CH 5

I sank deeper and deeper into unconsciousness.

As my mind faded, I saw words appear before my eyes.

〈……

……

…….

(ORIGINAL KI YOON JAE POV)

He’s come too far to go back.

One of the two has to die. They were enemies who could not live under the same sky1.

Ki Yoon Jae stood proudly with his usual arrogant expression. Even though not everyone around him was on his side, he was acting as if they were.

It seemed that even if everyone turned their backs on him, he would still be the king. Of course, he would be more like a tyrant than a saint.

“Cough!”

A short dagger, stabbed into him by a surprise attack from behind, protruded out of Ki Yoon Jae’s chest.

There wasn’t a trace of disappointment on the face of the person who had a dagger in his body. Why?

Rather, the complexion of the one who stabbed him in the back darkened.

“Ah… I…”

“…Get out of my way, stupid bitch.”

As usual, Ki Yun Jae spat abusive language at Ha Eun Seo even though he’d been stabbed.

Now, Ha Eun Seo, blood drained from her face, couldn’t even get angry at the insults. So, she stepped back.

The dagger in the hands of the retreating Ha Eun Seo, the one that had pierced his chest, was now dripping with blood.

“That bitch was always useless.”

Even at his last moment, Ki Yoon Jae chuckled, still spewing insults. Then, he pulled out a cigarette from his blood stained vest.

People gathered to kill him, but they were all too overwhelmed by him to speak.

Even though he looks like he’s dying.

“Cough, cough… ugh. Huff! Fuck…”

Ki Yoon Jae bit the cigarette in his mouth. Then, he leaned against a pillar, sat down, and spat abusive language.

He held a silver zippo lighter in his hand, but his hands trembled and he could not light the fire. He gasped, his vision growing blurrier and blurrier.

***** (MC POV)

“Why did you do that?”

“…Uh?”

The response to my question was slow. Ki Yoon Jae2 looked back at me with an unfocused gaze.

“Why did you do that to others? Even if you don’t have an ability, you have money and you’re smart… You’re in a position that everyone would envy.”

“…”

“Didn’t you spend your life bullying others and taking away people’s things?”

“…What if I don’t take away other people’s things?”

Ki Yoon Jae laughed as if my question was ridiculous.

“If you don’t take it away, can everyone live happily ever after?”

“That…”

“Don’t you think there’s going to be a second Ki Yoon Jae? Or don’t you think there’s someone more stupid than me?”

“…”

“Or someone who isn’t even at my level fighting over those resources?”

Ki Yoon Jae, who was speaking, trembled as if he was struggling. The cigarette that barely hung from his lips fell and rolled onto the cement floor.

***** ( POV SHIFT ORIGINAL KYJ TO KHJ)

“Resources are limited, and there are countless young people who want to have them. Do you think my life would be better if I didn’t live like this?”

“…”

“No. Absolutely not.”

“…”

“I need to have the best so that I can protect what’s mine. You know what I mean, right, Ki Hyun Joo?”

At Ki Yoon Jae’s words, Ki Hyun Joo shook her head and bit her lips. Ki Yoon Jae’s hazy vision would not be able to see her, but his gaze was set squarely on her.

So, Ki Hyun Joo lowered her eyes and avoided Ki Yoon Jae’s gaze without responding.

Ki Yoon Jae smiled lightly. Strangely, among all the many people present, he was the only one speaking.

“Ah, what an idiot…”

“…”

“She couldn’t even stab my heart properly…”

Then, Ki Yoon Jae’s hand fell to the floor. No more breathing was heard from the tilted head.

It was a futile end for the heir to a major conglomerate and a scumbag who was criticized by everyone.

……

……

…….〉

(MC POV)

“Huh, is this how it ends?”

It was literally a fate that culminated in nothing. The ending of the villain, who had been blocking the main character since the first chapter, was truly empty.

I put down my cell phone and laid flat on the bed.

Of course, it’s not that I have a weird taste3 and rooted for the villain rather than the main character. Originally, people tremble in excitement anticipating the catharsis that may come from beating down villains like them.

‘Something’s off… I felt unsatisfied with it.’

At the same time, I thought of Ki Yoon Jae’s last moment. The sight of him struggling against his death was terrible.

If as soon as he was stabbed by a dagger, he said, “Ugh, save me!” and rolled around or something…

“It would be out of character.”

