Tutorial (2).

The scar on my upper body was long and deep, as if a knife had been dragged across it. The burn-like marks that remained made it look like a serious wound no matter who saw it. I was surprised myself, so how much worse must it have been for Yoo Dahui?

“U-uh…?”

Yoo Dahui’s lips trembled as she tried to speak but couldn’t.

She made no attempt to hide her panic, her hands shaking so hard I could see it.

The emotion I saw on her face was nothing but guilt.

‘Now’s my chance.’

This was the perfect opening.

I didn’t know why the scar was there, but right now, there was no way to find out.

It was right to take this chance instead of wasting time worrying about it.

If I missed this opportunity, I’d be dragged around like a dog on a leash.

That was no way to live.

I was going to take back control no matter what.

Put some emotion into my voice.

I had always wanted to be an actor at some point when I was little, right?

I was going to use that feeling to fool Yoo Dahui.

“So? Did you figure out everything?”

“U-uh…?”

I erased the lingering emotion and made my tone as cold as possible.

I threw some firewood onto the mistake Yoo Dahui was already thinking about.

Doubt piled on doubt, and at the last second I faced the result of being wrong.

She had to be feeling a lot of anxiety and ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠unease.

I picked up the half-torn shirt and stashed it in my inventory, then took out my combat gear.

Lucky I hadn’t thrown it away.

The military uniform would have been awkward to discard.

“Are we done now? Can I go?”

“No…! No, wait… Why not? Why not?! I don’t even understand what you’re saying. You’re suspecting innocent people and pushing them around. Did ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠you used to be like that? In my dreams… Never mind. Let’s just stop talking.”

“Hey! Hey! Kim Jinwoo! Wait a second!”

I was turning my back to leave when Yoo Dahui blocked me in a panic.

She was too fast for level two agility to even explain.

I adjusted my evaluation to level three.

Yoo Dahui stood in front of me, trembling all over, clutching her head.

Desperation was clear in the way she muttered to herself.

“Think… think about it… My head hurts too…”

“What am I supposed to think about? What do you need more? Do you want me to show you again?”

“No! That’s not it! I didn’t come here to do this!”

I was about to strip off my shirt when Yoo Dahui grabbed my arm and stopped me.

She didn’t seem like she wanted to see any more.

The idea that Kim Jinwoo was the masked man had completely fallen apart.

Yoo Dahui spoke with a stammer, grabbing my hand.

“I’m sorry. I’ll apologize. I’m really sorry for doubting you, and I’m sorry for pushing you like this.”

“Ah.”

A pathetic apology.

But sincerity came through.

The unsettled look in her eyes overflowed with guilt toward me.

‘Now what?’

I’d already blurted it out, but the aftermath was going to be a pain.

If I just walked away now, what then?

I couldn’t spend my whole life avoiding her.

If I thought about Yoo Dahui laughing with another guy, the blood in my veins would boil over.

I had to keep her tied to my side forever. How was I supposed to do that?

At that moment, a single tear rolled down Yoo Dahui’s cheek as she kept her head lowered.

“Just forgive me this once… Please. I can’t live without you…”

* * *

When Yoo Dahui was first summoned, the cute fairy had told her.

─ From the moment you are summoned here, you can no longer return to your original dimension. If you want to go back, you must reach the end of the Tower.

The monster’s head with green skin burst. Blood sprayed in every direction. The headless body fell forward and crashed to the ground.

Yoo Dahui only figured out the situation late. She wanted to scream, but no sound came out of her throat. It felt like a warning: scream and you die.

─ Clear the Field Boss. Any means or methods are allowed.

The fairy floated high above, unreachable. It said its piece and vanished. For some reason, its words sounded huge right in front of you.

‘What the hell? Where even is this…’

A member of the Korean Party came to pick her up in front of the panicked Yoo Dahui. She joined the party thinking meeting another Korean was good luck. There she met Kim Jinwoo.

‘Soldier.’

At first, she didn’t think much of it. The military uniform and hat gave her a little pity, but she didn’t see Kim Jinwoo as anything special.

“Dahui, run away…!”

Exactly on the third day of the dungeon, the Korean Party wiped out completely. The last thing Yoo Dahui saw was Kim Jinwoo’s terrified face. Why would he sacrifice himself like that while looking so scared…

“Ah.”

Yoo Dahui died not long after.

[‘Return by Death’ has activated.]

And the tutorial started over. Yoo Dahui couldn’t understand it. But the sensations she felt were real. She thought she was dead, yet she was alive again.

