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Episode 001: The Main Character’s Younger Sister Resurrected as a Constellation
As expected, no matter how I think about it, this is over protection.
I thought this while facing the three people who were staring at me coolly.
“Haam.”
A yawn slipped out without me realizing it.
Even though my body doesn’t know fatigue, mentally I feel as tired as if I’d been up for three nights straight. Just as I was thinking I could finally rest and lay down comfortably on the sofa, they came looking for me this quickly.
“Jin Se-rin. I told you to stay quietly at home.”
The first to break the silence that had been stretching on was my older brother, Jin Se-hyuk.
His face was deeply furrowed, but within it were worry and relief. The absurdity of meeting his younger sister, whom he had earnestly told to stay home, in a dungeon must be indescribable.
“Ugh our Se-rin must have been bored again. Is that it?”
This person smiling brightly is Kang Seo-woo. Even though he’s smiling like that, it was obvious that inside, he was probably thinking of harsh ways to keep me stuck at home again.
He said he hated over protection himself, but I can’t understand why he does it to me.
However, I had to consider the two people in front as just an appetizer. The person as scary as a hidden boss is this one.
“Choose. A soft cloth would be better, right?”
Kim I-gyeol, my contractor, holding handcuffs in one hand and a fluffy cloth in the other with a blank expression.
Kim I-gyeol had once declared that if I went to the dungeon secretly again, he would tie my hand to his. At the time, I thought it was a joke, but it wasn’t.
‘But isn’t that cloth an item I sponsored to you?’
In my memory, I definitely gave it to him to use when hunting boss monsters. I didn’t give it to him to use on me. I just gaped in bewilderment.
[If they knew you were a Constellation, they wouldn’t be able to act like this.]
Although the three people couldn’t see him, Antares clicked his tongue at the absurd situation from behind them.
Ah, I mean! Honestly, I’m stronger than these humans! I won’t die easily no matter what!
As I kept my mouth tightly shut out of frustration, simultaneous sighs burst out from above my head.
Yeah, it’s too much. It’s definitely too much.
Still, the reason I can’t say anything is because there’s already a track record. …It wasn’t just once, maybe quite a few times?
As I fell into thought, reminiscing about the past, one heavy sentence dropped onto my head.
“Don’t make us lose you again.”
It was the magical words that shut my mouth.
Everyone has probably thought at some point that they wish the world would change.
“Jin Se-rin! Snap out of it!”
Was my wish that desperate? I dreamed of the world changing. People running desperately, the bloody smell coming from the injured, countless corpses piled up on the streets. It was a scene too unfamiliar for a dream.
I looked at the man holding onto me. The man with the confused face was familiar somehow, but I couldn’t immediately remember who he was.
Someone pushed past me, running between us.
“Move! Don’t block the road like an idiot!”
I staggered, almost falling, but thanks to the man still holding me, I managed to stay standing.
“Damn it, Jin Se-rin! Are you planning to follow Mom and Dad or something?”
When I remained dazed, the man mentioned our parents. A little while ago, I, no, he… No, was it ‘we’? I don’t know.
“No, I’m sorry. I misspoke, sis. You’re not acting like this because you want to.”
Even though he was in a panic himself, the man took good care of me. Since he called himself ‘oppa’, it seemed that ‘I’ was this man’s younger sister.
I alternated my gaze between the man presumed to be ‘oppa’ in the dream and our surroundings. Me wearing a school uniform I’d never seen before, and the man with short hair like a soldier. Beside me, the man urged me on anxiously, but I didn’t feel like moving. Maybe because it’s a dream, it doesn’t feel real at all.
“Se-rin, please. I know it’s hard. But let’s try to get to the safe zone, okay? Let’s go with Oppa.”
He, who had been yelling, now calmly coaxed me. The hand on my shoulder trembled, the tremor transmitting to me.
At that tremor, the world came sharply back into focus, my eyes which had been unfocused clearing up.
The man whose eyes met mine brightened and held my hand. He started walking, speaking in the calmest tone possible.
