Chapter 66
“You thought I wouldn’t come.”
“I thought with how you are now, Chanhee, it was possible you wouldn’t come.”
“That was a useless worry.”
“No, it wasn’t. You probably kept worrying about it even while coming up here, right? Should I stop here? Should I run away? Should I ask Dad to hide me?”
Unfortunately, the last statement wasn’t true. But since there were parts that were accurate, I couldn’t deny it outright, so I answered with silence instead.
“So, what were you going to do if I hadn’t come?”
“You know better than anyone.”
Han Jaemin raised the corners of his mouth in a broad smile. Even though his face was clean-cut and handsome, somehow it gave me a disgusting feeling.
“I was going to set fire to your house.”
“Fuck off.”
“Oh my. You don’t believe me.”
“How the hell would you set fire to our house?”
Honestly, it was a rebuttal with good reason. No matter how much Han Jaemin was the leader of an anti-government force backed by a major corporation, my father’s house wasn’t a place that could easily become a target for arson.
“You think so? Well, I guess we’ll find out if I try.”
“What?”
“Of course, since you came, we’ll skip it for now.”
The words “for now” bothered me, but I tried to enter Han Jaemin’s room without continuing the conversation any further. That’s when Han Jaemin grabbed my shoulder as I was walking.
“You don’t need to go in.”
“What are you talking about?”
“We’re going back down.”
“What?”
“You weren’t seriously thinking something as absurd as generating a gate in there, were you?”
He was right. If a gate were detected on the top floor of Hansung Group, not only the Combat Division but the entire nation would probably go on emergency alert.
“Then why did you make me come all the way up here? You could have just waited downstairs.”
“Just because. I wanted to train Chanhee like a mutt.”
“Son of a bitch.”
I cursed and got back on the elevator. When Han Jaemin gave a look, the secretary pressed the elevator close button. Throughout the descent, only silence circulated inside the elevator. When we arrived at the lowest level of the underground parking lot, the musty smell unique to basements flowed into my nose. In the spacious underground parking lot, only a single car was parked. I silently walked toward the car and climbed into the back seat.
“Nice car, right? Better than the one I gave you a ride in last time. I just got it.”
“I didn’t ask.”
“Just listen.”
He won’t lose a single word. I deliberately looked out the window, making an effort to ignore Han Jaemin.
“Oh, right. About the spy.”
I flinched without realizing it. I hadn’t expected the spy topic to come up now, so my face naturally turned toward Han Jaemin.
“You really did plant a spy. Right?”
“Then was I lying?”
“Who is it?”
“Take a guess.”
“What?”
“You say it first. Then I’ll answer with ‘yes or no.'”
“Are you in the mood to play games?”
“I’ve been in that mood this whole time, haven’t I?”
I was reluctant to reveal the names of my classmates to Han Jaemin with my own mouth. They might get unnecessarily involved, and Han Jaemin was absolutely the type who would track those guys down. When I didn’t say anything, Han Jaemin smiled smugly and crossed his arms.
“Why? Don’t want to say it?”
He was asking even though he knew. I bit my upper lip and slowly opened my mouth.
“Go… Hankyul?”
Han Jaemin smiled. It was an even more disgusting smile than before.
“Hm?”
I didn’t want to tolerate Han Jaemin deliberately dragging it out, but I patiently waited for what came next.
“Who’s that?”
“What?”
“I’m asking who that is.”
“Isn’t it Go Hankyul?”
“Who is this Hankyul~ that Chanhee would suspect them like this?”
I got caught. That’s what I thought. I shouldn’t have mentioned the name of someone around me until the very end—regret washed over me belatedly. Han Jaemin kept rolling Go Hankyul’s name around in his mouth.
“Hankyul~”
“If it’s not him, then forget it. Stop it.”
“I wonder who this Hankyul is?”
“I said stop it.”
“I didn’t know Chanhee had someone he was interested in besides Hyunjae.”
“I’m not interested in him.”
“Don’t lie, Chanhee. Your face shows your feelings more than you think.”
“I told you to be quiet.”
“Everything shows on your face so much that honestly, sometimes even I feel sorry about it.”
