Chapter 34
“Take it easy, you rascals.”
From afar, the PE teacher, who had been tidying up the gym, sensed the commotion and approached, calling out.
He seemed to grasp the situation roughly upon seeing Ye Eun-seol clutching his face, letting out a sigh.
“You’re the transfer student, right? You okay? Any nosebleed?”
“No nosebleed, but it hurts a bit.”
As Ye Eun-seol smiled awkwardly and replied, the PE teacher patted his shoulder a couple of times and said :
“Go lie down in the nurse’s office for a while. If you feel dizzy or anything, speak up right away. The kid who played dodgeball with the transfer student—take him to the nurse’s office.”
“Huh?”
Baek I-hae blinked in surprise, and the PE teacher responded with a disinterested expression.
“He probably doesn’t even know where the nurse’s office is yet. Escort him there and come back.”
It was a fair point. There was no real reason to refuse, so Baek I-hae let out a groan and nodded.
She could feel a prickling at the back of her head, like Seo Do-gyeom was glaring, but what could she do? It was his own doing.
‘Why do I have to clean up the mess that Seo Do-gyeom made?’
It didn’t seem necessary to support him physically, so she signaled with her eyes for him to follow, and the sound of quiet footsteps trailed behind her.
As they left the gym, a slightly chilly outdoor breeze brushed past the two of them.
[Baby Gangster, Seo Do-gyeom’s favorability decreases by 1.]
[Baby Gangster, Seo Do-gyeom’s obsession increases by 5.]
[Baby Gangster, Seo Do-gyeom was staring at the door and got hit by the dodgeball. Favorability decreases by 1.]
‘Hey, I didn’t throw it. Why drop my favorability for no reason?’
There wasn’t even any favorability left to drop, but it kept getting shaved off, which felt so unfair.
Baek I-hae was staring into space with a sullen expression when she felt Ye Eun-seol’s gaze on her as he walked behind.
“What?”
“Nothing. It’s just that your expression changes while staring into empty space, like there’s something there in front of you.”
Ye Eun-seol was acting as if he knew something. It felt like he was testing her.
“No way. If someone else heard that, they’d think I see ghosts or something.”
Baek I-hae replied nonchalantly.
They walked down the hallway connecting the gym to the main building. The early March weather was still cool, but unlike winter, the sunlight felt quite warm.
She was thinking about suggesting to Seo I-heum later that they go to the beach they missed last year.
“Seo Do-gyeom seems to like you. He’s dense, so he hasn’t realized it yet, but you know, right?”
Ye Eun-seol stopped walking and asked. As if he’d been waiting for them to be alone.
It was exactly what Baek I-hae had hoped for.
“Yeah, I know.”
To complete the main quest, she needed to uncover Ye Eun-seol’s true identity.
And to do that, she inevitably had to talk to him. Knowing your opponent required conversation, after all.
“But why does that matter?”
Baek I-hae looked up at Ye Eun-seol. His round eyes blinked as they stared at her. It was an innocent face. His small head tilted to the side, and brown hair cascaded down with the motion.
Following that hair with her gaze, Baek I-hae continued as she watched Ye Eun-seol.
“That’s weird.”
“What is?”
“You’re acting like it’s hard to believe Seo Do-gyeom’s behavior, as if he has feelings for me. Plus, you haven’t known him long—how do you know he’s dense?”
“……”
Ye Eun-seol closed his mouth. He was smiling quietly, but it seemed like he was trying to gauge Baek I-hae’s inner thoughts.
Or perhaps he was being cautious not to reveal his own.
He wanted to find out about her but didn’t want to give away anything about himself.
What a selfish person.
“If you’re not planning to talk, don’t test me in a way that pisses me off.”
“……You’ve got more of a personality than you look.”
Baek I-hae crossed her arms and snorted. As if to say, cut the nonsense and just answer, Ye Eun-seol scratched the back of his head.
Soon, from his opened mouth, a truth tinged with hesitation spilled out.
“It’s true I was testing you, but I have my own circumstances. There are restrictions, so I can’t answer everything you’re curious about.”
“Restrictions?”
“Yeah. It’s hard to explain in detail. I can’t reveal the truth first.”
It didn’t carry the nuance of not being able to break a promise with someone. It sounded more like crossing a line could harm him personally.
