Chapter 4
A bus to my parents' house.
I stared blankly at the highway spread out beyond the window. It was raining, so the scenery was blurred. It was damp, too. I could feel the chill.
Sitting here makes everything feel like a lie.
A lie that would be swept away with these rain streaks.
“I'm so sorry, but I love you. It's all a lie.”
But for a lie, it was far too malicious, and what I'd experienced was definitely real.
In this world... vampires really did exist.
They weren't just something from movies; they were real. Behind the world we live in, those unreal, supernatural things truly existed.
I never believed in ghosts, either. Sure, after watching a horror movie, I'd get spooked in the shower and scrub at turbo speed like I'd used a booster, belting out siren-level high notes, but that wasn't because I believed in ghosts—it was just human instinct.
But now I believe in ghosts. This incident was enough to shake my entire worldview to the core.
And more than anything... regression.
And a status window.
Even now, whenever I think about the status window, a window pops up before my eyes. What on earth does this status window mean?
——————————
[●Status Window]
Name : Kim Geun-hong
Age : 24
.
.
.
Cycle : 2
Death Count : 3
[●Collected Endings]
——————————
When I thought about the collected endings, an entry labeled 'Vampire' appeared. That was the only thing there.
Everything was just a mystery.
Why was I suddenly given this status window and regression ability? Was there some reason for it? Or was it just random?
There must be plenty of things in the hidden side of this world that I don't know about. Then there might be others like me, too—people with regression abilities.
“No way...!”
Coin-rich bastards. Big-shot businessmen... the assholes who made money off stocks whether they went up or down... those bastard scumbags... were all of them regression users?
This is fucking insane!
Cowardly bastards!
To use regression like that!
“...!”
At that moment, some sinister, ominous knowledge struck my head like lightning. That's right. I'm one of those regression users too! Then I could get rich off coins, too!
If I just found out the prices and regressed afterward, all that money would go into my pocket...!
“Urk, ugh!”
The moment I thought that, a disgusting wave surged up and stomach acid refluxed. I barely blocked my throat and stopped myself from vomiting.
“Huff, huff...!”
No.
No way.
I can't die again. Feel that intense pain and maddening nausea again? How the hell am I supposed to do that?
Just thinking about death makes my heart race, and an enormous sense of fear. Overwhelming pressure. Nausea rises up.
If my soul had originally been a fresh, beautiful, pure white worthy of everyone's praise, now it feels as black as if I'd been dunked into a barrel full of sticky tar and pulled back out.
Dying is too painful and too frightening. It's even disgusting. And if I killed myself trying to make money with coins, and regression ended right there? That would be truly terrifying. Truly.
After all, I'm kindhearted and a coward.
I can't be a hero or a great man.
People die, you know!
“Ha, haha.”
I'd almost rather meet a good clown uncle who values human lives than a vampire. Blue text is scarier than red blood.
After drinking the bottled water I'd bought, I took out my phone and started searching. I was going to find that site I'd seen when dealing with the vampire again.
But then.
“...?”
It wouldn't come up.
As if the site had disappeared.
What?
I kept searching for a while, but it still wouldn't appear. If that's the case, there's nothing I can do. I'll have to look for it again later.
I went ahead and looked up coin prices, stocks, international news, and so on. Honestly, I don't want to die, but you never know. I might die again and regress, after all, so it wouldn't hurt to keep checking whenever I had the time.
“Oh... this went up 8,000%?”
Some things skyrocket, while others crash. Some people seize wealth with a single choice, while others get chewed up by stocks no matter which way they move and lose the huge sum someone once dreamed of. As a bonus, you end up tormented by the delusion that those institutional bastards are watching you and shorting the moment you buy something.
Envy and exhilaration are separated by a sheet of paper.
By the time I'd finished looking at stocks and coins, I arrived in the warm neighborhood where my parents' house was.
* * *
“Oh, Mom. I'm here.”
“Huh? What? Why are you here at this hour? School?”
My mom's eyes widened as she saw me, clearly shaken.
It wasn't a planned visit, so it made sense that she'd be surprised. But I couldn't stay in that neighborhood any longer. I couldn't exactly say I ran away because of a vampire, so I'd have to say I was thinking seriously about dropping out.
“I started seriously worrying about my studies, so I came home for now.”
“Oh dear, what do we do! What serious worries? Are you seriously thinking of dropping out?!”
“I'm kind of thinking about it...”
“Honey!!!”
What? Dad was home?
ㅡ파앗!
A guy in boxer shorts burst out!
“You little brat!!”
“D-Dad!”
