Chapter 22
[Player: You’re quite shameless, aren’t you?]
Baek I-hae silently extended her hand once more. It was a clear signal: stop wasting time on nonsense and hand over the reward.
As if understanding, the status window fell silent for a moment before a new reward notification appeared.
[Sub-quest success!
‘Raise Seo I-heum’s favorability! Change his predestined death in the future.’ has been perfectly completed.
Rewards are being distributed.
‘Seo I-heum’s favorability +50, Seo Do-gyeom’s favorability +5, Seo-yeol’s favorability –100, Seo-yeol’s trust +10’]
[Please select an additional reward.
1. Stamina (Condition: Infinite stamina only when fleeing! You won’t tire no matter how much you run!)
2. Taunting (You can taunt enemies more effectively than anyone!)
3. Pride (You will never ask allies for help. Increases the chance of a death ending.)
4. Intelligence (Always score perfect on exams. Has nothing to do with employment or future prospects, and you’ll be given a quest to study until 4:44 AM every day.)]
Baek I-hae’s eyes narrowed in irritation. These options were embarrassing to even call rewards.
Especially the ones besides number 1—they might as well be punishments.
“Hey.”
[Player: ?]
“Are you equipped with a taunting passive? You’re really getting my blood pressure up. You call these rewards?”
There was no response. Instead, a status window urging her to choose popped up.
[If you do not select, it will be decided randomly. Please choose within 2 seconds.]
[2]
[1……!]
“Stamina! Number 1, stamina—there’s nothing else to pick! Argh, I can’t even hit this thing!”
[Player: ^_^]
Baek I-hae could easily sum up her current feelings in modern slang.
‘This is pissing me off.’
She wasn’t sure if it was exactly modern slang, but anyway, it meant she wanted to neatly fold its spine in the opposite direction.
[Player: No spine to fold backward.]
“Ah, one more condition. Reading my thoughts is banned too.”
[Player: …….]
“Hurry up and respond……!”
Her vision was blurring. She instinctively sensed it was trying to send her back to reality.
“Hey, at least answer before sending me!”
Her voice echoed like a reverberation, but no reply came.
Her light brown curly hair fluttered like waves, and her memories faded to black.
***
She regained consciousness right after.
Opening her eyes to the familiar ceiling of her room, she blinked before clutching her head against the splitting headache.
“Ugh!”
It seemed like someone was urgently calling her name, but she couldn’t even tell who it was.
‘That damned status window. If it hadn’t messed with my memories, I wouldn’t have to go through this. I’m just causing trouble for the old man and the kids…….’
Baek I-hae worried that the Seo family might have suffered some loss while saving her, and if so, whether they would resent her for it.
If her memories had been intact, she wouldn’t have approached Baek Yeong or gotten kidnapped so futilely.
On top of that, there was the main quest to reveal Baek Yeong’s identity, which had progressed without her even knowing.
‘What on earth is his identity that it interferes so freely with people’s minds like this?’
It was around the time Baek I-hae’s face was turning increasingly pale. Someone pulled her into an embrace.
A warm heat enveloped her without warning.
“Baek I-hae, calm down! It’s safe here, so don’t be scared—just breathe.”
Calm down? What was that supposed to mean?
Baek I-hae, in her confusion, finally realized that the voice pulling her back to reality belonged to Seo Do-gyeom.
Her gaze turned toward him. Not just Seo Do-gyeom—around her bed, Seo I-heum and Seo-yeol were also present.
‘Wait, how long have they been here?’
As she slowly took in the people around her, Baek I-hae’s tension eased without her realizing it.
She hadn’t even known her body was rigid with stress. It was the three watching her who noticed.
Seo Do-gyeom gently patted her back, now that she seemed calmer.
“……Why are you all here? What about the fight? No one got hurt, right?”
Her face full of anxiety as she looked up at Seo Do-gyeom was brimming with worry.
Seo Do-gyeom silently gazed down at her as she wriggled in his arms, peering up at him.
It was Seo-yeol who answered in place of the tight-lipped Seo Do-gyeom.
