I Don’t Want This Reincarnation

In a dark, moonlit house, a man took in a rough breath, swearing, “Goddamnit, those fucking bastards… who do you think I am…”

Every time the man opened his mouth, there was a foul smell of alcohol. The man, who had been drinking glass after glass in a ruined suit, could not control his anger and threw the wine glass.

Crash!

The wine glass shattered in a sharp burst. Then, the man flung the wine bottles piled up in front of him recklessly and also overturned the table. The sound of crashing and collapsing filled the house for a while.

“Haa, haa…”

Kugugugung, Kugung!

Agitated and drunk, his energy fluctuated sharply. The building shook from his uncontrolled ability.

The man closed his eyes tightly. He recalled the contemptuous gaze that looked down on him.

– Useless bastard.

– F-father!

– Get out. Don’t come back unless I look for you.

– W-wait, please! Father!

– How could such a useless thing be my son… urgh, tsk. Didn’t you hear me telling you to leave?

This couldn’t be. No matter what happened, until now, his father took care of him as much as he took care of himself.

Come to think of it, he heard a rumour floating among the younger political generation that there was a guy who Father was particularly fond of. It couldn’t be that Father was going to throw away his own son and raise some other guy?

“Fuck… fuck!”

Kugugugung!

The ground rumbled once more, stronger. The man considered, should he just turn everything upside down? In terms of ability, he could do it right now.

Yeah, what was the point of getting noticed by scumbags? If he was going to destroy everything, it was better to start with the management headquarters…

“No. Not that.”

The man’s mad eyes flashed.

Cheon Sa-yeon, that bastard. A dirty orphan who climbed his way up without knowing his place. He had to start with that bastard…

“Oh my. It’s quite the pigsty here.”

“……!”

The man, who was giggling and laughing to himself, was startled by the strange voice coming from behind him.

“You—who are you!”

A stranger, dressed neatly in a black suit, slowly walked out of the darkness. Seeing the white, smooth mask on the other person’s face, the man staggered backwards in fear.

“Wh-where did you come from? What are the guards doing? Get out*…”

“How noisy.”

The opponent flicked his finger lightly. Then, the man’s mouth firmly shut. The bewildered man whimpered as he fumbled and touched his mouth, but his lips didn’t even budge.

“Are you Kang Seung-geon, a Korean S-rank ability user?”

The man, Kang Seung-geon, was terrified and fell down with a pale face. The person in front of him was terrifying. Kang Seung-geon struggled and tried to escape, overwhelmed by a fear he had never felt against even a monster, but he slipped in wine and just stumbled in vain.

“Haha, how funny. Dirty, smelly, stupid… Completely befitting of a man living in a pigsty.”

The man in the mask approached, roughly kicking away glasses and wine bottles that were rolling on the floor. His black shoes glistened in the moonlight.

“I don’t want to be in a dirty place like this for too long, so don’t worry too much. As long as you reply that you will cooperate, I will leave immediately.”

“Mh… mmh!”

“What’s your answer?”

Kang Seung-geon, who had mumbled through his sealed mouth, quickly nodded his head. Seeing this, the other party burst out laughing with satisfaction and held something out.

“Mh, mmh…?”

Held within a pristine white-gloved hand, there was a strangely colored marble. Even just by looking at it, an instinct to not touch the glowing marble surged within him.

“I heard that the management headquarters will host a party soon.”

“……”

“Can’t you attend as well? Blun Guild Master.”

Kang Seung-geon looked up at him with trembling eyes at that secretive whisper. As he looked at the crescent-shaped smiling mouth carved into the mask, his eyes distorted as if his brain was crushed.

“Now, you have to listen carefully and do what I say…”

Suddenly, the marble was placed in Kang Seung-geon’s grasp. Kang Seung-geon’s eyes, as he held the marble with both hands, dulled.

* * *

[The official announcement of the recent hot topic, Kim Woo-jin of the Requiem Guild, is in progress. On the 21st, Kim Woo-jin was officially confirmed to be an A-rank at the measurement centre, proving that one’s rank can be raised…]

When I turned on the TV while lying on the sofa, Cheon Sa-yeon and Kim Woo-jin in black suits appeared on the screen.

[Many people have asked me, but I don’t have information about raising your rank. It was a matter of being lucky…] Kim Woo-jin calmly answered the flood of questions coming from the reporters.

‘You’re going to get a bit more popular, Kim Woo-jin.’

Not that it was bad before, but his physique definitely improved after reaching A-rank. When he was all dressed up, I felt that his appearance was more radiant.

Looking at Kim Woo-jin happily, I picked up the papers I had put down. It was the gate data that Kim Woo-jin received before he went to the official announcement.

“Hm?”

I was in the middle of reading how Jayna Guild’s C-grade gate had been raised to B-grade when I heard a knock on the door. There was no way Kim Woo-jin had already returned. Min Ah-rin also said that she was busy today.

‘Who could it be?’

After putting away the data, I went out to see one of Cheon Sa-yeon’s attendants standing there, holding a large box.

“The Master told me to give it to you.”

“Ah, thank you.”

It was then that I remembered Cheon Sa-yeon’s words that he would send a present. The box handed over by the attendant was heavier than expected.

