[Regression Completed.]

He woke up to the voice of the system.

The sunlight penetrating through the curtains revealed the dizzying living room.

Clothes hanging randomly on chairs and unorganized desks.

It was a nostalgic landscape that was vaguely left in a very old memory.

When he woke up with a dazed mind, his head was pounding as if he had drunk alcohol yesterday.

"Ugh."

To understand the situation, he habitually picked up the phone next to the pillow.

What he caught was an old smartphone that he used a long time ago.

Feeling uncomfortable, he checked the date.

"Huh?"

At first, he thought it was an error.

The date on the phone was pointing to 15 years ago.

He grabbed his trembling temple and frowned.

He must have died when the final quest started.

The feeling of being pierced by the swordsman was still vivid.

'I returned?'

A notification sound popped up.

He hurriedly ran to the bathroom.

He turned on the light and checked his face in the mirror.

"Crazy… … What is this."

Mumbling at the mirror, there was me but with a youthful face.

'Judging from the date, I should be 26.'

He turned on cold water in the sink and washed his face.

He took a deep breath to calm his excitement.

When he pinched his thigh, he felt a definite pain.

'This isn't a dream? Really?'

He couldn't believe it.

 

But this was obviously reality.

 

He was back in the past.

He needed to calmly organize his thoughts.

'How?'

The first question he asked was, how did he get back to the past?

Something you see occasionally in movies.

Time travel.

Why did this happen to me?

He calmly recalled his memories.

'Yes. They said it was a unique quest.'

Just before he died, he remembered the voice of the system.

 

The hunter Lee Seojun's unique quest was about to begin.

 

But at this point in time, he was probably not a hunter yet.

After a little hesitation, he opened the quest window.

 <Unique Quest: Changing the Future>

Prevet Seol-Ah Lee's five misfortunes. (0/5)

He stared blankly at the translucent window.

The quest was a kind of mission the system gave to a hunter.

Because it gives useful rewards when completed, it was like a task that a hunter was obligated to do.

He too did countless quests as a hunter for over 10 years.

However, it was unheard of the modifier "unique" being attached to the front of the quest.

'Five misfortunes?'

Much to his regrets, he had no idea what these five misfortunes were.

As Seol-Ah said, he may have been nothing to her..

He only had a guess for one of the misfortunes.

'Eunhye.'

The death of Seol-Ah's mother, Yoo Eunhye.

He checked the date again.

He still remember the date of her death.

Because it coincided at the same day as the disaster.

'This time, I can stop it.'

Seol-Ah's behaviour, and the death of her mother.

He could change everything he regretted.

 

The past passed by in a flash.

 

Eunhye died, and he raised Seol-Ah by hisself.

'No, I honestly couldn't even say that I raised her.'

Had he been a decent hunter, he would have had income and leeway, but he wasn't.

Entering the hunter's path quite late, he rarely even entered the house.

It was because he owed money after signing a wrong contract with the guild that he had readily reached out to.

He thought that he did his best as to not harm Seol-Ah.

But looking back now, maybe it was all just indifference.

It was he who neglected Seol-Ah and just coming up with one excuse after another.

'As Seol-Ah said, he really was nothing.'

He regretted it.

A hellish life lived while paying off debts.

In the end, there was no one left by his side.

'You don't even know what kind of misfortune Seol-Ah went through. Lee Seojun, you bastard.'

It was all his own fault.

He didn't want to miss the second opportunity that came to him.

This time, everything is gonna be right.

Ding Dong.

Then the doorbell rang.

'Ah. Today is the day.'

He remembered the first time Eunhye came holding Seol-Ah's hand.

He broke up with Eunhye 6 years ago, so when he was 20.

Eunhye, who came without contactacting beforehand, had introduced Seol-Ah as his daughter.

At the time, he couldn't hide his confusion.

The sudden visit of his ex-girlfriend was also embarrassing.

And a daughter..

'I went on a rampage asking for a paternity test.'

Looking back, it seemed like he had done something impossible in front of the child.

He asked for paternity confirmation, and he told her that it was someone else's child.

However, the result of the paternity test soon came in and it was concluded that it was his child.

He had a baby all of a sudden and he couldn't take it easy.

'I was a real piece of garbage.'

A disappointing laugh came out.

No matter how perplexed, Eunhye and Seol-Ah were terrified.

Eunhye, who gave up all her pride and asked for help, had to go through all sorts of humiliation.

He can't even imagine how much damage Seol-Ah must have suffered as a child.

It was something that couldn't be undone anyway, he should have just accepted it.

"Who is it?"

"Open the door."

Eunhye's voice came from outside the door.

He was instantly moved by the voice that he hadn't heard in a long time.

Trying to control his emotions he asked again. He quickly straightened his messy hair.

 

"Who are you?"

"It's me. Yoo Eunhye."

After hesitating for a while, he decided and grabbed the doorknob.

He paused for a bit and opened the door.

Yoo Eunhye was there.

"Hi. Seojun."

"It's Eunhye."

He couldn't keep up.

It felt like something hot was stuck in his throat.

A dead woman was standing in front of me.

He felt it again.. That he had truly returned.

Just like a goldfish, his mouth was barely clenched.

