# Chapter 157
Seven years ago, Lee Hwan had just registered as a mana-sensitive person while on a leave of absence from college. He had done some labor for tuition and living expenses, but he had the body of an ordinary person who had never professionally exercised.
Even though he had regressed and become an awakened person, he had never been properly trained, making him woefully inadequate to be running around causing trouble anywhere.
His strength fell short of expectations, and he couldn’t move as he wanted. Frustrated, Lee Hwan gritted his teeth and pushed his body to the limit. The hardship was considerable, but perhaps because of the memory of wandering among monsters, his pain threshold was exceptionally high.
Training at a private facility with professional equipment was definitely effective. Going there as if it were natural, within just two weeks, his once soft body was packed with solid muscle.
During that time, Taesung gradually stabilized, wandering around the house once every three or four days at most. The distant and dangerous look in his eyes from the day they went to register as awakened persons gradually changed to the kind and comfortable aura he had before.
—There have already been three reports of disappearances. Starting with the report of Hunter Association Vice President Kim Seongil’s disappearance on the 14th, followed by former chairman of Seokjeon Daily Lee Jeonghoe, and then his nephew Lee Jeongtae, who disappeared in succession. The authorities are investigating the relationships between these individuals while forming a special task force to begin a full-scale close investigation…
The TV was broadcasting disappearance cases day after day. Lee Hwan was lying diagonally on the sofa, curious about why wealthy and high-status individuals were consecutively going missing.
They suspected an awakened person since there were signs that the iron bars at the scene had been forcibly torn. Given that there had been no ransom demands so far, they speculated it was a revenge killing, which roughly aligned with Lee Hwan’s own thoughts.
‘A corpse could be quickly disposed of by throwing it to monsters in any gate.’
Or maybe they were just abandoned alive. Either way, as long as they were non-awakened, they would have disappeared quite neatly. However, one would need to leave their personal information at the gate, so those with uncertain identities might have just been buried in the mountains or fields.
Come to think of it, there were no such incidents in the past before the regression. Was it okay for unknown things like this to happen? Lee Hwan carefully retraced his memories as he melted cookie dough-filled chocolate ice cream in his mouth.
Seven years ago around this time, he had been busy learning his job. Yet he had diligently read news articles to keep up with current affairs. There definitely had never been anything even similar to this.
These people had never died in the future either. If they had been caught up in a monster wave, they would have vanished without a trace, but until then, he had never heard or seen news of them disappearing like this.
‘I wonder if this is a good sign…’
If the future flowed differently from what he knew, it was the same as losing a card he could play. With a concerned expression, Lee Hwan flipped through TV channels, checked the time, and stretched fully.
“Haah…”
He had said he would rest at home today. But in truth, he planned to visit his studio apartment, which had been abandoned since the regression.
There were many belongings he hadn’t cleared out or organized yet. He couldn’t just leave them like that.
Actually, that was his real home, so it wasn’t exactly a lie. Lee Hwan packed a large bag and slowly left Taesung’s house.
* * *
The home he visited after so long was covered in dust. Lee Hwan frowned as he surveyed the small room at a glance.
Everything remained untouched since he’d left. A cup with dried coffee stains sat in the parched sink.
Damn. He’d left the window open too. That must be why dust had blown in continuously. He should be grateful no thieves had broken in.
Lee Hwan rummaged through drawers, taking out his bankbook and various employment-related documents, stuffing them into his bag while quickly scanning around the house.
He couldn’t keep wearing only what Taesung gave him forever. He emptied the wardrobe and packed all his shoes wrapped in plastic bags. When he opened the refrigerator, the few food items inside were rotting.
‘Ugh…’
He first found a food waste bag and filled it. While at it, he also cleaned the floor and dusted everything.
‘At this rate, I’ll end up just cleaning the house and leaving.’
Even as he grumbled, he put the clothes and towels left in the laundry basket into the washing machine, and was debating whether to wash the blankets too when—
Knock, knock.
Suddenly, there was a brief, clear knocking sound.
‘…What?’
No one but delivery people had a history of visiting this place. And the delivery people usually just neatly stacked boxes in front of the door and disappeared.
That left only Taesung. Lee Hwan frowned, wondering when Taesung had followed him, and opened the door.
But unexpectedly, standing there was a man with a stoic face. The unfamiliar face looking down at him seemed quite strange.
