A Trap Called “The Fourth Day”

No—don’t just think about what kind of nonsense this is. Say it out loud.

“Wait, wait. What are you talking about? Since when have I known Seolya?”

“Have you known him since before coming here?”

What the hell is that supposed to mean? Before I could even respond, Jeok-o exploded.

“No answer, huh. Looks like I hit the mark.”

“No, you’re not even giving me time to—”

“Even trash like you should know that before Seonjeonggong summoned us, he and I were the strongest candidates for king! And yet you dared to deceive everyone and secretly meet him?”

I didn’t understand a single thing, but the more he talked, the angrier he got. His face flushed red, and in the blink of an eye, he was right in front of me, grabbing me by the collar.

“I should’ve noticed when he interfered with me back in the dormitory! Were you already planning to meet him even then?”

“How does that even connect?”

“Don’t try to play me with that tongue of yours!”

“You’re barely twenty—stop talking like some ninety-year-old fossil! What era are you from?”

“He already confessed!”

“Confessed what? Are you insane? When did I know him? Never! The first time I saw Seolya was here!”

What the hell did that bastard say behind my back?

“Seolya? Ha, Seolya!”

And why does this guy look so smug—like he just caught his cheating partner at a hotel?

“You even call him so casually. Not ‘Northern Lord’ or ‘Young Master,’ but Seolya.”

Ah.

‘I only knew him one-sidedly from the game, so it slipped out.’

But once words are spoken, you can’t take them back. Convinced he had found solid evidence, Jeok-o only got more fired up.

“So that’s why I couldn’t track you down no matter how hard I tried. He was hiding you!”

“Wait, are you talking about after the dorm incident?”

“There were no reports of you in the northern territory. Where exactly was he hiding you?”

Why does this guy not listen at all? Are his ears even working?

I stared suspiciously at his ears. He glared right back at me.

“Hey, wait. What are you thinking right now—”

Just like his hair, his red eyes gleamed like polished glass. Instinctively, I knew he was thinking something absolutely insane.

“…Did he hide you in his room?”

There it was—complete nonsense.

“Looks like I’m right.”

When something is so absurd, you can’t even respond—that saying hit me in real time. His voice dropped lower.

“If you’re that close, then the Northern Lord’s words must be true. Since when have you been colluding with him?”

“I told you, I didn’t! The first time I properly saw him was after entering Bran—ugh, seriously.”

I was going to lose it.

But apparently, I wasn’t the one losing my mind.

“If you’ve been secretly meeting him since before Bran, what did you talk about?”

“If you’re going to go crazy, at least spin a full 360 and come back.”

“What information did you give him? Speak!”

“Use your brain before talking! What information could I even give? Do I look like someone who has anything worth leaking?”

That was a perfectly valid point.

“You look down on me that openly, and you think I’d know anything important? I don’t even know what’s gotten into you, but—”

I genuinely couldn’t understand.

‘He sounds like a jealous partner freaking out over a secret fling.’

Total nonsense—but that’s how ridiculous he was acting.

I kept going, venting everything that came to mind.

“Even here, I’m openly treated as dead weight, a burden, a useless idiot who got selected by mistake instead of skill. So imagine how it was outside. Those chicks following you around calling you ‘leader’ treated me like a punching bag. You think I had time for secret meetings?”

I slapped his arm away irritably. He let go more easily than expected, but I didn’t think much of it—I was too busy snapping at him.

“Even when I was locked in the punishment room, people still forced their way in just to hang me out to dry. If that was night, imagine the day. And it wasn’t just the kids—their parents were the same.”

There were no signs of forced entry into the punishment room. Yet the person inside always ended up like that. Anyone could guess what happened—but no one ever caught the culprit.

“What’s the point of trying to do better when it means I won’t even get to eat? And you think I had the luxury to secretly gather intel and meet someone behind everyone’s backs? Unbelievable……”

I kept rambling—then suddenly froze.

Oh.

‘Shit.’

It felt like all the blood drained from my body.

‘What the hell did I just say?’

Everything I just said… was from a dream. A recurring one where the same situation repeated differently each time. And I had just spoken like I actually lived through it.

Jeok-o’s reaction was obvious.

“Uh… um.”

As my head cleared, overwhelming embarrassment took over. Damn it—this is why thinking gets messy when you’re overwhelmed.

“Uh… what I said earlier was…”

I was about to brush it off as sleep deprivation.

