Chapter 2
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 2
Chapter Title: 2nd Life
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Squid rice.
You might wonder why such a spicy, heavy dish first thing in the morning.
"No way..."
That single word sent a jolt through my mind.
Thud, thud, thud.
The hurried footsteps outside the door grew louder.
It was all too familiar.
Something I'd forgotten for nearly twenty years.
Yet my ears remembered that beloved sound perfectly.
Creak!
The door flew open.
"Hey, are you still in bed? It's a school day!"
A spatula in one hand.
Instant rice in the other.
Wearing an apron that might seem a bit tacky.
"M-Mom..."
There she was, the mother I'd grown up watching countless times as a child.
She'd clearly passed away from cervical cancer just before I got my PhD.
I thought I'd never see her again, that even her face was fading from memory...
"...Ahh."
I got out of bed.
And slowly approached her.
Hoping desperately this wasn't a dream.
"Oh my, what's gotten into you?"
Before I knew it, I was in her arms.
I felt her startle for a moment.
"What's with you all of a sudden? Calling me 'Mom' out of nowhere..."
Unlike my ex-wife, though.
Mom didn't push me away or pull her hand back.
"Is my boy feeling sick? Did you have a nightmare?"
As if it were the most natural thing.
The true touch of love I'd forgotten for nearly twenty years gently stroked my head.
What more could I have ever wanted?
What was true love, basic respect?
It had been right here all along.
Studies, research, marriage—none of it mattered.
The one who'd given me unconditional love was right here from the start.
I'd just been blinded by worthless pursuits.
"Ugh...!"
Betrayed by my wife, played for a fool by Officer Hwang.
Abandoned by the people, the nation.
The world itself.
Even then, I'd just drowned in booze, surprisingly numb.
"Mom, Mom, Mom...!"
But in her arms, I finally broke down sobbing.
All the emotions I'd buried and buried away.
The shameful feelings I'd kept hidden until death.
I could finally pour them out.
"There, there. Mom's right here. But you still need to eat, my boy. I made that squid rice you always sang about."
She had every reason to panic, but she didn't.
She just accepted it naturally, fulfilling her role as mom until this dreamlike moment ended.
I knew it wasn't a dream.
That I'd regressed.
That I was living out a webnovel cliché in real time.
And that it was the most worn-out trope.
I knew it all.
The cheap melodrama that always popped up in regression stories.
Some would roll their eyes.
Complain they were sick of it.
Maybe skim right past.
I would've too.
But who cares.
Because right now.
This worn-out moment.
"There, there. You've been through so much, my boy."
Was something I could never just gloss over—truly precious.
"You'll choke. Eat slower, it'll go down wrong."
I shoveled the squid rice into my mouth.
So damn good.
How long since homemade food like this? Always cafeteria at the faculty lounge or eating out.
Even my wife's cooking was a foggy memory.
Not that she was my wife anymore.
Back in the past, we never even married.
"Mom, it's delicious."
"Oh my, listen to you. 'Mom' all formal-like. Hohoho~"
"Dear, isn't squid rice a bit much for breakfast?"
Mom beamed at her son eating heartily, but Dad looked a little queasy.
Spicy, salty—too intense for morning.
"Don't even start. He saw some cartoon and threw a fit about squid rice for breakfast."
Right.
That super popular webtoon from back then, Passion Man.
The protagonist Passion had a thing for squid rice every morning.
Threw tantrums till his mom smacked him.
It cracked me up so much as a kid, I begged Mom for it too.
Man.
How long since I thought of that?
Nearly twenty years, and it hits fresh as ever.
Never thought I'd regress like a webnovel protag...
"Eat up. You're a middle schooler now, Kyung-jun. Is that why you're using polite speech with your mom starting today?"
"Huh?"
Nearly choked on a big spoonful.
"Ah, y-yeah... middle school now... right."
I smiled awkwardly and scooped again.
Slower this time.
Went down easy before, now it stuck in my throat.
Middle school.
Not even second year—first-year entrance ceremony today.
2008, by the calendar.
I'd already figured the middle school regression.
Math textbook '7-A' on my desk clued me in.
But first-year middle school was the kicker.
"Uh... the school's name, by any chance."