It was ridiculous. Sorry? Could the concept of being sorry ever be synonymous with Han Jaemin?
“I really feel so damn sorry for playing around with such a tiny little kid.”
Han Jaemin stroked my head. I shook off Han Jaemin’s hand with all my strength. The shoulders of the secretary sitting in the front seat flinched. Han Jaemin looked at his hand that got hit while laughing.
“Really just a baby, our Chanhee.”
“If you’re going to talk nonsense, let’s just go quietly.”
“Well, I’ll have to reconsider playing around with you after today though.”
“……”
“Chanhee, you don’t know this, but.”
Han Jaemin suddenly lowered his voice as if whispering.
“Actually, there were about 50 people before you. Or was it? About 60?”
“……What?”
“But now they’re gone.”
I blinked my eyes.
“They all died. They burst open and died. It was so disgusting. Difficult to clean up too. If only they’d just collapsed and died somewhere.”
I continued to blink and stare at Han Jaemin. Surprise appeared in Han Jaemin’s eyes for the first time.
“You’re not scared. I’m saying that could happen to you.”
“It won’t happen to me.”
“You’re pretty confident.”
“I don’t care if I die.”
After all, I’ll just go back to that time like a game reset anyway. I was surprised that I was thinking of my own life like a game without even realizing it. The fact that I’d become that accustomed to it.
“Chanhee, do you by any chance have multiple lives?”
“Don’t talk nonsense.”
Han Jaemin stared at me intently. I looked out the window again and calmed myself. I could feel his continuous gaze, but Han Jaemin didn’t speak to me any further. The car drove for about 10 minutes and arrived at some deserted empty lot. It was clearly an abandoned site where no one’s footsteps had reached. I opened the car door and slowly got out. The dry grass made crunching sounds as I stepped on it. An artificial gate would be formed here. I would summon the existence called Yu Dohyun through that gate. I might get captured and dragged away by him. However, the situation was already flowing far too differently from the original novel. First of all, this wasn’t the city center, and Yu Hyunjae wasn’t here.
“Take this.”
Han Jaemin pressed something like a bead into my hand. I knew of this thing’s existence.
<The advanced skill ‘Application of Necromancy’ has been completed! You can now freely use this skill. Failure probability: 0.01%>
If I died with that 0.01 percent chance, it would really mean it was my fate. I took the bead and put it in my mouth.
“They said you can bite it. It’s made of a dissolvable material.”
I just swallowed the bead. Just as written in the book, I didn’t particularly taste anything or feel any strange texture. I just didn’t feel anything at all.
‘That rare bead created through complex methods exerts an effect like a magnet with the gate. They are influenced by each other’s power and try to be together. Until the bead completely dissolves inside your body, you cannot escape from the gate’s territory. If you try to forcibly escape from the gate’s grasp, you’ll probably suffer a disaster worse than death. However, as long as you’re within the gate’s range, the gate will obey your words. Because that bead is like the gate’s own child that it created. And you are now the bead itself.’
Recalling the content written in the book, I swallowed again. The bead wasn’t something just anyone could make. Perhaps it was a result that Han Jaemin created through some evil means, sacrificing numerous people. I tried hard not to think about such things.
“It’ll appear when it strikes 12 o’clock.”
Way over there? Han Jaemin pointed with his finger in the opposite direction from where we were standing. I turned on my phone to check the time. 11:59. It was too late to prepare anything. Right on cue with perfect timing, a message notification rang.
[Yu Hyunjae: Chanhee]
[Yu Hyunjae: Where are you?]
I checked the message that appeared in the preview and briefly considered whether to reply. My heart weakened in an instant. I just wanted to hold Yu Hyunjae’s hand and run away somewhere. Even though I’d directly experienced what the result of running away was, I stupidly had such thoughts. The moment the numbers on the top bar changed to 12:00, a small sound of wind began to be heard. Ah, this sound. It’s the exact same sound that came from the artificial gate back then.
“Wow, Chanhee.”
Han Jaemin frowned at the increasingly strong wind and called out to me.
“The gate looks good. You must have good compatibility with it?”
