Chapter 4 Collaborator
The Collaborator
Chapter 5
A soft golden glow washed across my vision.
『Optimal Progression - 0.1%』
I had never seen a skill like this in any game I'd played.
『As you desire.』
The description was short, but its implications took a moment to sink in.
Fortunately, Si-hyun’s extraordinary Skill Acquisition Aptitude helped me make sense of the clues.
『It will adapt to suit you perfectly.』
That talent gave me an instinctive grasp of the power I'd just acquired.
Something stirred deep inside me.
Vwoom—
A grin spread across my face as I felt the change take hold.
『Passive <Optimal Progression> is now active.』
So this was my chance. With a skill like this, maybe I could stand up to anyone on Earth.
The Tower wasn't supposed to appear for another three years, yet I'd somehow obtained one of its powers already.
Skills came in five grades: Common, Regression, Heroic, Legendary, and Myth. Optimal Progression fit none of them.
『Grade - Unknown』
An unclassified skill wasn't necessarily the strongest, but the possibilities were intoxicating.
Park Ha-rin? Please.
I was the protagonist. The System itself was on my side.
Surely even she couldn't stop me now—
『An easy, but not painless, method of suicide.』
...What?
Right. Getting cocky was probably a terrible idea.
『Passive <Optimal Progression> has begun optimizing your body and mind.』
Crack—
Something shifted inside me. My muscles tensed, but my terror of Ha-rin began to fade. Even my thoughts grew calmer.
For an instant, I felt like a player looking at a game character again, rather than someone trapped inside the game.
『Everything will adapt to suit you perfectly.』
'This skill is ridiculous.'
It was as though the world had started adjusting itself to my ambitions.
A heady sense of possibility surged through me.
'I can do this.'
I knew the game's future better than almost anyone. Dangers were everywhere, but I finally had a way to resist them.
『As you desire.』
Then I'd do exactly that.
* * *
『Passive <Optimal Progression> remains active.』
If Earth had remained peaceful, I could have spent my days enjoying this absurdly handsome body, chasing women, and growing old without a care. But that wasn’t going to happen.
There was, however, a problem no amount of money could solve.
『Three years remain until the Tower appears...』
『Earth will be destroyed.』
The System had brought me here, and now it was warning me about the end of the world.
Taking an unexplained message on faith wasn't exactly wise.
『Destruction cannot be avoided.』
But after experiencing the skill firsthand, I couldn't dismiss its warnings either.
『Do what only you can do here.』
The message was baffling, yet every instinct told me to take it seriously.
'Whatever I do next is going to look completely insane.'
Then again, I hadn't chosen to come here. I wasn't going to sit still while the world marched toward destruction.
I wasn't going to.
Just then—
"Y-you crazy bastard! Have you completely lost your mind?!"
Se-eun hissed at me, pale with fear. She was already imagining Ha-rin's reaction.
Guilt pricked at me.
RING! RING!
Her phone began to ring.
「Big Sis」
Such a brief, impersonal contact name. It somehow made the call even more frightening.
"Eek..."
Her hand trembled as she reached for the phone.
She squeezed her eyes shut and reached to answer—
"?!"
I snatched the phone first.
Then, for reasons that escaped even me, I decided to make the moment theatrical.
CRACK!
I drove my knee into the phone.
The screen shattered against my kneecap.
Se-eun stared at me. Meanwhile, pain shot through my knee.
"...Huh?"
What was that? Hadn't the System just given me an absurdly powerful skill?
'AAAAAGH!'
It hurt so much I almost screamed. What sort of supernatural ability couldn't protect me from my own ridiculous decisions?
So much for my dramatic entrance.
"...Huh?"
Se-eun remained frozen in disbelief.
Limping from the pain, I tossed my bag aside and casually stripped off my uniform jacket.
"Y-you!? What the hell are you doing...!? Are you actually insane!?"
Flustered, Se-eun immediately covered her face with her hands—
But then she peeked through her fingers, blatantly staring.
...I didn't even have the energy to call her out.
Just as I was about to take off my underwear—I came to my senses.
'...Wait. This seems way off.'
No matter how I looked at it...
'This just seems like a total mental breakdown...?'
I left my underwear on. Instead, I located all the hidden bugs and crushed them.
"!"
Se-eun's face flushed bright red. Her eyes trembled as she stared at my bare body before she abruptly turned away.
I slowly approached my little sister, my knee throbbing painfully.
Se-eun pressed her back against the wall, looking up at me with uneasy eyes.
"Why... why...?"
Her whisper came with a heated breath.
