I Don’t Want This Reincarnation

[A warped space had been detected in the 14th room. There was S+-grade monster there and only when it was dealt with could they return…]

I stared blankly at the TV screen. Ha Tae-heon’s interview, who was dressed neatly, was released.

As I expected, the fact that a warped space and an additional high-grade monster appeared became a big topic.

But the trouble I felt now was not only about the gate.

“Haa…”

I clicked on an internet article floating on the main site of the mobile phone screen.

「Ha Tae-heon of the Roheon Guild, Familiar with the Popular A-rank Mercenary? Unexpected Friendship.」

From the title, it was speculative. I calmly scrolled down.

「SS-rank Ha Tae-heon, who recently took the position of Deputy Master of the Roheon Guild, has revealed his relationship with an independent A-rank ability user, Han Yi-gyeol.

Ha Tae-heon, who went to clear the gate of Area D17, revealed his hidden relationship immediately after dealing with the S+-grade monster as a result of his participation as a mercenary.

When asked by a guild member about what kind of relationship he had, it was reported that they had known each other before Ha Tae-heon awakened.

After seeing the appearance of Han Yi-gyeol, who threw himself without hesitation to save Ha Tae-heon, who was almost seriously injured, there was speculation that they might have a special relationship.

On this news, netizens were interested in which guild Han Yi-gyeol, who is currently an independent, will go to.

Meanwhile, Ha Tae-heon is scheduled to appear in ‘First Hunting’, a specialized program for ability users.

[email protected]

Photo courtesy of| Reporter Han Yoon-jong」

What? The article was a bit strange…

I also checked the comments.

「Sorted by net likes*

lias***

Shoddy article. What do you mean special… If someone fell down a hole right in front of you, would you just leave them? Especially if you had a wind ability??

wlstj***

He has an SS-rank in both hands lololol If it’s Roheon vs Requiem, wouldn’t Requiem win?? How can a dep master compare with a guild master lolol

└ Hm~ it’s disgusting whichever he chooses~

└ What do you mean disgusting; he’s just doing what’s natural you jealous fuck ㅉㅉ

└ It’s disgusting ㅇㅇ he doesnt even have any skills but using his connections

└ He’s an A-rank, but you think he doesn’t have any skills what a joke lolol is the commenter a C-rank?

dksr***

You’re saying Ha Tae-heon is going to appear on FirHun (First Hunting)?? He’s been doing a lot of interviews these days too. Roheon’s been working him hard after he became dep master.

vdds***

There’s a bunch of ruckus about cleaning up the shit left behind by the Bl— guild**. Where did that bastard go without even explaining?

└ He went to play golf~^^

└ everyone who went to play golf with him should beg for forgiveness.

└ Aren’t the victims of Area C12 still protesting? The power of humanity *tremble*

└ Will they care? They are all children of money-loving families.

asse***

Who is Han Yi-gyeol, this rando? You keep writing articles about people no one cares about.

└ but you seem to care?

└ I guess you don’t know what everyone else knows because you’re an outsider LOL」

“……”

I rubbed my forehead and turned off the phone screen.

With only uncontrollable elements such as Ha Tae-heon or Cheon Sa-yeon around, the number of annoying things had doubled.

“I’m back.”

While lying on the sofa contemplating how to solve this situation, Kim Woo-jin returned from going out.

“Where have you been?”

“I went grocery shopping.”

Kim Woo-jin lifted a bag with the logo of a nearby mart. It seemed to contain quite a lot.

After clearing the gate and returning to the Requiem Guild, I passed out after only treating my hands.

Kim Woo-jin, who was eager to make me healthy food, seemed to rush to the mart like an arrow as soon as morning dawned.

“It’s only been four days so what weight did I lose…”

“You think I’m thinking about your weight? How hard did you have to work to come back so exhausted?”

“Well, that’s—”

“I saw the news, too. I heard you were dealing with an S+-grade monster.”

“……”

“That’s why I told you not to go, but you didn’t listen to me. And even you hurt your hand, too.”

