Choi Han had lost consciousness while watching Eruhaben catching his falling body with a shocked expression.

Tons of memories had flown into his mind. He had then become Choi Jungsoo.

***********************************

"Hey, Jungsoo."

Choi Han had become Choi Jungsoo, starting with Choi Jungsoo's mom smiling and telling him something.

"Our family has stayed here for generations. We cannot leave."

"Why not?"

Choi Jungsoo's grandfather had faintly smiled and answered his question. "I had a nephew...I guess he would be your uncle once removed. Anyway, it is because there is someone who needs to come back.

There's my younger brother as well... what would happen if they came back here thinking that they were back home only to not find anyone here?"

The young Choi Jungsoo had nodded at his grandfather's explanation and smiled.

The largest tile-roofed house in the neighborhood. He liked this house and enjoyed watching his older cousins, his mom, and his dad moving around while punching or swinging wooden swords.

Choi Jungsoo slowly got older. Choi Han had experienced everything as Choi Jungsoo.

Then one day as he finished his studies and prepared to take the exam to enter college in the physical education department...

The world turned into chaos. Something that seemed straight out of a movie happened. A terrible horror movie at that.

Once the first part of that movie ended...

"...I promise I will return." Choi Jungsoo had kowtowed twice while looking at the destroyed tile-roofed house.

Nobody lived in this house now. He worked hard while trying to repair it as much as possible, but the grandeur of this upright place was long gone.

"I will return... and turn this place back to how it used to be." Choi Jungsoo, the only survivor from this house, made a promise to everyone.

He then started to work for a company. It was a company in an awkward position as it was neither a guild nor a government entity, but it was able to take on all sorts of jobs because of this ambiguous status.

"Oh! Are you the only other rookie? My name is Choi Jungsoo! Nice to meet you!"

"...Kim Roksoo."

"Aren't you too cold, Kim Roksoo-ssi?"

"..."

Choi Jungsoo had warmly greeted his new colleague but he only got cold response in return.

"Time to go on a business trip."

"Team-leader-nim, you mean to go to work, right?"

"Same difference."

Choi Jungsoo started to do all sorts of jobs with his fellow rookie Kim Roksoo, team leader Lee Soohyuk, and the others on their team.

He was always getting hurt and doing the hard tasks because he was responsible for fighting in the vanguard.

It was still bearable. It was because he had people who were like family, no, because he had a new family.

Choi Jungsoo's memories had continued.

'I hope peace returns to Earth and we can all live happily ever after.' He had looked at his teammates and started to think. 'I'm going to take everyone to my hometown. The tile-roofed house is large, and it looks like I already convinced Soohyuk Hyung to drag Kim Roksoo with us!'

He could smile while thinking about the future every so often as they completed their missions. It was a pure smile that was not forced.

However, he was always worried. This world was one where he never knew when he would die.

'Looks like that time is finally here.' Choi Jungsoo had to face a time when his concerns had become reality.

"....Jungsoo."

"I'm okay, Soohyuk Hyung."

He smiled and responded to Lee Soohyuk. However, his gaze could not move away from the large monster.

It was the appearance of the monster that Kim Roksoo had predicted. That monster was beyond their wildest imaginations.

'I might die.' He couldn't help but have that thought.

"Pfft."

He could hear team leader Lee Soohyuk laughing. Jungsoo turned his head to see Lee Soohyuk stoically start to speak while pointing at his hand that was holding the sword.

"You can talk like that while your hand is shaking that much? Don't be like our Roksoo, always hide his feelings."

Jungsoo could see his shaking hand. He then started to smile and asked as if nothing was wrong.

"Hyung, is it that obvious?"

"Yes. Very obvious."

"Ay, that's too bad. I guess I couldn't compare to our Roksoo."

The team leader had shaken his head at Jungsoo's response. He then sent the signal. "Attack! Use the paths that Roksoo predicted!"

All of their teammates had started to charge toward the monster.

"Team leader, the three o'clock direction! Two of you head North while three go Northwest!"

Choi Jungsoo listened to Kim Roksoo's support from the back as he pulled out his sword.

