Regression
Narrow shoulders, disheveled hair, a dirty winter jacket reeking of foul odors.
A beggar who had been hunched up in a subway station finally raised his head when someone tapped him with the toe of a dress shoe.
Bloodshot eyes.
On his senile skin, creased in all directions like a spiderweb, yellowish dead skin looked ready to flake off at any moment.
An old gentleman who had been staring at such a beggar for quite some time.
His thin lips parted.
“Yes… I was wrong… I’m sorry. Hyeonseung…”
A senile voice steeped in profound sorrow, directed at the beggar.
But the old beggar said nothing. He merely gazed at the other with hazy eyes.
“Hmm…”
The old gentleman, who had been biting his lip.
Let out a sigh and pulled out a long black wallet from the breast of his black suit.
Three high-denomination checks worth 100 million won each, and over ten 50,000-won bills.
After carefully placing the money before the beggar, the old gentleman turned away bitterly.
The beggar stared at the money with hazy eyes, those miserable scraps of paper.
The moment the old gentleman stepped away, the beggar snatched it up with both hands in a fluster.
Stopping for a moment, the old gentleman glanced back briefly, then sighed once more and exited the subway.
“Life is fleeting… Life is foolish…”
The sidewalk in front of Subway Exit 3.
Men in suits who had been waiting,
at the old gentleman’s appearance, immediately surrounded him.
They guided the old gentleman straight to a parked Mercedes-Benz S-Class Maybach.
As a bodyguard politely opened the door, the old gentleman got into the back seat.
“Let’s go.”
“Yes, Chairman.”
The Maybach departed, and the old gentleman sighed the whole way.
Then suddenly, he extended his hand to the side.
The secretary riding in the seat to his left.
As if he had prepared in advance, he politely handed over a mobile phone.
The old gentleman stared at the phone blankly.
He slowly pressed the call button.
But the call didn’t connect easily, and just as the long ringing tone grew tedious, the call finally went through.
“I’m sorry. Chairman. We can’t… we can’t anymore. It’s too hard. We can no longer do anything on our end… Hmm… Word is that the Blue House has already given its approval. The Prosecutor General’s announcement will come soon. Chairman… I’m sorry… but this number will be disposed of soon. I’m sorry. I’m sorry…”
“……”
The old gentleman pressed the end call button, his eyes trembling, then closed them, revealing deep wrinkles.
Endlessly. Endlessly. He had climbed without end.
He had believed that at the summit, only endless happiness and pleasure would remain, devoid of pain and sorrow.
It had been only three years since he stood upon that lonely peak.
It was like a castle in the sky.
Even though it was a massive tower built by one man with blood and tears.
Once it began to collapse with a thunderous roar, it became impossible to stop.
“…Let’s go there.”
The secretary riding with him frowned deeply.
But he dared not disobey the old gentleman’s words.
Soon after, they arrived at a luxury villa in Yangpyeong, Gyeonggi-do.
“All this time… you’ve worked hard.”
The old gentleman’s brief greeting.
He passed through the bewildered bodyguards and secretaries and entered the villa alone.
And not long after, a fierce gunshot—*Bang!*—rang out from the villa.
A skull with a hole in it.
That was the old gentleman’s final moments.
***
Long darkness.
A darkness like a long tunnel.
Where is this?
I must certainly be dead, right?
I…
Heh. Well, I lived like that and died, so there’s nothing more to resent…
But life truly is bizarre.
Even though I lived like that, I still remain with such heavy regrets and lingering sorrow.
Gazing into the endless darkness, I smiled bitterly.
Is this hell?
The moment I thought that, a sudden change occurred.
A door emitting white light appeared beyond the darkness.
As I gazed at that door, a sudden thought occurred to me.
Could it be the door to heaven?
But I just scoffed.
As if someone like me could hope for such a thing!
Heaven, of all things!
Even if I were God, I wouldn’t bestow the peace of heaven upon a human like me.
A disgusting man.
A lump of desire.
A ravenous glutton of greed.
Eating and drinking, killing and tormenting.
To a human who built such a towering edifice of evil, the peace of heaven?
Heh heh.
Then is that white door the gate to hell?
Well, it doesn’t matter.
It doesn’t matter where.
Heaven or hell, whatever it may be, it doesn’t matter now.
------------------
“Reporter Choe Daeho, Reporter Choe Daeho, can you hear me? Ah… yes. This is Choe Daeho from KBC. We are currently reporting from Tongyeong, Gyeongnam. Please look at the oil slick formed in the sea below. The scope of the oil slick is enormous! The oil leaked from the Norwegian tanker Torino is spreading further, and it is expected to cause massive damage to the aquafarms in Tongyeong, Gyeongnam. The situation calls for prompt measures from the relevant authorities…”
A report on the oil leaked due to damage to the tank of the Norwegian oil tanker Torino.
A reporter continuing his broadcast from a helicopter above the sea.
The report had been going on for some time.
“Tsk tsk. What the hell is that! Why are they spilling oil in someone else’s sea? A Norwegian tanker? Isn’t Norway really far away?”
