Seo Ji-hyun felt utterly bewildered as she was dragged to Lee Seo-woo's house without any explanation.
Why was he suddenly acting so out of character? In the original timeline, he had taken her to some secluded dungeon and raped her. But now he was bringing her to his own home? The first time, when there was no driver, she thought things might be unfolding as before. But heading to his house? Had he decided against tying up loose ends?
Up until now, everything had played out exactly the same. She had even deliberately limited her mana during the regular Hunter rank tests to stay at C-rank until the deadline.
Lee Seo-woo kept making excuses about focusing on driving, so it seemed pointless to say anything. She leaned back quietly in her seat. Part of her considered shaking his shoulder harder to cause an accident, but she decided to wait it out for now. Even though she had regressed, her mana was intact. With buffs, she was confident she wouldn't get hurt, and as long as Lee Seo-woo was still breathing, she could save him.
Still, it was intriguing that this life—which had followed her memories so faithfully up to now—had brought such a small change. For the moment, she'd just observe.
Watching his focused face as he drove silently from the back seat brought memories flooding back from before her regression.
How could she forget? The day she was expelled from the guild she'd trusted for six years, betrayed by the people she believed in, and had her first experience ruined in the worst possible way through rape. She still couldn't remember the exact details of what had happened, but somehow she survived—and discovered the hidden conditions of her trait that day.
Well, she couldn't exactly say "thanks to that," but it was the catalyst for gaining power no one else could touch. As for revenge, she'd done it so thoroughly before regressing that even while getting in the car, she'd half-thought about just letting him have his way.
Of course, she had no intention of letting him go afterward. Whether heading out for revenge or clearing dungeons, she'd always desperately needed a scout-type class, and Lee Seo-woo was a mage renowned enough to be mentioned everywhere. If she let him have his fun once and turned him into a slave, it would actually be a gain.
'But this might mess up my plans a bit.'
He didn't seem malicious right now, so he probably wouldn't make the first move. Even though she'd suffered that before regressing, her grudges and obsessions were all settled. Sure, she'd lived like a madwoman, but she had no desire to dredge up the past and start trouble unprovoked. She just hadn't expected him not to swing first from the very beginning.
Of course, according to the original plan, once she had Lee Seo-woo, she'd have to confront not just Guild Master Yoo Soo-jung, but her father Yoo Ji-hyeok—and possibly the Hunter Association too. But since she'd smashed them all before regressing, she was confident. If things had gone according to plan. Still, she wanted to live quietly this time around. Should she let Lee Seo-woo go?
As she weighed the pros and cons of each course of action, the long drive home finally came to an end.
A two-story penthouse right by the sea. They hadn't driven for hours, so probably somewhere around Incheon. Looking at the sleek white luxury house, she thought his car was just okay, but he sure splurged on his home.
"Let's head inside for now."
Whatever was so urgent? He grabbed her hand and dragged her straight to the front door. The moment they stepped inside, Seo Ji-hyun let out a long sigh and snapped her fingers.
-Snap.
"Should've just done this from the start."
With the crisp sound of her fingers snapping, Lee Seo-woo froze in place, still holding her hand as they entered the foyer. Seo Ji-hyun pulled her hand free, stepped right up to him, grabbed his cheeks with both hands, and brushed her thumbs over his eye sockets.
"Haa... These dead eyes are just so damn tempting every time I see them."
After regressing, she no longer had to live so desperately, so with her extra time, she'd experimented to boost her trait's utility. That's how she discovered her new hypnosis ability as a bonus. She rarely had a reason to use it, but those lifeless eyes that only appeared after she'd utterly destroyed someone's life made for great jerk-off material sometimes. It was handy for making people serve her too, but using it like this was a first.
"Can you hear me okay?"
"...Yes."
That signature blank stare and limp voice. She wasn't entirely sure it'd work, but with her mana suppressing him—and since he wasn't on guard at all—it seemed to take hold easily. Now that he was hypnotized, she could speak casually.
