Is This Gangdong-gu?

Clock's body crumbled into gray ash and scattered on the wind. All that remained was the massive battle axe that had lost its master.

—Thud. Clang… The only sound echoing through the square was the weapon tumbling across the ground.

An impossible silence. No one dared speak first. Their minds simply couldn’t process what had happened.

The one who shattered that suffocating quiet was the system message floating in the air.

Notification windows flooded my vision.

Title.

Text immediately appeared before my eyes.

It seemed I wasn’t the only one. Choi Kangmin, Lee Seolah, and several others were all staring into empty space.

I’ll check the details later.

My gaze shifted to Yua. But in that instant, an unexpected spoiler ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠appeared above my little sister’s head.

…Entering the story?

I understood the meaning instantly. Yua had gained a trait of her own. My sister stared ahead with wide, rabbit-like eyes.

“Oppa… what is this…?”

Before I could answer—

“A title! I got a title too!”

“Me too! It gave me one for courage because I threw rocks at the monster…!”

“We… we survived…”

A blood-soaked man muttered in a daze. Those words became the spark.

“We survived! We won!!”

“Uwaaaaaah!!”

“Huk… hueeeeng…!”

The silence shattered. The square erupted with cheers and sobs. People clung to one another and wept. Others collapsed onto the blood-stained ground and pounded the earth. The relief of still being alive completely overwhelmed them.

“Oppaaa…”

Yua threw her arms around my waist and burst into tears. The tension that had kept me upright finally broke; my legs nearly gave out. Every muscle in my body screamed in protest.

I brushed the hair from Yua’s forehead and met her eyes.

“Are you hurt anywhere?”

“No…! Are you okay, oppa?”

“I’m fine. We only won because you threw that rock.”

Yua gave a slow nod. I wiped the blood from my hands onto my clothes, then gently stroked her cheek.

“But you can never do that again. No matter what happens—even if it looks like I’m about to die—you have to hide somewhere safe. Promise me.”

“…Okay. I promise.”

Her voice was resolute even through the sniffles. Only then did I release the breath I’d been holding.

“Yua, wait here a second.”

I gently pushed her away and turned my gaze to the right. In the corner of the square, Park Dongbae lay collapsed beside his mini-tower.

“Haa…”

The man still couldn’t move. I hurried over. Yua followed close behind.

“…Sir.”

I dropped to my knees. Both his arms were broken, his body drenched in blood, yet he was still gasping for air. The scene from moments ago replayed in my head—the way he had charged in with that hammer, screaming for us to move.

I honestly hadn’t expected anything from him. We’d only known each other for two or three days. Yet he had risked his life for me. If he hadn’t bought me even a tenth of a second, both Choi Kangmin and I would already be corpses cut in half.

“What do we do? Is he going to be okay…?”

Yua’s trembling voice came from beside me. I reached out and checked his pulse. A faint beat answered beneath my fingertips. Weak, but there.

“Sir, can you hear me? Try to stay with us.”

“Krr… ugh…”

His blood-flecked lips twitched. He hadn’t lost consciousness completely. But if we waited any longer, the outcome was obvious. I didn’t hesitate.

I pulled the ring off my finger.

I forced the ring onto Park Dongbae’s swollen finger, then leaned close to his ear.

“Sir. Say ‘Super Regeneration’ right now.”

No response.

“Hurry. If you don’t, you’ll die for real.”

His eyelids fluttered. He still wanted to live. But his crushed lungs and blood-filled throat refused to let the words out.

“Cough… hack…”

A bloody, choking cough. The moment stretched unbearably.

“Sir! Super Regeneration! Say it!!”

Yua clasped her hands and shouted through her tears. Maybe her desperation reached him. Park Dongbae clenched his jaw and forced the words out in a cracked voice.

“Super… Regeneration…”

The instant the broken syllables left his lips—

—Woooong!

Light exploded from the ring like a supernova. And then the miracle began.

“Krr… krrrruuugh!”

The bones in his shattered arms snapped back into place. Torn muscle writhed and reknitted. The fountain of blood stopped. It was an overwhelming power worthy of the name Super Regeneration. His breathing quickly grew steady.

“Haa…”

Only then ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠did I exhale. As I turned my head in relief, I felt a stare from a short distance away. Choi Kangmin. His eyes were locked on the ring now sitting on Park Dongbae’s finger.

He figured it out.

He must have realized everything—that I was the one who took the ring, that I was the one who took Lee Seolah. I wondered what he was thinking. Resentment? Rage?

A blue window appeared above his head.

But what floated next was completely different from what I expected. He was looking at me with perfectly calm eyes.

I narrowed my eyes slightly. Choi Kangmin wasn’t obsessing over what I had taken anymore. This was completely different from the hostility I had felt at the mart.

If he was going to run, he wouldn’t have acted that way back at the supermarket.

Suddenly his earlier words came back to me. Maybe he had circumstances I didn’t know about.

…No.

I bit my lip. Whatever his reasons, the fact that he had killed the middle-aged man didn’t change. Choi Kangmin was a regressor and a hypocrite.

That was when it happened.

Three beams of light poured down from the center of the square’s sky—gold, silver, and bronze. The bronze beam descended first, landing in front of Park Dongbae, who had only just regained consciousness.

