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Episode 1
I’m Living My Life for the Second Time? (1)
“Ugh…”
The man groaned in pain before suddenly sitting up in bed, gasping for air.
“Huff… Huff… Huff…”
His heart was pounding so hard it felt like it would burst. Pressing a hand against his throbbing head, Shihoo checked the time.
4:37 a.m.
This was already the third straight day he’d been haunted by nightmares.
It had started three days ago with a dream where someone stabbed him through the chest and killed him.
Ever since then, every time he fell asleep, countless strange memories and scenes became tangled together in his dreams.
But he knew they weren’t just dreams.
Everything he saw had already happened once—in the future.
And somehow, he had returned to the past, before any of it had happened.
The only thing he couldn’t understand was…
Why?
Why did I come back?
How was I even able to return?
There were still many things he couldn’t figure out.
But one thing was crystal clear.
In the future, his parents died in an accident.
After that tragedy, he awakened as an Awakened and eventually became a Hunter.
Then, the only family he had left—his older sister—was murdered by villains.
In the end…
He challenged some mysterious quest.
And during it…
Someone killed him.
That was all he remembered.
Or maybe…
He simply didn’t want to remember the rest.
Or perhaps…
Those memories were never meant to be remembered.
“…Sigh.”
Letting out a long breath, Shihoo got out of bed.
He switched on the small lamp beside him and headed downstairs to the kitchen.
Opening the refrigerator, he drank several glasses of ice-cold water.
The pounding headache eased a little.
After returning to his room, he threw on the padded jacket hanging over his chair and stepped out onto the balcony.
The freezing winter air hit his face.
Surprisingly, it helped clear his mind.
Fragments of his dream echoed in his head.
“There’s… something you can do.”
“If you die before me… I’ll never forgive you.”
No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t remember who had said those words.
He didn’t even know if it had been a man or a woman.
Judging from the way they spoke, they were probably around his age or older.
One thing was certain.
Those aren’t words you’d say to just anyone.
“If you die before me, I’ll never forgive you.”
Maybe…
That person had been someone precious to him.
Someone he’d promised a future with.
“I have no idea…”
His mother and sister, whom he’d watched die in his previous life, were both alive.
Even his father, who had died in that accident, was alive and well.
A time regression…
It sounded exactly like the stories he’d read in web novels.
Normally, he’d laugh it off.
But considering the world they live in now…
It wasn’t impossible.
Dungeons.
Monsters.
Magic.
Skills.
Items.
Awakened.
Hunters.
These are all ordinary parts of modern life now.
If all those things exist… then time travel isn’t that unbelievable.
The world stopped making sense a long time ago.
It all started about ten years before Shihoo was born.
A gigantic sinkhole suddenly appeared in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.
That day, every single person on Earth heard the same mysterious voice.
After that…
Everything changed.
Dungeons began appearing all over the world.
They opened and disappeared at random.
And from them came terrifying creatures that modern weapons couldn’t handle.
At the same time, people with superhuman powers began to appear.
They became known as the Awakened.
Only about one in ten thousand people awakened.
But those few individuals could clear dungeons that entire armies couldn’t defeat.
They hunted the monsters pouring out of them.
Forty years passed.
Human civilization has completely changed.
Society was rebuilt around the Awakened—people who were practically a new species.
“So… I was one of those Awakened.”
Shihoo muttered to himself as he rubbed his hair.
The future version of himself wasn’t just an ordinary Awakened.
He had been a Hunter.
Someone who specializes in clearing dungeons and killing monsters.
Just like his friends.
He couldn’t even remember how old he’d been.
Maybe around thirty.
Judging from the scattered memories in his dreams…
He’d apparently been a famous and incredibly skilled Hunter.
Honestly…
It sounded ridiculous.
Right now, he was nothing more than a miserable graduate student.
Other people finished their master’s thesis in two years.
He’d already entered his third year and had only barely passed the preliminary review.
And he had become a Hunter?
Someone who charged into dungeons and fought monsters?
Sure, he’d watched the videos.
But doing it himself?
That was a completely different story.
If this were a TV show, the script would be terrible.
If it were based on real life, the research would be completely wrong.
Either way…
The whole thing was a disaster.
Even if it was true…
He absolutely didn’t want to awaken because his family had died.
He’d much rather stay an ordinary person forever and live peacefully with them.
Wouldn’t that be the normal choice?
Closing the balcony door, Shihoo walked back into his room.
His hands were freezing after standing outside.
Well…
It was early January before dawn.
Of course, it was cold.
“…Sigh.”
He crawled back under the warm blanket and curled up.
For now… I’ll just sleep.
It was finally winter vacation.
He’d been looking forward to doing absolutely nothing.
He didn’t want to deal with troublesome things.
Even if those future events really happened…
Now that he knew about them, he could simply avoid them.
Even if this really was his second life…
That future no longer exists.
Those events are only memories now.
They haven’t happened yet.
So why worry?
As long as he could avoid the biggest tragedies…
That was enough.
His family’s deaths—the worst thing that had happened—could now be prevented.
That alone was more than enough.
