After returned to the past, I was immediately distracted by my own problems, so I couldn’t even think of it. No, maybe I was deliberately trying not to think about it.
Even before my regression, Choi Yichan had awakened as a Hunter. He was an E-class defensive hunter.
All my friends and I congratulated Choi Yichan. It’s generally not a high grade, but Hunter is Hunter. They’re rare, and not everyone can become an Awakened.
There was no one better suited to be a Hunter than Choi Yichan, who likes to help others. Back then, we giggled and teased him about what if he would soon become famous and we’ll only see him on TV.
We really didn’t get to see each other again.
A rift occurs near an elementary school in Suwon, Gyeonggi-do. Choi Yichan, who was nearby, voluntarily jumped into the dungeon to prevent the children from getting caught up.
That was his first and last dungeon trip.
The dungeon that was initially identified as an F-class dungeon unexpectedly transformed into a higher-level attribute dungeon, and Choi Yichan died without even using his strength properly due to the powerful attribute attack.
The three letters of his name was found at the end of the list of fatalities in the Breaking News.
That was it. No bodies were found.
After that day, Choi Yichan’s story was taboo among my friends. Not only that, but we stopped talking about Hunter completely.
No matter how great Hunter is, Choi Yichan died in the end. We didn’t know how to accept the death of a close person.
“Kwon Ri, are you sick? You don’t look good.”
The remark brought me to my senses. I lifted my head.
A sun-tanned face was looking anxiously at me.
He’s still alive.
It’s only a memory before the regression, and the present Choi Yichan is still safe.
The tremor finally stopped when I repeated it in my mind.
“No, I’m okay….”
“Ah, I’ll call you later. Let’s eat together sometime.”
“Uh, hey, wait a minute!”
I called, but Choi Yichan only waved his hand and continued his run. Soon, his back became as small as a fingernail.
He’s still alive.
But soon….
My heart was beating wildly.
I have never thought deeply about the meaning of regression. I just thought I was lucky to have come back from death, and I was focused on living a different life from the past.
However, that was not all.
This is what it meant to be back in the past. I can meet someone who I will never see again.
Perhaps … I might be able to change the future.
The wind was cold. I stared at his back as he moved away and turned around.
***
“I’m home.”
Flutter.
When I returned to the store and opened the door, a piece of paper fluttered in the wind fell over my head.
Uh, what is this?
When I picked it up, it was a tissue. A tissue with Mieum’s feet stamped in the middle. The tissue stamped with the footprints must have been blown away.
I put the tissue in my pocket, and one flew away again.
Flutter, flutter, flutter….
The endless pouring of tissues were all stamped with footprints.
“….”
I had an ominous feeling. I hurriedly entered the store and looked around.
A mountain of tissue was piled up on the floor and on the table. Not only that, but they also left footprints on the floor and the walls.
“Mieum-ah, Lime-ah, where are you?”
I wandered around looking for the animals that caused the accident. Soon, a thin cry was heard from the warehouse inside.
Bang. I slammed the door open and looked inside.
The cat, who was obsessed with stamping the floor with its paws for a long time, and the slime who had been encouraging it were startled.
“Mieum?”
“Waeung…….”
“Lime?”
“Kkyuu…….”
The two animals kept their heads down as if they were ashamed.
“You must have had a lot of fun stamping….”
I’m glad she got her liveliness back. My head ached at the thought of wiping out all those ink stains.
Raising animals is really hard….
***
Kwon Jiwoon lifted his head as he felt his head throb.
Time passed, and the evening was near. There was still work to be done, but stiff fatigue weighed on his body.
“…Haa.”
The image of him rubbing his fingertips around his eyes looks very delicate. After his awakening, his hair turned to silver and it created an atmosphere like a cold winter breeze.
Kwon Jiwoon picked up the document he had left on his desk.
He already knows the content even without reading it. There will be no difference between the documents he has already received several times and this one.
The document was about the guild leader of White Silver Guild. In other words, it was the result of a search for Kwon Rieul’s uncle and Kwon Jiwoon’s father.
There are no results.
His father entered a dungeon a few years ago and never returned. Normally, you’d think he was killed in the dungeon. Hunter’s death in the dungeon has happened many times since the birth of dungeons, monsters, and Awakeners in the world.
However, Kwon Jiwoon did not think his father was dead.
It’s not just because it’s hard to accept reality. It’s because there was something suspicious about the day his father went missing.
That’s the reason why he’s still not giving up and continuing the search.
“….”
Kwon Jiwoon looked into his status window. Red mark blinks in the notification indicator.
[Your mana has run out.]
[Debuff: All stats are reduced by 70%.]
He overused his skills today to treat the hunters who were injured in a rift a few days ago. When he’s about to run out of mana, he drank potion, and again, and again….
