The knife slid between my ribs before I even saw it coming.
I gasped, stumbling forward. My hand flew to my side, feeling the warm wetness spreading across my cheap cleaning uniform. Blood. My blood.
"Sung-min...?"
My best friend stood behind me, his hand still gripping the blade buried in my back. Kim Sung-min. Seven years of friendship. Seven years of cleaning dungeons together, sharing cheap soju after shifts, complaining about our shitty lives.
Only one question could form in my mind. "Why?"
"Sorry, Jin-woo hyung." His voice was calm. Almost apologetic. "Guild Master Kang made us an offer we couldn't refuse."
The dungeon floor was cold beneath my knees. When had I fallen? The stone was slick with moisture and now my blood, dark red pooling in the cracks between ancient tiles.
"Fifty million won each," Lee Tae-yang said from somewhere to my left. I could see his boots, steel-toed work boots just like mine. "If we bring him the artifact."
"You understand, right?" Choi Hyun-soo's voice. "It's just business."
Business. They were killing me for business.
I tried to speak, but only blood came out. My vision blurred. Three other pairs of boots surrounded me now, my entire cleaning crew. My friends.
"Should've kept your mouth shut about finding it," Jung Min-ho muttered. "Stupid bastard just had to announce it to everyone."
The S-rank artifact. The crystalline sphere we'd found in that hidden chamber yesterday. It had been pulsing with golden light, beautiful and terrible. The system had identified it immediately as:
[S-Rank Artifact - Unidentified].
I'd been so happy. So fucking happy.
This is it, I'd thought. This changes everything.
S-rank artifacts sold for billions. Billions. I could buy a house. Send Hae-won to a good school. Mi-young would be able to buy that designer bag she wanted. We could finally live like normal people instead of scraping by on a dungeon cleaner's salary.
I'd grabbed it first, stored it in my inventory before anyone could object.
Sung-min had suggested we report it to the guild, split the reward equally. I'd disagreed immediately. We would share it. We were friends. Brothers. I kept it in my inventory for safe keeping.
Except they'd already made a deal with someone else.
"The artifact," Sung-min said, crouching beside me. His face swam in and out of focus. When had he become so blurry? "Inventory. Now."
I tried to shake my head. Tried to resist. But he pressed something cold against my temple, probably an artifact and forced open my inventory interface. You could access an unconscious person's inventory with some artifacts, but they were expensive.
The golden sphere materialized in his hands.
"Got it," he said, standing. "Let's go. The monsters will finish him off."
"Wait." Lee Tae-yang stepped closer, looking down at me with something that might have been pity. Might have been disgust. "Shouldn't we make sure?"
"He's dead already," Choi Hyun-soo said. "Look at him. And we need to go before the dungeon resets."
Their voices faded. Footsteps echoed away into the darkness.
I was alone.
The dungeon was silent except for my ragged breathing and the distant growls of monsters in the deeper chambers. Ironic. I'd spent seven years cleaning up after hunters, mopping blood off dungeon floors, disposing of monster corpses. Now I'd become just another corpse to be disposed of.
Mi-young, I thought desperately. Hae-won.
I got up and ran at them screaming with nothing but pure desperation. Lee Tae-yang was the one with the knife now. He tried to stab me as I got close.
I activated my only skill. "Fission." A blue light glowed around my palm as I blocked the knife with my palm. The blade instantly split from the handle of the knife. While they were confused. I grabbed the Artifact and used a return stone to teleport back to the dungeon entrance.
My wife. My daughter. I had to get home. We have to get moving
My hand moved on its own, fumbling at my belt. There. A small vial. Minor health potion. I kept one hidden for emergencies, separate from my main inventory. Sung-min hadn't noticed it.
I bit off the cork with my teeth and swallowed the red liquid. It tasted like copper and chemicals and false hope.
I don't remember the walk out. Don't remember calling a taxi or giving my address. The next thing I knew, I was standing in front of my apartment door, swaying on my feet.
Home. Safe.
