The Regressor Wakes Up
When he opened his eyes and sat up —
“Zzzzzzz...”
“Khuu... khuu...”
“Kwaeeeee... kweeee...”
The room was filled with the sound of people snoring around him.
‘This is...’
A jjimjilbang sleeping room. The one in Suwon, in the neighborhood where he used to live. No doubt about it.
Kang Dohyun was bewildered. Waking up here made no sense at all.
‘I was definitely dead.’
The last thing he remembered was hunting mutated zombies, falling into a trap, struggling, and dying. But here he was, in a peaceful jjimjilbang sleeping room.
He stayed tense, calmly observing his surroundings.
‘Pinch.’
‘Ah.’
He carefully pinched the back of his hand. Luckily, it hurt.
‘Is this real? Could it be an illusion?’
But the mutated zombies had no reason to let him live.
‘Then... could it be?’
As he thought, something suddenly came to mind. He touched his neck.
‘Ah!’
A necklace hung around his neck. One with a broken gemstone.
It was an out-of-rank item with no effect. He had bought it with a bit of hope, but it turned out useless, so he wore it as a fashion accessory.
‘Was it because of this necklace?’
The unknown gem embedded in the center of the necklace was shattered, and the strange light it had been emitting was gone.
The broken necklace and the peaceful jjimjilbang sleeping room — the result of this impossible combination was...
‘I’ve regressed. That’s right.’
Kang Dohyun had returned to the past.
If this was regression, he had to act quickly.
‘First —’
He grabbed the phone lying beside him.
‘October 2nd, 2025.’
There was still time before the apocalypse began.
‘But not much time.’
He had to hurry. Kang Dohyun got up right there.
—
Kang Dohyun walked the ten minutes from the jjimjilbang to his house and entered.
“Hyung, you’re back.”
Seeing his younger brother, Kang Dohun, on a tablet in the living room, he rushed over and hugged him tightly.
“Hyung! What the hell? What’s wrong with you? Acting weird?”
“......”
Seeing his brother stay silent while holding him, Dohun thought it was a joke and laughed.
“Stop it. I’m in the middle of a game.”
“I just wanted to hug you.”
“Did you take your meds? No, you must be like this from drinking last night. Hyung, go get some more sleep.”
In his previous life, before the regression, they had struggled to survive together, and in the end, Dohun had been sent to the afterlife first. Seeing his brother again, Dohyun made a firm resolve.
‘I’m not letting him go this time.’
His first goal after regressing: survive together with his brother.
—
Kang Dohyun entered his own room.
A small room. A bed, a computer, and a wardrobe — that was it.
‘Good to see you.’
Still, it was his room, and he felt a surge of nostalgia. He wanted to lie down on the bed and sleep for a while, but...
‘First, the plan.’
He turned on the computer. Then, browsing the internet, he began making plans to prepare for the apocalypse.
What he needed most: first, funds; second, allies; third, a base.
When the apocalypse started, the value of food and supplies would skyrocket. He needed to stockpile them in advance, and for that, he needed money.
‘My bank account has 5 million won, the stock account has 62 million, and crypto has 30 million.’
The best way to multiply money was crypto investment. Normal crypto trading was close to gambling, but...
‘For someone who knows the future...’
It was an incredibly easy investment.
‘This is when KDISK coin moons.’
He transferred all the money from his bank and stock accounts into his crypto account and bought the coin that was about to skyrocket. Using futures trading, no less.
‘Everyone would call me crazy, but I know the future.’
He maxed out the leverage and put money on KDISK coin rising.
‘If I invest for a week, this money will surge. After that, I can reinvest and won’t be short on funds.’
With that, his money worries were settled for now.
Since money was no longer a problem, he moved on to thinking about allies.
‘First, I need to survive the apocalypse with Dohun.’
The two brothers had no parents. The only person in the world he could absolutely trust was his younger brother.
‘But Dohun would never help me prepare for the apocalypse.’
