Chapter 35: Fucking Bitch
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 35: Fucking Bitch
“...What about Si-ho?”
“I handled it. It was a pain, but it's done.”
He turned to me, his expression weary once again.
“For the record, you were already dead by then. And you didn’t even know the kid or Ha Seo-ho.”
He said it as if to reassure me.
“So there’s a good chance it won’t happen the same way this time. A lot has changed. Besides…”
“Yeah,” I cut in. “I won’t let it happen.”
“I’d expect nothing less from you.”
After hearing that, there was no way I’d let Si-ho and Seo-ho suffer that fate.
Seeing my resolve, Baeksan nodded as if he’d already expected it.
But the problem was, nothing had actually been resolved.
I didn’t know the details of what Kwak Sa-yeon had done, but if she was going to try it again, I had to stop her.
Just like that crazy bitch to be a complete and utter detriment to everyone’s lives.
“So, how did you get tangled up with her in the first place?”
I wondered if Baeksan, despite being from the future, didn't know about my past entanglements.
In response to his question, I began to calmly explain everything that had happened with Kwak Sa-yeon.
By the time I finished, his face was twisted in a grimace.
“What a fucking bitch.”
“That’s one hell of a curse.”
It was strangely satisfying to hear.
At the same time, Baeksan swept his bangs back, a look of realization dawning on his face.
“Damn it. Right. I knew something was off. You’ve always been dense, but I don’t remember you being this bad.”
Why was I suddenly the one getting insulted?
Putting that aside, the way he was comparing the me he remembered to the me of today suggested that in his timeline, I never had that trouble with Kwak Sa-yeon.
Or perhaps I’d resolved it differently.
He did say my sister was with me back then.
Back then, I had no one to stand with me and speak the truth.
If just one person had been there, things might have turned out differently.
“You got burned, and badly. It’s no wonder you were oblivious to everything happening around you. Your self-esteem was shot to hell. And on top of that, whenever talented people approached you, your mind was just slammed with PTSD because of that fucking bitch. Of course you wouldn't end up with a harem.”
Was he insulting me or Kwak Sa-yeon?
As I stared at him, utterly confused, Baeksan stopped muttering and snorted.
“So, what should I do about Kwak Sa-yeon?” I muttered to myself.
“Just kill her,” Baeksan replied nonchalantly.
“Oh, I like that.”
And I readily agreed.
She was the one woman who had ever made me genuinely want to kill someone.
It was an excellent, truly outstanding suggestion.
The only problem was that we live in a world where you get arrested for acting on homicidal urges.
So what if I… changed the world? Would that work?
“Even if you ended up in prison, Baek Seol-hyang would just bail you out,” Baeksan said, as if reading my mind.
“Why would Miss Baek Seol-hyang do that for me?”
“Because…”
He trailed off, stroking his chin.
Then he clicked his tongue as if to say, ‘forget it,’ and changed the subject.
“Never mind that. But I’ll tell you this now: that woman, Baek Seol-hyang, she probably had a vague sense of my existence even before I showed up.”
“What? How?”
“The ability she possesses is that sort of thing. But she probably doesn’t know I’m a regressor, or that my name is Baeksan.”
He sounded like he knew Baek Seol-hyang well.
“Besides, don’t you think the kid told her what happened while she was unconscious? It’s only natural she’d realize something was going on.”
I couldn’t deny it.
Even without asking Si-ho, just by reviewing the incident, Baek Seol-hyang would have had more than enough reason to suspect there was something more to me.
Anyone would find me suspicious.
Suddenly, I have returnee acquaintances.
I rescue Si-ho from other returnees and even defeat them.
I've gone so far beyond the scope of a normal person it's almost laughable.
It was only natural for Baek Seol-hyang to be suspicious of me; I couldn’t blame her.
Was that why she approached me in the first place?
But her kindness seemed too genuine for that.
Baek Seol-hyang had never once looked at me with suspicion.
Her eyes were always filled with kindness whenever she looked at me.
Besides, since she heard the whole story from Si-ho, she had every opportunity to ask me about it.
So why hadn’t she said anything?
I remembered how she had stopped Si-ho from talking.
For some reason, it seemed like she didn’t want to discuss it with me.
“In any case, do you really think she’d let a suspicious guy like you—with me attached, no less—rot in a prison cell? She’d do whatever it takes to get you out.”
I didn’t fully grasp the situation, but Baeksan just patted my shoulder and grinned.
“So? What do you say?”
C’mon, give it a try.
Baeksan's temptation was as casual as someone suggesting a stroll around the block.
What a cunning bastard.
They say most people have an angel on one shoulder and a devil on the other. Why do I only have the devil?
Wait a minute. On second thought, Kwak Sa-yeon's death would be a contribution to society, wouldn't it?
Suddenly, Baeksan was starting to look like an angel.
“Agh! Stop it, you devil! Get out of my head!”
“You idiot.”
I yelled, shaking my head wildly. Baeksan just stared at me with a look of pity. I cleared my throat and tried to pull myself together.
“I need some realistic advice, please, Mr. Regressor.”
My desire for revenge was one thing, but the most important task at hand was solving the root problem.
Would simply killing Kwak Sa-yeon resolve everything involving Seo-ho and Si-ho?
No.
The most fucked-up thing about cockroaches is that they lay eggs everywhere before they die.
