Integrity, eh?

Question: What would you do if you are faced with an enraged girl whom you’ve avoided for a long time?

Well, the answer is obviously,

Feign ignorance!

"Jinhwan, why didn’t you come to the clubroom?"
The klutz smiled coldy.

"What are you talking about?"
My voice was steady.

"You... know what I'm talking about!"
The other members looked at me with pity. Yeah, if you're going to look at me like that, make sure to kick me later!

"I don't know."

I know, but...

"This is an act of crime you're doing here."

Yes, you heard that right.

They had kidnapped me.

How?

When I was walking home, my vision was suddenly enveloped in darkness, and before I knew it,

My hands were tied with rope.

I don’t even know how they got that in the first place.

Also, how come no one helped me?

Am I that much of a background character, that even in broad daylight, no one notices me?

How cruel has this world become?

"It’s just an act of bonding!"
She shouted, clearly annoyed.

Bonding, you say?

Nope, I don’t ever want to experience that bonding session again!

Ugh... just thinking about it makes me shiver.

"Hey, Kang Geo-ma..."

I looked behind me, with pleading eyes.

"Can you please untie me?"

Even though, I barely remember any of you.

"Senpai, my name is Na Kang-Lim."

"...Is that so."
Crap, I forgot...

"Hah."
I sighed as I dropped my head down.

The klutz looked at me, confused.

I guess I have no choice left.

I stood up.

They all looked shocked.

Yeah, never expected that, did you!

While these fools were busy interrogating me, I was busy untying the rope.

Fortunately, it was a bit loose.

"Kl—Baek Soelhye."
I called her name. After so long, she started.

I grabbed her arms as she backed off, and before she knew it, I had kabedon'd her.

"Actually..."
I spoke in a deep voice.

"I..."

Her face flushed red, even her ears were red.

Looking at her this close, she was a beauty.

She had long black hair, braided in a crown style. Her purple eyes gleamed with a bit of tears.

The orange hue of the sunlight illuminated her face, making a soothing, heartwarming scene.

"For a very long time, I..."
I’d been meaning to say this for so long.

"I fu*king hate you."

"Huh?!"
All of them looked absolutely dumbfounded.

I took that chance to run away. However,

The moment I tried to exit, my head collided with something soft.

I looked straight, and it was the club advisor: Min Seoyeon.

Momentarily frozen, I looked at the one I had crashed into, and smiled like it was the natural thing to do.

Her expression languid, the air around her aloof.

She stared down at me, completely unfazed.

She opened her mouth to say something, but before she could...

I handed her a chocolate bar I bought last week.

"Mm."

She accepted it wordlessly.

I turned and walked toward the door.

But before I could leave, the club president entered.

Her silver-gray eyes scanned the room.

"...What's going on here?"

I opened my mouth to speak, but before I could.

The klutz snapped out of her daze and made a beeline for the president.

“President! He was being sooo me—ah!”

She tripped.

"..."

I turned, grabbed her wrist before she could fall.

She blinked up at me, cheeks flushed.

I carefully straightened her on her feet.

Then, without a word, I turned and began to walk away.

Mmm...

A hand landed gently on my shoulder.

I glanced back.

The president was smiling at me.

"It's time for the club meeting."

I nodded and obediently sat down in the nearest seat.

All the club members stared at me like the world was ending.

…I wonder why.

**

Jinhwan rested his chin on his hand, sitting there without a care in the world.

Seolhye sat across from him, glaring daggers, while Soo young, another club member, sat quietly beside him.

He gave Jinhwan a side glance, sighed, and turned his gaze forward.

The rest of the club members sat in awkward silence, their attention drawn to the president. She was the only person Jinhwan seemed to acknowledge, or at the very least, the only one he didn’t look completely dead inside around.

His face carried a bitter expression, though it was smothered under his usual languid demeanor as he looked at her.

"Jinhwan,"
The president said evenly,
"explain what happened here."

He blinked once and yawned.

"As you know, violence solves everything, right?"

"...?"

The members all nodded in unison, but stopped halfway.

"Seolhye had been bothering me too much... making everything more of a pain than it needed to be. So, I used verbal violence to solve my problem."