“Who… are you?”
Was it someone from seven years ago that he couldn’t remember? Or a truly unknown person?
After trying to figure out who it was, Lee Hwan finally asked for his identity, and the man wordlessly handed over what looked like a high-end business card.
‘Kang Dongying.’ The flawlessly written name seemed familiar.
‘?’
Kang Dongying…? Is this the Kang Dongying I know? Lee Hwan examined the business card with questioning eyes and then looked up at the man with the dry expression.
If this was Kang Dongying, he was the first grandson of the Naru Chairman and the undisputed third-generation heir, known as the Young Master of Naru World.
Because of this, Lee Hwan had never seen him in person, even before the regression. Being a powerful figure in his own right, he wasn’t someone you could meet just anytime, and oddly enough, opportunities to encounter him had always fallen through.
Moreover, he was also the older brother of Kang Dongha, who was considered the cause of the monster wave. This meant he was quite an important figure in the regression.
“You’re Kang Dongying?”
When Lee Hwan asked with a suspicious expression, the man immediately moved aside. Only then did the view, previously blocked by his large build, clear. A black foreign car that reeked of money at first glance. Someone was sitting comfortably in the back seat.
He was a person with an impressive pair of straight eyebrows and a neat appearance. The way he looked others up and down, momentarily making eye contact before turning away, was either classy if described nicely or utterly lacking in manners if described poorly.
Those gentle eyes he briefly met somehow gave him an uneasy feeling. Lee Hwan realized without any further explanation that this was Kang Dongying.
“Do you know me? How did you find my house?”
He couldn’t readily understand why someone like him would be here.
The current Lee Hwan was a newly awakened hunter, a mere speck with neither the accomplishments nor the fame he had in the past. Unless it was a headhunter from some mid-sized company, there was no reason for anyone to seek him out.
Besides, Dongying already had a plethora of hunters at his beck and call. The fact that he had come all the way here despite this clearly indicated there was another reason.
‘Ah. Kang Taesung.’
Then Lee Hwan suddenly realized he had left the house after two weeks under Taesung’s overprotection. He had also appeared with Taesung when registering as an awakened person, so they might have suspected some sort of relationship.
Come to think of it, Kang Dongying was a figure who strangely ostracized Taesung. There were rumors that he was also an A-class awakened person and should have received all the spotlight, but was annoyed when Taesung suddenly appeared. There were also stories that he was bitter because Taesung had firmly entered the Hunter-related department that he couldn’t touch.
Either way, it was certain he didn’t have good feelings toward Taesung. If that was the case, this meeting probably wasn’t created with good intentions either.
‘There were rumors before that he kept coveting Kang Taesung’s share.’
If he thought Lee Hwan was Taesung’s chosen person, wouldn’t he have a strong desire to snatch him away?
“They say you don’t grab a thread that’s about to break. Contact me if you’re interested.”
Just as expected. The content Lee Hwan had anticipated came delivered in a dry voice. Whether Lee Hwan made a troubled “hmm” sound or not, the man simply turned away.
The window of the back seat rose smoothly, completely concealing the interior, and the man got into the driver’s seat and left the narrow alley while Lee Hwan remained rooted to the spot.
‘Well…’
Needless to say, he had no intention of joining someone whose first impression wasn’t even good. However, instead of tossing the business card away, Lee Hwan carefully removed his phone case and placed it inside.
He was a powerful figure in Naru and Kang Dongha’s brother. Having his contact information might come in handy someday.
Moreover, despite seeing him for the first time, there was an overly familiar feeling. Even the words delivered by the man who appeared to be his secretary seemed like something he had heard before. It felt ominously strange, making it impossible to ignore.
‘Did I actually meet him before the regression…?’
As he scratched the back of his head and continued cleaning up the trash, Lee Hwan suddenly heard a faint voice, like an auditory hallucination.
‘Don’t you want to do something more meaningful?’
A medium-deep voice seeping from a fragment of memory. However, this peculiar line, which wasn’t the voice of anyone Lee Hwan knew, resonated softly in his mind before disappearing in an instant.
The hand touching his head gradually slowed and stopped. He couldn’t recall when he had heard such a conversation.
As his temple began to throb painfully, Lee Hwan dropped the trash he was holding and bowed his head.
At the same time, he suddenly guessed whose voice it was, someone he had never heard speak before.
‘…Kang Dongying?’
