Chapter 49:

Chapter 49:

Chapter 49

I found out about Choi Do-yoon’s whereabouts.

The moment I heard the news, my heart started to beat uncontrollably.

Finally, I found him!

‘I was curious about him for a long time.’

What was he doing all this time, that he had such power at the start of the apocalypse?

He was not a normal person even before the end of the world.

It was impossible to have such strength and talent, unless he was born with it.

A congenital lunatic.

That’s how I thought of Choi Do-yoon.

“I’ll be back soon.”

I left the office after entrusting my sword to Kang Hye-rim.

She called me from behind, but I couldn’t stop.

The situation was too important for me.

The association was not far from the office.

Even as I walked on the sidewalk, I couldn’t contain my curiosity.

What kind of life did he live, and what is he like now?

Soon, I realized that I was too obsessed with him and gave a bitter smile.

‘It’s funny. I don’t need to be involved with him now that I’ve started over.’

For me who returned to the past, everything that happened with Choi Do-yoon was erased.

But I couldn’t help it.

Even if the world didn’t know, I knew.

I remembered everything that happened with him.

Whether good or bad, he had a huge impact on my life, and that was undeniable.

‘When I meet him. What should I say?’

I had no idea.

Would I be angry when I see him?

Maybe I would lose control of my anger and punch him right away.

Or maybe I would feel nothing at all.

But one thing was certain, I wanted to see him again.

“Welcome. How can I help you?”

As soon as I arrived at the association and approached the desk, a receptionist asked me that.

As I was about to tell her why I came, someone else came out faster.

“Yu-hyun.”

It was Choi Jung-mo, the manager of this branch of the association.

I greeted him calmly.

“Long time no see.”

“Yes. It’s been a while. And I’ve heard a lot about you.”

“Haha. Is that so?”

That news was not just about Kang Hye-rim.

He probably knew that I was walking a different path from a normal teller.

Even if the association was weaker than the large clans, their information network was not inferior.

We moved to a quiet place.

It was not his office like before, but another guest room.

“Please sit down. Do you need any coffee or tea?”

“I appreciate your kindness.”

“Hmm. Before we get to the main point, there is one thing I want to ask you.”

Choi Jung-mo opened his mouth cautiously, as if he had a delicate matter to bring up.

“What is your relationship with that person named Choi Do-yoon?”

“It’s nothing.”

It could be called a grudge if anything. The initial posting of this chapter occurred via Ñøv€l-B!n.

But Choi Do-yoon didn’t know me now.

He had nothing to do with me.

“I just heard some rumors about him. The person named Choi Do-yoon.”

“Is that... what the tellers are talking about?”

“Yes. That’s right.”

It wasn’t true, but it was better to say that.

Choi Jung-mo didn’t seem to dig deeper, and he let it go easily.

“First of all, as you requested, I checked on the person named Choi Do-yoon. Thanks to you specifying his age, gender, and general appearance, it wasn’t hard to find him, but...”

But?

He trailed off strangely.

“Did something happen?”

“Yes. To be honest... we searched for Choi Do-yoon’s whereabouts. And we did find out something about him.”

We did find out something. Choi Jung-mo said that.

My eyes sank deeper.

I waited silently for his next words.

“The Choi Do-yoon you were looking for... disappeared 10 years ago from now. On the day of material integration.”

As soon as I heard that, I had to try hard to hide my emotions from showing.

I composed myself in an instant and asked carefully.

“Disappeared... does that mean he’s gone now?”

“Yes. That’s right.”

More than that, the name mother resonated greatly in my heart.

‘Mother...’

I had a family too.

I had a father and a mother.

But after the end came... I had nothing left.

‘But now they must be alive.’

Even though I knew that, I couldn’t go find them.

I was afraid.

‘If I’m here now, what happened to me in the past?’

I didn’t just go back to the past.

I was reborn as Kang Yu-hyun, a teller.

That means there might be Kang Yu-hyun who was still human in this era.

‘Really, if there is me who was then in this place now, what am I?’

How should I accept this reality?

Can I call them my parents even if I see my mother and father?

What will they think when they see my appearance now that I have grown up?

Two beings with the same name.

But one is a real human, but the other is not human even though it is the same as the real one.

Wouldn’t my parents feel bad that tellers imitate human appearance? What if they call me fake?

Can I face that reality?

Maybe that’s why.

Even though I became a teller and started to settle down here, I didn’t go find them.

But when I faced the fact that I had been avoiding again, I felt that someday I would have to face it once.

‘I...’

I ran away like a coward.

Even though I decided not to.

‘It’s a funny story.’

I accepted myself.

And I decided to achieve what I wanted most.

The ones who showed me the way were definitely my parents.

Especially my mother’s influence was great.

Even if they don’t accept me as a family, they are still my parents.

I got up from my seat.

“Are you leaving?”

“Yes. Thank you for your work today. Can I ask for your help if I have something to ask in the future?”

“If you wish, of course.”

Choi Jung-mo politely answered me, saying that.

He had already spilled everything that happened then.

He was quite a big man.

He threw away his petty feelings from the past for what he could gain through exchanges with me in the future.

I felt like I would see him often in the future.

“I’ll go ahead.”

I left the association with Choi Jung-mo’s farewell.

I thought I would walk a little, but there was one person who blocked me in front of me.

It was Kang Hye-rim, who had the sword I gave her in her arms.

“Miss Hye-rim. What are you doing here?”

“Oh, that... When you left, you looked unhappy. I was wondering if you were okay.”

“I did that. I’m sorry to have worried you.”

I didn’t know it then, but I inadvertently revealed my emotional turmoil.

I couldn’t help it. T

hat’s how big Choi Do-yoon’s presence was to me.

“But I’m fine now. It wasn’t anything different from what I thought.”

“Oh. Really? You do look fine now. So are you going back to the office?”

“No. I have someone to meet.”

“Someone to meet?”

Kang Hye-rim looked curious and opened her eyes wide at the words that I had someone to meet.

I stroked my chin and said.

“Hmm. Well, if you have nothing to do, Miss Hye-rim, would you like to go with me?”

“Me, me? Is that okay?”

“There’s no reason not to.”

“Hehe. Okay. Then let’s go together. So who are you going to meet?”

“Who...”

I couldn’t say ‘parents’.

I’m a teller. I’m not human.

That is an unchanging truth.

So I couldn’t call them my parents.

They are human, and they have another child who is not me.

So if they ask me who they are...

“A benefactor... It is.”

Yeah. A benefactor.

That’s all I could call them.