Even if he told the pragmatic Dohun that he was a regressor and that the apocalypse was coming, he wouldn’t actively help. He’d say he understood and then focus on his own work.
‘I’ll have him stick with me when the apocalypse actually starts. For the preparation phase, I’ll work with Dongwoo.’
The trustworthy guy who came to mind was Lee Dongwoo, a good-natured younger friend who lived in the same neighborhood.
—
He went to Dongwoo’s house, a ten-minute walk from his own.
“Hyung? What’s up?”
Lee Dongwoo greeted him with a smile. This guy was always smiling.
“Didn’t you go to work at the bathhouse today?”
“Hehehe, I did go to the bathhouse. But the owner said there were no customers, so he told me to leave early.”
Lee Dongwoo was kind but a bit slow. Not stupid, but he had borderline intellectual disability. So after graduating high school, he got a job at a factory but couldn’t adapt, and now he worked as a scrubber at a bathhouse.
“Hey, let’s eat. My treat.”
“You’re buying? Thanks, hyung!”
Kang Dohyun took Lee Dongwoo to a nearby pork belly restaurant.
—
Ssizzz...
The pork belly started sizzling golden on the grill. Kang Dohyun talked with Dongwoo over meat and alcohol.
“Dongwoo, do you trust what I say?”
“Yeah, I trust you. Absolutely.”
Dongwoo had also lost both parents. Before his mother passed away, the people who were with her at the end were Kang Dohyun and Kang Dohun. She had asked the brothers to look after Dongwoo.
‘Take care of him like he’s your own brother.’
‘Don’t worry. I already think of him as a brother.’
Since they had been close since childhood, Dohyun regarded Dongwoo as a second younger brother.
“I’ll believe anything except if you ask me to co-sign a loan. Mom told me never to co-sign.”
“Okay, then how about we work together?”
“On what?”
Dongwoo asked, and Dohyun answered calmly.
“Just do what I tell you to do. I’ll pay you a salary.”
“Got it. As long as it’s not a crime, I’ll do whatever you say.”
Seeing Dongwoo agree immediately, Dohyun said,
“Good. I’ll take care of you.”
“Hehehe, don’t say stuff like that, just make sure you pay me well. Let’s drink.”
And so the two ate pork belly and drank soju.
—
Starting the next day, Dohyun executed his plans and began full-scale preparations.
“What? You’re quitting?”
“Yes. I’ll work for one more week and then leave.”
He quit his job. It was a decent small-to-medium company with a good work-life balance, though the pay wasn’t high. Now he had no reason to stay.
The department manager tried to hold onto Dohyun, who was good at his work, but he only handed over his tasks and resigned immediately.
After quitting, he focused on investing and preparing for the apocalypse. A week later —
‘3,017,253,122 won.’
“Hahaha.”
With crypto futures trading, he had made a whopping 3 billion won. He felt good, but...
‘In two months, this money will be toilet paper.’
Once the apocalypse began, the value of money would plummet. No, it would disappear.
‘Still, money is good for preparations.’
Dohyun set aside a portion for reinvestment and moved the rest to a regular account.
After looking into bases, he chose a moderately sized uninhabited island off the coast of Chungnam Province.
“This island is on the market cheap right now. Just 500 million won.”
An uninhabited island for 500 million. It was a decent size, but honestly a bit expensive. However, Dohyun had survived long in the apocalypse before regressing, so he had good judgment. He went for it boldly.
“Yes, I’ll buy it. I’d like to sign the contract tomorrow.”
“Oh my! Sir! I’ll prepare everything for the contract tomorrow!”
There was no need to haggle over money that would become worthless anyway. The important thing now was to waste as little time as possible.
Once he purchased the island to use as a base, the next steps moved even faster.
“You want to buy a boat? A small one? The market price is...”
“What? You want to buy 1,000 units of combat rations? Ah! And you’re considering additional purchases?”
“Sir, I’m calling to confirm the items you ordered. Ah? You confirm the 35 million won worth of materials and construction supplies? Yes, the delivery address is this island, correct? Understood.”
