What Happens When The Second Male Lead Powers Up [EN]: Chapter 303

“……”

I lay sprawled on the bed, staring blankly at my phone.

The pink web novel platform glowed brightly for a long time before dimming.

Before I knew it, my face was reflected in the darkened screen. I looked troubled. A silent sigh escaped my lips.

I don’t know how many times this has happened.

-Rustle, rustle

I shifted my position for no reason.

In fact, I checked my phone even after seeing Eunseo off to school, having breakfast with my brother, and brushing my teeth.

But I didn’t have the courage, so I just closed it and did the dishes.

My hands moved naturally, finding the storage space and wiping the induction stove.

Even though I had been away from home for a year, the habits and behaviors I had carried with me my whole life were still remembered.

Maybe it’s because my body is the same. So…….

“Stop spacing out.”

I blurted out suddenly. I had been doing this since a while ago.

Whenever I thought about ‘Toegye Residence’ [likely a reference to the characters’ shared living space or community] or remembered the friends I left there, my heart felt heavy and stuffy.

Too many worries rushed in at once, making it hard to breathe easily.

Because I couldn’t even say a proper goodbye, let alone talk about the ‘real’ me.

I never imagined I could return home like this.

I had only entered Shin-sil with the intention of getting clues from Seongban, and there I—

-Thud!

‘Aaaagh!’

I flinched. I quickly straightened my back. My eyes widened, and my breath caught in my throat.

A background stained with blood flashed through my mind like a snapshot.

“Huck, whew……”

The vivid horror of that time swept unpleasantly through my whole body.

I grabbed the blanket tightly and gritted my teeth. It’s okay. Everything will be okay.

I survived, came home to see my family, and decided to rest today.

My team leader sent me a honey stick gift when I contacted him to take a day off. I was grateful.

If I go back to work tomorrow, the terrible memories of that time will slowly fade away.

If I return to my daily life, work hard, sometimes work overtime, and spend ordinary days…….

‘Don’t be shaken recklessly.’

A cool baritone echoed in my ears. I quickly buried my head in the pillow.

It was no use.

‘I’ll be waiting, Prince.’

This time, I heard Christel’s last words. I bit my lip tightly.

I wasn’t a faucet, but I tried hard to hold back the tears that seemed to well up again.

I wasn’t usually a crybaby. So, I didn’t need to do this.

But it was hard to stop the faces of my friends from floating up like bubbles.

It seemed as if only my soul had escaped from Prince Yeser’s body. If so, everyone…….

“Ha……”

They must have seen the prince’s gruesome corpse. They must have. I gripped my phone as if to break it.

My heart ached, and I was so sorry and miserable.

How could I let them go through such a thing?

They’re not at an age where they can close their eyes peacefully, so how could I show them such a sight?

How painful and difficult must it be?

Christel was strong-minded, but I knew that the Crown Prince was not.

This was something I could never do to Teacher and His Majesty. Not to mention Benjamin…….

I was sorry to everyone. Sincerely.

“And the children.”

A pitiful whisper scattered in the air.

Ganael, who always smiled with golden eyes, would end up crying because of me.

Eva, who shook my arm with a sulky face. Herit, who hugged me with a bright expression.

The divine beasts who toddled after me, looking only at me, blurred the ceiling.

Demi, Leia, Perry, Tite, who were so lovely. And Bamtol, who sometimes came to visit.

If I think about how much of a wound it would be to those kids…….

“I wonder if Dduk-ssim is safe.”

No matter what I said, only the worst-case scenarios were drawn in my head.

My heart felt heavy, as if it were filled with rocks.

“Elise would have seen me too……”

I whispered weakly.

She said she was the first of us to depart for the labyrinth ‘Labyrinthos’.

It seemed that the arrival times were different, but it would have been a matter of time before they found my dead body.

Then—

“Wait.”

-Rustle!

I sprang up.

The blanket spilled to the floor, and my brain, which was running faster than my body, sparked.

My mouth fell open at the belated realization.

Until now, I was so shocked by the fact that I had been stabbed, died once, and returned home that I couldn’t imagine ‘what next’.

I was too busy pulling myself together to think about the situation over there.

But now that I see it, the situation is too serious.

Yeser Fenetian is dead. Elise Fenetian was there.

And the culprit who stabbed me…….

‘My poor son.’

“Huck.”

A shudder ran through me. I remembered his benevolent smile and long, deep eyes.

The chocolate-colored eyes, so beautiful they were chilling, and the lilac hair that fluttered like flower petals flashed before my eyes.

White skin with specks of blood.

A man with a face so beautiful that you couldn’t believe he was a murderer.