When I returned to my room, there was no table for me to place it on, so I put it down on the bed. The box was too luxurious to just throw onto the floor.

“…what is this?”

Inside was a suit set. From white shirts to shoes, cufflinks, and watches. It was the first time I’d seen a suit put into a box like this, so I was a bit befuddled.

He said it was a present, but he seemed to have sent me a suit to wear to the party. I pulled out a black jacket with a slight blue tint and looked at it.

It was a design that emphasised formality, double-breasted style, but was not too heavy. It must have been quite expensive since it felt smooth in my hands.

As I took a look at the clothes he sent me out of habit, I shook my head.

How determined**. Looking at how even the cufflinks were splendidly decorated with red jewels, I rubbed my forehead.

I haven’t tried it on yet, but it was clear that it would fit my body perfectly. Cheon Sa-yeon already knew Han Yi-gyeol’s size, so it must have been customised.

‘It would have taken at least a month to make it properly… Just when did you start preparing it?’

The thought that this was going to be a pain did not leave my mind***. I had already accepted the deal and I couldn’t back out of my end of it.

Anyway, it was true that I needed clothes to wear, so I decided to keep the suit.

The day of the party, as informed by Cheon Sa-yeon, was next Saturday. As all guild masters from all over the country were gathering, even if Cheon Sa-yeon was by my side, I would have to be alert to avoid getting caught.

‘The Jayna Guild will of course come, and Roheon… Ha Tae-heon will be there.’

Now that he had become deputy master, he would not be able to avoid it. Jayna also had a deputy master, so she would bring her as a partner.

Thinking about it, among the guilds in Seoul, only Requiem’s position of deputy master was still vacant. Cheon Sa-yeon was so good at his job, he didn’t really need one. Still, if there was a deputy master, I wouldn’t have to step in.

It was nice to be able to go to such an important place and get information, but the thought of hanging out with Cheon Sa-yeon all day already seemed like a pain.

‘Please, let there only be incidents that I can handle…’

I let out a deep sigh of concern.

* * *

“Are you coming back right after it’s over?” Kim Woo-jin asked with a sullen voice.

It was the day of the party, and he had been by my side the entire time as I put on the suit.

“I will.”

“And I can’t go?”

“You can’t.”

I didn’t tell Kim Woo-jin about the deal I made with Cheon Sa-yeon. This decision was made in hopes that Kim Woo-jin would no longer feel guilty or indebted to me.

Above all, if he found out that I made a deal for his sake, he would overdo things more than he already did. Even now, he was exhausted and worn out every time he came back from the training room, so I couldn’t let him suffer even more.

“Okay…”

Realising that there was nothing he could do about my resolute answer, Kim Woo-jin nodded reluctantly.

I fastened the tie, the same colour as my jacket, and put the cufflinks on the sleeves of my shirt. As expected, the suit wrapped around Han Yi-gyeol’s body well.

I moved the A-rank bracelet I was wearing on my left wrist to my right wrist and put the watch on my empty wrist. After putting on all the accessories, I checked my appearance in the full-body mirror. It wasn’t bad.

“…What the… Why are you so good at this?”

Kim Woo-jin, who was watching the process from behind me, blushed and grumbled. I was a little irritable, but pretended not to know and responded calmly.

“It’s just getting dressed.”

As I walked to the door, Kim Woo-jin followed me. The thought that a dog was seeing its owner off passed through my mind.

“I’ll be back.”

“Mmh…”

Leaving Kim Woo-jin behind, I left the room and went straight down to the underground parking lot. As I was informed in advance, when I got off the fourth basement floor, I saw Cheon Sa-yeon standing with some attendants.

“Hmm.”

As I got closer, Cheon Sa-yeon looked at me carefully from head to toe with a deep smile.

I asked, unable to ignore it, “…what?”

“It suits you better than I thought.”

“……”

Frowning, I looked at Cheon Sa-yeon’s suit. A dark beige jacket with a black shirt and grey colour caught my eye. With the same double-breasted suit and black coat draped over his shoulders, it gave off a moderately heavy yet neat atmosphere.

Cheon Sa-yeon, whose hair was styled in a way that showed his forehead, beckoned me to come closer to him.

“Ugh…!”

After a few steps, he grabbed my tie and pulled me lightly. My waist bent slightly backwards, and the distance between Cheon Sa-yeon and I lessened.

“You even know how to wear a necktie.”

“Yeah, of course…”

“I thought you would come by holding your necktie. You know how to wear a suit. Had I known this would happen, I would have sent you a garter belt as well.”

Come to think of it, he said that if there was anything I didn’t know, I could go to him anytime after receiving the gift. I frowned, then raised the corners of my mouth into a smile.

“You know how to dream big. Even if I don’t know how to wear a necktie, I wouldn’t go to the Master.”

“Why? I’m confident that I could teach you well.”

I shook off Cheon Sa-yeon’s hand, which was pulling at my tie, and readjusted it.

“I’m sure. Why don’t we start driving?”

“Of course.”

Cheon Sa-yeon opened the car door with a smile on his face. Why were you in such a good mood? The better Cheon Sa-yeon felt, the more anxious I felt, having experienced side effects.