Chapter 1

Chapter 1

I'm baaaaack!

A small one-room apartment. On the bed pushed against the wall, a man lay with his eyes closed, as still as the dead.

His breathing was so faint that anyone who didn't know better might have glanced over and truly thought he had died.

The man who had been lying there as if dead suddenly snapped his eyes open.

"Finally!"

Every kind of emotion tangled together in the words that left his mouth.

"I'm baaaaack!"

He shouted that he was back, then abruptly screamed. He curled his entire body and twisted this way and that.

"Aaaagh! Agh! Agh! Aaaaaagh!"

He kept screaming as he contorted his body, and it really did look like he was in agony—tears, snot, and drool streaming down as he suffered.

While he writhed and screamed, cracking sounds came from all over his body.

Every so often a noise loud enough to make one wonder if a bone had broken rang out with a sharp crack, and each time the man's mouth gaped wide.

They say when pain is too great, the screams stop coming—this was exactly that.

He alternated between silent screams and noisy ones while twisting his whole body, and little by little the sounds and movements began to die down.

Soon the man went limp, strength draining out of him.

"Hah... hah... ughhh..."

He gasped roughly for breath, then, as if the momentum carried him, burst into bitter tears.

After crying wretchedly for a long while, the man—Seo I-hyeon—eventually stopped and slowly pushed himself upright.

Then he checked his body over, this way and that.

"Ugh. I nearly died and came back. I expected it, but it hurt way too much."

What had just happened was the process of a soul seizing control of a body.

Until a short while ago, Seo I-hyeon had been in a world completely different from this one.

His body had stayed here while only his soul was dragged over there, and now he had finally returned.

A witch from another world had summoned Seo I-hyeon, and he had barely made it back after shitting blood over there.

What had he done to end up shitting blood?

Nothing much. He had merely become the witch's experimental subject and disciple. No—calling him a disciple was a stretch. He had barely learned anything properly, only picking things up by watching over her shoulder and through experience.

Then how had he come back?

Because the witch died.

The summoning had been bound by a contract from the start. A contract that used the witch's life as collateral.

But the contracting party, the witch, had died, so what else could happen? The contract was nullified and the soul returned to its proper place.

Honestly, he hadn't known that before the witch died. No—he had known it wrong. Because the witch had deceived him.

Seo I-hyeon had thought that if the witch died, he would die too. But it turned out that wasn't the case.

"Huuuuu."

Seo I-hyeon exhaled a long breath. The pain still hadn't fully disappeared. He had to push the pain out by breathing like this, long and slow.

Still, it wasn't only pain. Pain always comes with a price.

The price of this pain was control of the body. As the soul seized the body, the body would have become the same as the one he used in that other world.

It was no ordinary body. Bones hard enough to reach the limits of a human, strong and flexible muscles, sensitive nerve cells, internal organs that almost never went wrong, and skin that was smooth and soft yet tough.

In short, it could be said to have reached the extreme of what a human body could possess.

Of course, actually using it was another matter.

Anyway, he had obtained such a body. This body was the result Seo I-hyeon had gained by living for a very long time in that other world, changing and growing bit by bit under the influence of his soul.

He had brought that result back intact.

Seo I-hyeon got down from the bed.

He moved his body this way and that, clenched his fists tight, and checked his flexibility.

It was familiar.

It was definitely the body from the other world.

"Haa. I only came back with my body... feels hopeless."

In the other world there had naturally been many things besides his body.

For example, a subspace warehouse that used shadows.

But he couldn't bring that here. So if he wanted to use it, he would have to make it anew.

"Do I even need to?"

Seo I-hyeon had no intention of doing so.

Just the materials required to make it were already incredibly picky.

This was a world that didn't need things like black magic. Not even magic—what would he use black magic for?

A shadow warehouse would be somewhat useful, but he could do without it.

Black magic and the like—he wasn't going to use them.

Seo I-hyeon nodded to himself as he rationalized it that way.

Then he searched his memory.

It was time to check how much time had passed in this world.

It had been so long that his memory was hazy.

First he looked for his phone. If he saw that, wouldn't something come back to him?

A smartphone. How long had it been since he last saw one of these?

The power was on. He pressed the side button to light the screen and swiped his finger.

A colorful home screen appeared.

'First... should I check messages or call history? No, the date first.'

November 19, 2025. It was the same.

Seo I-hyeon had recited and memorized the date every day so he wouldn't forget it from the moment he crossed over to the other world.

Thanks to that, he realized not even a single day had passed since the day he was taken.

He was about to check his messages when he saw the bank app on the home screen and touched it as if possessed.

What did messages matter? Money was the most important.

'How much is there? No, more than that, what was I doing to earn money?'

If he revived his memories one by one like this, he would be able to live as his original self.