I had read his physical description in ….

‘There would have been no true happiness in a life of being scorned, pointed at, and treated like a drudge for being a bastard.’

The king’s husband. The father of two daughters. The one who had plotted three times to kill the prince.

The one called the jewel of the Sneider Duke family.

‘I know it well. Because my life was similar.’

……Werner Fenetian. I searched the air with trembling eyes.

A tsunami of crisis was approaching from afar.

“If that person killed me, and the Crown Prince and Elise showed up at the scene.”

Then. How likely is it that the situation will turn out well?

“There’s no way it’ll work out……”

A sigh-like murmur escaped my lips.

The prince is just a prince, but I am also a marquis of the empire.

It was a title I had obtained in the first place to receive the protection of Emperor Frederick.

If the fact that I was attacked by the royal consort becomes known, a clash between the two countries will be unavoidable.

That wouldn’t change no matter who found me first, the Crown Prince or Elise.

Even if Elise and the Shin-guk side hand over the disposition of my father to the Empire—

“No. Still, he’s the royal consort of a country, so there’s no way he’d go that far. Besides, that guy was injured too.”

Maybe they could misunderstand that there was a fight between me and him.

Damn it! I punched the innocent bed.

I don’t know how the situation has been unfolding since I closed my eyes, so there are too many places that are blocked to make such inferences.

However, one thing is certain: the ‘war’ that I had been trying so hard to avoid was now imminent.

I hurriedly put my fingerprint on my phone. The unlocked screen showed the web novel app again.

I clicked on the ‘Romance Fantasy’ category without hesitation.

My mouth was dry, and I was anxious.

“Ranking, overall ranking……. Here it is.”

‘1st (-) I Quit and Became a Princess in Another World’

I immediately touched the title.

I was afraid that Toegye Residence might not exist, that it might have all been my one-night dream.

But fortunately, the novel was real.

I saw a familiar cover, but I didn’t have the guts to look at it.

I rolled my eyes diligently. Various information was floating on the work introduction page.

As befits an unprecedented bestseller, I saw numbers with different units.

‘Written by Bridget’

‘3,276,692 people are reading together!’

‘Read as a webtoon’

‘Listen to the audiobook’

‘Listen to the OST [Original Soundtrack]’

‘Donate’

‘Read the first episode for free’

“How do I buy the whole thing?”

First, I decided to own everything.

Eunseo said that there was a cheaper way to watch it, and that if I calculated the dates and applied various coupons, I could get a big discount.

But right now, I couldn’t afford to worry about that.

I paid for all the latest episodes, put them on batch download, and returned to the work page.

Next—

‘There are 285,208 comments!’

“Comments……”

I hesitated, stopping my thumb. I was curious about other people’s impressions.

But there were also parts that made it difficult to read out of curiosity.

After hesitating for a long time, I carefully pressed the comment button.

A huge amount of text instantly filled my eyes. I was startled.

I froze for a moment and then recognized the content a few beats later.

There are so many curses…….

· Trashy Monday~~!! I came to see the trashy male lead~~~!!! (Episode 148)

└LOLOLOLOL But me too~~~!

└LOL It’s a routine now. If I don’t curse at Seregi, I can’t finish the day

└Seregi Ssesibong~~~ (T/N: Ssesibong is a famous Korean folk band)

└Why is it so funny that people from Eonamse are just saying anything in the comment section LOL

└Monday attendance check

└Seregi, are you watching? I don’t want to go to work, let me quit like Hamga

└Then why don’t you marry Seregi instead of Hamga?

└You’re crossing the line. Our company has good benefits, delicious food, and a shuttle bus.

└Suddenly overflowing with company loyalty LOL

└Seregi is also cutting off Eonamse LOLOLOL

· I really love our cider-like Suin Hamgain… I love that she’s smart, pretty, and knows how to say everything she needs to say. I wish she wouldn’t fall for Seregi and just marry me… No, I wanted to eat potatoes so I bought them, but when I got home they were Bungeoppang [fish-shaped bread filled with sweet red bean paste]… If you look like me, you can tell me, but these days there are still people handing out cotton candy tissues on the street LOL Our Gaini should eat it too (Episode 232)

└Likes are quietly going up

└The smell of alcohol is crazy….

└Has this not been deleted yet LOL

· Ah, today’s lines are real…. I’ve been holding Yeser’s stock since his first appearance, but I’m having so much fun with his unrequited love that I hope it doesn’t come true…. Yeser, I’m sorry, Grandma… (Episode 200)

└22222

└3333…ㅜㅠㅠㅠ

└44444

└5555 You’ll have a hard time, you just be sad…

└LOLOLOL Why are you making the kid do everything LOLOLOL

└Yeser is going to cry LOLOLOL

└Is this the Ttak-yenaam that’s more toxic than Eonamse LOL

└What’s Ttak-yenaam? Does a beetle Yeser take the Namhaeng train?

