The Main Character Killed The Villain

#013

Is he teasing me now, or is he worried?

Unable to tell, I glared at the screen, and Nine made a fuss.

: Oh no, I forgot the disinfectant!

And immediately, disinfectant fell from thin air with a poof. Seeing the disinfectant roll and fall at my feet, I felt a little more at ease. It’s just an issue with the quest text, but I guess he gave it out of concern.

‘I guess only the system in this game cares about me…’

Nine was crying hard on the screen, saying I wasn’t disinfecting quickly enough.

Finally, with Nine’s encouragement, I poured disinfectant on my hand. After disinfecting to remove the glass shards, it seemed that a simple band-aid wouldn’t be enough.

“I guess I need to go to… orthopedics?”

While I was contemplating, Nine processed the quest as complete just for pouring the disinfectant. The completion reward was a one-time use pass for the Awakened Medical Center. It said ‘Available for Psychiatry and Orthopedics’.

The timing is really perfect. I needed psychiatric medication anyway. I’m not sure which one is the main purpose, but it would be ideal to stop by orthopedics to get my hand stitched up too.

‘So I have to go to the Awakened Center…’

I wanted to stay listlessly sprawled out, but fearing that a new quest might pop up if I didn’t use the reward, I slowly got up.

I couldn’t take the subway with blood still dripping from my hand, so I temporarily wrapped it with tissue. Only after seeing the blood oozing through the cracked skin did I realize that treatment was urgently needed.

: Oh, Yeonsoo! You did well! Yeonsoo successfully changed the flow!

Changed the flow?

: The previously published writings are synchronized with the current time in real-time! From now on, it’s the story that Yeonsoo creates! Keep changing the big picture!

“So… does that mean the future where I left in chapter 68 is all gone?”

: That’s right! I can’t explain any further! Now hurry and get treatment!

I’m not sure what turning point changed what, but I felt certain it was good for me.

I decided to go for treatment with a slightly lighter heart.

All the way to the Awakened Center entrance, people kept glancing at my bleeding hand, making me feel sorry for Lee Jaeha. I thought I might be creating a bad image because I couldn’t control myself for a moment.

‘The Medical Center is… this way?’

After scanning the code from the Awakened Management app at the entrance and going in, I was looking at the guide sign when my phone suddenly rang.

‘Why is Hyun Dowoon calling again…?’

I came out desperately praying not to get involved with the protagonists anymore today.

Feeling my face involuntarily contort, I slowly answered the phone.

“Hello?”

– Lee Jaeha. This is Hyun Dowoon. Can we meet today?

Did I leave my schedule with him? Even Hyun Dowoon, who seemed more reasonable compared to Shin Haejun, appeared arrogant as befitting an S-class. Why does he keep requesting same-day meetings?

“To…day?”

– Yes, aren’t you on the first floor of the center now?

“How do you know that?”

Is he monitoring me from somewhere? As I looked around in surprise, I soon heard a tapping sound from behind.

‘No wonder the center was quiet.’

Of course it’s quiet when the center director is on the first floor. Why is someone of his position on the first floor anyway?

I turned around quietly as soon as I sensed it was Hyun Dowoon.

“So we meet again like this.”

– So we meet again like this.

Hyun Dowoon’s voice was heard simultaneously from the front and in my ear.

I tried not to make an uncomfortable expression as I watched him hang up the phone.

“Do you have an appointment?”

“Ah… I got a pass for the Medical Center.”

Why am I telling him this so readily?

But it also seemed strange to lie or deflect about something like this.

“Medical Center… hmm.”

Hyun Dowoon’s gaze lightly swept over me from top to bottom. His eyes slightly narrowed when he saw my hand wrapped in tissue.

“It seems the bleeding hasn’t stopped.”

The tissue had become soggy. I was already feeling a bit dizzy from the sudden blood loss.

‘If you see it, just leave me alone…’

I sighed and nodded. Then Hyun Dowoon looked around once and led me towards the elevator.

Hyun Dowoon was strangely quiet all the way to the center director’s office. Instead of the relaxed expression he had when I first saw him, his lips were tightly pressed. When I tried to fidget with my fingers out of awkwardness, Hyun Dowoon grabbed my wrist.

“Since you’re trying to move your injured hand, it’s better to keep it still.”

Being held by his large hand felt strange. I didn’t think Lee Jaeha was lacking in any way, but seeing this, it felt like a child’s hand in an adult’s. Hyun Dowoon held my wrist gently as if holding a treasure, seemingly not wanting to burst my blood vessels further.

I thought it was fortunate that he didn’t ask anything, but that attitude changed as soon as we entered the center director’s office.

“Who did this to you?”

“…Why do you care?”

I snapped back while checking Hyun Dowoon’s expression to see if he was upset. I thought it would be trouble if Hyun Dowoon started bothering me too, given that I was already on bad terms with Shin Haejun, but I couldn’t help but dislike S-class Espers equally.

“Let’s sit over there first. You shouldn’t wrap injuries with tissue like this. Tissue particles stick to the wound.”

Hyun Dowoon frowned and led me to sit on the sofa.

When we removed the rolled-up tissue, blood and tissue pieces were indeed stuck to the wound. I had to nod quietly at his very reasonable words.

