Fried eggs are being cooked on the frying pan.
A girl wearing an apron over her school uniform was busy preparing breakfast.
With a wavy black hair that is neither too long nor too short.
Even though she's not mature yet, she was a girl whose face is prettier than most
celebrities.
After taking her apron off, she came out to the living room and stood in front of a door.
“Huahh.”
She took a short breath.
And then knocked twice.
But there was still no response.
The girl opened the door and went in. She looked at the man, who seemed to be sleeping soundly.
“Father, wake up.”
The girl came a little closer to him.
And put her lips close to the man's ear,
Then she whispered.
“You’ll be late.”
Jump!
The man quickly raised his upper body.
And nodded with an awkward smile.
“Ye...yes. You’re right.”
The girl grinned. Afterwards, she closed the door and went back to the living room.
Left alone, Lee Do-jun breathed a long sigh.
Father-Daughter contract.
That…
It dates back two months ago.
* * *
Year 2020.
Ten years have passed ever since <Rifts> appeared on our peaceful Earth.
Monsters came, and then individuals known as “Hunters” emerged to catch them.
Afterward, strange panels began floating on individuals that projected a numerical assessment of their so-called “stats” in real life. It was through those status windows that people began to see their individual skill sets and characterization that defined them as a hunter.
“Status.”
Name: Lee Do-jun
Level: 999
Title: Heavenly Demon
Strength: 999
Agility: 999
Vitality: 999
Inner Qi: 999
Skills: Pocket Watch (SSS), Heavenly Demon Cultivation (SS), Adamant Body (S), Poison Immunity (S), Intangible Sword (S), Aerial Control (S), Fortune-telling (D), Defense Barrier (B), Sound Dominance (D), Sacred Fire (B), Bleeding (C), Fusion (A)
Lee Do-jun continued his studies for three years after finishing his military service. He then became a civil servant in the ‘Rift Management Department’. They are responsible for regulating the monsters near the rifts by the means of hunters.
He joined the team at the age of 25 and became the youngest member of the ‘Rift Management Department’ at Seoul City Hall.
And after a year, he was finally assigned to a personal hunter.
However, on the day before his first Rift expedition,
He was hit by a truck.
After work, he thought about exploring F-class Rifts in Gangdong-gu in advance.
But then he was knocked unconscious by a 5-ton cargo truck while crossing the crosswalk, and Do-jun suddenly found himself in the Murim world.
And at the same time, Do-jun acquired a skill.
<Pocket Watch>
He died in Murim countless times, but through his skill <Pocket Watch>, he was able to go back on the day before he died.
He regressed over and over again.
Finally, he became the strongest man in the battlefield.
Do-jun rose to fame and gained the nickname ‘Heavenly Demon.’
And now he was on Earth again.
Jiiing.
The hospital's automatic door opened.
Do-jun breathed in the air and then took out his smartphone.
January 18, 2020
January 18, 2020
“I-if you still feel pain, please do inform me and come back here.”
The doctor in a white gown mentioned while raising his glasses.
Do-jun nodded and went out.
The nurse next to the doctor fumbled while looking at his chart.
“How could he be fine as if nothing had happened in a single day?”
When he was hit by a cargo truck and entered the emergency room, Do-jun's appearance couldn’t be explained by words.
The major surgery that lasted for 17 hours barely caught his lifeline, and the chances of his consciousness returning were only less than 10 percent.
However, after only a day, all the critical wounds, including internal injuries, were gone like it never happened in the first place.
“…That's a mystery for me, too”
* * *
[Chief, I have now been discharged from the hospital.]
Do-jun sent a text message to Kang Chul-soo, the head of the Rift Management Department.
Only a day has passed after he returned to Korea from the Murim world.
As his memories of living in Korea have already faded, it will take a lot of effort to adjust to the job again.
Even if he doesn’t return as a civil servant again, he has already obtained superhuman abilities that allow him to last long even without food and water.
However, Do-jun decided to take up the job as a civil servant again.
‘I want to live an ordinary life this time.’
There is so much blood on his hands and it has already come to a point where he has suffered terrible betrayals and thus can't easily trust people.
He has been considering going into the mountains and living in seclusion, and after a long time of living there, he came to a conclusion that living ordinarily is what he wanted.
Ring ring.
His cellphone rang, and on the screen, the name [Chief Kang Chul-soo] was shown.
Beep.
- Hello?
- You rascal! You’re already alive? Y-your body, is it fine now? And what do you mean you’ve been discharged?
- Yes. I’ve regained consciousness, and I'm also feeling better now. The doctor said it’s okay to leave the hospital.
There was a moment of silence.
Then came a loud voice over the phone.
Do-jun frowned and lowered his phone from his ear.
- Who the hell are you! Are you kidding me right now?
Do-jun sighed and put the phone back to his ear.
It was perfectly normal for Kang Chul-soo to react like this after Do-jun, who was on the verge of death yesterday, suddenly said that he was fine
- Chief. It’s really me. I'll come to the office now.
- ….No. I'll p-pick you up!
- No need. Don’t worry, I can get there in 20 minutes by taxi.
- This guy, what are you talking about?
Beep.
Do-jun hung up, came out to the roadside, and waited for a taxi.
Kang Chul-soo kept on calling him, but he didn't answer any of his calls.
[Stay where you are. I'll pick you up.]
Do-jun immediately replied after checking the text message.
[I’m on my way, Chief.]
[Sigh... Your personality seems to have changed a bit? Anyway, come quickly then!]
[Yes, sir.]
Do-jun mumbled while putting his smartphone back to his pocket.
“My character has changed….”
He didn't know… what kind of person he was before.
Does he have a lively personality or a quiet one?
