Chapter 50
Chapter 50
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 50
Chapter Title: Psychopath
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“We're leaving.”
“What? Right now?!”
His classmates were shocked by Lee Shin's words.
They turned to Lee Shin and asked.
“So suddenly? Why?”
“With who?”
“But you said you were just going to lie low.”
To the rapid-fire questions, Lee Shin replied with a subtle expression.
“…I know. I wanted to.”
“???”
It wasn't like Lee Shin was happy about this either.
His goal today was just to fill a seat, but this was, by anyone's standards, an act that would make him stand out.
But even knowing that, he had no choice.
*…Hah.*
I knew it.
I felt a strange sense of unease from the beginning.
I never imagined it would connect like this.
Avala Online was a game with hundreds of millions of players worldwide.
What were the odds of coincidentally meeting someone from a game like that in real life?
They were so slim you could probably call it impossible without even doing the math.
But that thing he thought was impossible had actually happened.
This was a first for Lee Shin, and honestly, he was getting annoyed.
But what's done is done.
Lee Shin calmed his inner turmoil and spoke.
“Sorry.”
“Ah, no, well... we don't mind.”
“It's fine if you go.”
His classmates told him it was okay in response to his apology.
That was a relief, at least.
Of course, judging by their peculiar gazes, the aftermath would probably be a pain…
But that was something to think about later.
Lee Shin stepped out of the cafe.
Outside, Jeong Yu-ra had already left and was waiting for him.
She turned her head toward Lee Shin and said.
“Shall we sit down and talk?”
* * *
The two headed to a quiet cafe located far from the university.
After ordering a drink each, they found a table on the third floor.
“……”
The surroundings were quiet.
Was it because it was so far from the university?
Other than one man who looked like an office worker, there was no one else around.
“So.”
Jeong Yu-ra was the first to speak. She took her mouth off her straw and asked.
“What's your real name?”
“……”
“Si-eun. If you don't answer, am I supposed to keep calling you Lee Si-eun?”
If she had been uncertain, he might have tried to deny it, but she was already completely convinced.
Instead of answering, Lee Shin asked a question.
He had clearly been cross-dressing when they met, so how did she know he was that same player?
Jeong Yu-ra thought for a moment before answering.
“Because your face was the same.”
“……?”
The same?
Even with makeup and a wig?
“Your eyes and face shape were identical.”
“……”
“I'm an art major. I've drawn Agrippa countless times. I can tell just by looking. Besides, people who look like you aren't exactly common.”
Literally, Lee Shin's looks were far from what you'd call common.
That was why the memory still remained in Jeong Yu-ra's mind, even after some time had passed.
“So, what's your real name?”
Jeong Yu-ra asked again.
This was information she could easily find out anyway, so Lee Shin answered readily.
“It's Lee Shin.”
“Lee Si-eun? Was that your real name?”
“Lee. Shin.”
“Ah, a single-character name. Lee Shin. Lee Shin…”
Jeong Yu-ra repeated Lee Shin's name a few times in a small voice.
Having memorized the name, she looked at Lee Shin and continued her questions.
“You're a man, right?”
“Yes.”
“And in the same year as me, I assume. Seeing as you came today.”
“Yes.”
“And we met in the Eteun Kingdom.”
“Yes.”
“……”
Seeing Lee Shin nod so readily, Jeong Yu-ra pressed her brow.
Her expression looked complicated.
“Why did you do it?”
“Do what?”
“You know what I'm talking about.”
Jeong Yu-ra, responding firmly to Lee Shin's feigned ignorance, began to list his misdeeds one by one.
“First…”
Starting with why he was cross-dressing.
Giving him the benefit of the doubt on that, why didn't he correct her when he knew she was misunderstanding?
And why did he tell her such ridiculous lies (incorrect game knowledge)?
And finally, why did he abandon her and disappear without a word when they were in the same party?
“I think I need an explanation.”
She was demanding an explanation, but Lee Shin acted shamelessly.
