Chapter 15: Trapped with Wi Hajun

“I barely survived meeting Wi Hajun… I can’t die now being mistaken for an assassin.”

I’d just moved to catch a single rabbit, but somehow everything got really messy. Maybe because my life had been threatened, I’d subconsciously erased my presence from view.

“Well… I’m not even hungry anymore.”

I trudged forward, my thoughts naturally drifting back to Wi Hajun.

Wi Hajun. He’s a key figure in the story, so any change in him means the future I know becomes uncertain.

Why did he change…

I held my throbbing head, and just then, a familiar notification sound chimed.

[Conditions met. Trait activated.]

Why is a trait activating all of a sudden? What conditions did I even meet? I didn’t understand at all. Eve, as always, gave no explanation—just notifications about quests and activations, which made her sound really untrustworthy.

“When a trait activates, shouldn’t something weird happen? Not just… a fancy name popping up… ugh…”

I was about to complain when sudden drowsiness hit me. I yawned. Just moments ago, I was fully alert, and now sleep was smothering me.

Before I could question it, my mind sank deep, deep into unconsciousness.

“Um… hey…”

Someone kept poking me. I frowned and waved them off, but they shook me even harder.

If this keeps up, I’m turning into a human vibrating bell.

I flailed my hands, desperately trying to communicate: Just let me sleep…!

Snap!

Huh?

“Aaah…”

A man’s soft sigh. Wait… did my hand just hit someone’s face? And it felt… really solid. My senses snapped awake. I lifted my heavy eyelids and froze.

What the hell was going on?

In front of me stood Wi Hajun, looking dazed, rubbing his reddened cheek.

Why was he here? Did he get hit by me while trying to wake me? Somehow, it seemed… right.

Before sleep, I had seen the activation notification. Then I fell asleep. Now, I wake up to Wi Hajun’s cheek getting smacked by me?

What kind of bone-crunching nonsense is this?

Wi Hajun blinked at me, blue eyes gleaming. I felt guilty and quickly averted my gaze.

“Are you okay? That was an accident, right?”

Huh? That voice… so kind, like a warm spring breeze. The cold, icy Wi Hajun from earlier didn’t seem to exist anymore.

“I’m… sorry.”

“No, it’s okay. You didn’t do it on purpose.”

Who was this person? His face was Wi Hajun’s, but… the expression was completely different. The icy, emotionless mask had been replaced with a pure, kind smile. His blue eyes, like the ocean, shone beautifully.

Just a change in aura, and he looked like a completely different person.

The earlier Wi Hajun had felt like he wore a mask—emotionless, ruthless, as if he wouldn’t care if someone next to him died. But this Wi Hajun radiated warmth, like sunlight pouring through a gentle morning.

It’s crazy how the same face can look so different just from aura.

I covered my eyes with my hand and let out a sigh.

Wi Hajun crouched a little, concern lacing his voice as he studied me carefully.

“Are you okay? Are you hurt…?”

I exhaled deeply, staring at him. Seriously… what kind of situation was this? My confusion only deepened when the system window suddenly popped up.

[Caution! Trait has been activated. This is not the time period where the trait holder exists. Complete missions to earn Mission Points (MP).]

[3 days left until returning to your original timeline.]

So… this wasn’t my original timeline? A different time period—past or future?

Mission Points? What do I even do with them?

[Items available for purchase with MP]

Information Roulette Ticket

Items in MP Shop

Information roulette… sounds like a gacha. Classic.

I shrugged it off for now. I’d have to earn and try using MP to understand it. Hopefully, it’d be useful.

With my questions settled for now, I looked around this other timeline.

It was dark and smelled musty. Bars lined the area, and people were trapped inside—it looked like a prison.

Oddly enough, Wi Hajun was also trapped here, staring at me with that pure, kind expression.

Even in a different timeline, people shouldn’t change like that. Strange.

“Are you hurt anywhere? That orc threw you really hard…”

“Orc? Where is this place?”

“This is the orc’s human farm.”

As Wi Hajun explained, a clear, pure voice rang out, and a quest window suddenly appeared.

[Side Quest! Escape the Orc Village!]

You have been captured as the orcs’ prey. Stay alert and survive! Escape before being used as orc food.

D-3 until use as orc meat

[Earn 5 MP for each companion escaping with you (0/4)]

[10 MP for successful escape (0/1)]

-Failure will permanently deactivate the trait

-You will not die if you fail

So… even if I fail, I won’t die. That was a relief.

It seemed manageable. In the novel, Wi Hajun had an episode escaping the orc prison—I could use that.

Wait… the orc prison escape episode?

This place matched the location exactly, even down to the details. I studied it carefully.

The second room to the right of the prison door, according to the original story.

Now I realized: this timeline follows the story’s events.

“Do you not remember?”

Wi Hajun’s ocean-blue eyes gazed at me, pure and worried. His eyes matched the real Wi Hajun’s, but the vibe was completely different.

Yes! This is the Wi Hajun from the story. Pure, kind, full of goodwill!

He might still go dark later if betrayed by others—but that was the future.

“No, I hit my head, so my memory is a bit fuzzy… but how did you get captured?”

Blushing lightly, he said shyly:

“Well… I helped someone in danger, and got captured instead.”

Ah… so selfless.

How could someone change this much? What had that earlier Wi Hajun eaten to become that dark version? Seriously, was there another person inside him?

“Hey, rookie! Congrats on becoming the orc’s prey! Haha, let’s die together!”

“Don’t worry, rookie. The girl who came in with me went crazy after dying… you’re safe. I’m Yu Jia.”

A wild-looking man and a clear-voiced girl spoke to me.

The man was bearded, wild, and looked like a bandit. Dark circles and a crazy laugh made him look insane. The girl was confident, red-haired, and smiling.

I knew them. Betrayers who’d abandoned Wi Hajun since the start of the tower: Cha Hyun-gwang and Yu Jia.

I smiled faintly at the red-haired beauty.

“Shin Doyoon.”

Wi Hajun’s eyes widened at my name. He looked… disappointed?

Including Wi Hajun, that made three people. The quest window said four companions escape together with me.

Where was the fourth?

I looked around the prison and saw a person in the corner of the next room, silent, staring at nothing. White hair, angelic face, violet eyes glowing. He seemed focused on somewhere else entirely.

“That guy came here a day before you. Crazy, so I wouldn’t touch him,” Yu Jia said with a shrug and a grin.

So I’m supposed to escape with these four: Wi Hajun, the two betrayers, and… the crazy one.

Great. My hard journey was about to start.