For a moment, no words came out.

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

‘Why is she here?’

Unable to believe the sight unfolding before my eyes, I closed them tightly and then opened them again.

Since I had already seen Seol Yu Bin’s disguised appearance, it wasn’t difficult to recognize that the person in front of me was Seol Yu Hwa.

Nevertheless, the reason I didn’t immediately identify her when I first saw her was because their auras were so different.

‘She’s really scary!’

It was ridiculous that until just now, I was afraid that the guys from Haeseong High School would harm me.

Haeseong High School, my foot. The most dangerous thing in this world setting isn’t some trivial villain, but the protagonist who’s ranked 0th in the world. The neighborhood delinquents are all destined to be crushed by Seol Yu Hwa’s hand… Wait a minute.

‘Could it be that the delinquent hunter from before was Seol Yu Hwa?’

I recalled the rumors that Dan Bal and the others were talking about not long ago.

〈I heard that the delinquents from the neighboring school were found collapsed in an alley yesterday!〉

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

I looked at the scene before my eyes once more. Delinquents collapsed in an alley… It’s exactly like the rumor.

‘Right, come to think of it, there was a mention of that in the original story too.’

According to the original story, Seol Yu Hwa was said to relieve her stress from being bullied by going out at night and beating up delinquents.

‘It’s true that there can’t be two protagonists under the same sky.’

I wondered who would go around doing such a righteous delinquent-like thing, but it turned out to be Seol Yu Hwa after all!

‘No, this isn’t the time for that.’

Coming to my senses belatedly, I immediately bowed my head.

“I’m sorry. I’ll be on my way.”

And I quickly turned my body to get out of the alley.

However, Seol Yu Hwa didn’t let it slide.

“Wait.”

I’m doomed.

The moment I heard Seol Yu Hwa’s voice, I squeezed my eyes shut.

And I reflexively calculated.

If I run away like this, which is higher: the probability of successfully escaping or the probability of getting caught by Seol Yu Hwa?

There was no need to ponder.

“You… called for me…?”

In the end, I stopped walking, reluctantly accepting my fate.

Seol Yu Hwa, who was far away, strode up to me. Even her gait was different from when she was disguised as a bullying victim. I gulped.

“You…”

Seol Yu Hwa stared at my face for a moment and frowned.

“Your face looks familiar… Where have I seen it?”

Does she not remember me?

I don’t know whether I should be glad about this or not. No. I’d rather she didn’t remember me at all. And I wish she would just let me go.

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

Seeing me like that, Seol Yu Hwa snapped her fingers as if she had realized something.

“Ah.”

Damn it, big trouble. It seems she remembered.

Seol Yu Hwa, who seemed about to say something, closed her mouth again. It seemed she was going to pretend to know me but changed her mind considering her current appearance. After all, I shouldn’t have been able to recognize her.

Instead, Seol Yu Hwa asked something else.

“Do you happen to know me?”

…How am I supposed to answer this?

The words that I know her so well that I even have her profile almost came out of my mouth. Of course, I can’t say such a thing… I racked my brain and chose a safe answer.

“I… don’t really know.”

Yes, the absolute denial strategy.

Seol Yu Hwa raised one eyebrow as if suspicious.

“Do you really not remember anything when you see me?”

Like the fact that you’re ranked 0th in the world?

Of course, that’s probably not what she’s asking…

It seemed that Seol Yu Hwa was testing to see if I had recognized that the person in front of me right now was ‘Seol Yu Bin’.

I slightly lowered my head to avoid eye contact and carefully spoke.

“…I’m not really sure what you’re talking about.”

While making the dumbest expression possible.

“You really don’t remember anything?”

“I’m sorry, but… I don’t remember.”

It could be called the best acting of my life.

Seol Yu Hwa looked me up and down suspiciously. As time passed, it felt like my hands were sweating.

Finally, Seol Yu Hwa opened her mouth.

“Judging by your dumb expression, it seems you really don’t know.”

Hey, that’s too harsh.

But with this, I could tell that my acting had worked. I bowed my head.

“Then, then I’ll be on my way.”

At that moment, Seol Yu Hwa grabbed me.

“Wait.”

Seol Yu Hwa coldly spoke to me as I shrunk back with my shoulder grabbed.

“You were trying to report me just now, weren’t you?”

“No!”

“Liar.”

Ah, as if I wouldn’t report after you caused this much commotion.

…I wanted to say that, but I couldn’t because I’m a coward.

I quickly racked my brain to find an answer that Seol Yu Hwa would want.

“I won’t report you.”

…Is that not enough?

“I won’t tell anyone.”

Then Seol Yu Hwa snorted and said,

“Then that’s fine. You can go.”

Seol Yu Hwa gestured for me to leave and took out her cell phone from her pocket. I bowed my head again. Alright, now let’s go…

At that moment, something fell out of Seol Yu Hwa’s pocket.

Seol Yu Bin

It was a name tag.

“…”

“…”

The moment our eyes met, countless words were exchanged between us.

I averted my eyes slightly.

“…I didn’t see anything.”