What do others think of him?
Vrooom.
Do-jun hailed the approaching taxi and got on it.
“Please go to Seoul City Hall.”
The taxi driver nodded and started driving.
After a while, some sort of alarm went off in the taxi.
“Sir, you need to fasten your seatbelt.”
“Seatbelt? Ah.”
Do-jun pulled the seat belt attached to the passenger seat and plugged it into the buckle to secure it.
Then he took out his smartphone again and searched on his contacts.
< Family (1) >
< Friends (0) >
< Company (11) >
< Others (2) >
“….I didn't have any friends.”
Do-jun muttered and then clicked on the <Family> tab.
Inside, there was a phone number marked as <Brother>.
“Oh, so I had a brother.”
But he couldn’t remember his name.
He tried recalling some memories, but it was impossible.
However, one thing’s for sure.
‘I don't think he's a good guy.’
There was no attachment, and he could also feel a slight anger rising from his heart.
After taking a breath, Do-jun tried to call his older brother.
- The number you have dialed is no longer in service or has been disconnected…
He called again, but it was still the same.
The number seemed to have changed.
This time he clicked on the <Others> tab.
Then two phone numbers came up.
[Bae Yujin]
[Seol Yoon-hee]
“……I don't know them.”
Who was Bae Yujin? Or what kind of person was Seol Yoon-hee?
He couldn't remember at all.
But on the company tab, there were some people in the office whom he could vaguely remember.
However, Bae Yujin and Seol Yoon-hee did not seem to have left an impression on him.
“We've arrived. Sir.”
He arrived in front of Seoul City Hall.
Do-jun took out the wallet from his pocket and held out a card.
The taxi driver accepted the card with deft handwork and inserted it into a slot to pay the bill.
“Thank you.”
* * *
Do-jun went to the Rift Management Department on the seventh floor.
As he entered, the attention of the staff in the department was naturally focused on him.
And then a few people ran towards him.
“Hey! A-are you all right?”
A man who appears to be in his late 40s said so with his eyes wide open.
Do-jun could recognize that the man was Kang Chul-soo.
“Yes. As you can see, I'm fine.”
“……Really? Indeed, you look fine.”
He couldn't believe it.
Just yesterday, he went to the hospital where Do-jun was admitted.
He was told that it was impossible to visit him because he was in extremely bad condition, so he went back to the office without seeing him, but now how could he have recovered in just a single day?
“Are you sure you're fine? Did they say you could now leave the hospital?”
A woman, who appeared to be an employee, looked up and down at Do-jun and asked anxiously.
He nodded and replied.
“As you can see, I'm perfectly fine.”
“What a relief. Do you know how worried we were when we heard about the accident? By the way, Do-jun, you're not stammering anymore.”
The male employee tilted his head and said.
“Do I usually stutter?”
“……Yeah. Right, Chief?”
“Yes. That’s why when I picked up the phone earlier, I thought it wasn't him.”
The male employee grabbed Do-jun's arm by hand.
It wasn't soft. Despite wearing a long-sleeved shirt, he can directly feel the firmness of the fine muscles that reveal their curves.
“Do-jun… your body… seems to be in great shape. What happened to you?”
“It wasn't like this before?”
Kang Chul-soo nodded in affirmation.
“You were really small. In addition, you were much more withdrawn. But now, you look taller……”
Kang Chul-soo looked incomprehensible, recalling that Do-jun was 171 centimeters tall and was similar in height to himself. But now, at first glance, he looked 180 centimeters tall.
“I see. Thank you for the information.”
“……How can a person change like this overnight? Are you really Do-jun? Aren’t you someone else?!”
“You might have felt that I have changed a little, but it’s really me."
The employees had an incredulous expression.
Do-jun looked around without minding them.
“Where is my desk? I lost some of my memory because of the aftereffects of the car accident.”
“You lost your memory? Ha, that's really suspicious. You're not Lee Do-jun, are you?”
“You look similar, but you look much more handsome.”
Kang Chul-soo patted the employee next to him and said,
“Mr. Hyun-soo. Bring me the fingerprint scanner.”
The man, called Hyun-soo, entered the storage room and brought out a fingerprint scanner.
Originally, it was hung in the storage room where they were prohibited from entering and was changed to a new model two months ago.
“Put your thumb in here. If the fingerprint matches, then we’ll believe in you.”
Dojin didn’t hesitate to put his thumb to the fingerprint scanner.
[Rift Management Department, Mr. Lee Do-jun. Confirmed.]
Kang Chul-soo couldn’t believe it.
“T-try it again!”
[Rift Management Department, Mr. Lee Do-jun. Confirmed.]
“Again!”
But no matter how many times he did it, the results were the same.
“……How can a person change like this in a day?”
“It's called amnesia. It might have also fixed his stammering.”
“Given the stammering, how can a person suddenly grow this tall?”
Do-jun sighed then said.
“Please tell me where my desk is.”
“No, no. Go home and rest a lot today. You’re on sick leave now. Just go to work tomorrow!”
“But……”
Do-jun was still hesitating when Kang Chul-soo pushed his back.
“I'll take you home. Let's go.”
“No, it's alright. I can go alone.”
Do-jun left the office unwillingly.
He then took out his resident registration card from his wallet and checked his home address.
* * *
“….What was the password again?”
Do-jun stood tall in front of Room 301 of the officetel building, which read Changshin Villa.
He searched his body for the key, but he couldn’t find it.
Knock knock.
He knocked at the door, wondering if there’s anyone.
And then,
- Who is it?
A voice was heard from the intercom.
Do-jun gulped down his saliva, then carefully opened his mouth.
“Who… are you?”
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