That Face Is the Problem - vanish into fiction

Jae-gyeong knew this was an illogical generalization. Yet people blinded by emotion rarely obey logic or reason.

‘I feel so gloomy…’

The moment he thought that, tears began to fall from his eyes as if on cue. They pooled on the leather sofa. He sniffled for about ten minutes before dozing off right there.

***

Most people felt slightly better after sleeping off a bad mood. Jae-gyeong was no exception. He slept soundly on the sofa for three hours, then got up, made himself a meal, and regained his energy.

‘Haha, it was a hopeless situation from the start anyway…!’

He felt some energy from the negative side, but whether fortunate or not, he really did feel better. He cleaned the apartment and spent about an hour stretching to loosen the soreness in his muscles.

Afterward, he lay on the bed and watched videos on YouTube of hunters explaining dungeon strategies or simulating training sessions.

Then, on a whim, he typed “Seo Da-sol healer” into the search bar. Videos appeared immediately, mostly with thumbnails showing Da-sol’s handsome face in large print.

The top video had that title. Jae-gyeong was puzzled. Had someone filmed Da-sol healing others? That seemed unlikely, and if someone had been healed for an entire hour… they might have ended up like the monster or himself during the training earlier. Could there really be an hour-long video capturing such a grotesque scene? What a poor hunter.

He clicked on the video. Immediately, high-definition footage appeared of Da-sol standing before reporters outside a dungeon, under a flurry of camera flashes. The sound was muted, replaced by soft, pleasant new-age music as background.

Jae-gyeong was captivated. The video was an hour-long montage of every official appearance Da-sol had made, edited with music.

“…Huh?”

He realized something strange when, after only briefly seeing Da-sol’s high-definition face, the video ended.

An entire hour… already gone?

He could not believe it and clicked on the next video. It appeared to be a promotional video filmed by the Hunter Management Bureau at some point, edited like a mad movie, showing Da-sol actually healing hunters.

Familiar faces appeared. Jin Jeong-eon before he joined the bureau, and it seemed like Da-sol had just become a healer. Su-hyeok’s face appeared as well.

Da-sol, slightly younger and more inexperienced, applied healing and spread skills seriously to the team members. When healing Hyeon Hee-ro, his expression clearly showed displeasure, which was amusing. Hyeon Hee-ro was far stronger than Da-sol, so no matter how much healing Da-sol poured out, it did not restore him easily. Seeing Da-sol frustrated by that was endearing.

“Ha ha… he he…”

Jae-gyeong unconsciously smiled like a fool while playing the next video.

There were videos turning Da-sol into cute animals with catchy music, videos portraying him as a divine healer, even one titled “What if Seo Da-sol were an attack-type hunter?” showing him flying through dungeons fighting monsters. There were also videos seemingly filmed secretly on the street. Online, fans adored Da-sol in all sorts of ways.

Jae-gyeong had heard of fans filming him, but he had never searched for his own name. It was too embarrassing to watch.

Yet searching for Da-sol’s name was incredibly fun. Videos kept coming, and in every single one, Da-sol appeared handsome, cute, or stylish, without a single embarrassing moment.

As he kept watching Da-sol’s videos, a strange sound came from outside the window.

Chirp… beep, beep… chirp…

Curious, Jae-gyeong slowly turned toward the window and saw a surprising sight. The sun was rising beyond the dim sky. The strange sound he had heard was none other than birds singing.

“Uh…?”

Morning…?

Was it already morning? Just from watching a few of Da-sol’s videos, it has become morning? Why…?

Jae-gyeong checked the time. 6:12 a.m. He had gone to bed at 6 p.m. the previous evening. Twelve hours had passed. He had just watched Da-sol’s videos. Twelve hours… twelve hours.

Something was definitely wrong. Yet the cheerful sound of the morning birds kept coming.