assertion, Wonyoung ran his hands through his hair. What kind of fucked-up situation was this? Suddenly, why. What did I do wrong.
“This is a phenomenon within normal gameplay, so it’s difficult for me to help……”
Leaving behind the System’s apologetic words, Wonyoung jumped up from his seat and searched the house. He opened the bathroom door, opened the front door too. He even unnecessarily lifted the blankets.
But Heegang was nowhere to be found.
Standing vacantly in the dark room, Wonyoung asked the System, who had been keeping its position until then.
“……Is this, route termination?”
“It doesn’t seem to have gone that far yet, but as Player-nim well knows, since the remaining two characters are on the verge of their endings, realistically speaking, an ending with Baek Heegang can be considered difficult……”
Wonyoung suddenly swallowed the words that had risen to his throat.
Those words asking if he could meet Baek Heegang again.
“I understand for now. You can go.”
“Player-nim…… In any case, I’ll look into it more carefully and try to find the cause. Cheer up…… *sniff*.”
The System drooped so much that its circular body appeared oval-shaped before disappearing. Wonyoung sat on the edge of the bed and greeted the morning alone in the empty room.
Maybe this was for the best. Wasn’t it the case that he wasn’t ready for an ending yet anyway? Since Baek Heegang, who had the most likely ending, had disappeared, maybe he’d bought a little more time……
‘Fuck, again.’
But then why did his chest feel so suffocating? Why…… did he feel so empty?
‘Baek Heegang no longer has any affection for Player-nim.’
Why did those words cut so deeply?
‘Where did it go wrong? What’s the reason?’
But even thinking about it all night, nothing came to mind. Then the only option was to confirm it directly with the person himself.
Wonyoung steeled his resolve and called Heegang.
Ring ring— Ring ring—
The phone rang a few times, then disconnected with an automated message saying the other party couldn’t answer. He mustered his courage and tried again, but the result was the same.
‘Was yesterday’s excuse wrong? Did I seem to have too many secrets? Or did he realize I was deceiving him?’
Even so, how could he just leave like this without a word? When he liked Narae so much.
Is this a game after all? In the end, is he just a character? Is he bragging that he’s data whose heart can disappear in an instant?
“……That bastard.”
Wonyoung muttered a curse, but it didn’t ease his mind. He couldn’t understand it at all, couldn’t accept it.
[This is an inappropriate statement for your character. Warning 1. If warnings accumulate above a certain number, a penalty will be imposed.]
Looking at the warning window diligently doing its job even in this situation, Wonyoung stared blankly at the word ‘character’ and recalled something.
Baek Heegang’s character traits.
Perhaps there was hope in that.
‘If I use Baek Heegang’s obsession with Narae……’
Wonyoung bit his lip. A moderate degree wouldn’t work. He’d have to take on a certain level of risk or higher. No, even if it was more than that…… it didn’t matter.
Right, this time was different from before. He had no intention of just moping around depressed because the other side disliked him. That wasn’t Heo Wonyoung’s way.
Using his brain, making strategies, creating plans. Wasn’t that his specialty?
‘I’ll make Baek Heegang come looking for me.’
Eventually, Wonyoung even drew out an operation diagram on paper and came up with one plan.
Then he searched for a contact on his phone and called a certain person. After a brief ringtone, the other party answered.
“Hello? Junseok-ssi? This is Narae.”
“Yes, I know! Sister-in-law, what brings you to call?”
“There’s something I’d like you to help me with.”
A moment later, Junseok’s voice was colored with confusion after hearing Wonyoung’s story.
“Um, that seems…… a bit dangerous. If hyung finds out, I’m dead.”
“I’ll take responsibility for that. I’m desperate too.”
“……”
“Please help me.”
‘Please help me.’
At Wonyoung’s desperate voice, Junseok let out a deep sigh. After dragging it out for a while, he finally gave his permission.
“Alright. I’ll do as you ask. However……”
Wonyoung also accepted the condition Junseok presented.
And a few days later.
As Wonyoung was returning home after his part-time job, a van smoothly stopped beside him.
And before Wonyoung could even prepare, numerous burly men poured out of the car, covered Wonyoung’s mouth, and dragged him into the vehicle.
“Mmph! Mmmph!”
Wonyoung struggled desperately, but the moment he took a breath, his vision became dizzy.
Wonyoung’s limp body disappeared into the car, and the car soon vanished from the street as well.
The quiet street was soon completely empty.
* * *
Wonyoung slowly opened his eyes. His vision was pitch black. He tried to move his hands, but both hands were bound behind him.
‘What about my feet?’
They wouldn’t move. As expected, both ankles were tied.
This was the second kidnapping. This time, a real kidnapping.
Then, a clap rang out. Wonyoung flinched and turned his head toward where the sound came from. His vision was still pitch black. It seemed to be covered by something.