Baaaaaang! His final battle started by slamming away at the monster's leg.

"Haaa..., haaa...." Choi Jungsoo felt his body slowly get heavier. 'Damn it! This crazy monster bastard!'

Choi Jungsoo's face was filled with venomous aura as he glared at the monster.

It was too strong. He didn't know how they would defeat it. He looked around.

"...This crazy!"

Some of his teammates were already dead. Many of the others were injured badly like himself.

'Roksoo... where is that punk go? I hope he's safe now.'

He felt as if they would all die if they didn't run away. They needed to run in order to survive.

He still haven't gotten Kim Roksoo to call him Hyung yet. He didn't want to die just yet.

It was at that moment.

He heard an unfamiliar voice.

Flinch. Choi Jungsoo's body started to shake. 'What is this voice? Who is it?'

There were fear and curiosity in his thought. However, the unfamiliar voice did not respond to him. It only said what it needed to say.

Choi Jungsoo had lost all sense of reality because of this unfamiliar voice.

It felt as if his heart was sinking. Choi Jungsoo subconsciously started to pay attention to that voice.

The promise to let him live.

'What is it saying?' Choi Jungsoo was lost because of these sudden statements.

(Tsuki: hmm, it's because Choi Jungsoo has a special fate with Kim Roksoo as well as the family of Single-Lifer. And GoD had to pull two people instead of just Choi Jungsoo, if he agrees to the promise, so GoD need to give a test first. Furthermore, he couldn't say anything about Kim Roksoo's circumstances. So it's a unique situation? Make sense?

P.S. Moreover, he needs to conserve energy for Roksoo to regress, so GoD couldn't break the rule now. Because Choi Jungsoo is an extra, while Kim Roksoo is the main subject to transfer.

And yeah that means one person supposed to live then. Kim Roksoo, Choi Jungsoo, or Lee Soohyuk. Sadly Lee Soohyuk wasn't given a choice.)

Choi Jungsoo recalled what his grandfather had told him after hearing the voice mention his ancestors. His grandfather had told him about the sorrows of their family once he got older and became a high school student.

"They suddenly disappeared. It was like magic. We never heard from them again. How did our household end up facing such issues......"

Choi Jungsoo, who frequently read fantasy novels with Kim Roksoo, realized something as he recalled his grandfather's words and this unfamiliar voice.

Then the voice started to speak again.

'I can live.' Those words struck Choi Jungsoo's mind like thunder.

It was at that moment.

Baaaaang! A loud explosion filled the area.

Choi Jungsoo could see one of his teammates holding up a metal board to block the piece of a building wall the monster flung toward his direction.

He could see Kim Roksoo's back.

"Ugh!" Kim Roksoo had held up the metal board as if it was a shield, however, he was pushed back and rammed into Choi Jungsoo.

He then turned around and glared at Choi Jungsoo.

"Hey! Choi Jungsoo!"

"...Roksoo-ya."

"Y-You still have time to call me that? Snap out of it! Do you want to die?! Why are you suddenly blanking out?!"

'Ah.' Choi Jungsoo realized that he had blanked out for a moment. But he smiled a little at Kim Roksoo's shaky voice that was hinted with concern. 'I've never heard him showing this much emotions.'

The unfamiliar voice continued to speak.

It was a tempting offer. Choi Jungsoo's sense of reality shook once again.

The monster launched another attack at that moment.

"Ugh!" His Dongsaeng Kim Roksoo's body was flung aside and rolled on the ground.

The metal board he had picked up as a temporary piece of defensive equipment was crushed as well.

Kim Roksoo's arm had twisted in an odd direction, but he didn't even pay it any attention. "Ugh, you stupid idiot! Snap out of it already!"

Choi Jungsoo could see Kim Roksoo grabbing his injured arm and shout toward him again.

The punk who was bleeding from his mouth and nose because he had used too much of his power. The punk who had no offensive strength at all, the punk who he considered his brother, was shouting at him with desperation.

He finally completely snapped out of it.

His sense of reality had returned once again.

