---

“…”

The Branch Chief, having heard my words, rested her chin on her hand with a serious expression.

“So, Kim Wan Woo from the Management Team is a Reincarnator, huh?”

“That’s correct.”

“And until now, you were trying to inform me of this, but every time you spoke, you’d be sent back, right?”

“Exactly.”

“But…”

“Yes?”

With her eyes narrowed, the Branch Chief mumbled.

“I’ve never seen the Golden Light falling from the sky even once during that long time.”

“…”

“Sorry, that was just me talking to myself.”

Mumbling with a serious expression, the Branch Chief took out her flip phone and began to make a call.

“Oh, yes. It’s me. Yes. Where’s Kim Wan Woo from the Management Team? On leave? Oh my.”

She then hung up the phone again.

“Apparently, he took a leave. He must have already started taking action.”

“…You seem surprisingly calm for someone who just heard such shocking news.”

“What do you mean? I’m deeply worried in my own way.”

She smiled and looked at me.

“But it’s not a big worry.”

“Pardon?”

“It’s nothing serious.”

Avoiding my question, the Branch Chief smiled cheerfully.

Seeing that reminded me of how she gently caressed my cheek earlier, and I couldn’t help but speak to her.

“Be careful. Just because you’re strong doesn’t mean you can recklessly get hurt.”

“…Oh my.”

The Branch Chief stared at me intently, then smiled again and patted my back.

“Oh my, oh my. Are you worried about me? What did you see to make you think that?”

“Sights I wish I hadn’t seen.”

“Oh dear, you must have had a tough time. It might have been too hard for someone so young.”

“Don’t make assumptions based on my age.”

“…”

In that instant, the Branch Chief’s expression hardened, and before it could get worse, I hurriedly headed towards the exit.

I didn’t want to get caught and scolded.

Grabbing the doorknob in a rush, I heard the Branch Chief’s voice behind me.

“But you wore a watch.”

“…”

When I turned to look back, the Branch Chief was smiling gently.

“There’s no world that exists for just one person.”

“Pardon?”

“Humans can defy time. However, when this world decides to turn back time, even those who defy time won’t realize it.”

A world that exists for just one person does not exist.

“Are you saying the Reincarnator is unaware of how to use the watch?”

“You catch on quickly. I couldn’t do that.”

The Branch Chief looked at me and smiled.

“…”

“I will have things to do, right?”

Her responsibilities.

I recalled the pouring rain. And the shining Golden Light.

If I could, I wanted to take the Branch Chief away and confront him, but that would serve no purpose.

What I needed now wasn’t great power but someone who could prevent variables.

“It’s going to rain again.”

“I don’t like that…”

The Branch Chief frowned deeply at my words and let out a heavy sigh.

“What can you do? We have to face it anyway.”

“…Please.”

I gave her a slight bow, and just when I was finally about to step out the door.

“…You’ve worked hard.”

The Branch Chief’s warm voice came from behind me.

“Just a little.”

It was easy to say that those who had struggled more than I did might deserve the thanks.

-Thunk.

I closed the door and set off.

There were places I had to go and people I wanted to see.

Getting in the elevator to go down, I stepped forward without a second thought.

“No, so…”

“…Well, that’s not entirely wrong, but…”

“…Ha ha…”

Voices of three familiar people echoed, and –

-Bang.

As I opened the door, three people turned to look at me in response to the noise.

“…You came.”

Jang Chae Yeon smiled softly and waved her hand.

“Did you go on a date with the blonde?”

Song Ah Rin looked at me with a snappy remark.

“…”

“…”

“…Jae Heon?”

Her bright smile still lingered in my mind as she gazed at me.

“…”

“Oh?”

She tilted her head, looking puzzled, her black hair glistening in the sunlight.

Those round eyes that always smiled at me sparkled just the same.

‘I am, so very happy right now.’

The image of her scattering like sand and her blinking at me overlapped—

“Jae Heon?”

“…Da On.”

“…Um, did I do something wrong?”

Yu Da On’s expression became anxious.

“No.”

“But why…”

“Are you happy right now?”

“Yes…?”

Yu Da On’s uncertain look quickly brightened, and she tilted her head in curiosity.

Soon, her face bloomed with a bright smile.

“Of course!”

“…I’m relieved to hear that.”

As I maintained eye contact with Yu Da On, Song Ah Rin sighed and interjected between us.

“Why, what’s going on? Where have you been that made you suddenly all emotional?”

“And I’m grateful to A-Rin too.”

“Wait, what?”

Song Ah Rin, who had been nodding absentmindedly, suddenly looked wide-eyed at me.

“I said, A-Rin is thankful.”

“Hey, you. Are you… sick?”

Song Ah Rin opened and closed her mouth repeatedly, then placed her hand on my forehead.

“This kid has no fever…”

Is dropping just one part of her name that shocking?

“A-Rin made a promise to me.”

“Promise?”

“She asked me to drop the ‘Song.'”

“…Did I?”

Song Ah Rin held her head in both hands, rolling her eyes as she pondered.

“When… did I…?”

Then, she stared at me blankly, as if she didn’t remember at all.

“Actually, I just came back from a Reincarnation.”

“…Huh…?”

“Yes?”

