Chapter 2 : Reborn in a Familiar yet Unfamiliar World

‘I watch this and that work as possession material in case I suddenly die on my way to and from work.

This one is a romance fantasy where magic is highly developed, and this one is a healing-type Hunter Academy story set in the modern era.’

‘A Hunter Academy story? I like academy stories! What’s the title? I want to watch it too as something to have on during my commute.’

‘This one is a work handled by Ha-je, the one by the ‘Guidebook’ author.’

“Ah~ Ha-je. How is it? Is it worth watching? Be honest!”

‘Hmm, well, all the characters are kind and the story is calm, so it’s cute and charming.’

‘Oh, so you’re saying it’s not fun.’

‘Don’t be like that. It has a lot of good points. There are many cute summoned creatures too. If I were to possess a character, I’d choose one from this author’s works—not because I’m in charge of it, but because their stories have a lot of genuinely kind people.’

‘Hmm, well… okay! It’s not really my type, but I’ll watch a few episodes just in case I need to prepare for possession!’

I recalled the jokes I used to share with my coworkers about preparing for possession.

Yeah. I used to just laugh those off.

But even though I laughed as I said it, I was serious. Since we each handled quite a few works, it was hard to give the same amount of affection to all of them.

Still, I had a particular fondness for Hunter Academy: The Nerdy Teacher is a Retired SS-Rank Summoner, a work by the ‘Guidebook’ author.

Of course, it wasn’t popular, so it had few readers, and I would often leave comments from my personal account pretending to be a reader. But anyway…

The author’s vision of a future shaped by the positive influence of good people—not being taken advantage of, and having kindness eventually rewarded—was peaceful and uplifting.

The problem was that it didn’t sell well, but that was the company’s issue, not mine.

After conversations like that with my colleagues, I would jokingly check out the latest chapter of the work on my way home from work.

At some point, that routine became a daily habit—but today was different.

Instead of riding the subway home, exhausted as usual, I was in a taxi on my way to the police station in the middle of work. I hadn’t checked the author’s new manuscript.

I tried to recall the last work I had read before the accident. It was another author’s I Possessed a Horror Game, and Now the Regressed Protagonists Are Trying to Kill Each Other.

A romance fantasy… or rather, a horror story pretending to be one, just as its title suggested.

‘Hmm. I’m screwed.’

The car crashed violently.

And I felt my body completely shatter.

Luckily—or perhaps unluckily—I only felt pain for a brief moment. But in that fleeting instant, the pain of my body being torn apart was indescribable.

The impact was strong enough to make me certain that nothing remained of my body. But there was an even bigger problem than the accident itself.

The casual conversations with my colleagues resurfaced in my mind, along with the title of the last work I had read. And the fact that I could think about all this was the real issue.

“…….”

This was insane.

I was definitely dead. Instantly, at that.

Yet, my surroundings were silent, and even with my eyes closed, I could feel the warmth of sunlight streaming in.

There was no doubt about it—I had either possessed someone or reincarnated.

A normal person might think, Maybe I just woke up in a hospital? But not me.

Because I had vividly felt my body being utterly destroyed before this eerie calm took over.

“…Hmm.”

The fact that I so clearly remembered the last work I had read made me scared to open my eyes.

What if the first thing I saw was an architecture style straight out of a fantasy world?

What if a handsome yet murderous duke appeared, ready to kill me?

If I really was in a horror game possession story, I hoped I was just some random extra far away from the main characters.

As all these thoughts swirled in my head, a low buzzzzz—buzzzzz sound rang out.

‘…That’s a phone vibrating?’

Anyone could tell it was a smartphone’s vibration.

I cautiously cracked open my eyes and saw an unfamiliar yet familiar ceiling with a modern architectural style.

“…Phew.”

Looked like I had dodged the cliché of possessing the last work I had read before dying.

Slowly sitting up, I put my experience handling stories about possessed, regressed, reincarnated, and returned protagonists to use.

Like any protagonist, the first thing I needed to do was find a mirror.

‘What do I look like?’

More than feeling unreal, I was curious—was I someone I recognized?

It would be nice if I was in a work I knew well enough to identify characters just by their appearance.

With that thought, I walked into the bathroom and nearly fell over in shock.

“What the hell?”

The person in the mirror was someone I knew all too well.

There was no need for analysis or investigation—I knew them perfectly.

Because it was…

“…Me?”

It was me—Ha-je.

“…….”

What was this?

Was this regression instead of possession?

No, if it were regression, this house wouldn’t be unfamiliar to me.

And my face looked younger than my current age.

‘Stay calm. First, check the situation. Checking the mirror is step one.’

“…Status window.”

Muttering a cliché keyword under my breath, I observed my body with a dazed expression.

Nothing happened.

Good thing I was alone—otherwise, I would’ve looked like a lunatic. The thought made my ears burn with embarrassment.

‘So this world doesn’t have a status window? Or maybe I’m just an unawakened person?’