└It’s obvious that Yeser is the husband, you crazy person LOLOLOL Why are you taking the Namhaeng train LOL

· I’m a man, but if I talk to my favorite friend like Cedric tomorrow, will I succeed in confessing? His tone seems cool (Episode 55)

└No.

└Yes, thank you

└I was drooling while reading the comments LOL What is this concise conversation LOL

“……”

I pursed my lips and left the comment section.

There were many words that were hard to understand, so I just skipped over half of them.

Still, it was strange to see the boisterous affection of strangers.

I laughed, and my expression hardened.

I knew that the Gaini and Cedric the Crown Prince that the Toegye Residence readers were talking about were not the people I knew.

But if I thought that way, I felt even stranger.

Even though many parts had changed from the original, the essence was my precious friends.

They were ‘real’ to me, in a way that I couldn’t easily say.

“……No, that’s not right.”

I quickly shook my head. This was prejudice.

Those people are saying that because they really like it, so I shouldn’t be upset.

I shouldn’t laugh carelessly because it’s funny.

I don’t usually look at comments or use SNS [Social Networking Service], so it seems like I’m the only one who can’t adapt.

I tried to calm my disturbed mind.

If everyone knew they were real people, they would talk more carefully. Hmm.

“It’s difficult.”

It really was. I stared blankly at the work page.

The download was about 75% complete.

I had never thought of myself as being afraid, but at this point, I had to admit it.

I was so scared that my hands and feet were cold, and my lips were trembling.

Doubts kept gnawing at me.

What if something bad happened to one of my friends?

What if I came back like this…….

‘Work Introduction’

“Ah.”

I touched the button as if possessed. Short and intuitive sentences unfolded in a row.

‘X-like company.

Even in a world where you can choose any of the thirty-one flavors of ice cream,

I was thirty-one years old

It was X-like to be tied to this kind of group.

So I wrote a resignation letter.

Last day of work.

I kicked the X-like team leader’s Benz.

Then I fell into a crazy world.’

“……Hahahaha.”

It was a Christel-like, Gaini-like introduction.

The corners of my lips went up, but suddenly I felt a pang.

It was then.

‘⤓ Download complete.’

A pop-up that I would have clicked without thinking a year ago made my heart sink.

I slowly touched the message. The purchase list immediately appeared.

As planned, I started looking for episode 302, which came out yesterday. If I saw this, I would know right away.

Whether the prince died on the battlefield as Eunseo read, or…….

Whether something had changed in the meantime.

“Heo-aack!”

“You scared me!”

I was so surprised that I dropped my phone and raised my head. It was my brother’s scream.

I wondered what was going on, so I kicked the bed and ran out. Jung Hyunseo!

“Hyung, why! Did you bump into something?!”

“No, no……”

Knock knock! I knocked on my brother’s wide-open door and went in.

He was sitting in front of his work desktop, quickly closing some window. What is it?

“Did some kind of ghost screen pop up?”

“Why are you talking about something from so long ago. Whew.”

My brother did a dry face wash with both hands and became quiet for a while. I quietly looked at him.

My brother lives such a regular life that he hasn’t had any major health problems so far, even though he sits and writes for a long time.

He seemed to be doing well mentally too. But that was also a year ago for me.

Could it be that the stress he had been suppressing had exploded overnight…….

“Should I make you some citron tea? Are you having a hard time?”

“It’s not that, but something surprising happened.”

“Why. Did the file get deleted? You always sync in real time.”

“I think it would be better if the file was deleted.”

“What a terrible thing to say.”

I said seriously. My brother chuckled and raised his head.

I was worried because there was no blood in his cheeks. He read my gaze and smirked.

“Citron tea is good……. Thank you. You have a cup too. How’s your body?”

“I wasn’t sick in the first place, so what.”

I waved my hand roughly and came out to the kitchen.

I don’t know what’s going on, but I decided not to ask because there must be a reason why my brother isn’t saying anything.

He’ll tell me when the time comes. First, tea was first.

After putting water in the electric kettle, I took out the citron marmalade jar that my aunt had given me before.

I put the marmalade in my brother’s and my mugs and waited for the water to boil.

I used the break to pick up my phone.

‘Episode 302: Waxing Moon’

Hmm. I don’t know what the content is just from the title.