“Now, now, Narae-ssi. XXX430-3XXXXXX. Is that your resident registration number?”
A rough voice recited Wonyoung’s resident registration number. Wonyoung unconsciously nodded.
“And you borrowed 100 million from our ‘Heaven Capital Loan,’ correct?”
The 100 million the man mentioned was the money he’d borrowed to repay Taehyeok’s debt. But that was definitely something Heegang had repaid. Wonyoung said, bewildered.
“What? I repaid the money.”
“When?”
“Well, it wasn’t me, but um, my friend instead……”
“Who’s your friend?”
“Uh……”
Wonyoung hesitated, then reluctantly opened his mouth.
“Baek Heegang…… He definitely said he repaid the debt. He even brought back the body forfeiture waiver.”
“So our cute customer believed that?”
“……”
Whose word was it that he wouldn’t believe? The guy who beats people with hammers and wrenches.
“You people are the ones who got quite roughed up by Heegang, as I understand.”
Smack. Before he could finish speaking, Wonyoung’s cheek turned to the left. At the tingling sensation on his cheek, Wonyoung frowned. He tasted blood, as if the inside of his mouth had split.
“This customer’s got a loose mouth, just babbling away?”
“……”
“Customer, you’re dead now. You wrote a body forfeiture waiver and didn’t repay the debt.”
“I clearly repaid it……”
“So, that’s, not, what, you, repaid.”
The man sneered, slapping Wonyoung’s cheek with each word. Wonyoung gritted his teeth.
“Oh my, looks like someone’s got enough pride to get upset? When you look like a kept man.”
“……”
“If we send someone like you to a brothel, you’d be popular. But you’re so pale and pretty, your organs might be pretty too. What should we do? Should we have you rolled by all kinds of bastards, or should we have your organs distributed one by one to all kinds of bastards?”
“That’s……”
Wonyoung stammered in confusion. Naturally, he didn’t want either. But more than he expected, the man before him was also scary. Since he couldn’t see, the fear was greater, and since his body wasn’t free, the anxiety was amplified.
‘Was this too extreme……’
Could he really end up having his organs dismantled and sold somewhere……?
‘Should I call the System? Am I heading for a death ending like this?’
“Look at this bastard scheming. What, hoping that friend of yours will come rescue you? That bastard won’t come. He just left for England.”
“……England?”
At those words, Wonyoung’s eyes widened.
He went to England? Baek Heegang? The fact that they knew this meant……
“We’re different from bastards like the Cheonghae Faction. If we got hit, we have to hit back.”
“So, you’re saying you’ve been surveilling Heegang or something?”
At Wonyoung’s guess, laughter came from the man.
“You look empty-headed but you catch on quick? After getting hit by that bastard, I thought about it. What would be the greatest revenge on that bastard who deserves to die? Stabbing him in the gut wouldn’t be satisfying enough.”
The thoughts of a gangster who was obviously more empty-headed than Narae, who only looked empty-headed, were obvious anyway.
“……You thought ruining me would be revenge.”
“That’s right!”
The man who cheerfully shouted suddenly grabbed Wonyoung’s hair.
“But where do you think you are, speaking informally?”
However, regardless of what the man snapped at him, Wonyoung let out a hollow smile and murmured.
“……So he ran away to England, that bastard.”
Baek Heegang, that bad bastard.
‘Because of you, I went so far as to get myself captured here.’
After Heegang left, Wonyoung bet everything on the hope that Heegang was definitely doing something, whether it was surveillance or wiretapping.
So he deliberately asked Siyeon’s subordinate to spread the fact that Heegang had left Narae to the loan company side. He’d already heard from Siyeon that the loan company was waiting for a chance to get revenge on Heegang and Wonyoung.
Until now it had been fine because Siyeon had protected them, but when he dug a trap with help from Siyeon’s subordinate, a reaction came immediately like this.
He thought that if Heegang found out about this, he would definitely come running, that he was a guy who absolutely couldn’t abandon Narae.
‘I was wrong.’
Maybe it was time to accept it now.
That Baek Heegang had truly left him.
“So, what should we do with you? Choose. Whatever you pick, we’ll make it so your friend will want to die when he comes back and sees it.”
At the man’s words, Wonyoung let out a bitter laugh.
“He won’t come back. Heo Wonyoung can’t replace Narae.”
“What?”
Since the world called Narae had collapsed, Heegang would never appear before him again.
Wonyoung decided to accept and resign himself to everything now. If it wasn’t happening even after going this far, then it really wasn’t meant to be. It seemed like he wouldn’t have any lingering attachments left.
But why?
[Due to excessively inappropriate remarks, a penalty will be given.]
[Penalty Level 3 ‘Forced Correction’ will be activated.]
‘Ah, right. It’s because of the penalty.’
Before he knew it, Wonyoung was crying.
