I Don’t Want This Reincarnation

Crunch.

Soft grass was trampled under my bare feet. I looked down at the yellow flowers tickling my ankles and looked up to see a tall man standing on the other side.

It was Cheon Sa-yeon in a three-piece suit that fit his body. Rarely wearing a light grey jacket, he looked like he was about to attend an important event.

“This really works…”

Cheon Sa-yeon, who heard my muttering voice, looked back immediately.

“Cheon Sa-yeon.”

Cheon Sa-yeon’s black eyes staring at me were somehow blank. What’s wrong with him? It was the first time he had been so vigilant.

“Did… did you have a meeting?”

An awkward feeling came rushing in, and when I asked, avoiding his gaze, Cheon Sa-yeon opened his mouth with a smile as usual, as if he had come to his senses.

“You got it right. It’s a meeting of the guild management headquarters. The building collapsed, so the location was changed to a nearby hotel.”

“Aa… should I go quickly?”

I had a lot to ask. Cheon Sa-yeon smiled like a flower towards me, who was concerned.

“No. There is still time until the meeting, so don’t worry.”

“I’m glad.”

“I wish you had come a little closer now. Isn’t it too far for a conversation?”

Cheon Sa-yeon beckoned to me. I went closer without thinking much, but then I changed my mind.

Come to think of it, that guy had called me to the representative office before and said to come there too. After realizing it, I couldn’t help but feel unfair. Do I have to be like this in my dream?

“If you are dissatisfied, you should come to me.”

“Um?”

“I’m not a dog who runs after you call…”

Cheon Sa-yeon, who thought for a moment as he touched the corner of his mouth as to how he had accepted my words, slowly relaxed his expression and smiled.

“Yeah. That’s true.”

“……”

“I’m coming, Han Yi-gyeol.”

For some reason, he agreed to me and walked over to me without hesitation. I was mesmerized by the narrowed distance and blinked my eyes, and felt a hand stroking my wrist that was covered with the bracelet.

“Han Yi-gyeol.”

“…oh?”

“I think it’s time for you to explain.”

“What explanation?”

Cheon Sa-yeon’s hand, which was much larger than mine, completely covered my wrist. Cheon Sa-yeon continued to speak to me as I was contemplating whether I should shake this off or not.

“How can you come into my dream? Prophets, they wouldn’t have this kind of power.”

“That…”

It was the power of my ‘intervention’ ability, but in order to explain this, I had to talk about how I entered my body.

‘Of course, he had already noticed that I wasn’t the real Han Yi-gyeol…’

Still, it was a difficult part to say. I hated it even more to tell him in a dream that was about to end soon.

After hesitating for a long time, I eventually came up with a brief answer that had been omitted several times.

“It’s my new ability.”

“Ability?”

“Yes. Like wind power.”

He tilted his head slightly with a curious look.

“A new ability…”

Suddenly, I wondered what Cheon Sa-yeon would think about that. As seen in Han Yi-gyeol’s book, it was highly likely that he was trying to gauge how helpful the newly acquired ability would be.

I felt a little bad, but I had to help Cheon Sa-yeon anyway so I could survive, and if he asked what my ability was, then I just looked around…

“You must need a new present.”

“What?”

“This bracelet.”

Cheon Sa-yeon, who lifted my wrist a little, wiped the red jewel embedded in the center of the bracelet with his thumb.

“If you want to use the new ability, I don’t think an A-class energy recovery item will be enough.”

“……”

“Didn’t you have a hard time with even one wind power because you had so little energy? You also have other abilities, so you should use something that will improve your energy recovery.”

“My energy is an A-rank average.”

I sighed, correcting the wrong part.

…I really didn’t expect this.

“Done with the item.”

“Hm. Then, other than recovering energy…”

“Aren’t you going to ask me what my ability is?”

I cut off Cheon Sa-yeon’s words in the middle, who kept talking nonsense even when I gave him a chance to ask a question on purpose.

“You’re curious.”

“I’m curious.”

“But why don’t you ask?”

I lowered my voice heavily.

“If it was me, I would have asked and decided where to use it.”

The wind blew from afar, and the sound of rustling grass spread all over. Cheon Sa-yeon looked at me without saying a word until the wind stopped, then lowered his face slightly and raised the corner of his mouth.

“That’s unexpected. Did you expect me to say something like that?”

“Stop talking nonsense.”

“No, I’m serious.”

I had no idea what Cheon Sa-yeon’s intentions were. Cheon Sa-yeon, who received sharp gazes without a smile, spoke first.

“I don’t see it like that. There’s really no particular reason.”

“Say it.”

“Well, apparently, even if I ask, you don’t seem like you will tell me.”

That… that’s right.

“You have a lot of things to hide.”

That’s too… that’s right.

“Do you remember what I said before?”

Cheon Sa-yeon lightly caressed the corners of my eyes that were exposed under the hair that rustled in the light wind.

“I said we were in a position to hide our hidden cards and look out for each other.”

“That was a long time ago.”