I fumbled with my keys and pushed the door open.
Guild Master Kang Hyun-woo was sitting on my couch.
My wife, Yoon Mi-young, stood beside him. Not sitting. Standing. Close. Too close.
My daughter—my Hae-won—was playing on the floor with an expensive tablet I definitely hadn't bought.
Time seemed to slow.
Mi-young saw me first. Her eyes widened, but not with concern. Not with fear for her injured husband.
With annoyance.
"You're still alive?" she said flatly. "Those idiots couldn't even do this right."
The words didn't make sense. I stared at her, blood still seeping through my uniform, trying to understand.
"Mi-young... what...?"
"The artifact, Jin-woo." Guild Master Kang stood, and I finally recognized him. S-rank Hunter. Leader of Steelheart Guild. The guild I worked for as a cleaner. My boss's boss's boss. "Where is it?"
"I don't..." My head was spinning. "Mi-young, what is he talking about?"
She sighed. Actually sighed, like I was being difficult. "I told Sung-min about the artifact."
Silence.
The words hung in the air between us, impossible and true.
"You... told him?"
"Did you really think I'd stay with a poor E-rank cleaner forever?" Mi-young crossed her arms. She was wearing makeup. Expensive makeup. When had she started wearing makeup at home? "I met Hyun-woo ten years ago at a guild event, he was umm... taken then. He's S-rank. Rich. Handsome."
Ten years ago?
"I never wanted to marry you, Hyun-woo told me to wait for him. What can a single girl do?" She continued, each word a knife twisting deeper than Sung-min's blade ever could. "This seemed like a good opportunity."
"But..." I looked at Hae-won, my little girl, still playing with her tablet, not even looking at me. "Hae-won..."
"She's not yours," Kang said simply.
The world tilted.
"We did a paternity test last year," Mi-young said. She wasn't even looking at me anymore. Just examining her nails like this was boring. "Hae-won is Hyun-woo's daughter. You raised another man's child for ten years, Jin-woo."
Ten years.
I'd been there when she was born. Held her in the hospital. Changed her diapers. Taught her to walk. Read her bedtime stories every night even when I was exhausted from work.
"Hae-won? Come on. This is the part where you say its just a prank and you show me the hidden cameras right?"" I whispered.
She glanced at me briefly, then away. Like I was a stranger. "Appa is here," she said, pointing at Kang.
Appa. Dad.
She called him dad.
Something inside me broke. Not my body—the health potion had healed that enough to function. Something deeper. Something that had been barely holding together through seven years of poverty and disappointment and false smiles.
Everything was a lie.
My marriage. My daughter. My friends. Every single person I'd trusted.
All of it. Lies.
"I'll make this quick," Kang said, standing. His aura flared—S-rank mana pressure that made the air itself feel heavy. "You've suffered enough. For what it's worth, you were a decent husband and a decent father."
I didn't fight back. Didn't even try. What was the point?
Kang raised his hand. Fire coalesced into a massive lance, compressed and deadly. [Flame Lance - S-Rank]. I'd seen him use it before, from a distance, during guild demonstrations.
It was beautiful, in a terrible way.
"Goodbye, Jin-woo."
The lance pierced through my chest. Through my heart. Instant death, they said. S-rank skills killed so fast you barely felt pain.
They were wrong.
I felt everything.
As I fell, as darkness closed in, my last thoughts weren't of revenge or anger.
They were simpler than that.
If I could go back...
If I had another chance...
I wouldn't be weak.
I wouldn't trust anyone.
But there were no second chances.
Only regrets.
Only darkness.
Only—
I couldn't breathe.
My hands flew to my neck. There was something there—rough fiber, tight, cutting into my skin. A rope. A noose.
Pressure. Terrible pressure. My feet kicked at nothing, finding only air.
I was hanging.
What the fuck!
Panic overrode thought. My fingers clawed at the rope around my throat, trying to find purchase, trying to pull myself up. The world was going dark again, my vision narrowing to a tunnel.
