# Chapter 16
‘Why… is this happening already?’
Previously, it would have taken at least half a year after joining the company to be assigned to Support Team 3. But now, the schedule that should have been months away had suddenly moved up. It was as if someone were monitoring Lee Hwan, or perhaps even mocking him.
Why, among all possible futures, did changes have to occur at that gate? Lee Hwan felt an ominous sensation. He thought this might finally be his chance to get closer to the clue about doomsday, and a chill ran down the nape of his neck several times.
Of course, just like before, C-17 wasn’t part of Lee Hwan’s schedule. Currently, he was a baby chick among baby chicks, not even three months into the job. The most field work he could expect was entering gates used for training purposes—ones where monsters had never appeared.
In contrast, C-17 was a real combat gate, even though its monster appearance cycle was supposedly long.
Lee Hwan hurriedly searched through schedules that weren’t his to find those involved. Unlike before the regression, the people entering the problematic gate included two first-years, one second-year, the team leader, and…
‘VIP?’
Lee Hwan blinked at the very familiar and annoying designation.
VIP meant the owner’s family—the Kang bastards. You couldn’t just call them by name, but they didn’t want to use honorifics like “Mr. So-and-so” when talking among themselves, so at Naru, everyone called the Kangs by that term.
Noticing this anomaly, Lee Hwan frowned deeply. A sigh of irritation and anxiety escaped his lips.
Which direct descendant would just casually insert themselves into operations like this? Despite not being an Awakened person or even a mana sensitive, they had to pick this problematic gate of all places.
Of course, entering a gate a few times doesn’t cause mana poisoning reactions. However, rich people typically valued their health tremendously and wouldn’t go anywhere near the inside of a gate unless their inspection was absolutely necessary.
Were there any Awakened persons among the Kangs besides Kang Taesung and Kang Dongying? As far as he knew, there weren’t even any mana sensitives. But those two would have formed their own team rather than setting foot in Support Team 3.
With the sudden appearance of a VIP, Lee Hwan somehow felt that this person was the culprit behind this unexpected schedule change.
‘If a VIP throws a tantrum, I guess there’s nothing wrong with letting them into a safe gate.’
Lee Hwan gritted his teeth and continuously repeated the gate number to himself. Maybe some forgotten memory would surface. But back then, Lee Hwan had truly been a clueless rookie, and after the incident occurred, he was too horrified to look into it.
How frustrating that from the first day of his regression until now, he consistently had no useful knowledge. Lee Hwan lamented.
“Did you sign?”
At the sudden voice, Lee Hwan asked without thinking.
“Ah, yes. But here, the C-17 VIP…”
“That’s not on Joo Lee Hwan-ssi’s schedule.”
With that short, simple answer, the file slipped from his hands. Lee Hwan watched the departing documents with regret before turning away with a blank expression.
‘I know that already.’
He held back what would have been a scowl, using his adult social skills to swallow his frustration.
It was fortunate that he wouldn’t be participating in this gate as a Naru supporter right away. He wouldn’t have to face those Kang bastards. Not only did he not want to meet them, but in the worst case, there was also the risk of running into Taesung.
However, he couldn’t just ignore something so obviously suspicious. Lee Hwan thought. He had to block their entry. If he couldn’t do that, he would have to go with them.
‘If I miss this chance again, I really feel like I’m screwed.’
Repeatedly turning over the confirmation document’s C-17 gate in his mind, Lee Hwan sent a text to Kang Dongha.
* * *
Evening. Kang Dongha’s expression had grown even more sour. Lee Hwan had specifically chosen a café to briefly ask about the day’s events, but seeing Kang Dongha with his disgruntled face, holding a cup of hot chamomile tea, Lee Hwan felt an inexplicable regret.
“Did you check out the gate I mentioned?”
“…”
Kang Dongha gave no answer at all. He seemed lost in thought, which was strange enough. Thinking it was incredibly ungrateful after coming all the way to where Dongha lived, Lee Hwan called out to Kang Dongha again, gently this time, with the feeling that the thirsty person should dig the well.
“Hey, you… Didn’t you say you’d get me whatever I needed?”
Only after Lee Hwan’s voice grew as rough as woodworking sandpaper did Kang Dongha finally manage his crumpled expression and speak. He looked like something was bothering him.
“You stopped stalking Kang Taesung, right?”
The question was completely out of the blue. Moreover, it wasn’t pleasant to hear.
“I never did anything like that.”
Slurp. Kang Dongha blew on the steaming contents before taking a sip, and Lee Hwan found the sight quite annoying. He seemed to have something to say but kept stalling… why was he dragging this out?
The reason only became clear a little later.
“You haven’t switched your target to me, have you? It’s a bit sudden.”
The response was so unexpected that it made Lee Hwan nauseous.
Lee Hwan’s pupils glinted slightly. In the very next moment, Kang Dongha flinched in surprise and hastily gulped down his tea, which had cooled from Lee Hwan’s ability.
