A/N: So many ways this could be resolved, and I could have done better. But I decided talk no justu was the way.

As Jung Youngho looked at the kid with a smile in his eyes, he recalled the day he found the boy.

The boy at that time was not smiling, watching as the people passed him on the street, as if they were people living in a different world.

The boy's image overlapped with his, Jung Youngho's, self.

Especially his eyes which saw nothing.

When Jung Youngho was young, he didn't fit in with others either. After his parents abandoned him after divorce due to not wanting the responsibility to take care of him and handed him off to his relatives, he realized early that it was hopeless for him.

There was no future for him. So why should he try?

The despair drove him to seek refuge with groups he shouldn't have associated with, and only graduated from high school, having no funds or motivation for college.

As Jung Youngho advanced with the crowd, for some inexplicable reason, he stood in-front of the boy.

"Hey kid." Jung Youngho said, getting the boy's attention.

However, the boy only looked at him.

Bending down, Jung Youngho took a spare coin from his pocket and held it out for the boy to see.

The boy curiously peeked at it, but elicited no other emotion.

Then, with a shake of his hand, Jung Youngho caused the coin to 'disappear'.

Confusion painted the boy's features.

Once again, Jung Youngho shook his hand, and then the coin reappeared, held by Jung Youngho's fingertips.

"Here." Jung Youngho gave the coin to the boy, and then stood back up.

Jung Youngho wasn't sure what he hoped to achieve with this action.

"Um...how did you do that?" Seeing the man wanting to leave, the boy also stood up and grabbed Jung Youngho's sleeve.

There was a spark in the boy's eyes now.

And it was also the spark that made life a tiny bit better for Jung Youngho, who was no longer alone.

But of course, that would come to an end one fateful day.

At that time, the boy had snuck into one of Jung Youngho's performances, awaiting for the time that Jung Youngho would pop on stage with all his glory. For the cheers his ahjussi was always talking about.

Perhaps he thought, This will surprise him later!...as he smiled, thinking of his ahjussi's reaction at seeing him in the audience.

Unfortunately, out of nowhere, the lights suddenly went out, and people began to mutter in confusion.

A glow emerged amidst the confused crew, above in the air, and a creature popped out.

[Hihi! Welcome humans, to a new show! Let's give a round of applause to our great contributors, the constellations. Now now, you may all be confused, and oh yes, what hilarious reactions. Come on, play the laughing track.]

Unfortunately, there was only silence for the Dokkaebi as people tried to make sense of it all.

But for the boy, his eyes only lit up at the fantastical creature coming to life in-front of him.

[Ahem. This time, the show's actors are none other than...everyone one of you in this theater!]

"What nonsense!" Someone couldn't hold back and shouted out their exclamations.

With one person shouting, many more followed.

"Yeah! Where's the lighting technician? Is this an event? AR?"

Some others began chattering for security.

"Hey, where's security? Whoever's behind this prank, come out!"

And others attempted to call friends and family to inform them about the ordeal they were going through, only to realize-

"Wait a minute, there's no signal!"

"I-is this a terrorist hijacking?"

The Dokkaebi in the air giggled into their hands.

[While I enjoy all your shenanigans, let me inform you about a few things. First-]

"Shut it! Tell us who's behind this!" A man bellowed out as he rose from his seat, advancing closer to the Dokkaebi.

The Dokkaebi didn't grow impatient towards this, only smiling more brightly.

[As I was saying, first...]

It was a quiet event.

[...you have no right over your life anymore.]

Yes, a head simply detached from the body and rolled down the aisle.

The whole theater went silent.

A cold chill swept through the auditorium, and for the first time, they felt like the AC had been turned down too low.

As screams erupted, the Dokkaebi took no heed and continued to explain in a sing-song voice.

[Second, if you act better than others, you may get more privileges. Our lovely audience, the constellations, will help sponsor you!]

The boy, with his small stature, found himself in a disadvantage as he was pushed and pulled by the rioting crowd.

He couldn't understand what was going on.

[...and lastly, you must kill another in order to live. The stage is now set up for you! Lights, camera, action!]

Without anyone noticing, the Dokkaebi disappeared, and a screen popped out in-front of everyone.

Behind the curtains, Jung Youngho popped out, lamas in tow, also scared out of his wits.

Back stage, his circus mates were going insane, grabbing whatever they could to kill each other, as if programmed in their minds was madness.

The boy, still facing the stage, was the first to see Jung Youngho.

He tried pushing his way against the crowd, but was too weak, so instead he called out,

"Ahjussi! Ahjussi! It's me! I'm over here!"

These coherent words over the crowd were nearly drowned out, but Jung Youngho, having heard these words hundreds and thousands of times, was attuned to finding them.

"Kid?!" Jung Youngho shouted in alarm.

The boy smiled, but the smile slowly dissipated when he didn't get the reaction he was expecting.

He watched as his ahjussi's face twisted in desperation and despair.

Perhaps the boy would have been thinking, 'why?' in his face, but he would never get the chance to vocalize them.

There was a sudden push, and the boy stumbled.

With the many legs around him, the boy could not find a stable footing, and Jung Youngho watched as the boy was submerged under the stampede.

"N-no..." Jung Youngho mumbled, too far away to do anything.

His hopeful eyes scanned the crowd, but the boy never popped back out.

He would never get a happy ending. Because of-

[The 'first kill' achievement has been achieved!]

