“Hmm…”
The jjajangmyeon was delicious.
The tangsuyuk was equally so.
Now that I think about it, I wonder if there was a place that sold jjajangmyeon this early in the morning.
Or perhaps I just didn’t know because I’d never eaten jjajangmyeon for breakfast before.
In any case, eating jjajangmyeon and tangsuyuk for the first time in five years was a treat.
The jjajangmyeon was a large portion, and the tangsuyuk wasn’t a small size either, but I finished every last bite.
Oddly enough, though, my body still didn’t feel full.
I looked down at myself.
My stomach appeared slightly rounded, probably from being full, but I didn’t have the sensation of being completely satisfied.
Could it be that I retained my warrior’s body specifications?
The power of the goddess imbued in my sword was highly effective against the demon race, but it consumed an immense amount of energy.
After battles, I had to eat even more to recover; otherwise, I’d be completely drained.
That’s why the royal army made a point to follow us closely and ensure we had enough supplies.
If I put it this way, it might sound strange, but during that war, I was something of a strategic weapon, and the rest of my party was a force assigned to protect me.
Well, at least I’m not feeling any hungrier now.
Before the food arrived, I’d been so hungry I could barely think straight.
To be fair, my last meal was before the battle with the Demon King, and I hadn’t eaten anything since.
Considering that it had been almost twelve hours, it was understandable.
I clasped my hands together and closed my eyes.
“Merciful Goddess, thank you for providing me with daily sustenance today as well.”
Before I went to that other world, I wasn’t particularly religious.
It wasn’t that I doubted the existence of gods; I simply had no interest.
I disliked going to church on Sundays, and I never felt the need to visit a temple either.
While I occasionally donated to the Salvation Army, it wasn’t out of faith but simply because I wanted to.
However, in the other world where I spent five years, the goddess was real.
Prayers actually worked, and the devout maintained strong divine power.
Deep within my heart, I could sense a faint trace of divine power.
Of course, compared to praying in Irrelesia, it was incredibly weak—just enough to confirm the goddess’s presence in this world.
To create even this small connection and prepare so much for this world, how long must she have labored?
It’s something to be grateful for.
I selected the neatest outfit I could find… or rather, there wasn’t much need for that.
Most of the clothes in the wardrobe were neat and tidy anyway, probably because the goddess had chosen them herself.
I wasn’t the type to like flashy outfits, so I didn’t mind.
Still, there was a reason I went out of my way to choose neat attire.
I was finally back home.
It was only right to at least check on the place I used to live.
And the reason I requested this ‘different’ body was because I wanted to meet my mom and sister.
Meeting someone who looked so much like me but wasn’t me would be harder than meeting someone completely different.
It would also reduce the chances of any trouble arising.
Of course, even with this appearance, I wasn’t sure how close I could get to them.
In today’s society, suddenly striking up a conversation and showing friendliness could easily be considered impolite.
If I called them with the phone numbers I remembered, it would likely come across as stalking.
So, I would need to build the relationship from scratch.
For that, a good first impression was essential.
Even if I knew the location, I still didn’t have a clear idea of how to start building a relationship…
I slapped my cheeks with both hands.
Get a grip.
This is just like when I first arrived in the other world.
While the people there knew I was the next warrior, I still had to build relationships from the ground up.
The same goes for me now.
As long as I don’t lose courage, the path will reveal itself.
Engraving the previous warrior’s words in my heart, I packed my bag.
They say even mountains and rivers can change in ten years.
If that’s true, what can change in five years? Is it enough time for either a river or a mountain to change?
At the very least, it was enough time for an entire neighborhood to be completely transformed.
“Even though they said redevelopment wasn’t possible…”
I muttered in frustration.
The neighborhood I used to live in was an old one, nestled near a mountain.
During my childhood, news even reported that a nearby apartment building was so old it was at risk of collapse.
It was a cluster of dilapidated houses packed tightly together.
The exact reason redevelopment never happened was unclear, but there were rumors.
Some said it was due to height restrictions because of the mountain; others mentioned a nearby military base preventing permits for tall buildings.
None of the explanations had clear sources.
I used to live in a semi-basement unit of a red-brick house in this neighborhood with my mom.
It was a place with a living room, a small room, a kitchen, and a strangely elevated toilet.
We were poor.
My mom’s income barely covered our meals.