But her second loop didn’t last long. She kept remembering the face of Kim Jinwoo she’d seen last and wandered alone.

[‘Return by Death’ has activated.]

Third death. Fourth start. Yoo Dahui realized that when she died, the world reset. She couldn’t pretend she didn’t know anymore, so she confidently joined the Korean Party again.

And she met him. The man with the mask, the masked man. He subdued her and raped her. He violated the one man had never touched in her entire life.

‘I’ll kill him.’

She met Kim Jinwoo again. He looked so much like the masked man. The body shape, the voice tone, the smell. Her brain was convinced the masked man was Kim Jinwoo.

‘But… no way.’

The more time she spent with him, the harder she rationalized it. The inexplicable kindness she received from him kept hitting her. All her life she’d had men who wanted something from her, yet with Kim Jinwoo she felt nothing like that.

Kim Jinwoo wasn’t the masked man. He was an entirely different person. She kept trying to drop her suspicions. She grew attached to him while they were together, and things just went smoothly. She felt a slight sense of otherness around him and other players, but she ignored it.

Why had Kim Jinwoo raped her? Why had he been so kind and then forced her to do that? They were so compatible they even matched her preferences perfectly. If it hadn’t been for that mysterious masked man, they might have gotten even closer. The unanswered questions were making Yoo Dahui frustrated too.

“Jeong Hyeonjae… Lee Hyeong-u… Dwarf Poreng…”

Then, in this loop, the names of people Kim Jinwoo hadn’t met this time appeared. At that moment, Yoo Dahui couldn’t hold herself together. The doubts she’d been suppressing finally burst open because of the keyword “regression.” She wanted to check. Was Kim Jinwoo the same as the masked man? She wanted to confront him directly and settle it.

‘Why is he hiding it?’

Watching Kim Jinwoo refuse to show her, Yoo Dahui grew certain. The fiercer her certainty, the harsher the words that came out of her mouth. There was no decent woman left in front of the man who had raped her.

She had planned to reveal Kim Jinwoo’s true identity here and kill him. She had thought that way until she saw the scar on the masked man that she had never seen before.

“Did you figure out everything?”

Yoo Dahui couldn’t answer to Kim Jinwoo’s cold reaction. The excuses rising to the tip of her tongue wouldn’t come out. The doubts she’d always had were choking her.

When she saw him putting on the combat gear and trying to leave, Yoo Dahui couldn’t say a normal word. She could only think of grabbing his hand, crying a little with tears she didn’t know why she was shedding, and begging.

“Just forgive me this once… Please. I can’t live without you…”

Kim Jinwoo turned his back on her even after hearing her plea. There was no hesitation in his movement. If he were going to face the truth and “return,” but if Kim Jinwoo thought of “returning” as inheriting memories in a similar way, he could never return like that. He had to somehow turn his heart around and start over from the beginning.

‘No. No. No…’

Yoo Dahui decided to tell him why she had started suspecting him so much. Even if he had dirtied her, she wanted to change his mind.

* * *

Knock knock.

I left Yoo Dahui behind and returned to the inn, the Rest Area.

Leaving her alone had been a gamble on my part too.

But the face of Yoo Dahui I had seen last time was one of genuine regret.

Why did I feel this emotion?

Even after reading the novel cover to cover, I couldn’t understand it.

But Yoo Dahui clearly felt more than just apology from me.

Love?

If I were asked if we had that kind of mutual exchange, I would have answered no without a doubt.

I had worked hard to look good using novel information, but—

You know.

There had been nothing weird about us.

Still, I trusted what I had seen and rolled the dice.

Or I had planned to push her away with “Moron” in the next loop.

It was already halfway there anyway.

— Jinwoo. Let’s talk.

As a result, Yoo Dahui was still not “returning” and kept knocking on my door.

She wanted to fix it this loop.

I had no idea how to fix this situation, but—

I guess she came because she had a last resort.

Thinking that way, I stood in front of the door still fuming.

“What are you talking about? Didn’t everything already end earlier?”

— Look at my face and listen to me. I’m sorry about what happened earlier. I was wrong. Please…

Her voice was thick with tears as she begged.

It ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠was pitiful and tragic.

She came out so low that my conscience hurt badly.

I didn’t want to drag it out any longer, so I opened the door just in case All Mighty was listening.

“What is that?”

Yoo Dahui hadn’t come in with her bare hands.

She had entered holding soju in both hands wrapped in a bag.

“…Alcohol.”

“I know what it is, but why did you bring it?”

“Because it might get long.”