When Baek Seo-jin failed to respond, Han Se-hee felt a sense of discomfort.

Even as an 11-year-old child, she could tell that something was off.
He couldn’t even bring himself to say he couldn’t forgive the villains who kidnapped his brother.

For three years, Han Se-hee had lived without her parents, crying endlessly and never forgetting them for even a moment.

When she learned that her parents hadn’t died due to monsters in a dungeon but had instead been betrayed by trusted comrades, she nearly hated herself for being too weak and lacking the courage to take revenge.

If not for Baek Seo-jun, there was a high chance she would have fallen into self-loathing.

Thanks to Baek Seo-jun, she could at least believe that Pyo Woo-jae, the one who harmed her parents, would receive proper punishment and watch from the sidelines with faith in the process.

So why couldn’t Baek Seo-jin say that he couldn’t forgive the villains who kidnapped his brother?
No—why didn’t he even seem to miss Baek Seo-jun’s presence?

“I don’t know.”

The words that finally came out of Baek Seo-jin’s mouth were, “I don’t know.”

But he wasn’t saying he didn’t know how to deal with the villains who took his brother.

If he had said he hated them so much he wanted to kill them himself but lacked the courage to do so, Han Se-hee might have understood.
After all, that’s how she felt.

Instead, Baek Seo-jin mentioned Baek Seo-jun and continued talking about him.

“My brother was a bad person. Before he got kidnapped by villains when I was ten, he wouldn’t eat meals with us, go shopping with us, or leave his room.”

Han Se-hee had many things she wanted to say in response, but she waited quietly, not interrupting his words.

It was as though Baek Seo-jin felt compelled to keep speaking.

“When he disappeared, everything got better. My parents stopped getting annoyed because of him and were always smiling. And the people who used to gossip about him stopped.”

Baek Seo-jin seemed to lose control of his emotions as he spoke.

“My dad and mom were so happy that he was gone. They said they didn’t have to deal with him causing trouble anymore and that he was a problem until the very end.”

Listening to him, Han Se-hee’s clenched fists began to tremble.

“That’s too much.”

She could understand why Baek Seo-jun didn’t want to return home. If even his younger brother thought this way, she could imagine how poorly his parents must have treated him.

The idea that her own parents could ever treat her like that was unimaginable to Han Se-hee, who had grown up surrounded by their love.

For her, the thought that parents could act like that was so horrifying it gave her chills.

“Since my brother disappeared, everything has been better… so why would that older girl take his side?”

“Who are you talking about?”

“That older girl, Seomun Ye-jin.”

Han Se-hee quickly searched for information about Seomun Ye-jin, a name she’d heard trending on the internet but hadn’t paid much attention to.

What came up were articles about what the Baekho Guild had done to her and how the Kangin Guild had intervened to correct the wrongdoing and ensure she received compensation.

“So the Baekho Guild did something like that…”

Among the articles, she also noticed the name Kim Ho-jun, who was described as being by Seomun Ye-jin’s side. It didn’t take her long to realize that this was actually Baek Seo-jun.

“Oppa is with her.”

When Han Se-hee clicked on a photo of Seomun Ye-jin, she paused for a moment, mesmerized.

It was a picture of her wearing a racing suit-like hunter outfit, smiling brightly.

“She’s so beautiful…”

Her cheerful and lively appearance left Han Se-hee in awe. Seomun Ye-jin was the same age as Baek Seo-jun and four years older than Han Se-hee.

Despite her youth, Seomun Ye-jin had an exceptionally developed figure and an overwhelming beauty that made it hard to look away.

“This Seomun Ye-jin… she went through something terrible because of the Baekho Guild.”

“That can’t be… there’s no way.”

Baek Seo-jin’s immediate denial escaped his lips again. This time, Han Se-hee waited silently to see what else he had to say.

“My mom and dad… they couldn’t have done anything wrong. But why would the Kangin Guild…”

Han Se-hee realized the contradictions in Baek Seo-jin’s words.

Even a child could tell that what he was saying didn’t make sense.

“You’re not going to change your belief that your parents didn’t do anything wrong?”

“No, I won’t. Saying it could change is wrong too. There’s no way they did anything bad…”

Hearing him mutter in response to her words, Han Se-hee felt a deep sense of distortion.