As long as my family and I are all alive… that’s all that matters.
Comforting himself with that thought…
Shihoo slowly closed his eyes once again.
“So… you put up with that for ten days before finally coming to see me?”
“Yeah.”
“And you came looking like that? Those dark circles are practically hanging down to your chin.”
“Well… I stayed up until dawn yesterday catching up on web novels…”
“If you’re taking a break, then rest, you idiot. What kind of loser spends vacation turning himself into a zombie?”
Shihoo pouted and shot back.
“And what about you? You got your PhD and then stayed home for a whole month.”
“Unlike you, I lived a healthy life. Three meals a day, plenty of sleep… and video games.”
So basically, you just ate, slept, and played games.
That didn’t sound much better.
“You didn’t shower, did you? Well… you’re only human.”
“Are you insane? That’s not something you say to a woman! Did you come here to complain, or are you trying to start a fight?”
“I came because I missed you.”
“Yeah, right. Shut up.”
She glared at him through her glasses.
After a short staring contest, she finally stood up first.
“What do you want to drink?”
“You’re giving me something? I was starting to get nervous.”
“Say one more stupid thing, and I’ll throw you out the window.”
She sounded like she was joking…
But she probably wasn’t.
Even though she wasn’t a combat-type Awakened, she was still an Awakened.
If she slapped an ordinary guy like Shihoo with all her strength, he’d probably end up in the emergency room.
Shihoo immediately raised both hands in surrender.
“Coffee. Something sweet.”
“You still have the taste buds of a little kid.”
Grumbling, she walked away and soon returned with a steaming mug.
A gentle vanilla aroma drifted from it, making it smell sweet before he even took a sip.
“Thanks, Jeyu.”
“Hmph.”
Hong Jeyu.
She had been Shihoo’s junior back in college.
After graduating early, she’d earned her PhD at an unbelievable speed and was already working as a professor.
She was considered the genius of the Department of Awakening Studies.
Ignoring Shihoo’s playful attitude, she listened carefully as he explained the nightmares he’d been having.
When he finished, she answered simply.
“Sounds like an awakening sign.”
“…An awakening sign?”
“Yeah. Everyone’s different, but dreams are pretty common. They’re like prophetic dreams that show you the future you’ll experience after awakening.”
“What was yours like?”
“I suddenly realized I was reading two books at the same time.”
“…What?”
“And I remembered every single word perfectly.”
What kind of monster is she?
Surely she didn’t literally mean she read one book with each eye…
Then again, maybe that’s exactly why she’d become a professor before turning twenty-six.
Ignoring Shihoo’s dumbfounded expression, Jeyu took another sip of coffee.
“Anyway, go to the hospital.”
“For this?”
“Even if it isn’t an awakening sign, those dreams are way too severe. I know a clinic that specializes in mental health for Awakened. I’ll call them.”
“I could just make an appointment myself.”
“Go today.”
She smiled brightly…
While somehow looking even scarier.
Shihoo quietly sipped his coffee without arguing.
He’d been planning to pretend he forgot and maybe go another day.
Apparently, she’d seen right through him.
After Jeyu gave him the hospital’s address and the doctor’s name—and even booked the appointment for him—Shihoo left her laboratory.
She’d gone through the trouble of arranging everything.
The least he could do was show up.
As he waited for the elevator in the hallway…
Someone called his name.
“Shihoo?”
He turned around.
A sharp-looking man wearing rimless glasses was standing there.
It was Jin Jaeseong, one of his classmates in graduate school.
“What are you doing here during vacation?”
“I had something to take care of.”
“Oh? Do you have something to do? I figured breathing was already enough work for someone as useless as you.”
“You should spend more time on your thesis. If I were you, I’d have died of embarrassment already.”
Yeah, sure. Easy for you to say.
Shihoo knew exactly why Jaeseong disliked him.
His master’s thesis had taken longer because his advisor expected much more from him.
Jaeseong simply couldn’t stand that.
It was nothing more than jealousy.
“Why don’t you transfer to the Department of Awakening Studies?”
He smirked.
“If you’re under Professor Hong Jeyu, maybe she’ll help you finish your PhD in one semester.”
“…What?”
Jeyu had become a professor at only twenty-five.
Naturally, she attracted plenty of attention—and envy.
Shihoo had never tried to hide that they were close friends.
People like Jaeseong hated that.
“Or maybe it’d be easier if you just seduced her. That’s how relationships between men and women work, right?”
Graduate school was a surprisingly small world.
Those rumors hadn’t started with Jaeseong.
People who envied how close Shihoo and Jeyu were had been gossiping behind their backs for a long time.
The story had simply become more twisted over time.
“…Fine.”
Shihoo let out a quiet sigh.
“Believe whatever you want.”
His head was already full of worries.
Listening to disgusting rumors like this only made him feel worse.
Normally, he would have fired back with a sarcastic remark.
But today…
He didn’t have the energy.
The best thing to do was to leave.
“I’m going.”
Keeping a blank expression, Shihoo ignored Jaeseong’s stare and stepped into the elevator.
