World Rank 0, Please Stop! (Completed Main Story) - Chapter 4

The world I’ve been reincarnated into is surprisingly ordinary, aside from its “inso” elements.

Once I stepped outside school, it wasn’t much different from my original world at all.

Even the middle-aged lady at the supermarket sampling counter talks about the World Rank #0—proof that this world isn’t completely nonsensical.

In that sense, weekends—when I didn’t have to go to school—were incredibly precious to me.

[Miss Ju-eun, this is no time to be lazing around!]

The problem was this damn system, which refused to shut down even on weekends and kept running perfectly fine.

‘This thing never gets tired.’

I half-listened to the system’s words as I rolled around idly in my room.

‘Ah, I feel like I might actually survive.’

The stress that had built up all week from the Three Great Bullies was finally starting to ease.

It’d be nice if things were always this peaceful…

But that peace didn’t last long.

[Let’s go outside! Let’s explore the inso world together! >__<]

The system seemed displeased, but I decided to ignore it.

After picking out some snacks, I headed toward the checkout.

‘Yay, it’s on sale.’

My basket was light. Since I ate lunch and dinner at school on weekdays, I only needed enough for the weekend.

Anyway, living alone meant I didn’t have to worry about other family members.

‘Here, I’m just a high school girl living by myself in a studio apartment.’

I’m not exactly an orphan—it seems I do have family, but apparently, due to certain circumstances, I live separately. We don’t really keep in touch either.

Back in my original world, I’d also lived alone during high school, so this wasn’t much different.

Still, my living expenses reliably came in—enough to keep me from starving.

No matter how I thought about it, this setup was undeniably convenient to an absurd degree.

‘Now that I think about it… are my parents really my actual parents here?’

Suddenly, I grew curious.

As if reading my mind, the system immediately replied.

[Yes! This world was created based on your past, Miss Ju-eun!]

Huh.

I see.

It felt strange.

‘Is this before my parents got divorced?’

In my original timeline, my parents divorced around the time I entered high school—that’s why I lived alone. But here, the timeline seemed oddly jumbled, so who knew?

‘It’s been ages since I’ve seen their faces.’

After entering university, we practically lived like strangers, so now I barely remembered what they looked like.

Our relationship wasn’t particularly close to begin with, so I didn’t feel much regret.

‘It’s not just my parents—I haven’t seen my friends in ages either.’

After moving alone to a place with no connections for work, all my relationships fell apart.

Everyone lived far away and was busy, making it hard to meet up.

Eventually, one by one, we lost touch entirely.

Every day was the same dull routine.

I was a loner…

Thinking about it made me sad.

‘What a lonely life I had.’

Aside from missing the reincarnation truck, this was a textbook transmigration story.

Usually, transmigrators had no desire to return to their original world because their real lives were miserable.

In my case, though I wasn’t exactly miserable… I suppose I wasn’t satisfied with reality either, so it wasn’t that different.

But those who didn’t return to their original world were the lucky ones who’d transmigrated into romance novels.

‘I absolutely will go back.’

No matter what my reality was like, I still had too much lingering attachment to my original world to give up.

‘If I go back now, I think I’d live with gratitude for my real life…’

They say, “You only realize how precious something is once it’s gone.”

After enduring nearly a week of the World Rank #0 and the Three Great Bullies, I finally understood how precious an ordinary life truly was.

Well, anyway, that’s enough of that.

‘Today, I’ll go home and make some tteokbokki.’

I quickly brushed aside my nostalgic thoughts and hummed a tune as I headed home.

Still, now that I was actually out, I felt good.

After all, today was the weekend—

the only time I was free from ranks, bullies, and all that nonsense.

[Are you really going back like this? T_T]

I casually ignored the system.

Maybe it was just my mood, but the sky looked unusually blue today.

‘Ah, what nice weather.’

Even the sunlight seemed to welcome me.

My steps felt light. I smiled widely.

“Hey, pretty girl over there. Come here for a sec.”

By the way, what should I do after eating? Maybe watch a movie?

