I Don’t Want This Reincarnation

“…why do I have to choose?”

“I can’t let you, an A-rank, go alone. Of course, even if we weren’t talking about ranks, Ha Tae-heon wouldn’t want to go with me, would he?”

At Cheon Sa-yeon’s words, I looked back at Ha Tae-heon, wondering why he was saying something so obvious.

“No, I understand that; it’s just I don’t see why I have to choose. I don’t care who I go with.”

“Then that leaves us no choice.” Cheon Sa-yeon, who lowered his eyebrows slightly as if disappointed, pointed his sword at Ha Tae-heon. “Since Han Yi-gyeol didn’t choose, we’ll have to make a decision between us, Ha Tae-heon.”

“I beg your pardon?”

While I was confused by his absurd conclusion, Ha Tae-heon materialised a sword he made from his ability rather than refusing.

What were these crazy people trying to do?

“Really, why are you two like this? Why on earth are you guys fighting in this situation!”

“If you don’t like the two of us fighting, why not pick one of us?”

“How about you guys don\'t fight at all…”

I was tired and rubbed my forehead. Cheon Sa-yeon and Ha Tae-heon were strangely similar people, so I was the only one having a hard time.

I was stupid to think that the two of them could talk normally. Looking at them now, it was clear they were just some punks who were raring to fight whenever the opportunity arose.

Ha Tae-heon, who would normally consider a given situation rationally, became strangely irrational when Cheon Sa-yeon was involved.

There was a sparking energy between Cheon Sa-yeon and Ha Tae-heon, who were staring at each other. Guess these guys were serious. After observing the situation and keeping an eye on them, I finally gave up.

“All right. I will choose.”

At my words, Cheon Sa-yeon gave a fake-looking smile. I had no idea what was pleasing about this.

‘How did I end up in this situation?’

Rather than choosing between Cheon Sa-yeon and Ha Tae-heon, I looked at the left and right doors at the end of the hallway.

“I…”

After hesitating for a while, I spoke.

“I will go to the right with Ha Tae-heon-ssi.”

As if my choice was unexpected, Ha Tae-heon looked at me. On the other hand, Cheon Sa-yeon responded as if he knew I would say that.

“Hmm…” After a moment of silence, Cheon Sa-yeon said, “You didn’t choose me. I guess I’m the only one who has fond memories of the days we spent together.”

“Don’t talk nonsense.”

Cheon Sa-yeon knew my choice from the beginning. My relationship with Cheon Sa-yeon was a cooperative relationship anyway, so it was better to go separately rather than together. This would increase the amount of information we could obtain.

Pointing to the door on the left, Cheon Sa-yeon\'s eyes curved as he smiled. “Then I’ll go this way, alone.”

“Yes.”

“I’ll be very lonely and sad, but…”

“……”

“Since I wasn’t chosen…”

“You can stop now.”

I sighed, covering my eyes. This was why I was worried until the end. Because it was Cheon Sa-yeon, it was obvious that he would tease me the moment he wasn’t chosen.

Perhaps because he was done teasing me, Cheon Sa-yeon brought up an important point. “We don’t know what’s going to happen beyond the door, so we’d better set some rules and go.”

Since electronic devices couldn’t be used inside the gate, there was no way to contact each other if we were scattered. Realising what he meant, I nodded.

“Yes. I think it’s better that way.”

“When we’re done, we’ll meet again at this point. When it’s dangerous, you have to retreat.”

“All right. You shouldn\'t overdo it either.”

Even if it was Cheon Sa-yeon, it was a bit worrying to walk around a new gate for the first time. At my words, Cheon Sa-yeon slowly blinked his eyes.

“If you’re that worried, come with me.”

I was being serious, but this guy…

“I’ll see you off.”

I politely pointed to the door on the left, asking him to leave. Cheon Sa-yeon, laughing out loud like my reaction was funny, went through the left door.

“Um, shall we go as well?”

As soon as the nonsense-speaking Cheon Sa-yeon disappeared, silence fell upon us like a ghost. I beckoned Ha Tae-heon to the right door with a bit of awkwardness.

As we entered, the surroundings became a little darker. Ha Tae-heon and I walked down the hallway without talking.

Earlier, when Ha Tae-heon first hugged my waist, I thought that we might have become a little closer, but when the two of us were left, an indescribable awkwardness came. I guess it must have been an illusion.

“Uh… Ha Tae-heon-ssi. I…” I couldn’t stand the silence and hesitantly opened my mouth, but Ha Tae-heon interrupted me.

“I didn’t know you’d come to today’s party—never mind coming as Master Cheon Sa-yeon’s partner.”

Maybe because his tone was harder than usual, somehow I felt like I was being scolded. Indeed. It was a situation where someone promised to help another guy, yet he showed up to the party arm in arm with the guy’s rival. It would put me in a bad mood too.

“There were some circumstances.”

Since I couldn’t tell Ha Tae-heon about Kim Woo-jin, who was a member of Requiem, I stuttered a bit. Most of all, I didn’t want to disclose the details of the transaction with Cheon Sa-yeon to anyone.

Ha Tae-heon’s eyes became sharp at once, probably because of my insincere reply.

“Is there any other reason you attended the party?”

“Pardon?”

“You didn’t expect what happened this time, did you?”

What was… I frowned. “If I had expected it, would things still be like this?”

