Kim Seo-yeon, with a look of embarrassment, tried to stop him from behind, but even that was pretense. I knew that the 'embarrassment' etched on her face was not because of what the man had done, but because of the lies she had told.
Honestly, it was ridiculous.
We didn't part on good terms, and yet, do people usually gossip about their ex-partners as if they were 'stalkers'?
'He's managed to make even the last bit of affection disappear.'
Even the good memories I had were deteriorating. Reflecting on it, I felt like I had lived a truly foolish life.
And the one who believed her and acted on it wasn't normal either.
Birds of a feather. There are no such perfect matches.
"Hey. Just listening, what kind of nonsense are you spouting?"
At that moment, Kim Hana stepped forward.
Her eyes blazing, she leaped up from her seat.
The man, Jung Jin-woo, sneered.
"What about you? Are you getting paid to act as a lover?"
"What?"
"How much did you get? Judging by your size, about 50? You must be struggling on your 230 salary, right? I'll give you double, so why don't you know your place?"
230, a specific number.
It seemed Kim Seo-yeon had opened up about everything to me, mostly the bad things.
It was the moment when five years of memories were flushed down the drain.
"โฆ I reserved this place myself and am treating you because I received some help? Don't talk so freely just because I'm openโฆ"
"Your price? 200 should do, right?"
Jung Jin-woo pulled out his wallet from his pocket and extended a bundle of 50,000 won bills.
Kim Hana looked at him with a face of utter disgust, as if she were looking at rotten filth.
"What kind of scumbag is this?"
"Scumbag?"
"Yeah, scumbag. Just because you have money, you think you can do anything? You're a failure as a person. What kind of life did you lead to become such a wretched person?"
"โฆ Are you crazy?"
Jung Jin-woo's expression hardened, and he raised his hand.
A normal person would just pretend, but Jung Jin-woo didn't stop there and swung his arm.
The moment Kim Hana instinctively squeezed her eyes shut.
Thud!
As he grabbed Jung Jin-woo's wrist, the man's eyebrows slightly raised.
"Ha, look at you, a so-called guide, stepping in."
"Let's talk outside."
"There's no need to talk outside. Get on your knees and apologizeโฆ Huh?!"
Kwaah!
Jung Jin-woo, who was continuing to speak, suddenly came to his senses.
The pain, as if his wrist was about to break, suddenly shot through his wrist.
'What, what? Why is this guy so strong?'
It wasn't the grip strength of an ordinary person.
How many people in the world could have such strength?
But as far as Jung Jin-woo knew, Park Hyun-myeong was a guy who had nothing to do with exercise.
A pathetic life, stuck in his room playing games unless it was work, home, or a date. There was no way such a guy had trained his grip strength professionally.
Then, could it be?
'Player?'
A player synchronized using a fragment of the broken Golden Rule?
No, that couldn't be. Synchronizing as a player turns you into a character in Pangenea's game. But Park Hyun-myeong in front of him was just Park Hyun-myeong.
So, he must have been born with such strength, but that was even more absurd.
"Are you thinking of talking outside now?"
"This guyโฆ"
Jung Jin-woo frowned, shaking his freed wrist.
Do you want to talk outside?
Forget it.
'You picked the wrong person to mess with.'
I can tolerate anything, but I can't stand being outdone by such a wretched person.
Park Hyun-myeong and I are on different levels. If I show any weakness to such a person, it would be the most embarrassing thing.
At that moment, a golden wave began to surge through Jung Jin-woo's entire body.
Jung Jin-woo was a player.
Using a fragment of the broken Golden Rule, he could synchronize with reality.
Becoming a warrior of Pangenea, he gained transcendence that even a thousand ordinary people couldn't defeat.
No matter how strong his grip was, he was still just an ordinary person. It was impossible to defeat a synchronized player.
Jung Jin-woo smiled meaningfully.
'I'll make you beg for forgiveness.'
The smile didn't fade as he thought about forcing him to kneel and apologize.
After all, the world had changed.
The future world would be led by players.
Already, he was being called and praised as a Dimension Warrior.
Who would criticize him for incapacitating just one ordinary person?
"What, what is that?"
"A Dimension Warrior!"
"Transforming? Really transforming?"
People began to murmur as they saw Jung Jin-woo's transformed appearance.
Blue hair. A muscular, well-built body. The appearance of a real warrior holding a spear.
Currently, there are fewer than a hundred known Dimension Warriors in Korea. Although Jung Jin-woo wasn't one of them, everyone was amazed by the appearance of such a rare being.
A true hero had appeared!
Jung Jin-woo's shoulders soared to the sky.
"Kneel, you scumbag."
