Chapter 45: The first relationship

–Could you come to my office before dinner?

Kim Yong-hyun. He was calling for me.

‘Why?’

Had he recognized me? Honestly, I didn’t think my personality had changed that much from my first life.

Even my appearance, I thought, wasn’t that different, aside from clearer skin, increased height, and a more muscular build.

‘Wait, are those not big differences?’

Honestly, just those three changes could make me seem like a different person.

I couldn’t keep him waiting any longer, as he was about to leave the classroom, so I replied.

–Yes. I’ll visit you before dinner.

Yong-hyun nodded slightly at me and left the classroom.

As I was about to ponder his intentions, Seung-ah spoke.

“Yu-won, are you okay? You look troubled.”

“You do look a bit pale. What’s wrong?”

Estelle, sitting on the other side, also commented on my appearance.

Honestly, I didn’t think I was that expressive, but I couldn’t fool them.

“It’s something I can’t talk about here in case others hear. I’ll tell you later.”

I couldn’t talk about someone from my first life in the middle of the classroom.

“Then tell us later when it’s just us.”

Ha-yeon, having heard our conversation, looked at me and said the same.

“Don’t leave me out.”

Liera popped her head out from between them and added.

She looked like a puppy, which I found rather cute. I was a lucky guy to have so many good people around me.

“Alright. There’s no way I’d leave you out.”

We left the classroom together, and after the last class, I parted ways with the group and headed to Yong-hyun’s office.

I had already memorized the location of the faculty building, so it wasn’t difficult to find.

As I walked through the faculty building, I ran into Instructor Han Ah-reum.

“Kim Yu-won! What brings you to the faculty building? I did say you could visit anytime… Don’t tell me you came to see me?”

She always seemed cheerful. Honestly, if it weren’t for her publicly dissecting my answers today, I would have had a good impression of her, but now I felt a bit resentful.

“No. Instructor Kim Yong-hyun called for me.”

“Instructor Kim Yong-hyun… His office is that way.”

I could see the nameplate with “Kim Yong-hyun” written on it in the direction she pointed.

“Thank you.”

“It was nothing. Oh, and I have lots of delicious treats in my office, so you must come visit! You can come after you’re done with Instructor Kim Yong-hyun!”

Her high energy was a bit overwhelming, but it wasn’t bad to have someone like that around.

Yong-hyun and Instructor Oh Dong-seok were a bit stiff.

“Alright. I’ll visit if I have time before dinner.”

“Okay. See you later, Yu-won!”

Instructor Han Ah-reum opened the door across the hallway and went inside.

The nameplate on the door indeed read “Han Ah-reum.” I memorized the location of her office as well.

Then I walked towards Yong-hyun’s office. I knocked twice, in case he wasn’t inside.

Knock knock

The door must have been made of a light material, as the knocking sound clearly reached inside.

“Who is it?”

A voice came from inside.

“It’s Kim Yu-won. You called for me earlier.”

I heard sounds of movement inside, and then he opened the door.

“You came. Come in.”

Glancing inside, I saw that it was quite tidy.

He had said he wouldn’t be extravagant even if he earned a lot of money, and it seemed he was keeping his word.

The interior was simply neat.

Considering he spent half his day in his office, it wouldn’t have been strange if he’d decorated it more elaborately, but his office had a very modern feel. Not too extravagant, not too plain.

‘I actually prefer this.’

It aligned with my taste.

He was someone I got along with well, so we often went out drinking together.

Thinking back, those were good times.

“Do you like tea?”

In my first life, I used to think, “Why would anyone drink something so bitter?” but after drinking a lot with Ha-yeon, I’d come to enjoy tea.

After realizing that tea wasn’t just about bitterness, but about appreciating its complex flavors, I even started seeking out better teas.

“I don’t dislike it.”

I heard a faint whisper, “As expected,” from him.

Yong-hyun prepared the tea.

“It’s nothing special, but it’s my favorite.”

‘This is…’

Judging by the aroma, this tea was made using elixir residue.

While it didn’t have the effects of an elixir, it possessed a flavor far superior to ordinary tea, and I knew a single cup cost over 30,000 won.

“Thank you.”

It seemed he allowed himself small luxuries when it came to his hobbies.

Well, if you earned money, you had to spend it sometime. As I slowly sipped the tea, he began to speak.

“I called you here to talk about something I can’t discuss with others.”

That was to be expected.

He wouldn’t have called me to his office if it was something he could say in front of others.

“An old man’s story about the past might be a bit boring, but I’d appreciate it if you listened.”

It felt strange hearing him call himself an old man when he still looked like he was in his late 30s, but he was 52.

It was fine for him to call himself an old man if he wanted to.

“It’s alright. I enjoy listening to stories.”

That’s how I became close with Ha-yeon. And I was also curious because I thought his story might be about me.

“I appreciate you saying that. Honestly, I didn’t have many friends when I was younger.”

“Pfft…”

His sudden, unexpected statement made me laugh and spill some tea.

“I’m sorry. You caught me off guard…”

How could the first thing he said in a meeting with a student be that he didn’t have many friends? I thought it was perfectly acceptable to laugh.

“Well, it happens…”

He said it happens, but his expression was a bit crumpled. He was still easily offended.

“Anyway, I didn’t have many friends. I was a good-for-nothing who insisted on being a Hunter despite lacking talent, and only a few people became friends with a loser like me.”

I also remembered the names of those people.

“And among them was a friend named Kim Yu-won, just like you.”

He was starting to talk about me.

“A reasonably handsome guy who received confessions from girls but would always complain to me about not having a girlfriend, the
” jerk. But he was a good guy.”

I didn’t know when I had ever complained about not having a girlfriend.

I had no recollection of that.

It was embarrassing to hear him praise me to my face.

He embarrassed me in a different way than Instructor Oh Dong-seok.

“He would always buy me drinks, even though I was just a low-ranked Hunter, struggling to make ends meet, while he was working at a decent company, quickly rising to the position of manager.”

You never knew when someone would become successful, and it was good for the more well-off person to treat, right? But I didn’t know he considered me his support.

“Even after turning 30, I was still a low-ranked Hunter, and I was wondering if I should give up and find a different job when I had a fortuitous encounter. I awakened a new S-rank trait through re-awakening, and I shouted with joy and immediately called him to tell him the good news.”

‘I never received such a call?’

I would have remembered if I had.

“I was going to brag about how my life had turned around, how I was about to hit the jackpot, how I would repay him for everything… but he didn’t answer. No, he couldn’t. That day, I received not only an S-rank trait but also the news that my friend had gone missing.”

‘He re-awakened on the day I died.’

That explained why I didn’t remember.

“My joyful expression instantly vanished, and I ran like crazy. Having become stronger with the new trait, I rushed to his company at a speed incomparable to before.”

Hearing that, I became curious.

What happened to my body after death? It was a question I’d never considered before.

“But the CCTV footage showed him shouting something, collapsing, and then disappearing without a trace.”

It seemed my body vanished without a trace after the trait activated.

“But a few days ago, I encountered something strange. I saw someone with the same youthful face as my friend, the same voice, and even the same name.”

He was talking about me.

“That’s you, Kim Yu-won. I called you here, wondering if you knew my friend, or if you were his son, hoping you might know his whereabouts. Do you know anything about my friend, Kim Yu-won?”

He asked me.