S Chapter 2

‘You are the future of UA Group. You are a person of such worth.’

His father always said this. At least to young Shin Jukyeong, those words were law and truth. With faint memories of his mother, without a moment to hesitate, Shin Jukyeong had to be dragged to successor training from morning till night.

Because his father relied on him. Because his father trusted him. Because it was his deceased mother’s last wish… he endured, thinking of them.

But was it a mistake to be caught floundering in a life lived for the dead? Shin Jukyeong didn’t know about the downfall of those who truly stayed by his side, and that small indifference became a massive typhoon that swallowed him whole.

‘I don’t want to call it a failed life, but I cannot walk the same path again.’

Shin Jukyeong silently asked his mother if it was alright for a thirty-year-old to decide his own future. There was no reply, but he didn’t care. He had already decided to be an unfilial son anyway.

“You’re here.”

Entering the reception room, he saw familiar faces. His father and… his three younger brothers. He thought he would be greatly agitated, but he wasn’t. Was it because he’d kept his composure all night, or thanks to his innate personality? He just felt, ‘It’s enough that they’re alive.’

‘No, actually, I don’t have the luxury to indulge in a touching reunion.’

Shin Jukyeong repeatedly clenched and unclenched his hands. His skin was damp with cold sweat. The current genre was too much of a thriller to shed tears of longing. Even moving a single finger felt perilous. One wrong move, and they’d all end up at the guillotine.

“Shin Jukyeong.”

“Yes.”

Unlike his complicated thoughts, his body, accustomed for years, responded immediately to his father, Shin Taekyung’s, call. He was smiling contentedly at Shin Jukyeong.

“Congratulations.”

‘Congratulations.’

…Even the dialogue was exactly the same as in the past, without a single error. The powerful voice was convinced that Shin Jukyeong would awaken as a Hunter. And in the past, that conviction became reality. Yes, in the past.

“Seeing you in person, you’re more impressive than I heard. It’s a pleasure, student Shin Jukyeong.”

Shin Jukyeong looked at the man approaching in military boots. His confident demeanor was familiar, if anything. His name was probably…

“My name is Jin Dong-hyeon, and I’ll be helping with your manifestation today, student Shin Jukyeong. Just relax and leave everything to me, alright?”

‘Right. Jin Dong-hyeon.’

Shin Jukyeong’s eyes narrowed.

‘This bastard, he bragged everywhere about manifesting me as if it were the greatest achievement of his life, and eventually ended up in multi-level marketing, didn’t he?’

He didn’t particularly want to know, but the reason he did know was because Shin Jukyeong himself had beaten Jin Dong-hyeon and put him in prison. Now he understood. He would have definitely manifested as an SSS-rank even without that idiot.

‘Come to think of it, is my power awakened now?’

He had forgotten the most important thing. Shin Jukyeong focused on the energy flowing through his body.

‘The magnitude of my power is the same as in the future. It’s merely sealed.’

Just one stimulus, and the path would open. But he couldn’t let that happen. Shin Jukyeong chose ‘manifestation failure’ as the first twist to avoid tragedy. He decided to change the biggest picture first.

There would be no more Hunter Shin Jukyeong. He would erase himself.

“Your face is quite pale, aren’t you worried?”

Misunderstanding Shin Jukyeong, who was lost in thought, Jin Dong-hyeon chuckled. He reassured him not to worry, saying he had assisted many manifestations, but from Shin Jukyeong’s perspective, it only elicited a snort. However, he deliberately nodded, pretending to be nervous as Jin Dong-hyeon suggested.

‘I’ll have to use you a bit.’

While concealing his dark intentions.

“Alright, let’s begin. It might sting a little, but don’t be too surprised, student Shin Jukyeong.”

Jin Dong-hyeon, who approached from behind, lightly flexed his wrists and spoke. A little? …No, it would hurt like hell.

‘I should prepare not to bite my tongue.’

No sooner had he steeled himself than an unusual surge of energy flowed in from behind. As Jin Dong-hyeon said, a normal manifestation only causes a slight sense of repulsion. One might feel a bit of pain depending on the recipient, but it doesn’t accompany anything more severe.

However, Shin Jukyeong was different. He intended to use Jin Dong-hyeon’s power in reverse to block all the energy flowing through his body. If it had been the previous Shin Jukyeong, he might have clicked his tongue and called it crazy; it was an extremely dangerous and reckless act.

But to the current Shin Jukyeong, such a risk was merely like watching an annoying advertisement to get a paid item. Literally, he just needed not to die. One who had experienced being cut down by his own brother had nothing to fear.

