Episode 18: Money < The Peaceful Life of a Possessor < Too Much Money (6)

The first major episode in ‘Naspe’ to be extensively covered was the “Gunsan Creature Subjugation.” The author had even mentioned in a postscript that they had to pour a lot of effort into this part because it was crucial to revealing the protagonist, Baek Juyul’s, weakness.

“And that weakness was loneliness… Yeah, that’s what it was. He’s so strong that no one stays by his side.”

By rule, whenever an Esper went on a subjugation mission, they were supposed to have at least one Guide with them, sometimes even two or three. However, Juyul had no Guides, thanks to his aversion to having a dedicated partner and his dislike of working with lower-ranked Guides. Even after completing the most grueling and challenging subjugations, the only place prepared to offer him respite was the secluded Guiding Room hidden deep within the Association’s headquarters.

In the original story, the reason he could miraculously hold back from losing control was because of that very loneliness. Since there was no one by his side, Juyul clung to the despairing thought that he alone had to keep everything in check. That heart-wrenching depiction had moved Sodam deeply before she’d ended up possessing the character.

「…His heavy footsteps crushed the grains of sand beneath them. He couldn’t tell whether the weight dragging him down came from his soaked clothes or the crushing sense of duty that had burdened him for as long as he could remember. When he looked back, only a single set of footprints marked the otherwise pristine beach.

“…”

There were so many gathered far away for his sake, yet not one would walk by his side.

Perhaps it was because of the news about the will left behind by a certain Maeng Guide. When the story broke, everyone rushed to condemn Maeng Guide and rally around Baek Juyul, but who could truly know what was in their hearts?

Even Baek Juyul himself found that the will aligned uncomfortably well with his reality.

His own parents had walked a similar path, and sharing their blood, he was doomed to follow the same road.

This fear was his alone, an illusion that no one else could ever understand.

Thus, Baek Juyul had no choice but to shoulder this wretched fate and continue forward, all alone…」

“Ah, yeah. That was the legendary chapter where all the comments that had been criticizing him for not accepting Guiding suddenly vanished. Everyone just assumed he had some tragic backstory and moved on. But seriously! Why didn’t they fully explore that sad past in the main story? I mean, sure, you could get the gist of it, but it’s not the same as actually seeing it unfold!”

Frustrated by her lingering desire for a proper side story, Sodam huffed and flopped onto her bed in defeat.

“Hah. Even a worthless F-class Guide is better than none, right? They did say his contamination level was just barely hovering at the brink of losing control. That should be enough. The heroines can handle giving him better Guiding later anyway. Yup, yup.”

She rambled, desperately trying to make her concern for someone who had once comforted her seem less sentimental. With a sudden burst of energy, she leaped to her feet.

It was 2:30 PM. That gave her exactly an hour and a half until the meeting, just enough time to make it if she left right away.

She rummaged through her mothball-scented wardrobe, pulling on a thick hoodie, fleece-lined pants, and fuzzy socks. For some reason, she even grabbed the coat Baek Juyul had left behind yesterday. With all those layers, warmth quickly returned to her body.

“…Wearing this in the middle of summer makes me look like a total nutcase, but… whatever.”

On her way home last night, Sodam had garnered plenty of attention, but the idea of using more expensive transportation like a taxi didn’t even cross her mind. Most of the large sum she earned from Guiding Juyul had already gone to paying off this month’s interest, leaving her with just around a million won. And with the looming threat of rent payments, even dipping into that amount for daily expenses felt like a risky move.

Opting for a cheaper mode of transportation like a bus or subway meant she’d still draw attention, no matter what. So, she consoled herself with the idea that saving that little bit of money was worth it if it meant building up her physical strength through the long walk.

She shoved her barely-there wallet and her house key into her pocket, clenching her fists tightly.

It had been a lucky break that she’d kept her house key in her pants pocket yesterday—otherwise, Sodam might have found herself crying on her doorstep, facing a night out in the cold.

‘Now that I think about it, why did I have my house key in my pocket when I went to bed? Was I planning to go out somewhere?’

“No, no, focus. I’ll think about that after I get today’s tasks done.”

She hadn’t had any direct encounters with this Samuyeon character, who was likely connected to the body’s former owner’s fate, so it wasn’t an urgent matter.