"What? Forgot your own middle school already? Sinnong Middle School."
Sinnong Middle School.
Unlike the decent Sunsung Elementary, a total hellhole.
Put simply, I become a total loser there.
Back then, 'eun-tta' or just 'bully bait,' 'loser,' 'pathetic.'
'Jjin-tta' or 'jjin-jjin burger' were big too.
Anyway, my first year was a disaster.
If it'd been after transferring to Ilsan in second year, maybe.
At least no physical bullying there.
Decent study vibe, lots of cram schools...
Maybe that's why my first life ended so pathetically.
Trace it back.
It started at Sinnong Middle first year.
Bullied, beaten by delinquents, self-esteem in the gutter.
Transferred, studied—but ended up an insecure monster.
"Thanks for the meal."
—I'll never live like that again.
The firm resolve hit just as—
[Tutorial Complete.]
[Description: Accept your 2nd Life and begin.]
[Tutorial Reward: Acquired 1 Life Point.]
[Main Quest 'Inssa Life' activated.]
Something popped up in front of my eyes.
This has gotta be...
"...Status window?"
Am I really a webnovel protagonist?
The status window during breakfast was straight out of a webnovel.
"Simple enough."
Unlike hunter or fantasy stuff.
Just three: Stamina, Intelligence, Charm.
Especially no 'Strength, Agility, Magic Power' like in games.
"Charm, huh."
This was idol-story stats.
In those, Charm's as vital as Magic in hunter tales.
So conversely...
"Charm 3 is brutal."
Average probably 10.
Middle school me was pretty smart.
Stamina near average for a first-year.
Charm at a measly 3... no need to spell it out.
"...At least no gates exploding with blood."
If gates opened, disaster.
I only studied, clueless on fighting.
My past expertise wasted in a hunter world.
Everyone slinging spells, flying—where's physics fit?
"Huh? More below?"
"What the fuck."
I was dumbfounded.
Wait, isn't this a regression cheat story?
Using past knowledge to skyrocket like a genius?
"Well, I could still rise..."
Avoid past mistakes, dumb shit.
My smarts, professor knowledge.
Plus endless future time—Nobel Prize doable.
I'd soar.
Knew every Nobel research, read the papers.
Hell, easier than becoming popular.
"But this... this is too much..."
Inssa Life
📍 Description: Escape being a loser and become popular.
⚠️ Warning: Assa Force at 100 = Death.
Die if Assa maxes?
Mine's at 87?
13 away—who knows how close.
But near 100.
First year hell— I'd hit it day one.
"And Inssa Force? Goes up with popular acts? Down with loser shit?"
My guess nailed it.
[Negative thinking is very loser-like.]
[Assa Force +1]
The window proved it.
"This make sense? Hey! Raise it again! Loser thoughts my ass...!"
Bang!
I was raging solo when the door burst open.
"Why take forever to dress?! Dad already left!"
Mom.
But.
"Mom... you're popular...?"
"What?"
Betrayal.
Mom's Inssa maxed—why me?
Or Dad a total Assa?
Her auntie network was nuts—not shocking.
She was the center.
Moms tight, kids not—that vibe.
Worse for it.
She'd casually drop:
"Getting along with Sang-hyun~? Saw his mom yesterday~"
How awkward that made me.
"Inssa? What's that?"
"Uh."
"Anyway, dropping you today only—get dressed! No excuses next time! Cut the weird webtoons! Hurry!"
"Y-Yes, ma'am."
Regression or not, mom's the boss.
Soon uniformed under her bark.
Thud, thud, thud.
She left.
"Whew..."
Slower now, finishing uniform, eyes on the window.
"...So this is the status window."
Inssa and Assa Force.
No webnovel had these stats.
But rules don't change.
Swish.
Student tie after ages.
Clip-on—just pull up.
"Tutorial gave 1 point, right."
Reach out.
Humm.
Felt something in air.
Swipe the window.
It flipped with my hand.
"Gotta be here. So many like this."
Crazy chain of events.
But familiar.
All 'new' fantasy—but I knew 'em.
And found it.
[Life Points earned can be spent in the shop.]
2nd Life perk.
In this non-hunter, non-fantasy reality.
How OP to merit 'perk'?
"Insane."
That said it all.