They nodded again at how naturally he said it, but after a while the meaning sank in and they froze.

"...?!"

Seolhye stood up, furious at him.

"You—!"

"Mmm..."

Before she could finish, Jinhwan’s head dropped onto the table.

"I'm sleepy."

Saying that, he fell asleep.

"..."

**

The next day, I heard rumors about a transfer student coming here.

Huh?

That's strange, it's almost summer break, and yet...

It's definitely unusual, but I got nothing to do with it since they're transferring as a first year.

It has nothing to do with me, and why do I feel a strange premonition?

"…"

There was still time before homeroom.

I opened my phone to read a web novel named ‘That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Quark of a Helium Atom’.

Although, the author dropped it after writing 500 chapters because he realized he was too dumb to actually write anything good. In the end, he was just writing theories about subatomic structures of atoms...

Quantum mechanics sure has a bright future.

And if you're wondering what happened to the protagonist in the end, don’t worry, he somehow turned into a supermassive blue giant twice the size of a galaxy cluster and turned into a black hole...

Yeah, let's read something else. I’ve finished reading it anyway.

So I started reading a random Webtoon I could find, and look at that, I found something... it's called ‘The Duchess of the Luminore Kingdom Is Engaged to the Prince’.

Wait... let me guess: the female protagonist is terminally ill, gets misunderstood, has abusive parents or is adopted into that family, and her family abuses her, the crown prince hates her but again is misunderstood, and probably she stabs him in the end...

And would you look at that, I was right.

Oh... the teacher finally came.

When it was time for break, I stood up before anyone could bother me and walked to the rooftop.

Fortunately, the door wasn't locked, and there weren't any people.

Thus, I was alone...

I sat down on the railings, looking at the sky,

Barely any clouds in sight.

The heat is still strong.

"H-hey...?"

I narrowed my eyes down as I heard someone call me, and looked at the source, there was a girl standing in front of me.

Somehow, I feel like I met her somewhere before.

"..."

I didn’t say anything, and continued to observe her until I realized something, but decided to ignore it.

"Are you going to jump?"
She asked, looking worried about me.

A mischievous smile crept into my voice.

I stood up on the railings, the lukewarm wind brushing against my skin, the heat swaying in the air.

The girl panicked even more.

"A-Are you from the park?"

She stuttered among her words.

"Nope."

Though I clearly denied her words, even though I knew she was that girl from the park.

"What if I am?"

I paused for a second,

"Then,"

And reached out my hand to her.

"Would you jump with me?"

"Yes!?"

She looked even more bewildered.

I chuckled.

As I spread out my arms and turned my head around to look down, the ground so far away, my vision swaying, yet like a faded memory, the ground kept moving closer.

Mm...

At this rate, I might fall. Although it may be a good thing, it’s not...

I sat back down on the railings.

"Are you the transfer student?"
No way. Fate is this cruel to me.

She nodded.

"...."
Fate is cruel to me.

"Are you perhaps terminally ill?"
Hearing that, she will not bother me any-

"Yes..."
She mumbled, her voice soft like winter.

"…"

I didn’t say anything, and opened my water bottle and drank it.

Hmmm?

Why does the water taste like magnesium? Not that I’ve tasted magnesium before...

Anyway, break is almost over.

I quickly ate my lunch.

She stared for a while, and ate hers as well.

Looking at her, she must have gotten too much attention and ran to the rooftop for a moment of peace.

It's typical for these types of tropes.

"Wh-what’s your name, oji-san?"

"…"

Wow. She actually called me that. How shameless.

"Vanity."
She’s looking at me like I’m a lunatic.

"It’s..."

I got down from the railing.

"Seo... Jinhwan."

My voice low, like a quiet whisper in the night sky.

Chrim- Chirm-

And... I’m late for class.

Might as well skip that class.

She looked worried as she tried to hurry, but she glanced at me and asked.

"Are you planning to stay here?"

I nodded as I sat back down on the railings.

"Hah."

A sigh escaped my mouth as I wondered, why would she even get involved with me?

