Fortunately, there was a part in Heroine Revenge where the building's layout got explained right when the protagonist, Seo Ji-hyun, headed off for her revenge against Crystal Guild. Thanks to that, I didn't get lost. I made my way from the guild master's office down one floor to the vice guild master's room—now my room—without a hitch, sank into the chair, and let my thoughts drift again.
On the walk over, it had crossed my mind that maybe I should've just scrapped the dismissal right from the start back there. But of course, my head was a total mess at the time.
I mean, suddenly waking up in some unfamiliar place, with all these people from illustrations I'd only seen before moving around right in front of me like real humans?
Luckily, I'd always been quick on the uptake, so I managed to play it cool and get through the moment without freaking out. It helped big time that Yoo Soo-jung had called me Vice Guild Master and asked her question.
For all my worry, though, I was actually kind of excited too.
Magic.
I stared at my right hand, half-doubting it'd work but focusing my will on channeling power anyway. Sure enough, a fireball exactly the size I'd pictured formed right above it. I could clearly feel the heat radiating off it, but weirdly, it didn't feel hot at all. Well, duh—a battle mage can't be getting burned by their own spells.
When I thought about cutting off the flow from my heart down my arm to my hand, the flames flickering above naturally died out. In the original story, it was written that Lee Seo-woo could at least output his power visibly, even if it was a struggle out to line-of-sight range.
I had no clue exactly how far that was, but the gist was he was insanely powerful. Of course, the real protagonist, Seo Ji-hyun, eventually got strong enough to chew through even S-ranks—one of only thirty in the world—three-on-one later on.
Guess I'd have to sneak off to a dungeon sometime and test my limits. I'd need to know exactly what I could do to handle emergencies.
"That aside..."
I needed to figure out what to do about Seo Ji-hyun. First off, yeah, she had to Awaken to get strong. Her trait was that her magic power grew when she received people's expectations and affection.
Having Awakened at just seventeen as a Healer naturally drew a ton of attention, letting her grow fast. But there was one more thing she didn't know about.
On the flip side, to boost her magic further, she had to experience negative emotions like betrayal, balancing out the deviation from all those positive feelings.
Of course, no one could've known that without her going through it firsthand. To maximize her ability's efficiency—and to keep their unfair contract with her under wraps—Guild Master Yoo Soo-jung deliberately limited the info Seo Ji-hyun got.
She only showed her online articles with positive comments and didn't let her touch computers or phones.
Not realizing that would backfire spectacularly.
If she'd even tasted a hint of society's malice back then, her growth might've stalled—or no one could've predicted it'd explode into even greater betrayal later.
Who knows why villains always yap before killing someone, but once she learned the whole truth, that betrayal became her fuel.
It outweighed all the positive emotions that had nurtured her so far, triggering a massive surge in magic power in a short time.
On top of that, her magic—which had been for healing and buffs—took on the opposite property of curses. That birthed a broken character who could solo heal, DPS, and buff.
Thankfully, when she eventually squared off against what was now me, Lee Seo-woo, she wasn't that much of a munchkin yet. But the longer this dragged on, the worse it'd get for me. So, what now?
Just kill her outright today? Nah, I wasn't some psycho. A normal college kid who did part-time gigs wasn't gonna murder someone on their first day soul-swapped in.
Besides, I'd flinched a bit at the R18 scenes, but I was the type to get attached to the protagonist anyway. I'd help her, not hurt her—that much was obvious.
But defying the guild master's orders? She'd obviously think I was acting weird, and it was a given she'd come after me once she realized I knew all the guild's dirty secrets.
Above all, Crystal Guild had grown into a solid mid-tier outfit thanks to her father, Yoo Ji-hyeok, a Hunter Association exec who had their back. That was how a woman in her early thirties—who looked way younger—could run the place.
So, there was only one answer. I'd hide her away and raise her myself.
First, I needed an excuse ready—for Seo Ji-hyun or Yoo Soo-jung. I grabbed the car keys off the desk and headed out.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
"Got all your stuff packed?"
"Ah, Vice Guild Master-nim."
I headed to Seo Ji-hyun's dorm and luckily caught her before she left the guild for good. From what I remembered of the original, she saw me as a close oppa-figure until the betrayal, so casual speech should be fine.
I had to say something to stall her.
"Sorry to hit you with this right as you're leaving, but how about one last dungeon run with me before you go? We'll split it fifty-fifty."
"Huh? Uh... suddenly?"
"It's not a high rank or anything—just one I haven't checked out much. Plus, I have stuff to say."
Of course, it was total bullshit. Sure, I had plenty to say, but I wasn't taking her to a dungeon. I was bringing her back to my place first.
"Ah, sure. Then somewhere to leave my bags till we get back..."
"We're taking my car, so toss 'em in the trunk. I'll help you move them."
"Ah..."
She looked a little disappointed, like maybe she'd hoped she could stay with the guild. Had to be the novel character in her—those beautifully sleek, cat-like eyes drooping made me almost want to hug her right then, but I held back somehow.
Was I weaker to girls than I thought?
"Anything else you need to grab?"
"No... I've got everything."
"Bring it out. I'll load it in the car."
Even after swiping more than half her stuff from the guild, she still had a decent haul—perks of being a Healer, I guess. She dragged out two 28-inch suitcases from her room, and I took them. They were lighter than expected; mostly clothes, probably.
She didn't say a word the whole way from the dorm to the parking lot. Her slumped shoulders and dragging steps spoke volumes, though.
-Beep beep.
I'd never seen Lee Seo-woo's car before, so I had to find it by locking and unlocking. Luckily, it was an SUV parked not far from the entrance.
He wasn't a big spender, and he did a lot of solo runs, so yeah—an SUV made sense for hauling gear.
"Hop in. I'll load your bags in the trunk."
"I can handle that myself..."
"Just get in."
Only after I said it firmly did she climb in without protest. I stashed her suitcases in the trunk, slid into the driver's seat, and fired up the navigation. But then a puzzled voice from the back.
"No chauffeur today? You always had one when you came back tired from raids."
I hadn't even known there was a chauffeur, so I froze, scrambling for words. She was already looking at me, confused.
"Vice Guild Master-nim...?"
Should I just come clean now? She'd figure out soon enough we weren't dungeon-bound. Unable to find the right words, I just hit the gas instead. Seo Ji-hyun in the back seat started talking faster.
"Hey? Vice Guild Master-nim? Seo-woo oppa?"
She even grabbed my shoulder from behind, but since I was driving, she just shook me lightly instead of anything drastic.
"Hey? Ya, Lee Seo-woo! Where are you taking me? This isn't to a dungeon, is it?! The nav's set for your house right now!"
"You just noticing?"
"Ya! No, oppa. What the hell is this? Explain right now."
"I'll explain everything at the house. Just wait a bit."
"What the...?"
Getting out of sight mattered more than anything, so I ignored her and floored it. Normally, they'd whisk targets off to a dungeon quietly for "processing," but me claiming responsibility only to take her home? Super suspicious.
A few minutes of standoff like that. The grip on my shoulder eased, so I glanced in the rearview. She'd given up, arms crossed, glaring daggers from the back seat.
My eyes flicked briefly to her ample chest, accentuated by the pose, but those sharp eyes staring me down sent a chill up my spine.
In the end, I didn't say a word the whole drive. My head was just piling up with worries about how to handle this going forward—and what to tell her about her abilities.