Returning Once More
Yujin’s misfortune began with nothing more than reading the wrong book.
A colleague from the Guide Center had recommended it simply because a character with the exact same name as Yujin appeared in it — and that book turned out to be an explicit BL novel rated 19+. A story about gates opening and unleashing monsters upon the world, and about the passionate, intimate bond between Espers and Guides that saves it. Yujin, who worked as a Guide and had no particular aversion to relationships with men, read through it without a second thought.
Then he went to sleep, and when he opened his eyes the next morning, he had become Yujin Langford — the villain of that very novel. His world had changed overnight.
Yujin Langford was a character who shared many things with Yujin, starting with their name. Striking looks, a distinguished family background, outstanding ability — and an appetite for more than most people were content with.
On top of that, both Yujin and Yujin Langford were the only S-rank Guides in their respective countries. Which also meant they each possessed the skill to see their desires through.
But the critical difference between them was that Yujin, at least, had enough social awareness to care a little about how others saw him. Yujin Langford, by contrast, had grown up smothered in affection within a privileged household, and his personality was insufferably arrogant because of it.
In the original novel, Yujin Langford held the leash of S-rank Espers who would spiral into rampage at the slightest absence of his guiding. Even the Emperor of the Empire would yield to Yujin Langford’s word. That staggering power had only deepened his arrogance further.
And then, inevitably, Yujin Langford met his downfall — when the story’s main lead appeared, along with a D-rank Guide who boasted a 120% compatibility rate with that lead. After enduring his tyranny for so long, the enraged leads turned on him, and that was how he exited the novel: killed by their hands.
He couldn’t die so pointlessly, the way the original story dictated. And so Yujin resolved to live differently. He struck a deal with the System that kept nudging him toward villainy, built good relationships with the leads, and even became friends with the main lead. He then closed the gate that, in the novel, had plunged the Empire into a grave crisis — and in doing so, earned a Wish Token from the System, securing his chance to return to the world he originally came from.
Having escaped the villain’s role, it wouldn’t have been terrible to go on living here. But Yujin had always thought of himself as a stranger in this place. They may have shared a face, but Yujin Langford was not him. Living in someone else’s body while pretending to be himself had grown increasingly exhausting.
SYSTEM
You will use your Wish Token to return to your original world. This action cannot be undone once the Wish Token is used. Do you still wish to return?
To the System’s question, Yujin nodded without a moment’s hesitation. And just like that, he returned to his life — the life of Kwon Yujin, the one and only S-rank Guide in the Republic of Korea.
“Mm……”
Yujin opened his eyes and winced at the sunlight slipping in through the blinds. He glanced around the room. The original novel was set in a medieval fantasy world, so his room there had been filled with antique furniture.
But the room he was in now had distinctly modern wallpaper — unmistakably contemporary in every way. Yujin blinked for a moment, then his expression broke into one of overwhelming relief.
I’m finally back.
He’d been a little uncertain whether the System would actually send him home, but it seemed he’d safely returned to his original world after all. He sprang out of bed and ran his palm across the desk in front of him.
“Hmm.”
Still, compared to his last memory of this place, the room felt noticeably larger. When Yujin had first been transmigrated into the novel, he had just entered the Guide Center as a new recruit. He had received better dormitory accommodations than most — having awakened as an S-rank and graduated top of his class at the Center’s affiliated academy — but it hadn’t been anything like this.
And looking around again, the decorations filling the room were absurdly gaudy. Cryptic paintings by artists whose names he didn’t even know — and whose work he had absolutely no interest in — hung on every wall. There was even what appeared to be an animal-skin rug spread across the floor. He recoiled at the sight.
What on earth is going on? Nothing about this felt like a place he lived in, and the confusion was mounting. He rushed into the bathroom and stared into the mirror — half-afraid he’d accidentally transmigrated into some other poor soul’s body again.
“This is… me, isn’t it……?”
But the face in the mirror was unmistakably his own. Not Yujin Langford, who merely resembled him somewhat — but his real self, the one who had always existed in this world. Kwon Yujin.
Reassured, Yujin let out a long breath. He hadn’t ended up in someone else’s body, but he was still uneasy. He washed up quickly in the bathroom and went back to the room.