“Do you have proof?”
“…What?”
“Proof that I did it. Do you have any?”
This was confidence born from a solid foundation. The image he'd built up until now was unshakable.
Wearing a mask that didn't suit him for the sake of a good reputation was precisely for moments like this.
*No one will believe her anyway.*
Of course, Jeong Yu-ra clearly remembered what happened, but it was now something that only existed in her memory.
Honestly, who would believe stories about cross-dressing and backstabbing?
It wasn't like he went around doing strange things in public.
He thought that as long as there was no concrete evidence, it wouldn't become a big problem.
“I do.”
“Excuse me?”
“I said I have it. It hasn't been 30 days yet, right? My capsule has a built-in continuous recording function. If I check the date, it'll be there.”
“……”
What Jeong Yu-ra said was true.
As it was a virtual reality game, high-end capsules indeed had a continuous recording function built-in for security purposes—against harassment, insults, and the like.
“It's low quality since it's continuous recording, but it should be enough for proof, don't you think?”
Jeong Yu-ra looked at him with an expression that said, "Now what are you going to do?"
Lee Shin shut his mouth.
Lee Shin, who always lived his life outside with various thoughts running through his head, was at a loss for words for the first time in a long while.
*…There's a recording?*
Lee Shin's gaze grew cold.
His lips were still smiling, but it was a fabricated smile. A thick exoskeleton to hide his squirming inner thoughts.
Lee Shin asked in a feignedly calm voice.
“Your family must be well-off.”
“What?”
“A full-option capsule must be expensive.”
A natural attempt to divert her attention.
An attempt to derail the conversation.
“Yes. Well. We're not poor.”
“Makes sense, since you're an art major.”
At first, Jeong Yu-ra seemed to fall for Lee Shin's attempt.
She had a personality that was somewhat easily swayed by others.
But.
“…No, that's not it!”
Not this time.
The issue was too significant to be swayed by his conversational tactics.
She immediately returned to the point and asked.
“Are you messing with me right now?”
“What?”
“I'm asking why you're being like this. It's not like I asked for something unreasonable.”
“……”
Jeong Yu-ra couldn't understand Lee Shin. That was natural. Even compared to the average person, she was a bit more moral and sensible.
She couldn't help but feel frustrated by Lee Shin's behavior, which was so detached from common sense.
“Really…”
That's why she ended up saying something she normally never would.
“…like a psycho.”
A mutter accompanied by a light sigh.
She hadn't meant for him to hear it, but perhaps because the surroundings were so quiet…
Lee Shin heard it.
“……”
The smile that had been faintly maintained on Lee Shin's lips completely vanished.
* * *
The meeting was a coincidence. A familiar face she saw at a group date she had been half-forced to attend.
At first, she thought she was mistaken, but his startled reaction confirmed that he was the one from back then.
It was a bewildering situation, but Jeong Yu-ra thought it was for the best.
The group date was uncomfortable anyway, and she had many questions for him.
Even though some time had passed, she felt she needed to hear an explanation to feel at ease.
*'Shall we go talk outside?'*
So she asked.
And he accepted.
*Good.*
After moving to a quiet cafe, she asked.
*'Back then, why did you do it?'*
*'……'*
She had tried to set a serious mood when she asked, but it wasn't actually a question with any deep meaning.
Of course, she wasn't expecting an apology either.
It was a literal question; all he had to do was tell her the reason.
Then she planned to forget all about it cleanly, with no hard feelings.
Any resentment had already faded naturally with time.
But.
*'Do you have proof?'*
*'……?'*
From his defiant attitude to his deliberate attempts to change the subject and avoid answering.
His reaction got under her skin.
So, naturally, her response wasn't going to be pleasant.
*'Are you messing with me?'*
No.
Seriously, was this such a hard question to answer?
She wasn't asking for much.
If he'd just told her the reason, she would have just said, 'Oh, I see,' and let it go…
Out of frustration and a bit of sorrow, she had muttered unconsciously.