“……”

But then—

“You remember?”

Jeok-o asked, staring at me in shock.

“What?”

“If you remember, then why until now—!”

I hesitated, unsure how to answer. Suddenly, he grabbed his forehead.

“No.”

He staggered back a few steps, mumbling to himself.

“Did that… really happen? Did something like that happen? No… it didn’t…”

“Jeok-o?”

“No. That never happened. It didn’t. It definitely didn’t.”

What’s wrong with him?

“Hey, Jeok-o. If your head hurts, just go back—”

“Then why do I remember it? Why does it feel like it happened? Is it a dream?”

“Hey……”

“…A dream?”

I reached out to stop him—then froze.

A dream?

What I said was definitely a dream.

But—

〈You remember?〉

〈No, that never happened.〉

〈Then why do I remember it?〉

〈Is it a dream?〉

Didn’t that sound like… he had the same dream as me?

‘This doesn’t match what I know.’

Activating ‘Replay (R)’.

Come to think of it, there were many inconsistencies like this.

「R: The Western Leader had only one child—a boy chosen at birth by the red crow god with four wings.」

That’s what I knew.

「R: “Even the Northern young lord and the Western lord’s only son still haven’t received their seals, right?”」

That was the memory I read from Imok as he disappeared.

I could’ve dismissed it as an error—or misinformation.

But…

“Jeok-o, let me ask you one thing.”

I grabbed his sleeve and pulled him.

At the same time, a deep humming sound echoed everywhere.

🙁

The system is unstable.

Ah, shit. Of all times.

Using self-edited firmware instead of pre-installed software may cause errors in progression.

“What is that?”

Jeok-o looked up, startled. I answered:

“Retaliation.”

“Retaliation? Who, against whom?”

Traces of playing with custom firmware have been detected.

“Forget that—just answer me first.”

He stared at me, wide-eyed. Strangely quiet.

‘He almost looks… innocent.’

Only then did it hit me—he was younger than me.

“—When did you receive your seal from the Red Divine Crow?”

His eyes sharpened instantly.

“The hell, you don’t remember that? The moment I was born!”

Then he stopped mid-sentence.

“I… I mean… I…”

“That’s enough.”

I didn’t need to hear more.

A crack is forming.

Given the situation…

「R: OZ shattered the Sun Stone. Time inside the ‘Box’ collapsed instantly. Night fell abruptly.」

Let’s talk about the 12th loop.

「R: After forcibly bringing night, OZ was severely injured—attacked by one of his own beasts.」

Because it matters.

「R: A few hours earlier, someone mentioned hearing a strange sound—like bells. No one took it seriously.」

The beast that attacked OZ had last eaten another candidate’s divine beast—Sikhopyo.

『Sikhopyo: Sometimes classified as a variant of Bak, but differs in form. A vicious creature that devours tigers and leopards…』

No human reacted to the bell sound. So no one paid attention.

But thinking back—creatures like Bak hated bell sounds.

And that beast swallowed prey whole, digesting it slowly like a snake.

‘They said it could take up to three days to fully digest.’

So maybe its behavior was triggered by the bell—and the still-undigested Sikhopyo.

The question was—who rang the bell?

Someone who understood creatures, candidates, and timing perfectly.

But I didn’t need long to figure it out. I had too much data.

Warning: Using custom firmware may cause errors.

Traces detected in this worldline.

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?”

Jeok-o muttered. I replied:

“It means I’m about to screw over the bastard who keeps pissing me off.”

“What?”

I didn’t answer.

‘It’s about time.’

That’s what I thought when I came here—to prepare for this moment.

I had already altered multiple quest paths. The system had been forced to deviate repeatedly.

A crack is forming.

Who drove the beast mad with that bell in the 12th loop?

The answer was obvious.

“That narrow-minded, self-righteous bastard.”

A penalty will be applied to the malicious user using custom firmware.

A ‘Box’ will be applied to the target user.

A ‘Time Reduction Effect’ will be applied.

Jeok-o shouted:

“You—there’s a Box!”

“I know.”

A translucent box that used to cover Bran during DAY quests now enclosed only me.

🙂

The fourth day has dawned—for you alone.

The Box will be removed once conditions are met.

Until then, you cannot leave the Box.

※ Other candidates may freely enter and exit your Box.

What does that mean?

“It means they’ve thrown me in as prey for everyone else.”

The fourth day had begun—just for me.