Watching Ji-Ho screaming angrily, Yu-Seong didn’t know what to do.

‘Why is he angry?’ 

In fact, he wanted to ask that question first. He didn’t actually mean to die, but it was Ji-Ho who drove him to such a desperate situation that made him decide to pretend to do so. However, he struggled to ask that question when he saw Ji-Ho’s sincere expression and the man’s tears flowing from his closed eyes.

‘What the hell is it?’ 

Rather, Yu-Seong was confused. Was the owner of the voice, who was tormenting him in the room of sacrifice, and the Ji-Ho in front of him really the same person? Actually, when thinking of the character in the original novel, this one seemed more suitable. Choi Ji-Ho was a righteous, good, and upright character. He was like a pretty flower that was forcibly cut by someone’s hand even before he fully bloomed. However, he was a person whose personality did not stray far even though he was buried in ashes.

‘Rather, the one in the room of sacrifice was more strange.’ 

Therefore, it was quite shocking that Ji-Ho had changed a lot from the original novel. Of course, Yu-Seong did think it was possible for Ji-Ho to change. The butterfly effect of Yu-Seong’s possession into the novel was already spreading everywhere. However, what if Ji-Ho’s change was impossible as expected?

'Maybe I was fooled from beginning to end.’ 

Yu-Seong’s gaze suddenly turned to the blood-red stain on the pure white front of the modern hanbok.

“If you take your life like that, how would I, your hyung-nim dare to continue to live? Why on earth did you make that choice? How come?!” As Ji-Ho shouted harshly, a solid red line flowed out from the corner of his mouth. He was holding it in, but it was clear that his condition was quite bad.

“Master!” Baek Cheol ran to Ji-Ho with a surprised look.

“Captain Baek, please wait. This is a conversation between brothers!” Ji-Ho made an angry expression and waved his hand. He looked at Yu-Seong. “Why, why did you choose to die? Did you think you’d be satisfied if your death saved them? It was a foolish choice that others would not even think of. You silly little brother.”

Ji-Ho poured out his words and then started to cough repeatedly. “Cough, cough, blaargh-!”

Baek Cheol quickly caught Ji-Ho, who vomited blood and fell from the air.

“If you die… No, you must not die. Yu-Seong… Please, I am begging you… Please…” Ji-Ho seemed half unconscious as he trembled and talked by himself.

“I am sorry, young master—Yu-Seong. I cannot afford to explain the situation in person, so I will send someone else soon. Please trust me and wait here for a little bit.”

“…”

Yu-Seong nodded lightly instead of answering. In his mind, he was already drawing a picture of the situation to some extent.

‘It looks like I’ve made an unnecessary fuss.’ 

Still, he felt relieved. Now that the situation has turned out like this, he was certain of one thing.

‘Jin Yu-Ri would be fine.’ 

Yu-Ri would not die since she had gone down this mountain on Do-Yoon’s back.

“What a relief,” Yu-Seong spoke quietly to himself, then collapsed in place as if he loosened up his exhausted heart and body at once.

***

The next day, Yu-Seong woke up in the afternoon when the sun rose high. He could then hear all the explanations of the current circumstances that he had not heard last night. The only difference was that other people were by his side, not Baek Cheol’s men as he had expected.

“…After all, the gas I tried so hard not to inhale was just a sleeping drug.” Jin Yu-Ri—who had returned to the mansion in the morning—scratched her cheek as if she was embarrassed. She finished explaining to Yu-Seong by repeating what she had heard earlier.

“Is it a placebo effect? If I had known it was a sleeping drug, I think I could have opened my eyes in an emergency.”

“I heard it’s a pretty powerful sleeping drug, so it couldn’t be helped,” said Do-Yoon as if to comfort Jin Yu-Ri.

Yu-Seong was lying on the bed. He looked at the two sitting on the left and right. He slowly raised his body and smiled. No matter how many times he thought about it, there was only one thing he wanted to say now, putting the various problems aside.

“Jin Yu-Ri.”

“Yes.”

“Anyway, I’m glad you’re okay.”

“Of course. I believed that Yu-Seong oppa would save me.”

“If I couldn’t save you, you’d blame me a lot, right?”

“I want to say yes, but no.” Yu-Ri was definitely ready for her death at that moment. She had hidden that feeling quite deep inside her eyes and smiled. “I will never blame Yu-Seong oppa, probably until the moment I die. This is for sure.”

“Seriously, why?”

“It’s because if there was no help from the young master, neither of us would be alive until now,” answered Do-Yoon. He gave a strong gaze with a strong will.

“You mean I saved you two?”

If so, the memory may remain in Yu-Seong’s mind in some form, similar to the case of Choi Woo-Jae and Choi Ji-Ho. There was a high chance that memories would come to mind if there were small clues from past experiences.

“That was… When was that?” asked Yu-Seong. Likewise, he was curious about the story of the two which did not appear in the original novel. It was actually something he was very curious about.

