An Ordinary Day (3)

Knock, knock.

The sound of someone rapping on the door.

Knock, knock.

Once more.

Another visitor. I'm exceptionally popular today.

Ah, is it the production crew?

I quickly opened the door.

"...What is it?"

It was the last person I expected.

An aristocrat, always dressed in a pristine uniform, devoid of any flaws or imperfections. A woman whose face seemed to radiate light, surrounded by an inexplicable aura.

Kate looked straight into my eyes and asked, "Are you alright?"

"Yes. I'm fine."

"Why don't you drop out of the show?"

"..."

Out of nowhere, she was talking nonsense.

I seriously debated it for a second. My middle finger was itching, but I barely held back.

"Are you out of your mind?"

I offered a slightly watered-down response.

Kate put her hands behind her back, as if she had ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠anticipated this.

"May I come in? Just for a moment."

"...Sure."

Kate stepped inside and closed the door behind her. It seemed she wanted to discuss something rather private.

"I'll ask you just one thing."

"What is it?"

"Mr. Seol Ha-woon. Did the labyrinths we've experienced so far feel fake to you?"

A loaded question. My intuition flared.

She knew something.

"Then, are they real? Those labyrinths."

I answered her question with another question. Kate's eyes narrowed, her gaze trying to peer into my innermost thoughts.

"I'm giving you a warning," Kate continued. "You could get seriously hurt, or even die. Out of everyone, you especially, Mr. Seol Ha-woon."

Kate's danger detection was off.

No, it was only half right.

Except for one person, the future of the debut group was the underworld. It wasn't just 'me especially'—all of us could get seriously hurt or die.

"Then I'll die."

"You probably think I'm talking nonsense right now," Kate calmly retorted. "But it'll be too late to regret it later."

"...Well, my ranking in the first round of voting is already hanging by a thread anyway."

"Then I hope you get eliminated. For your own sake."

She was worrying about me.

No, 'worry' carried too much weight.

Maybe... concern? Apprehension?

"For my sake?"

"Yes. I heard you saved me in that labyrinth, Mr. Seol Ha-woon."

"...I didn't exactly go there with the sole intention of saving you."

"I see. Then, may I ask what happened in the labyrinth?"

Kate was far more direct than I had expected.

I was almost caught off guard.

"...Who knows. It was the Unconsciousness Labyrinth, after all. My memories are hazy too."

"..."

She stared at me in silence, her eyes searching mine. She was trying to gauge the truth of my words.

But she wouldn't be able to. A sheltered aristocrat could never read the mind of someone like me, who had rolled through the dirt of reality and endured all walks of life.

"Do you really not remember a single thing?"

I stroked my chin, pretending to ponder.

"Well... I'm pretty sure I wasn't a prince."

She let out a dumbfounded chuckle.

"I never wanted a prince in the first place. I've wanted a white horse since I was a child."

"Ah, yes. Good for you."

I gestured toward the door with my eyes.

Could you please get lost now?

"There's no white horse here. Maybe a pony, if you're lucky."

"I see."

Nodding, she grabbed the doorknob. In that position, she softly muttered something under her breath.

"Imbécile. J'espère que vous ne regretterez rien à l’avenir."

I let out a faint chuckle. It was just funny.

"Do aristocrats learn how to curse people out like that in some special academy?"

"...Curse you out? I was merely talking to myself."

It was absurd how she opened the door while feigning ignorance.

To her, I said, "Why don't you have a cup of tea?"

"I'll pass."

I picked up a tea bag from my desk and tossed it to her.

It was a tea bag I had personally portioned and neatly packaged. To me, it was more precious than a luxury designer bag.

"I meant, brew it and drink it by yourself."

Kate caught it reflexively.

"It'll taste good. I didn't bring it back from the World Labyrinth for nothing."

She didn't refuse that much. No, she clearly intended to decline, but stopped the moment she caught the scent of the tea leaves.

"Thank you."

"And."

I stopped her just as she was about to step out.

I still had something to say.

"I might be a fool, but I don't regret things. If I were the type to live with regrets, I wouldn't have lived my life this way."

Kate flinched and looked back at me.

Roughly translated, what she had just said was: 'Fool. I hope you won't regret anything in the future.'

"..."

I shrugged at her blank expression.

"I've traveled to quite a few countries."

This happened a lot.

British soldiers speaking French among themselves, American soldiers speaking Spanish.

I had learned various languages just to understand those conversations. Fortunately, I had a decent knack for languages.

Pretending not to understand when you actually did was the most effective way to gather leaked information.

"Well then, Savourez bien votre thé."

It meant 'Enjoy your black tea.'

Kate cleared her throat and left.

"...Tea leaves."

