A duck bulgogi restaurant near our house.
“This place is delicious no matter how many times we come.”
“Eat plenty, son.”
“Mom! Pay some attention to your daughters too.”
“You girls can take care of yourselves. And Min-ji, you’re always going out and buying yourself good food.”
“I spend all day waiting around on set eating nothing but gimbap, you know? I’m at the point where just hearing the word seaweed makes me want to throw up.”
My second sister pouted and complained.
My eldest sister piled a generous serving of duck bulgogi onto my plate and said.
“Then eat triangle gimbap.”
“Seriously, sis? That’s still gimbap.”
“No matter what you eat, it’s better than starving like I do.”
“Damn. Can’t argue with that.”
Being a reporter was already an extremely busy job.
As a junior reporter, my eldest sister not only skipped meals but barely got any proper sleep.
My second sister, who had been grumbling, quietly started eating.
“Hey, eat some of this too.”
Despite what she’d said, she pushed the braised tofu side dish toward me.
My second sister was always like this.
She complained constantly, but she was warmhearted.
“Oh, are you taking care of me?”
“Taking care of you, my ass. It looked like you couldn’t reach it, so I moved it over.”
When I asked while pretending to be touched, my second sister answered indifferently.
My father chimed in.
“Looks like you are taking care of him. Come to think of it, Min-ji seems to care about Yun-ho the most.”
“Ah, what are you talking about, Dad? Why would I take care of him?”
“Hahaha.”
Thanks to my second sister, laughter filled the table throughout the meal.
After we finished eating, we went to a nearby arboretum.
Since I was the one who suggested it, everyone looked surprised.
“What’s gotten into our youngest? You actually want to go there?”
“Exactly. You always complained that there was nothing fun about looking at flowers.”
That was true.
Whenever they dragged me there against my will, I usually spent the whole time yawning before going home.
But after getting older, I came to understand.
The sentiment and leisure of strolling slowly through flower gardens and enjoying the scenery.
And when you were with family, the enjoyment doubled.
“After living a little, I came to understand what’s enjoyable about things like that.”
“Listen to you. How old are you to already be talking about life?”
My second sister rebuked me.
My eldest sister burst out laughing and added.
“Our youngest has gotten thoughtful. Anyway, let’s have fun.”
Their reactions were understandable.
It probably sounded ridiculous for someone barely in his early twenties to talk as though he’d attained some profound realization.
But I really had realized it.
In 2055, I had been approaching fifty.
By that age, you inevitably looked back on the past and found things you regretted.
Not spending more time with my family like this was one of them.
I’ll set things right one by one.
So I never have to regret them again.
We spent more than three hours touring the arboretum.
Before the regression, I would’ve complained that I was bored and done nothing but yawn.
Instead, I was the one dragging my family from place to place.
“Sis, maybe what he said about life earlier wasn’t complete nonsense. He’s really enthusiastic today.”
“Haha, seriously.”
“Son! Slow down! Slow down!”
And I made a promise to myself.
Next time, an arboretum like this would be nice too, but I’d take them somewhere truly spectacular.
My beloved family.
***
20:30.
After enjoying a delicious homemade dinner prepared by my mother, I left the house.
My outfit was simple.
Clean slacks and a light shirt.
“Yun-ho!”
“Loyalty. You’re here?”
“Ughhh, that damn ‘Loyalty.’ I hate hearing it.”
In front of Modang Station.
The moment I saw Corporal Jeong Ye-som, I saluted her, and she looked utterly fed up.
“When we’re outside, just treat me like your older sister.”
“How could I possibly do that? Once a senior, always a senior.”
“Well, aren’t you the true comrade.”
“Haha.”
Corporal Jeong Ye-som shook her head as though she couldn’t deal with me and started walking ahead.
Being the drinker she was, she had already picked out where we were going before she even arrived.
“The soju tastes incredible at that grilled-intestine place.”
“Doesn’t all soju taste the same?”