“…stop it. I know.”

As I surrendered, waving my hands, Kim Woo-jin pouted and went to the kitchen. It seemed like the nagging got worse as time went on.

“What are you going to make? Everything you make is delicious so anything’s fine.”

Anyway, there is no reason to refuse if you give me something delicious. When I approached Kim Woo-jin, who was taking out the ingredients, with a soft smile, he slightly bowed his head and answered, “I was going to make beef short rib soup (sogalbitang)… If there’s anything else you want to eat, I’ll make it for you.” (소갈비탕, the pic is below)

The frowning and nagging figure disappeared, leaving only a shy face. What was going on now?

While looking at Kim Woo-jin, who exuded a strange atmosphere, someone knocked on the door.

“Yi-gyeol-ssi, I’m here~”

“Min Ah-rin-ssi.”

The owner of the cheerful voice was Min Ah-rin. She greeted me with a big smile as she opened the door and sighed when she found my hand wrapped in the bandages.

“I knew it. As expected, you got hurt.”

“Ah, this is…”

“I heard the news that you went to the gate, so I came just in case… Can I come in right away?”

“Sure.”

As Min Ah-rin entered the room all happily, Kim Woo-jin frowned as if displeased, but when he saw her treating my hand, his dissatisfied expression disappeared.

“Fortunately, your wound is not as bad as last time’s.”

“If you leave it alone, it will get better soon.”

“It’ll be inconvenient that way though.”

So it would be. I took the bandages off, clenched and straightened my hands a couple of times.

“Thank you.”

“What is it? You’re preparing breakfast?”

Anticipation stood in Min Ah-rin’s round eyes.

“Would you like to eat together?”

It was Min Ah-rin, who deliberately took the time to treat me this morning. Of course I had to treat her to breakfast.

“Oh, good! What is the menu?”

“He said it’s beef rib soup.”

“Oh my. It seems that Woo-jin-ssi made something delicious because Yi-gyeol-ssi worked hard.”

She was quick-witted. So I headed to the kitchen with Min Ah-rin on my back.

“Is there anything I can help with? Like chopping the onions or something.”

“Never mind that. Do you want to get hurt again?”

I asked because I had nothing to do while preparing, but he injured my pride. That was ridiculous. Other than that, I’m confident that I can handle a knife well.

“Hey. Even I know how to do that much.”

At those words, Kim Woo-jin handed me an onion and a knife with somewhat an uneasy expression. What was with that? I proudly placed the onion on the cutting board and held the knife.

“Hey, Yi-gyeol-ssi…”

“Are you crazy? Why are you holding the knife like that?”

Min Ah-rin and Kim Woo-jin, who were watching, freaked out and grabbed my arm. What was wrong with you?

“Isn’t this how you hold it?”

“Um, but that’s what you do when you stab a person, not cut an onion…”

“Hold the knife horizontally!”

Ah, right. I coughed in vain and fixed the knife in place as Kim Woo-jin told me.

“Can I cut it now?”

“Oh. Cut it in half first.”

Cut it in half? I pondered for a moment and then raised my arm. If you hit it with this amount of force, it will be cut neatly.

“Crazy bastard!”

“Yi-gyeol-ssi, your hand! Hand!”

Kim Woo-jin once again grabbed my arm. I saw my hand on the onion at Min Ah-rin’s cry. I was just thinking about slicing the onion, so I hadn’t checked the position of my hand.

“Haha. I made a mistake.”

“You seem to like making mistakes. Get out!”

“I agree with Woo-jin-ssi this time.”

Kim Woo-jin kicked me out of the kitchen. Min Ah-rin asked me in a curious voice, after being kicked out without being able to make any excuses, “I guess you’ve never cooked before, Yi-gyeol-ssi.”

“It just happened that way.”

I recalled memories of the past. When I was a teenager, I mostly stuffed my stomach with triangular kimbap or cup noodles, and after I started working, I always bought and ate them.

* * *

“You, wherever you go to cook, don’t hold a knife. Okay?”

