Has-Beens

When Kang Jaeha and the man in the suit stood facing each other, the woman’s voice came again. This time, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠both of them heard it.

Again with the fighting. Had that damn woman gotten a taste for mocking people? Kang Jaeha narrowed his brow and waited a little longer. The man in the suit did the same. But the woman’s voice never came again.

It seemed the announcement really was over, just as she had said.

He looked at the man standing before him in the suit. The man who, in another world, had once been a subordinate in his mercenary company.

Absolute Obedience? That surprised me, but it’s interesting.

Kang Jaeha had recently been having nightmares about the other world. The man in the suit had appeared in them too, with half his neck cut open. He had actually died that way. In any case, the fact that a subordinate like that had appeared here in reality, not in the other world, and the fact that some woman’s voice had brought up something called Absolute Obedience, all of it felt absurdly out of nowhere.

There had been no warning, so Jaeha’s thoughts were a little tangled. The man in the suit seemed similarly baffled, scratching his head.

“Damn it, how the hell is this supposed to work? So what you’re saying is, if I don’t obey the commander, I die?”

“You won’t die.”

“It said Absolute Obedience has been applied. If I start acting up in front of the commander, I’m dead meat, right?”

He had been one of the smarter men in the mercenary company, which was full of idiots. That was probably why he caught on quickly.

“If I betray you or attack the commander, I die too.”

“That part’s right. If that woman was talking sense.”

“Hmm—”

The man in the suit recalled one of the lines from the female voice. Rubbing his chin, he spoke again.

“Looks like I can stand here because of you, commander.”

“Anyway, you won’t die. I’m just telling you to live well, and then you live well. That’s all.”

“I guess so?”

“More importantly.”

Jaeha looked around, then noticed a small park nearby and led the man in the suit toward it.

“Come with me. We need to talk.”

“Sure. If I don’t follow, I die.”

Jaeha answered flatly.

“You want to?”

The man in the suit must have realized his mistake, because he shook his head at once.

“...Just kidding. Just kidding. Your temper’s exactly the same.”

A few minutes later, Kang Jaeha and the man in the suit were sitting on a wooden bench, more or less. Jaeha rustled through the plastic bag in his hand and handed him an energy drink he’d bought at a convenience store.

“Thanks, boss.”

“That’s strange.”

“Yeah, it is strange.”

Looking at one of his subordinates, Jaeha felt as if he had slipped back into the other world.

It feels like shit. And like I miss it.

With that strange feeling lingering, Kang Jaeha grew cold and practical again.

First, let’s sort out what’s going on.

After opening his energy drink, he asked, “What happened to the scar on your cheek?”

“That wasn’t there originally. I got it in the other world. As for you, commander—did you get smaller? You lost all your muscle too.”

“I’m the same as you. I bulked up over there.”

Jaeha almost called the man by his name from the other world, then changed his mind.

“What’s your name here?”

“Lee Chanhoo. It’s my real name, but it sounds weird as hell.”

“How old are you?”

“Thirty-five.”

“I figured you’d be older than me.”

“Did we ever do anything while caring about age?”

“Fair enough.”

Lee Chanhoo had small, narrow eyes and short hair. His manner of speech was rough and a little streetwise, but with Jaeha he was oddly respectful. That was probably because of Absolute Obedience, but he had always been like that. Jaeha tossed him another question.

“Tell me the process. How did you wake up here again?”

After crushing the empty can in his hand, Chanhoo rubbed his chin.

“Let’s see... I died in the war.”

“You did.”

“I thought that was the end of it, too. Once I was actually dead, I don’t remember much. Then a few days ago, my eyes just popped open. When I opened them, I was here, where I’d always lived.”

“How were you summoned?”

“I was just on my way to work, and then the world split apart. After that, I was in the other world.”

The way he crossed over into that world was almost identical to Jaeha’s.

“How many people were summoned with you?”

“Huh? Just me. Wasn’t it the same for you, commander?”

It hadn’t been. Kang Jaeha had been summoned with nearly twenty others. Aside from that, almost everyone had died early on. At that, Chanhoo narrowed his already thin eyes even more and looked at Jaeha.

“If I’d known the commander was someone from this world—no, never mind.”

He broke off, then let out a snort of laughter.

“What, no need to tell anyone? There’d be no point in making it known anyway? Same as me, I guess. The language was different, but somehow we still understood each other. If you’re going to live there for good, hiding it would be the right call.”

“...”

That was true. Kang Jaeha had also given up on the idea of returning to his original life sometime around his fifth year in the other world. For a moment, he drifted back into the past, then changed the subject.

“How many years did you live in the other world?”

“A little over a decade, give or take.”

