I Regressed and Became the Stepbrother -1-
I Regressed and Became the Stepbrother -1-
I knew too much for my own good.
That was the cause of my death.
"Ignorant bastard. They said he was a tough one, and he really hasn't let out a single groan."
"Doesn't it stimulate your competitive spirit? How about a bet on who can make him scream?"
Eyes looking down at me.
My insides seethed with boiling rage.
"Whoa, look at those eyes. Terrifying."
"If you hadn't been abandoned by your family, you wouldn't have ended up like this."
I wanted to crush the faces in front of me right this instant, but I didn't have the strength left to mangle those mugs.
The pincer attack displayed by the corporate elite forces was overwhelming.
My limbs had already been turned into tattered rags.
"Enough! Stop wasting time with useless antics. Prepare to withdraw."
As the command fell, the unit members moved swiftly.
They tended to wounded comrades and incinerated the corpses.
Amidst the busy unit members running around, the man who had issued the order approached with a leisurely stride.
"Tsk tsk, you've seen and heard things while working, and yet you thought you could just resign? A guy who lost his background acted way too boldly."
He pulled out the handgun holstered at his waist and pulled back the slide.
Cheol-keok!
After finishing the reload with that sound, he aimed the muzzle at my head.
I wanted to spit out a curse at him, but my throat was clogged with blood, and no words would come out.
"Keok...! Keo-heok!"
"If you hated the field so much, you should have requested a department change by utilizing that memory of yours, which is supposed to be your specialty."
Was it a strange phenomenon experienced just before life ends?
The finger of the bastard pulling the trigger began to slow down inexplicably.
The time of the world stretched out viscously, like honey scooped up with a spoon.
Taaaang!
The bullet bursts forth from the muzzle.
As I watched the round racing toward the space between my brows, my consciousness flowed toward a direction it had been blocking.
A Wolf Girl with red hair flickered into my memory.
Even though it was a past from several years ago, and even though she was now a figure so prominent she was beyond my reach, she was so vivid.
─ Look at me properly. Do you really not know me? Does nothing come to mind even after hearing my name?
What kind of answer was that woman hoping to hear when she asked that?
A mass of questions swirled in my head.
'Is this a revolving lantern?'
The brief memory ended.
The world, which had slowed down and then completely stopped, began to spin, and all colors blended together.
The magic power in my entire body evaporated in an instant, and my vision blacked out like a light being switched off.
"!?"
When I opened my eyes again.
I had returned to the past.
..
..
"Goddammit."
It seems I have regressed to the past.
I don't know the trigger for the regression, but I recognized the timeline I dropped into immediately.
It was right before I submitted my resume to the corporation that became my grave.
[Cheonmyeong Pharmaceuticals Job Application]
[Applicant: Max Steiger]
[Applied Field: Guard and Security]
I cleanly deleted the written name and the attached files, then shut down the computer.
There, doubt arose again.
Regression? No way! It's too unrealistic.
Could I just be having a terrible nightmare?
"...Am I crazy?"
I stood up from the chair and slapped my own cheek.
Jjak! Jjak! I hit myself hard enough to make a satisfying sound.
Only a stinging heat and pain remained.
"Why didn't I die? How am I alive?"
I saw the lollipops I had bought in bulk to quit smoking.
When I unwrapped one and put it in my mouth, it tasted like pineapple.
Supplying sugar to my brain, which couldn't accept reality, I headed to the bathroom.
'I don't know, I just don't know.'
I looked into the mirror hanging in the bathroom.
My expression crumpled automatically at my familiar yet youthful face.
"Crazy... I've become a brat."
I reached out and grabbed the showerhead.
─ Swaaaaaa! I poured cold water over my head while still wearing my clothes.
"Pu-ha!"
My mind snapped awake.
'It's really not a dream?'
I feel pain, and I can taste.
On top of that, the sensation of being cold is vivid.
"..."
With my wet pants making cheol-peok cheol-peok sounds, I walked out of the bathroom.
Dripping with water.
I stood in the center of the cramped studio apartment. I tried once more to accept the unbelievable reality.
'I regressed?'
Unresolved questions, regrets, and revenge filled my head.
My innate memory wouldn't let me forget.
'Then... even if it's a fleeting dream, it's fine.'
I will resolve the questions, correct the regrets, and execute the revenge.
It's a wish and a dream that everyone has at least once.
A direction was established at once.
The absurd situation called regression was accepted.
Cheol-peok!
I sat down right where I was, still soaked.
As I sat cross-legged and observed my physical condition, my pathetic body gave me the vividness of reality.
'Not only is there no magic power, there isn't even a Rank. It's at a pathetic level.'
It was disastrous.
Even the desire to go to the bed and flop down evaporated.
'How did I survive on the outskirts of Heize with a body like this? Isn't the fact that I stayed alive until I found my aptitude more of a miracle than regression?'
The past me was the type who was brave because of ignorance.
If you knew even a little bit about the social structure, an ordinary person wouldn't even think about moving into a studio apartment on the outskirts, no matter how cheap it was.
