I Don’t Want This Reincarnation

No matter how uncomfortable I was, the team handled the monsters on schedule.

Kyaaaak!

When Ha Tae-heon cut down the crawling spider monster, Kim Soo-hwan, who was next to me, cried out as if he couldn’t resist, “Wow~ that’s so cool!”

“……”

Fortunately, Kim Soo-hwan quickly reverted back to normal, despite my worries. He seemed satisfied with the fact that he had a conversation with Ha Tae-heon.

“Did you just see it? Ha Yi-gyeol-ssi? That clean and neat move!”

“Haha… yes.”

I killed the spider that rushed toward us roughly. I wanted to stop paying attention to Ha Tae-heon for a moment, but even that was not easy because Kim Soo-hwan kept making a fuss to look at him.

“So that’s why our Deputy Master is so popular, isn’t it? Last time, the female employees…”

“Kim Soo-hwan-ssi.” During the break after dealing with all the monsters, I cut off Kim Soo-hwan’s words and asked, “I heard that Deputy Master also has a fan cafe. Does he really?”

Anyway, if I was going to have a conversation with Ha Tae-heon, I'd have to ask something I was curious about. Kim Soo-hwan smiled brightly at my question and grabbed my shoulder strongly.

“Of course he does! Are you interested, Yi-gyeol-ssi?”

“Yeaah…”

I nodded my head, avoiding his burdensome twinkling eyes.

“As expected! I thought Yi-gyeol-ssi would recognize the charm of our Deputy Master!”

“……”

“When we get out of the gate, I will send you an invitation. Once you receive it, you can sign up immediately. It is difficult to find publicly because it is a cafe where only real people gather.”

“I see.”

I nodded in surprise. It was a recommendation system where you could only join if you had an invitation. I was glad I brought it up.

More than that, the invitation…

How were you going to send it?

‘I’ve seen something like this before.’

I remembered that a man who had been in and out of the management bar offered a black invitation card. Then he told me to come to play golf.

Was it the same way here? Surely… It was the place where Ha Tae-heon’s fans gathered, so it didn’t seem like it was going to be an ordinary place.

“If you send it, I’ll be grateful. I’ve been interested in it ever since.”

“Haha, that’s good. I can’t believe Yi-gyeol-ssi will become a part of the Heoningi*!”

Heoningi? Before I even asked what that was, Kim Soo-hwan put his arms around my shoulders and exclaimed the rules of the cafe. This time, there were a lot of words I couldn’t understand.

“Because the Deputy Master said he was going to have a photoshoot next month, we decided to pay a tribute together. Yi-gyeol-ssi can also participate.”

“A tribute?”

What was that.

As I was confused, Kim Soo-hwan nodded his head with an understanding face.

“Yi-gyeol-ssi, is this your first time? When I was just starting fanboying**, there were a lot of things I didn’t know.”

And just what was a fanboy?

“A tribute is, um, all the members prepare gifts to give to the Deputy Master. You can think of it as something like that.”

Oh. They gave him gifts too. Very interesting.

“You know, the Deputy Master is very kind, despite what he looks like, right? He always says thank you. That’s why it’s so much better to prepare.”

“What do you usually give as a gift?”

“Every time it’s different. It could be a luxury item or a lunch box… We even sent him a food truck during the photoshoot.”

I didn’t understand anything else, but I did understand ‘luxury item’. In other words, you had to get something expensive.

‘It’s like sending a gift to someone in a business relationship. The price expresses one’s sincerity.’

It was convenient to have someone next to me to tell me everything. For the first time since I became Han Yi-gyeol, I became curious about another person’s contact information.

“Kim Soo-hwan-ssi, can you give me your number when we leave the gate later?”

“Now that’s what I’m talking about! Of course I’ll give it to you. We’re going to be a part of the same Heoningi, after all!”

“……?”

Weren’t you going to tell me anyway? I smiled contentedly. It wasn’t bad if Kim Soo-hwan was Han Yi-gyeol’s first friend in his life.

* * *

By the second day after entering the gate, the number of rooms cleared was over 10.

In the meantime, I also got to know some other guild members.

I didn’t really do anything, but Kim Soo-hwan dragged me everywhere he went, so I naturally greeted and talked to them.

When this happened, another problem arose. Whether he was dissatisfied with me getting close to the Roheon guild members, Ha Tae-heon kept staring at me with a cold look.

“Hey, Yi-gyeol-ssi.”

As I lowered my gaze at the hesitant call, I was given the soup bowl he was holding.

“This is the soup I just made. Would you like some?”

“Ah, thank you.”

This person’s name is Baek Da-yeon (백다연). As I was a member of the long-distance team, he hovered around me and took care of things since I first became a member.

When I received the soup bowl, Baek Da-yeon smiled with a slightly relieved expression. It was awkward for me too, but I smiled at him.

‘He’s doing it again.’

The gaze I felt behind my back from the moment I received the soup bowl became even more intense when Baek Da-yeon and I smiled at each other. I looked back because I felt my back being pierced by the staring.

“……”

“……”

Even though he was caught staring at me, Ha Tae-heon didn’t shyly avert his gaze. This was absurd. No matter how unreliable I might be, why would he hate me being so close to his guild members?

I didn’t think he was this petty in the novel. I sighed, turned away from Ha Tae-heon, and ate the soup. That was fate.

After a quick meal, Ha Tae-heon divided the guild members into team 1 and team 2 to handle the remaining rooms. Again, I was in the first team, led by Ha Tae-heon.