But from whom? Right now, it was just Baek I-hae and Ye Eun-seol here.
Yet Ye Eun-seol had a face full of certainty that someone was listening to their conversation. As if a player was watching everything about Baek I-hae.
‘Could it be that he sees status windows like I do, and a player gives him quests or something? But why?’
Baek I-hae tilted her head. If it were anyone else, she’d tell them to stop talking nonsense.
But she couldn’t say that, because she herself was experiencing strange things.
Moreover, this was the original female protagonist, Ye Eun-seol. There might be a reason for the gender change. And the person involved likely knew that reason.
“Can you answer if I ask questions?”
“Yeah. I can answer with yes or no.”
“Will you interfere if I figure out your secret and try to reveal it?”
“No. I just can’t say it with my own mouth first.”
It was a strange restriction.
“The person who imposed this restriction isn’t here right now, but if you break the condition and speak, they’d know immediately?”
Ye Eun-seol nodded.
“A ghost?”
Ye Eun-seol’s expression turned peculiar. It was like the look an adult gives a child for believing in such things. It even seemed a bit pitying toward her.
Seo Do-gyeom and Seo-yeol believed in ghosts to the point of fearing them, yet here was this cheeky gaze.
“……Probably not. Maybe it’s like a game where you have to clear a quest to be able to speak.”
She didn’t mention status windows or players. It was because she didn’t want to accidentally reveal her own secret by implying, ‘Do you have something like that too?’
She’d boldly told him not to test her, but in the end, she had no choice but to test Ye Eun-seol herself.
“A game? Why bring up games all of a sudden?”
So that wasn’t it either.
Baek I-hae frowned at Ye Eun-seol’s situation, which seemed different from her own. Then, stroking her chin, she carefully selected her next question.
Finding that sight both absurd and amusing, Ye Eun-seol said :
“I thought you’d just fire off all sorts of questions, but you’re surprisingly cautious.”
“Having to abide by restrictions means there’s a penalty for you if you don’t. Being cautious can’t hurt.”
‘He might suffer direct harm, so Ye Eun-seol is playing it safe’—that was Baek I-hae’s guess. And since that penalty could affect her too, caution couldn’t hurt.
It was just that she wasn’t used to racking her brain in this direction, which made it difficult.
‘Studying with fixed answers is actually easier. I’m no good at this nonsense.’
If others heard, they might call her conceited and curse her out, but she was quite serious.
So far, the information he’d revealed in a limited way wasn’t much.
First, Ye Eun-seol was hiding something, and there was a restriction preventing him from explaining it to Baek I-hae.
But paradoxically, it seemed like Baek I-hae was in a position where she had to uncover that something.
Second, just like the player by Baek I-hae’s side, someone was monitoring Ye Eun-seol.
Third, Ye Eun-seol seemed to understand Seo Do-gyeom’s personality.
Fourth, there were restrictions, but yes-or-no answers were possible. The fact that he’d told her this meant Ye Eun-seol wanted Baek I-hae to figure out what he was hiding.
‘Why me, of all people?’
He seemed to know a lot about Seo Do-gyeom, so why approach her, someone he’d never met before, instead of him?
Maybe he knew something about her too. If so, how much did he know?
‘If he’s figured out that I, the original female protagonist Ye Eun-seol, have to connect with Seo Do-gyeom to return to my original world…… and that’s why he’s being uncooperative, that would be a problem.’
That was the biggest reason Baek I-hae was watching her words. Unlike Seo Do-gyeom, Ye Eun-seol seemed incredibly perceptive.
“Why approach me, of all people? I don’t know your intentions, so honestly, I can’t open up to you.”
Baek I-hae said honestly. Upon hearing that answer, Ye Eun-seol stared at her steadily before murmuring a reply.
“……Because you seemed suitable as a stand-in.”
“Huh? What did you say?”
But his voice was too soft, so it didn’t fully reach Baek I-hae. She looked at him, meaning for him to repeat it, but wasn’t Ye Eun-seol subtly avoiding her gaze?
Seeing his mouth close, it seemed there’d be no replay.
‘I think he just muttered something about a stand-in. Must have misheard, right?’
Baek I-hae’s eyes filled with distrust.