For Jaeha, the first four years in that world had been almost hell itself. Survival had been a constant, miserable ordeal. Then he had joined the mercenary company. Lee Chanhoo had first joined around the time Jaeha had been living in that world for seven years.

He must have gone ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠through every kind of hardship before reaching the company too.

Then, around the time Jaeha had been commander for fifteen years, Chanhoo had died on the battlefield. It had been a major war. One city had been erased in a single day.

“You said you suddenly woke up a few days ago.”

“Yeah. Just like that.”

Having gathered what he needed, Kang Jaeha crossed his arms and sorted through the pieces in his head.

Let’s assume the summon date is random. That doesn’t matter much.

Jaeha had been summoned with about twenty people, and they had all died. Chanhoo, on the other hand, had been alone. It seemed the number of people summoned varied.

The mercenary company had a lot of members.

That meant people died there in ridiculous numbers. Judging by Chanhoo’s case, there was a good chance some of those summoned into this world had come from here too.

Chanhoo probably died before me and drifted around as a soul or a mind, and then when I returned, he woke up here with me.

Whether they died early or late, if there were others summoned from this world, they would likely have awakened in the same way as Chanhoo.

What about the woman’s voice? Is there a difference?

The female voice had tossed Jaeha a number of clues: goal completion, return, pension program, real-world adaptation project, longest survival, special privilege, Absolute Obedience, and more. It meant he had been the final survivor, the one who had achieved the only real accomplishment.

“When you woke up here, what did that woman’s voice say?”

“Something like ‘return confirmed’ and ‘keep taking care of the bonus life you received’? Then she said fighting.”

“That’s it?”

“That’s it.”

Simple. Jaeha’s had been much longer. Which meant Chanhoo had probably not received a pension program or any special privileges. It could still have been a lie, but for now that seemed unlikely. The burden of dying from Absolute Obedience was too heavy, and Chanhoo would need information too.

At any rate.

I’m the last one left at the very end. There are quite a few people who were summoned to the other world, but only those connected to the mercenary company seem to have woken up here with me. That’s what the information suggests.

The strongest proof was one of the woman’s lines.

That was the kind of line she had used. And she had even given a special privilege while saying something about meeting comrades, so it was probably almost 100 percent. It was dangerous to be certain, but for now that was the most plausible conclusion. That was as far as the information they had gathered took them. With that rough answer in hand, Jaeha crossed one leg over the other and said to Chanhoo, “I think there’ll be more than just you.”

“Right? If it’s a bonus life created because of the commander, then it’d be the guys who were in the mercenary company.”

He really was quick on the uptake. Jaeha let out a small laugh and asked back, “Anyone come to mind?”

“You think the mercenary company was some little corner shop? If there’d only been a dozen or so people, maybe. But there were hundreds. How am I supposed to predict that?”

“Fair enough.”

“Anyway, that means all those hundreds are potential candidates.”

Who else might be out there? As far as Jaeha remembered, there had been plenty of useful, capable people besides Chanhoo. They had all died after losing their heads, limbs, or both.

It’d be interesting to gather them and build an organization suited to this world.

The idea flashed through his mind, but Jaeha quickly shook his head. There was no urgent need to hunt them down right away.

If they were human beings from this world, like Chanhoo, then they must have their own lives here too. Jaeha had his own life, didn’t he? Meeting him would only place Absolute Obedience on them. A faint smile touched his mouth.

“There’s no need to force a search. Not unless I happen to run into them like I ran into you.”

“Why not?”

“Why do you think, you punk? They’re living their own lives, aren’t they?”

“Doesn’t seem like they’d be living those lives comfortably,” Chanhoo said.

“Go on.”

Chanhoo tossed the crushed can onto the ground with a sharp snap and shrugged.

“I quit my company today too, after tearing the place apart.”

Jaeha pointed to the can lying on the ground with a finger.

“Pick it up.”

“...Yes, sir.”

“You were an office worker?”

“As you can see.”

“What kind of company?”

“A tiny-ass production company.”

A production company? In a way, it was similar to Jaeha’s line of work. Still, nothing strange about that. Korea was overflowing with production companies of every kind.

“A production company, huh. So why did you quit?”

“I’d been there over six years, and I was already a has-been anyway. People above me kept tearing me down, and newcomers kept walking all over me. Then I got summoned to the other world and forgot all of that. When I woke up again, I figured I’d better go to work first thing, but it was a damn nightmare.”

The word has-been made Jaeha’s brow tighten slightly.

“You couldn’t adjust?”

“Could I? I lasted one day, then I had a proper blowout with the boss and walked out a little while ago.”

Jaeha could imagine it well enough. He himself had not had an easy time the moment he came back either. He had even had to put Rayoon in her place. Jaeha, at least, was adapting in his own way, but Chanhoo clearly was not.

