# Chapter 89
Lee Hwan, who had been about to snatch the coffee, hesitated at those words.
“What do you mean by four years…”
He started to reflexively snap back but stopped, feeling his heart sink.
Jade, whom he had never met. A figure whose traces couldn’t be found in the future. Yet just seven years ago, he had boasted such a powerful presence.
Such a person would disappear from Kang Taesung’s side and from everyone’s sight in less than four years at most. So completely that Lee Hwan, who used to lounge around in Taesung’s house whenever possible, wouldn’t even know of his existence.
Was it too much of a stretch to suddenly think of the experiments surrounding him?
‘…Damn.’
Lee Hwan suddenly wanted to leave.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. I’ve answered your question, so I’ll be going.”
But even as he said that, Lee Hwan couldn’t bring himself to get up. It felt like he had just revealed the unknown end of someone’s life to the man before him.
Is this how doctors feel when they give terminal diagnoses?
No, they could at least explain ways to alleviate suffering to their patients. But he had just sat in this chair and announced that in four years, you’ll be dead and gone.
Moreover, Lee Hwan had a strong feeling he might be able to find some clue from his conversation with Jade. For once, the voice in his head whispered. That this person would be an important clue to things he had missed and events that would unfold.
“That nonsense, I was honestly skeptical. But now that you say I won’t be around, it becomes more believable.”
“…”
“How exactly did you come back? I said I believed it, but is that concept really possible?”
Whether Lee Hwan answered or not, Jade continued to mutter. It was less like asking someone and more like thinking aloud, trying to reason through something.
“Was a time machine invented in that time? If so, something major should have changed. No, no. Since Kang Taesung is the same. But the skills are there.”
He clearly seemed to know something in his own way. Jade’s disjointed monologue was slowly approaching the truth. Lee Hwan felt suddenly terrified by the sight of him sitting with his fingertips on his chin without any intention to attack. Even more than when Jade had smashed his own head with a stone.
Regression. Until now, he had only told Kang Taesung about it, and even then he was ignored. He began to worry whether it was okay to have it exposed now.
‘I should probably keep it hidden and see how the situation develops. Besides what I said about coming from the future, what else did I blurt out?’
He seemed to have mentioned being friends in front of Jade too. Recently, he had practically drilled it into Kang Taesung as well. But he hadn’t attempted anything beyond that, for fear of getting a nosebleed due to causality interference or whatever.
It could just be speculation. A mere flimsy guess. But Lee Hwan felt that somehow everything had become tangled since seeing that system message.
[Adjusting causality.]
The chilling expression Kang Taesung made at that moment was still imprinted in his mind, and since then, he hadn’t uttered a word about any facts related to the monster wave.
He didn’t want to overturn that now. Just thinking about how the already precarious situation might completely flip made his head throb with pain.
Let’s deny it. Lee Hwan decided and raised his head.
“Didn’t you hear it from Kang Taesung? About me being a stalker. I just said whatever nonsense I could to avoid getting caught stalking and possibly killed. Coming from the future, my ass, that’s ridiculous…”
“Method aside, why did you come back? There must be a reason.”
“You seem to like science fiction novels.”
“Let’s say I discovered your pseudonym by stealing a delivery box. But you know the house password, know about two skills I didn’t even know about, something happens with every gate you touch, and above all, you say I won’t be around.”
‘Fuck…’
He wasn’t an easy opponent either. Lee Hwan lost his words, stammered, and then tightly closed his eyes.
He had wondered why the man was so convinced of such nonsense, but now there were good reasons for it. The actions Lee Hwan had taken right after regression had become clues, ensnaring him one strand at a time.
“Lunch break is almost over. If you’re going to continue talking about last night’s dream, I’ll be leaving now.”
Staying any longer would only entangle him further. As Lee Hwan abruptly stood up and cut off the conversation, Jade’s muttering also gradually stopped.
He put the coffee he was holding on the table with a clack, pulled on Lee Hwan’s clothes as he was about to pass by, and gestured toward himself.
What is he doing? As Lee Hwan frowned and approached, Jade brought his face close to Lee Hwan’s and slightly lowered his sunglasses.
‘…!’
Below the half-lowered sunglasses, eerie jade-colored eyes stared at him.
“What the…!”
Black blood vessels that had risen like a net around his eyes. An unusual eye color that could never appear in humans. Lee Hwan felt goosebumps rising on his back and his strength draining.
He remained frozen in place until Jade raised his sunglasses again and moved back. He didn’t know what to say or how to react.
“Sit down. You just need to return within 20 minutes, right?”
In fact, it wouldn’t matter if he took a bit longer, but he didn’t bother explaining. He just silently returned to his seat without any reply. The sight he had just witnessed was more shocking than expected, and he never imagined the man would reveal it to him.
“That’s…”
“I already knew I wouldn’t live long. I just didn’t know I’d be gone within four years.”
“…The experiment?”
Jade nodded lightly. Lee Hwan unconsciously wore a gloomy expression.
“Why that face? You already knew.”
“Those eyes… I’ve never heard of such side effects from semi-awakening.”
“The experiment I participated in wasn’t exactly semi-awakening.”
