As Park Jin-ho’s eyes scanned his surroundings, they snagged on a familiar face. Seo Ji-woo? She was a rising young actress, immensely popular with the younger generation for her exceptional beauty and her kind, diligent personality.
Why would someone like her be following me? Park Jin-ho wondered. There was no mistaking her. Besides her recognizable features, he knew she lived in the penthouse directly above his. The woman tailing him was definitely Seo Ji-woo.
Just as he was about to confront her, a man emerged from behind a tree. It seemed Seo Ji-woo wasn’t alone.
“Sorry for the trouble,” the man said, a placating smile on his face. “We didn’t follow you with any bad intentions. Please forgive us.”
Park Jin-ho’s lips remained a thin, hard line. He recognized this man, too. An Sang-cheol. Isn’t he Ma Kyung-rok’s right-hand man?
Ma Kyung-rok was the eldest son of one of the country’s top conglomerates.
He was also one of the people Park Jin-ho was targeting, a man who went by the alias Cheonma.
A top-class priest, one of the key figures Park Jin-ho needed to recruit, was connected to Ma Kyung-rok.
To beat the 20th round, he had to get Ma Kyung-rok’s attention. He just hadn’t expected to run into his top subordinate so soon.
Though Park Jin-ho needed to get close to Ma Kyung-rok, it didn't mean the man was a saint. He was, in fact, a villain of the highest order. He projected the image of a gentleman to the world, but secretly indulged in a psychopathic hobby.
Park Jin-ho had no illusions about the man's character.
But why is An Sang-cheol with Seo Ji-woo? Park Jin-ho’s mind flashed back to the previous day, to the man he’d seen when he visited the upper floor. He remembered the man standing beside Seo Ji-woo, making Park Si-woo nervous as he’d tried to hand over the rice cakes.
Could it be that the man with Seo Ji-woo was actually An Sang-cheol? Though appearances could be customized in this world, Park Jin-ho had a strong hunch they were one and the same.
Rumor had it that Ma Kyung-rok sponsored celebrities as part of his business interests.
It seemed very likely that the man from yesterday was indeed An Sang-cheol.
“Where did you start following me?” Park Jin-ho asked, his voice cutting through the silence.
“From the starting point,” An Sang-cheol admitted. “We saw you going into the forest and followed. We’re sorry if we made you uncomfortable.” Despite the apology, Park Jin-ho’s expression didn’t soften.
In all his previous rounds, no one had ever followed him here. Seo Ji-woo would have had no reason to. The future has changed, he realized. It’s because I did something different. Could it be because of the rice cakes?
He had only met her briefly and given her a simple gift, but it seemed to have been enough to change her course of action, leading her straight to him. “Why did you follow me?” Park Jin-ho asked, his gaze landing coldly on Seo Ji-woo.
“I—I didn’t mean any harm,” she replied, her voice nervous. “I wanted to propose something.”
“Yes… You won first place in round one, didn’t you? I thought it would be good if we could work together.”
“Work together?” A sneer touched Park Jin-ho’s lips. That was a term people used when they needed something.
With a mocking smile, he said, “I don’t need you. I fight perfectly well on my own. Didn’t you see enough during your little chase?”
Seo Ji-woo nodded, the truth of his words undeniable.
They had been chasing him for thirty minutes, and the entire path was littered with the corpses of the creatures he had slain.
It was a scene of such overwhelming power that they knew, without a doubt, he didn’t need an alliance to survive.
“Don’t waste my time with pointless proposals. Go back,” Park Jin-ho said, turning his back on them as if they were no longer worth his attention.
As he vanished back into the forest, An Sang-cheol let out a huff of frustration.
“What’s with that guy? He’s as arrogant as they come.”
Seo Ji-woo, on the other hand, seemed to deflate with relief, slumping to the ground.
“Hah… I guess there’s a reason he was ranked first. That intimidation is no joke.”
“Intimidation? Anyone would be tense if a man was threatening them with a sword.”
“Still, there was an aura about him… something hard to grasp. And his gaze was terrifying.”
“Maybe he just customized his appearance well. We shouldn't mistake that face for his real one.”
“I guess,” Seo Ji-woo said, looking toward the spot where Huk-yeong had disappeared. “You’ve changed your face too, Mr. Bodyguard.” She sighed deeply.
“I hoped we could team up with the top-ranked player, but it didn’t go as planned.”
“See? What did I tell you? Someone with that much pride would never make a good ally.”
“That’s true, but… I thought teaming up would increase our chances of survival.”
“If we had managed to get Huk-yeong on our side, it would have been for the best.”
“Forget it. Let a monster like that live or die on his own. He’d just be a liability on a team.”
“But it’s still a shame.”
“It is. We wasted all that time following him for nothing.”
Forging alliances to survive in this harsh new world was never going to be easy.
“I didn’t realize there would be so many monsters in the forest,” Seo Ji-woo murmured.
“Doesn’t Huk-yeong care about the vote?” An Sang-cheol wondered aloud. “They’re probably all at the starting point now, deciding on a representative.”
“He probably knows how hard it would be to get chosen, so he gave up on it from the start.”
Seo Ji-woo nodded in agreement.
With only one representative to be chosen from five thousand people, the competition would be fierce.
“Well, let’s go back too. Maybe you’ll get a lot of votes just for being a celebrity.”
An Sang-cheol turned to leave, but Seo Ji-woo didn’t move.
“Um… how about we hunt for the remaining time instead?”
“What?”
“Yes. Huk-yeong has already given up on the vote, and there’s no way it would be us, right?”
An Sang-cheol considered her words. They were reasonable.
“That’s not a bad idea.”
“Then let’s go, Mr. Bodyguard.”
The two of them drew their weapons and headed deeper into the forest.
They had given up on chasing Huk-yeong.
They had no confidence they could persuade him, and a part of them feared that if they tried again, his sword would be the only answer they received.
But what they didn’t know…
…was that someone was now following them.