Chapter 1 Why? (1)
Hyungjin No had graduated top of his class in Hankuk University, had passed the bar exam first place, and had set the age record for the top lawyer spot at Child Law Firm. His victory rate had been 95.85%, but all these traits had not protected him. The only thing Hyungjin could feel was the handle sticking from his chest.
“Ah…”
“You should have gone softer.”
Hyungjin looked up at the man standing over him and could see the man’s sneer as his sight blurred.
“Why…?”
“Don’t you know the answer?”
Hyungjin could not answer back coherently as he coughed out blood. It would be nice if that blood got onto the man who had stabbed Hyungjin and acted as evidence, but the man’s raincoat blocked that idea. This had been a carefully prepared trap, as the room was wrapped in plastic as the men were from head to toe.
“This is not America. If you wanted to serve justice that much, you should have gone there.”
While numerous American firms had tried to get Hyungjin, he had remained in Korea since he wanted to see justice done in his home country. However, Hyungjin’s opponent had been too much for him this time.
“Doohan…”
Doohan is one of the three major firms in Korea, and the owner’s family were in-laws to the current president. The lawsuit that had begun when it was discovered that Doohan had been letting out chemical waste in secret was over two billion won and involved more than ten thousand victims. However, no one had wanted to handle the lawsuit as they had to go against Doosan, and Hyungjin had taken it in the end. The result was this.
“Shouldn’t the National Intelligence Service protect the country?”
Hyungjin would have not been surprised if an assassin or a gang member had stabbed him, but he could not believe that the man was a Korean National Intelligence Service field agent. The man stooped down and whispered against Hyungjin’s ear.
“You seem to be mistaken. We protect the VIP, not the country.”
The man twisted the knife, and Hyungjin died in a spurt of blood. The man nodded as he glanced at Hyungjin’s corpse.
“Take care of it.”
The men who had been waiting placed Hyungjin’s corpse in a big drum can and poured hydrochloride over it. Thus, Hyungjin left behind not fame and glory but the blood that had melted under a chemical.
**
“This man did not die at a proper time, as he should not have died yet.”
A messenger of the underworld wearing black shook his head as he stared at a spirit with vacant eyes.
“Your majesty, what should be done?”
The King of the Underworld shook his head, as people who died when they should not have done so caused many problems for the underworld. While in most cases, the spirit is taken to the body in a miraculous comeback, this man’s corpse had melted under hydrochloride.
“If we do not get him back to Earth, the problem becomes serious.”
“I know that.”
The depravity on Earth had reached the limit, so there was no place in hell, and this man had been sent to set things right. However, he died before he could accomplish anything.
“We have to send him back somehow…”
If this man was not sent back, innocent victims would pile up until karma overflowed either in war or natural disasters. The number would be in the millions.
“The Gods will not let this go.”
They had announced that the world should start again, and the Great Jade Emperor had begged for one more chance. This man had been it, but…
“I will have to use an expedient.”
“You’re going to return him in time?”
“What else? I do not have a body to return his spirit to.”
“Gods will not like it.”
“I will have to risk it.”
The King of Underworld guessed that some Gods would let him pass, as not all of them wanted recreation.
“How can things go differently this time?”
“I will have to give him a power that will protect his life and hope he survives.”
While the King wanted to give Hyungjin enough power to save himself from the world, there were limits. If so, Hyungjin would become the reason for the world being recreated.
**
Hyungjin woke up with a start, hit his head against the bed hard, and then heard a familiar voice above.
“It’s been a month since we had this bed, and you’re still doing that?”
Hyungjin had to stare at the face who looked down at him from the top deck of the double-deck bed.
“Sis? You’re alive?”
Hyuna frowned at Hyungjin’s words.
“I’ve been alive for seventeen years. What are you saying?”
“Seventeen?”
“Yes, idiot brother. Go back to sleep.”
Hyungjin could not understand the situation even as Hyuna went back to sleep. Hyungjin had no other choice but to do the same, and he could remember what he had studied, historical facts, and his end.
‘Did I die?’
However, the knife had been too real and the dream too intense. What had happened? Hyungjin could not sleep well that night.
**
Hyuna said her goodbyes and took a piece of bread as she ran out of the house to school.
“You may be late!”
Hyungjin looked down at his uniform at his sister’s words. He could not believe that he was again a second-grader in middle school and his sister a high school senior. While he could not remember every detail of the past, he remembered big events. How had he come back to his childhood when his sister had been alive?
‘She really is alive…’
Hyungjin felt his eyes tear up at remembering his sister’s turbulent life. She had married her high school sweetheart, but that man had not been a good husband. Hyuna had two children and raised them as much as she could after her divorce but had gone to Japan when they had died in an accident. However, she had died in a massive tsunami, and Hyungjin could not even bury her.
“Wait…”
If Hyungjin’s memory was correct, Hyuna would meet that guy who would ruin her life.
‘No, wait. This is a dream.’
However, Hyungjin could feel anxiety welling up as his sister’s fate was sealed if she married that guy again, who had a sweet face and good fighting abilities. While Hyungjin believed that he was dreaming now, his memories were too immediate.
‘I have to go check.’
This was Hyungjin’s first time he had strayed from his route to school and was rewarded by seeing a high school student flying on the basketball court. He really was Hyukwoo Cho, who had been Hyungjin’s enemy. Hyukwoo had lied that he was single and had affairs with many women after marriage. Hyuna had to pay the settlement money because of his lies. While Hyungjin knew him to be human trash, he just looked like a good sportsman now.
“He exists…”
If Hyungjin was dreaming, Hyukwoo should not exist as Hyungjin had seen him for the first time when Hyuna had brought him home a few years later.
‘Then, is this reality? I don’t know yet, but I have to keep him away from my sister…’
While Hyungjin was unsure whether his lawyer life had been a dream or this one was, he knew he could not let Hyukwoo ruin his sister’s life again.