I started reading a light novel named ‘I Got Transported to Another World as Cannon Fodder So I Might As Well Enjoy My Slow Life, But My Sister Won’t Leave Me Alone, and Before I Knew It I Had a Harem Following Me~ I Don’t Care Much About Them So I’ll Try to Be a Power Within the Shadow~ However, It Seems Like the World I Transported to Is an Otome Game That My Sister Forced Me to Play and the Villainess Is a Tragic Soul Who Is Abused by Her Family, Therefore She Will Rise to Greatness—Maybe She Was a Nice Person After All or It’s All Just a Misunderstanding. Also, the Kingdom Discriminates, So I Will Teach Them a Lesson, and For Some Reason, the Demon King Is After Me—But I Fell for Her, So I Confessed to Her, and I Got Rejected, But Turns Out She Is a Tsundere and My Harem Consists of a Beast That Turned into a Human, One of Them Is a Yandere, a Kuudere, and Mostly a Redhead That Is a Tsundere…’
Maybe it will be better...

"…"

Why the hell is the title 500 pages long!?

Never mind, I’ll read something else.

I glanced around, and she was still there.

I suppose, she’s staying here...

"Hey kid, go to class. Shoo."
I waved my hand around.

She looked at me, and scoffed.

"It’s your fault... and it doesn’t matter, as I don’t have much time to live anyway."

"…"

"And I’m not a kid! I’m the same age as you!"
She yelled.

"I’m a second year."

"You’re older than me?!"
She asked, completely shocked.

Now you’re just messing with me.

"Oh please, spare me the indignity."

She giggled.

After that, we talked for a while, but it was all nothing much.

I didn’t say much, I just nodded or talked a bit.

She seemed happy, because she was grinning like an idiot all this time.

I tried to ignore her, but she clung to me like a stray cat.

She was cute. Haha, as if!

Oh yeah... I still don’t know her name.

Ugh, it doesn't matter.

When I returned home, I played Fallen Down and reached a step closer to ending 38.

The next day, when I arrived at school, the klutz gave me the cold shoulder, probably because she was still sulking.

The homeroom began.

Then came lunch. As always, I eat lunch on the rooftop, and I was all alone, or so I thought. But after a few moments, she appeared.

Annoyed, I quickly ate my lunch and walked away, and she followed me.

No matter what I did, she didn't stop following me.

Hah.

I was starting to get tired from running.

"…"

And it was hot.

It was time for club activities, so for once in a while, I walked to the club room.

There was no one here. I lay on the sofa and closed my eyes.

You may ask, if I hate this club so much, why don't I just quit?

It's not that simple, you know.

I owe a debt to the president, or should I say, Han Eunha.

What debt, you may ask?

She saved me, from when I was at my lowest.

In my first year, when the goddess sent me back after two weeks of waiting, I was starting to lose hope and was close to the brink of insanity.

No.

I was just a step away from killing myself.

After two months, I started doubting reality and my memory.

「Was this even real?」
「Who am I?」
「What is this place?」

「𝐖𝐡𝐨 𝐚𝐦 𝐈」

「𝐖𝐡𝐨 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮?」

「𝐈𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐚 𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐦」

「Was this even real to begin with? Was this all a faded memory to begin with? Was anything real? Or was everything just my delusion? Or is it all just a fleeting daydream? Do I even care anymore? What do I care about? What do others care about? What am I even doing? Who are others? Who are you? Who am I? Was this all even real? Why am I even doubting myself? Be sane enough… Not sane enough. A dilemma. A question, something new, something strange... Nothing's new. Forgive me. Hate me. What is love? Why do we live without love? It's… I don't know what it is. I don't know what I am, who I am, who you are. I don't know anything.」

「Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahhahhahahahhahahhahhahahahah.」

『What am I even doubting? The smell, the touch, 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚜 𝙸 𝚜𝚎𝚎, 𝘵𝘩𝗲????』

『Huh?』

「What am I even talking about?」

「Oh right.」

『𝗡𝗼𝗯𝗼𝗱𝘆 𝗶𝘀 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗺𝗲.』

「𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯'𝘵 𝘥𝘰 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨.」

『𝐈 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐣𝐮𝐦𝐩 𝐨𝐟𝐟—』

"Jinhwan!?"

My eyes opened, vision still blurry, my mind half asleep, a figure in front of me, still hazy.