Jung Jin-woo was relaxed. Although the duration of the Golden Rule was precious, it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. To completely erase Park Hyun-myeong from Kim Seo-yeon's eyes.
But his smile didn't last long.
Rumble!
'โฆ An earthquake?'
Suddenly, the ground began to shake, and cracks started to appear in the building.
The strange phenomenon didn't stop there.
"Monsters!"
"Aah!!"
Giant bean beetles.
Bean beetles about a meter in size with sharp teeth emerged from the ground.
Monsters that shouldn't exist on Earth.
But, a familiar appearance.
'Chidworms! An erosion?'
Erosion had started again.
Jung Jin-woo clenched his fist.
'Just level 2 monsters.'
No matter how many level 2 bean beetles there were, they were still just bean beetles.
They were slow and had low aggression.
In fact, the chidworms had only emerged from the ground and hadn't attacked humans yet.
But monsters themselves instill fear.
People were screaming in terror.
"Youโฆ, consider yourself lucky."
With the erosion starting, Park Hyun-myeong was no longer a problem.
Jung Jin-woo didn't miss the opportunity and stepped forward.
This was a golden opportunity to become a hero.
"Everyone! Don't worry! I, Jung Jin-woo, will protect you!"
How many people had become stars overnight after the previous Giant Mantis attack?
There was no rule that Jung Jin-woo couldn't become a real hero.
Swish!
He thrust his spear directly into the chidworm.
The chidworm's skin split, and it exploded. Although the slime splattered everywhere, Jung Jin-woo didn't stop.
Four chidworms had entered the restaurant.
In an instant, Jung Jin-woo dealt with all four, turned his spear, and surveyed the surroundings with a relaxed expression.
Click! Click!
People, without exception, raised their phones to capture Jung Jin-woo's image.
'It's done.'
Jung Jin-woo inwardly cheered.
It's done. Once the video is uploaded, he would become an overnight star the next day.
The thought made him feel pleased.
Rumble!
But the erosion and invasion were not over.
Chidworms began to crawl in from outside.
A large number of chidworms poured in.
"These bug bastardsโฆ"
Although there were many, it was actually a good thing.
It was an opportunity to show his heroic side to the world.
How many more chidworms did he catch as they pushed into the entrance?
-โฆ Who killed my children?
Something other than a chidworm entered.
Chid Mamba.
A monster with a fat human-like appearance on the skin of a chidworm!
Seeing the creature that appeared, spreading a poisonous fog, Jung Jin-woo's expression instantly hardened.
'Why is a main raid boss here?'
The Giant Mantis was also a field raid boss.
But the Chid Mamba was on a different level from a field raid boss.
It was a main raid boss, like the Hydra, requiring at least ten people. But it was even higher in rank than the Hydra.
"Aโฆ"
Jung Jin-woo's entire body stiffened.
The chidworm's slime, transformed into a neurotoxin by the Chid Mamba's skill, paralyzed Jung Jin-woo's body.
The Chid Mamba glared at the dead chidworms.
-My poor children. That human killed you, innocent as you were.
"Aaโฆ"
Drip, drip, drip.
As the Chid Mamba approached, Jung Jin-woo's urine trickled down his legs and onto the floor.
He was going to die. If he stayed still, he would die.
But his body wouldn't move. The Chid Mamba's hand swept across Jung Jin-woo's cheek. Trapped in the poisonous fog, Jung Jin-woo's body trembled, and his eyes rolled back.
And then.
"I'll kill them all! These monster bastards!"
Hallucinations began.
Jung Jin-woo, swinging his spear, started attacking people.
"Run, run!"
"Why are you doing this all of a sudden!"
Panic. To Jung Jin-woo, the people looked like chidworms.
Eventually, Jung Jin-woo's eyes turned to Kim Hana.
Instantly, fear filled Kim Hana's eyes.
'Aโฆ'
Jung Jin-woo was not in his right mind.
She had seen many people who were not in their right mind, but Jung Jin-woo was top-tier among them.
A bloodthirsty look in his eyes.
Her feet felt glued to the ground, unable to move.
"Grh, grh, grh!"
Madness. There was no other way to describe it.
Thud, thud, thud!
With his spear in hand, Jung Jin-woo began running madly toward Kim Hana.
"Die!"
Kim Hana squeezed her eyes shut.
And then.
Squish!
Thud!
A sharp sound of something thick being cut, and the situation ended.
Kim Hana opened her tightly closed eyes.
She saw Jung Jin-woo, looking bewildered, staring at his own arms.
"Huh? What's wrong? Where's my arm? Why is it on the floorโฆ?"
The arm that should have been attached was gone.
Precisely from the elbow, it was cleanly cut off like paper.