I didn’t answer and stared at the black hole-like opening that was gradually growing larger. From there, now, breaking the laws of the world, breaking the natural order, a deceased person who had disappeared from this world long ago would reveal themselves. Standing against the fierce wind, I gazed beyond the black space-time where nothing could be seen. Waiting for Yu Dohyun.
Chapter 67
After a few minutes, the Gate stopped expanding. Just as I was about to focus on my Mana, a system window suddenly appeared before my eyes.
<Would you like to use the Advanced Technique ‘Necromancy’?
Failure rate: 0.01%, Risk of failure: Death>
There was no reason the system wouldn’t log skill usage when it even recorded Mana training percentages. I gave a small nod.
<The Advanced Technique ‘Necromancy’ is now beginning! You are the first to use this technique, and upon success, you will become its sole master.>
Its sole master? Did that mean no one in this world had mastered Necromancy? Honestly, I didn’t believe it. The world was vast—surely someone had mastered it, even if it was a forbidden technique, forgotten by all.
The wind began to pick up. Strangely, it was as if two industrial fans had been set up facing each other, the wind colliding and scattering from a single point. Withered grass and dead leaves swirled aimlessly, unable to find direction. Han Jaemin and I stood our ground, watching the Gate.
“Chanhee, why is your Hyung taking so long?”
Han Jaemin teased me. I didn’t answer—I was too focused on my Mana. Even if I hadn’t been, it wasn’t a question worth answering. Instinctively, I knew the skill would succeed. Han Jaemin must have sensed it too; he wore a relaxed smile.
“You go over there.”
Han Jaemin obediently stepped back. At some point, the Gate’s absorption of Mana began to slow. It seemed to recognize me fully as the “bead.” Now, it was the Gate’s turn to exert its power. I kept my body tense, my eyes fixed on the Gate.
A faint light began to seep out, growing brighter. Light? I recalled the book’s description as I stared at it. Within the light, a silhouette emerged like a dot. I didn’t need to be told who it was—I could feel it. The silhouette grew closer, taking human form. Sweat trickled down my body, but I didn’t dare wipe it away, my gaze locked on the figure.
Finally. Finally.
I was meeting Yu Dohyun. I tried to remember his original face—the one in the family photo frames at home, in my father’s office, the one that appeared instantly if you typed his name into a search engine.
“What the hell.”
But I couldn’t remember. Why? It was as if his face in the family photos had been blurred, as if someone had smudged the part of the picture where he stood. Now that I thought about it, I had collapsed after seeing his photo in my father’s office.
Even if I couldn’t remember, Han Jaemin would recognize him. My curiosity about why I couldn’t recall Dohyun’s face was overshadowed by the urgency of the situation. The silhouette, now fully formed, slowly stepped out of the Gate.
Yu Dohyun’s face was revealed. The moment I saw him, my body began to tremble as if my breath had been stolen.
“This can’t be…”
The impossible was unfolding before my eyes. I took a step back, and Han Jaemin pushed me forward.
“Aren’t you going to ask him something?”
“No, no…”
“What are you talking about? You summoned him. What’s the problem now?”
“It’s a failure. That’s not… That’s not Yu Dohyun.”
Han Jaemin looked at me incredulously.
“Did you lose your mind using that skill?”
“No, I’m serious. That’s not—”
“It is Yu Dohyun!”
Han Jaemin snapped. I clutched my overloaded head and finally collapsed to the ground. Squatting, I was still urged on by Han Jaemin.
“Ask your question!”
“Is that really Yu Dohyun?”
“Yes! Don’t you recognize your own Hyung’s face?”
“That’s impossible…”
“Everyone in the world knows that face. Why don’t you?”
His words struck me like a final blow. I hung my head. That thing wasn’t Yu Dohyun. That face—
“Chanhee!”
A familiar voice cut through the wind. It was faint, but unmistakably Yu Hyunjae’s.
“How did you know…?”
“Chanhee!”
Hyunjae kept calling my name as he ran toward me. The wind tousled his usually neat hair. I couldn’t even bring myself to say his name, just staring as he reached me.
“Chanhee, are you okay?”
When I didn’t answer, Hyunjae must have sensed something was wrong. He slowly wrapped an arm around my shoulder and helped me up. Leaning against him, I barely managed to stand.