“Ha. You really don’t understand anything.”
Corporal Jeong Ye-som thumped her chest in frustration and said.
“Yun-ho, listen. The taste of soju changes depending on the food you drink it with and the atmosphere around you.”
“The food must be amazing.”
“The atmosphere’s amazing too. They recreated an alleyway bar from the ’80s and ’90s exactly.”
“Doesn’t that just mean it looks run-down?”
“You emotionless brat. Stop complaining and follow me.”
“Private Second Class Gu Yun-ho! Understood.”
Pharmacists knew medicine best, and drinkers knew alcohol best.
I obediently followed Corporal Jeong Ye-som.
“What do you think?”
Once we arrived, I realized she’d been right.
The glossy gopchang sizzling on the grill smelled delicious enough to stimulate my appetite before I’d even taken a bite.
The old-fashioned atmosphere looked like something straight out of a drama.
I raised my thumb.
“It’s incredible.”
“Right? See? I told you. Let’s sit over there.”
“Yes.”
Corporal Jeong Ye-som and I sat facing each other at a table tucked away in a corner.
There had been a lot of people in front of the station earlier, and it was dark, so I hadn’t really noticed.
But now that I was looking at her properly, I didn’t know where to put my eyes.
A tight sleeveless top with a thin cardigan over it.
Her bottoms left most of her thighs exposed.
With the weather gradually getting warmer, there was nothing particularly strange about the outfit.
The problem was Corporal Jeong Ye-som’s figure.
Her curves were so pronounced that the same outfit gave off a completely different impression on her.
…Today, I should probably stick to looking at her face when we talk.
“Excuse me~ Two servings of gopchang here! And one bottle of soju!”
“Yes, I’ll bring it right out.”
Corporal Jeong Ye-som placed the order in her clear, ringing voice.
As we chatted about this and that, the gopchang was soon sizzling on the grill.
My mouth’s watering.
“Eat plenty. I’m paying.”
“No. I’ll pay. You’ve done so much for me over the years.”
“Pfft, how much could I possibly have bought you? Anyone listening would think I’d spent several million won on you.”
Several million?
It was probably tens of millions, at least.
Even in 2055, just before my regression, Corporal Jeong Ye-som had always been the kind of person who pulled out her own card while saying, ‘How could a senior let her junior buy her a meal?’
That was why I’d been determined to pay today somehow.
“Just so you know, don’t pretend you’re going to the bathroom and secretly pay the bill. I might actually get angry.”
“…Yes.”
She wasn’t the kind of person who made empty threats.
I didn’t want to get roasted by fire magic in the middle of downtown, so I decided to leave it for another time.
Corporal Jeong Ye-som and I were going to be connected for life anyway.
I could repay everything she’d done for me one thing at a time.
“First glass goes down in one shot. You know that, right?”
“Of course.”
And so we spent quite a while knocking back drinks.
We ordered another two servings of gopchang as well.
Corporal Jeong Ye-som had always been crazy about gopchang, and I had a healthy appetite to begin with.
Then.
The television mounted on one wall of the restaurant was showing the news.
― A Dungeon that formed on Chiaksan a week ago suddenly exploded today, forcing hikers to evacuate. Fortunately, a nearby Hunter Corps unit responded quickly, and the situation was resolved without any significant casualties. Authorities believe that this phenomenon may occur at any time and urge the public to remain vigilant….
“That’s a relief. Dungeon Explosions are unpredictable, so people can get killed or injured in an instant.”
“Exactly. Thank goodness.”
I nodded, then suddenly snapped alert at a strange sense of déjà vu.
More precisely, a forgotten memory came back to me.
“Corporal Jeong Ye-som, do you know what time it is?”
“22:32.”
“22:32?”
“Mm-hm.”
“That was close. Something almost happened.”
“Huh?”
Back then, it had been someone else’s problem.
But not anymore.
If I knew in advance what was going to happen, then it could become my problem too.
