Chapter 28
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 28
Chapter Title: My Appearance in the Future 10 Years Later (1)
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Shall I summarize what I know about Lee A-ram?
Then it probably goes something like this.
—Enemy from the first round, the girl who saved me from that hell, if only for a brief moment.
Acting like some anonymous Dark Knight.
Even as a middle school kid back then, she turned the entire school upside down.
In a way, what she pulled off in the second round after surviving the first might even outshine what I managed.
"Even that rolling paper when I transferred."
When I transferred from Hwajeong to Ilsan in my second year.
Just like any class does when someone transfers out.
They passed around a rolling paper.
What had people written, again?
If it had just been initials like 'BB' or 'KKK,' it might've been a little better.
Most were probably just emotionless scribbles, written because the teacher made them.
The occasional mean kid wrote stuff like,
"Whoa, I think this is the first time I've heard your voice! Still, study hard after you transfer~"
Or,
"You need to make some friends OTL."
Oh, and there were a few who put in some effort.
They were so heartbroken about me leaving.
They took their time to draw a caricature emphasizing my horn-rimmed glasses and acne back then.
However.
Out of all of them, there was exactly one.
The only message cheering me on.
"You did well."
I think that single short sentence made me cry.
Probably because it was the first time.
I'd been hiding the bullying from my parents.
The teachers just swept it under the rug.
Even my classmates treated me with disdain and relief.
And mocking glances.
Even in the rolling paper.
So I'd been grit-ting my teeth and enduring it all alone.
『Lee A-ram』
▶ Gathered evidence over a year and publicly exposed your bullying as well as all school violence at Sinnong Middle School.
▶ Wrote "You did well" in 『Han Kyung-jun』's rolling paper and was never seen again afterward.
Thanks to that one line she wrote, which I later learned was from her.
I didn't die. I didn't commit suicide.
Though the end was short and ultimately tragic.
That's how I finished the first round and made it to this second round.
"Even living a second life won't help~ She's already such an adult compared to me in the second round."
Honestly, it moved me.
I'm still getting chills just thinking about it.
The reason she saved me wasn't pity or sympathy.
It wasn't some secret crush on the anchovy-glasses-acne triple combo I was back then, either. Nothing ridiculous like that.
She just didn't like the current situation at her school.
I was just collateral.
And that's what makes it even better.
It's clean-cut.
If it had been out of pity and sympathy, I would've been grateful, sure.
But I wouldn't have felt this deep respect.
Respect?
Not just a roundabout way of saying I like her?
Maybe it is.
Honestly, I don't feel much romantic attraction.
Probably because of my first-round experiences.
Put simply, it's like PTSD.
Just like how she distrusts people, same for me.
I've been burned by women one too many times.
And yet, paradoxically, both she and I.
We both show that human spirit shining through in this rotten society.
That's our one point of connection, I guess.
She said she doesn't like science much.
But she seems to like stars.
So that's about it.
"If I wanted romance, I'd have raised Charm first."
Besides, I've already decided.
Once is enough for marriage.
I won't live that kind of life again.
There's that saying about treating General Choi Young's woman like a stone—total devotion.
Even if I regressed into a girl in this second round TS scenario.
I'd still treat guys the same way.
"I'm marrying physics and living happily ever after."
Yeah, romance? Please.
I've got studying and physics to keep me busy.
True physicists treat it like the Christian Bible, approaching it with the devotion of a nun or bride studying theology.
Anything less, and you can't make it.
Sure, money and fame might follow sometimes.
But if you start with worldly motives, you won't survive in this field.
You'd end up as a researcher in semiconductors or displays based on physics, contributing to better TVs and phones at best.
Not that I look down on them.
I just didn't regress for that.
"Money isn't a big deal anymore since I regressed. It's actually easy now."
In the first round, making money was the hardest thing.
But in the second life? Making money is the easiest.
Just toss out a few keywords.
Stocks.
Coins.
And...
"Actually, those two cover it all."
Money's easy.
Nothing easier than money now.
Therefore.
"Achieve something beyond money."
As people grow up.
Get tainted by society.
Become family breadwinners, mothers.
Eventually compromising, letting it slip away, left with nothing but wistful memories.
That's why.
What everyone had to leave behind in the first round.
"Dreams."
And romance.
I'll achieve that.
That's why I regressed.
Next week's Monday home economics class.
"Class 10, what are your dreams?"
A teacher handling home ec in the tech/practical subjects category, with a very homely vibe.
Calling her an auntie might be rude.
She feels like one kid's mom.
Her warm, chatty nature makes me feel maternal affection even though she's not my mom.
"The dream of midterms disappearing after Children's Day!"
Pubescent middle schoolers can't help but whine to her.
"Can't we get no tests as a Children's Day gift?"
"Yeah, tests during Children's Day? What the heck."
"Oh my, middle schoolers wanting Children's Day gifts? Is Class 10 full of elementary kids?"
"I'll just stay in elementary~ Why do middle schoolers have tests for three whole days~"
Unlike elementary, middle schoolers take exams over three straight days.
So the subjects to study double or triple instantly.
"Why not think of it as the day before exams being a rest day, so you can study comfortably at home?"
The home ec teacher teases them mischievously on purpose.
"Plus, middle school studies are way harder than elementary. It's the principal's consideration for you all taking your first middle school exams."
