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When I thought of the image that I could see even with my eyes closed, my legs moved on their own. As I walked up the jagged cement stairs and passed the narrow alley, my body grew fatigued, but my steps grew faster. As I sped up, my breath grew short due to my rising anticipation.
I can see it.
I could see an old blue gate with slightly chipped paint. If you went inside the alley next to it…
“Oh…”
I stood, stunned. It was definitely the place, but the green roofed house I was looking for was absent.
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“As expected.”
I couldn’t overcome my disappointment by acknowledging that fact. It was hard to call Ki Yoon Jae’s mansion my home, it was a place where I always had to be on guard. The house I used to live in before I possessed this body was small and old, but at least I could relax.
When I returned home late in the evening after finishing my part-time job, I drank a can of beer from a shop I had to pass by on the journey home, watched TV, played on my mobile phone, and fell asleep…
The next day would be another tiring day, but I was able to relax here.
Disappointment enveloped my whole body. I stumbled, feeling dead on my feet as I leaned against the wall. My body slid down and I just sat, leaning back. I couldn’t bring myself to care about the loss of my expensive clothes that would get dust on them this way.
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“Haa…”
I had nowhere that would put my mind at ease. It was so ironic. When I had nothing, I had a place to feel at ease, but now, when I had everything, I had nothing.
People, places, things, nothing.
I hugged my knees and buried my face into them. I wanted to dissolve into the floor and disappear.
“Heh! Heh! Heh!”
Suddenly, I heard a harsh breathing sound, and something warm touched my hand. When I looked up in surprise, there was a furball in front of me.
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“W-what’s this?”
The sound of rough breathing was coming from a furball. When I looked closely, it wasn’t just a furball…
“Isn’t this a dog…?”
“Heh! Heh!”
Only after looking at it closely could I tell it was a dog. Its silhouette was entirely obscured by long fur.
The part that looked like its head was also covered in fur, so it was difficult to come to that conclusion without seeing its tongue sticking out.
Even the legs were covered by long fur and the tail was not even a finger’s breadth, making it difficult to distinguish between its front and back.
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“You look really weird.”
“Woof!”
The dog barked angrily at what I said and I smirked. I reached out and stroked its fur in apology. From a gentle sweep of its fur without finding a single tangle, it seemed to be a local dog that had strayed from its owner’s side.
“Cookie a~.”
“Woof!”
The dog barked when someone’s voice was heard beyond the wall. Its short tail began to shake more frantically than before.
“Cookie, why are you outside… Who is it?”
“Uh…”
A boy around my age appeared from beyond the wall. In one hand, he held a dog food bowl. Being suddenly caught sitting in front of a stranger, my face turned red with embarrassment. Because of that, I twisted my ankle while attempting to urgently stand up.
“Oh!”
I stumbled, failing to keep my balance and falling backwards. When I closed my eyes reflexively to prepare for the impact, I heard the sound of pouring before someone grabbed my body mid-fall.
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“Woof! Arrrr…!”
“Ah…”
“Are you all right?”
When I opened my eyes slightly, the boy was now holding me. The dog bowl in his hand had turned upside down, and the food it held was scattered on the ground, so it seemed that the source of the pouring sound originated from there.
The dog called Cookie was barking, jumping up and down as if angry that his food had spilled out.
Wait a minute…
It was strangely familiar. Of course, it wasn’t like we knew each other before I possessed this body.
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It remained faint in my memory. This boy and the dog named Cookie, where had I seen them…
“…Ugh!”
I was startled by a sudden recollection.
“The third-rate novel!”
“The third-rate novel?”
He was the main character of this crazy third-rate novel! I thought I’d seen him somewhere, and he was exactly what was on the cover!
He’s not exactly the same since he’s still young, but…
The dog, Cookie, was exactly the same. That furball that you can’t even distinguish the front and back of! No, it wasn’t even a dog! It’s actually…
You’re pretending to be something else, but in reality you’re a divine beast.
