Taehyung was pacing nervously around the room.

TaTa was so anxious that it began to gnaw on its metaphorical nails. it suggested.

Taehyung completely rejected its proposal. “In the story, when the brothers learned ‘Taehyung’ inherited everything their hearts turned completely cold and they started their abuse! If I accepted it, the progress bar wouldn’t rise just by half a point!”

Knock knock knock.

Both of them paused and looked at the door in unison.

“Young master, the eldest young master is calling.” The butler’s voice sounded from the outside.

Taehyung’s brows furrowed and he whispered: “The murderer no. 1 is on the phone, should I answer it or not?”

TaTa’s voice trembled: With only 0.5 points left until filling up the progress bar, there really wasn’t any room for error.

Taehyung hesitated, “Will I die immediately after the progress bar is filled?”

Taehyung’s eyes brightened.

TaTa sounded as if it was going to cry, adding,

This is way scarier than immediate death!

Taehyung felt he was about to go insane. He scanned the room, then approached the desk and pulled out the utility knife inserted in a penholder, ejecting the blade and drawing it across his wrist.

Blood started to flow.

TaTa instantly became mad:

“I’m saving myself, of course. This phone call can’t be answered; if I pick it up and say the wrong thing, increasing my brother’s enmity, then everything will be over.” Conversely, in the face of imminent crisis, Taehyung calmed down instead. After cutting his wrist deeper, he quickly searched for all the documents and cash of the original. Then he picked up the cucumber pillow on the bed and went to the bathroom to fill the bathtub with water.

TaTa was greatly alarmed by his actions. Cutting your wrist and filling the bath with hot water, isn’t this a standard suicide setup?

Taehyung has already got in the bathtub. Withstanding the dizziness caused by blood loss, he carefully unstitched the part of the cucumber pillow, putting all the documents and cash into it. Then he lay back, holding the pillow and closing his eyes: “It’s a retreat in order to advance, it will buy some time… This place is too dangerous to stay in, we have to find an opportunity to slip away.”

The youngest of the five brothers in the family was nine years older than the original ‘Taehyung’. All of them have already made successful careers with the support of their mothers and they pretended to dote on ‘Taehyung’. Kim Junghyun was gradually deceived by this illusion, inadvertently allowing them to put a lot of traps and snares around Kim Junghyun and ‘Taehyung’. The current Taehyung was powerless and lacked connections, it was impossible for him to win; still, his top priority was simply saving his life.

The water in the bathtub was soon red with blood. If TaTa was human, its face would be completely pale. It called out with a quavering voice:

“Don’t worry, I know what I’m doing”, Taehyung consoled it. Hearing the faint sound of the opening door, his heart loosened. After making TaTa promise to help him hold on to the cucumber pillow, he felt reassured and let go of his consciousness.

The smell of disinfectant filled his nose. Taehyung opened his eyes and looked drowsily at a tall figure sitting beside the bed.

TaTa provided a timely reminder.

Taehyung reassured himself, his arms tightening around the pillow. He looked at the man beside the bed and called out weakly, “Big Brother.”

The man turned his head. His long and narrow eyes, similar to those of Kim Junghyun’s, were full of disapproval and worry. He asked gently: “Taehyung-ah, why?”

Kim Junghyun’s genes were very good; all of his sons were very handsome, with only the little fatty Taehyung being the odd one out. Kim Namjoon was Kim Junghyun’s eldest son and he resembled their father strongly. Clear eyes under straight eyebrows, thin lips, straight nose—with his refined features and calm temperament, he was the very definition of a handsome mature man. In addition to Taehyung, he was the only child allowed to take the Kim Junghyun’s surname and also the brother who supposedly loved Taehyung the most.

Taehyung looked away from him, secretly pinched himself under the quilt to get a sour nose and red eyes, and whispered, “I know that none of you likes me.”

After those words, the air became tense.

Namjoon did not speak, the gentleness in his eyes diminished slightly. His look became thoughtful and scrutinizing, as if trying to judge whether Taehyung’s feelings were feigned.

<998 points! Wah, TaeTae!> TaTa screamed in panic.

Taehyung’s eyelashes trembled and the tears gathered in his eyes have flowed down. His lips tightening, he turned back to Namjoon and hesitantly grabbed his hand. “Big Brother… If, if there is a next life, then I hope I would become the older brother of all of you… Then I would be able to repay you, return everything I owe to you…”

“Taehyung-ah.” Namjoon pulled his hand out of Taehyung’s hold and put his hand back on the bed. “Don’t talk nonsense, your elder brothers will always be your elder brothers.”