After the beef short rib soup was completed, Kim Woo-jin started nagging me again while eating.

“He’s right. That was dangerous.”

“You go to the gate and get hurt each time, but now you want to get hurt while cooking?”

“……”

I quietly shoved the rice into my mouth. Since some time ago, when these two got together, they nagged a lot. It was difficult even with one person, but there was no way to defeat two people’s cooperative attacks.

Even though I ate nourishing food, I somehow withered and lay down on the sofa as usual, and Min Ah-rin left the room saying that she had work.

Kim Woo-jin was enjoying his leisurely time, eating the apples he cut, when a new message arrived on my cell phone.

「Kim Soo-hwan: Yi-gyeol-ssi! Did you go home safely yesterday? This is Kim Soo-hwan!」

「Kim Soo-hwan: (Emoji)」

Kim Soo-hwan sent a picture of a cat waving its hand in greeting. I replied with a grin.

「Han Yi-gyeol: Yes. I'm taking a rest after coming home safely.」

「Han Yi-gyeol: Did you enjoy the dinner party, Kim Soo-hwan-ssi?」

「Kim Soo-hwan: Of course^^ We ate beef.」

「Kim Soo-hwan: (Photo)」

「Kim Soo-hwan: Let’s go together next time~」

「Han Yi-gyeol: Sure.」

Soon after, Kim Soo-hwan sent a serial number and a link.

「Kim Soo-hwan: 53263」

「Kim Soo-hwan: (Link)」

「Kim Soo-hwan: This is the fan cafe link and invitation number. If you press the sign up button and put that number in the invitation code, your sign up will be completed within a day.」

Aha. This was what the invitation meant.

「Kim Soo-hwan: Once you have signed up, you can read the notice and follow the rules to be active^^」

「Kim Soo-hwan: If there is anything you don’t know, feel free to message me anytime!」

「Han Yi-gyeol: Thank you.」

I clicked the link without hesitation. Then, along with the title ‘SS-rank talented Ha Tae-heon fan cafe’, a picture of Ha Tae-heon’s profile appeared in a huge size.

“Whoa.”

Ha Tae-heon’s face, seen through the white snowflakes, was admirably cool. They said he’d be better than most celebrities and I guess that photographers were also following him around.

I barely found the sign-up button and wrote the serial number that Kim Soo-hwan gave me. It was hard to adapt because there were so many flashing things and there were words I couldn’t understand.

“What are you looking at, so serious?”

“Oh? Nothing.”

At Kim Woo-jin's words, I quickly closed the phone screen and changed the topic.

“More than that, what happened to my request?”

It wasn’t a question I had high expectations for. Even if Kim Woo-jin didn’t get any information, I could fully understand it. It has only been a few days since I left.

“I got it. If you want, I’ll bring it to you today.”

However, contrary to my expectation, Kim Woo-jin calmly replied that he succeeded. I became rather anxious at those words.

“…what, you didn't do something unnecessary, did you?”

“I didn’t. What do you think I did?”

“It’s strange. If you were me, wouldn’t you be worried?”

“Worried?” Kim Woo-jin’s eyes, which had been feisty, became soft slightly. “You were worried?”

“Then should I not be?”

What I asked Kim Woo-jin for was detailed information about the gate progress and anomalies. Information beyond what was officially announced through the media by the management headquarters.

Such information was not easily obtainable as the state thoroughly managed the gates. So I was even more suspicious of Kim Woo-jin.

“Be honest. Did you make a deal with some weirdo?”

“I didn’t. Really. Even I have my limits.”

Even when I asked again, Kim Woo-jin firmly shook his head.

“Stop doubting and start with the data. After seeing it, you can decide if it is worthwhile.”

“Hmm…”

I thought for a moment and then nodded. As Kim Woo-jin said, if the material had already been prepared, it would be better to receive it first.

“Okay. I’ll give them a call.”

Kim Woo-jin grabbed his cell phone and entered the room.

Seeing this, I sighed drearily. Was this really okay?