“Uh… whoa?”

He fumbled to accept the glowing box, face full of disbelief. When it opened, a massive metal lump appeared.

It was the perfect replacement for his broken hammer. He picked it up with shaking hands.

Next, the silver beam flew to Choi Kangmin.

A blue-glowing longsword emerged from the box. He nodded, clearly pleased.

And finally, the most brilliant golden beam swallowed me whole.

A+ grade…

I’d never seen anything like it. Without hesitation I opened the box.

—Fwaaaah!

When the blinding light faded, a single piece of jet-black fabric lay inside.

This is actually insane…

The stats were ridiculous, and it even came with stealth and teleportation. It was perfect for me—someone who read every situation with Spoiler. I immediately draped the cloak over my armor. It weighed nothing.

“Wow… oppa, you look so cool…”

Yua clapped quietly beside me. I smiled awkwardly and checked my new title.

All stats +7 was already outrageous for a single title. But the line that truly caught my eye was the 20% damage increase against otherworldly beings.

I understood immediately. In the future, I would face many more enemies like the one today.

Dwarf Hero Clock…

Even now I couldn’t accept it. Could something so three-dimensional, so coldly emotional, truly be called a monster?

“Klgh…”

A sharp throb shot through my left wrist. Enough. I’ll think about it later. My body was in terrible shape—muscles torn, left hand still bleeding. At least the title had raised my stamina.

The ring is with the middle-aged man…

My decision was quick.

“Invest ten points into stamina.”

Warmth flooded my body. The bleeding stopped. Torn muscle fibers slowly reconnected. It wasn’t full recovery, but I could feel my body had evolved.

“Huu…”

When I lifted my head, my blurred vision had cleared. I turned and walked toward Park Dongbae. From the corner of my eye I saw Choi Kangmin standing near the two people who had collapsed earlier. The now-recovered pair kept bowing to him in gratitude.

“Sir.”

“Ah, yes! Siwoo!”

He jumped and straightened up.

“How do you like the new weapon? Looks a lot better than the one I gave you.”

Park Dongbae looked down at the massive hammer. His hand was still trembling.

“Like it? Of course I do…! I don’t know if I deserve something this precious. If not for you, Siwoo, I would already be dead…”

“It’s fine. If you hadn’t bought me that time, I would have died too. Think of this as fair payment.”

“Siwoo…”

His eyes were about to water again when—

“..Oh, that’s right!”

He hurriedly touched his finger.

“Here, here it is. I’ve been wearing this precious thing the whole time.”

He carefully removed the ring and handed it to me with both hands, movements extremely polite now that he understood its value.

“Good work.”

I slipped the Regeneration Nebula Ring back onto my finger. Familiar energy spread through me. A deep sense of accomplishment followed.

Finally, I opened my status window.

An unbelievable surge in power. Thanks to the stats I had invested before fighting Clock, my strength and stamina were both near 50, while agility was approaching 60. If I faced him again now, I might actually stand a chance.

“Waaaaaaaaah!!!”

“It’s over!! We won!!!”

Cheers still rang across the square. It really was over. A faint smile crept across my face without me realizing it.

“…You’ve worked hard.”

A familiar voice came from behind me. Choi Kangmin was walking over, the new longsword now hanging at his waist.

“You’re a lot stronger than I expected.”

He stopped in front of me and continued calmly. I kept my arms crossed and stared at him.

“If you’re done, leave. I don’t feel like talking.”

He didn’t react to my cold tone. Instead he let out a short sigh and said something unexpected.

“What happened at the mart… it couldn’t be helped.”

“…What?”

“It wasn’t a choice I wanted to make. At the time, I had no other option.”

The excuse that left his mouth made my blood boil. After abandoning so many people, he had the nerve to say that?

“What kind of bullsh—!”

I stepped forward in fury, but right then—

“Huh…?”

“L-lunchbox?”

The moment the notification ended, lunchboxes began raining down at every survivor’s feet—the exact same high-quality meal Yua and I had eaten the day before.

“Waaaaaaaaah!!! Food!!!”

“Crazy, I smell meat! First real meal in days!!”

The cheers grew twice as loud. After a desperate battle, the reward and rest turned the square into a festival in an instant.

“…”

I sighed and glared at Choi Kangmin again. The mood was ruined.

“Forget it. I don’t want to talk to you anymore.”

His lips moved. He stared at me while biting them hard, looking wronged. For some reason, his attitude only made me more frustrated.

“No, what the hell are you—”

Just as I was about to speak again, unable to hold back—

I staggered backward without thinking. Choi Kangmin placed his hand on his sword hilt and looked up at the sky. The survivors fell deathly silent, as if doused with cold water.

In that suffocating stillness—

—Riiiiip!

A vertical tear split the air on one side of the square like torn fabric. A pitch-black spatial rift. From within the darkness, someone stepped out.

—Tap. Tap.

A colorful checkered suit that screamed clown. A wide-brimmed cone hat. A long staff topped with a skull ornament.

“Hello~ Is this Gangdong-gu!?”

My pupils trembled. No—my entire body shook. The identity reflected in my Spoiler was impossible.