After repeating this process several times, his status were lowered to the bottom due to a debuff caused by mana depletion.
Ever since his father disappeared, the White Silver Guild has been Kwon Jiwoon’s responsibility.
He never took that responsibility too seriously. However, when his status were in such a mess, a sense of helplessness that could not be swallowed all rose.
There are about 30 minutes left until the next schedule. It’s not that new letters would pop out of the paperwork just by staring at it. The throbbing in his head only got worse.
Kwon Jiwoon put the document down on the desk and leaned back on his chair. He thought he should take a break for a while.
At that moment, a silver thermos in the corner of the desk caught his eye. His cousin, Kwon Rieul, left this thermos behind.
‘She said she made coffee.’
Kwon Jiwoon hesitated for a moment, then reached out for the thermos.
‘Even though I said I didn’t need it.’
While muttering like that, he did not throw it away and took the large thermos in his hand instead. The headaches were tormenting him endlessly.
Still, Kwon Jiwoon was against setting up a cafe in front of the Dungeon Gate.
The Great Dungeon Abyss.
One day, it suddenly appeared in the middle of the city. The monsters, the Awakeners, and the system … it’s an unknown dungeon that brought it all together.
Kwon Jiwoon felt a sense of urgency when he saw the endlessly stretched up wall. It’s an absurd expression, but at one point he felt like it was alive.
It’s a space that has always been quiet for now, but no one knows what will happen in the future. What if something dangerous happens in front of the dungeon gate?
Even so, he couldn’t stop Kwon Rieul because it was the first thing she wanted to do.
With a complicated mind, Kwon Jiwoon thought of his only cousin.
Since his awakening as a healer, a rare class, Kwon Jiwoon has received a lot of attention.
Korea’s first A-class healer with strong healing skills. It was natural that the expectations were high.
However, not all the attention was positive. It would have been better if they’re undermining or criticizing his abilities.
The attention was also drawn to his family instead. Doubts and accusations about the missing father, and….
Not only paparazzi, but there’s also people who approach his only cousin for solicitation purposes.
In the end, Kwon Jiwoon thought it would be better to keep a distance to protect his younger sister.
Although it may seem calm on the outside, the current Hunter World is a vicious battlefield. His desire for his younger sister to keep a distance from this ferocious community also played a part.
But now, a Hunter is approaching Rieul. Besides, his smile is very suspicious.
“….Ha.”
As expected, he should persuade her to move the cafe to the 1st floor of the guild. It seemed to be more reassuring to keep her nearby.
The headache got worse and worse. He didn’t feel like drinking coffee, but he didn’t want to throw away what she had brought for the first time in a long time. He opened the thermos.
As soon as he opened the lid, he could smell the sweet scent of coffee. A scent resembling a fragrant nut seemed to wrap around him warmly.
“….!”
Forgetting that he didn’t want to drink coffee, Kwon Jiwoon immediately poured the coffee into a cup.
The dark brown water was warm as if it had just brewed. The warmth in his hands melted the tense tension. Even though he only took a sip, the aroma and savory taste of the coffee filled his mouth.
As soon as he came to his senses, he emptied the entire cup, and poured another cup out of regret.
Then, he realized that his head didn’t hurt. The headache that had been plagued him all day as a side effect of mana depletion was completely gone.
‘Status.’
The debuff on the status window was also released and returned to normal.
What’s going on? It’s the first time a debuff has been lifted so quickly. For what reason….
Is it a coincidence?
Kwon Jiwoon cut off the idea of stretching out branches.
What’s the reason? The coffee his sister made for him was delicious, so he felt at ease.
He felt not only fatigue, but also the heavy worry and anxiety that had always been on the side of his head washed away. It was the first time since his awakening that he felt so at peace.
As the anxiety that had been weighing him down all the time was relieved, it felt like Rieul’s work was no big deal.
“There’s no need to be so impatient.”
He also put aside his decision to have Rieul move her cafe right away.
Let’s wait a little longer.
Kwon Jiwoon put down the empty cup. Only the coffee scent remained and lingered around him.
***
“It’s here? This place is very hollow.”
“It’s a store left by my deceased grandmother.”
“It’s very, uh, elegant, uh … it’s quiet and the atmosphere is nice!”
At my words, Choi Yichan demonstrated a tallulah.
He must have squeezed the best possible words after seeing the only old building on a desolate road.
When he heard that I had set up a cafe, Choi Yichan said he wanted to come and play. I said yes right away.
Perhaps by meeting and talking to him, I could figure out a way to change the future.
Choi Yichan got caught up in the dungeon on the day when the first snow fell across the country. I don’t remember the exact date, but it’s clear that the breaking news came out while I was watching the weather news.
It’s late October now. There is a little time until the snowy season.
In the meantime, if I trace my memory, maybe….
Maybe I can find a way to change the future.
