# Chapter 10
But Wonyoung’s face turned pale when he heard a familiar voice as he was about to apologize.
“Kyung Taerim-ssi?”
“Yes, the Kyung Taerim you’ve been looking for.”
“I’ve never looked for Kyung Taerim-ssi.”
“Oh, you were just looking for my contact information?”
Wonyoung held his head. If this guy had been listening to the entire conversation, there was no point in making excuses anyway. Still, Wonyoung said what he had to say, justifying it with a near-fatalistic rationalization that he’d already shown his underwear, so what did it matter.
“I’m not ‘you,’ I’m Heo, Narae. Since it’s come to this, and you’ve heard everything, just give me your contact information.”
“Heo, Narae-ssi. Why should I do that?”
“It’s not Heo Narae. Don’t make fun of my name. Just give me your contact information. I promise I won’t contact you.”
Since Wonyoung’s determination not to pursue Kyung Taerim was growing stronger by the minute, it wasn’t a lie. But Taerim wasn’t so easily swayed.
“Oh, is that so? Then why do you want to know if you’re not going to contact me?”
“That’s…”
Wonyoung was momentarily speechless. He couldn’t explain the mission to this man, could he? Chewing on his lips, Wonyoung looked at the river visible through the window and collected himself. To return to his precious Han River-view officetel, he had to endure whatever it took.
Finally, Wonyoung declared with a resolute voice:
“If you don’t tell me, I won’t leave this place.”
“What?”
“This officetel. It’s your home, right? Why don’t you experience coming home from work to find the person you treated like a spy waiting for you?”
Imagining Kyung Taerim’s scowling face, Wonyoung felt somewhat satisfied.
“Just so you know, please remember that it was you who brought me to this place.”
“Well, I don’t think it would be difficult to report you. And when I do, I might also find out who hired you, Narae-ssi.”
“You wouldn’t want to do that, right? If you were going to report me, you would have done so alrea—”
[Your statement is inappropriate for your character. Warning 1. Penalties will be given if warnings accumulate beyond a certain number.]
Startled by the game’s warning message, Wonyoung ground his teeth and changed his words.
“…But you brought me to your home instead of reporting me when I collapsed.”
“Because I didn’t have a recorder in my pocket. Well, there might have been one elsewhere. Maybe I should have stripped you completely?”
“What did you say?”
“No need to get so worked up. I told you that Narae-ssi isn’t my type.”
“…I’m not into your type either.”
“For someone who says that, you did mutter about how handsome I was the moment you saw me.”
The insufferable guy had sharp ears and a good memory too. All because of those damned choices! Wonyoung pounded the pillow next to him. Again, he heard Taerim’s laughter.
“But as I said, if you really want it that badly, I could accommodate you once. After all, I did suspect you wrongly.”
“I don’t want it! I don’t want it!”
“Your strong denial is making me even more curious. Is this also part of your strategy?”
“What strategy…”
How can someone be so persistent? For someone who was a chaebol, he was extraordinarily petty. As Wonyoung was complaining inwardly, Taerim spoke:
“Anyway, if you don’t really want to sleep with me, you’d better leave before I get back. I tend to be a bit rough in bed.”
“What?”
“Well, I’ll hang up now.”
“W-w-w-wait…!”
Wonyoung’s face turned bright red as he jumped up, but the call had already ended. No way, no way, no way.
In Wonyoung’s mind, the term ’19+’ was ominously circling around.
“No, no way!”
Wonyoung rushed to look at Narae’s face in the mirror. A round, innocent face that looked barely twenty years old. There was no way such things would happen to a person like this. If Kyung Taerim did such a thing, he wouldn’t be human. He’d be a beast, a beast.
‘I tend to be a bit rough in bed.’
“Nooooooo!”
Wonyoung screamed and ran to the entrance, shaking the door. He was about to lose his chastity! And to a rough beast at that!
As Wonyoung was struggling wildly, for some reason, the door suddenly flung open. Having been pushing against it, Wonyoung rolled out into the corridor, blinking in surprise. Then, a mission completion notice appeared before his eyes.
[※Mission Complete! Reward has been given.※]
“How…”
Momentarily dumbfounded, Wonyoung, wanting to escape this 19+ danger zone, boarded the elevator without looking back. Inside, he checked his phone and his eyes widened.
‘010-XXXX-XXXX’
A message containing only a phone number had arrived.
‘Could it be Kyung Taerim…?’