Slap! Choi Jungsoo slapped his cheek.

He then reached his hand out.

"What the hell? Why are you slapping yourself out of blue?"

"Is our Roksoo worried about this Hyung? Just go and support us from the rear, Dongsaeng!"

"It's not time for joke..."

Choi Jungsoo pulled Kim Roksoo to him by the collar before jumping up with him.

Baaaaaang! The large monster's attack charged past the spot they had been standing.

"..."

Choi Jungsoo chuckled while watching Kim Roksoo turned his face away to wipe his tears.

"Does your arm hurt to the point our great Roksoo cry? Who told the rear support to come all the way up here?"

He then said something he did not mean.

Of course, Choi Jungsoo knew what had happened. Kim Roksoo had come up here to save him.

He looked around. All of their teammates were fighting while putting half, no, almost their whole life at risk.

He wanted to do the same. Wouldn't that be enough? I'm going to live the way I want to live. Isn't that the best?

'I couldn't just accept the mysterious voice's offer and abandon my family.' Choi Jungsoo clenched onto the sword in his hand and charged toward the monster.

Attack and get hit.

Fall and get back up.

Swing the sword again and get sent flying.

"...Huff... huff. Huff......" Choi Jungsoo finally crumbled. He slowly started to be unable to breathe.

It was getting harder and harder to breathe. He had no strength or feeling in his body. He was slowly losing his sight as he faintly made out his dead teammates.

Some thankfully died with their body intact while others died terrible deaths.

'...Soohyuk Hyung too......'

Team leader Lee Soohyuk was in a similar condition as him. He could also see Kim Roksoo.

'I'm relieved.'

It looked like at least one of them would survive.

'I'm glad I could protect this stubborn Dongsaeng.'

Choi Jungsoo had never seen so much emotions on Kim Roksoo's face before. He usually had a stoic face that almost felt like a doll or a robot.

He should be happy that Kim Roksoo finally showed his true feelings. However, he didn't like seeing such expressions on Kim Roksoo's face.

'It's happening again.' He was hearing that voice again.

He wanted to laugh. Choi Jungsoo wanted to laugh out loud after hearing that.

However, he responded internally as he had no strength to laugh. 'Just something I said, just something I said in passing.'

What did he want to do once everything was over?

He had talked to Lee Soohyuk about going down to the countryside and being farmers. He would have an orchard and save a plot of land to farm.

He would also drag Kim Roksoo who never seemed to have any dreams or desire. He had to look after this Dongsaeng who never taking care of himself and might starved himself one day just because he lost track of time reading books.

If he left this person alone, he was bound to attract trouble somewhere. He and the team leader discussed making him farm with them, so that they won't have to worry about him.

The other teammates said they would come to visit in the summer and help them harvest in the fall as long as they fed them meat.

They were all just talk.

It was the type of thing you talked about because you never knew when you would die. It would be great if it happened, but they were sharing their dreams as if they were jokes because the chances of it happening were slim.

It was something like that.

'That was all it was.' Even thinking was becoming difficult for Choi Jungsoo.

He couldn't see much anymore either.

He could hear Kim Roksoo's voice.

It didn't sound like crying. The Kim Roksoo that he knew was not someone who would cry.

'Haha... it's not that he's heartless to not cry... but that guy just too used to hiding his emotions...'

He seemed to be calling for him. But why did it sound like a shriek?

'My decision? ...Of course, I do want to live longer. I want to live, but I can't leave alone. And if it could at least protect that punk, it's worth it.'

Choi Jungsoo could not respond anymore.

That weird voice was getting quieter.

'...Ah, I am now a bit worried about our Roksoo. I hope he won't blame himself too much. He'll survive, but...'

Choi Jungsoo felt as if he was slowly being sucked into the darkness. He couldn't hear anything anymore; nothing could reach him.

The unfamiliar voice continued to mumble.

Choi Jungsoo no longer has the strength to do anything.

Choi Jungsoo flinched at that moment.

No, Choi Han had returned to his senses.

He heard a voice in his head.

"...Gasp!" He then opened his eyes.

