Every memory of the moment I fell is vivid.
The air brushing against my cheeks.
The wing of a pigeon that grazed my fingertips while it flapped about.
“Huh…?”
The voices of the stunned Team 5 members.
And the sensation of those voices growing distant.
A feeling of being free somehow, as if it were okay to be completely broken.
…I want to die.
It’s unfair.
Those voices echoed in my head.
My brain felt numb, as if hundreds of voices were whispering directly into it.
‘Are you going to fall?’
In that moment, a certain memory flickered past.
But I don’t know if that memory actually happened…… or if I’m just hallucinating.
When I stood in such a high place, was there really someone who reached out their hand to me?
My parents died when I was twenty.
I had just entered the athletes’ village and was training like a madman, and right after that, I got caught up in ‘that incident,’ so the funeral hall was incredibly lonely.
Lee Yugyeom was young, and my parents didn’t have much family to speak of.
Looking at that desolate place, I did think that for a moment.
‘Now, I have no particular reason to live.’
Since Mom and Dad are gone, there’s no one left to be sad even if I’m gone.
No, maybe everyone would like it.
Because everyone said ‘this kind of thing’ wouldn’t have happened if it weren’t for me.
Why did I think that?
Lee Yugyeom was sleeping right next to me.
If I had just reached out my hand, I could have felt the breath that child exhaled.
Lee Yugyeom… was a bit of a brat, but he wasn’t at an age where he could live without me.
He certainly wasn’t at an age where he could endure my death after our parents passed away.
Yet, that thought wouldn’t leave me.
The thought that it would be the same whether I lived or died.
In moments that were too difficult, I used to think, ‘I don’t want to live anymore.’
But back then, even if there were a hundred reasons not to want to live, I survived by scraping through because of just one reason to live—
This time was a bit different.
I couldn’t think of any particular reason not to live, but I couldn’t think of any particular reason to live either.
Just like Cha Jeonhyeok, who had climbed up to the rooftop with a vacant face, when I came to my senses, I was on the roof of the university hospital.
As I walked dazed along the rooftop, someone spoke to me.
‘Are you really going to fall?’
So, how did I answer?
‘I wonder.’
I think that was my answer.
What did the other person say back then?
And what did their face look like?
‘Fine. Then, I’ll watch for you.’
I might have thought, what kind of psychopathic answer is that…
‘Watch what?’
‘The way you die. I can at least do that for you. I….’
My body falls.
The height of the seventh floor of the HIB building.
I possessed him because I was certain that Cha Jeonhyeok’s physical body wouldn’t die from falling from here.
However, I also thought that I shouldn’t stop the fall.
‘It has to be recognized as a definitive failure.’
Or at least, Cha Jeonhyeok needs to be in a state where he cannot move while Team 5 detains him again.
That’s why I intentionally stuffed the special handcuffs inside his shoe right before he fell.
I thought it would be good if I could lock the handcuffs onto any investigator passing by.
But I had no way of knowing who it would be.
I knew it was a somewhat reckless attempt.
If there was something dangerous below and Cha Jeonhyeok died just like that—
‘Because I’m the person who has to watch even your death.’
…I die too.
I momentarily lost the faint memory that seemed to be connected by the keyword ‘death.’
Crash!
The sound of something shattering was accompanied by the blare of a car alarm.
I felt my organs vibrate from the impact hitting my entire body.
I thought the body would be in terrible pain even if it was A-rank….
‘It doesn’t hurt.’
It wasn’t painful, but rather, how should I put it, a strange sense of elation washed over me.
I immediately knew the source of that elation.
‘They say when you’re in a car accident, your body secretes adrenaline so you can’t feel pain.’
The brain creates an illusion when it feels too much pain.
Those voices that filled my head vanished.
‘I want to die.’
‘It’s unfair.’
‘It’s all because of Kwon Ikseong.’
I looked at Kwon Ikseong amidst the empty silence.
Is this an illusion too?
Is this also a trick of the brain?
What is it?
I don’t know.
Whichever it is.
I fumbled around and pulled out the handcuffs I had tucked inside the shoe.
Then, I slipped them onto Ikseong’s finger.
‘It feels like I’m proposing….’
The moment I thought that.