Ignoring her, I reached for her back pocket.
Se-eun flinched, her ears turning red as she squeezed her eyes shut.
I licked my lips—then slipped my hand into her skirt pocket.
Se-eun's eyes widened, but she quickly bowed her head, seemingly embarrassed.
She then slowly closed her eyes and leaned her face toward me. Her lips, glossed with lipstick, drew closer to mine.
But my hand emerged faster. A lighter and a pack of menthol cigarettes slid out from her skirt pocket.
"...Huh?"
A dazed Park Se-eun stared at me.
My business with her skirt was now done.
『Passive Skill <Optimal Progression> is active.』
I tossed the cigarettes aside and examined the lighter in my hand.
The shame and guilt I should have felt were strangely faint.
A shut-in like me would never have even dreamed of something like this...
Standing in the city wearing nothing but underwear, I couldn't tell if this was reality or not.
I reminded myself why I'd gone to these lengths.
『Three years remain until the Tower appears...』
The world was filled with dangers, but also opportunities Earth had never offered me.
If I could survive, I might become powerful enough to protect myself.
First, I had to break free of Ha-rin's control.
That's right. I had absolutely no desire to return to a reality where I'd struggle as a job-seeker and end up with some mediocre woman.
I'd rather starve in reality than live a comfortable life as a rich man in a dream—and die happy.
'Ha-rin, you aren't going to keep me trapped forever.'
I flicked the lighter.
"Fire."
A small flame sprang to life.
I was too distracted to notice Se-eun biting her lip behind me. Then—
"Ghk!"
Someone seized a fistful of my hair and yanked.
* * *
8:38 a.m. The fire spread through the alley. My uniform was going up much faster than I'd expected.
"..."
Both ruined phones were buried in the pile. Flames leapt high enough to singe the ends of my hair.
"Ah! Hot! Hot!"
Watching several million won's worth of belongings go up in smoke nearly brought tears to my eyes.
'That's what, four million won? Gone?'
There was no taking it back. My clothes and bag were burning, and I was standing outside in my underwear.
"What the hell are you doing, you psycho?!"
Se-eun yelled, then began coughing on the smoke.
"Cough! Hack!"
She covered her mouth, tears gathering in her eyes.
I watched the fire spread and breathed out slowly.
Whoosh—
"......"
Yes, I was acting insane.
Then again, trying to behave sensibly hadn't helped me escape Ha-rin.
'Staying alive comes first.'
Pride could wait.
I turned to Se-eun. Her eyes were still wet with tears.
For the first time, Ha-rin couldn't listen to our conversation. We'd bought ourselves a few precious minutes alone.
'Now I need Se-eun on my side.'
Even if getting here had required an unbelievably stupid stunt.
Because realistically—
'How else could I have found every bug in the bag and uniform?'
Ha-rin would have noticed a prolonged silence while I searched. Burning everything had been the only approach I trusted.
And the crackling flames would drown out anything the devices recorded at the end.
Ridiculous as it looked, the plan had worked.
Crackle.
'I'd better hurry. Someone will call the fire department.'
Reminded of the urgency, I quickly turned to Park Se-eun. The moment she took in my naked form, a shiver ran through her.
"Eek...?"
Well, the protagonist's body was ridiculously well-built.
If this were Earth's Park Si-hyun, I'd have been too ashamed of my scrawny frame. But now, even without working out, my physique was unfairly perfect.
『Passive Skill <Optimal Progression> is active.』
Not to mention, Park Se-eun was my blood-related little sister.
And biologically, brothers don't see their sisters that way.
'Even if, in reality, I had no relation to her, this body shares her blood.'
Because of that, my instincts naturally rejected any attraction to her.
But the moment my gaze dropped to Park Se-eun's short skirt and legs—
Throb!
"......"
We exchanged an awkward look, both wearing equally stiff expressions.
Park Se-eun's eyebrows twitched as her face flushed red.
'...I'm fucked.'
Suddenly, her delinquent-like face started looking pretty.
Her model-like figure and toned legs made my heart race.
'Stop it, you damn freak...'
For a moment, I was caught off guard by Park Si-hyun's... excitement mechanisms, but I barely managed to cut off the thought.
None of that mattered. I had to talk to Se-eun before someone interrupted us.
Roar—
The heat at my back intensified.
I tried to keep my expression serious as I faced her.
"Se-eun, listen. I know this sounds insane, but in three years a Tower is going to appear in Seoul."
I didn't expect her to believe me immediately.
But when the Tower appeared, perhaps she'd remember my warning.