It was the divine beast that Ki Yoon Jae tried to take away from the main character. Wait! The main character lives where I used to live? What a coincidence!
I don’t know who made the editorial decision, but it was really amazing to the extent that I couldn’t breathe properly through my nose. No, but could we meet like this? Ki Yoon Jae and the main character meet after the main character awakens his ability.
“Ah, my head…”
“Oh, are you okay?”
When I touched my throbbing forehead, the main character hugged my body tighter in surprise. Even though he was a middle school student, it felt awkward to be hugged by a fellow man. I pushed against my opponent’s chest with both hands to tell him to let me go, but the main character did not let go.
“Um, can you let me go?”
“Are you all right?”
What does he mean by ‘are you all right’…? I reluctantly nodded to the main character who kept asking me if I was okay, and he finally moved his arms that wrapped around my waist.
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Why did… we meet here? Chalking it up to fate was too much, and if it was someone’s idea of a prank, the quality was poor. I couldn’t believe the villain and the protagonist who will risk their lives against each other in the future meet even before the beginning of the original story. I was disconcerted.
Let’s avoid him.
We met so suddenly that I couldn’t decide how to treat him. So, as soon as the main character let me go, I turned and walked away.
“Uh, hey…”
The main character began speaking behind me, but I pretended not to hear him. As I walked, footsteps that did not belong to me followed behind.
I glanced back and saw the main character following me! Him, along with the divine beast pretending to be Cookie!
Hiik…!
Why are you following me? What should I do if the person I’m trying to avoid follows me? Feeling impatient, I walked faster. But the more I did, the faster the main character became.
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Don’t be like this…
Tears welled up in my eyes. The fast-paced steps almost reached a critical level, and out of nowhere, the main character and I had begun competitively racing through the shanty town in the middle of a cold winter.
“Gasp…! Gasp…!”
Fucking stamina. I didn’t know if it was because I’d been attached to the mansion recently or whether Ki Yoon Jae’s physical strength itself was poor, but I was out of breath.
When it became difficult to walk any longer and the pace gradually slowed down, we reached a place where we could clearly view the scenery.
“Gasp! Why, whew… Why are you chasing me?”
I asked the main character who had been chasing me while panting. Unlike me, the main character didn’t look tired at all.
Damn it… I need to exercise…
""
“I thought you wouldn’t know the way around here… since… the road is a bit rough and dangerous.”
Whilst I made the resolve to start exercising when I returned to my mansion, the main character blushed and told me this, scratching the back of his head.
If it was Ki Yoon Jae, he wouldn’t know the way here, but I knew this place like it was the back of my hand. In conclusion, the main character knew where the rough and dangerous parts of the road were. However, the main character’s concern was useless.
Why is he so kind?
Is it thanks to his kindness that he became the main character? He had been helping me since the start, even though I didn’t even say hello and just left. I couldn’t help but feel anxious.
It was time for me to consider how to treat him.
“Um, what’s your name? I’m Jang Eui Yeol. The Eui is for justice (의), not teeth (이).”
“I know.”
“Huh? How do you know?”
Oops, that was a mistake. I was lost in other thoughts, and said that without realising it.
Jang Eui Yeol was left flustered because he didn’t know how to beat around the bush. He was curious about the answer, but didn’t ask anymore out of worry that I would be put in an awkward situation.
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Damn it… he’s such a nice guy. In the original novel, he was so considerate and generous in the beginning, so I often criticised him for being a pushover.
It feels different when that consideration is directed to me…
I stared at him, and Jang Eui Yeol’s face became red. I was ambivalent when he asked my name again in a quiet voice.
Was it okay to let him know? I thought about it for a while, but I judged that knowing his name would not have a big impact on the original novel’s framework.
“I…”
“Hey, Ki Yoon Jae, you fucking bastard!”
It was when I opened my mouth that someone further down the road shouted. As I turned my head after being interrupted, Jang Eui Yeol also looked in the direction I’d turned.
Jung Yi Joon was there, huffing as he dashed upwards.