ReLife Player

[Flowering night].

Mid-April.

The highway bus carrying the children drove down the Yangyang Expressway.

The view, which was surrounded by the city center until we exited Seoul, quickly turned into a desolate wasteland.

No sign of human habitation.

Only the remnants of monstrous destruction greeted them.

«Okay, let’s start with the word chain game, starting with the captain!»

«I’m not playing.»

«Come on, Captain, it’s going to take forever to get there, let’s have some fun!»

«Hamburgers.»

«Leeches!»

«Yttrium.»

«…Huh? What’s that?»

«It’s a rare earth element with the atomic number 39.»

«How do you know that, Jung Hayang?»

«I read it in a book!»

Eunha was dumbfounded and turned to look at Hayang in the back seat.

Hayang, who was fastening her seatbelt, couldn’t lean her face over the backrest.

Instead, she reached out and extended the ribbon tied in a butterfly shape over the backrest.

«Okay, okay, I’ll go first this time. Actress!»

«Uranium.»

«What the hell is that!»

«Uranium is an element with atomic number 92….»

«Hayang, do you want to eat this?»

Hayang was speechless.

Seo-na, who was sitting next to her, shoved a cookie she had made at church into her mouth.

Meanwhile, Eunha sighed.

The best part of the highway bus ride was stopping at rest stops to explore the food and sleeping until they reached their destination.

The fourth graders were on their way to a two-day, three-night retreat.

It took quite a while to travel from Seoul to Chuncheon.

Even before the <End of Century Destruction> occurred, elementary school students went to training camps and traveled to places like Gyeongju.

It’s ridiculous.

How do you even get there?

When Eunha heard the story from his mother, the first thing he did was click his tongue and shake his head.

From Seoul to Chuncheon. It was a distance that took at least four hours by express bus alone.

Considering the time it took for players to deal with monsters on the road, four hours passed easily.

But Gyeongju?

Even when he was a player, he had to camp out at the halfway point.

Man, those old-timers were tough.

He’d brought a neck pillow, expecting a sore throat after four hours.

He even brought a sleeping bag.

«You guys play quietly, I’m going to sleep now.»

«Huh? Captain, isn’t that a monster?»

Eunhyuk pointed out the window.

The other children screamed as they saw the monster on the right side of the road.

Eunha, who was about to put on his eye patch, sneaked a glance out the window.

Several monsters of seventh rank at most were trying to climb over the guardrail.

«Oh, no! I think they’re coming this way!»

«Uncle! Monsters are chasing us!»

«Come on! Faster!»

Some of the children screamed.

The express bus sped up a bit, but didn’t pay any attention to the monster chasing them.

No wonder.

Players were waiting at every turn on the highway.

«Huh? Players!»

«Wow, I’m alive!»

«This is so cool!»

Players stationed at regular intervals along the highway.

As soon as they confirmed the presence of the monster, they rushed out.

It didn’t take long for the party of eight to annihilate the low-tier monsters.

«Captain, what clan did those people join?

«It depends on the person, but they’re usually either parties or mercenaries.»

Except for periods when traffic increased, such as during the Chuseok holiday or Lunar New Year, the players stationed on the highway were mostly in small parties or mercenaries.

For them, there was no more stable job than guarding the highway.

I had worked on the highway a few times before my regression.

The Player Academy would send them out to practice to get a feel for the field as players, or some newer players would be forced to do it because no one would give them work.

«…I’ll be bored if I stay here forever.»

«Bored as hell.»

Eunha knew how hard it was to wait for monsters to appear in an empty wasteland.

Doing nothing and fighting against time was a painful experience.

It was unbearable for him. For a man who lived only to kill monsters, waiting for them was unbearable.

He couldn’t stand the thought of waiting for them, because all he could do was stare at the panoramic view.

That wasn’t all.

Very few players liked the idea of earning perks for doing nothing.

Idleness was the enemy of players.

Those who harbored reasons to become players hated looking back on the past to an extreme degree.

