Affection Is a Risk

“I realized I was a character in a game when I was thirteen. I was quite confused back then, but as you can see, I’ve adjusted well. What about you, I-seo?”

Seo Eun-woo shared his story first.

“I was nine.”

“Oh, you poor thing…”

At I-seo’s calm reply, Eun-woo’s expression stiffened, and his mouth hung open as if he hadn’t expected such a young age. He reached out and covered I-seo’s hand, which was resting on the table, with his own. His reaction came from a place of knowing exactly how much physical pain and mental chaos follows immediately after such a realization.

“It’s okay. It’s a long time ago now.”

I-seo gave a casual shrug. As Eun-woo continued to gaze at him with worried eyes, I-seo asked a question.

“What do you plan to do, Eun-woo?”

“Hmm? Plan? …Ah. You mean why I twisted the original plot?”

Upon hearing the question, Eun-woo adjusted his posture. Sensing a sudden tension in the movement, I-seo also straightened his back and sat up.

“My goal is the Android.”

“…Pardon?”

I-seo wasn’t sure if he had heard correctly. The word that had just come out of Seo Eun-woo’s mouth was simply too unrealistic.

“Ah. You don’t know about the additional characters, do you, I-seo?”

“…Yeah, it seems so.”

Rather than saying he didn’t know them, it was more accurate to say he didn’t even know they existed.

“I’ve been meaning to ask—what did you do in your past life?”

“Ah. I was a programmer on the development team for Sickly Villain.”

Eun-woo’s eyes widened at I-seo’s words.

“Oh, that… Wow. I see. That incident was in the news. There were rumors among the players that the victim was a programmer for Sickly Villain. So it was you?”

Eun-woo’s eyes were wide with shock. He was talking about things that happened after I-seo had died. Hearing about events he could never have known, I-seo’s eyes sparkled with interest.

“I ended up inside the game my younger sister used to play. She was quite ill, and her only hobby during her treatment was Sickly Villain. She would get so full of life whenever the game came up. I started playing it too, just so I could talk with her more. That’s how I came to know the story inside and out.”

Eun-woo gave a shrug. Tucking a loose strand of hair behind his ear, he continued.

“Which characters are you aware of?”

“Up to Arthur, the Black British aristocrat.”

“There was one more character added after that. The Android I mentioned was added after Arthur.”

If that was the case, it made sense why I-seo didn’t know. But an android? It was surprising that a capture target who felt like he belonged in a completely different genre had been added.

“Actually, I think you’ve seen him at least once.”

“Me?”

He couldn’t help but be startled by the follow-up. He had seen him? That meant the character was someone in I-seo’s inner circle, or at least someone he had crossed paths with. But who? He couldn’t even begin to guess.

“Sirius.”

“Whaaaat?!”

At the playfully whispered name, I-seo yelled out, eyes wide, before quickly covering his mouth as surrounding gazes turned toward them. However, his shock did not fade.

“Si-Sirius, as in that… him?”

“Yes. Ethan’s bodyguard, the one you know.”

I-seo’s mind went blank, unable to form a single coherent thought. Just what had happened to the story?

“No, that makes no sense… the technology shouldn’t be at that level yet…”

“If this were announced, the world would turn upside down. He’s still a prototype, and he’s a national secret.”

I-seo stared blankly at Eun-woo, who was speaking in a lowered voice. Is it really okay to hear something like that in a public place like this, in a wide-open cafe? The question reached the tip of his tongue, but he managed to swallow it. He decided to believe that Eun-woo told him because it was safe to do so.

But still, no matter how much AI advanced, could a machine truly view someone as special? An android is a machine, after all. Had all those issues been resolved? To the point where it could develop emotions and hold someone dear?

Honestly, someone like Seo Eun-woo could have picked anyone. Why did he specifically choose Sirius? As I-seo looked at him with a face full of questions, Eun-woo caught the doubt and continued.

