Divergence from the Original Script

As the people he met here found it difficult to pronounce “Yeon I-seo” correctly, he occasionally thought about changing his name. However, perhaps due to the influence of his past-life memories, he maintained the name Yeon I-seo. Of course, it was also because he feared that a hasty name change might alter the game’s progression. He had to avoid any choices that might change the future as much as possible.

The world of Ahn Hee-woong, which I-seo called his past life, differed from this current world in quite a few ways. The fact that a world could be built on a conscription-based military was a shocking concept to the current I-seo, for whom traveling from Korea to Europe by rail was common knowledge.

However, the fact that surprised I-seo the most was that Ahn Hee-woong’s world lacked the classification of types: Alpha, Omega, and Beta.

The absence of “Secondary Genders” in Ahn Hee-woong’s world was a considerable shock. To I-seo, who was born and raised in a world where it was natural for most people to manifest as an Alpha or Omega before reaching adulthood, that concept felt incredibly strange and disconcerting. In I-seo’s reality, Betas—those who lacked such traits—were actually in the minority; in some ways, he even envied the world Ahn Hee-woong lived in. A world full of Betas? Well, that sounded quite nice.

In I-seo’s world, Betas were few in number and could not sense the pheromones of the other types, making it difficult for them to truly mix or blend in. While there were significant differences between Ahn Hee-woong’s world and I-seo’s world, many parts remained remarkably similar.

How was Yeon I-seo depicted in the original work? He searched his memories, but they were hazy. There was a description of Seo Eun-woo having sharp, cat-like eyes but a slender frame and an elegant aura. Compared to that, the current I-seo was too ordinary. It would have been nice if he were a bit more handsome than this. Right now, he was just too plain.

It wasn’t that he particularly hoped to become the lover of someone grand like in the in-game novel. He simply wanted to quietly pursue the best life he could achieve as an ordinary citizen. America is a society of networking. If he knew many good people, he would be able to get help somehow, and I-seo’s desires were limited to exactly that level.

In particular, he thought it would be best if he could at least avoid becoming entangled with Seo Eun-woo, the protagonist of the original game Sickly Villain, and live as if they didn’t know each other, even if they couldn’t be friends. If things proceeded exactly like the game, they might be able to get along as friends, but he decided not to have high expectations.

At any rate, I-seo put in an incredible amount of effort and suffered immensely to build a set of credentials that would have been impossible for him otherwise, just like in the in-game novel. The important point was that I-seo was able to achieve results proportional to his efforts.

At twenty-five, Yeon I-seo managed to get a job as the Second Secretary to Ethan A. Scott, the CEO of the global corporation “Daimin” and the main love interest of the original game. The recommendation letters written by a professor who thought highly of I-seo’s desperate studying, and a businessman close to that professor, were the decisive factors.

Though the starting point of the original game had not yet arrived, he couldn’t eat or sleep the night before his first day due to a mix of tension and anticipation about meeting the game’s characters.

Then came the long-awaited first day of work. A senior secretary led I-seo into the office to introduce him to Ethan.

Upon seeing I-seo’s face, Ethan stood up from his seat and approached. I-seo hadn’t noticed while Ethan was sitting, but once he stood up, he was newly startled by how massive the man’s physique was. He realized just how overwhelming a height of 197cm truly was. They say Alphas grow to at least 185cm, but because Ethan was a Dominant Alpha, he seemed even taller. Perhaps because I-seo, a Beta, was around 175cm, Ethan felt even more gargantuan.

“First time meeting you. Pleasure.”

Ethan was confident and unhesitating. He acted exactly like a Dominant Alpha who was born holding everything and lived without regrets. Ethan extended his hand to I-seo first. Following the casual gesture, I-seo also shook Ethan’s hand. His hand was comfortably warm yet incredibly large.

“I will work hard. I look forward to working with you.”

“Likewise.”

The first greeting with Ethan ended with anticlimactic simplicity. However, even through that brief encounter, he could clearly feel the charisma Ethan radiated.

