Chapter 11 ….
Twins born on the same day, with the same face.
Kang Il-yeon and Kang Wol-yeon.
The moment they became each other’s weakness was when they were still newborns—when their parents died inside the illegal dungeon owned by the chairman of Jeongmun High.
Because the parents had died while doing illegal work, the deaths were handled as “inexplicable disappearances,” and the twins were taken in by the chairman.
The chairman coveted the two children because they had been exposed to powerful magic inside the dungeon and were able to manipulate mana even as kids.
And of the two, the chairman’s eyes shone brightest at Kang Il-yeon’s talent.
He grew into one of the world’s top-ranked S-class artisan-type Hunters.
From a young age, Il-yeon created astonishing items—so astonishing that the chairman eventually did something unforgivable to the twins.
He turned them into each other’s leash.
“Wol-yeon… Il-yeon is very sick. The medicine is expensive, and it’s hard to get. You’d have to do something… dangerous.”
In the novel, Kang Wol-yeon was always described as feeling inferiority, superiority, jealousy, and obsession toward his twin. Yet he also repeatedly said he couldn’t live without Il-yeon.
A twisted mix of love and hate.
“Then I’ll do anything. Please save Il-yeon.”
So Kang Wol-yeon became the chairman’s dog to keep Il-yeon alive.
As an A-class Hunter, he devoted all his talent to the chairman. Since childhood he had witnessed unwanted deaths, dirt, and crime—and he believed all of it happened because of Il-yeon. He resented him, yet he couldn’t throw him away.
What must the younger brother have felt watching all of that?
I stared at Kang Il-yeon, squirming anxiously in front of me, unable to sit still.
The way he fidgeted overlapped with someone else.
“Noona, where were you…?”
My little brother, Lee You-gyeom, staring up at me at my parents’ funeral, eyes full of fear.
This is weird.
Seeing a character from a novel in real life… he didn’t feel like a cardboard villain.
He feels like a real person.
A strange discomfort rose in my chest.
Especially because he was around my brother’s age.
Il-yeon avoided my eyes and asked, uneasy:
“Wol-yeon… Did Wol-yeon send you?”
“Not exactly, but I met him recently.”
Il-yeon’s eyes lit up.
“Really? Is school fun for him? How is he? When is he coming to see me?”
He forgot how uncomfortable eye contact had been a second ago—now he stared straight at me.
He stretched his neck forward, and I noticed the reddish bruises around his nape.
Clear signs of abuse.
These brothers were each other’s weakness.
While Kang Wol-yeon ran around outside as the chairman’s hound, Kang Il-yeon relieved that burden by endlessly producing items the chairman ordered.
Injected regularly with highly addictive dungeon by-products the chairman called “medicine.”
If he failed to produce something, he sometimes got beaten for wasting valuable materials.
Still, Il-yeon’s future was better than Wol-yeon’s. Later, the protagonist would “save” him—or exploit him—and he would be forced to do a lot of “good” work.
“Wol-yeon can’t come see you.”
Il-yeon’s expression twisted.
“Why? Does he hate me? Because I hit him before? I know there was blood, but he healed right away… I wasn’t sane at the time…! I didn’t have enough medicine… The chairman has to give me more…”
Side effects.
He’s addicted.
His nails scratched his own skin as he trembled.
“Wol-yeon killed someone,” I said.
“……?”
His face froze—and then relaxed.
“So what? Did he get caught?”
Is THAT the part you care about?!
Chills ran down my spine.
He was my little brother’s age… but his humanity had been carved out.
I forced myself to focus.
If I have to, I’ll use my skill.
I was an EX-class skill holder now.
“He got arrested by the Hunter Investigation Unit. At this rate, he’ll end up in prison.”
“What? No way. They can’t catch us. We’re the chairman’s sons! As if some government employees could ever—”
As a civil servant, that statement was deeply infuriating—but worse, it wasn’t entirely wrong.