“Huh? Pretty girl, are you ignoring your oppa now?”

Lately, I’ve been watching nothing but movies—I’m getting tired of it… Should I try gaming? But I suck at games.

“Pissed off? Oppa won’t go easy on you anymore?”

Or maybe read a book for once? Though I’ve never seen a library in this inso world… Eh, it probably exists somewhere.

“Hey!”

Someone grabbed my shoulder firmly from behind.

“Are your ears clogged? Can’t you hear me? Or are you seriously ignoring me?”

I turned around half-forced and saw an unfamiliar guy huffing angrily.

Huh? Who’s this? I don’t know this guy.

I looked at him suspiciously.

Did I do something wrong? …Probably not.

Apparently, I was the “pretty girl” he’d been desperately calling out to.

I must’ve been so lost in my own thoughts that I didn’t realize he was calling me.

…Or honestly, I just hoped he wasn’t calling me.

“…What do you want?”

I asked warily, keeping my guard up.

Seeing my submissive tone, the guy seemed slightly appeased—damn it—and relaxed his expression. Narrowing his eyes, he scanned me up and down—bastard—then cleared his throat loudly.

“Pretty girl, you busy? The weather’s great today—wanna hang out with oppa for a bit?”

“Huh?”

What the hell is this guy?

Right. I’d overlooked something crucial.

No matter how peaceful it seemed, this was still that damn inso world.

“Pretty girl, it’s the weekend—you’re just gonna go straight home?”

I forcibly swallowed the stream of curses threatening to spill out.

What the hell was this trashy flirting?

“Believe it or not, I’m ranked within the top 50 nationwide! Yeah? My friend’s Focus from Haeseong Commercial High.”

Was this kind of garbage pickup line a relic from early 2000s inso novels?

No, even accounting for that, this guy was next-level trash.

Until now, I thought the Three Great Bullies were the novel’s ultimate villains—but here was someone even worse.

‘Should I kill him…?’

Looking at this lunatic in front of me, I almost felt guilty for having complained about the Three Great Bullies.

Even if a male lead or a second male lead said something like this, I’d curse—but this guy’s face was ugly on top of everything.

‘That’s weird.’

Back then, when the male lead called the female lead “pretty girl,” it didn’t feel this repulsive… Maybe because he never said “oppa”?

Without a doubt, this was the greatest trial I’d faced since transmigrating.

No wonder my luck felt unusually good today…

“Sorry, but I’m kind of busy.”

I tried to wrap things up and leave, but the guy stretched out his arm to block my path.

Damn it… I gritted my teeth and glared at him.

The guy grinned smugly and said,

“Come on, just hang out for a bit? Am I gonna eat you or something?”

Shit. Talking to this guy was pointless.

Anyone who seriously used that kind of pickup line couldn’t possibly be sane.

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. Dear God, please save this poor soul…

“Pretty girl, you’re coming with me, right? Huh? Don’t worry, oppa will treat you well.”

While he spoke, he forcibly grabbed my wrist. Seriously, is this guy for real?

I quickly scanned him up and down.

My mind raced.

What was the wisest move here? Ignore him and head home? Shake him off and call the police? Kick him in the balls and vomit? Scream for help from bystanders?

‘Damn it, I wish I were World Rank #0 too!’

Just then—

“Hey, wait right there!”

A clear, ringing voice came from across the street.

Startled, I flinched reflexively.

The guy holding me also seemed surprised and whipped his head around.

“Ugly old man over there! She clearly hates you ’cause you’re ugly and stink! Let go of her hand right now!”

Anyone could tell those words were directed at the man in front of me.

I never expected someone would actually step in during a situation like this. I hadn’t even hoped for it. Maybe the world was still worth living in after all… Moved by this rare display of humanity, tears welled in my eyes.

But that warmth didn’t last long.

“If you don’t let go right now, Ha-min will make you regret it! Hey!”

Hey! What are you doing here?!

Yes. This brave champion of justice was none other than Ban Ha-min—the cute one among the Three Great Bullies of Jeil High.