C2
Return to the Past
It was truly unbelievable, but after experiencing the vivid sensations firsthand, Gwanghyeon had no choice but to accept it.
He had really returned to the past.
The first thing Gwanghyeon did after realizing what had happened was pull his son and daughter into his arms.
“Seojun, Seoyoon…”
“D-Dad.”
“I can’t breathe.”
His son, whom he had lost far too young.
His daughter, whom he had caused so much heartache over the years.
Holding the two of them in his arms made him feel terribly sorry for everything, yet at the same time, he was happier than he had ever been.
“Hahaha…”
Only after some time had passed did Gwanghyeon finally calm down a little.
After fully savoring the joy of their reunion, he stood up and looked around.
It was a shabby, cramped one-room apartment, barely large enough to contain the three members of his family, including himself.
The room was so small that he could see practically everything with just a slight turn of his head.
Hmm.
An old calendar hung on the wall, and Gwanghyeon was able to determine the current year and date from it.
Soon, memories of his circumstances during this period slowly began returning to him.
So it’s this time.
It was a period when both his body and mind had been pushed to the very edge.
An incredibly difficult time.
And now, he had returned to that point.
What terrible timing.
The fact that he had returned to the past made him genuinely happy, but he couldn’t help feeling a little disappointed by the particular point in time he had returned to.
By this point, things had already gone wrong to some extent.
The debt from the guarantee had already been incurred, and his wife had already left.
If only I’d gone back to before the debt happened in the first place.
Gwanghyeon clicked his tongue in disappointment before firmly shaking his head.
Don’t complain for no reason. Just being able to return to this point gives me plenty of things I can do from here.
After thinking for a moment, Gwanghyeon nodded and slowly stood up.
Then he smiled at his son and daughter, Seojun and Seoyoon.
“Dad’s going out for a little while.”
At Gwanghyeon’s words, Seojun and Seoyoon hesitated before cautiously speaking.
“Dad, you’re not sick, are you?”
“You’re acting strange, Dad.”
His expression had gone from gloomy, to shocked, to quietly laughing to himself, and now he had a determined look on his face.
Even children could sense such a drastic change, so Seojun and Seoyoon were beginning to worry.
“Hahaha! Strange? Dad will be right back.”
“You’re strange.”
“You really are strange, Dad.”
Gwanghyeon left the house and immediately checked the mailbox.
Inside were quite a few letters that his former self had left unopened and allowed to pile up.
Here it is.
Gwanghyeon picked one up and tore open the envelope to check its contents.
It was a letter demanding repayment of a debt.
In other words, a debt collection notice.
…800 million won.
The amount was, as expected, enormous.
800 million won was an amount far too large for an ordinary person to handle.
And Gwanghyeon in the past had been about as ordinary as they came.
At the time, he had only been an E-rank Hunter, practically at the very bottom of the hierarchy.
“Hmm.”
After checking the details of the debt, Gwanghyeon folded his arms and thought for a moment.
It wasn’t exactly a good situation.
800 million won was by no means a small amount of money.
Even so, Gwanghyeon showed no signs of despair.
His expression remained calm.
Well, I already had a rough idea.
He had returned knowing approximately how large the debt was, and he also knew that it wasn’t an amount that was completely impossible to repay.
In the past, Gwanghyeon had always been depressed by the thought:
Can I really repay this debt, even if I work for the rest of my life?
But now, he knew the answer.
It was entirely possible.
He already knew the path ahead, so there was nothing to fear.
Besides, things aren’t going to be exactly the same as before.
The Gwanghyeon of the past had been rather foolish.
He had simply allowed himself to be dragged along by whatever circumstances were thrown at him, barely ever attempting to change anything.
But things were different now.
The Gwanghyeon of today had changed considerably, starting with his mindset.
He had absolutely no intention of living his life along the same path as before.
He was prepared to live ruthlessly, using whatever means necessary.
I’ll live for myself…
No. I’ll live only for my family.
Gwanghyeon slowly nodded and smiled.
“The method… The method is the problem.”
Instead of returning home immediately, Gwanghyeon walked around the neighborhood for a while, thinking carefully.
What method can I use to repay all this debt as quickly as possible?
After thinking for some time, Gwanghyeon realized that before deciding on a method, he needed to accurately assess his current condition.
I need to know exactly how strong I am right now before I can decide what to do.
Gwanghyeon remembered that he had been E-rank at this point in time.
Still, he thought it would be better to determine exactly where he stood, so he nodded.
Clench.
Gwanghyeon tightly clenched his fist to activate his trait.
Immediately, he felt the mana within his body begin to boil.
His trait’s ability was physical enhancement through mana.
It might not have seemed particularly unique, but it was a decent ability capable of both offense and defense.
“Huh?”
But something felt strange.
He had assumed that because his body had returned to its past state, his mana would have returned to its old level as well.
So why did it feel like this?
The mana he could currently sense within his body felt barely any different from the level he had possessed immediately before regressing—the point when he had reached B-rank.
No.
If anything, he felt as though it was even better than it had been back then.
Was it originally like this at this point? Or is it just because my body feels lighter?
It could simply be an illusion caused by his younger body, so he needed to confirm it.
The most reliable method would obviously be to use a mana measuring device.
But that would be difficult for the time being.
It’s not like there are mana measuring devices everywhere.