He quickly bought everything he could legally purchase from various places.
“If you get me these medicines, you’ll give me a 10% commission? Got it. I’ll find a way to get them.”
“Ten crossbows and 3,000 bolts... If you pay 20 million, I’ll somehow get them for you.”
“That item is hard to get domestically, but if you pay a lot, I’ll find a way.”
For harder-to-get items, he contacted brokers and secured them by paying extra.
“You want to build a prefab house on the island? Ah! For 500 million, I’ll do it for sure.”
“I can install solar power equipment. If you pay extra, of course I’ll do it quickly.”
He rapidly built a self-sufficient power system and a house on the uninhabited island.
The saying that there’s nothing money can’t do in South Korea proved true.
In just one month, on an island about ten minutes from the mainland, a house was built, a self-sufficient power system was completed, and a well was dug to secure drinking water.
And the food and supplies purchased with over 3 billion won were stored in a small bunker on the island.
—
December 26, 2025.
Kang Dohyun came to the uninhabited island with Dongwoo.
“Here, this is where we’ll be staying for a while.”
“Hyung, is this really your island?”
“Yeah.”
What Dohyun asked of Dongwoo was to stay on this island together for a while, and —
“From here to there, let’s turn it into a field.”
— to prepare for farming.
The two worked hard for five days preparing the farm.
To make fields, they leveled the ground, spread purchased soil and fertilizer, and built a small vinyl greenhouse using steel frames. It was hard work, but Dongwoo followed Dohyun’s instructions without complaint. Watching him, Dohyun asked seriously,
“Hey, do you really believe everything I say?”
“Well, you’re my hyung. Of course I trust you.”
Because of his borderline intelligence, Dongwoo had been taken advantage of by many people. So he was naturally distrustful of people, but once he trusted someone, he trusted them completely.
“Hey, I’ll make you rich and successful!”
“Hahaha, hyung, just buy me lots of meat later.”
Dongwoo laughed and prepared the farm according to Dohyun’s instructions.
—
December 31, 2025.
During the day, they prepared the farm. In the evening, the two sat in the house on the uninhabited island, drinking beer and chatting lightly.
“Hyung, why didn’t Dohun come?”
“He said he’s busy.”
Dohyun had suggested his brother come to the island too to prepare for the apocalypse. But —
‘Hyung, I’m busy. It’s the final phase of my project.’
When his brother firmly refused, Dohyun told him the apocalypse was coming, but —
‘Hahaha, you must have been reading too many web novels. Why would the apocalypse happen? Funny joke. Hahaha.’
He took it as a joke. Dohyun tried several more times seriously, even confessing that he was a regressor, but —
‘I believe you, hyung. I really do. But this project is about trust. I have to finish it even if the apocalypse comes.’
In the end, he had to leave his brother behind in Suwon.
‘I left him a month’s worth of food and supplies. He’ll be fine.’
He set aside his worries about his brother.
The two ate dinner and drank beer until late. Then they checked the clock.
‘11:50.’
Kang Dohyun began to feel tense.
‘When the apocalypse starts, some people will turn into zombies.’
According to his memories from before the regression, he and his brother Dohun had not become zombies. But he had no memory of Dongwoo.
‘Gulp.’
He grabbed a new beer can. If Dongwoo turned into a zombie, he would have to deal with him immediately. Sorry, but it had to be done.
Midnight.
The apocalypse will now begin.
As expected, a message appeared simultaneously for everyone.
“Whoa!”
Dongwoo was startled.
“Hyung, do you see the letters in front of your eyes?”
“Yeah, I see them.”
“What is this?”
“A system message.”
He didn’t know what kind of system it was or who had created it. But this cruel system —
10% of all humans will turn into zombies.
“What? Zombies?”
First, it turned 10% of humans into zombies. And fortunately —
“Phew...”
Dongwoo had not turned into a zombie either. It was a relief that he hadn’t had to watch Dongwoo transform from the very start.