Yee Eun-chae's Fury
"Seeing you cling to him so persistently makes me angry too. But… this could also be your chance for revenge, Eun-chae."
At my words, Yee Eun-chae widened her eyes slightly and looked at me.
"I suppose it could. Yes! But I haven't forgotten that what I wanted from the beginning was to make sure Seo Moon-hyun could no longer insult my friends!"
For Yee Eun-chae, her desire not to lose to Seo Moon-hyun again stemmed from wanting to punish him with her own hands for insulting her friends. It wasn't simply about avenging a defeat in a duel.
"Right, I know that well. If it's you, Eun-chae, that's exactly how you'd feel."
I placed my hand on Yee Eun-chae's shoulder. Seeing her fair face and perfectly balanced features up close, I felt an urge to kiss her right then as she spoke those determined words with her lively lips.
"You're heading out right now, aren't you?"
"That's the plan."
As Yee Eun-chae was about to grab her sword and prepare to leave, I rested my hand on her waist and pulled her close against me.
"Eek! W-what are you doing, Moon-jin?"
Yee Eun-chae stared at me with a flushed face, clearly flustered. She should be getting used to this by now, yet she still grew shy so easily. I smiled at her.
"Let's show Seo Moon-hyun what kind of relationship we have. That we're this close, and that he never shared anything like this with you."
"Ah."
Yee Eun-chae let out a soft exclamation and nodded.
"Yes, that sounds good."
Agreeing with my suggestion, she kept my hand on her waist as we walked together toward the main gate. Though most of the Yee family members' attention was focused outside, Yee Eun-chae and I were still the most important figures within the household, drawing concentrated stares.
"Looks like they're heading for the gate."
"That guy causing a scene out there… now that I think about it…"
"Seo Moon-hyun. He already looked strange in the photos, but seeing him in person, the resemblance is even more striking."
As expected, murmurs about my appearance and Seo Moon-hyun's spread through the Yee family. His uncanny resemblance to me seemed to cause confusion among them.
Ignoring the whispers, Yee Eun-chae and I stepped through the open gate and outside.
"Kuh!"
There stood Seo Moon-hyun, facing the furious auras of Yee Woo-jin and the other elders of the Yee family. Lost in his own delusions and self-justifications, Seo Moon-hyun truly believed he was a righteous hero fighting against injustice. The moment he saw me, his expression twisted with rage.
"Seo Moon-jin!"
His eyes, filled with hatred as if I were his mortal enemy, locked onto my hand resting on Yee Eun-chae's waist.
"Take your filthy hand off Eun-chae right now!"
The one who responded coldly to Seo Moon-hyun's furious demand wasn't me.
"Seo Moon-hyun! Who do you think you are to speak to Moon-jin like that?"
Yee Eun-chae's enraged outburst seemed unfamiliar to the Yee family members, and several of them flinched in surprise.
"E-Eun-chae? Why? What did that guy say to make you betray your friend and side with him?"
Seo Moon-hyun's face was a mix of betrayal and despair. To an outsider, he might have looked like a tragic victim betrayed by a close friend, and he genuinely saw himself that way.
"Eun-chae. Let me ask you. Is that guy really your friend?"
As the head of the Yee family, Yee Woo-jin questioned his daughter both as a father and as the patriarch. He was asking to confirm the truth, especially since the speaker was the famous heir of the Seo family. Yet the cold look on Yee Woo-jin's face made it clear he already anticipated her answer. Knowing his daughter well, he couldn't believe a single word Seo Moon-hyun said.
And Yee Eun-chae gave exactly the response he expected.
"I've never once been friends with Seo Moon-hyun. He's just a delusional stalker who keeps insulting me and my friends with his twisted fantasies."
She openly declared to her father that she and Seo Moon-hyun had never been friends, and that Seo Moon-hyun was nothing more than a delusional stalker. This gave the Yee family legitimate grounds to directly protest against the Seo family.
"Is that so? I see."
Yee Woo-jin drew his sword.
"E-Eun-chae! Why are you still… still under that guy's spell! What the hell did he do to you? Tell me, Eun-chae! We're friends, aren't we?"
