The number-one line I hate hearing most: "While everyone else was growing, what were you doing?"
Jioh felt wronged.
If it was milk, she'd drunk twice as much as other kids, and she slept so hard people said, isn't that basically a corpse?
But—she didn't grow.
She even complained to Madam Park out of sheer injustice.
"Mom, what happened to your daughter's growth plates?"
"Your dad was a bit short."
"Then why are Gyeon Riok and Gyeon Geum-hee tall!"
"Luckily, they take after me."
It was a moment when she resented a father whose face she couldn't even remember.
Anyway, the reason she's bringing this up:
Because she was born peanut-sized, she's been stopped on the street more than a few times. Despite having a fairly chilly look.
So when it came to fending off proselytizers, you could say Jioh was half a pro by now.
"Please help me."
"Salvation is self-serve. Salvation is self-serve."
Back off, whether you're Doseng or Shincheonji.
No, I don't care about your MBTI. I already know it. I'm a cinnamon roll who could kill you.
Ugh, I should just buy a monk's robe or something. Clicking her tongue as she turned, Jioh flinched.
"Way too handsome for a cult peddler."
And—
"Shoujo eyes with shonen heat?"
Studying him up and down, Jioh realized:
She hadn't recognized him for a moment with all the rock dust on him, but it was the guy from earlier.
The F-rank who'd returned with the kid in dramatic fashion.
The Seolleung Station hero whatsis.
Something felt off...
Her gut said: this guy is about to toss me, in one bite, into a pain-in-the-neck incident.
"A Manticore is going to appear."
Knew it.
"At this rate, the gate won't close. I mean it. I get it—out of the blue like this, you think, what kind of lunatic is this. I can't explain in detail... but please believe me. You have to believe me."
His voice trailed for a beat, then he put force back into it.
Eyes filled edge to edge with conviction, not a sliver of a gap.
Which made Jioh certain:
What is this—some regressed power-fantasy protagonist concept-chuuni?
So classic it's too classic.
That unsettling way of talking like he knows something, paired with a suspiciously striking face.
The way he just pushes in, scattershot.
It was straight-up cosplay of a regressed power-fantasy MC.
I'd bet my whole net worth this guy's a webnovel fossil. Genre fiction has seriously ruined hunters—every dog and cow claims they reincarnated, returned, or regressed.
The fact that a so-called trash F-rank came back alive from a sub-gate was, in itself, wildly by-the-book.
How long did he grind without updating his rank waiting for a day like this? Ruthless bastard.
The peninsula's concept-chuunis—their class keeps leveling up by the day.
Secretly impressed, Jioh raised her iron wall.
"I have no idea what you're talking about... I'm at a loss."
Weirdo.
She didn't forget to throw him a contemptuous look like she was staring at a Line 1 subway kook. See? I am extremely baffled and dumbfounded right now.
[Trait, 'Brazenface,' is activated.]
[Acting ability slightly increases.]
[While Trait 'Brazenface' is active, you are free from pangs of conscience!]
"Is it okay for a hunter to hassle an innocent citizen passing by like this? What is it—creating social unease? I hear the fines are stiff if you lay hands on civilians. You look normal too, what a shame. Anyway, since you're the Seolleung Station hero, I won't report you. Bye now."
Adios.
So cool, so composed, Gyeon Jioh.
Perfuming the air with cool-girl vibes, Jioh turned away.
"If you go like that, Kwon Gye-na dies!"
...What?
She turned back to see the young man's wavering eyes.
"Not just Kwon Gye-na. Most of the people here right now."
"Hunters, and a lot of civilians. They all die helplessly, and the Seolleung Station area becomes a huge memorial site."
Seolleung MemoriaI.
The massive stone monument set in the middle of downtown Seoul.
The incident that "she" uniquely said she regretted.
Uncharacteristically for someone who shunned exposure, she even laid flowers there herself.
Back then no one knew why she'd go that far... but now he knew.
You were here, this day, right at this spot.
He didn't let go of her hand.
"You know a Manticore is a Class-3 beast. The one about to appear is a mutant that amounts to a Class-2 calamity."
"..."
"You... 'you' have a way to verify whether what I'm saying is true, don't you?"
"..."
"Please."
That earnestness.
Staring blankly as she listened, Jioh murmured without expression,
"So you know who I am?"
"Yes."
He answered.
"I know who you are. Magician King."
The wind felt wrong.
The air began to vibrate. It wasn't the wave from a gate closure.
Jioh decided to check one last thing.
"From the way you talk, sounds like you know how I do things too."
He had clear eyes.
No—call it nobility?
The young man introduced himself with a trembling smile.
"My name is Baek Dohyun, Jio."
[Constellation-unique skill, 'Library-ization' activated.]
[Sole True Avatar — privileges verified.]
[Designating domain.]
[Proceed to document 'Baek Dohyun'?]
Do it.
Charrarararak.
No need to read it all.
Skipping the cumbersome steps, Jioh toggled Library ▷ Magnifier and zoomed the document header.