“I wouldn’t know. Because you don’t even blink an eye when lying.”

All of a sudden, Ha Tae-heon was right in front of my face. I faced him without avoiding his cold stare.

“I know that Ha Tae-heon-ssi doesn’t trust me, but I don’t do such useless things.”

“Is it useless?”

“What would I gain from doing this? Don’t make weird assumptions,” I said with irritation.

Ha Tae-heon twisted his lips. “If you are upset, please explain it properly. Why would you, who wanted to escape Cheon Sa-yeon, attend the party with him?”

Ha Tae-heon didn’t know that I was on the move to uncover the gate anomaly. The fact that I was an independent was even weirder. After hesitating for a while, I reluctantly opened my mouth.

“…and how is that your business, Ha Tae-heon-ssi?”

As if wanting me to see it clearly, Ha Tae-heon looked at me with derision. I wanted to ask about that look.

“I understand that I’m suspicious.”

“……”

“If I tell you the truth, would you believe me?”

Somehow, this sounded more hurtful to me, rather than to Ha Tae-heon.

“No, you wouldn’t. Why should I explain it to someone who won’t believe me anyway?”

“Then,” Ha Tae-heon, who was quietly listening to me, said in a low voice, “if I believe you, will you tell me?”

Contrasting his question of unknown intent, the eyes looking at me were extremely straightforward.

“Answer me, Han Yi-gyeol.”

“……”

“Are you going to tell me?”

“…I don’t want to explain without the assurance that you will believe it.”

In the end, it was a step back. Looking at it like this, Ha Tae-heon and I had a lot of similarities. Our life made it difficult to trust others.

Ha Tae-heon stared at me without answering. I was nervous to see how he would react, but he slowly raised his gaze and looked behind me.

“Ha Tae-heon-ssi?”

“Be quiet.”

Ha Tae-heon looked carefully at the hallway filled with darkness. I immediately noticed what he was doing.

“Do you hear anything?”

As an A-rank, I couldn’t hear anything, but as an SS-rank, he seemed to have sensed something. Ha Tae-heon nodded his head at my question.

“A monster?”

“I’m not sure. It seems to be fighting.”

If it was fighting, did that there were people as well as monsters? It could be a dangerous situation. I threw away the torch and spoke closely to Ha Tae-heon.

“Let’s go right away.”

Even without explanation, Ha Tae-heon, who understood the meaning of my words, hugged me. Surrounding Ha Tae-heon and myself in the wind, I sped up and flew down the hallway.

Kuuung!

As we got closer to the end of the hallway, the ground shook slightly as we heard something break.

“Ha Tae-heon-ssi, this…”

My eyes widened at the scenery that spread out before us. I could see a forest full of coniferous trees on the soil floor, which I didn’t think would be underground. Unlike the hallway, this place was bright white, but there was purple powder flying through the air as a thick fog spread.

“Ugh…!”

At that moment, I felt a sharp pain, like my skin had been pierced by a needle. It seemed that the flying powder was one of the monster’s abilities.

As I bit my lip, holding back a groan, Ha Tae-heon took the SS-class coat from his inventory and put it over my shoulder.

‘I asked Ha Tae-heon to wear it, but why am I wearing it more?’

I thanked him for the coat and put it on, then looked straight ahead. A huge humanoid monster was looking down at us.

It had a round black head, like a burnt match, and long skeletal arms. Its lower body had opaque tentacles stuck to the ground like jellyfish and in its hand was a multi-pointed sword.

The thing that caught my eyes the most was the circular mirror behind the monster. The mirror was floating in the air, shining as white as the sun.

“What… Deputy Master Ha Tae-heon?”

Through the fog and poison powder that obscured our sight, Hong Si-ah appeared. Maybe because she was fighting the monster, her breathing was a bit rough.

When she saw both Ha Tae-heon and me, her eyes widened in pleasant surprise.

“And even Ability User Han Yi-gyeol? Looks like you both just arrived?”

“Yes. Is there anyone else?” I asked, leaving Ha Tae-heon’s arms.

Hong Si-ah said, frowning, “No, I was with Master Lee Joo-ha… Actually, the situation is not good right now.”

“What happened?” Ha Tae-heon came forward after hearing that Lee Joo-ha had been there.

“It’s one of the monster’s abilities. Black holes appear randomly in the floor, and if you step on them, you instantly disappear. It seems to be a simple teleportation ability, since there’s no dangerous energy.”

“And you don’t know where they lead?”

Hong Si-ah brushed away her messy bangs and answered, “I ran around the room as much as I could and found a staircase going down behind the monster. That seems to be the most likely place.”

“Master Lee Joo-ha and the other party attendees must be there.”

“Right.”

I looked through the fog at the faintly visible monster. I felt a familiar feeling of fear that numbed my fingertips. It was definitely S+-grade.

“Is it just the two of you? Did you guys not see anyone else?”

“There was also Master Cheon Sa-yeon. We split up back at the two doors.”

“Ah, that place. I saw the doors as well. So now the three of us have to deal with that monster, right?”

Hong Si-ah gripped her leather whip and grinned. It was a beautiful smile that was captivating, but the bloody whip in her hand looked quite vicious.

I nodded calmly. That monster was an S+-grade. The combination of S-rank Hong Si-ah and SS-rank Ha Tae-heon was enough.