At this point in time, portable mana measuring devices had not yet become widespread, so they were difficult to find.
He would have to use a standard mana measuring device to confirm his level.
And to do that, he would have to wait at least two or three months.
He needed to find another way to test himself.
“How am I supposed to check…?”
As Gwanghyeon continued walking while pondering the problem, something caught his eye.
The air ahead of him began to ripple before a small crack appeared.
It was a precursor to the appearance of a Gate.
At this size…
Having seen countless Gates throughout his life, Gwanghyeon immediately recognized it.
This was an F-rank Gate, the type that appeared most frequently.
This should work.
An F-rank Gate was easy enough that even a lone E-rank Hunter could clear it.
So even if the sensation he’d felt earlier was merely an illusion, it wouldn’t be particularly dangerous.
It was the perfect place for Gwanghyeon to test his current abilities.
Let’s go.
The Gate opened right then, and Gwanghyeon casually stepped inside.
“Uh…”
Less than five minutes after entering the Gate, Gwanghyeon emerged again.
Nothing had gone wrong.
He had simply cleared it too quickly.
They all go down in one hit?
What he had sensed earlier hadn’t been an illusion.
Gwanghyeon’s mana had grown stronger than it had been immediately before his regression.
No, but even so… This much?
And that wasn’t all.
Because his physical age had decreased, his basic physical abilities were also considerably better.
More precisely, the abilities that had deteriorated with age had simply returned to what they once were.
But from Gwanghyeon’s perspective, it wasn’t wrong to call that an improvement.
His physical enhancement worked by building upon his existing physical abilities.
Therefore, even when using the same amount of mana, the degree to which his body was strengthened was greater.
His physical foundation had improved.
His mana had also grown.
So the degree of improvement Gwanghyeon could feel was enormous.
“Ha… Haha…”
He couldn’t help but laugh.
Even if his mana had remained exactly as it had been in the past, he was confident that he could have lived a much better life than before.
But at this level, things would be much easier.
Having some debt was hardly a problem anymore.
Gwanghyeon grinned as he casually tossed up one of the mana stones he had obtained from the Gate and caught it again.
There was no need to live frugally out of anxiety about the future anymore.
Let’s stop struggling so hard to survive.
Let’s live comfortably.
How much were F-rank mana stones worth again?
Before heading home, Gwanghyeon decided to stop by the mana stone exchange.
Seojun and Seoyoon had noticed that something about their father seemed strange that morning.
His expression, which had always seemed lethargic and weighed down by depression, had changed dramatically.
“Oppa, is Dad sick?”
“N-No. He can’t be sick.”
Seojun was remarkably mature for an elementary school student.
Even in a household where hunger was commonplace, his first concern was his father.
So he planned to carefully observe his father when he returned, trying to figure out whether something was wrong.
“Seojun, Seoyoon.”
At that moment, they heard their father’s voice along with the sound of the front door opening.
Both children immediately turned their heads.
They were slightly surprised that their father had returned earlier than usual, but they didn’t show it.
Instead, they stood up and welcomed him.
“Dad?”
“Welcome home.”
But then both of them were hit by a powerful sensation.
A smell they rarely ever had the chance to experience.
The smell of fried chicken.
“Gasp.”
“Gasp?”
Gwanghyeon smiled brightly and shook the bag containing the chicken.
Seojun and Seoyoon stared blankly at it, their mouths watering.
Seojun’s determination to carefully examine his father’s condition had already begun to fade away.
“Dad…”
“Is it someone’s birthday today?”
Seoyoon’s question made Gwanghyeon burst out laughing.
He carefully sat down, placed the bag on the floor, and began opening the package.
Inside was chicken from an actual franchise restaurant, not merely the local neighborhood chicken shop.
The eyes of Seojun and Seoyoon began to sparkle.
“It doesn’t have to be someone’s birthday. From now on, let’s eat it whenever we feel like it.”
Gwanghyeon held out the box of chicken.
Seojun and Seoyoon exchanged glances before cautiously speaking.
“Dad, you eat first.”
“Please eat first.”
“…Uh, o-okay?”
Watching the two children, Gwanghyeon felt a pang in his heart.
They were such kind children, always thinking of their father first.
It was probably because of that that, as they grew older, the first thing they thought about was how they could contribute to the household.
Once again, Gwanghyeon felt both grateful and sorry.
You won’t ever have to worry about things like that again.
With that thought, Gwanghyeon smiled and picked up a piece of chicken for each child, holding it out in front of them.
“Enough. Hurry up and eat.”
“O-Okay.”
“Thank you for the meal!”
Come to think of it, it had been an incredibly long time since Gwanghyeon had shared a meal with his entire family of three.
That was why he felt so overwhelmingly happy.
And he made a firm resolution.
I will never lose this happiness again.
The following dawn, Gwanghyeon woke up and quietly got out of bed so as not to wake the two children.
After taking a shower, he carefully left the house and thought things over.
The first thing I need to figure out is how I can make money quickly, starting right now.
With his current abilities, there were countless ways for him to make money.
But what mattered to Gwanghyeon was the phrase right now.
The bank would soon start demanding that he repay his debts immediately, and he wanted to escape this gloomy, cramped one-room apartment as soon as possible.
“Hmm.”
Then something caught Gwanghyeon’s eye.
The door of the house directly across from his.
To be continued.