“Human emotions change. But Sirius doesn’t change. He doesn’t react like an animal to pheromones, either. If I was going to find a partner, I wanted someone like that. That’s why I made him my goal.”

“Though he’s the hardest one to capture,” Eun-woo added quietly. Not reacting like an animal to pheromones… Though Eun-woo didn’t go into detail, it was clear he had some bad memories related to pheromones. If that was the reason, it was certainly understandable.

“Ah…”

Eun-woo let out a short sound as if he had just remembered something, then leaned across the table toward I-seo with a deadly serious face.

“Just in case—please avoid meeting Sirius separately or even talking to him if possible.”

“Pardon?”

I-seo struggled to grasp the intent behind the sudden request. Avoid meeting or talking to him? If heard without context, it sounded as if Eun-woo was marking his territory, worried Sirius might fall for I-seo.

“Why—”

“Because of the Affection Points.”

Eun-woo cut off I-seo’s question before he could finish. However, it was still difficult to understand what he meant.

“Affection Points? In the game…?”

Eun-woo nodded solemnly.

“You know what it was like playing as Seo Eun-woo in Sickly Villain, right? It’s hard to raise Affection Points, but they drop in an instant. But for you, Yeon I-seo…”

“…Ah.”

Only then did the meaning behind Eun-woo’s words click. Due to the influence of the original novel My Beloved Beta, I-seo had a setting where even the smallest action caused Affection Points to skyrocket compared to Seo Eun-woo. There were complaints that this made playing as Eun-woo difficult, but there was also no shortage of praise saying that because it was hard, the reward for successfully raising them was immense.

“But this isn’t a game, so wouldn’t it be a bit different? I’ve been the CEO’s secretary for a while now, and nothing has happened.”

I-seo countered, citing his uneventful time at Daimin, but Eun-woo seemed certain of his opinion.

“I tested Ethan in various ways even before I met you. I think the reason those rules haven’t applied to you yet is because, from your perspective, the story hasn’t officially started. But it’s not like you’ve been running tests yourself, right?”

Eun-woo took a sip of his juice and continued.

“Once the Affection Points start rising, it’s too late. That’s why I’m struggling so much right now. There’s no need to take unnecessary risks, is there?”

Eun-woo spoke decisively. Considering everything happening, I-seo couldn’t simply ignore those words, so he agreed. Hearing the answer, Eun-woo looked satisfied and leaned back into his chair.

“Uh, but… then what about the other people?”

“They’ll have to survive on their own, I guess.”

The reply was so cold it felt chilling.

“But not you, I-seo. If anything happens, tell me immediately, okay?”

I-seo let out a small laugh as he watched Eun-woo’s expression shift instantly.

“Why are you being so good to me?”

“You’re different from other people. Above all, you’re the only person I can talk to comfortably like this. When I was a kid, I tried to tell my parents that this world was a game I played before I died, and I ended up in a psychiatric hospital with a diagnosis of delusional disorder.”

Watching Eun-woo talk about a bitter past in such a nonchalant tone, I-seo felt a deep sense of empathy.

“I’m just glad I didn’t get locked up for good. You have no idea how stifling it was, living a lie, pretending to be okay, pretending a non-existent illness had been cured, just so my parents wouldn’t worry. I never want to experience that again—living under their watchful eyes, searching for any sign that I might be ‘acting strange’ again.”

Eun-woo frowned as he recalled the past. I-seo could feel his pain as if it were his own.

“Do you know what a relief it is to find someone I can talk to about the things I’ve kept buried in my heart? Someone I don’t have to worry about how they’ll react? You understand, don’t you, I-seo?”

He certainly did. Because I-seo had gone through something very similar.

“Can you guess how happy I was when I realized you were an Engaged Player? I was so thrilled to see you. That’s why I talked to you without a plan. I don’t want to lose someone like that.”

I-seo could feel how firm Eun-woo’s resolve was through his voice. Then, with a softened attitude, Eun-woo asked him:

“What were you planning to do, I-seo?”