“My, you should be careful with your jokes.”
What kind of self-awareness is this? If Kang Dongha didn’t have money, or if Lee Hwan’s unregistered status wasn’t an issue, he would have really taught him a lesson.
Sometimes, a beating is the best medicine for people like Kang Dongha. But it was sad that Lee Hwan couldn’t properly treat his mental state because he himself had nothing.
Instead of filling the bathtub with hot water for a bubble bath during a peaceful evening, here he was, having to listen to this nonsense. Lee Hwan seriously questioned his life choices.
“I’d like to know why you came up with such a disgusting thought… but since I’m in a hurry, I’ll let it slide. Just answer my question first.”
“You think I came up with that theory for fun? You said you’d been waiting at the bar for days before we met, right? So why did you pretend it was a coincidence? You seem to know my every move, and now how did you find out about me entering the gate?”
Kang Dongha put his mug down on the table with a thud. Hearing it put that way, it sounded plausible, and Lee Hwan momentarily lost his words. After all, at the bar, he had genuinely been trying to catch Kang Dongha.
Of course, he hadn’t expected their subsequent actions to overlap…
But then Lee Hwan soon realized that the answer to his question was hidden in Dongha’s nonsense.
“…You’re entering the gate? Why?”
The culprit who had moved up the schedule for Gate C-17. That VIP was this bastard.
‘Really, of all the…’
Why would this guy, who was neither an Awakened person nor a mana sensitive, and didn’t even appear physically strong, try to squeeze into a gate? What was there for him to gain? It was incomprehensible.
Moreover, he was someone who cherished his body excessively. He seemed like the type who would whine and call a doctor if he just stubbed his toe on a doorstep. Why would such a person deliberately crawl into a dangerous place?
As Lee Hwan recalled the incident before his regression, he suddenly had a thought.
Could Kang Dongha have entered this gate in the past as well?
‘But…’
If Kang Dongha had been at C-17 in the past, with the sudden appearance of monsters that killed and injured all the field workers, there’s no way he alone could have emerged unscathed.
Yet afterward, Kang Dongha still had one head, two arms, and two legs. He had been running around just fine without any missing parts.
It didn’t make sense that the Support Team had protected Kang Dongha, as there were no traces of him anywhere. There had been no such stories at the company afterward either.
‘That couldn’t be possible.’
Despite this reasonable deduction, Lee Hwan felt his instincts, his well-honed intuition, continuously whispering anxiety.
“I have something to check.”
Seeing Kang Dongha, who clearly had no intention of confessing honestly, Lee Hwan’s suspicions bloomed vigorously.
Although Lee Hwan was annoyed with him for gulping down the now cold chamomile tea, rather than wasting mental energy, he decided to shift his perspective.
If he focused not on Dongha but on the world, or the causal relationships…
Okay, the entry to Gate C-17 had been greatly advanced. The reason was Kang Dongha. What caused this change in his mindset? What was different in this world compared to before the regression?
“Ah.”
After thinking that far, Lee Hwan unconsciously let out a groan.
While there were several changes—the relationship between Taesung and Lee Hwan, Lee Hwan’s abilities, the existence of the sunglasses, and so on—only one thing was directly connected to Kang Dongha.
Lee Hwan had entered his life. Along with the few gate information details that Lee Hwan had whispered to him.
‘Oh, fuck.’
The existence of the regressed Lee Hwan was changing the future. In a way very similar to the past, but more urgent.
Preoccupied with making a living and focusing on Taesung, he had forgotten that the world could change because of Kang Dongha. Despite him being the core of the problem, Lee Hwan had relegated him to second priority, or rather, almost third priority, which was the root of the trouble.
But even so, it was absurd that things had gone awry after neglecting him for just one month.
What Lee Hwan felt from this incredulous situation was regret that he should have kept Kang Dongha under close surveillance as he had initially resolved, and the speculation that Gate C-17 might truly have been the very small beginning of Earth’s destruction.
“I won’t ask anything else. I need to go there too.”
When Lee Hwan abruptly made this demand, Kang Dongha narrowed his eyes suspiciously. However, when Lee Hwan crunched on a cookie and added an unnecessary comment, he agreed without much objection.
“Security. If your wallet disappears, who’s going to pay my rent until I pay you back?”
“That’s a weekday schedule.”
“I’ll specially provide a premium loan-blood massage chair service and come along.”
Kang Dongha hesitated briefly. He didn’t seem opposed to the idea.
“…Fine. I was going to ask you to come anyway if you hadn’t brought it up first.”
Did I unnecessarily arouse suspicion then? Lee Hwan nibbled on the chocolate chips in his cookie, letting them melt in his mouth. He had been thinking lately that a massage chair would be nice for his stiff shoulders and neck…
Now that he’d soon have another personal day off, Lee Hwan decided to reluctantly use it for this.
