Chapter 9

Beyond his wristwatch, Jin Soram could hear the other person deeply inhaling, then exhaling while suppressing their anger. It sounded like the sigh of a grandfather witnessing his mischievous grandson sliding down a tombstone.

"To the Director's office, come, no, take him with you."

"Wow, seriously? A meeting with the boss for someone just touring?" Soram scoffed. "What a hardass!"

"Soram, stop messing around."

"Um...yes."

While Soram tended to be a bit cheeky with the Deputy Director, he obediently agreed when the Director Park Jae-seon spoke. Others assumed it was because the Director had a more authoritative presence. But for Soram, who remembered how Park had embraced him when he couldn't escape his family's shadow in his first life, it was simply unavoidable.

"I'll go right away."

The Director cared for all hunters, and that extended even to Soram, who constantly caused political turmoil at the Rift Phenomenon Management Headquarters.

After ending the communication, Soram swiped his card key and pressed 15 for the fifteenth floor.

"I guess you'll have to go to the cafeteria later. Is it okay if I see the Director for a bit, Han Tae-un ssi?"

"Yes."

"The Deputy Director will probably ask for my autograph as soon as he sees me, but they're both people who value hunters' welfare, so if you want to delay your transfer to the headquarters, feel free to say so."

"Jin Soram ssi."

Soram turned to look at him when called. Their eyes met slightly above Soram's eye level.

"As I said, I want to work as a hunter for the headquarters of my own will."

"Ah, that's right. Now that I think about it, I'm curious. Why?"

The elevator passed the fourteenth floor and stopped at the fifteenth, bringing a sense of weightlessness. In the brief silence, Tae-un spoke.

"I thought if I have the power, I want to use it to save someone. Here, I can save more people."

"..."

Soram felt something inside him grow bitterly cold.

"Ah...I see."

Stepping out through the open doors, Soram turned his head.

"Then who will save Han Tae-un ssi?"

He muttered barely audibly and pointed down the hallway.

"If you walk to the end over there, it's the Director's office. It's clearly marked, so it won't be hard to find."

"Aren't you coming with me, Jin Soram ssi?"

"No, I won't go. Suddenly, I just want to sleep, whether it's neungi baeksuk or whatever."

"..."

"I'm usually capricious, and I can be rude when meeting someone new. Go on ahead."

Leaving Tae-un behind, Soram turned and took the elevator, closing the doors as Tae-un watched.

"...Damn bastard."

The debt of three lives he owed to Tae-un suddenly weighed painfully on his shoulders.

What was he thinking, willing to throw away his life to save someone else?

Soram's hands turned white from the guilt gripping them. In the life he survived in Tae-un's place, he had never once saved this country. Instead, he had died pathetically, not even worth the price of that life. This current life would end up even more miserable, having accomplished nothing so far.

But if he lived this life with Tae-un again...

"..."

Just now, he finally understood how to live this life.

His goal in this fourth life was to save Han Tae-un and die himself.

It wasn't a difficult task. In this life, Soram had never once felt alive.

2. Egoistic Rescue

‘Is it alright for you to start work next month?’

‘That Soram kid, no, I heard he's the same age as Chief Jin, but why is he so mature...?’

‘You'll be joining the 7th team of the Field Operations Bureau, where Chief Jin Soram is the team leader. We'll prepare everything you need here, so just come as you are.’

After receiving an unexpectedly warm welcome at the headquarters, Han Tae-un officially transferred. He was set to begin working as a hunter for the headquarters in March. During that time, he took several more ability tests, proving that he was indeed a definite 1st-grade awakener. Whenever he visited the headquarters, he would look around just in case, but he never saw Jin Soram again.

On March 1st, a public holiday and the day before his first day at work, Tae-un boarded a train to Seoul with a suitcase full of clothes.

"Be careful."

"Yes."

"I heard from Mun-yeong that your superior is the same age as you. Still, a superior is a superior, so treat them with respect. Bureaucracy can't be helped."

"Yes."

His parents had long since stopped worrying about their son, who had grown big enough not to get beaten up anywhere. But today, their words of concern were unusually long.

And Tae-un, who heard those words, remained as stoic as ever.

Han Tae-un had the same expression when he entered university and moved to Seoul, and when he cut his hair short and went to the military. But no one knew that in every moment, he was somewhat nervous in his own way. The same was true now.

During the long journey, the book he had brought to read remained unopened on his lap. He looked out the window at the bright blue sky and thought of the lively person he had met about a month ago.

The person standing on a paper airplane against the blue sky had turned the Guncheon-gun office upside down before leaving.

Thinking about it again, lively...wasn't quite right. Some aspects of him seemed reckless and capricious. But at the same time, he also seemed much more relaxed and enlightened than his age. Although he was a bit different from the image Tae-un had in mind, he was still a fascinating person who drew attention.