<998.5! It has risen again! Waah, TaeTae, don’t die!>

What an impregnable defense! This older brother is much more difficult to defeat than I expected.

Taehyung knew things went south. He decisively abandoned the idea of softening Namjoon with words and closed his eyes pretending to be exhausted, whispering, “Big Brother, I’m tired…”

Fortunately, the progress bar did not rise again. Namjoon covered him with the blanket and left the ward.

Over the next two days, Taehyung’s eldest brother came several times. The absent brothers also made a lot of calls. Taehyung remained completely silent, neither speaking nor answering the phone. He stayed in the ward all day and just looked out of the window like a puppet who had lost his soul.

During this time, Taehyung tried to hurt himself again, this time with a fruit knife. The nurse found out and told Namjoon about it. Namjoon, like a normal older brother, became worried and angry and scolded Taehyung harshly.

Taehyung pinched his thigh and cried silently facing Namjoon’s anger. “Taehyung-ah.”

Namjoon was helpless. He moved closer and grasped Taehyung’s shoulder, asking gently, “Tell me, what is wrong with you? Look, you even lost some weight.”

Taehyung managed to smile at him—this was what he wanted to hear, missing several meals was worth it.

Namjoon looked at this smile and the emotions on his face suddenly faded away, leaving only expressionless, unfathomable mask.

This was the first time Namjoon showed this expression to Taehyung. Taehyung stopped smiling, lowered his head and hugged the pillow tightly. His heart was full of vigilance—here it comes, Namjoon is going to tear off his mask of kindness.

“Taehyung-ah, dad’s lawyer called me today and said that the inheritance had been divided up as you wished, into five parts, without your part.” Kim Namjoon said abruptly, his tone vague, missing its earlier gentleness.

Taehyung looked up at him, and there was no smile on his face—he didn’t force it out this time. He said, “I told you, I would repay my brothers everything I owe them.”

Namjoon looked at him keenly, saying, “The change in the distribution of inheritance requires your signature.”

Taehyung nodded: “I will sign it.”

Silence fell once again. Namjoon did not say anything more, turned around and left the room.

After dinner that day, Namjoon brought over several documents. Taehyung did not read them, he signed them directly and then gathered the blanket around himself.

Namjoon gathered the documents, then stood beside the bed for a moment. “Why?”

“I just want to make my brothers happy,” Taehyung replied, hugging his last trump card—the cucumber pillow.

Namjoon’s eyes swept over the blood that had dried up on its surface and asked: “Why do you hold it all the time?”

Taehyung’s heart skipped a beat. He pinched his thigh frantically, looking back at Namjoon with reddened eyes and saying in a barely audible voice: “This is the last gift I have gotten from my brothers… I can’t lose it, if I lose it… it would be completely gone.”

TaTa applauded hard in Taehyung’s brain, praising his quick thinking and acting skills.

Namjoon apparently did not expect to hear such an answer. He stared at him for a few seconds and frowned, suddenly unable to look directly into those eyes full of trust and dependence. He turned his head slightly and said, “You should rest. Your second brother will arrive tomorrow, he has already boarded the plane.”

That’s really bad news.

Taehyung was so dejected that he hung his head down, burying his face in the quilt.

Namjoon took a step forward and hesitated. He turned back and gently touched Taehyung’s hair, the look in his eyes changing briefly. Then, for some unknown reason, his expression became cold. He turned around to leave.

TaTa’s voice was a little weak:

“It’s down to 950?” Taehyung was surprised. He lifted the quilt and got out of bed. Checking the progress bar, he was very pleased with himself. “Now then, the problem of inheritance was resolved, so it’s time to run away.”

TaTa was puzzled.

Taehyung’s voice was placid: “I only have a margin of error of 49 points. Do you think it would be enough if I say a wrong thing to those murderous people?”

<…> TaTa was unable to refute, but its heart was full of misgivings.

“Don’t worry.” Taehyung’s tone was confident. He checked the documents and cash in his pillow and said, “In order to empty the progress bar, I have to reduce the lethal factors. Distance from the brothers should also be considered a lethal factor. What if I hide in a place where my brothers won’t be able to find me? Do you still think the progress bar will be filled up?”

