Chapter 1
I knew too much for my own good.
That was the cause of my death.
“Ignorant bastard. They said you were a tough one, but you haven’t let out a single groan.”
“Doesn’t it stimulate your competitive spirit and make it fun? How about a bet on who can make him scream?”
Their gazes were on me.
My insides boiled with anger.
“Wow, what a vicious glare.”
“If only you hadn’t been abandoned by your Family, you wouldn’t have ended up like this.”
I wanted to crush the faces in front of me right this instant, but I didn’t have the strength to smash those mugs.
The pincer attack displayed by the Corporate Elite Unit was overwhelming.
My limbs had already been reduced to rags.
“Enough! Don’t waste time on nonsense. Prepare to withdraw.”
As the order was given, the unit members moved quickly.
They retrieved their injured comrades and incinerated the corpses.
Past the busy unit members, the man who issued the order approached with a leisurely stride.
“Tsk, tsk, you’ve seen and heard things while working, yet you want to resign? A guy who lost his Background acted too rashly.”
He pulled out the pistol hanging at his waist and racked the slide.
Clack! He finished loading and aimed the muzzle at my head.
I wanted to spit out a curse, but my throat was blocked with blood, so no words came out.
“Keugh…! Keheugh!”
“If you hated the field, you should have used your supposed specialty of a good memory to request a department transfer.”
Was it a bizarre phenomenon experienced right before one’s life ends?
The finger of the guy pulling the trigger began to slow down very slowly.
Time stretched out stickily like Honey scooped with a spoon.
Bang!
The bullet leapt out of the muzzle.
As I watched the projectile rushing toward the center of my forehead, my consciousness flowed in a direction it had kept blocked.
A Wolf Girl with red hair surfaced in my memory.
Even though it was a memory from several years ago, and even though she was a Person who had become such a Big Shot that she was now out of reach, it was so vivid.
─ Look closely. Do you really not know me? Doesn’t hearing my name bring anything to mind?
What answer was that woman hoping to hear when she asked that?
A mass of questions swirled in my head.
“Is this my life flashing before my eyes?”
The short memory ended.
The world, which had slowed down so much it completely stopped, spun round and round as all its colors blended together.
The magic power in my entire body evaporated in an instant, and my vision blacked out.
“?!”
When I opened my eyes again.
I had returned to the past.
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“Damn it.”
It seems I have regressed to the past.
I didn’t know the trigger for the regression, but I immediately recognized the timeline I had dropped into.
It was right before I submitted my resume to the Corporation that became my grave.
[Cheonmyeong Pharmaceuticals Employment Application]
[Applicant: Max Steiger]
[Field of Application: Guard and Security]
I cleanly deleted the written name and the attached file, then shut down the computer.
That was when another doubt arose.
Regression? No way! It’s too unrealistic.
Could I just be having a terrible nightmare?
“…Have I gone crazy?”
I stood up from the chair and slapped my own cheek.
Smack! Smack! I hit it hard enough to make a sharp, resounding noise.
Only a stinging heat and pain remained.
“Why didn’t I die? How did I survive?”
I saw the Lollipops I had bought in bulk to quit smoking.
I tore one open and put it in my mouth, tasting pineapple.
I headed to the restroom, replenishing sugar for my brain, which couldn’t accept reality.
‘I don’t know, I just don’t know.’
I looked at the mirror hanging in the restroom.
My expression naturally crumpled on my familiar yet youthful face.
“Crazy… I’ve become a kid.”
I reached out and grabbed the showerhead.
─Swaaaash! I poured cold water over my head while still wearing my clothes.
“Pah!”
My mind snapped awake.
‘It’s really not a dream?’
I feel pain, and I taste things.
On top of that, the sensation of cold is vivid.
“…”
I came out of the restroom, making squelching sounds with my damp pants.
Water was dripping from me.
I stood in the center of the cramped Studio apartment. I tried once again to accept this unbelievable reality.
“I regressed?”
Unresolved questions, regrets, and thoughts of revenge filled my head.
My innate memory prevented me from forgetting.
‘Then… even if it’s a fleeting dream, that’s fine.’
I will resolve the questions, rectify the regrets, and execute the revenge.
It’s a wish and a dream that everyone has at least once.
My sense of direction was established all at once.
The absurd situation of regression was accepted.
Splat!
I sat down right there, still soaking wet.
Sitting cross-legged and observing my physical condition, I realized that this wretched body gave me the vividness of reality.
‘Not to mention magic power, I don’t even have a Tier. It’s at an unwatchable level.’
It’s miserable.
Even the desire to go to bed and sprawl out evaporated.
‘How did I survive in the outskirts of Haze with a body like this? Isn’t the fact that I clung to life until I found my aptitude more of a miracle than regression?’
The past me was the type to be brave out of ignorance.
If one knew even a little about the social structure, an ordinary Person wouldn’t even think of moving into a Studio apartment on the outskirts, no matter how cheap it was.
‘Regression isn’t the only miracle in life.’
I transitioned from observation to Meditation.
‘Today, I’ll secure my magic power first.’
On the first day of regression, I reached the 1st-Tier.