“Hyunjae.”
I finally whispered. He somehow heard me and responded with a quiet yeah.
“Look at that.”
Hyunjae only now noticed where I was pointing. I felt his body tense.
“Hyung Dohyun…”
Even hearing Hyunjae say his name, I could no longer deny it. “Yu Dohyun” stared straight at me, his gaze never wavering from mine. Necromancy doesn’t resurrect the dead—it mixes their lingering will and their past form into a crude imitation. I recalled the book’s words and finally met his eyes.
My gaze and “Yu Dohyun’s” collided in the air. The wind grew fiercer. He looked at me with hollow eyes, as if piercing through everything I was, deeply and for a long time. I should have asked my prepared questions, but my lips wouldn’t move.
“Yu Chanhee!”
Han Jaemin shouted. He seemed to have reached his limit.
“Snap out of it! Ask him properly!”
I slowly pulled away from Hyunjae’s embrace and faced him. Hyunjae looked at me worriedly.
“You don’t have to, Chanhee.”
He must have sensed the danger in what I was about to say.
“Don’t do it. Chanhee.”
I gripped Hyunjae’s hand tightly, then let go. He tried to take my hand again, but I stepped aside.
“Chanhee, please…”
“Hyung.”
I called out to Dohyun, forcing myself not to waver. He answered surprisingly gently.
“Yes, Chanhee. You’ve grown so much.”
Goosebumps covered my body. It was a terrible feeling. Ignoring it, I continued.
“Who… killed you?”
Han Jaemin scoffed in disbelief. It wasn’t the question he wanted. Hyunjae grabbed my shoulder again.
“Chanhee, Chanhee. Why ask that? Look at me, Chanhee.”
“Tell me straight. Who killed you?”
Yu Dohyun’s hand rose through the air, pointing directly at me.
“You did.”
He answered as calmly as if we were having an ordinary conversation.
“You already know. Why ask?”
At this point, frustration welled up inside me. Even though I knew that Yu Chanhee wasn’t me, I hated being confirmed as the culprit in front of Hyunjae. Maybe it was just petty resentment.
“Then why didn’t you just run away!”
“And leave two kids behind?”
“Yes! If you wanted to live, you should have just run! Why did you have to die because of me!”
Yu Dohyun didn’t answer, just stared at me again. Then, mechanically, he replied.
“I didn’t want to.”
“What?”
“I hated your happiness.”
I was speechless. Dohyun continued naturally.
“If I couldn’t have happiness, neither could you, Chanhee.”
“What…?”
“You’re my little Hyung.”
“Does that even make sense?!”
Hyunjae shouted in my place. Dohyun’s face turned away from me for the first time, toward someone else.
“Hyunjae.”
“Just because Hyung was unhappy, why does Chanhee have to be unhappy too?!”
“I hate it too.”
Dohyun answered Hyunjae’s question childishly.
“I hate the two of you being happy together.”
I barely stopped Hyunjae from raising his voice further.
“We hated your love.”
“Me and Hyunjae?”
When I asked, Dohyun nodded obediently. I paused for a moment before asking again.
“Me and Hyunjae…”
“…”
“How did you know we’d love each other?”
Dohyun fell silent. But the lingering will bound to the Gate could only speak the truth.
“How wouldn’t I know? I saw it all.”
“What do you mean?”
“I saw it all. How wouldn’t I know?”
How could you know? That Hyunjae and I would love each other—something not even in the original novel, something that wouldn’t happen for years after your death, even if this world followed a set story. I wanted to scream it all, but Han Jaemin’s shout snapped me back to reality.
“The Gate’s closing, you crazy bastard!”
Just as he said, the Gate was slowly shutting. Dohyun, who had been visible up to his knees, was now only visible up to his thighs.
“Absorb it!”
I hesitated. The unease and revulsion from our conversation still lingered.
“Speak! Yu Chanhee! You know what happens if you don’t!”
I jerked my eyes open. It was true. If I didn’t fulfill my deal with Han Jaemin, he would stop at nothing to destroy me and everyone around me.
“Hyung.”
“Yes, Chanhee.”
“Come here.”
