Kang Juwon was born not from love, but from calculation. A business marriage between his father and mother, a union forged in profit and convenience rather than warmth.

  He grew up in a house where affection was absent, replaced by cold expectation and the silent competition of wealth. Most would have crumbled under such neglect, but Juwon didn’t care.

  It was only when he discovered the truth, that his parents had other families, other children, and that his inheritance could one day vanish, that he realized the stakes.

  From that moment, he decided he would take matters into his own hands.

  Every move, every step, had to be precise, clean, leaving no trace of wrongdoing. The lesson of his youth was clear: trust no one, rely on nothing but his own cunning.

  From a young age, he learned to bend the world to his will. If someone blocked his path, he would move them, or remove them, without a hint of suspicion. In a world plagued by monsters and gates, he knew strength was essential, but not just brute strength.

  Strategy, secrecy, manipulation, these were his weapons.

  Yet in observing the world, he saw mostly ugliness. Humans were selfish, cruel, greedy. Their flaws fascinated him more than their virtues.

  As he grew, so did his reach. Money, influence, fear—they were tools to craft a life he could control.

  He dabbled in everything that made life intoxicating: addictive drugs, black markets, clandestine deals.

  Each risk taken, each boundary crossed, sharpened him, molded him into someone untouchable.

  The Moon Guild, under his command, became a reflection of that confidence. Its members feared him, respected him, sometimes both, but none questioned his authority.

  And then, the holy sword appeared, a relic of immense power, destined to choose a hero.

  Juwon wanted it, of course. Who wouldn’t? But he knew the truth before the world did: it wasn’t something he could wield.

  Even possessing it would be useless against its divine purpose. And the chosen hero, Mu Yichen, was now out of reach, protected, far beyond manipulation.

  Yet Juwon did not act rashly. He understood the danger of the Hell Gate. Failure meant death, even for him.

  Patience, observation, and calculated timing—that was his strategy. He would wait, watch, and when the world trembled under chaos, he would strike where it mattered most.

  Then the news arrived. Someone had stolen the holy sword. The report was brief, precise, and it shocked him more than he wanted to admit.

  His investigation led to a single name: Lee Aseok.

  Nobody. No background, no influence, no history. Just a weak, unremarkable human, now in possession of a relic meant for heroes.

  Fury boiled inside Kang Juwon. How dare someone like that, someone so insignificant, touch what belonged to legends?

  And then came the next piece of information. Lee Aseok had been using drugs. Not recreationally, but mana boosters, small, precise, dangerous.

  The wielder of the holy sword using drugs? That detail alone sent a shiver of amusement and curiosity through Juwon.

  There was potential there. Potential to play, to observe, to test.

  Kang Juwon’s mind turned, weaving possibilities.

  Lee Aseok was fragile, na?ve, and entirely unaware of the stage he had entered. He would be the perfect toy.

  He leaked the news, carefully curating evidence of Lee Aseok’s drug use.

  The world reacted exactly as Juwon had anticipated. The opinion of Lee Aseok plummeted.

  Once a curiosity, now he was dismissed, ridiculed, and scorned. Juwon watched the chaos ripple out, a quiet, cruel satisfaction curling in his chest.

  But satisfaction alone was not enough. One day, he decided to see the boy in person.

  As the guild master of the Moon Guild, appearing before anyone, even someone as obscure as Lee Aseok, was effortless. No doors were closed to him, no walls unscalable.

  Meeting Lee Aseok in person was supposed to be trivial. Kang Juwon, guild master of the Moon Guild, was known and feared, doors opened in his presence. Yet, as he stepped into the small, sparse apartment, he felt the first flicker of surprise.

  Lee Aseok didn’t match the image Kang Juwon had built in his mind.

  He expected greed, arrogance, a boy grasping at fame and wealth. Instead, he found a quiet, almost barren existence.

  No lavish belongings, no ostentation, only the simple, unremarkable traces of someone living alone, almost hidden from the world.

  Juwon didn’t care about the apartment. He came to see the wielder of the holy sword face to face, to confront him with the truths Juwon controlled.