Chanhoo let out a long sigh.

“After spending more than ten years killing, cutting, and crushing things, then waking up here again, do you think that’s fun? Commander, are you actually managing to do this?”

“More or less.”

“That’s because the commander’s weird. Come to think of it, you always were a strange one. Still, anyone who came back here besides me probably wouldn’t be thrilled either. Honestly, I’m just glad I ran into the commander here.”

When Chanhoo had served under Jaeha, he had been part of the assassination squad. The kind of man who could send someone to the afterlife without a sound. It honestly didn’t make sense that a bastard like that was functioning at a normal company again.

“So what about you, commander? What’s your job here?”

“A useless manager in my fourth year.”

The moment he heard it, Chanhoo laughed hard.

“Ah, damn, that doesn’t suit you at all. A manager? You mean the kind who handles celebrities? The commander who used to go out for a morning walk and come back after ripping the throats out of four or five monsters?”

“You want to die?”

“...No. I want to live.”

But then his eyes sharpened. “Still, commander, aren’t you going to tell me anything? I heard all that stuff about special privileges and whatnot earlier, so it looks like you brought back something a hell of a lot more impressive than me.”

“You don’t need to know.”

“That’s cold.”

“If you don’t like it, you should’ve been the commander.”

“I can’t do that. Not something just anyone can do.”

Jaeha checked the time and stood up from the bench, leaving Chanhoo looking startled.

“Huh? You’re leaving?”

“Yeah. I came out from work.”

“Man, that’s surreal. Never thought I’d hear the word work come out of the commander’s mouth.”

“Your number.”

“Huh?”

“Give me your number.”

Chanhoo took Jaeha’s phone and punched in his number quickly. Jaeha shoved the phone into his back pocket and said shortly, “Let’s split here for now.”

“Sounds good.”

“Live well, got it?”

It was because of Absolute Obedience. If Jaeha ordered it, Chanhoo only had to live well, and he wouldn’t have to worry about dying even if he never saw Kang Jaeha again for the rest of his life. But Chanhoo didn’t seem inclined to do that.

“Nah, just call me sometime. I’m unemployed anyway. We can have a drink and chew over those old memories of the days when we were cutting people’s heads off.”

“Do that, then. Not booze, though. Wait here a second. I might have something for you to do. Ever thought about running a company?”

“Sure, before I got summoned to the other world.”

“Good.”

Just as he was turning away, Jaeha paused and asked one last question.

“Lee Chanhoo. What about your ability? In the other world, or here.”

The question was whether he had something like Déjà vu. Chanhoo didn’t answer right away. After about ten seconds of silence, he smiled and spoke.

“I’m good at finding people, if I’ve got clear information.”

After that, Jaeha parted ways with Chanhoo and returned to Yoon Dayeon’s set. The moment he saw him, the plump chief manager Kim Daeyong came right over.

“Jaeha, why did you take so long?”

“I ran into someone I know.”

When Jaeha handed over what he’d bought to road manager Ryu Jinwoo, Yoon Dayeon, who looked as though she’d just finished filming and had changed clothes, glared at him.

“What is this? What kind of manager disappears when someone’s looking for him?”

“Did you look for me?” Jaeha asked. “Why?”

Dayeon flinched, then quickly changed her tune.

“N-no! I wasn’t looking for you! I was looking for my drink!”

“Same thing.”

“What are you talking about? You went off to have fun, and now you’re back? Just give me my drink!”

As if it were perfectly natural, she held out her hand. Chief manager Kim Daeyong laughed heartily and moved to help her, but Jaeha stopped him and pointed behind him.

“It’s over there. Pick whichever one you want.”

If it had been usual, the crazy lunatic Yoon Dayeon would not have looked out of place throwing a fit over it.

“...”

She shot him a fierce look, then snorted and picked a drink before storming off. She was probably going to the restroom. It felt like she was holding back because she knew she owed Jaeha one. Kim Daeyong stared with widened eyes, a little flustered.

“W-why were you like that with Dayeon?”

Jaeha gave a shrug and answered indifferently, “She needs to be pushed on things like this if Yoon Dayeon is going to change.”

“Change? Dayeon?”

“Yes. People only change when they’re uncomfortable.”

Kim Daeyong looked at Jaeha as if wondering, What exactly is he planning now?

Then.

-Buzzz, buzzzz.

Jaeha’s phone vibrated for ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠a long time. He checked it without much thought. The screen showed an unknown number.

“Yes, this is Kang Jaeha.”

The moment he answered, a slightly trembling female voice came through the phone.

“...Manager. It’s An Jihee.”

It was the washed-up trainee An Jihee, the one Jaeha had recommended as an actress.

“What do I need to do if I want to become an actress?”