Original Chapters: ???
31: the gamer and the manager (2)
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[SUB SCENARIO (Personal) - Haunted By The Past]
Category: Sub (Personal)
Difficulty: ???
Clear Condition(s): The constellation Love Me 'Till Death gives you the chance to unearth the history burried deep in your hearts. However, don't get too caught up in the past for you shall remain stuck in time if you are unable to untangle the knots in your hearts.
1. Find the answer to: Who are you?
2. Answer the question: Do you regret?
Time Limit: --
Reward: 20 000 coins
Failure: Remain in the past, never to return to your present.
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"Seriously, I can't even clean this mess up so I had to lure you wastes here. This part of the mountain barely has any visitors and I'm sure Junghyuk wouldn't stumble upon you guys by accident." Ahn Eun-Byeol sighed and stretched his limbs, throwing away the compound bow he'd been holding down the hill.
It landed beside the person who had an arrow piercing right through his forehead.
"Now, how should I deal with Choi Sooho?"
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"Why hasn't anyone found them yet?!" A young man kicked a bodyguard, who barely reacted from the hit. "It's just one useless gamer and a lanky manager; why haven't you guys dealt with them yet?!"
"Young master," the bodyguard replied as Choi Sooho gradually calmed down. "We conducted an investigation on Ahn Eun-Byeol after he managed to slip through our hands. It turns out, this person has quite... the history among gangsters."
"... gangsters? A lanky manager has ties to gangsters?" Choi Sooho asked in disbelief.
The bodyguard handed the folder in his hand to Choi Sooho. "This contains Ahn Eun-Byeol's known history. As for things we couldn't find out, I'm afraid this person is not so simple."
Choi Sooho flipped through the folder. As he scanned page by page, his complexion grew worse and worse.
This Ahn Eun-Byeol... has a history of suspected serial killings.
The first victims were his neighbors, which had no solid evidence, but there were some people who believed that he did it. However, those people disappeared a few weeks later. They were the second victims.
The third victim was a salaryman. That person was just the usual white-collared worker, he had no history of doing any crimes. There were only speculations that it was Eun-Byeol's doing but had no solid evidence either. In that case, he was just a suspect and was deemed innocent.
The fourth victim; however, this time, he managed to become the prime suspect due to the circumstances around the case. It was only him and the victim in the office at the time.
However, in the end, the case was ruled as suicide instead of murder.
There were more 'killings' but each and every one of them involved Eun-Byeol and sometimes, he was the prime suspect in each case.
Yet, he was never caught.
"Ahn Eun-Byeol is a headache for the police," the bodyguard spoke after he saw Choi Sooho close the folder. "Even though he'd been a witness and a suspect every time, they could never throw him to jail because he always ended up innocent.
"Furthermore, he has been in contact with gangsters since he was a child. From what we've investigated, most of the groups around Seoul and nearby cities answer to his call. We've been on high alert ever since but there's been no movements in Seoul right now.
"And, young master, I'm afraid that even if we stop searching for them now, Ahn Eun-Byeol would still hunt us down."
Choi Sooho's complexion turned as pale as snow, hands trembling in fear. Fuck, what kind of monster did I provoke?
...
Yoo Junghyuk glanced out the window from inside the cottage, seeing Eun-Byeol's figure sitting outside on a stump, talking with someone on the phone. Even though he wanted to go out and eavesdrop, Junghyuk's body refused to go outside.
This sub scenario was like a stage play where everyone in it were the actors. They have to follow the script and have no free will or ability to do an impromptu. All Junghyuk could do was watch as scenes after scenes played right in front of him.
This made him wonder what the beau was thinking about.
Also, it made Junghyuk think—how could someone like Eun-Byeol, who was like a king, die? When the beau stepped out earlier, he was certain that Eun-Byeol had gone out to kill their pursuers.
There were no blood splatters or any signs of a fight on his person, which meant that one should not offend Eun-Byeol since the consequences would be dire.
Even observing him from afar, Junghyuk, as someone who regressed and experienced many life and death scenarios, ascertained that Eun-Byeol had gone through the same thing... despite the fact that the Star Stream had yet to arrive.
This begs the question; who exactly was Eun-Byeol?
Right now, all he knew about this person was that he worked as a part-time manager and a full-time computer scientist.
