Chapter 2
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 2
Chapter Title: An Unjust Start (2)
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‘...Who the hell am I trying to fool?’
In the face of that out-of-nowhere story, I was momentarily at a loss for words, but I quickly snapped out of it and barely shook off Seol Ju-hee’s grip as I shouted.
“What the hell kind of nonsense is that? What did I do?!”
This was ridiculous.
Who was I supposed to be deceiving and manipulating?
“Seol Ju-hee. What the hell are you talking about?!”
“Yeah, there’s no way Ji-hyeok would do that...!”
Hong Yu-ra and Im A-rin seemed to disbelieve Seol Ju-hee’s absurd claim and took my side.
But.
“......”
Seol Ju-hee didn’t blink an eye as she glared at me like she wanted to kill me. She went over to the bag she’d thrown, pulled out a document envelope, and slammed it onto the table.
“...Try denying this.”
‘What the hell is that?’
While my eyes were drawn to the mysterious document envelope, Im A-rin darted forward and spread out its contents on the table.
Plop, plop—
From the document envelope Seol Ju-hee had tossed came a few photos and a small USB drive...
“...Huh...?”
Im A-rin, who had been looking at the scattered photos, suddenly looked flustered,
and Hong Yu-ra’s expression, as she checked the contents next, gradually hardened.
‘...What’s going on?’
The ominous reactions from the two of them.
Sensing something was wrong, I rushed over to them and checked the photos they were staring at.
And...
“...!”
I jumped in shock upon seeing the face of a man clearly captured in the photos.
It was me.
“...Th-this is...”
In the photo, I was rolling around in bed with a half-naked woman, wearing an incredibly innocent, blissful expression, as if I was having the time of my life.
‘What, what the hell is this...?’
I furrowed my brow at the unbelievable scene and examined the photo more closely, only to be stunned once again.
The man in the photo was definitely me.
No matter how similar a lookalike, the scar on my leg from a childhood injury matched perfectly.
But I had no memory of sleeping with a woman like that.
No, not once since falling into this world.
So what the hell was this photo?
‘What the hell is this...’
My mind went blank, and my heart pounded unpleasantly.
While I stood there dazed, staring blankly at myself in the photo.
Swish—
Hong Yu-ra picked up one of the photos on the table and raised a doubt.
“This... isn’t photoshopped, is it?”
“Ah...!”
“!”
I snapped back to reality and urgently turned to Seol Ju-hee.
Then.
“Ha.”
Seol Ju-hee let out a low, hollow laugh and pointed to the small USB on the table, leaving behind a meaningful remark.
“I didn’t believe it at first either.”
With just those words, a heavy silence settled over the living room.
Everyone’s eyes turned to the USB on the table.
Gulp—
I carefully picked up the USB and connected it straight to the TV.
Hoping desperately that Seol Ju-hee had just misunderstood.
But...
[Seol Ju-hee, that bitch... She just lives off her own hype, you know? So damn rude...]
[For real? Is she that rude?]
[No bitch is as much of a nightmare as her! She’s kinda pretty, so I let it slide, but her personality is trash...]
[Why didn’t you just fuck her and dump her?]
[That’s the thing with girls like her. Touch ’em wrong, and you’re screwed. Might as well let her spin webs for the rest of her life.]
“...Huh?”
Crushing my hopes, the me in the video was lying naked with the unidentified woman, spewing insults about the team members without restraint.
[What about Hong Yu-ra?]
[Hong Yu-ra? That big-titted bitch? She makes me wanna puke every time I see her. There’s such a thing as too big... Like a pig.]
[Nah... Don’t guys like ’em big?]
[Sure, but she crossed the line. And Hong Yu-ra’s such a stuck-up nag. Fuck one like her, and she’ll demand marriage or some shit?]
[Pfft...!]
“You...”
“No! That’s not me saying that!”
[Then... what about Im A-rin? She sucks too?]