One thing was certain: if I had definitely died yet was now alive in a younger body, this wasn’t normal.

As I was considering this, a translucent, pale blue rectangular window hesitantly flickered into existence before me.

“…?”

Why did it appear so timidly?

The rectangle looked like an old-school status window, but its hesitant, sheepish emergence made it seem unreliable.

Suspicious as it was, the mere fact that such a thing existed meant this world likely fell under the #supernatural #hunter #modern fantasy tags.

Seeing something so unrealistic unfold before my eyes actually made me feel calmer.

“…Haah.”

‘I just hope this isn’t a world where dungeons suddenly appear.’

But since a status window had appeared, that possibility was slim.

Accepting that, I turned my attention to my profile—or at least, I tried to.

Name: Lee Haje
Race: Human
Age: 20
Rank: –
Attribute: ■
Skills: ■■ (u) / uu (-) / mm (-) / mm (-) / —- (-) / —(Unacquired) / — (Unacquired)
Quest: No active quests

+See More

“What the heck?”

The only information I could view was my age—there was nothing else available.

But… 20 years old? I had somehow become 14 years younger.

No, that wasn’t the important part. The real question was—why couldn’t I see anything else?

Just in case, I tried touching the areas marked with ■, hoping to read something, but the window wouldn’t budge at all.

So, I decided to press the “+See More” button at the bottom of the status window.

A hidden menu unfolded.

[Status: Under the Blessing of ■■■]

‘Wait, what even is ■■■?’

It seemed like a lot of things had been added, but in reality, there was nothing I could actually use right now.

‘Then why even show it to me?’

Closing the status window, I stepped out of the bathroom and looked around the house.

From the layout, it seemed like an old apartment. The place where I had woken up was the living room, but there was a bed there, suggesting that someone had been using it as a bedroom.

A waist-high bookshelf partitioned the space, separating the bed area. Next to it, there was a small table and a tiny sofa that barely fit two people.

The balcony jutted out from the building, and among the laundry hanging outside, I spotted a school uniform.

“A school uniform?”

Suddenly, my body moved on its own.

Striding past the kitchen and the bathroom, I reached a door right next to the entrance.

“……”

Knock, knock.

Just in case, I knocked, but there was no response.

Slowly, I opened the door.

Inside was an extremely small space—so small that calling it a “room” felt generous. It was a square room, the kind usually used as a walk-in closet.

Inside, there was a single bed, a desk, a garment rack, and a simple metal drawer cabinet.

“Ah…”

As if drawn by some invisible force, I approached the metal drawer and picked up a framed photo, staring blankly at the person in it.

To my shock, the person smiling in the frame was someone I knew very well.

“Hayul…”

It was a name I hadn’t spoken in a long time.

I gazed at the photo for a while before snapping back to reality and immediately grabbing my smartphone.

The familiar apps I had used before getting hit by the truck were still there.

I tapped on Cocoa Talk, and at the very top of my messages, I saw a new text from “Hayul”.

“!”

I quickly opened the chat, and there it was—a message from just a few minutes ago.

[Hayul: I want to eat Malatang.]

“Ha… haha.”

Staring at the message from my little sister, I pressed my chest firmly.

My heart was pounding—so hard it felt like it might explode. I needed to calm down.

After taking a deep breath and sitting on the bed to steady myself, I typed out a reply with trembling hands.

[What time does school end? Is there a Malatang place nearby? Should I come to your school?]

As soon as I sent the message, it was marked as read.

Then, after a short pause, multiple responses started coming in one by one.

[Hayul: 3 PM]
[Hayul: Just across the street from the back gate.]
[Hayul: Are you coming?]

[Yeah. What’s the restaurant’s name?]

[Hayul: Dongle Malatang.]

I searched the name, and only one location popped up.

That meant I didn’t have to awkwardly ask where my sister was studying.

Just to be sure, I took a screenshot of the restaurant’s map and sent it to her to confirm.

She replied that it was the right place.

With that, I threw on whatever clothes were nearby and left the house.

★★★

At 2 PM—an hour before my sister finished school—I was already sitting in a corner of a franchise café near the back gate, nursing my fourth drink.

I was too nervous thinking about seeing her. My mouth kept going dry, and I caught myself constantly shaking my leg, so I moved to a more secluded seat and crossed my legs.

‘Calm down. Stay calm.’

Actually, considering the situation, I’d say I was handling this pretty well.

I was using immense willpower just to stop myself from storming into her school.

Even in my anxious and restless state, I had been researching this world.

But the results were baffling—completely different from what I expected.

I had seen my status window.

Even though most of it was unreadable, I could still summon it at will.

‘Then why is there nothing about Awakeners?’

All I could find were web novels about them—no real-life references.

Between reviewing the information on my sister stored in my phone (mainly photos and past messages), I kept searching for anything related to Hunters, but I came up empty.

I even checked government-affiliated organizations, but nothing came up.

In other words, despite the status window existing, this world seemed no different from an ordinary South Korea.