...
The door clicked open, pulling Junghyuk out of his train of thoughts.
"You haven't eaten yet?" Eun-Byeol turned to him with furrowed eyebrows. "The fridge is fully-stocked, you know? I had it filled before I picked you up."
The manager paused, carefully checking Junghyuk's slightly pale complexion before sighing in helplessness. "You rest and I'll cook, alright? You can wash the dishes later."
"Okay."
The gamer's reaction was quite understandable. He probably had never experienced being chased down by some rich second-generation brat, or being hunted down for his life for that matter. Ahn Eun-Byeol, the manager, could only play down their situation a bit in front of Junghyuk.
As for Mia, that kid should be hidden quite well from the danger. He couldn't hide Junghyuk that way because he needed this guy to lure out the snake from its lair.
It's best to pull the roots instead of cutting down the grass. That way, Choi Sooho can't retaliate in the future and cause any more disturbance. Plus, Eun-Byeol was having fun chasing down this prey.
It has been a while since, you know, he dealt with a pest.
...
It didn't take the manager long to fix up dinner. The two of them ate in the living room while the news played on the television.
The current news on display was about the several corpses found in a deserted alley. It mentioned how brutally they were killed, and Yoo Junghyuk couldn't help but glance at the beau sitting at his side, eating gleefully as if he hadn't been the cause of those murders.
Obviously, those corpses belonged to the group of people who chased after the manager before Eun-Byeol had gone to pick him up earlier.
"What—" Junghyuk suddenly met Eun-Byeol's earthen eyes. "—are you looking at me for?"
"..." He just wondered where on earth did Eun-Byeol get the strength to kill five men who were obviously physically stronger than him based on the photos. After all, it wasn't like Eun-Byeol could use coins to level up his basic stats like in the 'apocalypse'.
"Byeol-hyung."
"Hmm?
"Who... exactly are you?" The question slipped through his mouth before Junghyuk even knew it. His question caused Eun-Byeol to press his lips together, as if thinking whether or not to answer.
"... I'm just an ordinary computer scientist. Nothing more." Though he answered, Junghyuk knew that it was only the surface level of Eun-Byeol's identity at this point of their lives. "Then," Eun-Byeol continued, surprising Junghyuk.
"Who are you?"
"I—"
The window suddenly shattered.
Eun-Byeol reacted faster than Junghyuk, and grabbed the gamer by the wrist. "Fuck," the manager cursed under his breath, dragging Junghyuk behind him. "There's a backdoor leading into the forest. It's pretty hidden with all the trees and bushes, so you can make your escape there.
"There's an entrance at the base of a dead tree 500 meters away from here to an underground shelter. It's pretty old and fits only one person. You head there and hide."
"What," Junghyuk stopped, feet glued to the ground. "Then, what about you? The people outside have guns—"
"Just go," the annoyed Eun-Byeol pushed the gamer forward. "You're a nuisance if you stay here."
"But Byeol-hyung!"
"Just go and hide, idiot! It's not like I'm going to die on my own."
A dreadful feeling overcame Yoo Junghyuk.
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Fine.
That dreadful feeling was a false alarm.
When the door to this underground shelter opened, he was met with Eun-Byeol's beaming smile, face and other parts of his body stained with blood. He even had the gal to boast about his achievements while helping Junghyuk out of the shelter.
"See? If you stayed back there, you would have gotten both of us killed. Trust my words next time."
Once Junghyuk properly stood on the ground, his body moved on its own and grabbed Eun-Byeol by the shoulders, fussing over him. "Hyung, are you hurt?! Why do you have so much blood on you?!"
But the regressor's thoughts were; he's quite sloppy taking care of them this time. Once upon a time, he might have been very expressive of his feelings. But the current Junghyuk had difficulty expressing them.
Still, it was a surprise to see the always neat and clean Eun-Byeol in such a mess.
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"..."
Yoo Junghyuk stood frozen against his will.
Just, what exactly was he looking at?
A group of dangerous-looking men stood in a row on both sides, welcoming him and Eun-Byeol. A few days ago, his manager told him that they would go to a more secure place than last time.
After all, Eun-Byeol already knew who was after their lives, where that bastard was based, and, well, from what Junghyuk knew, all the information about Choi Sooho was already in the palm of his manager's hands.