I set down my soju glass and sprang to my feet.
“Corporal Jeong Ye-som, let’s go somewhere else for the second round.”
“Second round? We still have some left.”
Corporal Jeong Ye-som shook the half-full bottle of soju.
There were still more than ten pieces of gopchang left on the grill too.
Normally, I always finished any food I’d started eating.
But today was an exception.
“I know a place I’ll definitely regret missing, but they stop taking customers at 22:40.”
“Really? How good is it?”
“They say it’s a taste of alcohol you’ll never forget for the rest of your life.”
Corporal Jeong Ye-som had been staring up at me as though wondering what had suddenly gotten into me.
Her eyes immediately began sparkling.
“There’s a place like that? Let’s go!”
If it were up to me, I’d go alone.
And I could handle it alone too.
But people’s lives were at stake.
It was better to do this as safely as possible.
We hurried out of the gopchang restaurant.
From there, I took Corporal Jeong Ye-som and ran back toward Modang Station.
I finally remembered.
Around 22:40 on May 11, 2030, a Dungeon would form at Modang Station.
The moment it formed, it would explode.
And it would spit out monsters.
In the chaos that followed, dozens of nearby civilians would be injured or killed.
A nearby Hunter Corps unit would deploy immediately after receiving word of the situation.
But entering the middle of a downtown area on a weekend night took a considerable amount of time.
By the time they arrived, the surrounding area had already become a sea of blood.
I couldn’t let that tragedy happen again.
If I didn’t know, that would be one thing.
But if I knew, I had to stop it.
As a Hunter.
“A bar recommended by you, Yun-ho. Hehehe, I’m already looking forward to it!”
Corporal Jeong Ye-som simply looked excited.
But that didn’t last long.
In front of Exit 3 of Modang Station.
She began focusing on the same spot I was staring intently at.
“Doesn’t something look strange over there?”
“Yes. Something’s shimmering in midair.”
The Dungeon formed at that exact moment.
In the span of only a few seconds, a circular gate appeared over the sidewalk.
“Whoa, it’s a Dungeon!”
“Guys! Look at that!”
Whenever a Dungeon formed, the number one safety rule in this era was to run away first.
But because there were so many drunk people around, they moved closer instead.
Some even switched on their phone flashlights.
That was why the casualties had been even worse before the regression.
I immediately shouted.
“Everyone, run! Unless you want to get sliced open and have your guts spill out!”
I deliberately made the warning more graphic.
The sober people immediately recoiled, and even the drunks backed away in alarm.
At that moment.
KABOOOM—!
The perfectly intact Dungeon exploded as though it had been a lie and spat something out.
Garoks.
Monsters around 175 centimeters tall, each holding a broad blade resembling a butcher’s knife.
They were essentially higher-tier versions of Gnolls and Deriphons.
Their numbers quickly increased to five.
Corporal Jeong Ye-som recognized them immediately.
“Yun-ho! They’re Garoks!”
Garoks were no different from other monsters.
When they saw humans, they killed indiscriminately.
Garoks in particular had a habit of slicing open their victims’ stomachs, pulling out their intestines, and crunching them between their teeth.
There was a reason I’d warned the civilians the way I had.
“If we leave them like that, the civilians…!”
Corporal Jeong Ye-som was instinctively drawing up her Mana.
Red energy blazed around both of her hands.
I asked.
“Corporal Jeong Ye-som, can you do this?”
I was asking whether she could fight.
Naturally, Corporal Jeong Ye-som agreed.
“Yeah! But Yun-ho, you…!”
She wasn’t looking down on me.
Until now, Gu Yun-ho—the Private Second Class who had been passed over for promotion several times—hadn’t possessed enough strength to fight a Garok.
As my senior, she was worried about me.
I cracked my neck a couple of times and walked forward.
Before the regression, Garoks were monsters I had to run from the moment I saw them.
But things were different now.
“I’m fighting too.”
I could handle this.
No.
I could toy with them instead.