The grumbling voice of a man.
And following it, the angry voice of a woman.
“Hey! What is wrong with you! Turn the TV down! Lower your voice too! How can you blast the TV so loud? Hey! Kim Hyeonsu! What are you doing now! Hurry up and go study! This brat, I swear.”
In that instant, a sudden impact struck the top of Kim Hyeonsu’s head.
Having been standing in front of the TV like a spaced-out person, he let out a scream loud enough to shake the ceiling and rolled around.
Kim Hyeonsu looked greatly startled by something—no, his eyes were bulging out.
Like someone possessed, he looked around the small living room at the people in it, then sprang to his feet, only to fall on his rear with a *thud!* again.
A brief silence fell over the room at Hyeonsu’s bizarre behavior.
And it was his father who broke the silence.
“You little punk! Did you eat something wrong? What the hell are you doing!”
“Honey! Please! Please stop! Hyeonsu. Why are you acting like this all of a sudden? Hmm? Hyeonsu?”
Right now, Kim Hyeonsu.
He was in an extreme state of shock.
His parents who had passed away.
The fact that they were perfectly alive.
And the fact that they were shouting right before his eyes was incomprehensible, but—
what truly astounded him was that this space was the humble villa from his memories, his old home.
“Hyeonsu. Are you okay?”
“Ah. Uh, Mom… Mom?”
His mother’s gaze filled with worry. His mother’s hand touching his face.
Thanks to that, Hyeonsu barely managed to regain his senses.
And then.
“Mom!!”
In that instant, Hyeonsu spread his arms wide and hugged his mother with all his might.
“Oof! Hyeonsu!!”
Surprised, his mother.
The moment she pushed her son away, Hyeonsu quickly released his embrace and dashed into his room.
His mother tilted her head as she watched him, then soon turned and shouted stubbornly.
“Honey! Please turn the volume down! Please! Please!”
“Okay. I said okay.”
***
Preparation 1
***
January 29, 1996.
The winter cold had subsided considerably, but even so, Hyeonsu wasn’t exactly warm.
He had run hot all over during his adolescence, and thanks to that, Hyeonsu was energetic even in winter.
To save on heating costs, the room would get chilly, but Hyeonsu didn’t mind in the slightest.
It was already 4 AM.
The chill in the room was beginning to act up a bit, but Hyeonsu was unbothered.
However, he reacted to the alarm clock that had just begun to ring, throwing off his blankets and getting up.
At this hour, his parents and younger brothers Hyeonseung and Hyeonung were probably still deep in sleep.
Having woken up, Hyeonsu quickly changed into his gym clothes and stepped outside.
After finishing some light stretching in the darkness, Hyeonsu began running vigorously.
Breathing in the cold night air, he ran at full power around the neighborhood for about an hour, but he didn’t tire at all.
A sweet scent and white breath rose from his mouth, yet his breathing remained steady.
Returning home, Hyeonsu took a shower with warm water and immediately sat at his desk.
Ever since becoming a high school student, Hyeonsu had come to occupy a room all to himself.
Consequently, his middle school-aged younger brother Hyeonseung and elementary school-aged younger brother Hyeonung had to sleep in the same room as their parents.
“As expected, math is the biggest problem…”
Hyeonsu’s worry as he sat at his desk.
The thrill and excitement of the regression were only momentary.
A seasoned and clever man, Hyeonsu had quickly begun adapting to reality.
‘English, Japanese, Chinese, Spanish, French, German… I still remember these, so they’re fine.’
Having been the head of a large conglomerate in his past life, Hyeonsu had never neglected self-improvement for a moment, and was proficient in a total of six foreign languages.
Fortunately, his memory of those languages remained completely intact even now after regressing, as if they were habits.
But math, especially!
After graduating high school, math had been something he almost never used except for the four basic operations.
Even simple formulas that any ordinary high school student could easily grasp were incredibly difficult for Hyeonsu to understand.
In the end, Hyeonsu decided to borrow his younger brother Hyeonseung’s middle school math textbook and workbook to build up from the basics.
He was currently a high school freshman but would soon be a sophomore, and the college entrance exam was less than two years away.
Therefore, Hyeonsu resolved to dedicate all his time to studying math until the day school reopened, aside from waking at 4 AM, exercising, and eating.
The perseverance and tenacity that had allowed him to build a super-large enterprise from scratch without a penny of capital had not simply vanished.
In truth, in his previous life, it was only after graduating from a backwater university that he realized the harshness of reality and planned his life while studying like a madman.
Now, he would prepare for the world even earlier.
“Oh my. Look at our son. Honey! Turn the TV down. Our son is studying!”
“Goodness! Why are you so loud? You lower your voice! When you’re really concentrating, you wouldn’t notice even if a tank passed by.”
“Really, this man!”
“Okay. I said okay! I’ll turn it down. But that kid… why is he suddenly like that? Did he grow up overnight?”
“As you said, our son has grown up, so what about you? Stop loafing around in the living room!”
Perhaps thanks to Hyeonsu’s change, his father’s attitude was gradually changing as well.