Of course, if they’re unable to find him, the five brothers will be unhappy, but even if they decide to kill their younger brother directly… If their target is missing, they won’t be able to either make any plans or start implementing them. Immediate danger was a key part of the lethal factors. As long as the progress bar wasn’t filling up and his brothers were far away, Taehyung would be able to slowly decide on his long-term course of action. It would be different from the current dangerous situation, where he had no freedom of action an could only adapt to circumstances.

TaTa raised its thumb and squealed:

“…Shut up.”

Imitating the handwriting of the original, Taehyung left a message: “Without me, brothers will be happier. Taehyung-ah hopes brothers will be happy.” Then he asked TaTa to help him avoid the people in the hospital and holding the cucumber pillow, he silently slipped out during the night.

More than a ten hours later, Taehyung stepped onto the soil of B City, China. He was still wearing hospital clothes, and he was still carrying the cucumber pillow in his arms. That and a little bit of money left over after buying a plane ticked were his only possessions.

“I hate rich people who have the habit of having credit cards instead of hard cash.” Taehyung’s face was full of tears, cursing the previous owner of his body.

TaTa suddenly panicked:

Taehyung’s ‘chrysanthemum’ tightened. He stared at the progress bar, which was going up and down crazily, with wide eyes.

980… 990… 930… 990… Progress bar fluctuated madly, finally stopping at 910.

Taehyung let out a long sigh of relief and sat down on the ground outside the airport.

TaTa’s voice relaxed.

Taehyung looked over his meager belongings, his expression full of vicissitudes of life: “First, let’s find a job to support ourselves…”

Translator’s Notes:

“…dumb blondes will love you!” – again, not literal. Originally 伦家超爱你的.

Taehyung’s ‘chrysanthemum’ tightened – I just had to leave it in ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°).

Finding a job proved impossible. Taehyung hasn’t graduated from high school, he was not eighteen yet, workers moving bricks were disgusted with his fat body… He could only survive by playing mahjong. Aunties and uncles at the mahjong parlor were really open-minded and easy to talk to; Taehyung liked being there.

“Self-Pick (自摸), Chicken Hand (胡了)!” Taehyung boldly revealed his hand and gathered the scoring chips, then smiled at his mournful opponents. “Thank you, masters. You can call me whenever you need me, I’ll be here until six o’clock.” After that, he looked at the old man standing behind him, his smile becoming even wider. “Uncle Song, I helped you win some money.”

Uncle Song, who saw his “Chicken Hand” scene, returned his smile and patted him on the shoulder, praising: “You must be a reincarnation of some godly player, you can win against anyone. Here, it’s for your hard work today.” While saying this, he took the money that Taehyung had just won and added two red banknotes, stuffing it all back into Taehyung’s hands.

Taehyung smiled and quickly accepted the money, thanking him. Then he stood up and gave his seat, saying: “Uncle Song, you can play instead of me, I have to go.”

“Go ahead.” Uncle Song smiled and waved his hand. After watching the boy leave, he sat down at the table and continued his game happily.

At six o’clock, Taehyung staggered onto the bus with the groceries he had just bought.

More than a month has passed since he escaped from the hospital. During this period of time, he traveled through many cities, working as an unskilled laborer, setting up street stalls and buying lottery tickets, surviving the first two weeks only through sheer determination. Finally, after careful consideration, he hid in Y Province, located on the border of Korea, and found a job in a mahjong parlor as a temporary player.

Although this kind of work environment was complex and the income not stable, but fortunately, he could leave at any time and neither capital nor formal written registration was needed. This suited him perfectly because he had to keep hiding for now.

Besides earning a living, he also paid attention to the situation of his family. The Daesung Corporation was a major company, the change of management was big news. Taehyung simply had to flip through the international financial news and he could see a lot of news about Kim family.

Unsurprisingly, after he gave up his inheritance, Namjoon joined the Daesung Corporation and became its new chairman, thoroughly suppressing Kang Daniel, the deputy chairman. Now, the public finally realized that Namjoon, who in recent years has been shining brilliantly in the Chinese business world, was actually the son of a well-known business shark, Kim Junghyun.

“Sure enough, Kim Namjoon really is formidable. It only took him a month to subjugate Kim Junghyun’s long-time subordinates. If I tried to compete against him for the company, how could I win?” Taehyung poked at his newly purchased no-name cellphone. Looking at the imposing Namjoon in the news photos he touched his scarred arm and shuddered at the memory of his eldest brother.