Back in her quarters, Kate stared blankly at the tea bag. She felt a bit embarrassed, but she had brought it on herself. She had copied her uncle's bad habit to a T.

Thinking about it, there were days like that.

Curious about the French her uncle occasionally muttered to himself, she had secretly learned it to surprise him. The day she was praised for being clever.

A past that now felt so incredibly distant.

Bzzz.

Suddenly, her smartphone vibrated. It was the Labyrinth Exploration NaN group chat—the one she shared with the explorers who had cleared the Snowfield Labyrinth together.

"A new exposure post..."

Had the floodgates opened, unleashing an uncontrollable deluge?

Kate tapped the link.

"People like him eat away at society?"

Kim Jun-seok. Once a soldier, now a diligent owner of a meat restaurant, let out a hollow laugh at the military violence exposure post.

"He just wrote whatever the hell he wanted."

The military violence was a lie. Well, of course, violence existed in the military. Especially in special operations forces like UDT, people got hit. Naturally, they got hit. It would be stranger if they didn't.

While excessive assault was unacceptable, Seol Ha-woon was not that kind of person.

Seol Ha-woon only hit those who deserved to be hit.

Because of that, Kim Jun-seok could easily identify who the author was. It came to him naturally.

“I'm the big shot here. Who the hell are you?” A guy who strutted around with that pathetic, empty pride. A guy who ruined operations, putting his comrades in danger, extorted locals, and tried to steal loot for himself before getting caught.

A psychopath whose sole purpose for joining UDT was to build a resume, enter the exploration and entertainment industries, and seduce women.

"It's you, isn't it? Yoon I-jun."

A famous military screw-up. After getting beaten a few times by Seol Ha-woon, he tried to sue him, but when his own misconduct threatened to trigger a court-martial, he hastily discharged.

"...Sergeant Seol. I'm not doing this because I like you, okay?"

It was just that the guy was a piece of work.

Seol Ha-woon wasn't particularly popular among his juniors. Instead, he was someone they could rely on.

The kind of person you were incredibly glad was on your side. The kind of person who would make you wet your pants if he were your enemy.

He was an object of fear to his juniors. Even his superiors hesitated to deal with him.

Yet, Seol Ha-woon himself rarely said much. He didn't engage in random acts of violence. Even so, everyone feared him.

The air around him was simply terrifying.

Looking back, he was a superior who strictly adhered to rules and principles while tolerating minor, harmless deviations. A leader who could sacrifice himself for his subordinates.

A magnificent commander who was younger, yet felt like an older brother.

"Yoon I-jun, you son of a bitch. I still have nightmares about that day. I almost died because of you..."

Kim Jun-seok placed his hands on the keyboard.

Related spin-off posts cropped up in droves.

"Ugh, this is so embarrassing."

Suddenly, another post caught Kim Jun-seok's eye.

Kate read all the comments.

It seemed the operation was destined to fail.

In truth, Kate herself hadn't been very enthusiastic. From the beginning, she had doubted the character and status of the person claiming to expose him, and perhaps, deep down, she had hoped he would stay.

As a rival whose talent could match her own.

Chime!

Another message arrived in the group chat.

Kate tapped the link. She read the post exposing Kim Du-gyeom's hypocrisy.

Slowly, she leaned back into her chair.

"How unpredictable life can be."

Life.

Her life, and theirs.

At times, it seemed to consist of mere fleeting moments, making people obsess over what was right in front of them. Yet, ultimately, those trivial details accumulated to shape a life.

The past—whether it was the evil deeds committed or the hands extended in passing—always shaped the present.

It either lifted us up or dragged us down.

"It always comes back around, one way or another."

Kate closed her laptop. She gazed out the window at the setting sun. The slowly bleeding orange light stained the room like balsam dye.

"I'm fine. What about you guys?"

Meanwhile, Kim Du-gyeom was on the phone with Ryu Yeon-hwa.

—Well, it just ended in a complete mess. Nothing major happened.

Having finished his shower, Kim Du-gyeom sat on the sofa, sipping a cola.

—...But still. Is Mr. Seol Ha-woon really that kind of person?

Kim Du-gyeom's brow furrowed.

What is wrong with this girl? How can she say that after seeing Seol Ha-woon's behavior? She really lives in a fantasy world.

"Who knows..."

As he gave a half-hearted reply,

Bzzz.

A text message arrived from his manager. It contained a link.

"What's this?"

Kim Du-gyeom tapped the link.

He froze in that exact position.

His heart felt as if it had suddenly stopped. He could only stare blankly, swallowing hard.

"Son of a... bitch."

The words barely escaped his lips.

—Huh? What did you say?

"You... motherfucker!!"

Before he knew it, Kim Du-gyeom slammed his smartphone down. Smash! Inside the shattered screen of his phone, the post that had already been viewed by countless people spread.