‘It hurts like hell, though.’

Shin Jukyeong clenched his heart, putting strength into his body that was about to collapse forward.

“Ugh… Khuk!”

“Huh? …Student?”

Jin Dong-hyeon also seemed to notice the anomaly, as the smile vanished from his relaxed face. He simply flustered, unable to even conceive that a young student was ruining his body by reversing a professional Hunter’s power.

The moment his movements grew frantic, Shin Jukyeong perfectly timed covering his mouth. Dark red blood gushed out through the gaps in his white fingers.

“Why, why… Shit! Student! Hey!”

Jin Dong-hyeon yelled, agitated.

“Cough, choke! Haa… Cough!”

With a scream from the household staff member watching nearby, Shin Jukyeong’s father, Shin Taekyung, also rose to his feet. The place, which seemed destined only for congratulations and cheers, instantly turned into a horrific scene.

‘It’s done.’

Shin Jukyeong quietly smiled as he watched people screaming to call an ambulance before he collapsed. He even felt a sense of exhilaration. It hurt terribly, but… considering the future, it wasn’t a bad start at all.

When he opened his eyes again, he had somewhat worried that the world might have turned upside down, but it was all useless fantasy. His body hurt as if it had been put through a blender, and Kang Seo-oh was noisily sniffling.

“Young Master… sniff, you mustn’t die…”

“I didn’t die.”

He had only stated a fact, but Kang Seo-oh wept even more sorrowfully. Since Shin Jukyeong had no hobby of wiping away a man’s tears, he simply ignored him and looked around. As expected, his father wasn’t there. He truly was a consistent person.

“…What happened?”

When he asked, feigning ignorance in a hoarse voice, Kang Seo-oh flinched. It seemed to be the correct answer. But for Shin Jukyeong, it was rather what he wanted.

“Young Master… Th-that is…”

If anything, Shin Jukyeong was the one in big trouble, but from Kang Seo-oh’s demeanor, it looked like Kang Seo-oh was the one screwed. Was it because he was so kind-hearted that he worried as if it were his own problem? If Kang Seo-oh hadn’t died in the previous life and had remained by his brothers’ side, perhaps a somewhat different outcome could have been seen.

As Shin Jukyeong dropped his head, lost in thought, Kang Seo-oh, with a choked-up expression, firmly gripped his cheeks and lifted his head. His eyes were reddish, as if ready to shed tears at any moment.

“…?”

As Shin Jukyeong’s eyes widened in surprise at the unfamiliar skinship, Kang Seo-oh regulated his hurried breathing and loudly exclaimed.

“Don’t lower your head! That doesn’t suit you. Huh? It’ll be okay. Even the Elder Master didn’t manifest, but he’s leading UA Group, isn’t he? Young Master Shin Jukyeong is the only one to inherit. O-of course, I’m not saying the other young masters aren’t qualified, but…! But…! How much you’ve strived…! I know it all…”

It seemed he had misunderstood Shin Jukyeong’s attitude as discouragement.

To be comforted by someone much younger. Shin Jukyeong shrank his neck, feeling embarrassed. When was the last time he received someone else’s concern…? This feeling was truly long overdue.

Shin Jukyeong took a deep breath. Unlike his aching body, warmth bloomed in his dulled chest.

“Thank you.”

It was a heartfelt sentiment he hadn’t been able to convey in the past. Back then, even when grateful, he couldn’t say “thank you.” Well… actually, more than gratitude, he wanted to apologize.

“sniff… Young Master, sniff, what do you have to be grateful for, sniff?!”

He had clearly conveyed his thanks, so why was he crying? It was a difficult reaction for Shin Jukyeong to comprehend, but trying to understand even without empathy was a basic social skill.

“Stop.”

“Huuuuh.”

If he had been nineteen-year-old Shin Jukyeong, he might have been disgusted, thinking he wasn’t acting his age. However, thirty-year-old Shin Jukyeong had grown into a paragon of ‘strong to the strong, weak to the weak’ due to the absurdities of society. It wasn’t for nothing that he had tasted the bitter, sweet, and sour flavors of life with a tasting spoon since childhood.

“Tsk, stop it. I can’t wipe your tears, so wipe them yourself.”

“Ung… sniff, but I’m older…?”

Shin Jukyeong awkwardly patted Kang Seo-oh’s shoulder. As this role-reversal situation unfolded, a precise knock was heard. Knock, knock, the uninvited guest abruptly poked his face in without permission.

“You’re awake. That’s a relief.”

It was his father’s executive secretary.