No. No, I didn't survive being stabbed and burned alive just to die like this—
My hands found the rope above my head. I pulled, taking weight off my neck, gasping for air that burned going down.
Above me, something creaked ominously.
The ceiling fan I was hanging from—cheap, old, barely maintained—was pulling free from its mount.
CRACK.
The mount gave way entirely. I crashed to the floor in a tangle of limbs and rope, the ceiling fan clattering down beside me.
I tore the noose off my neck, gasping, choking, alive.
Alive.
I lay there on the cold floor, staring up at the water-stained ceiling, at the broken fan mount still dangling wires.
"What... the hell...?"
This wasn't my apartment. Wrong ceiling. Wrong walls. Wrong everything.
I sat up slowly, my hands shaking.
These weren't my hands.
Young. Smooth. No calluses from years of cleaning equipment. No scars from dungeon accidents. No wedding ring.
"No..."
I stumbled to my feet, nearly tripping over the overturned chair beneath where I'd been hanging. There was a bathroom, I could see the door hanging open.
I staggered toward it, slapped the light switch.
The mirror showed a stranger.
Nineteen, maybe twenty years old. Sharp features, messy black hair that hadn't been washed in days. Dark circles under bloodshot eyes. Lean but obviously untrained, like someone who'd forgotten to eat properly for weeks.
Handsome, in a way. If you ignored the look of someone who'd given up on life.
This wasn't Park Jin-woo.
This was someone else entirely.
I gripped the sink, breathing hard. My reflection stared back, equally confused.
What is this? A dream? Hallucination? Am I actually dead and this is hell?
I pinched my arm. It hurt. Splashed water on my face. It was cold. This was real.
I returned to the main room on unsteady legs. Single room apartment, maybe fifteen pyeong. Smaller than the one I'd shared with Mi-young. Stained walls. Broken furniture. Empty ramen cups and soju bottles littering every surface. Clothes in piles on the floor.
It smelled like depression and desperation.
On the table, a cheap folding table, one leg propped up with books. I found a student ID.
SEOUL HUNTER ACADEMY
Name: Suho Park
Year: First Year.;
Rank: D-Rank.
Beside it, a laptop with a cracked screen. Empty pill bottles—sleeping pills. More empty soju bottles.
And a letter.
White envelope, carefully folded. Written on the front in neat handwriting: "To Su-jin noona"
I picked it up slowly.
A suicide note.
I looked back at the broken ceiling fan. The rope still attached to it. The overturned chair.
"This kid... tried to hang himself."
No. Not tried.
Succeeded.
The body I was wearing, belonged to Suho Park —should be dead. The note was written. The rope was tied. The chair was kicked away.
So why was I—
Oh.
Understanding crashed over me like ice water.
I'd died. Park Jin-woo had died, burned alive by an S-rank skill in his own apartment.
And Park Su-ho had died, hanged himself in this room.
Two deaths. Same moment.
Two souls in limbo.
One body.
As someone who spent his work breaks reading webnovels, I instantly understood. "I woke up in his body. But not into my own . Into his."
I stared at the note in my hands. It was addressed to Su-jin noona. Probably his older sister, probably. The last person he wanted to say goodbye to.
I put it down carefully, respectfully.
"That's not for me to read," I said quietly to the empty room. "Whatever you wrote to your sister... it was meant for her. Not for the stranger wearing your body."
It felt important, somehow. To maintain that boundary. This body might be mine now, but the memories, the life, the relationships—those belonged to Park Su-ho.
As if in response to my words, pain lanced through my skull.
I gasped, falling to my knees. Memories that weren't mine flooded in like a dam breaking.
Park Su-ho. Nineteen years old.
Father: Park Dong-min. Guild Master of Iron Fang Guild, A-rank Hunter. Stern. Demanding. Disappointed.
Mother: Kim Yeon-hee. Deceased.
Sister: Park Su-jin. Twenty-five years old. S-rank Hunter. Beautiful. Talented. Everything Su-ho wasn't.