"Choi Han! You're finally awake."

Pah! Choi Han slapped the hand heading toward him away.

He could see that the person was shocked at his response, but he didn't have time to think about that right now.

'The memories, the memories-!'

Choi Jungsoo's life, his memories, and his emotions were all flooding into Choi Han's mind like a tsunami. It was hard to breathe. A pain different than physical pain was shaking his mind.

"Huff..., huff. Huff......!"

He took a deep breath. His sense of reality slowly started to return.

Drip. Drip. Water drops started to fall onto the back of his hand.

"...You-"

He heard Eruhaben's concerned voice.

However, these were not Choi Han's own tears.

Choi Jungsoo. These were that person's tears. No, these were the tears of the person who could have been his nephew.

The tiled-roof house that Choi Jungsoo had lived in. That was his father's house in his hometown.

Drip. Drip, drip. The tears kept falling.

Choi Han did not understand why he was crying like this.

"Hey! What's wrong? What is it?"

He could clearly see Eruhaben grabbing his shoulders with a shocked expression on his face.

Choi Han started to speak. "...Kim Roksoo."

"What?"

Choi Han got up from the bed. He then grabbed his scabbard resting next to him. It was the sword that Cale had given him. He looked down at the sword before asking Eruhaben a question.

"Where is Cale-nim right now?"

"Huh?"

"I must go there."

"You don't seem to be normal right now. Where do you think-"

"I'm going."

That was how Choi Han had used a teleportation magic scroll to leave as soon as he opened his eyes.

And now... The moment he took in the sight he teleported to...

"...What's wrong with your face?" Ron greeted Choi Han with a stiff expression rather than his usual benign smile.

'This old man said Cale-nim used to hide his feelings and push everyone away. And he changed before meeting me... Cale-nim also said that he knew about me beforehand, he knew where and when I'm arriving at the Rain city....'

Clopeh Sekka was sitting on the ground next to him while looking at Choi Han, whose face was full of tear marks, as if he was looking at a crazy bastard.

Paaaat! Eruhaben soon arrived as well.

"Eruhaben-nim." Choi Han ignored the statements and gazes of the others and pointed above him. "Please use flight magic on me."

"Haaaa. Alright, fine. In return-"

"I will apologize later. Thank you for taking care of me."

"...Haaaa, really."

Eruhaben cast flight magic on Choi Han.

Choi Han immediately flew up and started to move quickly.

– Choi Han! Did you really cry? Were you having a nightmare? I will console you!

He ignored Raon's voice right now as well.

Choi Han started to fly quickly.

Baaaaang! Baaaaang! He flew toward the location where an endless number of fiery thunderbolts were causing small explosions.

The fiery thunderbolts opened a path for him.

Craaaackle. He could feel the heat, but the fire did not burn Choi Han.

Choi Han moved past the fire and the thunderbolts and arrived at the center. He could see a masked man standing there.

Choi Han looked toward Cale and started to speak. "What am I supposed to call the friend of my nephew once removed?"

Cale smiled sadly as he responded. "...so you found out."

– Human, what is it? Found out about what? I want to know as well!

Cale could not say anything even though Raon's voice filled his mind.

'I wonder what else will he ask.'

Choi Han had noticed that Kim Roksoo was the current Cale. He seemed to be sure of it even though they are different, whether in appearance or behavior.

"...Let's talk later." Cale slowly avoided Choi Han's gaze.

Baaaaang! Baaaaang!

Cheapskate's fiery thunderbolts were continuing to purify the dead mana and turn it into rose-gold colored ashes as that happened.

The fiery thunderbolts and the rose gold colored ashes. The combination of this looked beautiful from a distance.

However, it was causing people around it to run away as they feared death, although the people at the center were not in a situation to notice what was going on.

Choi Han nonchalantly saying the name. "...Kim Roksoo."

Cale didn't turn back. "Yes, I am Kim Roksoo."

Cale look toward a mountain in the distance. However, the only things he could see were the fiery thunderbolts that blocked his view. The disappearing black liquids were also there.

Choi Han just quietly observed Cale.