Killing one doesn't get rid of the infestation. The same applied to Kwak Sa-yeon.
I had to crush the problem from the inside out, thoroughly.
If I didn’t, Si-ho would end up destroying the world.
Making that woman bow her head before me would have to wait until after that was handled.
Baeksan stared at me for a moment before clicking his tongue.
“You’re right. Just killing her outright would be too lazy.”
So the conclusion is still to kill her, huh.
“Fine. I’ll tell you another way to screw her over beforehand.”
He spoke crudely, but at the end of the day, Baeksan was on my side.
He was consistently giving me advice to steer me in the right direction.
Even as he went on about how my death would trigger the apocalypse, the kindness he occasionally showed me was real.
“Like I said, Kwak Sa-yeon will soon team up with Girasung to help distribute artificial dimensional gates. This was pieced together later from circumstantial evidence, but it’s a sure thing, especially since the chairman’s son supposedly opposed bringing them in.”
“Artificial dimensional gates?”
“You haven’t seen the news? They’re gates opened using laptops or phones.”
“I’ve seen one.”
I’d seen the articles, and I’d seen one with my own eyes.
The laptop from the day I was with Kkotbi.
But artificial dimensional gates…
“You’re saying someone is opening these gates on purpose?”
“Yeah. It’s Girasung’s doing.”
What the hell was that organization up to?
I knew they were criminals, but this was crazier than I’d imagined. I was dumbfounded.
“What’s their goal?”
“Their goal is—^$*… Shit, it’s blocked.”
Baeksan cursed, clawing at his mouth as he tried to force the words out.
It seemed that, just like before, some force was preventing him from speaking.
“Damn it. So, Kwak Sa-yeon is going to try and distribute Girasung’s artificial gates through JMC. She’ll maximize the byproducts from the gates to build her wealth and position within the company. Then, with Girasung backing her and the profits she’s made, she’ll eventually oust Kwak Do-reon.”
"So if I catch her dealing with Girasung..."
"The World Returnee Association has the right to eliminate Girasung members on sight. The moment she makes a deal with them, she's considered one of them. That means summary execution becomes legally justifiable."
Legal execution…
That would certainly be enough to send Kwak Sa-yeon straight to hell.
"Does she really want the JMC chairmanship that badly?"
"Beats me. I only saw the compiled data. The one thing I do know is that she was so obsessed with Ha Seo-ho that she didn't even hesitate to stalk him."
A certified crazy bitch, in my expert opinion.
“I don’t know the exact timing, but it’ll be around when the news about the artificial gates breaks. She’ll probably make contact soon.”
“That’s too uncertain to use as leverage. Besides, I’m an ordinary person, not a returnee.”
My planned revenge on Kwak Sa-yeon was escalating in scale far beyond what I’d anticipated.
As I racked my brain, Baeksan just gave me a bored look.
Then, an idea struck me.
The ones who attacked Si-ho and me… they were from Girasung, too.
And one of them was currently in the custody of the World Returnee Association.
The other one had supposedly vanished.
“Baeksan, what happened to those Girasung members who attacked Si-ho and me? I heard the Japanese guy disappeared.”
“I killed him. He’s probably fish food by now.”
“Is killing your only solution for everything?”
“Are you trying to pick a fight?”
He scowled.
But Baek Seol-hyang had said the Russian one was still alive.
It might be worth pinning my hopes on her.
“Enough talk. Get into your stance. We’re starting again. We can finish this conversation later.”
As I seethed, determined to make her pay for the five years she’d ruined, Baeksan spoke.
We were at an exercise park on a nearby mountainside.
I was here for the training he’d mentioned.
We’d been interrupted by Seo-ho’s call, but I was ready to start again.
For the sake of my revenge, this training was absolutely necessary.
*
“Ha-chan!”
I looked up at the sound of the voice to see a girl with dyed-blonde hair who looked like a delinquent.
But that was just her appearance; on the inside, she was quite gentle. It was none other than Yoon Ji-eun.
It was my first day back at work in a while.
I’d arranged to meet her at a café and was waiting, tapping away at my laptop.
“What’s going on? Do you have any idea how worried I was when I heard you collapsed from overwork? I tried to visit, but the team leader didn’t even know which hospital you were in. Seriously! I was so anxious I didn’t know what to do.”
Ji-eun grumbled, pouting, before her expression softened into one of concern.
“You still look exhausted, don’t you? Your face is a mess. And you’re not even wearing your glasses.”
Sorry to say, but this exhaustion was from the training I did before work.
I’d only planned on a short session this morning, but it turned into absolute chaos.
Baeksan was laughing his head off, saying how fun it was, while I couldn’t control my power at all.
I seriously thought I was going to lose my mind.
Thanks to that ordeal, I looked like I’d aged ten years in a single day.
And in the middle of it all, Baeksan had announced he was taking a break and simply vanished.
Apparently, he could disappear from right in front of me whenever he felt like it.
“Anyway…”
Ji-eun’s concerned gaze shifted, landing on the girl sitting next to me, leaning against my side.
I was on a sofa, and for some reason, Si-ho—who had teleported in as usual—had been glued to my side the whole time.
Even when I tried to shift away, she’d just scoot right back, putting me in an awkward spot.
“Si-ho, why are you sitting there?”
For some reason, a sharp edge seemed to enter Ji-eun’s eyes.