Given that the mission was completed, this number was certainly Taerim’s. But Wonyoung didn’t feel grateful. If he was going to give it anyway, he should have done so willingly, not after teasing him so much.
Still, Wonyoung saved the number just in case. Then, something occurred to him, and he spoke:
“Status Window.”
The semi-transparent window appeared, and one part that had previously shown ‘???’ was now filled in.
Kyung Taerim
015/999
For some reason, the affection level was already at 15, but Wonyoung inwardly shook his head.
There was no way he could fill an affection level of 999 for such a guy. With his bad personality and suspicious nature, Kyung Taerim was out of Wonyoung’s plan for safely escaping the game.
‘Huh?’
As he was about to close the status window, Wonyoung discovered a new tab beside it and tilted his head. Come to think of it, there were a few more tabs next to it, but they were still locked and couldn’t be pressed, showing only a lock icon.
‘Does this mean this game has so many more tools to torment me?’
To avoid being easily played by this game, it seemed like he needed to quickly return and research BL games.
Anyway, he would never see this officetel or Kyung Taerim again.
With that thought, he left the building.
* * *
Wonyoung walked slowly toward home, clutching his growling stomach.
After sleeping for a long time and being taken far away by that wretched Kyung Taerim, by the time he reached his neighborhood after multiple bus transfers, it was already getting dark.
Realizing he had been fasting all day, Wonyoung stopped at a convenience store to buy a triangle kimbap and once again felt depressed about his miserable situation.
Moreover, upon examining Narae’s phone on the way, he found that there wasn’t a single family contact—neither parents, siblings, nor even distant relatives. Although it might be because he was a game character, it meant that he had no one to rely on.
‘Even in someone else’s body, having no family remains the same. What a cruel fate.’
On top of that, now there was poverty. Wonyoung trudged down the alley, thinking about summoning the system and kicking it out of spite.
The alley where Wonyoung’s semi-basement house was located had few or mostly broken streetlights. It was a perfect environment for encountering violent crimes. If it were the usual Wonyoung, a 3rd-degree Kendo practitioner, there would be no worry, but knowing Narae’s fragility, which was like soaked seaweed, made him a bit tense.
‘Plus, this guy has a pretty face, so…’
Wonyoung, who had been seriously continuing his train of thought, suddenly found himself amused at his own genuine worry. Was he now even afraid of dark alleys?
‘That can’t be. It’s not like me at all…’
“Ahhh!”
But no sooner had he tried to put on a brave face inwardly than Wonyoung screamed, startled out of his wits. It was because a person’s legs were sticking out from a narrow alley that branched off to the side.
With his pounding heart in his grip, he examined the pale form in the darkness again. Narrowing his eyes, he could vaguely make out black leather shoes and trouser legs. It was indeed a person.
‘Report. I should report this. No, should I check if they’re alive first?’
Even in the midst of this, Wonyoung approached the fallen person cautiously, still firmly holding the convenience store bag containing his daily provisions. But it was completely unlit in that direction, making it impossible to see the person’s face or condition.
“Excuse me, are you okay?”
“…”
There was no response. Wonyoung was about to search his pockets to use his phone’s light, when he suddenly noticed a viscous liquid that had flowed to his feet and froze on the spot.
‘Blood…’
Just as Wonyoung identified the substance, a notification window appeared.
[※Mission Alert※]
Goal: Help the injured person.
Reward: Unlock the second character’s affection level
‘…Second character?’
Could this man be a character to pursue? Or perhaps someone he would meet when taking this man to the hospital… He might meet a character to pursue in the process of helping this man.
‘If, if that’s the case…’
As Wonyoung carefully bent his knees, he suddenly froze at the sight of something at his feet. It was a knife stained with blood.
Let’s just go home.
Forget reporting, he needed to go home. They say words can become reality, but he didn’t expect to actually encounter a violent crime without even having time for such words to take root!
Wonyoung lifted his feet carefully to avoid getting blood on his shoes and stepped backward. Even if this was a game, it had extremely realistic aspects. And Wonyoung’s thoughts had already advanced to “himself being dragged by the police as the owner of the footprints at the corpse site.”
He wondered if he should erase any footprints that might have been left, but his desire to leave the scene was greater. He could report it after getting away from here. He couldn’t use his own phone since it was registered under his name… A payphone. Are there even payphones these days? Would there be one nearby?
As he walked briskly, thinking of dozens of things in an instant, Wonyoung belatedly felt something was amiss.
