3
It was a memory I had lived forgetting. No, I thought I had forgotten it. Because I had tried so hard to. But it seems that wasn't the case.
"Hah."
What a filthy and complicated process, dying.
It was a landscape that had been so deeply missed, one that summoned regret and self-loathing whenever it came to mind. Now, he didn't even want to react to it, having grown utterly weary of it.
A mysterious old man, and the very next scene shown is the ceiling of the room where he had spent his happy days. There was no恶质 (wretchedness) quite like this.
Click.
Just as he was about to show anything else they had, Baek Uujin, who had been keeping his eyes closed with a troubled heart as if to say he might as well see it all, heard the sound of a doorknob turning near his ear.
"Sweetie, are you still sleeping?"
And at the voice that followed, a voice so terribly missed, Baek Uujin opened his eyes.
Whether it was some trick or whatever, that no longer mattered to Baek Uujin. Even if he were to regret it later, if he was given the chance to see his mother's face just one more time, he thought there could be no salvation more perfect than that.
"Oh my, if you're awake, say you're awake."
"……."
Familiar wallpaper. Familiar structure. Familiar scenery.
Baek Uujin, rising to his feet with his eyes wide open, swallowed back the emotion surging from deep within him the moment he faced his mother's beautiful figure, and got down from the bed.
"What were you doing up so late yesterday. Did you have a nightmare? Your face is──"
A warm body temperature spreading through his embrace.
"Oh my, why is he acting like this all of a sudden?"
"Mother."
"Oh my oh my. Did you really have a nightmare? Or do you need allowance? Why is he acting like this all of a sudden, giving me goosebumps."
Jang Miyeon, who had only come to wake him because he hadn't come out for breakfast despite waiting, never expecting to be hit with such a surprise event, embraced her son who was hugging her tightly and patted his back.
"Mom, I can't breathe now. Stop it and go eat breakfast."
"……."
At his mother's voice gently tickling his ear, Baek Uujin slowly released his arms and stepped back.
"…Are you crying?"
"Crying, my foot. I need to change clothes, so get out."
"Wait, Uujin? You're not sick somewhere, are you?"
"I'm fine."
"Are you really okay? And you need to wash before changing clothes, right?"
"Please get out. Get out."
Baek Uujin pushed her out the door, avoiding Jang Miyeon's gaze as she kept looking back, and closed the door.
"Haaaaa……."
The moment the door closed, all the strength left his body and he slumped right down.
'A dream, it's not…?'
Sitting slumped on the floor, Baek Uujin recalled the incredibly vivid sensations from just moments ago and wiped his face once with his hand. Then, at the unfamiliar sensation catching on his right cheek, he checked his hand.
A silver ring set with a red jewel was on the index finger of his right hand.
"Crazy."
The moment he confirmed the ring on his hand, Baek Uujin was certain that all of this was not a dream but reality. The meaning of the old man's last words he had heard before his vision went dark, too.
The old man had clearly known that he would regress.
"Hah, regression… I, regress?"
Acknowledging something and fully accepting it were slightly different realms. Baek Uujin's gaze naturally drifted to the ring. According to his memory, the jewel embedded in the ring had definitely glowed blue like the old man's eyes. But the color of the jewel now was red.
Was this the ring's ability?
However, Baek Uujin soon shook his head.
Based on the brief but meaningful conversation he had with the old man, it seemed more likely that this ring wasn't a regression-related artifact but rather served the purpose of sending him to the place where he had conversed with the old man.
Setting the ring aside, there was one thing he could try recalling right now.
Baek Uujin closed his eyes and focused his mind.
"I guess I've forgotten for too long."
Information about skills that had constantly lingered in his mind even without consciously thinking about it when he first dreamed. However, perhaps due to the aftermath of regression, recalling the skill information was not easy at all.
-Uujin~! Your breakfast is getting cold!!
Baek Uujin's concentration crumbled away at Jang Miyeon's voice leaking through the crack of the closed door.
"It's not urgent right now anyway."
That might have been different before he regressed. But now that he had already regressed, the cause wasn't particularly important.
**
"Thank you for the meal."
"Already?"
He would have loved to eat several more bowls if it were up to his heart, but he had a reservation at the Association, so it was time to leave the house. Above all, unlike before his regression, this wouldn't be his last meal.
"I'll be back."
"Don't stay out too late just because you became an adul… son? You need to wash before going out!!"
"I'll be back soon."
Stepping outside wearing just a padded jacket and a cap, Baek Uujin immediately boarded the bus heading to the Awakener Association.