But she knew there was no way to fix it immediately.
To be honest, it scared her.

There was something fundamentally different about someone like Baek Seo-jin who stubbornly clung to such a flawed perspective compared to her peers who simply insisted, “I’m right!”

And most of all, the way he seemed determined to view Baek Seo-jun, her benefactor, in a negative light left a sour taste in her mouth.

“Seo-jin.”

“Ah, uh… Se-hee, I’m sorry. I was being too emotional, wasn’t I?”

Baek Seo-jin returned to a gentler expression and apologized to Han Se-hee.

Having revealed his pent-up emotions, he now appeared awkward and hopeful, as though he wanted Han Se-hee to validate him.

“I’m sorry, but I don’t think we can be friends.”

Han Se-hee firmly declined.

“W-why?”

“Seo-jin, I just can’t relate to you.”

Han Se-hee lowered her head.

“I want to become a healer who helps people. And… I want to make sure no one has to suffer like my parents did.”

This had been her dream since she was eight years old, three years ago. Even though the betrayal in her parents’ deaths had forced her to revise parts of that dream, its foundation hadn’t changed.

“I don’t want to pretend to be close to someone I can’t understand. Please understand.”

Hearing this, Baek Seo-jin bit his lip.

“I don’t know… I don’t understand… But, Se-hee, then… could we at least be acquaintances?”

“Acquaintances?”

“Yeah… not close enough to call friends, but just someone to hang out with sometimes.”

“…I’ll think about it.”

That much seemed acceptable.

She had no intention of genuinely getting closer to Baek Seo-jin.

However, maintaining a loose connection felt safer—if she distanced herself completely, she feared the Baekho Guild might retaliate against her as they had against Seomun Ye-jin.

And there was another reason.

“Seo-jun oppa.”

She hoped that staying connected to Baek Seo-jin might eventually lead her to meet her benefactor again.

For now, the feelings etched into her young heart were simply admiration and gratitude for someone with a heartbreaking story.

***

Pyo Woo-jae's punishment was, as expected, the death penalty.

No matter how powerful he was as an SS-class Hunter, the crime of killing a fellow SS-class Hunter and a healer could not be forgiven.

The fact that he had ambushed his comrade, an SS-class Hunter, to assault and kill them in an attempt to rape the healer—only to kill her as well when she resisted—was deemed especially heinous.

“No! I can’t die!”

Pyo Woo-jae screamed and desperately struggled to survive, but his sentence was unchangeable.

“Die.”

“S-spare…”

I carried out the execution myself.

“The soul of an SS-class Hunter… it’s decent quality.”

As my sharp tendrils pierced his heart, Pyo Woo-jae’s life ended swiftly, and his soul was absorbed as an energy source for me.

“There’s no need to show the execution itself.”

At the very least, I needed to inform Han Se-hee that the execution had been carried out.

“She truly lives up to her role as the original main heroine.”

In her conversation with Baek Seo-jin, Han Se-hee displayed a clear sense of conviction, remarkable for someone her age.

“I’ll have to ensure the Baekho Guild doesn’t harm her in any way.”

The dynamic between the original protagonist and the original main heroine had completely shifted.

Baek Seo-jin would soon start thinking of Han Se-hee as his childhood friend. While he might believe they could slowly grow closer, Han Se-hee would never align with his expectations.

Though unintentional, the situation had turned out better than I had imagined.

For the original protagonist, a delusion was beginning to take root.

***

Four years passed quickly without major incidents.

“Seo-jun!”

Seomun Ye-jin, now on the eve of her 19th birthday (20 in Korean age), called out to me early in the morning.

“I’m going to be an adult tomorrow! An adult!”

“Congratulations, Miss.”

“Hehe~ Seo-jun~ Starting tomorrow, we can finally share our passionate love!”

I congratulated her from the morning, and in response, she gave me a shy smile and hugged me tightly. Smiling, I returned her embrace.

The thought of finally achieving the things she had eagerly anticipated for the past four years made her visibly excited.

Meanwhile, a notification popped up on my smartphone, displaying a headline.

[15-Year-Old Genius Girl, Lee Ha-yeon, Returns to Korea]

One of the original heroines, Lee Ha-yeon, had returned to Korea.