Eunhye looked down.

There was a small child holding Eunhye's hand with one small hand.

"Seol-Ah say hi to your dad."

"… … Hello, Dad?"

Seol-Ah nodded.

Eyes filled with pure curiosity looked up.

Up until then, he was still muttering stupidly.

Eunhye looked at him, and cautiously spoke out.

"I know. It's suprising, and hard to accept."

"Oh, uh."

"This child, Seojun is your daughter, our Seol-Ah..."

He couldn't answer, so he squatted in front of Seol-Ah.

At eye level, he could see his daughter, the prettiest girl in the world.

White skin resembling her mother, clear eyes, and tiny cherry-like lips.

Even the white cheeks looked soft like a rice cake that you wanted to squeeze.

So why didn't they face each other?

"Daughter?"

"… … Yes."

Seol-Ah gave a curious glance, but it seemed like he was a stranger.

She backed off and grabbed Eunhye's hand.

He said to Seol-Ah with a serious face.

"I am your father."

Seol-Ah's eyes turned round.

An awkward silence descended.

He just scratched the back of the head.

"Oh. Kids these days wouldn't know this."

"Seojun, you… … ."

"Come in. How long are we gonna stand here and talk? Your legs must hurt."

Perhaps it was an unexpected action from Seojun, because Eunhye looked at him with bewildered eyes.

He knelt down on one knee and held out his hand politely like a knight.

"I'll escort you inside, Princess."

"… … Okay!"

Seol-Ah smiled brightly and placed one of her small hands on his.

 

---

 

"You... have changed."

Eunhye looked at Seojoon with a confused face.

As soon as they entered the house he had cleaned up his usually messy house. 

He became friends with Seol-Ah by playing pranks very naturally, and now they were watching children's cartoons together.

 

While Seol-Ah was focused on the children's cartoons on her smartphone, Seojun cautiously went to the kitchen.

After rummaging through the drawers a bit, he pulled tea that looked like a present and skillfully brought it out.

It's a sight she could not have imagined.

"It seemed like you were just a child yesterday."

"After six years, everyone changes."

Sitting across from Eunhye, Seojun took a sip of tea.

'When did Seojun, who used to drink only sweet lattes for coffee, change like this?'

Eunhye, who thought that it was unfamiliar behaviour from him, shook her head.

"So, Seol-Ah is my daughter?"

"Yes.. It might be hard to believe."

"No. I believe you."

Eunhye, who had put her hand in her handbag, stopped moving.

She thought he would ask her to get a paternity check.

To be honest, she was embarrassed to see him believe her so easily.

Seojun looked at Eunhye.

"Why did you hide it?"

"… … We didn't end well."

 

As with most separated lovers, the ending between Lee Seojun and Yoo Eunhye was not very good.

Lee Seojun enlisted as if he was running away, and it was after that Yoo Eunhye found out that she was pregnant.

"At first, I wanted to raise her on his own. But, things turned out to be unfavourable."

"So what happened?"

"There was an accident. The house collapsed... … I had nowhere to go right now."

Seojun nodded his head.

Eunhye brought out the words she had prepared for him painstakingly.

"I'm not going to tell you to take responsibility. Because birthing her was his choice."

"Then?"

"Let me stay for a while. You can't let a child sleep in a motel."

Eunhye had no parents to depend on.

There were no close relatives.

After a lot of searching around she found Seojun.

Still, as a child's father, she thought he wouldn't be harsh.

However, she had expected friction. Eunhye exhaled a long breath.

No matter what Seojun said, she was just going to listen to it for Seol-Ah's sake.

"Yes. Do that."

"Eh?"

"The house isn't very spacious, but if you organize the things you don't need, you'll have some space."

However, Seojun neither doubted or reject it.

As if it was a very normal thing, he accepted it and accepted Eunhye and Seol-Ah.

When Seojun acted like this, Eunhye was once again bewildered.

"What about the stuff?"

"Stuff? Uh, out there."

"Wait. I will bring it."

Seojun put down the cup and got up.

As he went to the front door he saw Seol-Ah glued to the phone.

"Seol-Ah, are you having fun?"

"Yes!"

"You know if you look too much, your eyes will hurt, so should look at it like that?"

"… … I want to see more."

"Let's play with Mom and Dad later instead."

"Okay!"

Seojun, stroking Seol-Ah's hair as if she was cute, went outside and brought in the suitcase that was standing next to the door.

Seojun who once again sat across from Eunhye, looked at Seol-Ah for a moment.

Those eyes were full of affection.

"Pretty. Is it because she's just like you?"

"… … what?"

"I think she's pretty because she looks like you."

Seojun fixed his gaze on Seol-Ah and continued speaking calmly.

Finally, Eunhye's confusion reached its peak.

'Who is he?'

The Seojun she knew was not a man who expressed affection in this way.

He was a troublemaker, and the word immature was befitting for him.

But for some reason, Seojun looked gentle.

Even in the words that seemed to have been said without thought behind them had sincerity she could feel.

Eunhye took a sip of tea to calm her heart.

"Eunhye."

"Huh?"

"Let's get married."

*Splurt, Cough*.

The tea in Eunhye's mouth went back to the teacup.