'Back then, I was so giddy like some kid full of hot air that I didn't even think about looking outside.'
Perhaps because it was the new year, the streets were bustling with people even though it was early morning.
As the bus that had been stopped started moving again, the scenery that had been still began to change along with it, and Baek Uujin stared blankly at the scenery before pointlessly bringing his hand to the bus window.
'It really isn't a dream.'
Unlike the sweltering interior heated by the heater, the palm touching the glass carried a cool chill, imprinting into his mind once more that everything he was seeing, hearing, and feeling right now was reality.
After getting off the bus a few stops later, Baek Uujin took in the Association building that was so tall it made his neck stiff.
Before his regression, that building had looked so grand.
'I wonder how much tax money went into that.'
Clicking his tongue softly, Baek Uujin walked toward the Association.
"Baek Uujin-ssi?"
"Yes."
He had only been waiting briefly for his reservation number to be called when a female receptionist with a distinctive mole near her eye called his name, so he headed in that direction.
"Born January 1st, 2010…… Yes, confirmed."
After finishing the simple identity verification, the receptionist lifted a pamphlet from below to begin the full explanation.
"You've applied for the practical test──"
"I'd like to change it to the machine measurement."
"…Ah, is that so?"
When he nodded, the receptionist's complexion brightened slightly.
Baek Uujin fully understood the receptionist's reaction.
The practical test was literally an examination where one measured their stats by directly moving their body, requiring quite a lot of preparation.
In contrast, machine measurement used a measuring device, a product of magic engineering that combined magic and science, which measured the contact person's stats through the mana injected inside.
Since it was measured by a machine, the test ended in about a minute, and the cost was also quite cheap at the price of one low-grade mana stone. However, the accuracy was slightly lower.
Both had clear pros and cons, but that was only a concern for the Association staff helping with the measurement and the Association footing the bill. For the awakeners taking the test, if the price was free, choosing the former without hesitation was the right answer.
'Not that it matters to me.'
When he already knew the obvious outcome, why waste time with a practical test?
"I'll guide you right away."
The female receptionist, perhaps worried that Baek Uujin might change his mind, quickly put away the pamphlet and guided him to the testing room.
"If you have a smartphone or other electronic devices, please place them in the basket next to you for a moment."
Since the only things he had brought were his smartphone and wallet, Baek Uujin placed them in the basket as instructed.
'This thing isn't even coming off, let alone moving.'
The ring firmly sitting on the index finger of his right hand didn't budge no matter how much force he applied. And to confirm one more thing, as Baek Uujin stepped onto the device, he casually placed his right hand on the device where the receptionist could see it.
"Not there, could you grab the round sphere?"
"Yes."
So it's not visible after all.
Baek Uujin grabbed the sphere as instructed.
"It might feel a little strange, but it'll be over quickly, so don't let go and keep holding onto the sphere."
When he nodded slightly, the receptionist activated the device, and a tingling sensation quickly spread throughout his body through the sphere he was holding.
'…Is it supposed to be felt this clearly?'
The movement of mana roaming through his body felt strangely vivid, but since this was his first machine test throughout his entire life before regression, he dismissed it as just how it was.
"Yes. Thank you for your hard work. Please sit at the reception desk and wait for a moment."
After returning to the seat where he had first sat across from the receptionist and waiting, the receptionist soon returned holding a piece of paper.
"Um……."
At the receptionist's reaction of sitting down but hesitating to hand over the paper, Baek Uujin laughed inwardly.
'How many times did I think about this embarrassing moment.'
The reason the receptionist was hesitating? Simple.
She was probably worried that he might turn into a troublemaking awakener who denied reality, claiming the measurement was wrong. After all, I was exactly that troublemaker before my regression.
"It's F-rank, right? It's fine, so please just finish the registration quickly."
"H-how did…… ah! No, that, I, I'm terribly sorry! I'll process it quickly, so please wait just a moment!!"
Perhaps embarrassed at having her thoughts exposed, the receptionist placed the test paper she hadn't shown on top and began rapidly typing on the keyboard as if trying to hide her flushed cheeks.
'What's this little scrap of paper even worth.'
Being an awakener wasn't everything in life. It was truly pathetic how much I had hung onto it.
So, reflecting on that patheticness from before his regression, he flipped over the test paper.
"……?"
Did my eyes go bad?
He rubbed the corner of his eyes with the back of his hand a few times and checked the test paper again.
"What is this."
The values recorded on the test paper had, for some reason, become quite different from what he remembered.