The Scenario That Didn’t End

A scenario to stop the end of the world.

The roles assigned to carry that scenario forward.

And I had been cast as one of the key roles?

And what?

“So you and I were childhood friends?”

“Yeah.”

“Really?”

“Yeah.”

Hyeon Jaeyul really was my friend.

Not just that—we had grown up together in the same house since we were kids.

Hyeon Jaeyul opened the lid of the drink placed in front of me and handed it over.

Receiving the drink without thinking, I thanked him vaguely.

I gulped down the cold beverage and pressed a hand to my still-throbbing head.

There was one reality left that I found hardest to believe.

Jeong Iheon.

Apparently, he and I had been involved in something far deeper than friendship.

A relationship where we shared something more intimate than words.

I felt a hand sneak up along the inside of my thigh beneath the table.

It was Jeong Iheon’s.

“Doya, am I invisible?”

Jeong Iheon asked, eyes curved as he smiled.

Since I’d been ignoring his face the entire time, he leaned closer, insisting I look at him.

Without changing his expression at all, his hand was boldly intruding between my legs.

So this was what they meant by “deep.”

The tattoos on Jeong Iheon’s arm had been carved to block memory manipulation.

That was why, in dreams and in other dimensions, he replaced that arm with a prosthetic—so it wouldn’t interfere.

He had engraved them the moment he learned about my ability.

The real me, it seemed, had grown disillusioned with human relationships because of memory manipulation.

To encourage me—to prove that there existed someone my ability couldn’t affect—
he had carved a spell into his body to block it.

Even though it could have killed him.

Unable to believe it, I turned to Hyeon Jaeyul.

He answered calmly that yes, we had been very close.

“You really don’t remember.”

Jeong Iheon withdrew his hand and propped his chin on his palm, muttering.

“We were really good together.”

The upward curve of his lips looked almost indecent.

I barely managed to look away from his bewitching face.

Judging from how he’d been when forming relationships, it didn’t feel like we’d been casual—but without memories, I couldn’t be sure.

I had no idea what kind of person I’d been in reality.

As for Ju Noeul, it seemed we’d never been especially close, so that was easy enough to accept.

If the most unbelievable relationship was Jeong Iheon, then the most awkward one was Won-gyeong.

After being cursed in another dimension and expressing affection toward me, he still seemed embarrassed by it.

It had only been a brief incident, so I didn’t understand why he was so hung up on it.

Whenever our eyes met, he’d give an awkward smile and look away.

I called out to the invisible system in my mind.

It still didn’t appear.

‘So… does that mean this really is reality?’

My injured leg was perfectly fine, without even a scar.

The new suit given to me by a woman who looked like a researcher felt stiff and unfamiliar.

This must be what normal sensation felt like.

Everything pointed to this being reality.

I called for the system again, meaninglessly.

A world without the system that had constantly tried to drag me onward felt strangely unreal.

The world with the system had felt more real, if anything.

I must have had an overly vivid dream.

Thinking back to the last system message I’d seen, I stopped.

‘Main Scenario Three: Pursuit….’

While I struggled silently to piece things together, Ju Noeul spoke.

“There’s something I’ve been wondering.”

His eyes weren’t quite on me, but on the empty air just behind me.

“What’s that thing behind you?”

My body stiffened as I followed his gaze.

[Main Scenario ‘3 – Pursuit’]

[Main Scenario in progress.]

The system was so transparent it was almost invisible.

Ju Noeul, with his sharp eyes, had noticed the faint, hazy shape trailing behind me.

“How is that even….”

“It’s been following you.”

“What are you talking about?”

“That thing. The main sc—”

“Ju Noeul, wait. Don’t say it.”

The men who followed Ju Noeul’s and my line of sight looked puzzled.

None of them could see the system.

I jumped to my feet, grabbed Ju Noeul by the wrist, and said,

“Come with me. Now.”

“What? Why?”

“Just come out!”

“Doya, should I come too?”

“Then I’ll go as well.”

As I dragged Ju Noeul along, Jeong Iheon asked, and Hyeon Jaeyul stood up too.

I snapped at them to stay put.

Pulling Ju Noeul into the hallway, I shoved him lightly against the wall and demanded,

“You can see it?”

“Since when?”

“…Can you back up a bit?”

“That’s not important!”

“When did you start seeing it?”

Trapped between my arms, Ju Noeul hunched his broad shoulders inward.