TaTa consoled him:

“That’s the only good news.” Taehyung turned off the news app and looked out at the street outside the bus window, sighing quietly.

After getting the knife off his throat, Taehyung put some effort into understanding the world in the book. As a result, he was afraid he was going mad—it was both thoroughly familiar and completely foreign. The world in the book was generally the same as the world he used to live in, however, in some details, there were subtle differences. For example, you could own a gun in Korea and some criminal organizations were allowed to exist legally.

For Taehyung, it was simply inconceivable. He used to be a police officer in his last life and he knew not all policemen were allowed to carry guns then, never mind ordinary people!

, asked TaTa suddenly.

Taehyung’s mind stopped wandering. He thought for a moment and said, “Before I will, the progress bar should drop to under 700. I have to reserve at least 50 points for each of them as insurance, otherwise, it will be too dangerous.”

“I still need to make a plan,” Taehyung replied. He had actually figured out a way of eliminating his lethal factors one by one, but it still had to be carefully perfected. After all, if you wanted to keep your life while confronting a man-eating tiger, you couldn’t be even slightly negligent.

TaTa stuttered. , it proposed timidly.

Taehyung was slightly taken aback. He glanced at the grayed-out progress bar in his mind, his mouth opening and closing, then nodded decisively. “We can, but how are we going to find your ‘Darling’? Do you have any clues?” If he found that other unlucky guy first, it should be to his advantage—this way they could help each other out, being two people in the same plight.

TaTa was so excited its speech became incoherent.

Taehyung’s face turned remorseful. “You are a great system, but I really doubt I would be able to get it up for you, so… I’m truly sorry!”

TaTa：<…>

Taehyung, who was very thick-skinned, felt that revenge tasted sweet. “You haven’t told me how to find your Darling yet. Give me some hints and I’ll try my best.”

TaTa said in a monotonous mechanical voice:

“Eh?” Taehyung didn’t understand.

TaTa explained.

“…” Taehyung blanked out for a moment, then made sure, “Are you serious?”

TaTa:

Taehyung：“…”

Fine.

He continued to look out the window with a troubled expression and felt that the future was bleak.

When it got dark, the bus finally reached its final stop—a bus terminal on the edge of the old and uncared-for urban park.

Taehyung took his groceries and got off. He bypassed the gate with the ease of someone knowing his way around, heading towards a hill behind the park, and entered a small bungalow.

He stumbled upon this place by accident. It was located on the hillside and appeared shabby and overgrown with weeds, yet had a fully-equipped interior—there were beds, tables, and kitchenware. Water and electricity were turned on and there was also an independent bathroom in the basement. Living here was actually quite comfortable if one could ignore the surroundings.

According to the park-keeper, the house was once occupied by a mountain keeper. Later, the mountains surrounding the hill were all bought by some rich man and planted with fruit trees. The owner of the orchard dismissed the mountain keeper and the house was abandoned.

Taehyung was extremally poor. After confirming the house really was ownerless, he gathered his scant possessions and simply moved in.

Today, his earnings were decent. Uncle Song often needed to leave: to pick up his granddaughters/take care of the grandson/go home to feed his cats/let the dog out, and Taehyung was left in charge at that time. Each time he would be rewarded with several red banknotes, making his daily income rather satisfactory.

In order to save money, Taehyung padded his stomach with a bowl of plain noodles first, then slaughtered the pheasant he had caught yesterday. After seasoning it and preparing vegetables bought earlier, he put it into a pot and left to simmer, then fell into bed with a contented sigh.

While waiting for it to cook, he fell asleep imperceptibly. He was in the middle of a dream when TaTa woke him up.

Taehyung came awake in an instant. First, he hid the cucumber pillow with all his belongings and documents under the bed. Then he turned off the lights and tiptoed to the front door, pulling out a newly purchased dagger and gripping it tightly. He looked out the crack in the door.

What he saw was a single dark green eye, giving him a cold stare across the gap, similar to that of a savage beast.

Taehyung was startled. Before he could react in any way, he felt a breeze coming from behind, then his neck hurt and he stopped to be aware of anything.

Before he lost consciousness though, what had passed through his mind was: I’m so hungry; my pheasant stew!