Seo Moon-hyun shouted with a voice full of injustice, sadness, and anger, as if he had been betrayed. In his mind, Yee Eun-chae was supposed to be his "friend" who secretly loved him. He couldn't accept her words at all. He saw himself as a great hero, and believed that peerless beauties like Yee Eun-chae should all be in love with him.
Unlike the original story where things had gone his way and his ugly side had remained hidden, in this world, thanks to my interference, his true nature was laid bare for all to see.
"I've heard enough of your nonsense! Friends? Let me make this clear—I have never once considered you a friend! How dare you insult me and my friends just because we had one sparring match!"
In front of the gathered Yee family members, Yee Eun-chae revealed that Seo Moon-hyun's claim of friendship was based solely on a single duel. The exposure happened not just within the National Hero Academy, but right in front of the Yee family head and elders.
This news would soon spread nationwide.
'I was planning to bring him down at the academy, but he's already starting to fall apart on his own.'
Though things weren't going exactly according to plan, I couldn't let this opportunity pass. I decided to enjoy watching Seo Moon-hyun's ugly downfall. After all, he would keep falling, again and again.
"Eun-chae… Seo Moon-jin must have turned you against me! Please, come to your senses!"
"You're the one who needs to come to your senses, Seo Moon-hyun! Moon-jin and I were already friends before we even met you! Yet you keep spouting nonsense and insulting not just me, but my friends Moon-jin, Arian, and Hyun-ah too! I hereby challenge you to a formal duel!"
Yee Eun-chae openly issued a duel challenge to Seo Moon-hyun. Though there was no formal condition that the winner could demand anything from the loser, in this situation, the duel meant she intended to crush him to wash away the insults she had suffered.
While killing was generally not allowed, this was a world where even shattered bones could be easily healed with potions. It was acceptable to leave an opponent in a state that would have been considered near-crippled by my previous world's standards.
"A duel…? Why should I have to duel you? Eun-chae, why?!"
As expected, Seo Moon-hyun refused to listen to reason. He lived by his own twisted standards and expected the world to conform to them. In a reality that didn't bend to his will, he was nothing more than a madman.
"What a lunatic."
Yee Woo-jin muttered as he watched him.
"I heard the Seo family heir was a talented young man with a bright future and great reputation, but to think he's actually like this. Tsk tsk."
Seo Moon-hyun's skills and talent were overwhelmingly superior to his peers, so the Yee family had taken note of him long ago. But now that Yee Woo-jin knew his true nature, there wasn't a shred of goodwill left—only contempt.
'He's earned the Yee family's enmity as well.'
And Seo Moon-hyun remained oblivious to this fact. In his mind, the Yee family should have been awed by his abilities and heroic image, desperately wanting to offer their daughter as his partner.
"If you refuse my daughter's challenge, then I'll have to punish you as an insolent intruder."
Yee Woo-jin pointed his sword at Seo Moon-hyun. If he rejected even the duel meant to settle this humiliation, it meant the Yee family would retaliate with force on their own terms.
The Yee family had become Seo Moon-hyun's enemies.
"This can't be happening…"
Seo Moon-hyun muttered blankly. He couldn't believe the Yee family was turning against him. They were supposed to believe his words, support him, and condemn Yee Eun-chae for betraying him.
"If you won't accept the duel, then you'll simply pay the price for trespassing and insulting us!"
Yee Eun-chae also drew her sword, her face burning with fury as she slowly walked toward Seo Moon-hyun. Whether he accepted the duel or not didn't matter to her. What mattered was thoroughly punishing him.
Raising her sword, she declared,
"I'm going to attack now. If you won't defend yourself, then just stand there and get cut!"
Since this wasn't a fight to the death, Yee Eun-chae announced her attack to avoid seeming like she was launching a cowardly ambush. She swung her sword, and Seo Moon-hyun desperately blocked it.
"Kugh!"
Seo Moon-hyun's eyes widened in shock. The attack from Yee Eun-chae, who had clearly been beneath him until recently, now felt overwhelmingly threatening.
I will never forgive him!
Consumed by rage, Yee Eun-chae continued her assault with the clear intent of leaving Seo Moon-hyun half-crippled.