/ Type: Person (auto) / Created: Read error / Location: Archive 〉 User: Gyeon Jioh 〉 Library > General (Person View) • Name: Baek Dohyun • Age: 25 • Rank: F-rank • Ranking: Outside the charts • Disposition: Brave Guardian of Good • Affiliation: Earth ━ Republic of Korea • Sub-affiliation: None • Constellation: ■■■■■ (sealed) • First Title: TBA • Unique Title: Second Run, One Who Turned Back the Clock. Protagonist of a Failed World
...?
"U-uh?"
What did I just see? What is this man's title made of?
Protagonist?
Is he real? Not a concept-chuuni from the back alleys—real?
She forced her poker face, but for once, Jioh was truly rattled.
At best he'd have some "prophet" trait—so what was this.
Not even a toggleable active—his unique title.
Good grief.
Your title is 'Protagonist of the World'...?
"So that's how it is..."
"You'll believe me now, right? Help me. Please. We don't have much time."
"...Okay. But on one condition."
"Yes. If it's something I can do," Baek Dohyun nodded with resolute determination.
One cheek still dirty with soot, he looked a bit scruffy—but the clear, can't-hide-it handsomeness was dazzling.
Like a drop-dead-gorgeous Border Collie perking its ears to hear its master's command.
Deeply impressed, Jioh declared with an equally grave face,
"When this is over, let's never run into each other again."
"...Pardon?"
"If we ever do run into each other and you speak to me—death."
Protagonist, huh?
And a regressed protagonist, at that!
On top of that, Protagonist of a Failed World blah blah? What even is that?
Isn't that the kind of modifier you absolutely shouldn't ask about?
The fact something like that exists in this world is heart-droppingly shocking, but whatever—one thing's certain: this is going to become an astronomically big hassle.
Ab-so-lute-ly not.
Utterly, completely nope.
Jioh resolved to ask which direction his house was in before they parted.
So she could go her whole life without ever setting foot that way.
[Exclusive]
Choi xx │ 20xx. xx. xx.
Seolleung Station—where a Level-6 → Level-4 sudden rift occurred—fully restored... damaged sidewalks and some buildings "reset to original state"
Comments
– Must've been #1
– Just your ordinary #1
– #1 dropped by
– Heard #1 ascended, but looks alive and well
– Whoever said they saw #1 at a mountain temple in Gangwon yesterday—come out, I got fooled for a sec
↳ – That mokgyeomdam (sighting storie) felt so real I believed it—world's scary, frfr ㅡㅡ
↳ – It was weird—who the hell writes twenty-thousand characters for a sighting story, ffs
↳ – Twenty thousand chars is totally doable, ㅊㅅㅊ? If His Majesty appears irl, they can print the Tripitaka Koreana on the spot
↳ – But seriously, why do the Jio stans go around with that crappy emoticon—is it, like, their signal? A jukmeokja tag?
↳ – neomhanetjuㅅㅊ
↳ – I stayed up watching Jio vids ㅈㅅㅈ and woke up with swollen eyes, ㅊㅅㅊ; how can you slander this adorable emoticon like that.
– HeavenandhellmostcertainlyexistHeaveniswhereyouliveforeverhappilywiththeLord'smessengerJioHelliswhereunbelieverssufferforeverOnlyfaithsavesFollowtheLord'smessengerJioandbesaved
↳ – That cult-rapper never dies, just steady grind;;
↳ – Is that the famed "BY of the hunter world"
↳ – lol calling the top of the mage scene "God's messenger" is some wildly original theology
– Not even mentioned in the article and the Jio stans swarm the comments first, sheesh—intense fandom huh
↳ – What is this sudden overdrive of embarrassment
↳ – ?? Then who else can "eraser-reset" the scene back like it never happened if not Jio? The sound of you shaking with inferiority is echoing to the ends of the earth—pathetic, pitiful, tragic
↳ – You're the pathetic one, anon ㅜㅜ go swing a pickaxe at the Noryangjin dungeon instead of commenting
– (Q) Is something like that possible with mage skills?
↳ – It's gotta be a Covenant Star's unique skill, dumbass
↳ – I'm a mage ranker myself and can't do anything close. And that clearly has massive blowback. Seeing as even #1 doesn't use it often, the penalty must be no joke.
↳ – I commute through Seolleung and if that's what it was, then seriously—thanks
"Hah. What 'penalty.'"
Gyeon Riok was so fed up he closed the intranet window.
Like avatar, like Constellation.
People don't know how insanely doting and crazy a babysitter that no-answer shut-in's Constellation is.
If it were a power with blowback, it wouldn't have handed it to her in the first place.
She's just purely a hassle.
No idea why she bothered stepping out this time, but you can bet it wasn't her own will. Obvious. Something must've gone sideways.
Gyeon Jioh is the type who, even if World War III breaks out, will stay lying under a blanket as long as the bombs don't fall on her.
And that's what I call family...
Clicking his tongue, Riok raised his phone.
Click. He carefully found the perfect angle, snapped, and sent it.
Mom'sBoy │ 010-7351-xxxx
━ x/xx ━
Don't use the card. It's been frozen.
Her Majesty is on the phone in the living room.
Sounds like she's consulting some temple in Gangwon—word is if you go there, you have to offer prayers every morning.
K—enjoy your last days in the secular world, dear sister.
Nooooooo.
Gyeon Jioh despaired.