“Things have changed a lot over time, but… the basics are the same. Predicting, discovering, and using each other’s hidden cards.”

“It’s annoying back then and now.”

I hit Cheon Sa-yeon’s hand, who was constantly fiddling with my face.

“Therefore? What do you want to say?”

“What is your identity in Han Yi-gyeol’s body, how did you get Ha Tae-heon’s coat, and how far have you seen it while staying with the prophets… There are many things I want to know.”

“……”

“It’s that I’m not curious enough to force you to do so if you don’t like it and hear fake answers. Of course, finding it by chance would be fun.”

“In a nutshell, if there is no problem in using it, do you mean that you have no intention of finding out?”

“Oh, no. You are narrowing my desperate heart too narrowly.”

Cheon Sa-yeon reacted awkwardly to my words, but he didn’t deny that it wasn’t.

I swallowed a dry breath, feeling the bitterness in my mouth due to the complexity.

I expected it to be like this. But after hearing it in person, I couldn’t help but be upset.

In the end, neither I nor Cheon Sa-yeon could be honest until the end. It was a big mistake that we were hiding from each other.

I know. I’m aware.

“Will that really work?”

Cheon Sa-yeon was slightly perplexed as he hadn’t thought that I would ask again.

“Relationships that use each other. Is that enough, Cheon Sa-yeon?”

“……”

He licked his lips for a while and didn’t answer. The black eyes that had been shaking with complexity quickly subsided.

“Yeah.”

I, who had expectations for a little bit, gave up my heart at that resolute answer. The opportunity to redefine the relationship ended without any change.

“Okay.”

I pulled out my wrist, which had been left alone all the time while being caught, and immediately brought out the main point.

“What’s the situation at the guild management headquarters? The building completely collapsed.”

Cheon Sa-yeon, who had missed my wrist, blinked for a moment and spoke in his usual voice.

“Center Head Choi Mi-jin did a good job, but… there were quite a few deaths. Most of them were employees of the basement lab.”

As expected.

“Did you see it yourself?”

I lightly nodded at the question of whether I saw it through the written book.

“Ha Tae-heon-ssi, how is he after the gate?”

“Whenever he has a chance, he follows me around.”

“…that person? To you?”

“He seems to have a lot of questions about the gate attack. Thanks to that, I am very busy running away these days.”

I sighed at the playful words. You’re really enjoying it.

Ha Tae-heon’s feelings were fully understandable. He went through the fuss, and of course, he must be curious.

“Aren’t you going to explain it to Ha Tae-heon-ssi?”

“Well.”

“At least to the point where he understands that. He has already seen it, so I’m sure he will believe it enough.”

“I will then.”

Cheon Sa-yeon again had empty eyes wandering somewhere in the distant past.

“I’ll take care of that.”

“It’s hard to believe.”

“That’s too much.”

Cheon Sa-yeon, who shrugged his shoulders, opened his mouth with a stern tone.

“I’ve been tired of explaining all of this to Ha Tae-heon. So I know. That now isn’t the time.”

“…I get it.”

Although I was worried, but it’d be better to let the two of them take care of the issues between them.

“What is the status of the Praus followers? If you see an increase in the crime rate, it’s not something you can take lightly.”

“They’ve been working hard, so they’re going to be quiet for a while. The increase in the crime rate… there’s nothing I can do. All I have to do is try to fix it.”

Even with Cheon Sa-yeon’s answer, the anxiety didn’t go away.

Is it really okay to not have to do something? They were misled by the dangerous idea that ordinary people believed to be eliminated. If they got to the level we couldn’t control anymore… (평범한 사람들이 도태된 존재라고 믿는 위험한 사상에 현혹된 자들이었다)

“I know what you are worried about. But it’s still okay.”

As if piercing through my head, Cheon Sa-yeon said firmly.

“The cult will spread actively all over the world. However, it has been 20 years since the talented people first appeared. The foundation isn’t so weak that it can easily be swayed by one such vague religious group. Anywhere else (어느 곳이든).”

“It means you have time to endure it.”

“Of course.”

Then I felt a little relieved. I was confused about what to do next when I saw the guild management headquarters collapsing in the book and Cheon Sa-yeon was able to block it alone.

Cheon Sa-yeon, noticing that my stiff forehead had loosened a little, smiled.

“So what?”

“What.”

“When will you be back?”

As soon as I sensed that the necessary conversation was to some extent, I could see a pure white light slowly engulfing everything from afar.

He’s so honest (정말 정직하군). I responded with a tongue-tied response to his inflexible ability.

“Even if I go to Korea, I won’t go to you. Don’t get your hopes up.” (김칫국 마시지 마)

“Oh, my. Don’t you feel sorry for our guild members waiting for you?”

“I will meet them secretly.”

At that moment, the light came right behind Cheon Sa-yeon. I pushed his shoulder and said something cold on purpose.

“You haven’t forgotten the deal, have you? Please help Ha Tae-heon-ssi properly.”

“As you wish.”

Finally, the dream ended with Cheon Sa-yeon’s sly answer.