I pulled a keychain out of my pocket.
Il-yeon’s face hardened.
“That’s Wol-yeon’s! I gave it to him so he could come visit!”
“He’s in my custody.”
“……!”
The moment he understood, he dashed toward the emergency alarm device.
He instantly concluded I was an investigator.
Naturally, I blocked him with a clean side kick.
PWOCK!
He crashed to the floor.
S-class artisan or not, addiction had shredded his stamina.
“Aaaaaaaagh!”
He writhed on the floor, hypersensitive to even a small amount of pain.
I stared down at him.
“It hurts?”
For a moment, guilt pricked—but I swallowed it.
“It hurts! It hurts so much!!”
“People killed because of Kang Wol-yeon hurt like that too.”
If he was my brother’s age, all the more reason.
Real education sometimes needs pain.
No matter how young, a human has to learn how to treat people.
He glared up at me, angry tears in his eyes.
“Wol-yeon doesn’t kill people!”
“Lie. We have proof.”
I poked harder.
“Your dagger-shaped item had Wol-yeon’s mana on it. Only two people were at the scene.”
I added a little lie. Couldn’t be helped.
“And didn’t YOU say it?”
I leaned over him.
“You asked if he got caught. That means it’s not surprising he’d kill someone. Good testimony. Based on your statement, I’ll make sure Wol-yeon—”
“No!” Il-yeon shouted, veins popping in his eyes. “Wol-yeon doesn’t kill. And even if he did, he’d NEVER get caught!”
Such touching faith.
If that’s what you can call it.
“The one always causing trouble is that bastard Hojin. That psycho—”
He trembled, but pushed himself up.
“That psycho always wanted Wol-yeon’s dagger. So I made him an identical one.”
“……!”
Bingo.
That meant there was a second weapon matching the victim’s wounds.
In the novel, the details were vague—we only learned later that Wol-yeon’s “first murder” was a false accusation.
“Where is it?”
“If they find out I told you, the chairman will be angry. The chairman is great. He knows everything.”
That’s when the symptoms started.
Il-yeon’s eyes rolled wildly, and he grabbed at his head.
Damn.
If a staff member walked in now, everything was ruined. I couldn’t continue like this.
There was only one way.
Use the Inner Voice Earbuds.
I put the earphones in and prepared to activate them—
And then—
KWA-KWA-KABOOOM!
A deafening blast shook the room.
The wall collapsed.
As if heavy machinery had smashed through the pocket-dimension walls.
Dust and debris rained down.
From the rubble, a man wearing sunglasses stepped out.
Thud.
The staff member—Alex—fell like a piece of paper among the debris.
The man kicked Alex’s limp body aside and slowly walked toward us.
He removed his sunglasses and stared down at me and Il-yeon.
Sharp eyes, a thin mouth that curved dangerously when he smiled, a black piercing in one ear.
Exactly the handsome punk face described in the novel—
Choi Woo-jin.
The protagonist.
And those sunglasses—his signature item:
Item: “Vision Goggles”
Removes all veils and illusions.
Shows the truth behind what is seen.
He could see through my mask.
But he didn’t know my real face anyway.
Calm down…
I unconsciously raised a hand to my face.
The Inner Voice Earbuds activated.
A voice rang in my ears—Choi Woo-jin’s inner thoughts.
[Lee Yu-ji.]
…!
He knows my name.
[In this life, you’re messing up a lot of things for me.]
In this life?
Did we have contact in a previous one?
I was just a nameless background character—
[Since it’s come to this… Should I take you and Kang Il-yeon together?]
A dangerous smile spread across his lips.
In the original story, Woo-jin rescued Il-yeon, cured his addiction, and kept him making items.
But that was supposed to happen much later! Why so early?!
The timing was different, but his goal right now was kidnapping Kang Il-yeon.
And me too.
[Could be fun.]
NO, IT WON’T BE!!