"He...lp."
A broken mutter escaped my mouth.

"What, I can't hear you?"

I awakened from the daze and looked at Seolhye, the one who entered the room.

**

Seolhye was quite perplexed at the current situation as she looked at the sleeping Jinhwan.

"Jinhwan?!"
She tried calling to him.

And he spoke something, but it was barely audible.

So she asked him what he said.

She was taken aback.

His eyes were devoid of any life, empty, soulless. The usual languid, mischievous expression was nowhere to be found.

After a few moments, his usual expression returned, and he stared at Seolhye.

And he lay back down.

"What are you doing here?"
The same Jinhwan who would rather jump off a building than come to the club room, had come to the club room.

If others saw it, they would faint.

Seolhye, along with Kang-lim, Soo-young, and Yo Yi-sak, had been trying to bring him here, so what could his reason be—

"Wouldn't you like to know?"
He smiled.

"You—!!"
Seolhye was seriously about to hit him, but before she could, he spoke.

"The air conditioning here is good."
Jinhwan was speaking nothing but the truth, he had actually come because it was too hot.

"…"

Seolhye stared at him blankly and sat down on the sofa in front of him.

"Ah."
He gasped as if he remembered something.

"…?"

"I'm sorry..."
He spoke in a low voice, averting his eyes from her, with a slight red tint on his cheeks.

"Hah."
Seolhye sighed, as she wondered why her heart was so fragile.

**

Soon, the end of the week came, and I was lying in my bed, reading.

"Hm?"

I searched for other volumes, but sadly, I had reached the last volume of Esquizofreina: 'I', released.

It had only been serialized until volume 9, but unfortunately, the author was on an indefinite hiatus, with the last volume being published two years ago.

And it started serializing twenty years ago.

Volume 10 was being released this month, but I don't wanna wait!

"Ugh…"

It was a psychological manga, with the main character, named Victim, suffering from Esquizofreina, which is a syndrome that makes the victim experience hallucinations, be more delusional, and daydream more.

You could say it's fine, but the more the victim deludes himself further from reality, he starts to take solace in isolation, so much that he is willing to kill anyone who approaches him.

No human connections means he has little to no empathy; therefore, he murders his own parents, loved ones.

The government starts protocols and contains them.

But being deluded means they are observing themselves while not observing anything, yet everything. A paradoxical dilemma.

So they can change reality itself. The victim's soul is broken, thereby creating a new organism that behaves the same as humans do, but is perfect. Some lose bones or flesh.

There are three parts of the human body: flesh, bones, and soul.

In the end, caught between illusions and reality, the victim is given a choice: to be or not to be.

And that's where it ends.

Ughhhhhhhh…

I can't wait!

Forced to wait, I decided to play Fallen Down and something strange happened.

"Eh!?"

The game was on maintenance?!

[Hello, Fallens!
We are sorry to inform you that Fallen Down will be on maintenance for two months. It will officially reopen to all players on 1st August. So, in the meantime, you can all enjoy the game and prepare to reach the true ending...
...
...
Notice: To play the beta version, the player must get it from the company. Only 5 players will be chosen for beta.]

Without thinking much, I applied for the beta.

I was pretty certain that I wouldn't get chosen, but there were some clinches that told me I would get chosen.

And I was still able to play the game...

"Mmm…"

Lost in thought, I started playing.

In the evening, I walked outside because of a reason I can't remember. It seems like I know what it is, but my mind doesn’t remember it, like a forgotten memory.

Ahh…

I was told to go outside because I spent the whole day in my room.

Of course I refused, but to no avail, I couldn't persuade them.

"Head my words, world may be under beneath me. O darkness of the void who screams at me, the myriad of the scarlet king... Awaken!!!!"

"...."
I was walking and I found myself in a park. In front of me stands a boy (I think?) who has blue eyes, or one of them, because on the other he wears an eye patch, a cloak on his back, and has shoulder-length black hair.

"When the world breaks, humans explode- Thou shall never know escape- Thee shall never see- Be or not- Humanity -No, this world shall fade within my grasp!!"

What the...

Yup, I'm not getting involved in this.

"You there, my dear servant, have you come to serve me?"

