Chapter 24
“Normally, we'd report you for ID theft, but the blood type and genes from the fresh sample perfectly match those from Kang Moon-soo's autopsy 15 years ago.”
“Ah...”
“Are you really him?”
“Yes. I'm Kang Moon-soo. Not sure if you'll believe me.”
The absurd situation of having to prove that I was me!
It was a totally unfamiliar experience.
And this is insane!
Resident registration cards list your aptitude right next to your name. That's why ID theft is treated as faking your aptitude, which carries severe punishment.
It meant I might not just fail to escape this world (dream)—I could end up on trial and thrown in prison!
Dangerous.
“Truth is, my aptitude isn't in public health medicine—it's genetic engineering. And I'm proud to be part of Elmolrans.”
“......”
What the hell was this doctor suddenly talking about?
“That's why I'm confident in my medical knowledge and skills too. And my judgment? You're no cloned human with copied genes—you're the real Kang Moon-soo. I'm 100% sure.”
“Ah!”
“Welcome back to the living world from hell, Kang Moon-soo.”
“Ah, sure.”
Not that I actually died!
“I'm curious how you've kept your 15-year-old looks, but that's not my department anymore. Time to pass the baton.”
“From now on? Is there more?”
“Relax, it's not the police. This'll be a huge help when restoring your deleted resident registration.”
“I can handle that my...”
“If you wanna be treated like a clone and have your human rights trampled, feel free to check out right now.”
“...Hahaha! Looks like I can't handle it myself. Doctor. What do I do next?”
I decided to unconditionally follow the hospital's lead!
* * *
The next steps outlined by the genetic engineering doctor—and the person taking the baton—took way longer to reach than I'd expected.
Time had slipped to 3 a.m. While everyone slept, I wandered the dim hospital corridor.
“Kang Moon-soo, right here.”
“Thanks.”
Coincidence? Or fate?
The nurse's polite guidance led to a hospital lab where Choi Kang-min's attending physician waited.
“Come on in! Come on!”
She'd been staring intently at her computer monitor but greeted me with a beaming smile.
“Hello.”
“I wanted to meet you right away, but handing off a surgery mid-way is illegal, so I had no choice.”
“No pro—”
Grrrrowl.
“......”
My body might be fine, but not my stomach!
Maybe because I couldn't eat during the tests—my gut started howling for food.
“Oh dear! Sorry, Kang Moon-soo. You must've missed mealtime waiting. Want some snacks?”
“I'd gratefully devour anything you give!”
Free food is always right!
Elmolrans Hospital's facilities and decor were top-notch, but this room blew them away.
There's so much stuff.
A built-in display case crammed with trophies and medals took up one entire wall—no room left to spare.
The opposite wall was covered in hundreds of acrylic-framed diplomas and certifications...
They were so dazzling that the hospital's prestige-level appliances and furniture looked downright shabby.
“My trustworthiness gone up a bit?”
“Pardon? Ah, yes.”
“I've got more trophies and medals in storage, but the room's too small, so I compromised here. Should be enough to earn patients' and visitors' trust.”
“Seems like it.”
The real reason the room felt cramped? Probably all the medical equipment, including the bed.
Especially... raising jellyfish?
A cylindrical glass test tube big enough for a person held swarms of translucent jellyfish, each about 5mm long.
“Turitopris nutricula.”
“...Pardon?”
“That's the scientific name of those jellyfish. Here, they're known as little protective tower jellyfish.”
“I see.”
Jellyfish by any name. My interest fizzled instantly.
“These jellyfish live eternal lives, like the phoenix.”
“Must have long lifespans.”
“No. They truly live forever. When damaged or dying, they revert to eggs. Like a Möbius strip, they cycle eternally. Even if I die someday, these jellyfish will live on—if my successor doesn't dump the tank.”
“Whoa...”
My interest reignited!
“You probably guessed from the Turitopris nutricula, but I'm very interested in you too, Kang Moon-soo.”
“In me?”
“A man declared dead returns after 15 years—looking just as young as back then. Not unlike the eternally living Turitopris nutricula, right?”
“Ah!”
“That's why I wanted to meet you myself, Kang Moon-soo. Faster than anyone! I cleared my schedule, canceled all appointments.”
“You didn't have to go that far...”
This is a huge burden.
“Let me introduce myself. I'm Seo Hye-ju, vice director of Elmolrans University Affiliated Hospital.”
“Whoa! You're a big shot.”
“Not really. Just proof I've lived true to my aptitude. Nothing transcendent like you, defying time and death, or mystical powers like the Magic Boy. Just an ordinary human.”
Magic Boy.
A word that kept popping up ever since I fell into this world resembling my Earth.
“You say ordinary, Vice Director, but you don't look aged at all.”
“Have you seen me before?”
“Uh... I think I spotted a photo online once.”