“Don’t you remember? When the young master was young…”

However, maybe Yu-Seong was out of luck because a big figure came over from the closed door at that moment. Naturally, the two people on alert turned around and raised their momentum.

“Keum, keheum… Can I come in?”

It was Baek Cheol. It was too bad for Yu-Seong to not hear the story from the two siblings, but it was very expected behavior for them to react sensitively. Even Yu-Seong stiffened for a moment.

“You can come in.”

Baek Cheol carefully opened the door when he was given permission. He looked around at the three people, then knelt and bowed his head to Yu-Seong who was sitting in the center.

“First of all, I would like to offer my apologies to the young master, Yu-Seong.”

“Get up, please.”

Yu-Seong no longer felt threatened by Baek Cheol and spoke in a polite tone. He knew very well that Baek Cheol had acted out of loyalty to Choi Ji-Ho. Even if Yu-Seong resented someone, the target would not be Baek Cheol.

“Master is not the one to blame. Rather, my side had suggested the test. I thought it was that much necessary to qualify for the treasure.”

“Alright. I understand, so please get up now.”

“Mr. Jin Do-Yoon, Ms. Jin Yu-Ri. I apologize to both of you. I understand you’ve been hurt a lot by me.” Baek Cheol continued his apology while keeping his head bowed.

However, neither Yu-Ri nor Do-Yoon opened their mouths to answer. Unlike Yu-Seong, they seemed to have a much stronger sense of vigilance and hostility toward Baek Cheol.

‘Perhaps this is an expected response for them?’ 

Clearly, the two people thought that the situation like the room of sacrifice had happened because they couldn’t handle Baek Cheol. In other words, their anger was quite deeply intertwined with themselves and Baek Cheol. Perhaps Baek Cheol was now a goal for the two people.

‘A-rank and S-rank—The difference is not just one rank.’ 

And moreover, Baek Cheol would later be called the Lion King, the strongest physical type player. Do-Yoon and Yu-Ri had excellent talents, but they were definitely half a step below Baek Cheol.

As such, it would be extraordinarily difficult if they set their goal as Baek Cheol. Of course, it was a good thing for Yu-Seong.

‘It’s great if the two do as well as Baek Cheol. And even if they can’t, they’ll get stronger very quickly.’ 

It was a mutually beneficial thing in many ways.

"And I dare... I will accept it if you punish me…for trying to judge master Yu-Seong with my own eyes."

“Pardon?”

“The moment young master Yu-Seong really tried to take your own life, I felt like the sky was falling. How great could my judgment and insight be to dare to grasp such a great caliber? If it weren’t for Master, I would have lived with irreparable regret.”

“Ah, that’s…”

Baek Cheol was now talking about Choi Yu-Seong’s suicide attempt. Come to think of it, this fact seemed to make Yu-Ri and Do-Yoon’s anger and resentment against Baek Cheol stronger. Then, should Yu-Seong confess now that he was just trying to just pretend to be dead? Of course, it was impossible for him to do that.

‘Anyway, I was really trying to feel the dying pain.’

 Yu-Seong made the excuses inside his heart and waved his hand. He said, “That’s enough. I’ve forgotten about it.”

At those words, Baek Cheol shuddered with his head down.

‘Ah…! Young master Yu-Seong is a man of virtue, a truly great man.’ 

When Baek Cheol held admiration in his heart, Do-Yoon and Yu-Ri also looked at Yu-Seong with surprised eyes.

‘What, why? Is this such a big deal?’ 

Yu-Seong didn’t want to say that he had tried to pretend to be dead, but it seemed that his words had caused quite a stir. He scratched his cheek in embarrassment.

“And I beg you. I hope you do not blame my master too much.”

“That…” Yu-Seong was just about to say that he needed time to think when another figure came by the door. He could hear the sound of the pulling wheel along with the quiet and indifferent presence. Everyone—including Yu-Seong—could only feel the presence over the door, but could easily guess who had come.

“May I come in for a moment?” It was a small but serene voice, the one belonging to Ji-Ho.

“Yes, hyung-nim.” Yu-Seong also replied in a calm voice.

***

In the room where everyone left except only two people. The brothers sat facing each other, and remained silent for a long time. It was Ji-Ho who broke the long silence first.

“…You can forget what Captain Baek said. Most of what he said was just made up for me.”

“Well, he didn’t say much though.”

“It’s true that the room of sacrifice was built by me. And it was my choice to call you, Yu-Seong, to that room.”

Yu-Seong already knew that Baek Cheol’s loyalty toward Ji-Ho caused him to lie. He nodded insignificantly. “So what?”

“If you want to resent someone, you can resent me. If you really hate me enough to kill, I’m ready to accept even that.”

“You told me not to die like that, but I guess you take your own death so lightly.”

“…” Choi Ji-Ho’s face hardened at Choi Yu-Seong’s sharp words.