  He spoke calmly, deliberately, as if stating facts: he had leaked the news of Lee Aseok’s drug use, and the story of how Lee Aseok had modified the mana booster to produce more dangerous side effects.

  He expected chaos. He expected fury, hysteria, an outburst of fear or rage.

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  Instead, Lee Aseok nodded. Calmly. As if nothing mattered, as if he had already counted every loss and betrayal in life and learned indifference long ago.

  Kang Juwon’s brow tightened. “You… you’re not angry?” he asked, incredulous, eyes scanning Lee Aseok for any sign of human reaction.

  Lee Aseok met his gaze steadily. His voice was soft, yet precise, almost chilling in its honesty. “I grew up being used and stepped on. You get numb to it faster than you’d think.”

  Juwon’s chest tightened. There was something fundamentally wrong with this boy, not in a way that could be fixed, not in a way that could be understood.

  His eyes… they were not filled with greed, nor fear, nor ambition.

  Only despair. Exhaustion. A weariness that seemed to span decades, not mere years.

  And then Kang Juwon noticed the pattern, subtle at first but undeniable. Lee Aseok spent his time on two things: clearing gates and training.

  Nothing else. No distractions, no indulgences, no personal gain.

  Everything else was irrelevant. He wasn’t here to climb ranks or gain fame; he was here to endure, to survive, and to perfect himself.

  For the first time, Kang Juwon felt the thrill of curiosity override his amusement. This wasn’t a boy to toy with.

  Even when the world spat at him, when people whispered lies, accused him of wrongdoing, or hated him for reasons beyond his control, Lee Aseok ignored it all.

  It was as though the disdain of humanity was a shadow, irrelevant to his purpose.

  Kang Juwon, who had spent his life manipulating people, creating chaos and bending others to his will, felt a strange mix of admiration and curiosity.

  One day, Kang Juwon approached him again, daring to probe.

  Lee Aseok had just returned from a dungeon, his clothes torn, blood seeping through, and exhaustion written across his pale face.

  He leaned casually against the wall, as calm and composed as ever.

  Kang Juwon’s voice cut through the silence, sharp and testing: “Everyone hates you. They insult you, accuse you… why do you even bother? Why try so hard to save them when they despise you?”

  Lee Aseok’s eyes, steady and unflinching, met his. With one hand, he pointed to the holy sword, resting quietly by his side.

  His voice was calm, almost hollow, yet every word carried weight: “I don’t know. I don’t understand it myself. People hate me… but that doesn’t mean they deserve to die. Everyone’s life is precious.”

  Kang Juwon’s breath caught. The guild master, who had seen ambition, greed, malice, and cunning, realized in that moment that the world was entirely wrong about Lee Aseok.

  Everyone else—everyone, even the so-called heroes—they believed Mu Yichen was the chosen one. They thought Lee Aseok had stolen his glory.

  But Kang Juwon, seeing the truth with his own eyes, understood that Lee Aseok was something else entirely: pure, unwavering, and unimaginably strong in heart.

  A plan began to form in Kang Juwon’s mind. This boy, so steadfast and so undervalued, would become his.

  If the world could not see Lee Aseok’s true worth, Kang Juwon would.

  He would take what the world overlooked and give it meaning, or perhaps, give the boy the treatment he truly deserved.

  But fate intervened. Before Kang Juwon could act, a Hell gate appeared.

  And through it came Lee Aseok, steady and unyielding, his presence commanding, his calm a stark contrast to the chaos that followed behind him.

  Kang Juwon had barely finished preparing his arsenal of mana boosters when Lee Aseok stepped through, calm, steady, and bloody from his previous battles.

  Kang Juwon looked at him and instantly recognized the truth—Lee Aseok was at his breaking point.

  His body was battered, his face pale, and his movements carried the weight of exhaustion. Mentally, he had pushed himself to the edge.

  Kang Juwon could see it all, yet there was nothing he could do to stop him.

  The chosen one was unstoppable, and the world had no choice but to bend around his will.

  A smile crept across Kang Juwon’s lips, dark and calculating. He had found the perfect opportunity. “I’ll give you the mana boosters you want,” he said, voice smooth and deliberate, “but there’s a condition. Once you come out of the hell gate, you will belong to me, the guild master of the Moon Guild. No tricks, no excuses. Just a deal.”