So there were times when they would commit unlawful acts among themselves in the middle of the highway, where the government or clans couldn’t interfere, or engage in pointless bets.

Even as a new player, he was no match for the players who guarded the highway as he fought off the monster army’s invasion of Seoul.

But…have I changed?

He suddenly realized.

He’d looked back at his past many times since his second life.

It was still painful.

It was bitter, like a wound that wouldn’t heal, but he didn’t regret it.

Maybe because I had died once.

He had let go of everything at the end of the Dungeon of the Abyss, where he had lived to die.

After dying, I gained a new life and overcame even the cause of my death.

Maybe that’s why.

Why he can accept his past life.

«It seems that the monsters came from behind, not from the front, so it shouldn’t delay our trip.»

Eunha pressed the sleeping patch.

After asking Eunhyeok not to wake him, he planned to stay asleep.

«Hey, captain, players are waving at us from the waiting area up ahead!»

Eunhyuk, called out to Eunha, but he didn’t answer.

He waved his hands in the air and turned to the side to show his annoyance.

Eunhyuk stuck his face out the window and explained the situation.

«What is it? Everyone seems to be raising their middle finger and saying something….

Are they greeting us?»

Yeah, that’s them swearing.

Some of the players tried to shake off the feeling of freedom by swearing at cars on the highway.

The kids who didn’t know any better thought they were saying hello.

«What’s going on? I feel weirdly offended. Should I say hello first….»

«If you show him your middle finger, he’ll like it.»

«Like that?»

«Uh. I’m really sleeping.»

I don’t know what Eun-hyeok did with his finger.

Eunha quickly fell into dreamland.

When they reached a rest stop, he’d wake up, look around for food, close his eyes and sleep again, and so on.

After four hours like this,

The children arrived at the Dawn Hotel in Chuncheon.

☆

There are three people who are qualified to succeed Lee Yoon-hee, the first president and current chairwoman of Dawn Group.

The three successors ran different business units within the group.

The Food Distribution Division, responsible for the Dawn Group’s capital and sales network, was managed by the youngest son.

The hotel and department store divisions, which had the tradition of the Dawn Group, were managed by the second son.

Finally, the eldest son, Lee Byung-in, led the entertainment division, which led the culture of South Korea.

«Darn it.»

Lee Byung-in couldn’t stay in one place for even a moment and paced around his office.

He cursed under his breath and bit his lips tightly.

The successors had to prove their abilities worthy of becoming the next chairman by achieving excellent performance in their respective sectors.

However, Lee Byung-in only experienced failures when he touched the business.

He couldn’t beat his siblings with just his performance.

Especially for the second son, Lee Jeong-in, who had achieved high performance in the hotel and department store divisions, contributing to the Dawn Group’s name.

The third son wasn’t much of an obstacle. He had declared that he wouldn’t become the chairman himself, so he wasn’t a competitor.

Lee Jeong-in. Only Lee Jeong-in was his competitor.

If he could just deal with him, becoming the chairman of the Dawn Group would be a breeze.

«…People should only do what they’re good at.»

From the beginning, Lee Byung-in had neglected business classes since he was a child.

Business was just not his forte.

That was the Dawn Department Store terrorist incident five years ago, when a conflict that had been brewing underwater rose to the surface.

The plan was perfect. If the players who carried out the attack had escaped in time, the media would have called it a natural disaster, not a terrorist attack.

Yes, if only it hadn’t failed.

The plan failed.

And thoroughly.

«…There was no greater humiliation. Everyone I met mocked me.»

Byung-in ran his fingers along the blinds and looked out the window.

People who looked tiny like ants and himself standing in a position to look down on them.

When he felt uncomfortable, he used to look down on people from high places like this.

A sensation that felt like he had put them under his feet.

It made him feel like he was dominating them.

So he wanted to become the chairman of the Dawn Group to climb even higher.

He wanted to become one, but…

«Why do I fail at everything I do!?»