“Drop out? Drop out?! You're dropping out?! Drop out, my ass! You're getting repelled, you punk! Where's the mace? The mace! You little brat, trying to get your dad to scold you!”
“Please, scold him already!”
“No, no!”
“Where's the club, where's the club!”
My dad quickly grabbed a fly swatter and started hitting me with it.
ㅡ파악! 파악!
“Aagh! What's with you! No, Dad! I told you to calm down!”
“Calm down, my ass! You expect me to stay calm when my own son says he's dropping out?!”
Well, that's true too!
“Then get exorcised! Whack! Whack! How's that! A real deadlock, huh! You're repelled, you brat!”
“Why the hell are you so obsessed with the syllable 'toe'! Aagh!”
“Because you're the one talking about dropping out! Hey! You have to at least graduate from college!”
“College graduation, or whatever, my problem right now is...!”
“The 'dae' in daejol! The 'dae' in daejol! Hurry up and hold out your calves here!”
In the end, there was no way to beat Dad once he started hurling even Magic Thousand Character Classic puns at me, so I immediately opened the front door and let his racket spread throughout the whole apartment building.
“Honey! Keep it down! Everyone outside can hear you!”
“T-This punk suddenly opened the door...”
Maybe he'd lost his steam, and he set the fly swatter down.
“Mom, hurry up and do something about Dad. He's beating people with a fly swatter.”
“Sigh... you really do need to get hit. What kind of nonsense is this about dropping out?”
“Yeah, exactly.”
Only then could I finally go inside the house.
I was stunned from getting hit with the full force of their outrage the moment I got in, but after receiving Mom and Dad's warm welcome, it felt like the anxiety filling my heart was being purified a little.
“Anyway. Don't even talk about dropping out. Got it?”
“Oh, Dad. I'm just going to think it over for now. I'll rest a bit and think.”
“Sigh.”
Dad goes into the bag.
“Mom. Hurry up and order me some chicken. I'm hungry.”
“Why chicken right after you get here?”
“Seriously. Hurry. I feel like I'm going to starve.”
“From where?”
“Anywhere. Ah, order fried chicken and garlic chicken. No, let's just get two garlic chickens today.”
“Did you always like garlic?”
“Garlic is good for your health.”
Chicken is good no matter where you eat it. So I went inside, unpacked my stuff, and washed up.
“Ha.”
Coming home to my parents' house really eased my mind. No matter how much of a vampire it was, it wouldn't come all the way here. What, was it the police or something, that it'd come looking for me here?
The problem was Dad.
Honestly, even if it were me, if my college-age son suddenly started ranting that he was going to drop out, I'd be no less harsh—probably harsher. Let's be broad-minded and understand Dad.
“Hong-ah. The chicken's here.”
“Okay. I'll be right out.”
After washing up and coming out, the chicken was all ready. Dad was ready too. He was sitting there looking very solemn.
“So. Why are you suddenly saying you want to drop out?”
“I don't know, either. I'm just worried about my future, I guess.”
“If you're going to worry about it, why not just do that without dropping out?”
Was my dad always such a sharp guy?
I said while tearing into a chicken leg.
“No, I just feel kind of doubtful about studying itself. Anyway, that's that.”
“Sigh... anyway, think it through. You might regret it later. You punk, if you go and do that and later start going, 'Why didn't you stop me!!' then you're basically saying goodbye to this world, got it?”
That's a little much.
“Anyway. Honey. Can I have the drumstick? A beautiful person will give a beautiful answer, right?”
Dad showed off his usual charm and begged Mom for the drumstick.
“Go ahead.”
“Heh-heh, the way you act is really cute. Beautiful, just beautiful.”
“I don't know.”
No, seriously, why are they so affectionate?
We ate chicken and talked about this and that. It was truly a warm, happy little moment.
Being with Mom and Dad like this really put me at ease.
Yeah... what is school, anyway? Isn't the greatest happiness simply living well together as a family?
All the ties in the world pass in an instant, but family bonds are this happy. I love you, Mom and Dad.
“Ghk...! Mom! Dad! I'm so happy right now! I love you both! Hurry! Let's take a picture!”
“W-What? Why is he suddenly saying things he never says...?”
“Geun-hong, were you really having that hard of a time...?”
“I don't care! Just take the picture!”
Unable to hold back the tears welling up inside me, I bawled as I took a picture with Mom and Dad.
The chicken was delicious, and the family photo we'd taken for the first time in a while was truly meaningful. Since I was bawling my eyes out, Mom and Dad must have thought I was really struggling, because they didn't bring up dropping out anymore.
Yeah.
Let's do some healing for a while.
My heart needs healing.