He pointed his finger at me.

"..."

I never heard any of this.

"Heh, so you are beyond this dimension. The eyes of Scarlet will watch you!!!!"

"..."

Stop shouting so much.

"This world shall be erased. The world is wrong, a liability to us, and nothing but a hindrance. The world doesn't need me, but I need the world!"

"Seriously, what did the world do to you?"
Crap, this damn mouth of mine opened.

Maybe I never did. Yeah, I didn’t.

"Nothing!"

"...."
I'm surprised you can say all that with a straight face.

"Haha. I knew it! You are the one chosen by the desolated reality! Become my servant and all things will be yours!!"

"No~."
I said, my voice in a playful manner.

"Oh, the 「Scarlet King」, make it happen: 『When Day Breaks.』"

"Who even is the Scarlet King?"
Is he some kind of overpowered entity or something?

"The Scarlet King is the one who distorts reality, oversees dimensions, and has power beyond what I could imagine."

"Mmm…"
I nodded as I ruffled his hair.

"The Scarlet King is not even worth my time."
I said.

"You walk in ignorance, basking in false light. Soon, it shall all be ash."

I should probably go, because if this continues, I’ll probably die of embarrassment.

"Reality cackles before time could see. Thou, faithful servant, what do you go by?"

Mmm…

"Are you the Heavenly Demon?"
I asked.

Wait, when did the genre change to cultivation?

"Kehhehe."

He chuckled.

"You dare compare me with someone so weak? My name cannot be spoken, or otherwise this world shall feel pain!"

Then...

"I am you."

I ran away. Out of the corner of my eyes, I could see crows flying and him laughing.

Absentmindedly running, I found myself sitting on a familiar bench.

Oh crap, I feel like I'm going to die.

My throat is sore, my breath uneven, my heart feeling like it's about to explode any moment.

And this scorching heat on top of that!

"Ugh..."
I groaned as I lay further back.

Something cold touched my hand. I looked, there was a water bottle in my hand.

Without thinking, I drank it.

The cold water seeped through my throat, making me realize what I had done.

I stopped drinking halfway through and looked next to me, and there she was, the unknown sick girl!

She was looking at me like she was about to say "how ungrateful of you."

Before she could say so, I muttered in a low voice.

"Thanks..."

"Oji-san, you looked troubled?"
Wow, she actually called me 'Oji-san' even though it's a bit broken Japanese...

"Yeah."
A wave of sorrow washed over me.

"Would you like to tell me?"
What a nice kid.

"Nope~."
But that's not my responsibility.

She was taken aback.

Looking at the blazing sun, my eyes half closed.

"Want to eat some ice cream?"
I spoke in a languid voice.

"Mmmm."
She nodded.

**

The next day, I was invited by the club members to go somewhere. I tried asking, but they didn't tell me.

Seeing my firm resolve, they asked the president to invite me.

"I don't wannaa~."
Even so, I refused.

But in the end, I was dragged against my will.

At that time, I didn’t know that spontaneous human combustions had begun, killing humanity.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

Used to a call a senior, someone who’s older or has more experience in Japan. Normally, the term sunbae(선배) would be used but I shall use senpai.

A common trope in anime/manga where a character slams their hand against a wall to corner another person, often used in romantic or intense emotional scenes

A common setup where the protagonist reincarnates or transmigrates as the antagonist (usually a noble girl) in an otome game or fantasy world. These stories often explore redemption or twist expectations.

A story-based game targeted toward women, where the protagonist (usually female) interacts with multiple male characters and can pursue romantic paths with them.

A character who is deeply in love to the point of obsession. While they may appear sweet and caring at first, their love can turn dangerously possessive or violent, especially toward anyone they perceive as a threat to their relationship. The term combines yanderu (病んでる, mentally ill) and deredere (デレデレ, lovestruck).

A charactero who comes off as cold, aloof, or emotionless on the surface but gradually reveals a more caring or affectionate side to those they trust. The term blends kuu (cool) and deredere (lovestruck), highlighting their quiet or stoic demeanor hiding deeper feelings.

A character who is extremely shy or quiet (“danmari”), but blossoms into open affection once they’re comfortable with someone.

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