# Chapter 146
Dual regression?
“Ugh…!”
Ping, his head spun. Lee Hwan opened his eyes with a start, wiped his damp forehead, and fumbled to turn off the alarm.
His heart was racing madly. His hands trembled from the aftermath of battle, and his entire body was so tense that even the wind brushing against his body hair made him wary.
“Haa… haa…”
The black mass of approaching monsters. Their appearance, like a dust cloud, was vivid in his mind. If he had been even a little later, his body would have been torn to shreds and trampled, leaving not even a corpse to recover.
Lee Hwan anxiously looked around several times. There were no monsters. He was just lying alone in his old single-room apartment.
He jumped up and checked his phone, seeing a past date displayed on the screen.
‘2022…’
Could this be a dream?
When he closed his eyes briefly and opened them again, he had returned seven years back. To the year he dropped out of college, and when he first met Kang Taesung. Had he really succeeded in regressing?
‘No way.’
Lee Hwan licked his parched lips and traced his memories. He had definitely consumed the regression skill stone at the brink of death and used it with some skepticism.
Since dual regression was possible, he had designated Taesung without hesitation… If regression had actually occurred, had Taesung returned with him?
Lee Hwan hurriedly tapped on his phone and entered Taesung’s name into the search engine. As soon as he pressed the search button, information about him appeared.
Kang Taesung. S-class Hunter affiliated with Naru Group. His awakening year and age matched exactly with what Lee Hwan knew.
Looking at this, he hadn’t fallen into a completely different world. And judging by his still-trembling hands, this wasn’t a dream either.
Plop. Lee Hwan exhaled a sigh of relief and collapsed back onto the bed. For a moment, he had almost coughed up his heart from fear and tension.
Of all things, the skill’s name was suspiciously “Broken” Clockwork, and parts of it were erased as if taunting him, which made him extremely nervous.
What if something went wrong and he came back missing something? Like an arm, or his head…
However, he seemed to have returned to the past perfectly intact. There were no articles about Kang Taesung losing his head anywhere.
As the grim thoughts disappeared, Lee Hwan finally felt his body relax. Although his arms were still covered in goosebumps, his rapid breathing had calmed down.
‘That guy, he must be about 5 years post-awakening by now?’
Taesung had awakened early and set numerous gate records. This was exactly the time when, despite his young age, he was entering the veteran hunter category without difficulty and rising amid love calls from all kinds of companies.
To think that I was best friends with someone like that… Lee Hwan steadied his breathing, thinking he really didn’t know life back then.
‘I’ll come find you, Joo Lee Hwan. I will…’
His last words echoed in his ears. That desperate voice somehow made his heart sting.
‘That bastard definitely said he’d come find me, right?’
Taesung knew his old single-room apartment. If he had returned properly, he would probably barge in here within a few hours and take him to Naru.
Lee Hwan groaned as he got up and headed to the small bathroom. If so, he wanted to wash off the sweat first and meet him with a relaxed appearance. After that, they would need to stop the starting point of the wave and find ways to live longer.
Contrary to his expectation of returning just 1 or 2 years, he had regressed 7 years. With such a golden opportunity, Lee Hwan just wanted to rest a little, just for a moment.
Due to the tension, his back was completely stiff, and he was mentally exhausted. Besides, there was still plenty of time…
* * *
Shaaaa-.
As hot water poured over his head, his churning chest gradually calmed down. Still, a strange sensation kept filling his mind.
He thought such anxiety was natural after crossing the line of death, but it felt like there was something even more important than the approaching monsters.
What could it be? No matter how much he thought, he couldn’t even grasp a clue. All he kept thinking about was Taesung. His friend. That poor guy who wasn’t in good shape at the last moment.
Lee Hwan buried his face in his warm hands and stood there for a while. The soap bubbles had already been washed away, but he just couldn’t turn off the shower.
His body was still trembling slightly from the aftermath of battle, but he also inexplicably felt like crying.
It was strange. He rarely cried under normal circumstances.
Only when his entire body had turned reddish did Lee Hwan thoroughly dry himself off and slowly walk out of the bathroom. Out of habit, he was about to put on the robe Taesung had bought him, but realizing this was seven years ago, he just wrapped a towel around himself.
‘There’s really nothing here.’
Since he didn’t place much significance on the home except for sleeping and resting, he had lived here until the end without moving once, but why did the room suddenly look so small and shabby?
Ding-dong-.
Just as he was drying his hair, the doorbell rang as if on cue. Lee Hwan hurriedly opened the door lock.
“Kang Tae…”
“Lee Hwan.”
Before he could extend his hand, the door swung wide open. The one who urgently squeezed into the house was indeed Taesung.
His face, looking a bit more youthful and cold, was pale and appeared pitiful.
‘I’ll come find you. Joo Lee Hwan, I will…’
His voice, gurgling with blood, was still vivid in his ears. As soon as he saw him, Lee Hwan reached for his abdomen before even saying hello.
