These Lunatics are Obsessed With Me

I shouted angrily and gasped. My face felt hot and I heard a thumping sound in my ear. I wanted to throw the phone in my hand, but I held it tightly unconsciously.

I felt my whole life was unfair. There is no evidence, no meaning, or anything else left that I exist. What does “I” mean when I don’t even remember “my name” in the first place?

I felt dispirited. I tried so hard to survive. I’m like a fool trying to find the meaning of life somehow. I can’t believe it all ended in vain.

“Excuse me, Mr. Han Yi-jin? No, I mean…”

“…”

The restless voice jarred in my ears. I wanted to curse more, but my lips didn’t move anymore. I answered reluctantly.

“Just call me Han Yi-jin.”

“Ah, yes.”

Well, that’s the only name that could define me.

Han Yi-jin.

A villain whose younger brother was being held hostage. A person who has a dirty personality but has a guilty conscience and wants to get out of the Villain Guild.  The idiot who died.

What was he thinking when he went to the world I was in? Does he feel liberated? Or is he still worried that his brother will die?

Besides, there’s not much I can do now. I have to do my best to survive until I can get my body back.

“Hey, you said you would help me, right? As compensation.”

“Excuse me? Yes I do.”

I turned and approached the table. And I took Han Yi-jin’s notebook. I looked through the list of hospitals he didn’t delete.

“Try to find someone around the hospital, I will tell you. A boy about ten to thirteen years old, his hair shaved, but I don’t know what disease it is. And his name is…”

Come to think of it, what is the name of Han Yi-jin’s younger brother?

No matter how crazy the guild master was, I should have asked a question to find out.  I bit my lip and blamed myself, but something crossed my mind for a second.

…Do Gyul.

A sad voice mixed with tears lingered in my ears. I listened to it and slowly opened my mouth.

“…Han Do-gyul. Maybe that’s his name.”

“No, w-wait a minute…”

Sim Dante asked, sounding clearly confused.

""

“Are you asking me to find someone now?”

“Why? You can’t?”

“Not that…”

I have no one around to help me now. It almost went wrong when Eden secretly helped me. In that sense, Sim Dante is an excellent partner to use.

“I’ll be sending the damn machine back, so be sure to research it. Do you understand?”

“Yes I understand.”

“And do you have an S-class incubator?”

“Yes, an S-class incubator?”

The confused Sim Dante asked in a surprised tone.

“What do you need that for? Don’t tell me you have a legendary dragon egg?”

“Don’t ask. It’s none of your business.”

I can’t honestly say that I got it from an SS rank dungeon, so I purposely spoke harshly. In the end, Sim Dante answered helplessly, saying that he would prepare it.

“Well, if you need anything else…”

I fell silent as I tried to hang up the phone.

Isn’t this a phone number ID restriction?  How can I contact him from my side?

As if he realised my thoughts, Sim Dante spoke about it.

“You don’t have to worry. First of all, I contacted you evasively because there is a possibility of wiretapping. I will be sending you a new phone soon, so feel free to contact me with it from now on.”

“…Yes.”

After all, everything the guild provides is inconvenient. I guess that’s why Han Yi-jin didn’t do anything with his phone.

It was hard to think further, so I hung up. 

Something kept entangled in my complicated mind. Would it be easier to forget the world there? I thought about it for a while, but immediately shook my head.

Better to live than die, no matter how difficult it is, and much better than Han Yi-jin’s body with death flags everywhere.

Rather, I thought it was fortunate that I found a way back.

Now all I have to do is hold out until I return to my original world. Find Han Yi-jin’s brother and destroy the death flag. Then, when Han Yi-jin came back, he would take care of the rest himself. I went to bed trying to clear my complicated mind.

""

***

The sole survivor of the first generation Awakener. The world’s first SS-class hunter. A survivor who returned from the gate five years ago.

There are many words that describe Kang Yoo-hyun. The world hasn’t been very stable since the first gate opened.

However, heroes always appear in turbulent times. It refers to Kang Yoo-hyun, who returned to Korea dramatically in five years.

After he returned, some unfavorable public opinion would form due to the dungeon rating abnormality. However, the atmosphere was completely reversed after the news that the D-rank dungeon he recently entered was changed to SS-rank.

He conquered the world’s first SS-rank dungeon. That too with his own power.