"Why the hell did you bring me to your house?"
"...To hide you..."
"Hide me? From who?"
"...Crystal Guild..."
"Hmm?"
It looked like this was Lee Seo-woo's solo decision.
"Why?"
"...Because I want to live..."
"You want to live?"
That answer was unexpected. She felt a twinge of confusion and curiosity. What was going on?
"Who do you want to live from?"
"...From you..."
"From me?"
"...Don't want... revenge..."
The moment she heard that, a chill ran through her veins, and she unwittingly let go of his face. Did he already know about her? But she'd never gotten that vibe before?
"Oppa, do you know I regressed?"
He slowly shook his head at that, so no.
"Or did you get some new future-sight trait?"
"...No."
Not that either. Then what the hell? Was this even the Lee Seo-woo she knew?
"Who... the hell are you?"
◈ ◈ ◈ ◈
A sudden wave of fatigue hit me, and when I closed my eyes and opened them, Ji-hyun was somehow blocking my path. When did she get so fast? Or had I dozed off from relief now that we were home and my tension eased? Honestly, everything that happened today had long exceeded my brain's processing capacity.
"So spill it now. What's so urgent that you left all my stuff in the car and dragged me home?"
She looked genuinely pissed, glaring daggers with an aura that screamed she wouldn't let it slide until I explained. I opened my mouth carefully.
"...Ji-hyun."
"Yes?"
"There's something I need to tell you."
"Tell me?"
"About the contract the guild made with you."
"Contract...?"
No matter how I thought about it, it wasn't my doing—I'd already taken the money through the unfair contract, and I'd told the Guild Master I'd handle it—so my only option was to come clean about the truth to keep her and hide her here. I didn't have a better idea.
I wasn't sure how she'd take it, but mentioning Yoo Ji-hyeok, Yoo Soo-jung's backer, might make her buy it. Then I could fake some identity for her or whatever.
"It's funny I'm telling you now, but... did you know the guild was skimming your money?"
"Yes."
"Look, I'm really sorry... huh?"
"I knew. Even though I left all the money stuff to the guild, as a healer, I could tell things were short."
"Uh, yeah. You knew."
That wasn't the reaction I expected. In my memory of the novel, she didn't know, right? Or did it never mention the skimming?
My memories suddenly felt jumbled, but since she knew, explaining would be easier. Whatever, it wasn't important. Convincing Ji-hyun and protecting her was what mattered most.
"So, to keep that contract from being exposed, the Guild Master told me to take care of you."
"Take care of me?"
"Yeah, simply put, the easiest way to shut someone up is... dead men tell no tales."
"Ah... so then..."
She backed away from me, her eyes trembling in fear. I waved my hands frantically.
"I have no intention of doing that! You're the most precious thing to me, Ji-hyun. How could I?"
"Then..."
"That's why I brought you home—to hide you. I figured I'd keep you here until things quiet down."
"At the Vice Guild Master's house?"
"Yeah. I judged my place is the safest for now."
"I see..."
Thankfully, she seemed to accept it without needing more details. I sighed in relief. Getting into specifics might expose how awkward I was, and above all, I didn't want to hurt my precious Ji-hyun with harsh words.
...Huh?
"If that's the case, thank you. I'll stay here for a bit."
"Y-yeah. I'm hardly ever home anyway. Make yourself at home like it's yours. For food, I'll give you my card—order whatever. Don't worry about the money. It's just returning what you earned anyway."
"Feels like I'm only taking, though..."
"Not at all, really don't stress it."
Something felt off for a second, but at least Ji-hyun understood. It wasn't my sin, but if I could atone like this...
"I'll show you your room for now. I'll move your stuff later."
"Okay!"
And so, the protagonist of a revenge story and the mid-boss who was her revenge target—the two of us—began a bizarre cohabitation life.