“…”

The three of them looked at me wide-eyed as I began to explain slowly to the others.

The thundering sound ringing from the sky and the sacrifices made by the three.

Jang Chae Yeon stayed behind to send us off, and Song Ah Rin spoke with confidence to me.

And then.

“Oh, what about me?”

“Speaking of Da On…”

I turned to Yu Da On, who looked at me curiously.

“…You were amazing.”

“Huh?”

Yu Da On’s expression filled with disappointment.

“What do you mean just ‘amazing’? Wasn’t there something impressive, like how you did well or something?”

“You were impressive.”

“Not that kind of talk!”

“You can just take it as it is.”

I didn’t want to tell her the truth.

Blocking Yu Da On’s mouth with that, I continued to explain.

“…Anyway, that’s how I returned here.”

“Hold on.”

Interrupting my words, Song Ah Rin raised her hand with a confused expression.

“It’s hard to believe a Reincarnator makes mistakes.”

“…That’s true.”

Song Ah Rin was right.

Reincarnators don’t make mistakes.

More accurately, even if they do, they can erase those mistakes.

On the contrary, if someone who made a mistake doesn’t realize they made a mistake, the story changes.

“A-Rin, how would you stop a Reincarnator?”

“Me?”

After hearing my words, Song Ah Rin seemed taken aback for a moment, then started murmuring to herself with narrowed eyes.

“Direct confrontation won’t work. They’d probably just end up encouraging their own demise. Most likely, they’d snap their fingers. Or stab themselves with something.”

“I see.”

“Then what I can do is… a timing attack.”

“A timing attack?”

At my murmur, Song Ah Rin lifted her head to look at me.

“Do you remember what we talked about that time? About the method of Reincarnation.”

“Ah, yes.”

Not a full reset of Reincarnation, but a Reincarnation where save points are set.

“Those kinds of people tend to worry a lot. They never really let go of themselves.”

The hardest kind to hypnotize, she murmured, raising her finger.

“But on the other hand, it’s not that hard to slightly touch human emotions.”

“Not that hard?”

“Everyone instinctively wants stability.”

Song Ah Rin’s gaze flicked towards Yu Da On for a moment before returning to me.

“Humans easily repel negative emotions and instinctively accept positive ones.”

“…”

“Especially if they’re a Reincarnator, it’s even more so.”

“…”

“When a person has the endpoint in their sights, they’re bound to get excited.”

Song Ah Rin smirked, one side of her lips curling up.

“If it were me, I’d instill a sense of relief. The relief that they could finally rest.”

“…Ah.”

A sense of relief.

“Right. You get what I mean?”

“That means instilling a sense of relief so they accidentally misupdate their save point.”

“Exactly. Of course, I’d try countless other strategies as well.”

Song Ah Rin clapped her hands.

“But once you miss the save point, you can never return. That’s where I’d focus.”

“You can’t revert to the earlier state even if you go back multiple times if you make a mistake once.”

I got it.

Did she manage to accomplish that in such a short time?

“Thanks to that, I survived.”

“I don’t know what’s going on, but that means I did well back then, right?”

With her arms crossed, Song Ah Rin nodded her head with satisfaction.

“But…”

And at that moment, Jang Chae Yeon, who had been watching quietly, tapped my shoulder.

Come to think of it, I hadn’t really mentioned how I owed her a favor.

She might have felt left out.

Feeling a little apologetic, I opened my mouth.

“Ah, Chae Yeon, you…”

“No.”

Interrupting my words, Jang Chae Yeon shook her head.

“I know what I would have done.”

“Pardon?”

“I would do what I could and die without regrets.”

“…”

Jang Chae Yeon smiled at me.

“You don’t need to praise me. I didn’t make that choice to get praised by you.”

Her hand brushed against my shoulder.

“I did it because I wanted to.”

“…Thank you.”

She smiled gently and then tilted her head.

“If you returned, what would you do? Do you have a way to stop that person?”

“…I do.”

I turned my gaze to the three of them.

“I will share my plan from now on.”

The expressions of the three became serious.

*

<Did something happen while you just left?>

After talking with the three, I called Aileen.

“I need some help.”

<Again? >

“Please.”

A sigh could be heard from the other end, and Aileen’s voice came through.

<Tell me. Friends help each other out.>

“Could you go to the Gangdong Branch mountain?”

<Huh? >

“A-Rin will be going with me.”

<Hey, wait a second. What does that mean...?>

I hung up the phone and looked at Song Ah Rin, who sighed deeply with her arms crossed.

“Is this really right?”

“Yes.”

“Okay.”

Before Song Ah Rin passed by me to go outside, she turned her head to look back.

“Hey.”

“Yes?”

“…Never mind.”

She kept opening and closing her mouth before finally shutting the door and leaving.

“Then I’ll go too.”

Jang Chae Yeon followed her out.

“Then, I’ll see you there.”

“Sure.”

With a smile, she shut the door behind her.

“…”

“Da On.”

“Yes.”

“Are you ready?”

Yu Da On, smiling brightly while putting on black gloves, looked at me.

“Yes!”

“Then let’s go.”

I kicked the door of the Human Resources Team open and stepped out.

They say obstacles are needed on the path of someone destined for greatness.

We will become those obstacles.