This was a story he had never heard before. Lee Hwan momentarily held his forehead and let out a groan.
This didn’t seem like a conversation to have in just fifteen minutes. He let out a long sigh and picked up his phone to make a call.
“Yes, ah yes. I suddenly feel very unwell so I came to the hospital. Yes, without having lunch. No. It’s not a fatal illness. I don’t eat when I’m sick either. Yes, I’ll take half the day off. Thank you. Yes.”
Jade stared at him, and as soon as the call ended, he asked abruptly,
“How long are you going to pretend to work? Kang Dongha could probably tell you most of the field team’s circumstances anyway.”
“Regardless of that, it’s just my workplace. I’m not pretending to work, I’m actually working.”
Lee Hwan stopped mid-answer and suddenly muttered irritably.
“Ah, I got this job with my own abilities, why does everyone treat me like I parachuted in? People who couldn’t even get an interview like me.”
“Go tell that to your colleagues. How long do you think you can hide the fact that you’re Awakened?”
“As long as you keep your mouth shut, I’ll be fine for now.”
Because of whom did he start workplace life he never asked for after regression? If Taesung’s memories had been intact, he would’ve found thousands of causality fragments by now and would be lying on the penthouse sofa eating ice cream.
The current state where he had to consider galbi for lunch as his life’s joy was about eight-tenths created by this person and Kang Taesung, wasn’t it?
Meanwhile, Jade’s expression of hopelessness was clearly visible even with his eyes completely covered by sunglasses, making Lee Hwan feel a bit guilty as he looked at him.
At first, he didn’t know things would get this heavy. He thought that if he just monitored Kang Dongha and diligently moved around on his own, Taesung’s memories might suddenly return as the skill description was unlocked.
How could he have known that the destruction was caused by a secret experiment involving figures from politics and business?
“Well, you can worry about that gradually on your own. Anyway… I didn’t participate in semi-awakening, but in the experiment that became its foundation. It was an experiment that Naru Hospital recruited terminal patients with nowhere to go for…”
“Terminal patients?”
“Yes, I was originally a C-rank Awakened. After returning from working as a mercenary overseas, I was told I had less than three months left. Figured I had nothing to lose, so I volunteered.”
He revealed an unexpected story. Since Lee Hwan had always had to risk his life to unearth information piece by piece after regression, Jade’s suddenly shared personal details felt more burdensome than welcome.
This man was neither physically nor temperamentally careless. He wouldn’t have spoken without intent.
“…Why are you so readily telling me this?”
“Because it’s your turn now. If something goes, something must come back. Tell me. How did you return?”
I knew it. Lee Hwan sighed deeply. In fact, Jade seemed to have already known he didn’t have much time left, even before hearing about the future. Looking at how firmly he had grasped what a sane person would have dismissed as mere conjecture.
“I don’t want to tell you in detail. And I don’t know how much I can say.”
“Tell me as much as you can. I don’t want to spill all the details of my life either.”
Lee Hwan resentfully looked at the coffee Jade had emptied, took a few deep breaths, and then opened his mouth.
“A skill. I obtained a one-time regression skill.”
“A skill… one-time?”
“When I came back, the usage count was at 0. Plus, it seems Kang Taesung has no memories from that point until seven years later.”
“So when you came into the house…”
“He said he’d come get me but didn’t show up, so I went there and almost got kebab-ed.”
Strangely enough, Jade seemed to believe it. Well, for an Awakened person, a skill would be easier to accept than a sci-fi story like a time machine.
“Why did you come back?”
“Pardon?”
“You must have been living fine there, suddenly felt like having a hard time, and came back? That can’t be it.”
I wish he hadn’t asked that. Lee Hwan massaged his stiffening neck, falling into deep thought about what to say.
He couldn’t speak about the monster wave or destruction. Any words or writing that implied it were all prohibited by the System. How could he explain it in a way that would satisfy Jade?
‘Destruction… don’t use the word destruction. Saying that something bad happened was also blocked. Maybe if I speak indirectly, I could say a little?’
Because they couldn’t manage the gates? No, that would definitely be blocked. Saying that things emerged due to poor gate management might imply the monster wave.
The future was a bit ruined, would that work? “Ruined” is a highly subjective assessment, so it doesn’t sound exactly like destruction, nor does it imply the monster wave.
Besides, when he had tried talking to himself, his throat had gotten blocked, but the grotesque system message about adjusting causality hadn’t appeared. Perhaps it only mattered that Kang Taesung wasn’t listening.
Lee Hwan tried to suppress his pounding heart and opened his mouth nervously.
“—. -. —-.”
He couldn’t even move his lips. It felt like someone was gripping his vocal cords, his throat closed up, and for a moment, his mind went blank. Only when his consciousness returned did Lee Hwan realize that something hot was dripping from the tip of his nose.
When he blocked his nose with the cheap tissue that came with the coffee, it immediately became soaked, staining his hand as well. When he raised his head, Jade was looking at him with a serious face.
As if he finally understood what Lee Hwan meant when he said he didn’t know how much he could tell.
“…Well, this is why.”
Lee Hwan smiled weakly.