The TV sound that had blared loudly from the narrow living room grew slightly quieter.
Hyeonsu’s mother, who no longer delivered loving smacks to the top of her son’s head, had also become busy preparing nutritious snacks for her changed son over the past few days.
February 5, 1996.
Due to a major problem at school the previous year, winter break had been delayed, so the February semester began a little later than February 1st.
Hyeonsu, a high school freshman, put on his school uniform and headed to school early in the morning.
Having checked the school’s location in advance, Hyeonsu arrived without much trouble and headed straight to the classroom of Class 3, Grade 1.
The classroom door creaked.
That roughness felt extremely awkward, but what lay beyond the classroom door was even more so.
Opening the door and entering, Hyeonsu was so startled by the utterly unfamiliar environment that he froze in his tracks.
Desks and chairs crammed tightly together.
A blackboard with faint chalk marks remaining.
Windows that somehow looked gaunt.
A musty smell.
He had to first accept the fact that this was a classroom.
And the moment he finally comprehended it, fragments of memories suddenly surged into him like shards.
Memories of his school days from long ago.
Those hazy memories came crashing down all at once, leaving his head momentarily dizzy.
While struggling, engulfed in fragments of very old memories, someone called out to him.
“Hey! Kim Hyeonsu! What’s going on? You’re here so early?”
From the direction of the unfamiliar voice.
As he turned his gaze that way, his expression stiffened even more this time.
An unfamiliar voice, an unfamiliar person.
He had no idea who it was.
Hyeonsu examined the other again.
A male student with a buzz cut and an acne-riddled face.
A guy sitting crookedly in his chair with both feet on the desk.
His shoulders were spread wide, and his build was slender.
Then, a fragment of memory suddenly flickered up.
‘Ah. Now I remember.’
But along with the memory, Hyeonsu grabbed his head with both hands.
‘Damn… Now I know why I had such good stamina when I was preparing for the bar exam after graduating from university.’
Perhaps because his physical body was so fresh, after a brief moment of confusion he was able to pull out faint memories relatively well.
However, the memory that had just returned was not a pleasant one for Hyeonsu.
Letting out a short sigh, Hyeonsu walked to the back of the classroom and exchanged a light high-five with the guy named Kim Jongtae.
Then he opened his mouth.
“Did you have a good break?”
“Hey! Fuck. Good break? I ran away from home and just got back yesterday. My grandma bawled her eyes out, so I couldn’t sleep a wink last night. Ugh, I’m really going crazy. I might just drop out of this school.”
At Jongtae’s rough words, Hyeonsu only gave a bitter smile, then opened his mouth calmly.
“Hey! I’m going to sit in the front from today. I’ve been thinking lately… Hmm. I’m going to start studying now. Hey! Sorry!”
With that, Hyeonsu turned and went to sit at the second desk from the front in the row of desks facing the hallway.
Students could sit wherever they wanted according to attendance order, but the window seat in the very back row that had belonged to Jongtae and Hyeonsu had now changed.
After sitting down, Hyeonsu glanced back slightly.
Kim Jongtae could be seen in the back, giggling as if dumbfounded.
***
School life beginning at 7 AM.
When Hyeonsu sat in the front, there was a slight commotion, but it quickly subsided.
It was because of Hyeonsu’s appearance, completely immersed in studying without paying any heed to others’ gazes.
“Alright, alright. We’ll end morning assembly here… Huh? Kim Hyeonsu! Hey! What’s going on with this kid?”
“Uh… Yes? Yes? Teacher?”
Hyeonsu, startled while studying, raised his head.
“Kid. I’ve seen everything now. Kim Hyeonsu sitting in the front. Sheesh, the sun will rise in the west tomorrow.”
Snickering could be heard here and there at the homeroom teacher’s words, but Hyeonsu pretended not to notice.
A brief empty period after morning assembly ended.
Even during that time, Hyeonsu wrestled with his math book.
Classmates glanced at Hyeonsu as they passed by him.
And soon, they discovered things.
‘What? That’s a second-year middle school math book?’
‘And here I thought what?’
‘When is his grade going to improve studying that? Heh heh. Crazy bastard.’
Also, a short while later.
“Hey. Kim Hyeonsu. Did you see what he’s studying? A guy who’s gonna be a high school sophomore in a couple of days is studying middle school second-year stuff.”
“Hey. Hyeonsu will hear you.”
“That’s why I’m telling you to be quiet. But did he fight with Jongtae? Jongtae’s sleeping in the back, and Hyeonsu’s studying in the front? Something’s up.”
“Hey! You guys. Did you hear that rumor?”
“What?”
“There’s a delinquent queenka in Class 6.”
“Ah. Han Seunghui?”
“Yeah. I heard she likes Hyeonsu… but Hyeonsu said he doesn’t really like her. Maybe Hyeonsu is pretending to study to brush her off?”
“Ugh. Stop saying such ridiculous things.”
Someone was talking about him, but Hyeonsu paid no attention and devoted himself solely to studying math.
While focusing as much as possible and studying even during class time, a week passed in the blink of an eye.
***