And if the previous owner had truly been murdered and Samuyeon was the culprit, then the absence of any news articles on the matter yesterday suggested that his plan had already failed, and he must have known that by now.

Someone as careful as that wouldn’t waste time appearing before a victim’s eyes. It meant that until Samuyeon approached her directly, she still had time, and there was no need to dwell on this mystery right now.

What was most urgent for Sodam at this moment was racing over to Baek Juyul, who still harbored suspicions that she was some sort of creature. If she had to choose between two life-threatening situations, it made sense to prioritize the SSS-class protagonist over some unknown Samuyeon.

Shaking her head to clear away her thoughts, Sodam took a deep breath and stepped confidently out of her front door. Unfortunately, that confidence melted away soon after she arrived at the Association.

“Sorry, can you repeat that? I think I misheard you…”

“Of course. Baek Juyul has left for the subjugation and is currently not present.”

“But I woke up at two in the morning! I walked for almost two hours to get here…”

“That’s unfortunate, but that doesn’t change the fact that Baek Juyul isn’t here. You might as well head back now.”

‘Was I supposed to meet Baek Ju-ten instead of Baek Juyul?’

She thought bitterly. After all that effort to get here, being told that the one who had threatened her wasn’t even around was almost too much to bear. Her legs ached from the bruises on her thighs and the exhaustion from the long walk, leaving her completely deflated.

As Sodam let out a long sigh and slumped down into a crouch, the tired staff member behind the desk, perhaps feeling a bit sympathetic, offered a suggestion.

“Due to a sudden change in the subjugation site, he had to leave urgently, so he didn’t have a chance to inform his Guide. Since we don’t know when he’ll return, Baek Juyul’s dedicated Guiding Room has been left open. Why not wait there?”

“…Thank you. Even I’m not confident enough to walk three hours round-trip again, haha…”

With a weary smile for the staff member, she followed the familiar path to the Guiding Room. The space, usually warm, felt oddly cold—likely because the heating wasn’t on yet. Only then did the reality that Juyul was truly absent settle in.

Feeling completely drained, Sodam stumbled over to the bed and flopped down. Unlike yesterday’s chaotic visit, today she could fully appreciate the soft comfort of the mattress. Lying diagonally across the bed, she mumbled to herself.

“Heh, I finally decided to help, and he just up and leaves. What’s he planning to do if he really loses control…?”

If she were in her right mind, and if she truly meant it when she told herself she wanted nothing more to do with Juyul, then waiting here as the staff suggested would have been the sensible choice.

Either way, in the original story, Juyul’s outburst didn’t happen now. The reason he kept weighing on her mind despite that was probably because she knew that today he would finally recognize that the emotion tormenting him all his life was loneliness.

Feeling like you’re alone in the world isn’t something that an SSS-class ability can help you overcome easily. In fact, it might make the sense of helplessness even worse. Even Sodam, who considered herself to have a fairly strong mind, had taken ten years to come to terms with that feeling.

Of course, since Juyul is the protagonist, he’s set to have three heroines comforting him, so he might recover much faster than she did. But that doesn’t mean the emotions he’ll experience in that moment aren’t real or necessary.

The thought that all of this was because Juyul lacked proper Guiding kept poking at Sodam’s conscience. She kept telling herself it wasn’t because she was worried about him but rather because she wanted to see if her desperate attempts at Guiding had helped him even a little.

“Ugh, whatever, whatever. My physical state is a bigger problem than him.”

Even as she tried to convince herself otherwise, her own mind kept dragging her back to the harsh reality she couldn’t ignore. Following Juyul in her current condition wouldn’t make sense without a solid reason. Even if she was worried something might go wrong, she could just wait in the Guiding Room as suggested and react if a situation actually arose.

However, Sodam already had information from the original story that a “problem” could occur. Since he didn’t go out of control in the original, she figured she could just wait until he returned, collect her daily pay, and get on with the peaceful life of a person who had been transported into another’s body—just like she wanted.

TL/N: Sodam’s thought, ‘Was I supposed to meet Baek Ju-ten instead of Baek Juyul?’ is a sarcastic and frustrated remark. It plays on the similarity between “Juyul” and the word “ten” (십, ship in Korean), which sounds similar when spoken