Maybe it was something about the achievement that insinuated something.

Ears ringing and mind going blank, Jung Youngho gave out a roar and ordered the trained lamas to run.

Bones broke and people cried out, but Jung Youngho didn't stop.

And that transformed into the moment where we first confronted each other.

In the dim subway tunnel, where Jung Youngho ambushed our group. Where he lost his title as 'King'.

[A scenario with characters, similar to events of the past has occurred. Stage transformation will now commence.]

I finally regained my body.

For a period of time, I became a spectator of Jung Youngho's trauma, and his life.

"Die! Die! Die!" Still crazed, Jung Youngho pounced over with his sword, manically bringing it down on my head, which I blocked with a halberd.

With every swing, Jung Youngho's experience flowed through my veins.

How he sank into the 'tyrant king'.

On that day, a constellation offered a sponsorship for him after being intrigued by Jung Youngho's massacre.

Jung Youngho paused as he looked at the mangled limbs and desolate theater.

His eyes and heart were empty, so he made that promise to the boy, and more so, for himself.

'Ahjussi, I want to be just like you when I grow up. A wonderful person and looootts of magic.'

So, he accepted the sponsorship, but slowly, he began to lose sight of the memories with the boy.

Slowly, he wondered, 'Why am I still here?'

And his sponsor jumped at the chance.

Jung Youngho's thoughts changed, and his ambition changed to being a 'king', as a great person.

Essentially, Jung Youngho was brainwashed and made into a vessel, a puppet, for his constellation to channel himself into.

However-

It didn't make Jung Youngho a better human being.

The fact that he delved into someone else's role and killed others wantonly would never be erased.

Still, this was the side of the story that was never written, the one I never read, and the one tls123 never mentioned.

I judged Jung Youngho purely by the 'Jung Youngho' in the novel, [Three Ways to Survive in a Ruined World].

The incomplete character, 'Jung Youngho'. He, whose only role was the villain, an evil tyrant down to his bones.

And Jung Youngho in-front of me, with more that I still had yet to know.

And now, I would be the last link of the illusion to break Jung Youngho.

After all, with how the story went, I was the winner of that battle, even if I wasn't his match in this fight.

I see. This is how it ends. But...I don't want it to end this way.

So, instead of staying on the defensive, I mustered up all my strength and threw the sword off.

Jung Youngho stumbled back, defenseless, as I advanced.

He struggled to parry the knife that was transformed from the halberd, and a resounding -shhiingg- of metal against metal rang out.

With every attack, I told him my words, forcing him to recall the boy in his dusty memories. It was possible due to the connection we had with the specter stones.

Remember him.

He parried my attack.

Remember his words, of the time you spent together.

Jung Youngho stumbled back a little more.

Who was it that he wanted to become?

What kind of promise did you make with him?

"I-I..." Jung Youngho parted his lips, a shred of conscience entering his eyes.

Answer me! I screamed out, my halberd sweeping out through the air and making contact with Jung Youngho.

Jung Youngho slammed into the wall of the subway and slid down, coughing up spittle.

Groaning in pain, the sword lay abandoned a little ways away as he shifted his position.

I walked over to him with the halberd pointed at his chest.

"Tell me." I vocalized this time.

Jung Youngho looked up, looking defeated.

"I always had a feeling what I was doing was going to not end well." He coughed, "Life's always been sh*tty. Never goes my way."

I continued to listen.

"Just end me." He gave me a smile full of schadenfreude, as if accepting his fate.

I gripped the halberd more tightly, and began to imitate a certain voice,

"'Wow, ahjussi, can you do that magic trick again? Please? Just once more, I promise I'll go to sleep after this!'"

Jung Youngho looked at me, surprised.

"'Look, I've also made it disappear! Can you find it, ahjussi?'"

A nostalgic light crossed the man's eyes.

And finally,

"'Ahjussi, when I grow up, I want to be just like you! I'll become a wonderful person with loooots of magic!'"

Jung Youngho's breath hitched in his throat.

He lowered his head, and his voice came out shakily, replying not to me, but someone else,

"That's right, kiddo. I'm Jung Youngho, the legendary magic king with lots of fans."

"'Then you better watch out, because I'm going to take your position as the legendary magic king'."

Jung Youngho chuckled.

"You can try, kiddo. There's only one legendary magic king, and that's me."

"'...then you better keep your word. Promise?'"

Jung Youngho breathed in heavily and exhaled slowly several times.

"...Promise."

I said nothing more.

Jung Youngho also didn't say anything else.

After an indeterminate time, Jung Youngho stood up.

He looked at me with a pair of complicated emotions in his eyes, but didn't continue to converse with me.

It appeared he figured out something about the nature of this situation.

The halberd in my hands disappeared, reappearing in Jung Youngho's hands instead.

He sighed, and his voiced laced with his characteristic irritation and arrogance sounded out,

"I get it. I'm a horrible human being, a bottom dweller, but so what?"

He smirked at me and raised the halberd, piercing out towards me.

"Deal with it."

Along with the strike, our surroundings collapsed into a myriad of shards shattering apart, until we returned to that room where the illusion all began.

[The Welcome Prison has been deactivated.]

"Now, how should I deal with you?"

Shaking the queasiness out of my system, I looked at Jung Youngho who had his sword slung over his shoulder at some point.

I raised my brows.