We lived in the living room together, and when I needed to change clothes, I would go into the small room crammed with storage.
My mom did the same.
Actually, I rarely saw my mom’s face.
She always left for work before I went to school.
In summer, I would pull up the linoleum flooring before leaving for school, hoping that the damp concrete floor would dry by the time I returned.
I never wished for a birthday cake.
I still remember stacking a box of choco pies my mom bought and singing a modest birthday song.
When I attended school, I was surprised to learn that other kids didn’t live like me.
They had their own rooms and never worried about rainwater pooling on their floors.
If I were to say I didn’t feel a sense of loss realizing that the way I lived was different from how other kids lived, that would obviously be a lie.
But strangely enough, I never felt that my life was miserable.
My mom always tried to treat me well.
Even though she didn’t have much time to spend with me, she dedicated the time we did have together to me.
Occasionally, on weekends when she had a bit of free time, she would hold my hand, and we’d ride the subway to a park near the Han River.
On payday, she would take me to a nearby fast-food restaurant to buy me a kids’ meal.
I loved the toys that came with those meals.
She always made it to parent-teacher meetings, even if she was late, and she knew the names of all my friends.
She constantly asked me about school, listened to my worries, and tried to solve them.
I loved my mom for that. Because of her, I never thought of myself as unhappy.
…Though, occasionally, there were times when I waited for her alone because her work ended too late.
During those times, the older girl who lived upstairs would take care of me.
She would escape the fights and shouting of her parents, hold my hand, and walk with me around the neighborhood.
We’d buy cheap snacks from the stationery store that didn’t seem all that healthy, or split her already meager allowance to buy a single portion of tteokbokki to share.
Sometimes, we’d share an ice cream cone, each eating half.
After wandering outside for a long time, we’d return to find my mom waiting at home.
The fact that those memories, which could have been nothing but hardship, became cherished moments is thanks to the two people who took care of me with all their might.
That’s why I felt a sense of attachment to my neighborhood.
In summer, it smelled of sewage.
Sometimes illegally dumped trash would roll around, and stray dogs’ feces would remain uncleaned on the streets for days.
But it was still the place where I strolled with the people who were most precious to me in my childhood.
It was the place where all my life’s memories were stored.
And now, all I could see in front of me was a construction barrier covered in signs.
I trudged along, unsure of what to do.
I had no idea how to find the two people.
At the very least, if the house had remained, I could have tried to track them down even if they had moved elsewhere.
But the entire neighborhood had been cleared to make way for an apartment complex.
The buildings were gone, and behind the construction site entrance, I caught a glimpse of steel beams and concrete foundations already being laid.
I still remembered their phone numbers, even after five years.
But… I couldn’t just call them out of the blue.
To them, I was a stranger now.
I decided to keep that as a last resort.
…Should I try reaching out to old friends?
Maybe friends who lived in a different neighborhood might know something.
There were even some older girls my sister knew.
The problem was that my memories of them weren’t very clear.
“Haa.”
Alright. Let’s calm down first.
This is infinitely safer than tracking a high-ranking demon, and it’s not urgent either.
Most importantly, I’d only been back in this world for a single day.
There was no need to despair just because things didn’t go as planned on my first try.
Perhaps I had been too naive.
Maybe I thought that just because I had a different appearance and returned to this world, everything else would sort itself out.
Even with power, it’s useless if you don’t figure out how to use it.
I once again engraved the previous warrior’s wisdom into my heart.
“…Ah.”
As I walked, I caught the smell of bread.
Growl.
My stomach rumbled again, even though I had cleaned up a large serving of jjajangmyeon and a medium-sized plate of tangsuyuk earlier in the morning.
Checking the time, it was nearing lunchtime.
It made sense since it had taken me about 30 minutes to get here by subway and almost an hour wandering around the area looking for any trace of the neighborhood.
“…Alright.”
When a person is hungry, they can’t do anything.
Their mind doesn’t work properly, and negative emotions are amplified.
Being able to eat is a blessing.
How many villages had I seen endure the demon king’s raids with no supply lines? I still remembered the tragic fates of those who lived in places where their food had been burned.
Eat while you can.
That was one of the lessons I learned over the past five years.
Growl.
My stomach growled again.
The savory smell of freshly baked bread teased my nose.
If that’s the case, let’s eat that bread first.
Deciding to grab something simple and think about my next meal, I turned toward the source of the smell.