In the car that picked them up from the mountains, they sat together at the back. The driver had handed a folder to Eun-Byeol before starting the car.
There, Junghyuk caught a glimpse of the first page.
Name: Choi Sooho
Age: 29
Sex: Male
- goes to the bar and brings home two men every night
Junghyuk stopped reading instantly the second he saw that line. He felt like Choi Sooho's background would ruin his eyesight. The first line already ticked his nerves, any more would bring his blood to a boil.
A pair of fingers pinched his cheeks, causing Junghyuk to snap out of his thoughts. "What are you daydreaming there for," Eun-Byeol's eyes glistened in amusement. "You're not growing afraid of your manager now, are you?"
To be honest, Junghyuk could feel his heart beating fast out of fear. Perhaps the him before the apocalypse had grown terrified of Eun-Byeol.
The memories were now too far back in the past that Junghyuk couldn't remember just what kind of person he was. But he did know that he was just an ordinary person so the him before would have definitely been afraid of Eun-Byeol's deeds.
He could sense it right now.
The way his palms sweated.
His rapidly beating heart.
And how his eyes refused to look at his manager right in the face.
It all pointed to the fact that he had grown nervous being in close proximity to Eun-Byeol. The fact that there were a lot of dangerous-looking men in black added to his fear.
When he didn't answer, Eun-Byeol didn't speak anymore and resumed walking.
Junghyuk's body automatically followed, playing out the memory.
"We'll stay here for now," his manager spoke after a long time of being silent. Junghyuk's tense body remained as such, even when they reached what seemed to be the living room. "Mia's staying in another base which has more security measures."
Eun-Byeol paused, as if thinking about something, and continued, "What we're going to do here on out is to lure Choi Sooho into having a sense of security. Right now, he's probably terrified that I'd go for his throat but—" Playing with a prey is better than murdering them outright.
The rest of his words got stuck in his throat when he realized Junghyuk's condition.
This kid's show of concern earlier was probably because Eun-Byeol's actions had yet to sink in.
So, now, the kid he'd been managing for the past decade had grown fearful of him.
How... boring, the current Eun-Byeol couldn't help but think, ignoring the way his heart constricted in both anger and disappointment. I thought that after all of that, that he and I...
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The beau of the third round was about to go insane.
He wanted to beat the shit out of Junghyuk but his body wouldn't even listen. It went through the motion, as if following several sets of pre-programmed commands, and acted out a script. No matter how much he wanted to beat up Junghyuk, his body simply refused.
He couldn't even give him the stink eye.
Gosh, he couldn't help but sigh internally. How I miss Dokja-shi. I'm getting sick of seeing Yoo Junghyuk's face.
The only good thing that came out of this sub scenario was that he could finally find out his connection to Yoo Junghyuk.
But something troubled him.
And that point was, he could remember everything about his past. From the moment he could recognize the world up until the present, he remembered it all.
Yet, what he was seeing right now were things that hadn't happened in his life at all.
Especially how... his little sister didn't seem to exist.
His little sister, his Binna that he treasured in the palm of his hands, wasn't here. When he scrolled through his phone, the emergency contact wasn't named Binna, but was named after Junghyuk of all people.
Why?
If this 'past' is real, then it must exist in another world. Everything about this past is nearly identical to the world Eun-Byeol knows, after all.
Just that, Binna wasn't here nor... Dokja-shi.
Why isn't Binna here? When I went home earlier, it wasn't my childhood house. There was no lab nor were there any signs of Binna. Then, why am I managing a professional player? A computer scientist? I've never designed software or hardware in my life. My job used to be a Public Relations Manager. That's why I know how to read people, how important my image is supposed to be. So that I can support Binna.
Everything points down to one reason; this must be an alternate reality. But that doesn't answer why Binna nor Dokja-shi aren't here or why they have no traces in this world.
The more Eun-Byeol thought about it, the more he grew stressed, the more his patience grew thin.
My Binna, my Dokja-shi, why are they not here?!
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bb byeol, don't stress!
you can hug bb binna as soon as you finish the scenario!
Anyway, I found this and my mind's being over imaginative BECAUSE WHAT IF ONE OF 'EM WEARS THEM, I'LL GO FERAL😭😭😭