His piercing gaze was one thing, but above all, the unique pressure emanating from an incredibly handsome man was something that couldn’t be found in an ordinary person. His appearance, in particular, was like a delicately crafted porcelain doll. Being a Dominant Alpha made him even more eye-catching.

A man who looked like a model even while standing still, who was a leading entrepreneur, and wealthy to boot. It certainly was a nonsensical setting. I suppose that’s why he was cast as the main lead, I-seo convinced himself.

To think he did all those… incredible things with that handsome face… I-seo thought of all sorts of game lines that could never be uttered aloud and squeezed his eyes shut. It was one thing if it were a game character, but these were not thoughts to have about a person living and breathing in front of him.

I need to think of something else. Something else. Right. Height. Let’s think about his physique. Ethan is very tall. All the other love interests were tall, but in terms of physical build among the capture targets, Ethan was the tallest.

He had vaguely thought of 197cm as just “tall,” but he hadn’t realized the scale until he saw it in person; it felt like a CG effect, to the point where he stared blankly without realizing it. Even when seeing Ethan from a distance, his legs were so long that I-seo wondered if his waist was really supposed to be that high. Because his appearance felt unrealistically like a doll or a graphic, I-seo actually still hadn’t properly adjusted to Ethan.

There were six months left until the starting point of the original game. Things would begin at the launch event for a new product that Daimin had spent a long time developing. Until then, I-seo quietly performed his duties. In fact, even if he wanted to do something else, he was too busy to have room for it.

Usually, he started work at 6 AM and finished at 10 PM. Although he was the Second Secretary, it wasn’t a difference in workload but simply a difference in assigned fields, so he couldn’t hope for support from his colleagues. In such a situation, he essentially had to give up his private life, but those busy and grueling days were cured by his salary.

In truth, that salary vanished quickly, so the financial joy didn’t last long, but he could tolerate it well enough by thinking that his ability was worth this much when converted into money. Thinking that he couldn’t maintain his current lifestyle if he didn’t earn this much was also somewhat helpful. If he could just hold out for two years, he would receive top-tier treatment anywhere in the same industry, so one way or another, he had to endure.

He has been living that life for four months now.

“Whew. Back to work.”

I-seo moved his hands again after stopping briefly to drink coffee. While watching the feast of black text filling the monitor, one side of his mind couldn’t stop its complex thoughts.

Even though the starting point of the original game was approaching, no sign of anything beginning was visible. Even Seo Eun-woo, the protagonist of Sickly Villain and Ethan’s fiancé, should have come to the company at least once, yet no such thing had happened. No matter how many times he checked, he had never received a schedule update or a notice of a visit.

‘Does the CEO’s fiancé not come to the company?’

He had tried asking such a question, but the response he got was as if it were the first time they had ever heard of it. He brushed it off by saying he must have been confused because of a strange dream he had today, and thanks to Natalie, the First Secretary, starting a lament about how she felt like she was dying lately, he managed to move past it.

With a lingering suspicion pulling at the back of his head, he searched the internet for things like “Ethan, Seo Eun-woo engagement,” but there was no proper information. This was despite the fact that Seo Eun-woo’s family was quite famous in American politics. Just what was going on?

That question was resolved before long.

Seo Eun-woo appeared at the company.

I-seo, who had been moving busily through the office, came to a dead stop. He never expected to see Seo Eun-woo at a timing like this.

“Ethan is inside, right?”

“Uh, one moment. An appointment with the CEO—…”

“He contacted me, so it’s fine. Let him in.”

At the moment Natalie tried to restrain Seo Eun-woo in place of the dazed I-seo, Ethan stepped out of the CEO’s office, speaking with a blunt face, and the small commotion was settled. Seo Eun-woo smiled brightly once more and spoke toward the various gazes gathered on him.

“It was urgent so I only told the CEO before coming. I’m sorry for showing up without a prior appointment.”

If the visitor had already finished talking with the CEO, what could the employees below him say? They simply smiled awkwardly along with Seo Eun-woo.