Ha Tae-heon, standing at the entrance of the 14th room, pressed the jewel and the door opened. Standing at the far end and following my teammates into the room, I noticed a jewel embedded in the door, flashing red.

‘What’s that?’

Obviously, it was blue until Ha Tae-heon opened the door.

“Yi-gyeol-ssi, what are you doing?”

“…It’s nothing. I’m coming.”

At Kim Soo-hwan’s call, I entered the room before the door closed.

‘Why did it turn red all of a sudden?’

This… I should report it to Ha Tae-heon. There might be problems.

I looked around looking for Ha Tae-heon, but the guild members said in a confused voice, “Why can’t I see any monsters?”

“What monster is supposed to be in this room?”

“Poison-toothed worms (독이빨 벌레요). They should be on the walls…”

The interior, which was filled with white light more than any other room, was empty. The guild members, who suddenly had nothing to do, lowered their weapons and murmured, “Then how do we get out?”

“The door won’t open now, will it?”

“Seriously…”

As expected, that red jewel was some kind of device?

I walked past them and hurried to Ha Tae-heon, who was standing in the deepest part.

“Deputy Master.”

As I approached, Ha Tae-heon raised an eyebrow. Then he opened his mouth in a hard voice, “What?”

“……”

This guy. I wanted to keep ignoring him. There was no choice but to report.

I forcefully raised the corners of my mouth and said with a smile, “I have something to tell you. The jewel in the door…”

Kkigigik.

I paused for a moment. What did I hear just now?

I looked around, but nothing had changed. When I stopped talking, Ha Tae-heon urged me, “What about the jewels? I’ll tell you in advance: you can’t take them.”

“…I know. Why would I take such a thing?”

Jewels that blocked the room where monsters come out—it was very uncomfortable. That was a ‘no’ from me.

“I’m not saying that I want to take the jewels. The conditions seem to have changed.”

“Conditions?”

“Yes. The colour of the jewel has changed. It’s red…”

Kugugung! Rattle!

I couldn’t finish my words. As soon as an ominous sound was heard from the floor, the floor on which Ha Tae-heon was standing disappeared in an instant. Ha Tae-heon, who was looking at me, fell into a black hole that suddenly appeared.

“—Ha Tae-heon!”

“Kyaaa!”

“Wh-what!”

“Deputy Master!”

I hurriedly stretched out my arm, but I was unable to catch him with a spur of the moment.

Damn it! Without hesitation, I threw myself into the hole. The screams and shouts of the guild members resounded.

“Ha Tae-heon!”

With my back against the light pouring from above, I reached out as hard as I could to catch Ha Tae-heon, who was being consumed by the darkness.

“Grab on!”

Ha Tae-heon, with a crinkle in his brow, barely grabbed me. Even in the midst of an emergency, I felt a sense of relief in his hand holding me.

‘Ability…!’

Hwiiiing!

I tried to stop our falling bodies by bringing up the wind, but it didn’t work like I wanted it to. It felt like something was pulling us down. I couldn’t stop the fall with my own strength.

I clenched my teeth and raised my ability to the max. The bracelet trembled as an enormous amount of energy was used.

“Uugh, just…! A bit more!”

Even the wind that supported our bodies swayed, unstable. Ha Tae-heon also tried to make a foothold using dust but failed repeatedly. My wind and Ha Tae-heon’s black dust only barely maintained their shape and enveloped us.

Kuung!

“Ugh!”

“Ghg!”

As soon as our abilities formed, my body hit the floor. Had it been a little later, I would have died instantly or would have been seriously injured. A cold sweat broke out.

“Uh, are you all right?”

It was not easy to check Ha Tae-heon’s condition because he was in the dark where there was no light. I swept my hand on the floor, but for some reason it was warm and soft.

“…move away.”

“Pardon?”

The voice sounded pretty close, but nothing was visible. I frowned and brought my face closer to the direction the voice came from.

Ha Tae-heon, who had much better eyesight than the general public, said in a much more threatening voice than before, “Move.”

“Okay, but even if you say to move, I have to be able to see where…”

I touched the floor as carefully as possible. I felt a curve. There was something beneath my spread out legs. What the hell was this? When I moved my legs to get up, the floor trembled.

“Haa…”

Ha Tae-heon took a deep breath and used his ability. The dust that flew from somewhere in the sky began to shine white. Then the darkness in front of me brightened a little.

“……”

“……”

I realized then. Close enough to feel his breathing, I saw Ha Tae-heon’s face; it was his body I was crushing. I thought it was a strange-looking floor, but it—so I…

“…move.”

“Yep.”

I pulled my hands off from Ha Tae-heon’s chest, which I had rubbed to my heart’s content because I thought it was the floor, and raised my upper body hurriedly. It was Ha Tae-heon’s lower body that I saw beneath me.

As soon as I got up and took a step backwards, Ha Tae-heon also scrambled to get up. Both of us received the shock of falling, so it seemed uncomfortable even for an SS-rank body.

“Ahem, so.” I coughed in the awkward air and opened my mouth first. “Where shall we go?”

“I don’t know.”

Well. If you had known, you wouldn’t have gotten hurt.

“The jewel stuck in the door has turned red. I think it has something to do with this situation.”

We must have fallen deep enough, and even when I looked up, I couldn’t see the entrance. The only thing that could light up the surroundings was Ha Tae-heon’s sparkling dust.

I stretched my arms out wide. Fortunately, I could feel the wall on both sides. Was it a hallway?

“Let’s move on. If we were to stay here the whole time…”

“Why did you follow me?” Ha Tae-heon interrupted me.