Chapter 16
Chapter 16
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 16
Chapter Title: The Vanished Man
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Door. No, it was a one-room apartment, so there was no separate room—just the front entrance.
These one-rooms didn't have shared hallways, so someone coming up wasn't particularly strange.
But if that someone was the Team Leader, then yeah, this was definitely weird.
"Wha... no, who are you?"
I almost blurted out something stupid in my panic. Luckily, I caught myself before anything weird slipped out.
Instead, I looked at him with wide, innocent eyes and asked.
He tilted his head at my question.
Giving me a look like I was the weird one, he finally spoke.
"Who the hell are you?"
This was the same guy who'd always snapped at me for answering a question with another question.
Memories of the old days flooded back, and I let out a long sigh while glaring at him with a hint of irritation.
The Team Leader's outfit was pretty much the same as always.
Jeans and a hoodie.
IT jobs had lax dress codes, so he dressed casually.
The problem was that hoodie he always wore—way too youthful for his age.
And the color? Unnecessarily bright. It was straight-up infuriating to look at.
You could tell he was trying way too hard to look young.
If he wanted to look young, he should've focused on self-care instead of clothes.
No, that wasn't the point.
Why the hell was the Team Leader here?
"Isn't this... Choi Min-hoo's place?"
Ah. There was the reason.
He's here looking for me.
Not Yeon-bi me, but Min-hoo me.
He'd come to find Choi Min-hoo.
I could guess why.
But why was he looking for Choi Min-hoo specifically?
A few possibilities crossed my mind, then one hit me.
The chat?
The very first thing I'd done after becoming asset-trillionaire Choi Yeon-bi.
Quit the company on the spot.
I remembered going off on the Team Leader in chat back then.
It wasn't even that long ago—just a few days. Forgetting would be weirder.
Anyway.
Was he so pissed about that chat that he'd tracked me down here?
What a small mind.
If I were him, I'd have just let it go.
Hell, I wouldn't have done anything to deserve that kind of roasting from a subordinate in the first place.
"This is the place I rented."
I answered with a subtle smirk.
The Choi Min-hoo you're looking for? You'll never find him.
"No way that's true..."
His face hardened at my words.
His eyes darted around like he was seeing something scary.
Maybe my own expression had frozen up naturally at the sight of him.
There he stood, looking dazed and lost.
Up close like this, he seemed a little pathetic.
Was it because he'd yanked his sideburns forward to hide his baldness, trying to pass them off as a fringe?
Maybe that's why he looks so pitiful.
As I stared at his balding head for a moment, I noticed his face looked more haggard than before.
His cheeks had hollowed out.
The vicious smirk and the neurotic glare were gone now.
Did something shocking happen to him?
Serves him right, but his face looked so rough it made me a little worried.
Live right, people.
What had gone down at the company after I quit?
Maybe it had tanked without me.
If so, good riddance.
Justice prevails.
I was chuckling inwardly when the Team Leader suddenly widened his eyes and stared at me.
I flinched back in surprise, and he shoved my shoulder lightly, grabbing the door.
It was an old door that only locked if you slammed it shut. Thanks to that, it hadn't latched properly, and he flung it wide open.
"Hey!"
Outraged by his ridiculous behavior, I grabbed his shoulder without thinking.
But he ignored me completely, plopping down onto the floor.
"No way. No way that's possible..."
He stared blankly at the empty room, muttering to himself.
What the hell?
Incomprehensible behavior.
He'd always done baffling shit at the office, so it was consistent, at least.
After sitting there dazed for a bit, he suddenly jumped up and got in my face.
"Who are you."
"Huh?"
"Who the fuck are you!!"
He screamed it right in my face.
Ugh, too close.
His intense expression made me grimace and step back.
"Who... who are you...!!"
Ignoring my reaction, he just kept repeating the question like he couldn't say anything else.
For some reason, I pictured him with a fan in hand—it'd suit him.
Why is he acting like this?
I didn't want to keep talking to this lunatic, so I sighed and glared at him.
"So, who the hell are you? What do you think you're doing?"
"This is weird. Choi Min-hoo. This is that bastard's place. The address on his resume at the company is definitely here..."