He spotted the watch left on the nightstand beside the bed and turned on the screen. The watch he’d been issued upon entering the Guide Center contained a vast amount of information. He checked the date first.
“2059……?”
The year didn’t match his memory. Yujin’s eyes went wide.
The gates had first opened in the summer of 2026. Thirty years after that, in 2056, Yujin had entered the Guide Center. That was the last thing he remembered. At the welcome party for new recruits, a colleague had recommended him the novel — and he’d transmigrated into it before he’d even gone to work a single proper day.
But three years had passed since then? How?
Something was wrong. He had spent three years inside the world of the novel. A bad feeling crept over him, and he called out into the air.
“System!”
Inside the world of the novel, Yujin had relied on the System’s help.
Whether “help” was really the right word for it, or whether “surveillance” was more accurate, he wasn’t sure. Either way, it was thanks to the System that he’d survived and made it back to his original world.
He didn’t know why, but even now that he’d returned, he had a feeling the System would still answer. And sure enough, a bright blue System window appeared before his eyes.
SYSTEM
Voice of Transmigrator #kp2199 confirmed.
SYSTEM
User’s stats are being adjusted by another dimension.
SYSTEM
Time remaining: 29m
Just as he’d expected. System windows cascaded one after another, cluttering his vision. Yujin exhaled and ran a hand through his hair.
“What happened? Why has three years gone by? Wasn’t I supposed to return to the moment I first transmigrated?”
He demanded answers, frustration clear in his voice.
Of course, the System had never actually specified what point in time he’d be returned to. It had only said it would grant his wish of going back to his original world. Most of the fault lay with him for not checking the fine print before making his wish.
But even so — three years into the future. Had someone else been living in this body while he was away in another world? The thought made his skin crawl.
Or maybe this was a parallel world, and he’d stepped into the body of a future version of himself. But even that theory left him deeply unsettled.
Even if it were a parallel world, this wide room plastered entirely with furniture and decor that were nothing like his taste — he didn’t want to spend a single moment here. And besides, he happened to know exactly one person with taste this terrible.
SYSTEM
The time elapsed due to a change in user can be reversed with an item.
“Change in user?”
Yujin repeated the words from the System window blankly.
Setting aside the part about being able to turn back time with an item — a change in user. He had always assumed the System’s “user” referred to him. But the System had always addressed him by what seemed like an identification code. Seeing that, he had suspected he wasn’t the only person transmigrating between worlds. And now, that suspicion had solidified into near-certainty.
“Who transmigrated into my body for the past three years?”
He already had a guess, but he asked the System as if seeking confirmation.
The only person who could have taken over this body while he was transmigrated into another world — he could only think of one.
SYSTEM
An item or ability is required to access another user’s information.
“Damn it.”
The System wouldn’t tell him who had been inhabiting his body. To obtain an item, he’d have to enter a gate — and he couldn’t just do that on a whim. He’d never even managed to get his hands on that kind of item in the other world.
“…Wait.”
A sudden thought flashed through his mind, and Yujin moved. He left the bedroom and went looking for what might serve as a study. He found one almost immediately.
If Yujin Langford had transmigrated into this body, he would’ve been unfamiliar with modern technology — and that meant he very likely would have written down important information on paper to keep it safe. Yujin examined the papers strewn across the desk.
“Ha……”
Written on them was a language not used in this world. It was the language of the Fernando Empire — the world of the original novel. And the handwriting was identical to Yujin Langford’s.
Yujin knew at a glance. He had spent so much time impersonating Yujin Langford in that other world that he’d gone out of his way to replicate even his handwriting. His hand trembled slightly as he picked up the papers.
So while he had been away in the world of the novel, Yujin Langford had truly been here, occupying his body? Yujin’s brow furrowed.
The certainty of it made the unease settle in slowly. Having read the novel, he knew all too well what kind of person Yujin Langford was — an absolute disaster of a human being. And that person had been living as him. Yujin’s gaze swept over the luxury items that had apparently claimed even the study.
Beep, beep-beep-beep!
Just then, an alert chimed from the watch on his wrist. His eyes dropped to the screen.
