Prologue: The Undercover Regresses
In an abandoned factory beneath a relentless downpour, Park Jaehyuk stood panting, drenched in blood. He gripped a blood-soaked sashimi knife in one hand and a hatchet in the other, eyes locked in a fierce glare at whatever lay ahead. Jaehyuk was an undercover police officer embedded deep within Gangryonghoe, South Korea's most powerful criminal syndicate.
Damn it... Where the hell did it all start to unravel? Just where...?
He slowly swept his gaze across the corpses scattered around him. Sorrow, guilt, and a storm of other emotions churned in his eyes.
Youngseok... Suho... Dongchul... I'm so sorry. Truly sorry...
They had stepped forward without hesitation to save him. Some, like him, had been undercover agents inside the syndicate. Beside him stood another man, equally drenched in blood, a sashimi knife clenched in his right hand.
"Haah... Guess it's just the two of us left."
Lee Jeonghan
Park Jaehyuk's Friend
Dozens of gangsters stood before the bloodied pair, weapons raised—sashimi knives, hatchets, iron pipes, and worse.
"You should've just walked away. Why did everyone make such stupid choices?"
Jaehyuk's voice carried a bitter mix of frustration, regret, and grief. Jeonghan gave a short laugh and answered.
"Yeah, why did they? Knowing full well it would end like this."
His tone held no trace of resentment. It was as if he carried zero regret for dying while helping a friend.
"We have to survive and get out of here. That way the others can rest easy."
With a solemn expression, Jeonghan twirled his knife so the blade pointed downward. Then he charged straight into the gangsters, carving a path of escape with every swing. Jaehyuk followed, plunging into the fray and mercilessly cutting down anyone who lunged at him.
Despite being outnumbered, the two men held the upper hand against the attackers. But stopping a tsunami is impossible. To make matters worse, reinforcements poured in to finish them off. Covered head to toe in fresh blood, Jeonghan spat a curse.
"Haah... You fucking bastards..."
A man in a gray suit stood among the gangsters, watching the pair with cold detachment. Late fifties, medium build, around five-foot-nine, with thick salt-and-pepper hair and black horn-rimmed glasses. He curled his lips into a sneer aimed at Jaehyuk.
"No matter how hard you struggle, nothing will change, Detective Park Jaehyuk."
Choi Kyungsoo
Second-in-Command of Gangryonghoe
Kyungsoo then turned to Jeonghan with open bewilderment.
"Chief Lee. I told you the moment you stepped into this world that friendship and loyalty were meaningless. So why throw your life away for a bastard like him?"
Jeonghan smirked, flipped him the middle finger, and answered with pure sarcasm.
"A pathetic loser like you would never understand anyway. You really need me to spell it out?"
"......Drown him."
At Kyungsoo's command, a man nodded. Slender jaw, sharp predatory eyes—he looked like a snake given human form. He drew a military knife and advanced on the pair.
Both men tensed instantly. Jaehyuk warned his friend in a low voice.
"Stay sharp. That's Ju Taeyeol."
"I know."
Taeyeol cracked his neck left and right, then lunged at Jeonghan first, knife flashing. Jeonghan dodged. Jaehyuk immediately followed up with a hatchet swing. Taeyeol deflected it with terrifying speed and countered with a slash aimed at Jaehyuk's throat.
Jaehyuk jerked backward, creating distance, and glared at his opponent.
That's right... You were the one. You killed my uncle...!!
The documents Jaehyuk had obtained on the syndicate confirmed it: his uncle, Detective Park Minho, had been investigating a cartel tied to Gangryonghoe. Choi Kyungsoo ordered the hit. Ju Taeyeol carried it out and staged the scene as suicide.
Remembering his uncle's death, Jaehyuk ground his teeth and charged again. The three became a whirlwind of steel and violence. More cuts opened across Jaehyuk and Jeonghan's bodies. Kyungsoo watched the brutal spectacle with the casual interest of a man enjoying a sports match and calmly lit a cigarette.
Damn it... No openings at all.
They fought with everything they had, but Taeyeol was on another level. Soon Jaehyuk took a slash to the side and dropped to one knee. Jeonghan rushed in to cover him, but it was pointless. Taeyeol blocked the incoming blade, knocked Jeonghan's arm aside, and drove an elbow into his jaw.
As Jeonghan staggered, Taeyeol flipped his knife into a reverse grip and drove the blade straight into his neck before ripping it free. Blood sprayed from the severed carotid artery. Jeonghan stumbled, then collapsed like a broken puppet.
The sight of his best friend's death hit Jaehyuk like a hammer. He stared, stunned. The shock lasted only a heartbeat. He gripped the hatchet so hard the handle creaked, then hurled himself at Taeyeol with everything he had left.
Even with the wound in his side, he attacked like a man with nothing to lose. But it was suicide. Taeyeol parried effortlessly and delivered two lightning-fast slashes across Jaehyuk's chest and throat.
A hot gush erupted from his neck. His vision blurred. Strength poured out of him like water through a sieve. He staggered, lost his balance, and fell.
In the fading world, Jaehyuk understood he was dying. A single bloody tear of pure resentment slid down his cheek.
Taeyeol stared down at them with ice-cold eyes, then sheathed his knife. After confirming both men were finished, Kyungsoo allowed himself a satisfied smile. He flicked his cigarette butt beside Jaehyuk's body.
"Keep the area locked down. When the rain stops, burn everything."
In his dimming sight, Jaehyuk looked at Jeonghan's corpse—eyes still wide open in death—and regret flooded him.
If only I had stopped your sister Suyeon's death back then... At least if I had talked you out of it... If I had done anything at all... Couldn't I have kept you from dying such a worthless death...?
After losing his younger sister, Jeonghan had walked the wrong path seeking revenge and eventually fallen into the darkness of Gangryonghoe. Jaehyuk had failed to stop him. He had failed to avenge his uncle and everyone else who mattered. Now, facing their killers, he was dying pathetically. The realization made fresh bloody tears spill from his eyes.
Is this really how it ends? This emptily...?
Park Jaehyuk's breath finally stopped.
"Jaehyuk. Hey, Park Jaehyuk."
Someone was shaking him. Jaehyuk's eyes snapped open. He lifted his head and looked around in confusion.
What? Where am I?
Students in school uniforms surrounded him. The one who had called his name asked again.
"You got the math notes organized?"
He had definitely been killed—throat slit by Ju Taeyeol's knife. Had he been rescued? Treated?
Jaehyuk ran his right hand over his neck, searching for a wound. Nothing. His body felt perfectly fine.
Wait. This place feels familiar. That uniform design... I've seen it before.
He turned to the student with a spark of desperate hope.
"Sorry, but... what year is it right now?"
The student gave him a look that screamed what kind of dumb question is that?
"It's 2019. Why?"
He had died in 2030. This was eleven years earlier.
This... Does this mean I've regressed eleven years?
The murdered undercover detective Park Jaehyuk had returned to his third year of high school, eleven years in the past.