“...I see. My secret to youth? The power of Elmolrans, leading the medical world. Can't reverse time like Turitopris nutricula, but we can hold onto it as long as possible.”
“Got it.”
For someone like me, whose body is their only asset and who barely affords cheap multivitamins, it felt like a distant dream.
“Kang Moon-soo. Straight to the point: how did you return from death?”
“No idea.”
“I heard you were wandering in front of Room 1906...”
“That's right.”
“Mind if I ask why you were looking for Choi Kang-min?”
“His was the last face I remember.”
Not a lie.
“Fascinating...”
“Me?”
“Yes. Because Choi Kang-min is one of Elmolrans' top five shareholders. Technically my boss.”
“......”
The Choi Kang-min I'd called 'hyung' lay comatose in Elmolrans Room 1906 like a vegetable, with less than 100 days left to live.
Meanwhile, this world's (dream's) Choi Kang-min had taken over his father's conglomerate after a tragic accident.
* * *
“Twenty years ago, when the Magic Boy first appeared, everyone was wary. But Chairman Choi Kang-min's bold investment decision conquered the world market.”
The two Choi Kang-mins are worlds apart.
That thought sparked a sudden question.
“Um...”
“Just call me Vice Director.”
“Vice Director.”
“Got a question?”
“Yes. Do you know Choi Kang-hun?”
“I do. If you mean Chairman Choi Kang-min's half-brother.”
“Right. Do you know what he's up to?”
His little brother, forced into heir training when his half-brother fell into a coma. I was dying to know his aptitude and current gig.
“Still in prison.”
“...Pardon?”
“You look totally clueless.”
“O-of course! Why's he in prison?!”
Choi Kang-hun in prison?!
I couldn't believe it.
“He killed his father and fled, only to get caught by the Magic Boy.”
“......”
“Killed his secretary too, so aggravated charges, plus the Magic Boy Special Act—life sentence, 20 years in.”
“No way...!”
A guy who couldn't kill an ant, murdering his dad?
Something was seriously wrong.
“Fascinating. You remember nothing from back then?”
“Back then?”
“You died 15 years ago. Choi Kang-hun's trial and imprisonment? 20 years ago.”
“Ah!”
Timeline-wise, Choi Kang-hun went to prison first, then 'Kang Moon-soo' died five years later.
So I should've known about it before dying. Normally.
But I didn't. Not that I would.
“Kang Moon-soo, you were Choi Kang-hun's lawyer.”
“Me?”
“Yes. A guy with no lawyer aptitude jumped in pro bono, outsmarting pros—big news at the time.”
“No way... that was me?”
“Correct.”
“......”
Turns out, this world's (dream's) me was a hell of a figure.
“The four-year trial fizzled out with your death, and Choi Kang-hun dropped off the media radar after.”
“......”
Choi Kang-hun's imprisonment. Lawyer Kang Moon-soo's death.
Stank of dirty conspiracy.
Why?
I trust myself.
No matter our friendship, I never would've defended him if he'd really killed his dad.
Had to be a frame job.
“Looks like you didn't just transcend death, Kang Moon-soo. Your body reverted to late teens, and your memories too.”
“......”
Totally off-base, but if Seo Hye-ju was convinced on her own, it saved me the hassle of persuading her.
More importantly...
“Vice Director.”
“Wondering how you died?”
“Yes.”
“Bad luck. An alien spaceship crashed right on your law office.”
“Hah?”
My death outdid even my imagination!
“A ship from aliens defeated by the Magic Boy happened to crash downtown. Tons of lives lost.”
“......”
Linked to the Magic Boy again.
Choi Kang-hun too. And Kang Moon-soo.
My head cooled to ice.
Magic Boy. Choi Kang-min.
Separate? Coincidences. But declare them one? Every piece snaps into inevitable puzzle.
“So that's how I went.”
“Hear me out.”
“Yes.”
“You were lucky—survived, rushed here for emergency care. But didn't make it through the night.”
“Too late, huh.”
“No. Just a cracked rib nicking your lung. Uncomfortable to move, but not fatal.”
“......”
“The records listed 'alien native disease' as cause of death. Not funny.”
“Yeah, not laughing.”
A sharp blade pressed to my throat—that chilling.
“Your resurrection at Elmolrans? No coincidence. You died here.”
“Right.”
Thanks for the continued misfires!
“And thanks to our autopsy, all records remain. Genes to tailbone. Plenty to prove you're the real Kang Moon-soo.”
“I see.”
Even hearing it didn't compute.
“I wanted to ask the revived you.”
“What?”
“You must've guessed.”
“......”
“Kang Moon-soo. You say you don't remember, but still—who killed you?”
“......”
I couldn't answer because I wasn't that 'lawyer Kang Moon-soo' who died 15 years ago.
But.
I didn't know. Yet I did.