Upon waking up, Taehyung found himself being dragged toward the living room like a dead dog.

There were several people standing in the hall. When they saw him, their leader asked in an indifferent tone, “Has he woken up yet?”

“He will soon, Four can control his strength well,” replied the man who held Taehyung.

“Go on then.” The leader waved his hand.

“Yes.” The man who dragged Taehyung moved toward the living room, unblocking Taehyung’s line of sight and letting him see the people in the hallway clearly.

There were three tall men. Their appearance was either plain and ordinary, simple and honest or refined and polite; none of them would stand out in the crowd. They were wearing identical khaki coveralls, with a banana logo and words “Flowery Orchard” embroidered on the chest pocket.

Taehyung felt he had a stroke of luck. He cried out loudly: “I’m innocent! I didn’t steal your fruit! Believe me, I am a good person!”

TaTa, who was about to warn him that the situation was not good: <…>

For a moment everyone froze. The refined-and-polite looking man who was asking questions before felt his face twitch. He stepped on Taehyung’s ribs, pressing down hard, and demanded with expression warped by anger: “Tell me who sent you!”

Feeling the force bearing down on his chest, Taehyung let out a pained grunt. He looked up at the man, whose face was distorted by rage, and inexplicably thought that there was something familiar about him. After a moment of scrutiny, Taehyung’s expression changed to one of disbelief: “You… Aren’t you Uncle Song?”

After his disguise was seen through, the look in the man’s eyes changed. He reached out and grabbed Taehyung’s jaw, roaring, “Stop pretending! You deliberately got close to me at the contact point and then approached the base—it proves that the identity you set up is completely fake! Now tell me, what’s your aim, who sent you!?”

What contact point? What base? Taehyung was stupefied. He quickly realized that there has obviously been a misunderstanding and tried to explain: “I’m just a teenager trying to make a living, I don’t understand what you mean.”

“Still going to keep lying? I see you want to do it the hard way.” The man sneered and stood up, pulling a gun out of his pocket and loading it. He aimed it at Taehyung’s head. “I’ll give you one more chance to say something I want to hear.”

Fuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuck!

Taehyung’s eyes widened in alarm—he was deeply aware of the damage the gunshot can cause to the human body. Cold sweat damped his forehead and the cogs in his head were turning madly. Apparently, he has been unknowingly living in some big force’s hidden base and they have mistaken him for an enemy spy.

TaTa, who had been silent for a long time, wailed:

Taehyung also wanted to cry—after making countless calculations and plans, he actually hadn’t realized that playing mahjong also counted as a lethal factor!

“Not going to talk?” The man put a finger on the trigger and caressed it gently. “I will give you three seconds. One…”

TaTa shrieked.

Why did it rise so fast?

Taehyung’s chest constricted painfully, making him unable to take a breath.

“Two…” The refined-looking man kept counting.

TaTa’s voice kept rising: <950! 960! TaeTae!!!>

He was going to die!

The more dangerous the situation, the calmer Taehyung became. He continued to repeat the words “what I want to hear” in his mind. When the man opened his mouth again, he had a flash of inspiration and shouted loudly: “I’m a younger brother of the new Chairman of the Daesung Corporation! I have a high social status and my background is troublesome, you can’t kill me!”

The refined-looking man paused. He moved the gun away and asked, looking doubtful: “Daesung? You mean that company from overseas?”

Taehyung nodded fervently.

The man moved his foot away, frowned, and looked toward his two companions.

Taehyung let out a relieved sigh, rubbing his chest and coughing a few times. He turned his sight in the same direction as the refined-looking man. As a result, he couldn’t help but stare.

From behind two men, who had been standing still this whole time, emerged a thin man sitting in the wheelchair. His complexion was pallid, his face enchantingly beautiful, and his phoenix eyes were calm and seemingly devoid of life. He was wearing a black silk robe embroidered at the hem with tiny red petals of unknown flowers, resembling blood splattering at night.

He arrived beside astonished Taehyung and asked in a soft tone, “Are you Kim Junghyun’s youngest son, Taehyung?”

Taehyung’s lips trembled, his eyes shifting from the man’s clothes to his face, finally stopping over the top of his head.

He looked at the second progress bar in his mind that was gradually becoming sharp and clear, face contorting from wanting both to cry and laugh… Taehyung forgot himself for a moment and blurted out, “Darling!”

Why are you here? What’s more, why are you so close to death?