'It seems miracles in life aren't limited to just regression.'
I moved from observation to meditation.
'Today, I'll start by grasping magic power.'
On the first day of regression, I reached Rank 1.
Since it was a stage I had already mastered in my previous life, there were no obstacles. If I had more magic power, Rank 2 would have been possible.
On the second day of regression, I left the studio and wandered around the neighborhood.
The public safety was at rock bottom and corpses rolled around in the alleys, but there were a few places that triggered nostalgia, which changed my mood.
Then, on the third day of regression, a phone call came.
I remembered what kind of call it was. I had been waiting for it.
I answered without hesitation.
"I'm on the line."
─ It's me.
"Yes."
A dry and heartless voice.
My father, as always, announced his business unilaterally.
He said he was getting remarried.
He had reserved a restaurant, so the call was to tell me to come tomorrow and greet my stepmother.
Unlike in the past, I didn't get worked up.
I calmly listened to the call until the end, and as soon as the conversation was over, I popped a lollipop into my mouth. This time, it was apple-flavored.
"Hmm."
Lying on the bed, I looked at the ceiling.
What choice should I make here?
It was already a crossroads where my life would change.
To be honest, I never considered my father to be a father.
I had lived away from the family since the day my mother passed away, and the father-son relationship had been the worst since the past.
'Still, should I go?'
In my previous life, I heard it and ignored it.
I received the contact but didn't go to the meeting, and I didn't look for news related to the family.
However, this was also one of the times I had passed by.
Under the conviction that I wouldn't be enraged like in my childish days even if I saw my father's face, curiosity was piqued.
A day passed, on the day of the appointment my father had dictated.
I took the subway and traveled for two hours.
[This station is District 14.]
It's the destination. I get off the subway.
As I exited the station and looked up, the buildings that had grown tall as if to devour the sky made my neck stiff.
The air was clear, and there was no smell of blood or sewers.
Seeing the pedestrians wearing metal accessories and holding their bags lightly, I could tell that the public safety was good.
'I never even came to District 14 before the regression.'
I don't know any of the districts in the 10s except for District 12, where the family is located.
Because it wasn't a district where you could do anything with just a decent income.
"Hmm."
I stopped my appreciation and took out my phone.
'The place where the restaurant is... Grand Lunatic Hotel.'
I moved diligently while looking at the map.
It seemed I wouldn't be late even if I didn't run.
While moving like that.
A voice that caught my steps was heard.
"Young man."
Turning my head, I saw an Old Man sitting at a table.
The sign he had hung up was impressive.
[Saju] [Tarot] [Palmistry] [Physiognomy]
[10,000 Credits]
I wondered why he called me, and it turned out to be solicitation.
These are things I don't believe in. I have no interest.
"I'm busy."
"Look here."
The Old Man slightly lifted his outer garment and showed a handgun.
His intention was clear. It was a familiar method.
'Fuck.'
Ah! He was a practitioner of the GUN-method!
He should have said so earlier.
It's absurd and fascinating that such a highwayman exists in District 14, where public safety is supposed to be good.
Perhaps it was because my appearance and clothing were far from luxurious that I was selected as a target.
'Even with a pathetic Rank 1, twisting an old man's neck should be... hm?'
Max stopped as he was about to use magic power to subdue the Old Man.
It was an action based on intuition.
'What kind of old man is he?'
He wasn't just an old man acting bold because he had a gun.
A strange extraordinary aura and chill lingered around him.
'I'm certain it's a face I've never seen before.'
Max suppressed the magic power he was about to use.
The Old Man smiled, baring his teeth as if satisfied.
"Young friend. You have good intuition."
"..."
"You're still debating whether it's okay to go to your appointment today, aren't you?"
Max's eyes twitched.
It was different from the questions fortune tellers usually throw out that apply to the vast majority.
He pierced through to the core as if he knew everything.
"Who are you?"
"Keke, that's not what's important, is it? Do you want to hear the answer?"
I made a judgment.
With the mind to hear the answer and the thought to deal with the situation appropriately, I rummaged through my pockets.
A Rank 1 loser should just donate 10,000 Credits and pass by? Of course, kiddo.
"I'm short on cash, do you take cards?"
"Of course."
The Old Man smiled brightly and pulled out a card terminal from under the desk.
I pay 10,000 Credits.
As proof, a receipt slid out, and my phone vibrated.
"Do you need the receipt?"
"I don't need it. Give me the answer."
The chuckling Old Man gave his answer.
"You absolutely have to go. Even if someone grabs you by the balls and holds you back, go."
It was an answer that felt refreshing yet shitty at the same time.
"Is that it?"
"Of course that's it."
"..."
"What are you doing just standing there? If you've heard the answer, hurry along. I have to take the next customer."
Max swallowed the sigh that was about to burst out and checked the time.
Certainly, I didn't have the leisure to be doing this with the Old Man.
'If I delay any further here, I might actually be late.'
I headed toward the hotel, leaving the suspicious Old Man behind.