“Don’t worry. These days, even gangsters don’t fight without thinking. It’s just a loss of manpower for both sides, and from the start, those guys were probably putting on a show.”
“A show?”
“They were threatening that if we didn’t give them what they wanted, they’d hurt you.”
That was strange.
Baek I-hae blinked, her face showing she didn’t understand, and Seo-yeol tilted his head, wondering if his explanation was lacking.
To them, Baek I-hae cautiously spoke up.
“I don’t get it. I’m not family, and I’m not someone who’d make that kind of threat work.”
That’s why she hadn’t even thought of running away alone.
She was grateful that Seo I-heum had come to rescue her, but Chai Ryeong or Baek Yeong must have misunderstood something.
At her words, Seo-yeol’s expression turned serious.
“Sis, what do you mean by that?”
“Huh?”
“If you weren’t precious to us, we wouldn’t have taken turns watching over you like this while you were unconscious for days.”
Days?
At Seo-yeol’s words, Baek I-hae’s mouth fell open like a fool.
Days had passed while she was conversing with the status window? To her, it had felt like mere hours, a fleeting moment.
“Well, Chai Ryeong has always been quick-witted and sharp,” Seo I-heum said with a sigh, crossing his legs. He added an explanation for keeping Chai Ryeong close.
“So, he must have noticed to some extent that I consider you one of my own.”
One of my own.
Baek I-hae was aware that Seo I-heum treated her well. She had noticed the shift from how things were at the beginning.
But she had thought it was only because she’d offered a bit of help during Chai Ryeong’s attack, or because the time they’d spent together had made them grow accustomed to each other.
“What does that even mean?”
Listening to Seo-yeol and Seo I-heum, it almost felt like she was some kind of special existence.
As if she were someone cherished and loved.
“It means we’re pretty scared of you getting hurt,” Seo Do-gyeom added matter-of-factly.
Baek I-hae’s eyes trembled as they met his steady black gaze.
[Tutorial completion rewards are being distributed.
Seo Do-gyeom’s favorability +5, Seo I-heum’s favorability +50.]
[Seo I-heum’s favorability has reached Max.]
[The tutorial has been successfully completed. Additional rewards are being distributed.]
[Familial love toward Baek I-hae has been activated.]
It seemed like every time she stood before them, all she did was cry.
She could see the three of them flustered by her silent tears, but she couldn’t stop them from falling.
Familial love.
Yet these tears were different from those she’d shed before. They were tears of joy and gratitude for being recognized as family.
In her past life, she had been an orphan abandoned by her parents. She’d never seen their faces, and in this world, she’d only heard that she’d lost her parents the moment she arrived.
Could she dare to claim something like family, something she’d never had before?
With a trembling voice, Baek I-hae asked, “So, am I part of your family now? Is that why you’re worried about me getting hurt?”
Seo I-heum poured water into a cup and handed it to her. Her sudden question could have startled him, but he responded calmly.
“Yes. You’re family under my protection. From now on, I won’t let anything that makes you sad go unpunished.”
Baek I-hae pressed her lips together tightly and nodded. Seeing her cry silently again, Seo-yeol asked with concern, “Why do you keep crying? Huh? Your eyes are going to swell.”
Seo-yeol cautiously reached out and wiped her eyes. His touch, soft like a child’s, was clumsy yet tender, making her tears flow even more.
With a small smile, Baek I-hae answered, “It’s because I’m happy. Because I have a family now. Because I’m not alone anymore.”
“……”
Her words brought silence. She didn’t know it, but the sight of her trembling shoulders as she stifled her sobs was heartbreaking.
All this time, she must have been hiding her sadness behind a bright facade. The hardships, the loneliness—she hadn’t been able to rely on anyone.
“Yes, Baek I-hae. You’re not alone anymore. And you’ll never have to be again.”
Finally, Seo Do-gyeom stroked her hair, soothing her. To ease her fears, the three of them looked at her.
Their faces were mostly expressionless, but now she could read the worry and concern hidden within.
“Yeah, thank you.”
And so, Baek I-hae smiled brightly. It was a smile more radiant than any she’d ever shown before.
