* * *
‘Min Raon.’
It had been so long since he’d heard that name that Raon’s lips trembled faintly.
Gritting his teeth, he forced the corners of his mouth upward.
“Let go of me, unless you’ve got a death wish.”
“Tsk. You rude little bastard.”
The man cursed and roughly let go of Raon’s arm.
Raon brushed off his high-quality suit, glaring at the man, and sighed deeply.
Min Raon was the name Raon had before he possessed the novel’s character.
Even when reading the novel, he couldn’t stand how similar Han Raon, the character with just a different last name, sounded to him.
“We took in that bastard child and raised you—be grateful, you unlucky brat.”
Raon glanced sideways at Rayul, who was muttering complaints.
In an instant, the surroundings had completely changed.
‘A dream? An illusion?’
Just moments ago, he was with Siwoo, inside the Gate.
Clenching his teeth alone, unable to distinguish dream from illusion, Raon exhaled sharply.
‘I figured this might happen.’
Even before his regression, the inside of this stone building didn’t face much monster attacks.
That’s because this place mainly triggered psychic assaults.
That’s why, before entering the building, Minjae had cast a barrier to protect against psychic attacks.
‘Is the gap between a C-rank and an S-rank that big?’
Before regression, Taegeon, an S-rank psychic Esper, protected him, so the illusions weren’t this vivid.
And as an S-rank Guide himself, Raon had stronger resistance to psychic assaults.
So, he thought even with Minjae being C-rank, it would be fine—but he’d been terribly wrong.
Raon rolled his eyes, scanning the area.
“Executive Min, it’s been a while. Welcome.”
“Haha, how have you been, President Kang.”
The man, Rayul, who’d been snapping at Raon, instantly plastered on a fake smile.
Raon watched the scene, barely hiding his disgust.
“And this person is…?”
“Ah.”
President Kang’s eyes widened as he looked past Rayul to Raon.
Maybe Raon looked too refined to be a mere assistant; the man instantly sensed he wasn’t ordinary.
“My younger brother.”
“Your brother?”
At that, President Kang glanced between Rayul and Raon.
His reaction wasn’t particularly polite, but considering how the two didn’t look alike at all, he seemed momentarily thrown off.
‘Of course, we don’t look alike.’
Strictly speaking, Raon and Rayul only shared one parent—their mother.
Even that was uncertain, as Raon’s mother had dated countless men, and no one knew for sure if Chairman Min Baehyuk of M&K Group was truly Raon’s biological father.
Still, Chairman Min never even bothered with a proper paternity test.
The reason he acknowledged Raon as his child was simple—Raon’s abilities were exceptional.
He spent his entire school life not knowing who his father was.
But the moment he entered a top university as the valedictorian and won major competitions, he got a call.
The chairman of M&K Group declared himself Raon’s father.
Chairman Min Baehyuk was a bold man, leading one of the nation’s largest corporations.
But frankly, his track record with his children was a disaster.
Maybe aware of that himself, he obsessed even more over the brilliant Raon.
Still, shoving me straight into headquarters the moment I graduated?
His other siblings went through slow promotions, supposedly to “verify” their abilities.
Meanwhile, Raon skyrocketed ahead.
Attending this party now was also because Raon had recently been promoted to Executive Director.
The media already labeled the two older brothers as candidates for the next chairman.
Their hostile stares of jealousy toward Raon were exhausting enough, and now, dragged to a party like this to endure their glares?
His head already throbbed.
“Hello, I’m Min Raon, Executive Director.”
“Ah, you’re the one recently promoted to Executive Director?”
President Kang shook Raon’s hand vigorously, his oily brown eyes scanning Raon up and down.
“Chairman Min must be so proud. All his children are so handsome and impressive.”
“You flatter me.”
Raon answered in a calm voice.
The praise wasn’t appreciated—he just wanted the man to let go of his hand.
The flustered excitement he’d felt when guiding Siwoo earlier had plummeted into the mud.
Clenching his teeth, he held back the nausea welling up.
‘This isn’t the time for this. I need to escape this illusion.’
Growing anxious as time stretched on, Raon forcefully pulled his hand away from President Kang and forced a polite smile.
“By the way, did you hear the news?”
“What news?”