The way he moved almost looked fearful of touching me.

I didn’t care.

Impressed by my own restraint in not grabbing his collar, I pressed him harder.

With his face scrunched up, Ju Noeul answered,

“I’ve been seeing it since you woke up.”

“It’s been following you the whole time.”

“Since I woke up?”

“Yeah. At first it was even more transparent.”

“What is it?”

“What do you mean by main scenario?”

“…It means I’m still dreaming.”

“What kind of bullshit is that.”

“And it looks like you’re stuck in it with me now.”

“I seriously don’t get what you’re saying.”

I didn’t know why the system had become visible to Ju Noeul, but—

Ah.

“Ju Noeul. Your ability.”

That was the most suspicious thing.

“Amplification. Why?”

“You interfered with my ability in the dream.”

“When you held my hand and made a new path!”

He nodded calmly, like he didn’t see the issue.

Frustrated, I thumped my chest and tilted my head back.

The system wouldn’t have appeared for no reason.

This had to be tied to my ability.

It was probably created to guide me through the apocalypse simulation even without my memories.

The one who created it was likely the version of me who still remembered.

And the one meant to see it was also me.

But then Ju Noeul interfered with my ability in the dream—an anomaly even my remembered self wouldn’t have predicted.

“That interference made it visible to you.”

“So you made that thing too?”

“I don’t remember anything, so I can’t be sure.”

“But it’s probably mine.”

Ju Noeul frowned as he listened.

“What does ‘main scenario’ even mean?”

“It means we’re still in the scenario.”

I paused, then continued.

“As long as that system exists, I think the Eighth Apocalypse Simulation is still ongoing.”

“But the simulation already ended.”

“It failed when Jeong Iheon recovered his memories.”

“What if only one phase failed?”

I assumed the system was an extension of my ability.

It was likely restricted to appear only during the apocalypse simulation.

There’d be no reason for it to exist in reality.

If that was true, then seeing the system meant this place wasn’t reality.

“A simulation meant to stop the apocalypse wouldn’t be this sloppy.”

“We haven’t failed completely.”

Real, yet not real.

We were still inside the ‘Eighth Apocalypse Simulation.’

Ju Noeul tried to tell the others immediately, but I stopped him.

“Even if memory isn’t the condition to complete the simulation, there’s no benefit in everyone knowing.”

“Let’s keep this between us.”

“Hyeon Jaeyul won’t accept that.”

“Him? Not Jeong Iheon?”

“He’ll just go ‘oh, okay’ if we tell him it’s nothing.”

“…I doubt it.”

Ju Noeul muttered, eyes sliding to the side.

“For now, we need to look around the Association and gather more information.”

“What about entering a rift?”

“There are rifts here too?”

“Of course.”

“They’re rarer than where we were, but they exist.”

“Most are managed by the Association, so getting access won’t be hard.”

I was about to answer when the door opened.

Hyeon Jaeyul stood there expressionless.

“You’ve been gone a while.”

“What are you doing?”

“Ah, nothing.”

“Let’s go back in.”

“Okay.”

I pulled my hands away from the walls beside Ju Noeul and spoke casually.

Hyeon Jaeyul nodded obediently with that blank look of his.

As I passed him, I gestured to Ju Noeul to keep quiet.

Ju Noeul sighed softly and nodded back.

His gaze briefly landed on Hyeon Jaeyul.

The look on Ju Noeul’s face was oddly disgusted, so I glanced at Hyeon Jaeyul.

Still expressionless.

I had no idea what Ju Noeul found so off-putting.

Hyeon Jaeyul.

Jeong Iheon.

Won-gyeong.

Ju Noeul.

And Go Doya.

It was a combination frequently seen at the Association these days.

Except for Go Doya, they were all S-rank hunters.

Everyone who frequented the Association knew that Hyeon Jaeyul and Go Doya were childhood friends.

A B-rank hunter keeping an S-rank like a personal attendant was rare.

And only Go Doya would dare smack the back of a close-combat S-rank capable of smashing buildings barehanded.

Today, Go Doya sat alone in the café in the Association lobby—without Hyeon Jaeyul.

Sitting across from her was an unexpected figure.

Another S-rank hunter.

Ju Noeul.

They sat close together, holding hands as they talked quietly.

Their voices were so soft that only someone with S-rank-level perception could possibly hear them.