And whether I liked it or not, I was worried about her.
『Park Si-hyun, if it hadn't been for you, I would have—』
A line from Se-eun's game route echoed in my head.
Se-eun glared at me, brows drawn together.
"...What? What the hell are you talking about?"
She looked at me as though I'd lost my mind. I kept going.
"In three years, zombies will appear. Society will collapse, and people will start awakening special powers. When that happens..."
I finally told her what mattered most.
"You'll be able to get away from our sister."
"!"
For a heartbeat, something like hope broke through her disbelief.
"Are you insane? Did you spend all night playing games? Shut up and put out that fire! If we get arrested, you're dead—and I'm one hundred percent dead once Ha-rin finds out!"
She dragged a hand through her silver-blue hair in frustration.
I refused to drop it.
"What matters is that we'll finally be free."
Se-eun stared at me.
"Free? We're about to get arrested! How is that freedom?"
"Don't worry. They won't keep me in jail."
"...What about me?"
"...Right. I hadn't thought of that."
Her expression turned murderous.
Ha-rin would never leave me in police custody.
She'd throw money and influence at the problem until it went away.
Of that, at least, I had no doubt.
Se-eun laughed bitterly and shook her head.
"What's wrong with you today? Did you catch Ha-rin's madness? Seriously, what the hell?"
Fair enough. I wouldn't have believed a word of it either.
'Zombies, on Earth...'
Yet I knew the Tower would appear in three years.
And I knew where our relationship would lead if the game's events played out unchanged: hatred, betrayal, and Se-eun's eventual attempt to kill me.
This was my first chance to change that future.
"When the zombies come, we'll have to survive and climb the Tower. We can get stronger there—but I can't do it alone."
I held her gaze, hoping she'd hear the urgency beneath the absurd story.
"I want us to prepare for what's coming, even if it's only a little."
I needed Se-eun's help to survive the Tower and escape Ha-rin.
But the firelight revealed nothing but disappointment on her face.
For a moment, I thought I'd lost her.
"Get lost. I must be out of my mind for thinking you might have changed."
She turned away.
But I had one more thing to say.
"In three years, you really can be free of Park Ha-rin."
She stopped walking.
When she turned, there were tears in her eyes.
"The Tower will appear two months after I enter university. Everything will fall apart. And once it does, Ha-rin won't be able to control us the way she does now."
"...How could you possibly know that?"
Her voice was strained, caught between anger and desperate curiosity.
"How do I know?"
I answered with every ounce of confidence I could muster.
"You know Ha-rin isn't normal. If someone like her exists, why is it impossible that someone else could see the future?"
It was a flimsy argument. But Ha-rin's existence really did defy explanation.
Maybe that would make my impossible claim easier to entertain.
After everything she'd seen Ha-rin do, perhaps a second impossible ability wouldn't sound so absurd.
I could only hope Se-eun saw it that way.
She knew better than most what a person like Ha-rin could do.
At last, Se-eun's shoulders sagged. Heat shimmered in the air between us.
"...Are you serious?"
I nodded and softened my voice.
"I know it's hard to believe. You don't have to trust the prophecy. Just think about what you want right now."
If I wanted her trust, I needed to offer something now, not just promise a distant future.
And I knew what mattered most to her.
"I'll stop making your life harder whenever we go out. In return, I need you to look the other way when I ask for some freedom. That's all."
Ha-rin had ordered Se-eun to accompany me outside the mansion and report on everything I did.
But if Se-eun stopped reporting, she could become an ally instead.
'With Se-eun's help, I can finally meet the other heroines.'
She said nothing. Her lips pressed into a thin line.
The flames crept closer. I waited.
This time, I had to let Se-eun decide for herself.
At last, she spoke.
"...You're not lying to me, are you?"
"No. You—"
Before I could finish—
"...I can really do what I want?"
Tears slipped down her cheeks. The words died in my throat.
I could only stare for a moment before finding the strength to smile.
"Really...?"
The fragile hope in her expression made my chest ache.
After seeing that look, I couldn't bring myself to betray her trust.
I smiled as reassuringly as I could.
"Yeah. You'll be free."
It was a promise I couldn't fulfill immediately.
But even the possibility seemed to mean something to her.
Her face crumpled, and she began to cry in earnest.
I met her eyes and spoke again.
"I promise. As your older brother."
It was hardly a heroic speech, given the burning alley and the fact that I was nearly naked.
Still, her expression softened just a little. That was enough.
Firelight washed over the alley.
Through her tears, Se-eun managed a faint smile.
For the first time since arriving in this world, I had an ally.