Some traces of me were still around, huh.
I gave a bitter inward smile and glanced at the empty room.
Good thing I cleared everything out fast.
There'd be no sign of Choi Min-hoo here.
Time to swap my phone too while I'm at it.
The number and account were already under Choi Yeon-bi, but these little remnants could cause headaches later.
Thanks to the Team Leader, I'd nipped one potential problem in the bud.
They said even dog shit had its uses in medicine—did that make him dog shit?
Thanks, dog shit.
I tuned into his mutterings while thinking that.
"He's gone. Gone. Everyone at the company remembers him, but no one's heard from him anywhere. I called everywhere, and no one knows. No one... Am I crazy? Huh? Miss, am I going crazy??"
I got the picture now.
This guy had really planned to sue me for quitting.
Too bad. Choi Min-hoo's gone for good.
Forever.
I hope he spends the rest of his life searching for the guy.
"I called the cops. Get out now."
Right when he'd shoved past me into the room, I'd reported a break-in. He wouldn't go to jail, but he'd get treated like the nutjob he was.
Or, looking at him, maybe he already was one.
"No... no way. This is wrong. Isn't it? He was coming to work just a few days ago... How does this make sense? Vanishing into thin air!! Without a single trace!!"
He turned to me, pleading desperately, his hands shaking.
The Team Leader stayed rooted there like a madman, staring at the empty one-room until the cops arrived.
####
I nuked the last cup ramen in the microwave and plopped down at the computer.
Maybe because I'd just run into the Team Leader, but my mood was a bit tangled.
"...Looks like it's playing out about how I figured."
Choi Min-hoo.
The records he'd left behind were still there. Resumes, message histories, that sort of thing.
But the phone and ID I'd had back then as Min-hoo? All swapped to Yeon-bi's.
In simple terms, anything that could prove I was me was now Yeon-bi's. Everything Min-hoo had left untouched stayed untouched.
"He really just... poofed into thin air."
I could see why the Team Leader had lost it.
A guy who'd been showing up to work fine just days ago suddenly never existed? You'd go nuts too.
Serves him right.
Watching the guy who'd tormented me end up like that felt damn good.
Though yelling "Choi Min-hoo!" as the cops dragged him away was a tad pitiful.
"After all he did."
I felt a little dumb for still pitying him, and let out a smirk.
"...There aren't others like me, right?"
I searched online for anyone who'd been through something similar. Might find some helpful posts if there were.
"Yeah, right..."
Of course, nothing but similar gimmick threads popped up.
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📰 Community Post (A photo of the Red Button is posted.) Press this button, and you'll go back 10 years. But you won't take any memories you have now with you. Still wanna press it? 💬 Comments — Anonymous Why wouldn't you press it? — Anonymous No memories? Then it's pointless. — Anonymous Press twice for 20 years back? — Anonymous ↳ Reply Dad joke... — Anonymous Not a 500 million year button — Anonymous ↳ Reply At least it'd give 100 million won ====
"Hell no, I'm not pressing."
I muttered to myself and slammed the tab shut.
Anyway, thanks to the Team Leader, I'd gotten some useful info. Time to act on it.
I jumped up, wiped every trace from my phone, pulled the SD card, and snapped it in half with my hands.
Reset the phone to factory settings, then headed straight to a phone shop.
####
Autumn was creeping in, making the days shorter.
I picked out the latest foldable cosmic-phone, got home.
On the way to the phone shop, I'd grabbed a debit card too and slipped it into my wallet.
No more messing around with transfers or whatever.
"Ahh..."
It wasn't even that tiring, but I always sighed when I got home.
I didn't flop at the entrance—instead, straight to the bathroom.
Scrubbed hands and feet thoroughly, then plunked down in the camping chair.
Once seated, I fiddled with the phone nonstop.
Downloaded apps I needed, grabbed a few fun-looking games, killed time messing around.
Staring so long made my neck stiff, so I did some light stretches.
Hearing the cracks from my neck, I stretched refreshingly.
That's when I was browsing delivery apps for dinner.
—Thud thud
"Hm?"
—Thud thud thud
"Upstairs..."
—Rumble rumble rumble
The noise complaints started up.