Since it was a stage I had already trodden in my previous life, there were no blockages. If I had just had more magic power, the 2nd-Tier would have been possible too.
On the second day of regression, I left the Studio apartment and wandered around the vicinity.
It was a district where Public safety was at rock bottom and corpses tumbled about in the alleys, but there were a few places that stimulated my nostalgia, providing a Change of Pace.
Then, on the third day of regression, a phone call came.
I remembered what kind of call it was. I had been waiting for it.
I answered without hesitation.
“Speaking.”
─ It’s me.
“Yes.”
A dry and heartless voice.
My father, as always, unilaterally stated his business.
He said he was getting remarried.
It was a call telling me he had reserved a restaurant, so I should come and greet my stepmother tomorrow.
Unlike in the past, I didn’t lose my temper.
I calmly stayed on the line until the end, and the moment the call finished, I popped a Lollipop into my mouth. This time, it was apple-flavored.
“Hmm.”
I lay down on the bed and looked at the ceiling.
What choice should I make here?
It was already a crossroads that would change my life.
Honestly, I had never thought of my father as a father.
I had left the Family and had lived on my own since the day my mother passed away, and our father-son relationship had been the worst it had ever been.
“Should I go anyway?”
In my past life, I listened and ignored it.
I received the contact but didn’t go to the gathering, nor did I seek out any news related to the Family.
But this was also one of the moments I had passed by.
Under the certainty that I wouldn’t be enraged as in my childish youth even if I saw my father’s face, my curiosity was piqued.
A day passed, and it was the day of the appointment my father had notified me about.
I took the subway and traveled for two hours.
[This stop is District 14.]
It was my destination. I got off the subway.
As I exited the station and raised my head, the buildings that had grown tall, coveting the sky, made my neck stiff.
The air was clear, and there was no smell of blood or open sewers.
Seeing the passing pedestrians wearing metal ornaments and holding their bags lightly, I could also tell that Public safety was good.
“I had never even been to District 14 Before Regression.”
I didn’t know any of the Districts in the 10-range other than District 12, where the Family was located.
Because it wasn’t a district where you could do anything just by earning a moderate amount.
“Hmm.”
I stopped my musings and took out my phone.
“The place where the restaurant is located is… the Grand Lunatic Hotel.”
I moved diligently while looking at the map.
It didn’t seem like I would be late even if I didn’t run.
While I was moving like that.
A voice was heard that caught my steps.
“Young man.”
I turned my head and saw an Old Man sitting at a table.
The sign he had hung up was impressive.
[Four Pillars] [Tarot] [Palmistry] [Physiognomy]
[10,000 Credits]
I wondered why he called me, but it was just a solicitation.
They were things I didn’t believe in. I had no interest either.
“I’m busy.”
“Look here.”
The Old Man slightly lifted his outerwear and showed a pistol.
His meaning was clear. It was a method of persuasion.
“Fuck.”
Ah! So you were a Gun-Fu Practitioner!
You should have said so beforehand.
It was just absurd and fascinating that there was such a highway robber in the Districts in the 10-range where Public safety was good.
Perhaps my appearance and attire were far from luxurious, so I was selected as a target for his operation.
‘Even for a ruined 1st-Tier, twisting an Old Man’s neck is… Hmm?’
Max stopped while trying to use his magic power to subdue the Old Man.
It was an action based on intuition.
“What kind of Old Man is this?”
He wasn’t an Old Man who was simply acting high and mighty just because he had a gun.
A strange aura and a chill hovered around him.
‘I’m certain it’s a face I’m seeing for the first time.’
Max quelled the magic power he was about to use.
The Old Man smiled, revealing his teeth as if satisfied.
“Young friend, you have good intuition.”
“…”
“You’re still contemplating whether it’s okay to go to today’s appointment, aren’t you?”
The corners of Max’s eyes twitched.
It was different from the questions Diviners casually threw out that applied to the absolute majority.
He pierced the core as if he knew everything.
“Who are you?”
“Tsk tsk, that’s not what’s important, is it? Will you listen to the answer?”
I made a judgment.
With the desire to hear the answer and the thought of responding appropriately to the situation, I rummaged through my pockets.
Should a 1st-Tier scrub just drop 10,000 Credits as alms and pass by? Of course, punk.
“I’m short on cash. Do you accept cards?”
“Of course.”
The Old Man smiled brightly and pulled out a card reader from under the desk.
I paid 10,000 Credits.
As proof, a receipt slid out, and my phone vibrated.
“Do you need the receipt?”
“I don’t need it. Give me the answer.”
The Old Man, chuckling, gave his answer.
“You absolutely have to go. Even if someone grabs you by the balls and hangs on, you must go.”
It was an answer that felt refreshing yet utterly unhinged.
“Is that it?”
“Of course that’s it.”
“…”
“What are you doing just standing there? If you’ve heard the answer, hurry up and get going. I need to receive my next Customer.”
Max swallowed the sigh threatening to burst out and checked the time.
Certainly, he didn’t have the luxury to be doing this with the Old Man.
“If I delay any further here, I might really be late.”
Leaving the unsettling Old Man behind, I headed toward the Hotel.