“Ah.”

I winced and glared at my palm where blood was still seeping out.

“Why did you bring me here? Shouldn’t we stitch it up quickly…?”

“I brought you here with some consideration. It’s better for you to meet me than anyone else in the Medical Center.”

Saying that, Hyun Dowoon’s hands covered my palm. After a moment’s hesitation, probably worried about getting blood on him, a white light burst from his hands.

“…Wow.”

I stared blankly at my hand as the skin knitted together under the light Hyun Dowoon created. It felt like witnessing a miracle.

“It’s a clean and pretty hand. We can’t let it scar.”

After saying that, Hyun Dowoon smiled slightly, saying he must have returned from eating out to meet me like this.

I rotated my hand this way and that, my eyes shining.

“It’s amazing.”

“You don’t seem to know much about my abilities, do you?”

At Hyun Dowoon’s question, I quietly closed my mouth and watched his reaction.

“Even so, aren’t you too uninterested in the center director? I’m one of the few S-class Espers in Korea, you know.”

No, if I had read about it directly, I would know. But isn’t this the first time I’m seeing this? I still didn’t know what Shin Haejun’s ability was.

“My most well-known ability is healing.”

“Ah… So does the center director go to dungeons too?”

“Usually, I don’t do frontline support. The Medical Center is where most Espers with healing abilities are, but that’s not why.”

I nodded at Shin Haejun’s words. Come to think of it, it would be a bit funny for the center director to personally go into dungeons.

“According to the law, I go to a dungeon exactly once a month, but usually I’m too busy with work to do dungeon activities.”

I had just thought it was funny, but now I nodded again hearing it was the law. Then I sat awkwardly, watching Hyun Dowoon’s reaction.

“What’s the real reason you brought me here?”

When he asked to meet, there must have been a reason. Healing my wound must be just an additional service.

When I cautiously asked, Hyun Dowoon tapped the sofa rhythmically. The rhythmic tapping sound was pleasant to hear. If only it wasn’t a habit that came out while choosing his words to tell me.

“I received a report about the recent S-class Yellow Dungeon… and I thought I needed to have an interview with Lee Jaeha.”

“An interview…?”

“I heard there was some conflict in the dungeon, is that right?”

Am I being interrogated now? I reluctantly nodded while subtly shrinking.

“What was the problem?”

“Well… Since I’m an F-class guide alone, I decided to collect dungeon by-products. So I was on my way to collect them when I encountered a monster that the Esper team hadn’t managed to catch.”

“I can guess what happened after that. Why did you run towards the base camp after encountering the monster? The monster could have endangered the base camp.”

“If even the base camp with S-class and A-class Espers couldn’t handle it, what was I supposed to do? Die quietly?”

“Good.”

Hyun Dowoon nodded and sighed softly. My gaze involuntarily went to his well-shaped lips as a long breath escaped from them.

How should I handle this heavy atmosphere? I felt a bit frustrated that even the quests I disliked weren’t popping up, as I waited for Hyun Dowoon’s words.

I felt like an obedient puppy.

“Kim Sehyun recommended Lee Jaeha to enter the S-class dungeon, and because of that, there have been rumors mentioning Kim Sehyun’s past background.”

“Who said what?”

“Kim Sehyun was once an F-class guide. Just like Lee Jaeha. So there’s talk that he might have pushed his friend in because he’s hung up on the past.”

Uh… I rolled my eyes for a moment and then spoke carefully.

“I don’t know what better action I should have taken there. Anyway, aren’t the people saying such things disregarding Sehyun’s and the center director’s judgment and decisions?”

This much was certain. Not just an F-class like me, even if Kim Sehyun had been in that situation, he would have had no choice but to run towards the base camp. I think those criticizing me are just people who only know how to talk.

‘Maybe… was there a better way?’

Even though I thought it wasn’t my fault, I suddenly felt very anxious. After all, if many people say something is strange, it must really be strange.

As I bit my lip, suddenly the heavy atmosphere Hyun Dowoon had been maintaining lightened.

“You’re right. Lee Jaeha didn’t do anything wrong. There’s no need to bite your lip as if you did something wrong.”

Really? I stared intently at Hyun Dowoon, then suddenly realizing I was hanging on his every word with my eyes, I quickly looked down.

“Anyway, Kim Sehyun said he wants to keep taking you to dungeons. But it’s obvious that problems will continue to occur.”

“…So?”

“Have you ever thought about working as an employee at the Awakened Center? If you’re an office worker, you don’t have to go to dungeons. I’ll bring you some juice, think about it carefully in the meantime.”

With those words, Hyun Dowoon disappeared behind the partition.

Feeling a slight headache, I took out my ringing phone. I couldn’t tell if the author wanted me to be Kim Sehyun’s sidekick or become a regular employee at the Awakened Center.

: *Cherish your friendship*

Quest Grade: D

You promised to always be by your friend’s side! You’re not thinking of breaking that promise now, are you? Don’t send your friend to the dungeon alone!

TIP: The salary for a regular employee is pretty low…

Reward: ???

I see. So they want me to be an eternal sidekick.

Feeling suddenly indignant, I clenched my fist on my knee.