Awakening: Age fifteen. The day that ruined everything.
Su-ho had been so excited. Everyone in the Park family awakened as hunters—it was in their blood. His father was A-rank. His sister was S-rank. Surely he'd be at least B-rank, right?
[Congratulations! You have awakened as a Hunter!]
[Rank: D]
[Skills Acquired: Fusion (???), Isolation (???)]
D-rank.
The lowest combat-viable rank. Garbage tier. And two skills with question marks, which meant even the system didn't know what they did.
His father's face when he saw the results. That look of disgust. Of disappointment so profound it bordered on hatred.
"How can a son of mine be D-rank?" Park Dong-min had said. "Your sister was S-rank at fifteen. Even I was B-rank."
Su-ho had tried. God, he'd tried. He'd activated Fusion over and over, trying to understand it. But it just gave him error messages about "requirements not met" and "compatibility too low."
Isolation seemed even more useless. When he activated it, his right eye would glow faintly blue and... nothing. Nothing happened. No damage. No visible effect. Just a glowing eye.
"Defective skills," the guild's skill appraiser had said. "High rank, but fundamentally unusable without specific conditions or knowledge the user doesn't possess."
Useless. The word followed Suho everywhere.
His father grew distant. His sister tried to help but was always busy with missions. The other students at Hunter Academy mocked him.
So Suho became angry. Bitter. Violent. If he couldn't be strong, he'd at least be feared.
He bullied weaker students. Threw his family name around. Started fights he couldn't finish, then had his father's money bail him out.
Until two weeks ago.
Han Min-jae. B-rank scholarship student. Poor background, but talented. During a sparring match in Combat Training class, Min-jae had defeated Suho completely. Made it look easy.
The humiliation had been unbearable.
That night, Su-ho had ambushed Min-jae outside the dorms with poisoned daggers bought from the black market.
He would have killed him.
Min-jae saw Suho coming and fought him off with his bare hands.
After a while, Lee Ye-jin—Min-jae's girlfriend, a C-rank student—had witnessed it. She'd called for help. Suho was stopped by the security.
The academy suspended Su-ho for three weeks. Pending investigation for attempted murder.
His father had summoned him to his office.
"You are no son of mine," Park Dong-min had said. Not shouted. That would have been better somehow. He'd said it calmly, like stating a fact. "Pack your things and leave."
Cut off. Disowned. All financial support revoked.
The guild gave him this apartment—academy regulations required suspended students to have housing—and fifty thousand won.
That was it.
Suho had lasted one week alone before the pills and soju came out.
Three days ago, he'd written the letter to his sister. She was the only one who'd ever cared, even a little.
Yesterday, he'd tied the rope to the ceiling fan.
Stood on the chair.
Kicked it away.
And Park Su-ho had died, alone and unmourned, in this shitty apartment.
I came back to myself gasping, tears streaming down my face.
Not my tears. Su-ho's tears.
This body remembered dying. Remembered the rope tightening. The desperate final moments of regret.
"You were betrayed too," I whispered. "In a different way. You might have been a dick head, but its not your fault."
Jin-woo had been betrayed by lies and greed.
Su-ho had been betrayed by expectations and abandonment.
Two different kinds of betrayal. Same result.
"I'm sorry," I said to the ghost of the boy whose body I'd inherited. "I'm sorry your father was a piece of shit. I'm sorry you felt so alone you saw no other way out."
The room was silent.
Then—light.
A translucent blue screen materialized in front of me, glowing softly in the dim apartment.
[SYSTEM INITIALIZATION COMPLETE]
[Multiple Awakened Signatures Detected]
Previous User: Park Jin-woo (Deceased)
Current User: Park Su-ho (Deceased → Overwritten) [Soul Merge Successful] [Skill Integration Complete]
AVAILABLE SKILLS: FISSION (분열) - SSS RANK - LV 1 Origin: Park Jin-woo ◆
FUSION (융합) - SSS RANK - LV 1 Origin: Suho Park
ISOLATION (고립) - SSS RANK - LV 1 Origin: Park Su-ho
[Quest Available: Path of Vengeance]
[Quest Available: Redemption's Road]
[Accept Quest(s)?]