“We recently received a business proposal…”
Rayul and President Kang quickly drifted into a private conversation about business deals.
Taking the opportunity, Raon subtly stepped back, gauging the situation.
Only after confirming they’d entirely lost interest in him did he slowly turn away.
‘How did you escape psychic assaults again?’
Raon wandered around the party hall, deep in thought.
The extravagant hall was filled with elegantly dressed people laughing and conversing.
‘If this is a specific point from the past, maybe I need to act differently than I did back then?’
He tried recalling what happened next but the distant memories were hazy.
At this time, Raon often paraded around with male lovers, not out of love for nightlife, but to provoke Chairman Min, who despised scandals.
It was his way of rebelling.
Maybe that’s why his memories were a mess.
Usually, he drank himself sick at these parties and disappeared with a lover to a hotel.
‘Hmm?’
While wandering the hall, Raon’s eyes widened at a familiar figure.
A tall man in a sleek black suit was heading toward the terrace.
Without realizing it, Raon chased after him.
“Siwoo!”
“……?”
When he grabbed the man’s arm, the man turned his head with a startled expression.
Seeing someone completely different from who he expected, Raon quickly let go, flustered.
“Ah, I’m sorry.”
“No, it’s fine.”
The man gave a slight nod to Raon, who was apologizing, and then turned back around.
Raon stood frozen in place as if rooted to the ground.
He had dashed over recklessly, thinking it was Siwoo from behind.
Biting his lip, Raon clenched his fists.
There was no way Siwoo could be here.
This was a world where Siwoo didn’t exist.
The crushing realization left Raon feeling like he was stranded alone in the middle of a vast, empty field.
His body trembled faintly.
“Ha… Siwoo.”
Muttering softly, Raon forced a bitter smile and grabbed a drink from the tray of a passing waiter.
There was no way to escape this illusion—or rather, there was no way he could endure this sober.
Maybe, just maybe, if he got drunk inside this illusion, he could snap out of it.
With a faint, hollow laugh, Raon brought the glass to his lips.
“……!”
At that moment, someone grabbed his shoulder firmly.
Raon frowned and turned his head.
“Are you really thinking of pathetically drowning yourself in alcohol again?”
“Hah.”
It was none other than Raon’s eldest brother, Min Rahyeon—the Executive Director of M&K.
Raon scowled at the face he never wanted to see again.
“What I do isn’t your concern.”
The rebellious words slipped out like a bad habit as Raon swatted Rahyeon’s arm away.
He gritted his teeth, glaring at the man’s cold, mechanical face.
Rahyeon didn’t openly torment or hurl insults at Raon like Rayul did.
But somehow, Raon found Rahyeon even more unbearable.
That penetrating gaze, as if seeing right through him, made Raon feel disgusted.
It was as if Rahyeon was constantly mocking Raon’s very existence—the existence of someone whose parentage was uncertain.
The only times Rahyeon ever initiated conversation with Raon were moments like this—when Raon looked like he might cause a scene at a party and embarrass M&K.
“You’re not just a low-level employee anymore. Now that you’re a department head, you should act with more consideration.”
“I am being considerate, so spare me the lecture.”
As far as Raon could remember, he had never caused a drunken spectacle in front of others.
It was just that Rahyeon’s obsession with cleanliness was so extreme that even the smell of alcohol was intolerable to him.
“Min Raon.”
A low voice called his name.
It was something from the past, yet Raon instinctively knew what Rahyeon was about to say.
“My patience isn’t infinite. I don’t know how much longer I can tolerate you.”
Rahyeon, ever the clean freak, always looked at Raon as if he were an insect.
Even now, there was an undeniable trace of contempt in his eyes.
Raon had always loathed that.
“Fine. I’ll save you the trouble and get lost.”
Raon muttered through gritted teeth and turned away.
But the moment he moved, dizziness overwhelmed him, and he stumbled.
‘What’s happening?’
He hadn’t even taken a sip of alcohol yet.
Or… maybe in the original timeline, Rahyeon intervened after he’d already drunk?
Whatever the case, this wasn’t good.
Raon had just boasted that he was fine, only to collapse right after.
The floor rushed up toward him, and Raon squeezed his eyes shut, unable to face the embarrassment.
* * *
