“At that moment, not a word came out.

Like a herbivorous animal frozen in front of a predator, I couldn’t even move, let alone run away.

‘Why is that person coming out here?’

I couldn’t believe the scene unfolding before my eyes, so I tightly closed and opened my eyes.

Recognizing that the opponent was Seol Yubin wasn’t difficult because I had already seen Seol Yubin’s prepared appearance.

However, at first glance, I couldn’t recognize their identity because the atmosphere between them was so different.

‘Totally scary!’

It was ridiculous to be afraid that the guys from Haesung High School would harm me just now.

What’s Haesung High School? In this world, the most dangerous thing is not some petty villain but the protagonist, who is ranked 0 in the world. The fate of the delinquents in this neighborhood is all in the hands of Seol Yubin…… No, wait.

‘Could it be that back then, that delinquent hunter was Seol Yubin?’

I remembered a rumor that the short-haired person and the kids were talking about not long ago.

〈Yesterday, delinquents from the neighboring school were found collapsed in the alley!〉

‘Come to think of it, not long after that rumor, Seol Yubin appeared.’

I took another look at the scene before my eyes. Delinquents collapsed in the alley… It’s exactly as the rumor said.

‘Right, now that I think about it, there was mention of that in the original work.’

According to the original, Seol Yubin, stressed from being ostracized, wandered around beating up delinquents every night.

‘Indeed, there are no two protagonists under the same sky.’

Who would do such a righteous thing? It turns out it was Seol Yubin after all!

‘No, this is not the time for that.’

Belatedly coming to my senses, I immediately bowed my head.

“Sorry. I’ll pass by.”

And I turned my body to leave the alley.

But Seol Yubin didn’t just let it go.

“Wait.”

I’m in trouble.

The moment I heard Seol Yubin’s voice, I tightly closed my eyes.

And I reflexively calculated.

What’s more likely, the probability of successfully escaping or the probability of getting caught by Seol Yubin if I run away like this?

There was no need to hesitate.

“Uh… did you call me…?”

In the end, I stopped walking with tears in my eyes.

Seol Yubin, who was far away, approached me steadily. The way they walked was different from when they were disguised as an outcast. I swallowed my saliva.

“You…”

Seol Yubin glanced at my face for a moment and furrowed their brow.

“This face is familiar… where have I seen it?”

Are they not remembering me?

I don’t know if I should be happy about this or not. No, I’d rather they didn’t remember me at all. Just let me go.

I awkwardly smiled and took a step back. It was an instinctive behavior trying to get away even a little from something scary.

Seeing me like that, Seol Yubin seemed to realize something and snapped their fingers.

“Ah.”

Darn, big trouble. They remembered. They must have recalled it.

Seol Yubin, who seemed about to say something, bit their lips again. It seemed like they stopped trying to pretend to know me, probably because they thought I wouldn’t recognize Seol Yubin anyway.
Instead, Seol Yubin brought up a different question.

“Hey, by any chance, aren’t you me?”

…How should I respond to this?

Whether I wanted it or not, the words saying that I even have your profile came up to the tip of my tongue. Of course, I couldn’t say such a thing… I rolled my head and chose a safe answer.

“Well… I’m not sure.”

Alright, the strategy is to act like I don’t know anything.

Seol Yubin raised one eyebrow suspiciously.

“Really, nothing comes to mind when you see me?”

Well, how about the fact that you’re ranked 0 in the world?

Of course, I wouldn’t ask that…

It seemed like Seol Yubin was testing whether I recognized the person in front of me as ‘Seol Yubin.’

I slightly lowered my head, avoiding eye contact, and cautiously replied.

“…I really don’t know what you’re talking about.”

While putting on the dumbest expression possible.

“Do you really not remember anything?”

“Sorry, but… I don’t remember.”

It was a performance worthy of the best acting in my life.

Seol Yubin scrutinized me with suspicion. The longer that time went on, it felt like sweat was dripping from my hands.

Finally, Seol Yubin opened their mouth.

“Looking at that dumb expression, it seems like you really don’t know.”

Okay, that’s a bit harsh.

But I could tell that my acting worked. I nodded my head.

“Well, then, I’ll be going.”

At that moment, Seol Yubin grabbed onto me.

“Wait.”

With a cold tone, Seol Yubin said to me, who was cowering with my shoulders hunched.

“You were about to report me, weren’t you?”

“No!”

“Liar.”

Ah, I went through all this trouble, and they still think I wouldn’t report them.

…I wanted to say that, but I was too scared to do so.

Quickly rolling my head, I searched for an answer that Seol Yubin would find acceptable.

“I won’t report you.”

…Was it convincing enough?

“I won’t tell anyone about it.”

Then, Seol Yubin smirked and said.

“Alright then. Go.”