[Im A-rin’s a bit better. But still kinda. Always begging for just a little taste, how...]
“...Ji, Ji-hyeok...”
“N-no!!!!!!!!!”
Unable to take it anymore, I hurled the remote at the TV in a rage.
Crack—!
The screen cracked and went black.
But the video didn’t stop, and the horrific conversation continued pouring from the speakers.
[Anyway, I’m sick of playing house with those bitches. Time to shake ’em down and bounce.]
[What’ll you live off then?]
[Sold some of their info and made a killing. Gonna chill overseas. Somewhere like Hawaii.]
[For real? Oppa, take me with you! Please?]
[You wanna go to Hawaii?]
[Yeah!]
[Do good tonight, and I’ll think about it.]
The conversation ended there.
Only sleazy wet sounds echoed through the living room, ending with the woman’s moaning gasps.
“......”
An unpleasant atmosphere settled over the living room.
“...Do Ji-hyeok...”
“...Ji-hyeok...”
I slowly turned at Hong Yu-ra and Im A-rin’s calls,
and my heart sank at their deeply distorted expressions.
“...G-guys... No... That’s not me...”
I desperately pleaded my innocence.
That it wasn’t my words.
That I’d never thought badly of you even once.
But...
The two were already too shocked to listen.
“N-no... It’s not...”
I flung the photos aside and clung to them, spilling out my grievances.
“A-rin! Th-this isn’t me! Look closer...!”
“Ji, Ji-hyeok...”
Im A-rin, looking troubled and at a loss.
“Yu, Yu-ra! Why would I say shit like that? You know I’m not that kind of guy...!”
“......”
Hong Yu-ra bit her lip hard and turned her head away instead of answering.
“Ju, Ju-hee. You know I can’t stand things I hate, right? How could I fake being with you all...! It’s all fake...!”
And Seol Ju-hee’s icy stare.
“...G-guys...”
Not one of the three was on my side.
‘You guys... think I’m that kind of bastard...?’
My head felt blank, like I’d been smashed with a hammer.
Betrayal, emptiness, disappointment—all sorts of negative emotions flooded my chest, and I had no idea how to prove this unfair, infuriating truth.
“No! It’s manipulated! Someone’s slandering me...!”
“Do Ji-hyeok.”
Seol Ju-hee’s cold voice pierced my ears.
My heart dropped at her tone, and I grabbed her urgently.
“Ju-hee. Who gave you this? You said you met the Guild Leader, right? Was it him?”
But.
“...I’m disappointed.”
Seol Ju-hee wouldn’t hear me out.
Her face was soaked in profound sadness, betrayal, and icy rage. Not a shred of trust remained in her eyes.
“I never knew you were that kind of scum...”
“Ju, Ju-hee! It’s not like that...! Yu, Yu-ra! A-rin!! It’s a misunderstanding!”
I clung desperately, trying to clear the misunderstanding, but...
“You should’ve... just told us... If you had...”
“...Ju, Ju-hee...”
No one would listen.
Was this what it felt like to have the ground crumble beneath you?
Excuses were pointless now.
Shouting at a wall would only echo back hollowly.
“......”
The loneliness I’d buried deep in my heart surged like a massive wave.
Drowning in solitude, I clamped my mouth shut, stood quietly, and looked over the three of them.
Hong Yu-ra staring blankly into space with a rigid face, Seol Ju-hee with her head down, fists trembling.
Only Im A-rin looked at me with disbelief.
“......”
I parted my heavy lips to say something to her.
Then.
Swish—
Im A-rin shed a single tear and quietly turned her head away,
I shut my mouth again, withdrew my gaze silently, turned, and headed to the entrance.
With a faint hope someone might stop me, I moved slowly, but...
“......”
No one did.
The next day.
I called Cheonhwa Guild Leader Gu Seok-il and asked about the meeting with Seol Ju-hee.
Who had handed over those materials?