Seol Yu Hwa’s expression turned cold in an instant. Sensing the crisis instinctively, I cried out.

“Yu-, Yu-, Yu-Bin-ah!”

I shouted urgently.

“I really didn’t see anything!”

However, despite my desperate cry, Seol Yu Hwa had already entered the mode of ‘how should I kill this person to easily destroy the evidence?’

‘Oh no!’

It was the biggest crisis since my possession.

‘No, why did that fall out from there?’

At this point, it’s almost as if she appeared to assassinate me.

I clung to Seol Yu Hwa, almost on the verge of tears.

“I-, I-, I-, no, I really didn’t see anything! I won’t tell anyone!”

At that moment, a system appeared before my eyes.

[Shall I help you?]

At this moment, it felt like a savior.

‘Help me!’

I don’t know how the system will help me in this situation, but right now, the only thing I can believe in is the system.

I wish it would turn back time or erase all of Seol Yu Hwa’s memories. Make it as if it never happened!

With such thoughts, a message appeared in front of me.

[Heart-pounding Personal Life ~Capturing the World’s 0th Rank~]

‘You said there was no such thing as a dating sim last time!’

[It was added with the update. ㅇ_〈]

That damn update!

‘Only weird functions were added.’

Is this really helpful?

But there was no time to doubt that now.

Because three choices appeared before my eyes.

[Q. The world’s 0th rank in the wild has discovered your identity. How can you persuade the world’s 0th rank who is pondering how to assassinate you well so that rumors will spread about how well they assassinated you?

[1. …I’ll give you money, so can’t you just let me go? ㅜ^ㅜ] [2. What did I do wrong for you to do this? −_−^] [3. (Winking) Uwu, I weally don’t know anything! ㅇ_〈]

Hey!

‘You crazy bastard! None of these are helpful!’

Is there really a correct answer here?

All three seem like a direct train to a bad ending.

‘Oh, whatever.’

I tried to dismiss the choices the system had given me.

[SYSTEM] [Actions other than the choices are not allowed.]

This bastard only acts like a system at times like this.

But there was no time to be absurd. Seol Yu Hwa was glaring at me with wide eyes right in front of me.

‘Oh well, I don’t know.’

I closed my eyes tightly and chose the choice that seemed the most normal.

Then, as if being controlled, my mouth moved on its own.

“…Can’t you just let me go if I give you money?”

Then Seol Yu Hwa’s expression turned cold.

“Are you kidding me?”

See, it doesn’t work!

I’m a fool for having expectations just because the system presented it.

‘Ah shit, how do I handle this?’

Then, new choices appeared before my eyes.

[Q. The world’s 0th rank in the wild has rejected your persuasion. How about trying to persuade them again with new choices?] [1. Should I even kneel down? ㅠ0ㅠ] [2. Kek… Are you saying you want to have a go at me? −_−+] [3. (Throwing a tantrum) No, I’m scawed! 〉ㅁ〈]

Are you really crazy?

Especially the last third one. That doesn’t seem like it will work at all, so why does it keep appearing?

‘You crazy bastard, just get rid of it!’

[Hmph. ㅜ−ㅜ]

Only then did the system seem to understand my words and removed the choices.

‘That’s enough.’

Now I can speak as I wish!

Having finally regained my freedom, I closed my eyes tightly and shouted.

“Wait!”

Startled by the loud voice, Seol Yu Hwa paused for a moment. I pushed on and spoke.

“You’re not Yu Bin!”

At those words, Seol Yu Hwa raised an eyebrow.

It was the first proper reaction she showed. I took a deep breath and calmly continued.

“I-, I heard from Yu Bin. That she has a twin elder sister.”

Of course, it’s a lie. Seol Yu Bin never told me anything about her family. We couldn’t even have a few conversations in the first place.

“She said they’re identical twins, so they look exactly the same… That’s you, right?”

“…How did you know?”

“I told you! I know Yu Bin! I-, I can recognize that much!”

Then Seol Yu Hwa slightly frowned.

“But other people couldn’t recognize me.”

That’s a mystery to me too… Why can’t they recognize that?

“I-, I recognized you because I’m very close with Yu Bin.”

I saw Seol Yu Hwa wavering at my words. I brazenly continued.

“The reason Yu Bin has been different at school lately is also because of you, right? You’ve been pretending to be Yu Bin instead of her.”

“You knew that too?”

“O-, of course. I’m Yu Bin’s friend! Y-, y-, you know it too, but Yu Bin didn’t have any friends, right? That’s why there weren’t many people who noticed even when Yu Bin changed. But I! Because I’m her friend! I could recognize it!”

I put in all my effort to emphasize my relationship with Seol Yu Bin.

“I’m Yu Bin’s friend!”

At this point, it’s almost like brainwashing.

Still, my desperate self-defense was effective. Seol Yu Hwa showed interest in me.

“Is that so? You’re Yu Bin’s friend? Alright, I’ll believe you.”

Thank goodness.

I let out a sigh of relief.

However, the very next moment, Seol Yu Hwa coldly said,

“But if you’re her friend, why didn’t you help Yu Bin when she was being bullied?”