Even without his parents' urging, Tae-un respected the 8 years of experience that Jin Soram had as a hunter and intended to treat him as his superior.

Around the time the train arrived at the first station, his cell phone rang.

17Shin Seung-myeong: [Han Tae-un...]

17Shin Seung-myeong: [Is it true that you got a job at the Rift Phenomenon Management Headquarters???]

17Oh Hyeon-ah: [I heard he took a leave of absence because he awakened, not because of family circumstances ㅇ0ㅇ]

17Lee Jeong-hee: [What did you say?!]

...

The headquarters said it was okay to answer questions from those around him, as rumors were bound to spread due to Soram's visit to the Guncheon-gun office. A few days ago, it was his middle school friends, and today it was a group chat with his college classmates.

Han Tae-un: [Yeah.]

Tae-un replied briefly. Then the chat room became noisy. Tae-un was usually quiet, so no one paid much attention even when he gave short answers and stayed silent.

Then a question came from one person.

17Kim Ha-neul: [This is really amazing... Someone I know is becoming a hunter]

17Kim Ha-neul: [Did you see Jin Soram and Kim Ga-eul too??]

It was a time when news related to rifts was constantly on TV. The three heroes currently most well-known to the public were all the same age as Tae-un, including Jin Soram. As a result, many of Tae-un's peers had a close and envious feeling towards hunters.

Perhaps Tae-un felt the same way. A little pride filled his hands as he typed his reply.

Han Tae-un: [Only Chief Jin Soram.]

Although the answer was somewhat stiff.

The train that departed in the morning dropped him off at Seoul Station a little after lunchtime. Tae-un took the complicated Seoul subway for the first time in a long while. Fortunately, Jongno, where the Rift Phenomenon Management Headquarters was located, was close to Seoul Station, so he didn't have to travel far with his large suitcase.

When he arrived at the headquarters, an employee was waiting on the first floor. Following their guidance, Tae-un was assigned a personal dormitory on the 26th floor and obtained an ID card.

Chief Hunter

Han Tae-un (1st Grade)

Field Operations Bureau Team 7

It was the same format as Soram's, which he had seen a few days ago. However, as an 8-year veteran, Soram's rank was Chief Hunter, and the character 長(jang), meaning "leader," was added after "Field Operations Bureau Team 7."

After looking around the interior of his assigned personal dormitory, Tae-un unpacked his suitcase in the dressing room next to the bedroom.

The dormitories provided to hunters within the headquarters were much better than Soram's description of "not bad." Enough to shatter the limited imagination confined to the term "dormitory."

There was a large living room with a view of Seoul outside the window, and next to it was a kitchen similar to a typical home. The refrigerator in the kitchen even had drinks, prepared fruits, and snacks. In addition, there was a large bedroom with a bed already in place, a spacious bathroom, and a dressing room where he had just hung a few clothes.

These facilities were closer to a hotel than a dormitory. It was a place where one could live alone without any difficulty, even if they came empty-handed. He would have to tell his parents, who said they would call a moving company to send more furniture and bedding, to just leave it there. The bedding was already fully prepared here.

The only thing that gave it a dormitory atmosphere was the door on the living room wall that connected to the next room. However, the person who had shown him the dormitory the day before said that this door would rarely be used.

Using his issued ID card, he went to the cafeteria and had his first meal at the headquarters. The building was completely deserted due to the holiday, but feeling an unnecessary awkwardness, he didn't wander around much and returned to his room. He had been worried about whether he would be able to sleep well on the first night, but perhaps because the tension had eased, he slept soundly.

And he woke up early in the morning, finishing his preparations well before his scheduled start time.

His work hours were 9:00 a.m., and the current time was 7:50 a.m. Tae-un sat in the living room, waiting for his start time, which was still over an hour away, and looked out the window as the morning dawned.

Knock, knock.

At that moment, there was a sound of someone knocking on the door. When there was no answer, the sound came twice more.

Knock, knock.

"..."

If it had been the front door, it wouldn't have been very surprising. The sound came from the door connecting to the next room. The person who had shown him the dormitory the day before said that this door would rarely be used.

"Who is it?"

"It's Soram."

"Sorami?"

The answer was so confident that for a moment, he had to wonder if there was a word "sorami" in Seoul dialect that he didn't know. Then he suddenly realized the proper meaning. Sorami. Soram?

"Jin Soram ssi?"

"Yes."

When Tae-un opened the door, Jin Soram appeared with messy hair and a sleepy face, yawning...while wearing light blue pajamas.

"Huh? You're already ready?"

Behind him, in contrast to Tae-un's room, a messily disorganized room was briefly visible.  Tae-un slightly turned his head to the side. It felt like he had unintentionally seen the hidden private life of a famous celebrity. The person in question didn't seem to care at all about his messy room or his own appearance with his still unwashed face.