Um, it’s OOC. I kept thinking about his last moments. After his death, there will be a story where the main character saves the world without Ki Yoon Jae interrupting. He set up a harem and saved the world, but strangely, I was no longer interested.

Starting from the moment the first episode of the novel was released and throughout its paid serialization, every day had 100 won dedicated to “kill that bastard Ki Yoon Jae”. I think it’s thanks to someone leaving a comment saying, “Please kill him horribly.”

My hate left me feeling strangely empty.

“Oh, come on, you idiot.”

The main character is not dead, the villain is dead, but I can’t bring myself to like it…

Ki Yoon Jae was an annoying bastard, but his life was exhilarating.

He doesn’t lack anything; he has a lot of money, so he does whatever he wants. He lives life without needing to please others.

‘The problem is that he was merciless even to the weak…’

Still, it was amazing that ordinary people pushed the gifted people to this extent, even if he died because of it.

“If it were me… If I were Ki Yoon Jae…”

I wouldn’t have lived like that, I would have just played with the money I had. By the time the main character appeared, I would have stuck next to him, scratched his itches4, and sucked the honey5 while being like a friend.

‘Cause then you won’t die…’

The main character is unique, so I should go under the main character. Then, my life and property would be safe.

In that sense, Ki Yun Jae lived like a complete idiot.

What’s the point of being smart? He didn’t know the situation had already turned against him.

‘No, actually, he might have known…’

But he has a lot of pride. He may have feigned ignorance even though he knew he would not come out on top in the end.

Even if it meant his death, he couldn’t go under the one he bullied in the past…

So, he was betrayed and died.

You idiot.

*****

When I opened my eyes again, I was met with Ki Yoon Jae’s room instead of my familiar one.

‘What kind of transmigration is this?’

In other transmigration novels, buffers are given to manage the transmigrator’s mentality. Why don’t I have anything like that?

In reality, I’m a coward and I can’t act like the always confident Ki Yoon Jae.

‘Because I am not Ki Yoon Jae.’

I think I took the transmigration too lightly.

I knew about the attack beforehand and I thought that I could live a safe life if I just avoided the bombing.

I never thought death would follow me so closely.

I shivered again at the thought of blood flowing under the bodies scattered on the asphalt and I pulled the blanket over my head.

‘What should I do? What should I do…’

Those bodies could have been me. The thought of that made my body tremble even more.

I just wanted to stick to the main character. I want to go back to the world where there is no danger of being killed.

‘I want to go back…!’

But for some reason, the god who brought me here seemed to have no intention of sending me back.

When I was angry before, the system sent me a message. But now, as I lay shaking under a blanket, I was given no response to my question.

‘Why!? Why me?’

You can’t take advantage of a good-natured, unimposing guy like me! I started getting angry, if I’ve done something wrong then I just want it to say so.

Anger bubbled up in my stomach. I wanted to vent out my boiling anger somehow, so I screamed with my face buried in the pillow.

“AKKKKK!”

ARGH! AK! ARRGH! It was only after I screamed until my clogged up chest was empty that I could relax a little.

As I caught my breath, I heard the door opening. It seemed as if someone had heard my screams.

“Hyung6… Are you okay?”

A young voice belonging to a delicate beauty. Ha Hyun Seo was the youngest among Ki Yoon Jae’s gifted people.

I shifted the blanket covering me away from my body. Ha Hyun Seo had been looking at me, squatting down where he’d assumed my eyes might be.

“Hyung, are you in a lot of pain? Hyun Joo Noona7 said you didn’t look well even before she left.”

For them, Ki Yoon Jae’s current state would be embarrassing. It’s not like he hasn’t been attacked once or twice before. And even when he was attacked, he would laugh without blinking an eye.

They seemed to have misjudged him because they couldn’t explain why he would collapse unless he wasn’t feeling well.

‘If I were Ki Yoon Jae, that judgment would have been right.’

Because no one knows Ki Yoon Jae as well as Ki Hyun Joo, who has been constantly watching him. But I’m not Ki Yoon Jae, I just fainted because I don’t have that much courage.

T/N

Footnotes

Irreconcilable enmity.The Original Ki Yoon Jae.Weird likes and dislikes.Full idiom is scratch where it itches meaning to satisfy his/her need without having to ask the person.Helpful information.A word used by korean males to address another male older than them who they are close to. (In case someone didn’t know, I decided to insert this because I forgot to make notes in previous chapters)A word used by korean males to address female older than them who they are close to (biological or not).