A stabbing pain hit my ribs.
“It… hurts…”
“….”
Ikseong didn’t answer.
It felt like an illusion created by my brain.
Didn’t the same thing happen when I was poisoned by the Funny Powder last time?
But I had to say what needed to be said.
“Please save me.”
Please save me.
The moment I said these words came back to me.
Was it an illusion created by the brain?
On the railing of the university hospital, I am saying this toward the man looking up at me.
‘Save me.’
I don’t remember whose face it is.
I only know that it’s a man.
Something suddenly surged up from inside my chest.
I want to live.
The truth is, I do.
Even if everyone hates me, and even in moments where it feels like I should hate myself too, I can’t let go of me.
I can’t bring myself to hate myself.
“Save me, Ikseong-ah.”
I spoke to Kwon Ikseong as if pleading.
My vision blurred.
“Lee Yuji.”
I heard a low voice.
And when I opened my eyes, for some reason, I was being held in Kwon Ikseong’s arms.
That’s when I realized.
Ah, from here on, it’s either a dream or—
‘It’s heaven.’
I thought so, and as I caught the scent of Ikseong’s skin, I said:
“You’re even more handsome up close… You… damn it…. You’re guilty….”
* * *
…I opened my eyes while holding all those memories.
It wasn’t clear where the fantasy ended and reality began.
But what was certain—
‘I survived.’
I could confirm that through the window in front of my eyes as well.
[Congratulations! You have completed the quest ‘Clear Kwon Ikseong’s Name (B).’ 8,000 Gold has arrived as a reward!]
[Congratulations! You have completed the Special Quest. 10,000 Gold and Special Side Story 2 have arrived as rewards! Would you like to view Special Side Story 2 now?]
I completed the quests….
Both of them.
That meant while I was lying here in this infirmary, Cha Jeonhyeok’s survival was confirmed, and through that survival, Kwon Ikseong’s name was cleared—
‘And for now, it means I’ve broken away from the Special Side Story route…’
What on earth was Special Side Story 2?
I squirmed under the blanket and scrunched up my face.
I don’t want to see it….
I intensely don’t want to see it!
What kind of damn death penalty are they going to give me if I watch this!
It was then.
“If you’re done with all your damn sleeping, get up, partner.”
The blanket was suddenly yanked open, and Pi Sowon’s face appeared.
“Team Leader……?”
“What was that, seriously? Even if you’re F-rank, does it make sense to collapse and fall asleep just because you missed a bit of rest?”
Ah. So that’s what happened.
I only knew that the shock close to death that occurred in Cha Jeonhyeok’s body had transferred to my own body, but I didn’t know what happened after I suddenly collapsed.
“Did they say, uh, I fell asleep?”
“Yeah, you jerk. I even called a healer from the military hospital to examine you.”
Pi Sowon looked down at me as if she were speechless, then let out a sigh.
“Just go home and rest for now.”
“Oh… am I getting off work?”
I thought I’d be working overtime again because of the Cha Jeonhyeok matter?
“Yeah. You’re off.”
I should have realized something was up when Pi Sowon let me off so easily…….
Lee Yugyeom
You…… are you getting fired from the HIB?
As it turned out, the higher-ups had taken away all of Team 5’s investigative authority.
And the reason was—
Lee Yugyeom
They say this was a suspect you were holding? I heard he ate something strange, got controlled, and fell.
…Poor management of a suspect.
I thought our team would get away with just a salary cut since Cha Jeonhyeok survived—
“…Sigh….”
The next morning.
I rushed to work after hearing the news, only for a bolt from the blue to drop in front of me.
“All of Team 5 is being transferred to the Equipment Management Team.…Except for Investigator Byeon Gudo.”
The obnoxious Team Leader of Team 3 appeared before us with a smirk and spoke.
“Investigator Byeon Gudo has been dismissed. I mean, why would you take money from a criminal?”
“Nooo! I told you, I didn’t take any money! That grandmother just shoved it into my pocket, and I didn’t even know it was there!”
…That, that, that damn bastard……!
I looked at Byeon Gudo, who had a truly aggrieved expression, and suppressed my anger.
That’s right.
Team 5 was effectively on the verge of being torn apart!
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