I stared at the screen, my heart pounding.
Three skills.
Fission from Jin-woo. The skill that had ruined his life when he'd stupidly used it on his only combat skill and destroyed it.
Fusion from Su-ho. The skill he'd never understood how to use.
Isolation from Su-ho. The skill that seemed to do nothing.
"Three skills," I breathed. "Not one. Three."
And they were all ranked SSS.
My hands trembled as I reached toward the screen. But first—I needed to understand what these skills actually did.
I focused on [Isolation], and a new window appeared.
[ISOLATION (고립) - SSS RANK - LV 1]
Type: Ocular Analysis Skill
Activation: Right Eye
EFFECTS: Appraisal: View detailed information on targets Mana Flow Visualization: See energy patterns and pathways Component Analysis: Identify constituent parts of objects
Skill Observation: Copy skills through understanding CURRENT LIMITATIONS: - E~D Rank skills: Full analysis possible - C~B Rank skills: Partial information only - A Rank+: Surface information only - Must observe skill usage 5-15 times to acquire - Cannot copy Unique/Bloodline skills.
SYNERGY DETECTED: [Isolation] + [Fission] = Enhanced splitting accuracy [Isolation] + [Fusion] = Reveals compatibility percentages.
"An analysis skill," I murmured. "That's why Su-ho thought it did nothing. It's not an attack skill. Nah. Suho, you're a dumbass."
I focused, feeling something activate behind my right eye. The world suddenly gained new depth.
When I looked at the table, information appeared:
[TARGET: Wooden Table]
Material: Pine Wood (Low Quality) Condition: Damaged, water-stained.
Components Visible: Surface Panel (Pine), Supporting Frame (Pine)
Metal Screws (x8, Rusted)
Wood Glue (Dried, deteriorated)
Fission Compatibility: 87%
Fusion Potential: Can be broken down and reformed.
I could see the components. The individual parts that made up the table, highlighted in my vision like a blueprint.
"Holy shit."
I looked at my own hand.
[TARGET: Suho Park - Right Hand]
Mana Flow: Visible (Weak circulation)
Mana Circuits: 17% Developed (D-Rank Standard)
Muscle Condition: Weak, untrained
Bone Density: Average for age
Components: Bones (Calcium, Phosphorus, Collagen matrix) Muscles (Protein fibers, connective tissue) ├─ Blood (Red cells, white cells, plasma) ├─ Mana Pathways (Partially blocked, inefficient) └─ Skin (Epidermis, dermis, subcutaneous layer)
Fission Compatibility: DO NOT ATTEMPT ⚠️ Warning: Splitting living tissue may cause death.
"So I can't split living things, without killing them. Good to know before I accidentally killed myself."
This changed everything. In Jin-woo's life, Fission had been useless because he'd used it blindly. He'd had a 10% success rate on skills and hadn't understood why it kept failing.
But with Isolation active, I could see what I was splitting. I could see the components, the structure, the exact lines where things could separate.
I grabbed a cheap ballpoint pen from the table. With Isolation active, the pen became transparent in my vision, its internal structure visible.
[TARGET: Ballpoint Pen] Components Visible: ├─ Ink Cartridge (Plastic tube + Blue ink + Spring) ├─ Plastic Body (Upper + Lower sections) ├─ Pen Tip (Metal, ballpoint) └─ Push Button (Plastic, click mechanism)
Fission Compatibility: 91% Recommended Split: [Ink Cartridge Assembly] + [Pen Body Assembly]
I activated [Fission].
My hand glowed with faint blue light. I could see the split line now, highlighted in my vision where the pen would separate most cleanly.
The pen vibrated once, then split smoothly in my hand. The ink cartridge assembly floated free, the spring still attached. The body remained in my palm.