  Lee Aseok didn’t hesitate. His expression didn’t waver. Without a word of protest, without a flicker of doubt, he signed the contract and turned, walking away toward the gate with the same calm certainty he had always carried.

  Kang Juwon felt a surge of confidence. There was no doubt in his mind that Lee Aseok would survive and return, battered but unbroken, and then the deal would be sealed.

  Time passed. Moments stretched into agonizing hours. But when the gate finally expelled survivors, it was not Lee Aseok who returned.

  Only the hero team emerged, disoriented and silent, their memories of the hell gate erased as though they had never been inside.

  For the first time, Kang Juwon felt a flicker of being outplayed.

  His plan had failed, not because of trickery or defiance, but because Lee Aseok was unlike anyone he had ever encountered.

  The boy was a true hero, pure of heart, and untouchable in a way no one could ever predict.

  Anger surged, but not at Lee Aseok. No, he understood the boy too well.

  His rage was aimed at the world, at the people who refused to see the truth. They called Lee Aseok a liar, a thief, a coward unworthy of life, despite the sacrifices he had made.

  And worse, he hadn’t even been given a proper funeral. He had no family, no one to mourn him.

  The world had taken the greatest hero it had ever known and left him to vanish into obscurity.

  Kang Juwon clenched his fists, his teeth grinding. The anger burned, fierce and raw, but beneath it was something deeper, a recognition of the boy’s incomparable nobility.

  Lee Aseok had been proven right by his actions, and yet the world continued to misunderstand him.

  And in that realization, Kang Juwon vowed that if no one would honor Lee Aseok, he would. The chosen one’s worth would not go unnoticed, not while Kang Juwon still drew breath.

  Even in death, Lee Aseok could not find peace. Kang Juwon felt the sting deep in his chest, a gnawing anger that refused to be quieted.

  People still called him a liar, a thief, claiming he deserved death for stealing the holy sword.

  No one remembered the endless hours he had spent training, the wounds he had borne, the gates he had cleared to save them.

  No funeral, no tears, not even a minute of silence. He had vanished into nothing, forgotten by the world he had risked everything to protect.

  Kang Juwon felt like the world had played a cruel joke. He remembered Lee Aseok, tirelessly training, bleeding, fighting not for fame or glory, but simply because he could not stand seeing lives wasted.

  And yet, after his passing, the world had given him nothing—not even acknowledgment.

  That gnawing emptiness festered into dark resolve. If the world could not appreciate Lee Aseok, then they would not be allowed happiness either.

  Kang Juwon began to orchestrate chaos. With his underworld connections, he produced and distributed addictive drugs across cities and nations.

  Hunters lost their minds chasing power and ecstasy. Society fractured, trust dissolved, and the once orderly world descended into madness.

  People screamed for heroes. They called for salvation. But none came.

  The hero they had relied on was gone, the world left unprotected.

  Kang Juwon stood atop the tallest building, watching the pandemonium unfold, a smirk tugging at his lips.

  Yet no matter the destruction he caused, the empty space inside him remained, an unfillable void.

  Then, as if mocking the chaos below, a blinding light split the sky. Kang Juwon’s heart tightened, he knew it.

  Only the holy sword could shine with such purity and brilliance.

  He shut his eyes against its radiance, feeling its impossible presence pressing against the cracks in his memory, stirring something deep, something forbidden.

  Memories flooded back in fragments, the chaos, the despair, the hollow laughter of the world he had left behind. And he knew with certainty that he had returned to the past.

  Most importantly, he understood why Lee Aseok had always seemed indifferent to the lives of others.

  The boy carried memories and burdens no ordinary person could bear.

  Now Kang Juwon realized that Lee Aseok had also been given a second chance.

  And with that knowledge came a chilling clarity: the boy who seemed cold and detached had already endured more than anyone could comprehend.

  Author Note:

  Every “OH MY GOD ASEOK STOP” gives me the strength to write the next disaster.

  Mon ? Wed ? Fri

  (Yes, I too question my life choices.)

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