He had obtained a good body as the price of the pain, so he could probably live healthily for the rest of his life.

"Alright, how much is there?"

He hoped he remembered at least this much, but all he recalled was that it wasn't particularly plentiful.

"Wait, the password..."

Even though he hadn't used it in a long time, the password came to him clearly.

Soon the balance appeared.

1,110,362 won.

An ambiguous amount.

And one thing was certain.

"I need to earn money."

Seo I-hyeon sat on the edge of the bed, hung his head, and steadied his breathing for a moment.

Suddenly a worry struck him.

"Will I... be able to live with my sanity intact?"

He had suffered through so many harsh things in the other world, and he had lived extremely passively.

His mind was probably quite rusty too.

But what could he do? He had to manage somehow.

"First I'll earn money while slowly training myself to use my head again, and adapt, and somehow it'll work out."

Still, if he lived positively, everything would turn out fine.

Seo I-hyeon believed that.

* * *

After his parents passed away, Seo I-hyeon had done all sorts of jobs, to the point that there was almost nothing he hadn't tried.

They weren't difficult jobs. Convenience store, day labor, designated driver, restaurants, coffee shops, and so on.

His parents had died in a car accident, so he had wandered and taken a leave from university, and several years had passed. He didn't even know if he could still graduate now.

In fact, if he hadn't been tricked by a friend and lost all the money his parents left him in crypto, he might have already graduated from university.

Anyway, he vaguely remembered what kinds of work he had done to earn money, but he couldn't recall what job he had been doing around the time the witch from the other world took him.

Well, it was probably one of the things that came to mind.

For a few days he wandered around trying to adapt to this world again, and after various twists and turns, the job Seo I-hyeon ended up doing was day labor.

It was the first thing that came to mind, he could earn a lot of money in a short time, and the body changed by physical assimilation had excellent stamina and strength, so it suited day labor well.

For those reasons he chose day labor, and he was extremely satisfied.

It was the fourth day since he had properly started day labor.

The daily wage that actually reached his hand was exactly 150,000 won. Considering the intensity of the labor, it was honestly a bit low, but it was fine. To Seo I-hyeon it was nothing.

Today, as usual, he was doing the work of carrying heavy materials at a construction site.

In truth he could work without resting, but he deliberately didn't. He roughly gauged the atmosphere and only did as much as everyone else.

Right now it was a short break.

He was sitting on the ground resting when one of the men working with him quietly approached.

Jeong Sang-cheol. The only person of similar age among those working here.

"Ugh, today feels especially tough."

At Jeong Sang-cheol's slightly exaggerated complaint, Seo I-hyeon simply nodded a few times.

They had worked together for four days, and every time they rested like this, Jeong Sang-cheol would come over and talk to Seo I-hyeon.

Seo I-hyeon neither pushed him away nor tried to get closer.

"Aigo, hyung-nim, you're quiet again today. Aren't you tired?"

"Well, more or less."

When Seo I-hyeon answered vaguely, Jeong Sang-cheol grinned and, as usual, tossed out a few nutritionally empty remarks.

Then, as the break was nearly over, Jeong Sang-cheol said in a sly voice:

"Hyung-nim, there's a job with a really good daily wage. Want to do it?"

At the mention of a good daily wage, Seo I-hyeon looked at Jeong Sang-cheol. Curiosity surged.

"What kind of job?"

Jeong Sang-cheol came right up close and lowered his voice sharply.

"It's a sweet side gig I do sometimes. The daily wage is a full 300,000."

Seo I-hyeon's eyes widened.

"300,000 won?"

"Yes. Amazing, right? It's not an opportunity that comes often. It's something that only happens once a month."

Interest flared in Seo I-hyeon's eyes. A daily wage of 300,000 won. That was two days' pay.

"What kind of job is it?"

"It's a side gig where you take medicine at a pharmaceutical company and they observe the reaction."

Seo I-hyeon stared at Jeong Sang-cheol with indifferent eyes. Well, if they were paying 300,000 won a day, there was no way it wasn't dangerous.

"If you pick well among pharmaceutical company gigs, there are ones that pay 500,000 won. But those have a bit of a complicated process and take a long time."

Jeong Sang-cheol straightened his shoulders and continued with a proud expression.

"The gig I'm introducing has none of that bothersome process at all. You just go, take the medicine, stay for one hour, then get the money and that's it."

A bit of life returned to Seo I-hyeon's previously indifferent gaze.

At that rate, it might as well be called 300,000 won per hour rather than per day.

"Though sometimes it hurts a bit after taking the medicine, but well, it's bearable."

"It hurts?"

Seo I-hyeon frowned. He was extremely sensitive to pain, if nothing else.