[FISSION SUCCESSFUL]
Target: Ballpoint Pen Result: ├─ Ink Cartridge Assembly (Complete) └─ Pen Body Assembly (Complete) Success Rate: 100% (Component Analysis Assisted) Cooldown: 60 seconds ━━━━━━━━━━━━━
One hundred percent success rate.
"With Isolation, I can see exactly what I'm doing. I can see the components, the structure, the weak points."
This was how the skills were meant to work together.
I tried [Fusion] next, attempting to reattach the pen.
[FUSION ANALYSIS]
Target A: Ink Cartridge Assembly Target B: Pen Body Assembly Compatibility: 94% Requirements Check: ├─ Spatial Alignment: AUTO (Skill Assisted) ├─ Force Application: AUTO (Skill Assisted) └─ Assembly Knowledge: MINIMAL (Simple Object) [ALL REQUIREMENTS MET] Proceed with Fusion? [YES] / [NO]
I selected YES.
Both pieces glowed softly and floated together, clicking perfectly into place. The pen was whole again, completely functional.
[FUSION SUCCESSFUL] Target: Ballpoint Pen (Reassembled) Result: Fully Functional Quality: 100% (Original State Restored) Cooldown: 120 seconds.
"This is kinda cool."
I found the kitchen knife from earlier, a cheap steel blade with a wooden handle. I used Fission to split it.
[FISSION SUCCESSFUL] Target: Kitchen Knife Result: ├─ Steel Blade └─ Wooden Handle
Then tried to Fuse them back together.
[FUSION ANALYSIS]
Target A: Steel Blade Target B: Wooden Handle Compatibility: 47% Requirements Check: ├─ Adhesive Material: MISSING (Requires glue/epoxy) ├─ Blacksmithing Knowledge: LV 0 (Requires LV 1+) ├─ Proper Tools: MISSING (Requires hammer, heat source) [REQUIREMENTS NOT MET] Fusion: UNAVAILABLE Estimated Success if Forced: 12% "So complex items need knowledge. Materials."
But Isolation showed me what I needed. It was like having a tutorial guide for every Fusion attempt.
I checked my own status next.
[TARGET: Suho Park (Self)]
NAME: Suho Park (Soul: Park Jin-woo)
AGE: 19 (Body) / 32 (Soul)
RANK: D-Class Hunter
TITLE: None STATS:
├─ Strength: 18 (E+ Rank)
├─ Agility: 21 (D- Rank)
├─ Endurance: 16 (E Rank)
├─ Mana: 42/100 (D Rank)
├─ Intelligence: 28 (C Rank - Soul Carry-Over)
└─ Luck: 7 (F Rank)
STATUS EFFECTS:
├─ Malnourished (-20% Physical Stats)
├─ Exhausted (-15% Mana Recovery)
└─ Soul Fragmentation (Healing...)
SKILLS: ◆ Fission (SSS) - LV 1 ◆ Fusion (SSS) - LV 1 ◆ Isolation (SSS) - LV 1 BASIC COMBAT ABILITY: F- Rank (Note: Skills are powerful, but body is extremely weak, rest is recommended.)
F-minus combat ability. This body was even weaker than Jin-woo's had been.
"I have SSS-rank skills but couldn't win a fight against a goblin," I muttered. "I need to get stronger. Fast."
I turned back to the system screen showing the quests.
PATH OF VENGEANCE (복수의 길)
MAIN OBJECTIVE: Destroy the Steelheart Guild (철심 길드)
SUB-OBJECTIVES:
├─ Reach B-Rank Hunter: 0/6 months
├─ Recruit 5 Allies: 0/5
├─ Acquire Combat Skills: 0/10
├─ Reclaim S-Rank Artifact: [████████]
├─ Eliminate Traitors: 0/7 │
├─ Kim Sung-min │
├─ Lee Tae-yang │
├─ Choi Hyun-soo │
├─ Jung Min-ho │
├─ Yoon Mi-young │
├─ Guild Master Kang Hyun-woo (S-Rank) │
└─ [HIDDEN]
└─ Destroy Steelheart Guild REWARDS: - Skill Evolution Tickets ×3
- Hidden Class Unlock
- Title: [Guild Breaker]
- Unique Skill: [Absolute Fission] - ???