The Odin Guild did not miss this opportunity and published articles in the headlines every day, and soon the whole world was showing great interest.

However, for some reason, Kang Yoo-hyun, the person involved, did not appear. It was a bit strange because most hunters usually held interviews or press conferences as soon as the dungeon was cleared. Some people said that Kang Yoo-hyun might have made the mistake of forcing himself to face the SS-class boss monster alone, while others said that the appearance of the SS-rank dungeon itself might be false.

However, official investigators from Hunter’s official management agency, the Association, confirmed that Alfheim-D29 had a dungeon abnormality. When the rating change was announced to be at least S-level or higher, public opinion focused on Kang Yoo-hyun again, who remained silent.

After there was no news from him, all kinds of rumors and conspiracy theories ran rampant, and finally news emerged that Kang Yoo-hyun would be holding a press conference.

A large crowd gathered inside the venue where the press conference was to be held. Not only journalists, but even hunters came to see Kang Yoo-hyun in person.

A reporter fiddling with his camera looking at someone. She was wearing a mask that covered half of her face, but he was convinced. The reporter tapped the arm of a colleague who was next to him.

“Hey, hey. Sung Yoo-bin is here.”

“What?”

They glanced at a woman standing quietly in a corner of the hall. No doubt. She was Sung Yoo-bin, an S-class hunter from the Freya Guild.

Freya Guild was a place where people talked a lot. Firstly, it was the ironclad rule from Guildmaster Freya that only ‘women’ would be accepted as guild members.

Therefore, in the early days of the guild, public opinion and other guilds did not view the guild in a favorable light. Despite the many questions such as why only women were accepted as guild members or whether they had androphobia, Song Cha-hyun, Freya’s Guild Master, remained silent.

Freya’s Guild members proved their significance only with their competence. The combat unit ‘Valkyrie’, led by guild master Song Cha-hyun, Sung Yoo-bin, Han Yeo-reum, and Cha Min Hee, gradually changes the public’s negative perception as they clear various impenetrable dungeons.

The current Freya Guild had become strong enough to match the Odin Guild.  Among them, Sung Yoo-bin, the leader of the Valkyrie combat unit, had a noticeable presence wherever she went.

Why did he come to Kang Yoo-hyun’s press conference? The reporter who expressed his curiosity said, “Ah!” and recalled the facts.

“Sung Yubin’s older brother is also a first-generation Awakener.”

“Oh, that’s right.”

The reporter on the other side answered and nodded. Sung Yoo-bin’s older brother, Sung Yoon-jae, is also a first-generation Awakener stuck at the first gate, along with Kang Yoo-hyun.

Kang Yoo-hyun was the only one who came back alive. He says the others are dead. To the question of the bereaved family, Kang Yoo-hyun only gave such a short answer. Everyone but himself died.

Some of the bereaved families were angered by his calm words. Or, there were families who grieve and ask how their family died and if there are any words left. However, Kang Yoo-hyun never answered such a question. He ignored them all with his characteristically expressionless face.

But Sung Yoo-bin came today. The reporters who recognized her were worried about what would happen at the press conference, but hoped they could catch the scoop in the corner of their minds.  Kang Yoo-hyun’s press conference which had not been opened to the public was like a golden opportunity for them.

“Mr. Hunter Kang Yoo-hyun has arrived.”

The slightly noisy atmosphere quickly quieted down with a single word from the host. As soon as Kang Yoo-hyun was seen, dozens of cameras flashed simultaneously.

Kang Yoo Hyun was expressionless as ever. He looked carefree as if no one was around and moved on.

He definitely looked much younger than them, but his oddly pessimistic face sometimes had deeper eyes than an old man’s.

After the host’s brief announcement of his arrival, Kang Yoo-hyun grabbed the microphone. But before anyone could ask, Kang Yoo-hyun opened his mouth first.

“Actually, I didn’t conquer the dungeon alone.”

“…”

The venue became silent because of that sudden speech. No one could open their mouths hastily. A veteran reporter who recovered quickly opened his mouth and asked a question.

“Is that true? Then with who on earth…?”

“With hunter Han Yi-jin from Loki Guild.”

Kang Yoo-hyun immediately answered as if he had been waiting for that question.

The reporters exchanged glances.

Who’s that? They don’t know either.

Only one person silently stared at the figure among the buzzing reporters.