That was because of how much he had suffered while captured by the witch. Back then there hadn't been a single day without pain, and he had lived every moment with suffering.

He didn't want to do that anymore.

"Ah, it's really nothing. I've done it five times so far, and it only hurt twice out of those, and even then, one time my stomach felt a little queasy and then it got better right away. The other time I got a bit of a headache, but it was way less painful than a normal cold, you know?"

Seo I-hyeon, who had been staring blankly at the long-winded Jeong Sang-cheol, eventually nodded.

"That much is fine."

In truth it wasn't fine, but still, 300,000 won made it worth trying once.

He hated pain, but now that he was back in the original world, money was just as important as not being in pain.

And he had some confidence.

Right now Seo I-hyeon's body was in a state that had precariously surpassed the limits a human could reach.

With a body like that, he didn't think pain would easily come just from taking some medicine.

"Hyung-nim, then you're doing it with me?"

At Jeong Sang-cheol's words, Seo I-hyeon answered.

"Yeah. But can anyone just go?"

"Yes. They accept pretty much anyone who goes. More people than I thought come through introductions from people who were already doing it. They take them all right away."

That was enough. Where was this, anyway? Even if he only did it for one day and got cut, it wouldn't be bad.

"Then since we've decided to work together, how about having a drink with me today?"

"A drink?"

"Still, we're close enough for that, right?"

Of course Seo I-hyeon didn't think they were that close, but he had introduced a good side gig, so he didn't feel the need to coldly refuse, and nodded.

"Well, if it's just a light drink."

"Of course. We have work tomorrow too, so obviously we should drink lightly. I'll take you to a place with amazing samgyeopsal. Look forward to it."

Jeong Sang-cheol's chatter continued a little longer, and soon it was time to work again.

As they went back to work like that, before they knew it the workday was over.

* * *

"This is the place, hyung-nim."

Jeong Sang-cheol pointed with his finger at a shabby samgyeopsal restaurant and said.

"A bit shabby, right? But places like that are usually the tasty ones."

Seo I-hyeon and Jeong Sang-cheol went inside and sat in a suitable spot.

The interior was wider than expected, and there were many customers.

Soon samgyeopsal and side dishes were spread across the table.

Watching the samgyeopsal sizzle and cook on the grill, they filled their glasses with soju.

'It's been a really long time since soju.'

When he was in the other world, life itself had gone beyond abundance into luxury.

He ate food fit for royalty every day, and could take as much of the medicine that was good for the body as he wanted.

The alcohol he drank was the kind that only royalty could even obtain. The taste and aroma were truly outstanding.

But even while eating that splendid alcohol and food, he had always missed it.

This single glass of soju in front of him now, and the golden-brown cooked samgyeopsal.

For the past few days he hadn't even been able to think of eating something like this. He had been too busy adapting to the returned world and earning money to have the leisure.

"Hyung-nim, cheers."

Jeong Sang-cheol lifted his glass, looked at Seo I-hyeon, and grinned.

Clink.

The glass Seo I-hyeon held lightly touched Jeong Sang-cheol's, making a clear sound.

His mood improved a little.

They drank a few glasses of alcohol and ate a few pieces of meat like that.

Light conversation went back and forth. It had no real substance, but it was enough to fill the seats as drinking snacks.

Where they lived, whether they had a girlfriend, whether they had seen that recently popular movie, and so on.

It was mostly Jeong Sang-cheol talking. He would ask and then first say how it was for himself. Seo I-hyeon only answered simply to things that were worth responding to.

Seo I-hyeon tossed the soju into his mouth, chewed the samgyeopsal, and quietly looked at Jeong Sang-cheol.

He had felt it from the first time he approached, but his sociability was no ordinary thing. Well, unlike Seo I-hyeon, he got along very well with the other laborers at the construction site.

In truth he hadn't planned on drinking together like this. But somehow they got entangled and here they were.

Well, he kept showing goodwill, so it wouldn't do to just keep pushing him away.

'Once I finish adapting to some extent, I'll have to do this thing called social life too.'

Right now he was practicing that, wasn't he.

When he had organized his thoughts that way, a huge noise rang out from outside.

Boom!

It was so loud he thought a bomb had gone off.

The tremor in the air could be felt throughout his body. He didn't know if it was because of the loud noise or because of an explosion.

Jeong Sang-cheol's eyes went wide.

"Hyung-nim, you heard that, right?"

Seo I-hyeon chuckled.

"How could I not hear this?"

But after saying that, he felt an enormous sense of incongruity.

None of the other customers reacted to that loud noise at all.

Only Jeong Sang-cheol and Seo I-hyeon had heard it.

Seo I-hyeon's expression hardened completely.

The feeling was very ominous.

© Kim Kang-hyeon #12i09