PENALTY: Permanent Death
TIME LIMIT: 2 Years
Seven traitors. I'd only known about six. Who was the hidden seventh?
I opened the second quest.
REDEMPTION'S ROAD (속죄의 길)
║MAIN OBJECTIVE: Restore Park Su-ho's Honor SUB-OBJECTIVES:
├─ Apologize to Han Min-jae: Incomplete
├─ Deliver Su-ho's letter to Park Su-jin: Incomplete
├─ Reconcile with Park Dong-min (Father): Incomplete
├─ Become the Hunter Su-ho could have been: Incomplete
└─ Protect those Su-ho cared about: Incomplete
REWARDS: - Skill Evolution Ticket ×1 -
Title: [One Who Walks Two Paths]
- Memory Integration (Removes Soul Fragmentation) - ???
PENALTY: None (Optional Quest)
Two quests.
Vengeance for Jin-woo. The man who'd been betrayed by everyone he'd trusted.
Redemption for Suho. The boy who'd been messed up by his father who should have protected him.
I looked at the suicide note on the table. At the broken ceiling fan. At my reflection in the cracked laptop screen, young and determined and burning with purpose.
"I'll take them both," I said.
[PATH OF VENGEANCE: ACTIVE]
[REDEMPTION'S ROAD: ACTIVE] [Timer: 729 days, 23 hours, 52 minutes]
"Jin-woo's revenge. Su-ho's redemption." I clenched my fist. "This body, this second chance—it belongs to both of us now."
A notification sound.
I found Suho's phone—cracked screen, nearly dead battery—and opened the message.
[SEOUL HUNTER ACADEMY]
Student: Park Su-ho (First Year, D-Class) Your suspension period ends in 14 days. Mandatory Return Date: April 15th, 2025 Classes Resume: 08:00 ⚠️ Warning: Failure to attend will result in expulsion. Note: You have been assigned to remedial combat training due to disciplinary record. Attendance is mandatory. Assigned Instructor: Instructor Baek (Combat Training) - Academy Administration.
Fourteen days.
I stood and walked to the window, looking out over the city lights. Somewhere out there, Kang Hyun-woo was living in luxury. Mi-young was probably with him, enjoying his money. Sung-min and the others were celebrating their betrayal, spending their blood money.
They didn't know I was alive.
They didn't know I'd returned.
They didn't know what was coming.
I picked up Suho's suicide note carefully, holding it like the precious thing it was.
"I'll deliver this," I promised the ghost of the boy who'd died in this room. "I owe you that much. Your sister deserves to know how much you cared."
I placed it in a drawer for safekeeping.
Then I looked at my hands—young, weak, but mine now.
[Redemption's Road] New Sub-Objective: Survive the Academy
"Fourteen days," I said to my reflection. "Fourteen days to get stronger. To master these skills. To become someone who can survive what's coming." The system windows pulsed around me—Fission, Fusion, Isolation. Three SSS-rank skills. Three keys to power. In my first life, I'd been weak. Trusting. Pathetic. I'd wasted my one gift because I didn't understand it. In this life, I had three gifts. And I understood exactly what they could do. "Guild Master Kang. Yoon Mi-young. Kim Sung-min. The Steelheart Guild." I smiled, and it wasn't a kind smile. "You took everything from me in my first life." The blue light of my skills reflected in the window, turning my reflection into something harder. Something dangerous. "In this life, I'll take everything from you." Park Su-ho had died in this room yesterday, alone and broken. But the man standing here now—Park Su-ho in body, Park Jin-woo in soul—would make them all regret they'd ever crossed him. I had two years to destroy a guild. Fourteen days to prepare for the academy. And a list of seven people who would soon learn what true regret meant. The countdown had begun. --- **
[QUEST PROGRESS]** **Path of Vengeance:** 0% Complete