***
How could this be… had I really returned to eight years ago?
My appearance as I stood before the bathroom mirror was exactly as it had been in my late twenties, possessing skin that was still firm and resilient. Whether I looked at the calendar, watched the morning news, or checked my smartphone, everything was pointing toward the year 2016.
Specifically, it was the very day my wife began her work as a prosecutor.
Haha…
I didn't know whether I should laugh or cry.
I stepped back out into the living room, took some cold water out of the refrigerator, and gulped it down. Only then did I feel as though my mind was snapping into focus. While drinking the water, I looked around at my surroundings.
There was one room and a living room. A two-room monthly rental. The household goods were sparse, leaving the place feeling empty, but even she was not there.
In truth, I knew very well where she was rolling around at this moment.
She would be at a motel with Kang Min-ho, the man she had her very first affair with while she was preparing for the bar exam. Of course, in the time before my regression, this was a fact I only came to learn much later.
The very first person she brought into our home to perform those acts right in front of my eyes was that very Kang Min-ho. They could truly be considered a pair of crazy bastards.
Kang Min-ho was a mediocre guy who was neither a real gangster nor a common thug, but he had acted like a successful mobster in front of me and was a man who had even exercised indiscriminate violence against me.
The interesting thing was that I also knew exactly what his end looked like.
Once my wife grew tired of him, and Kang Min-ho continued to cling to her, she had requested a contract killing to have him removed. She did this in exchange for defending other gangsters and looking after their interests.
Naturally, this was a story I had heard directly from her own mouth.
At that time, it had been shocking, but now I thought of it as something that was bound to happen. This was because I was well aware of the bizarre and monstrous behavior she would engage in after that as well.
I sat at the dining table for a moment, crossed my arms, closed my eyes, and became lost in thought.
What should I do moving forward? Must I watch her series of infidelities one after another just like in the past?
No, I could not do that in this life. I had to actively utilize the future I knew to get revenge on my wife.
I didn't know the lottery numbers. I didn't know about stocks. I hadn't been interested in those things to begin with. However, I knew everything there was to know about her. I would surely be able to find a way to take revenge on her and achieve success myself.
Once my mind was made up, my thoughts became simple and clear, and my actions grew swift.
First, I took a shower while formulating a concrete plan. I put on clothes that were as inconspicuous as possible and donned an overcoat.
“Whew!”
I stepped outside. It was November, and while the weather was cold enough to be called chilly, it felt strangely refreshing. The place I headed to first was the primary residence of the Yangkkaengi Gang, who held sway over Mi-hyeon-dong.
After climbing to the rooftop of the shabby Mi-hyeon Villa, which was over twenty years old, I retrieved a bag of white powder hidden beneath a platform for jars. The reason I knew about this secret location was that Kang Min-ho, that crazy son of a bitch, had made me run delivery errands for him a few times.
He had been secretly siphoning off the Yangkkaengi Gang’s white powder and selling it to people behind the scenes. After taking the powder and coming back outside, I attached a notepad I had prepared to the bag.
I had considered turning this over to the police, but that wouldn't be enough. It was closer to actual revenge to hand it over to the Yangkkaengi Gang instead and let them give him a taste of the organization’s bitterness.
I headed toward the building of the money-lending business operated by the Yangkkaengi Gang. Then, I discreetly slipped the envelope with the notepad attached into the mailbox. On the notepad, the information that Kang Min-ho was siphoning off the powder was written along with the motel room number.
Then, I headed straight for the motel where the two of them would be busy kissing and sucking on each other. At the same time, I made a call to a number written on a flyer I had picked up at the entrance of the money-lending building. Naturally, I did not use my mobile phone but used a nearby public telephone instead.
-Yes! Transparent transactions, loans available even for those with bad credit…
“Check your mailbox. There is information regarding the guy who is siphoning off the powder.”
As soon as the other person answered, I said only what needed to be said and hung up.
Now, all that was left was to wait. Since they had surely drunk heavily yesterday before the announcement, they would still be far from waking up. Even if they had woken up, they would be too preoccupied with kissing and sucking on each other.
As I stood still waiting outside in the cold weather, the thought that it was cold didn't occur to me at all. I was simply curious about what would happen to those two bastards.
Had about thirty minutes passed?
Screeeech—
A black van stopped in front of the motel, and men carrying iron pipes and baseball bats came swarming out. Every single one of them was dressed in black and wearing a black mask.
-What! You guys!
-Get the hell out of the way!
-Kang Min-ho! You son of a bitch!
Less than a minute after they entered the motel, a loud commotion erupted from the fourth floor. Then, the window of the far-right room burst open, revealing a naked Kang Min-ho.
Heh heh! Dear me, It seems the timing was bad. What a shame.
Kang Min-ho, who had been threatening the approaching gangsters with a knife in one hand, stepped over the window and onto the ledge as he was driven into a corner.
“If you come any closer, I’ll kill you! You sons of bitches!”
He brandished the knife toward the inside of the room and moved sideways on his tiptoes. However, that only lasted a moment.
“Aaaargh!”
Thud!
Kang Min-ho lost his footing and fell straight from the fourth floor, his head striking the ground. Crimson blood flowed out, and Kang Min-ho died instantly. Onlookers began to gather, and after a short while, ambulances and police cars arrived one after another.
I was staring blankly at that sight.
How could this be? For Kang Min-ho to die.
Of course, he was someone who would have kicked the bucket eventually. But it wasn't supposed to be now.
Did I kill him? No. He had a choice. He could have just let himself be caught by them without climbing out the window. It was his own fault for doing something so reckless.
Therefore, I am guiltless.
By the way, what happened to my wife?
Seeing as she wasn't dragged out by the police, it was certain she had escaped somewhere. Perhaps the gangsters had taken her. However, I wasn't worried. If it was her, she would escape the danger by any means necessary. She was that kind of bitch.
As the ambulances and police cars departed and the onlookers began to disappear one by one, I finally turned my steps away.
It felt unpleasant.
Regardless of revenge or anything else, it seemed it would be better to just divorce her quickly.
Right at that moment.
Ting!
[Na Hong-gu-nim, congratulations on becoming an Awakened.]
[You have punished a target of revenge. The required conditions have been met, and your abilities are blossoming.]
[Awakening Stage]
Stage 1
[Awakening Abilities]
Taste of Regression (Active): You can return to 1 minute ago. Possible once per day. As the stage increases, the amount of time you can go back to the past increases, and the cycle shortens.
Mental Control (Active): You can control the mind of an opponent. Possible once per day. It may fail depending on the opponent's willpower, and as the stage increases, the success rate rises and the duration lengthens.
Physical Enhancement (Passive): The physical body becomes stronger, and motor skills and reflexes are heightened. As the stage increases, the abilities also improve.
Cognitive Enhancement (Passive): Thinking ability, judgment, memory, and quick-wittedness become better. As the stage increases, the abilities also improve.
What is this…?
Something that one would only see in a novel was happening to me.
It was hard to believe, but I had no choice but to believe it. This was because the very act of regressing in the first place was something that made no sense.
But wait.
I awakened because I punished a target of revenge?
If that's the case, does it mean these abilities were created for me because Kang Min-ho died?
Then, does it mean that if I succeed in taking revenge on all the men my wife will meet for her affairs in the future, I will reach Stage 10?
It seemed it would be better to postpone the divorce with my wife for the time being.