As time passed, he was getting further away from the position of the next chairman.

He slammed his fist against the office window.

There was only a thumping sound, and the glass didn’t break.

«Why is everything going wrong for me? Seriously?

Why? Why nothing goes according to the plan? Why am I in this situation?»

The Dawn Department Store terrorist incident was the trigger that could undermine Lee Jeong-in’s support base and shake his position.

If only it hadn’t failed.

The terrorism that was supposed to take place in the dark world was exposed to the surface.

Those in the political circles who knew were aware that it was not terrorism but a succession battle within the Dawn Group.

As a result, Chairwoman Lee Yoon-hee returned to the management.

Mother took back all the power and rights her children had.

Since then, the successors had to participate in the management under their mother’s supervision.

But that wasn’t the only problem.

The Silla Clan, which had always maintained a neutral stance as the guardian sword of the Dawn Group, turned against him and began to support Lee Jeong-in.

Lee Jeong-im also drew his sword.

The younger brother, who had insisted on fair play and had been taken advantage of for his good nature, had changed his mind.

The result was this.

There was no longer any room to back down.

[Don’t worry too much].

«Is this something I shouldn’t worry about?

Gil Sung-jun, you promised to make me chairman, and I promised to support you with vast wealth.

But what is this now?»

Lee Byung-in, who had turned away from the window, spoke menacingly toward the smartphone on his desk.

Beyond the smartphone, only the sound of catching one’s breath could be heard.

[After that incident, there were times when things didn’t go as planned due to the interference of the Silla Clan.

But this time, we will succeed].

«Yeah, we better succeed, because if this fails, that’s the end of it.»

[We will succeed].

«I’m not going to die alone.

If I die, you die with me, remember that.»

[…I will keep that in mind.]

Byung-in hung up the phone just like that.

His face, bathed in the light of the switched-off screen, showed his rough breathing.

«─Huff.»

I must succeed. I must.

Swallowing hard, he looked out the window once more, lost in thought.

This was his last chance.

With all his might, he realized his mistake and conveyed his sincere apology to his brother.

He apologized and asked his brother to have a drink with him to strengthen their friendship.

He had been a good-hearted brother since they were children.

As he expected, Lee Jeong-in nodded without a single doubt.

Unaware that it was a plot to drag him down.

«…I’m sorry, little brother.»

Lee Byung-in mumbled something he didn’t mean.

Suddenly, a laugh escaped him. His shoulders shook as he pressed his hands against the window.

I’m sorry,

my good, foolish brother.

He was too good to be bold enough to take advantage of others, too good to be cruel to his own brother.

He was too good to be suspicious.

He was stupid because he didn’t know better,

And because he was foolish, he was a fool.

«…An asshole.»

A hotel far away from Seoul.

His foolish brother would drink drugged alcohol and get drunk, and when he woke up, he would find his life had fallen apart in an instant.

A lot of things will happen while he’s passed out.

For example, what if a monster attacked the hotel while you were sleeping?

What if, while guests were running for their lives, the owner of the Dawn Hotel was drinking in his hotel room and was too drunk to do anything about it?

What if he was sleeping with a woman?

What if, instead, the eldest son of the Dawn Group had taken his place and led the guests to their safety and stopped the monster attack?

That’s when you know who’s in the light and who’s in the dark.

No matter how much you plead your innocence with tears, will anyone believe you then?

No one would.

Even if your mother and the people in power suspect him, public opinion will back me up this time.

Even if you were a fairy, no one in Korea could win over public opinion.

«…There is no failure.»

There is no room for failure.

He had been cornered.

There was no next time.

So, boldly and decisively, they must move forward and seize it.

«Absolutely─,»

He clenched the blinds and reaffirmed it.

It would be a delightful night.

A night so beautiful that it could never be seen again, where someone’s downfall would bloom as fertilizer.

«─

I will succeed.»

Lee Byung-in laughed heartily as he looked down below.