His hand touched a flat, firm feeling with no wounds anywhere. Taesung embraced him as Lee Hwan’s lips curled up in relief.
‘The kid must have been scared.’
Was it because of the regression? Taesung was uncharacteristically losing his composure. It showed in how he was acting like this from the doorway, not even fully inside the house.
Also, no matter how close they were, to suddenly embrace someone who hadn’t even put on clothes yet.
However, as the warm embrace enveloped him with familiar scent and warmth, Lee Hwan thought it didn’t matter.
‘Why does this feel so comfortable?’
As he hugged and patted the guy who must have been very worried, the arms around his back tightened. He was burying his head on Lee Hwan’s shoulder. Occasionally, his moist breath touched his neck.
Lee Hwan’s body was just starting to relax languidly when he began feeling bewildered and concerned at seeing Taesung’s weak side for the first time in his life.
“What’s wrong? Are you okay?”
Taesung was silent. Instead, while still embracing him, he lowered his arms and held Lee Hwan’s hand. The feeling of him gently massaging the back of his hand was pleasing, so Lee Hwan endured the awkwardness and just let him do as he pleased.
His hand began to rub each of Lee Hwan’s fingers one by one.
‘Hmm… is he counting my fingers now…?’
In all his life, seeing a grown man count another grown man’s fingers was a first. If his hand had flown off due to the regression, wouldn’t he have mentioned it beforehand?
Come to think of it, after his own regression, he had first worried about whether Taesung’s limbs were still attached. Thinking they had the same thoughts as expected of friends, Lee Hwan let out a short laugh.
“Hey, I’m fine, so stop doing weird things and say something.”
As he gently stroked and lifted the head still resting on his shoulder, a wet cheek touched his hand first. Lee Hwan flinched in surprise and firmly held Taesung’s face, which he hadn’t yet properly seen.
“You…”
He buried his head in Lee Hwan’s shoulder again.
“Just a moment. Just a little longer.”
Then he embraced Lee Hwan again. Lee Hwan felt his heart pounding and patted Taesung’s back, trying to comfort him somehow.
‘My God.’
His mouth almost fell open. Kang Taesung crying? This was no ordinary matter.
“Are you hurt somewhere? Are you injured?”
“…No.”
“Surely it’s not like I’ve lost an eyeball without knowing it, right?”
“No. It’s not that.”
“Then is it your eyeball? No, it’s not.”
Honestly, he was primarily wondering why this guy was acting this way. Occasionally, he had given him brief, awkward hugs when consoling him, but he had never clung to him so desperately like this.
Seeing him shed tears made Lee Hwan wonder if he had been severely injured before the regression. After all, hadn’t he been bleeding profusely right before they returned?
Well, whatever the reason, seeing Taesung cry made his insides sting. Lee Hwan stroked his back for a long, long time until his rapid breathing subsided and he finally released the embrace first, showing a calmed face.
‘…Good thing I took a shower.’
It was quite ridiculous to think this while wearing just a towel around his waist.
It took quite a long time for Taesung’s heart to beat steadily. During that time, Lee Hwan mentally calculated whether it was appropriate for two adult men to be embracing like this, but realizing that his own legs were still trembling, he silently accepted Taesung’s warmth.
“Let’s go home.”
Taesung said that as he pulled Lee Hwan’s hand. His face was pale, and his eyes were still red, but he now looked quite settled and normal, like his usual self.
This is my home, so where are we going? Though that thought crossed his mind, Lee Hwan just nodded vaguely, put on some clothes, and hurriedly followed him. It was closer to being swept along haphazardly.
‘Well, anyway, an expensive penthouse would be better than this place for making plans.’
A sleek black car smoothly left the narrow alley. Taesung, driving silently, somehow looked well-composed. Lee Hwan felt as though he was pretending to be okay, but didn’t deliberately try to expose it.
Well, at least everything was flowing as anticipated beforehand.
They had successfully regressed together, and Taesung had come to find him. He was driving him personally, and had even placed a soft, squishy caterpillar plushie on his lap, which he had obtained from who knows where, as if worried he might be uncomfortable.
‘Cute.’
So everything that had happened so far was satisfying. It couldn’t have been better.
However…
‘The skill… is gone.’
Sitting quietly in the passenger seat, Lee Hwan noticed something strange while examining the system window. The EX-grade skill that had safely transported him and Taesung to the past had vanished without a trace.
No wonder it specifically said something like “1 time” at the end; it seems it was a one-time skill. No matter how much he strained his eyes, he couldn’t even see the character for “regression.”
‘I thought I might be able to use it a few more times. That’s a shame.’
But this wasn’t the only strange thing.
‘…What’s this?’
* A Amplification
* B Spatial Control (☆)
* C Gravity
‘…Amplification? Gravity? What are all these…?’
Skills he had never seen before were tightly attached before and after his ability. How could he not know his own skills? That’s impossible.
Lee Hwan’s forehead slightly wrinkled, and a serious expression gradually spread across his face.