What was the source?
But...
[I misjudged you. I’m deeply disappointed.]
Gu Seok-il expressed his disappointment as if he’d known everything, treating me like a petty traitor who’d forgotten favors and betrayed loyalties.
[Putting on all those airs with me... and you dare sell our internal info? That hungry for cash?]
I insisted the video was fabricated, that I’d never done such a thing, but...
[No more words. Get lost quietly. I’ve got no intention of working with trash like you.]
He hung up curtly, not even pretending to listen.
“Haa...”
A few days passed since that final call with Gu Seok-il.
After days of listlessly rolling around in bed, I stared blankly at the ceiling and forced my brain to work.
‘...That video... What the hell was it...’
The man in the video was unmistakably me.
No matter how advanced the tech, perfectly replicating scars, appearance, and voice was near impossible.
But I’d never done anything like that.
Buried in the office staring at monitors every day, managing the team was exhausting enough—when would I have time for that crap?
‘It has to be fake...’
I suspected as much, but couldn’t figure out how to prove it.
‘Some ability user?’
There were illusion creators, but none skilled enough to fabricate an entire video.
‘If I could find that woman...’
How do you find someone when you don’t even know her name?
“Fuck...”
No clue where to start, just endless frustration.
“I don’t even know anymore...”
Finally giving up on solving it, I pulled the blanket over my face and thought about the future.
‘What now...’
15 years ago.
After realizing this world was a novel with no dreams or hopes.
I’d run solely toward a peaceful ending.
I hadn’t become the protagonist as planned, but I’d raised the original protagonist Seol Ju-hee to the end and perfectly developed the doomed Hong Yu-ra and Im A-rin along the way.
Barring some sudden power creep, blocking the otherworld invasion and getting a peaceful ending shouldn’t be hard.
So...
After the ending?
What then?
“......”
Come to think of it, I hadn’t considered what happened post-ending.
If the author of ‘Supreme Expert’ had done epilogues or side stories, it might follow that, but...
I fell into this world right after the final chapter.
No idea what came after, and with all characters dead, unlikely any backstory.
“The end...”
A memory surfaced.
Back when we trained in boot camp together, huddling before bed for late-night talks.
—Ji-hyeok. If you make bank later, anything you wanna do?
I’d told Im A-rin I wanted to live in Hawaii.
I’d heard somewhere it was nice, that’s all.
Back when a major injury ended my hunter debut dreams, focused only on raising the three—answered casually.
‘...Hawaii...’
Coincidence?
The me in Seol Ju-hee’s video mentioned Hawaii too.
“Sigh... Fuck...”
Suddenly sour, I rolled onto my side and tried thinking of something else.
‘How much did I save?’
As Queens’ Lead Producer, I’d made good money.
Not obsessed with wealth, just saved steadily—enough to live off forever.
Hawaii included.
‘Maybe really go overseas.’
Unlike the original, happy ending guaranteed—no big worries.
Only issue: the massive misunderstanding with Queens, like family to me.
‘Now that I think about it, that’s shitty... Throw away 10 years of friendship over one fake video?’
Even I’d be confused by how cleverly done it was.
Whoever made it was creepy good.
Can’t blame them entirely, but...
Still felt resentful.
“...Haa...”
As I gathered my thoughts and planned ahead calmly.
Bzzz— bzzz—
My phone vibrated.
A message.
‘Maybe?’
With faint hope at the rare contact, I grabbed it quickly.
[Hunter High 36th: Hey?]
[Hunter High 36th: Busy?]
The sender was my old classmate Kim Jun-hyeong.
Prepared for hunter debut together, but he went civil servant.
“Tch...”
A bit deflated, I replied casually that I was resting at home.
Then...
Bzzz— bzzz—
Immediate reply from Kim Jun-hyeong.
[Hunter High 36th: Off today, huh]
[Hunter High 36th: Then help me with one thing]
“...?”