* * *
Haeyoung gave a polite nod to the friendly convenience store clerk and walked home, carrying a plastic bag with two cans of beer.
There was actually a reason why Haeyoung had gotten so emotionally invested.
The supporting character who was being bullied had the same name as him.
If they had even shared the same surname, he might have been even more obsessed—but as it was, there was just a slight difference between Haeyoung and the character “Kang Haeyoung.”
Haeyoung had never really liked his name.
It sounded more like a girl’s name than a boy’s.
Because of that, he’d been teased a lot as a kid.
Still, he never considered changing it.
That name was the only thing left to him by the people who gave birth to him.
Of course, the surname wasn’t from them.
The “Jang” came from the priest at the orphanage where Haeyoung grew up—so he became Jang Haeyoung.
When he was little, he thought that if he kept his name, maybe the people who had given him life would come looking for him one day.
But there were just too many Haeyoungs in the world to track someone down by name alone.
And really, if they were ever going to come find him, they wouldn’t have abandoned him in the first place.
When that realization hit, it was pretty crushing.
But he hadn’t had a bad upbringing at the orphanage, so he bounced back eventually.
Anyway, the whole reason he was so obsessed with “Kang Haeyoung” was purely because of the name.
It wasn’t like the writer knew his name and used it intentionally.
He was just getting way too emotionally invested on his own.
As soon as he returned to his cozy semi-basement studio apartment, Haeyoung tossed one of the beer cans into the fridge and cracked open the other.
He played a variety show on his secondhand monitor and sipped his beer.
Nothing cleared his mind like a dumb variety show.
“Ah, that’s hilarious. Why are they like that…”
He chuckled and crunched on some snacks he’d taken out as a side.
Before he knew it, the first can was empty.
He felt pleasantly buzzed—he could probably just sleep like this.
But as if to push his limits, he grabbed the second can from the fridge.
It took him quite a while to finish that one.
By then, he was completely drunk.
In a tiny one-room apartment like his, the bed was just one roll away from where he sat against the floor cushions.
But even that was too far in his current state.
His eyelids grew too heavy to fight off, and the alcohol-induced drowsiness swept him away.
Because of that, he didn’t see his phone screen light up on the table.
[Jang Haeyoung -Kang Haeyoung: Syncing]
[100% Synchronization Complete]
Haeyoung’s eyes snapped open at a strange sensation.
What the…?
He blinked.
The world around him was pitch-black.
Sure, his semi-basement had tiny windows, but it wasn’t like sunlight never made its way in.
Even if it was night, it still didn’t make sense.
There was a streetlight right outside his building.
No matter how dark it got, that red-orange glow always seeped through his tiny window.
But that wasn’t the only weird thing.
Despite the total lack of light, he could see objects around him clearly.
As if he were seeing through night vision.
He couldn’t tell colors or anything like that, but the shapes were oddly sharp and defined.
What the hell is going on…?
He didn’t have night-vision lenses in his eyes, obviously…
Bang!
A loud crash. The darkness vanished in an instant.
The problem was, the sudden flood of light hit him while he was completely unprepared.
It felt like he was going blind.
Haeyoung squeezed his eyes shut.
“Hey, what the hell are you doing? Even a slug moves faster than you. You little shit. Are you gonna keep lying there? How many people do you think are waiting on you right now? If you’re awake, stop being a dumbass and get the hell out here.”
A voice he had never heard before barked at him.
Before Haeyoung could even begin to make sense of anything, the man had already spat out his words, clicked his tongue, and slammed the door shut behind him.
Now he’d been flashbanged and cursed at.
Haeyoung let out a breathy, incredulous laugh.
He didn’t know what was going on, but one thing was certain:
This wasn’t his home.
[Jang Haeyoung -Kang Haeyoung: Synchronization Complete]
“…Huh?!”
A strange sound escaped between Haeyoung’s lips.
He thought it’d be fine to open his eyes now since the door was closed—but as soon as he did, something bizarre appeared before him in the darkness where the light had vanished.
Letters floating in midair…
What do you even call this kind of thing?
Haeyoung tilted his head.
His first thought was: ‘Am I dreaming?’
The floating letters, the unfamiliar dim space, the hazy, infrared-camera-like filter over everything, even the unfamiliar voice—none of it made any sense unless this was a dream.
Haeyoung stood frozen, staring blankly at his name floating in the air.
Then, he turned his thoughts to the other name displayed next to his.
The first name was the same, so it felt familiar.
Even the full name didn’t feel completely foreign.
That was because, in the novel he’d been deeply immersed in just last night, the name of the outcast esper was “Kang Haeyoung.”
Knock knock—
Unlike the violent banging from earlier that had sounded like someone was about to break down the door, this time it was a light, polite knock.
Yet Haeyoung felt more creeped out by this knock than the previous one.
The knock seemed courteous, as if whoever was outside had manners—but before Haeyoung could respond or say “come in,” the door opened on its own.
“Haeyoung, I heard Minjoon woke you up. Why are you still lying down?”
The man who stepped in smiled softly, his eyes crinkling at the corners as he spoke.
But strangely, Haeyoung found this man—standing calmly and smiling in front of him—even more unsettling than the rough voice from earlier.
Perhaps interpreting Haeyoung’s stunned expression as confusion, the man’s brow furrowed slightly, though he still kept smiling.
“…Minjoon?”
“Didn’t Seungmin wake you up ten minutes ago when the gate opened? Haeyoung, are you planning to let everyone die today? Should I just tell them I couldn’t join the mission because S-Class Esper Kang Haeyoung decided to go solo? Doesn’t matter to you whether everyone else lives or dies, right?”
His tone was soft, but every word carried a sharp edge, and it made Haeyoung frown.
There was no way he could know who had come to wake him up ten minutes ago—he had just woken up.
There was no time to get his bearings, no time to think.
But hearing people might die, Haeyoung couldn’t stay still. He finally pushed himself up.
As he stood, the man turned to leave, telling him to wash up and come out.
The room—previously shrouded in total darkness—had two doors.
One was the one they had just come through, and the other opened into a small bathroom.
Just a toilet, a sink, and a shower—barely enough to call it a bathroom.
* * *