Sighs erupt throughout Class 10.
They chant the principal's name and go "Boo~!"—total chaos.
"Hehe, you all hate studying, don't you?"
"Yes~!"
"I have a son and daughter your age, and they're exactly the same. I asked why they hate studying so much, wanna guess what they said?"
Kids shoot their hands up like crazy.
Compared to math or science where you have to call numbers to get anyone to speak, this is insane participation.
After letting several hand-raisers share.
"Right? You don't know why you study or why you have to. You've probably never even thought about it. Likely because you've never properly thought about your dreams."
She smoothly wraps up the story.
"Dreams sound too grand, right? Sure, joking around or led by parents—president, doctor, lawyer... Cool jobs like that are great dreams, but no need to overthink it."
The home ec teacher chuckles and waves it off.
"My daughter got hooked on Harry Potter and demanded English academy to read the original books. And she hates studying!"
Students gasp in disbelief.
Some mutter, "Then send me to a gaming academy... I love games..." and click their tongues.
The teacher, with ears like a ghost's, catches it and says, "Then Ja-hee's dream is pro gamer?" turning Hong Ja-hee beet red like in last ethics class.
"So today, let's think about what you like first."
With that, the home ec teacher starts handing out printouts to each group.
"To do what you like, what should future me 10 years from now do? What do I want to do, what will I be doing? We'll think about your dreams and future selves, then share. Pass the extra sheets back."
What a coincidence.
The home ec class felt a lot like the thoughts I had last week.
What do they call classes like this?
"Dream class?"
Sounds weird.
"Self-reflection? Future planning? Hmm..."
Ah, right.
"Future design."
Yeah.
What did I do right after regressing to the second round?
Studied, took the KMO, got a bronze.
Even planning research between classes was part of that.
I needed time to seriously think about how to achieve my dream going forward.
Specifically, how to actually build a quantum computer.
I've been busy adapting to everything.
Indulging in nostalgia for old memories.
Settling first-round grudges like with Lee Ho-kwon or Lee A-ram.
More non-research busyness than expected, so I haven't pondered this properly.
Except maybe that time at the PC bang?
"...No printout?"
Lee A-ram waved the printout at me without turning around.
Oh, we switched seats recently.
Midterms start the 6th after Children's Day next week.
So seats reassigned by number.
Me and Lee A-ram are consecutive, so I'm behind her.
"Ah. Sorry."
"...Yeah."
She takes the printout and turns back immediately, like nothing happened.
After that science club incident.
She probably doesn't enjoy sitting next to me.
Must be awkward.
And right next to Lee A-ram.
_______Teacher's Desk_______
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．
．
[Lee A-ram][Oh Deok-woo]
[Han Kyung-jun]
_____Lockers_____
The guy every girl in the world would surely hate was assigned as her desk mate.
"Pffft... Kuhuhu..."
A big-bodied kid making weird noises.
Oh Deok-woo.
Rarely, I remember his name, face, and build perfectly.
And we go way back.
Girls who'd gotten dumped would confess to either him or me out of embarrassment.
We were so popular, right?
We even had nicknames.
Pig and anchovy, respectively.
Or as a set, like an idol group: Pig Anchovy Noodles.
Anyway, neither of us remembers how many confessions we got.
But they all ended in under a second.
"Huh, why are tears suddenly...?"
Tears start welling up out of nowhere.
Like returning from another world, forgetting all memories, yet feeling like I've lost something precious for no reason...
...Anyway.
Maybe because I learned Lee A-ram's first-round record.
Or just PTSD.
Lately, I've been getting sentimental.
『My Appearance in the Future 10 Years Later』
I wipe my tears and focus on the home ec printout.
And start scribbling wildly.
Not like the research and experiment plans in my notebook.
Not specifics like buying this or that.
Just long-term goals for the next 10 years, straight from the assignment.
Organize them.
"First, prep for science high entrance, get into Seoul Science High... Then KAIST..."
As I sketch my future blueprint.
A thought hits me.
Wait, at my level, Ivy League overseas is possible, right?
Top kids from cram schools skip domestic unis and go abroad.
To them, Seoul National or KAIST are just mid-tier for average or lower kids.
"That's why KAIST."
But I change my mind.
No overseas universities.
Like the first round, I'm going to KAIST.
Difference: Proudly from Seoul Science High, not general high school.
Because I know Korea best.
Experienced it to death in the first round. For a whopping 37 years.
So leverage that advantage.
Plus, Daejeon KAIST.
Undergrad, master's, PhD, postdoc, even professor.
Where first-round me hunkered down for over 10 years.
Not just physics knowledge.
Life, studies—everything there.
Maximize that prior experience for max regression gains.
And why overseas unis suck even more for regressors like me, where every day counts.
Military service—gotta solve it somehow, more than for regular Koreans.
"But KAIST fixes that."
First, KAIST means no two years wasted in the army.
Bonus.
Korea is best for deploying future knowledge.
For example, 2013.
Prevent Song Jae-gi's death while he's still alive.
2016, crush the Hyehwa Station Gangnam Station 'that protest' thoroughly.
In modern terms—or future terms.
So-called normalization.
That stuff.
Might as well change this messed-up Korean society a bit.
For me,
and for her.