“Even if you’re scared, just hold on a little. If you’re too scared, make sure to tell Oppa.”
“Okay.”
The trembling in our joined hands didn’t stop. Since I wasn’t shaking, the owner of this tremor must be this man. He’s scared himself, yet he’s looking after his younger sister.
As my surroundings began to register more, I thought I understood where this was. I already know this man. No, I ‘read’ about him.
Jin Se-hyuk, the protagonist of the novel <At the End of Ruin>. The unfortunate protagonist who had to lose his younger sister as the price for awakening.
The only human to survive until the end of ruin, Jin Se-hyuk was a character who awakened through his sister’s death.
The reason I read <At the End of Ruin>, commonly called <End of Ruin>, was simple. A friend recommended it because the protagonist’s younger sister had the same name as me.
Of course, it was a fraudulent product. Because the younger sister ‘Jin Se-rin’ appeared only in the first chapter and then only ever appeared in flashbacks.
So, Jin Se-hyuk from that <End of Ruin> is my oppa? It seems I’ve become that sister who dies.
It’s not even a novel I read before sleeping, so I don’t know why I’m suddenly having this kind of dream.
Anyway, since it’s a dream and I’m the sister who’s supposed to die soon, dying probably means I’ll wake up from this dream, right?
Even though I thought I had to die, strangely, I wasn’t afraid. I was usually a coward who got scared just seeing a bug, though.
[Ugh!]
A strange crying sound was heard nearby.
Jin Se-hyuk stopped walking and suddenly turned to me, calling my name.
“Se-rin-ah.”
“Uh?”
“From now on, we keep running.”
Hearing Jin Se-hyuk’s earnest plea with a hardened expression, I couldn’t help but realize.
‘Ah, it’s almost time to wake up from the dream.’
Jin Se-hyuk, who couldn’t possibly know my mind, tightened his grip on my hand and ran.
I didn’t know whether to be happy that I had a strange dream of meeting Jin Se-hyuk, whom I’d only ever seen in text, even if briefly, or to regret meeting him in a situation like this.
There were many close calls with falling on the way to the safe zone. Building debris scattered on the ground, people pushing each other. But the hand tightly holding mine never let go. He ran, firmly leading me.
“Jin Se-rin, don’t let go of my hand. Hold on tight!”
Feeling my strength wane, he squeezed my hand hard.
With the safe zone in sight, the identity of the strange crying sound, the monster, was chasing closely behind us.
My stamina had already bottomed out long ago; I was just being dragged along by Jin Se-hyuk’s pull.
Intuitively, I knew. This is it.
I slowly released the strength from our clasped hands, as if losing strength naturally. Then, with perfect timing, my foot caught on something. My body staggered and I fell forward with a thud.
Jin Se-hyuk, having let go of my hand, looked back. It happened right as he set foot inside the safe zone.
Ugh, that’s quite cruel. Now I understand why Jin Se-rin is Jin Se-hyuk’s trauma.
Because of the hand he let go right in front of the safe zone, Jin Se-hyuk would live his entire life with the guilt of having driven his sister to her death.
“Jin Se-rin!”
Startled, Jin Se-hyuk tried to come back to help me up, but the monster’s movement was faster. As if not wanting to miss this moment, the monster’s grotesque arm grabbed my ankle and pulled me towards it.
“Ugh!”
Being dragged, my body scraped against various things. Unable to bear the pain, a groan escaped me. I even had the idle thought that even though it’s a dream, pain still exists.
Being dragged by the monster, I raised my head to look at Jin Se-hyuk. He was trying to come towards me but was being restrained by the soldiers at the safe zone.
‘I’m, okay.’
I doubted he could see me from this distance, but… I smiled faintly.
I couldn’t see Jin Se-hyuk’s face anymore either. So I couldn’t tell if he was frowning or angry.
He’s clearly someone unrelated to me, so why do I care so much?
Feeling an unnecessary worry, I looked at him, who was growing further and further away.