Wondering if this person wasn't a psychopath.
*!*
…Of course, she regretted it the moment she said it, but she had no intention of apologizing first.
Separate from her own misstep, she was the one who had been deceived. If she apologized first, she'd truly be a pushover.
However.
“Psycho?”
“Huh?”
His reaction was strange.
A voice that had turned chillingly cold as if he'd swapped vocal cords, and eyes that had become quietly sunken.
The faint smile on his lips had vanished without a trace.
He looked like a completely different person, as if he'd flipped a mask.
“……!”
A chilling feeling.
Feeling as if the surrounding temperature had dropped several degrees, she unconsciously rubbed her arms.
Goosebumps had already broken out on her skin.
“Wh… why?”
She was scared.
Of this sudden change.
Nevertheless, she somehow managed to open her mouth, but…
*Swish.*
“……”
He didn't answer, only looking around. Specifically, at the ceiling and the windows.
*What is he looking for?*
There was no one by the window, and only a fire detector and a CCTV on the ceiling…
Just as one thought led to another.
*Scrape!*
“!”
The man who looked like an office worker stood up from his seat.
He tidied his table, put in his earphones, and went downstairs.
And now, on this spacious third floor, only the two of them remained.
*Thump. Thump.*
The moment she realized that, her heart sank.
What's more, the sight of Lee Shin's back as he stared intently at the staircase made her even more anxious.
*Flick.*
After a moment, the sensor turned off, and the light by the stairs dimmed.
Only then did Lee Shin open his mouth.
“You're right.”
“What?”
“You're right. I'm a psychopath.”
“……!”
As he spoke, he reached out and moved her phone to the center of the table.
She couldn't tell exactly what that action meant, but she knew for sure it wasn't done with good intentions.
Psychopath. In truth, she hadn't said it seriously. It had just slipped out unconsciously.
In fact, she had even regretted saying it so carelessly the moment it left her mouth.
But.
*…He's for real?!*
Seeing how his aura had changed as if she'd touched a raw nerve, it wasn't impossible to believe.
But the one thing she couldn't understand was why he was admitting to it.
If it was something that made him this serious, he could have just played dumb until the end and nothing would have happened…
*Why on earth?*
She would soon find out why.
* * *
“It doesn't matter if you tell people.”
Lee Shin dropped the meaningless act and spoke bluntly.
From the moment he knew there was a recording, things were never going to be easy.
“What?”
“You can go around telling everyone you know. You can release the video. I don't care.”
“……!”
“There's no way to stop you anyway.”
In reality, if Jeong Yu-ra decided to do it, there wasn't much he could do to stop her.
If he had to name one, it wasn't that there were none, but they were crimes, so they were out of the question.
Or close to crimes.
And now that he was an adult, it would only escalate into a bigger problem.
So what Lee Shin thought of was a completely different method.
Not persuasion, but a threat.
He had plenty of means to do so.
“If you upload it…”
“I won't.”
But before Lee Shin could even finish, Jeong Yu-ra cut him off.
Something must have provoked her, because the frozen expression from moments ago was gone, replaced by a look of displeasure.
“I won't do something like that.”
She said again, emphatically.
Lee Shin replied cynically.
“I can't trust people.”
“What?”
“You heard me, didn't you?”
At Lee Shin's words, Jeong Yu-ra's eyes flickered for a moment. Not that he *won't* trust, but that he *can't*.
Being sensitive to the emotions of others, she could instinctively understand the subtle difference in nuance.
And that made her dislike it even more.
“Then, I'll make it so you can trust me.”
It felt unsettling to just accept it and end the conversation after such a short exchange.
Should she say it provoked her stubbornness?
The curious person that was Jeong Yu-ra didn't want to just let go of this peculiar type of human she was meeting for the first time in her life.
It was paradoxical, but that was what she was truly feeling right now.
That was why.
“Party with me again.”