TSTL 01

Chapter 1

 “Why?” —

Valedictorian of Korea University.
Top scorer in the national bar exam.
Youngest legal advisor at Child Law Firm.
A win rate of 95.85%.

Yet none of that could protect No Hyung-jin.

At this moment, the only thing he could feel was the knife handle sticking out of his chest.

“Cough!”

“That’s what happens when you don’t know when to stop.”

Hyung-jin looked up at the man looming over him. Through his fading vision, he could still make out the sneer twisting the man’s face.

“Why…?”

“You already know the answer to that, don’t you?”

More blood spurted from his mouth instead of words. He wished some of it would stain the other man—leave a trace, some evidence—but the raincoat he wore blocked even that.

Everything was wrapped in plastic: the walls, the floor, and the men wearing vinyl suits. A perfectly prepared trap.

“This isn’t America,” the man said with a cold smile.

“If you wanted to play the righteous hero, you should’ve gone there. Not here.”

‘Ah…’

He had been invited by prestigious U.S. law firms, but he stayed in Korea. He wanted to defend justice in his homeland.

But this time, he’d gone up against the wrong people.

“Du-han’s people…”

Du-han Group—one of Korea’s three major conglomerates, tied by marriage to the current president’s family.

It all began when their illegal dumping of chemical waste was exposed. Over ten thousand victims, two trillion won in damages—the largest lawsuit in Korean history.

But because Du-han was not just a conglomerate but also the president’s in-laws, no one dared to take the case. No one except No Hyung-jin.

And this was the result.

“Isn’t the National Intelligence Service supposed to protect the nation?”

If the man who stabbed him had been a gangster or a hired killer, he might have understood. But an active NIS agent? That was something he couldn’t believe.

“You’re mistaken about something,” the man whispered into Hyung-jin’s fading ear.

“We don’t protect the nation. We protect His Excellency.”

Then he twisted the knife.

“Cough!”

With a violent spray of blood, No Hyung-jin took his last breath.

The man stared at his lifeless body for a moment, then nodded.

“Get rid of it.”

The others moved quickly, lifting his corpse into a steel drum and pouring hydrochloric acid over it.

All that remained of No Hyung-jin was not his great achievements or his reputation—
but a handful of blood dissolving in acid.

“Not your time to die,” a deep voice murmured.

The black-robed reaper shook his head as he stared at the dazed spirit.

“This one wasn’t supposed to die.”

There have always been unexpected deaths—so-called wrongful deaths. But when someone dies who shouldn’t, it becomes a problem.

“Lord Yama, what should we do?”

“This is troublesome.”

Normally, the solution would be to send the person back—let them miraculously survive.
But in this case, even that was impossible. His body had been reduced to liquid.

“If he’s gone, it’ll cause bigger problems.”

“I know. That’s why this is serious… tsk.”

The corruption of the mortal world had reached its peak. Hell was overflowing, bursting at the seams.

He’d been sent down to correct the balance, but he hadn’t even begun before dying like this.

“I need to send him back somehow…”

But to send him back, he needed a body—and there was none. Yet leaving things as they were would only lead to more unjust deaths.

When resentment piles high enough to touch the heavens, it brings about apocalypse.
A war, a cataclysm, a natural disaster—whatever form it takes, billions would die.

“The gods won’t just stand by,” a lesser reaper warned.

“Hmm…”

The gods had already declared their intent to destroy and remake the world.
But the Jade Emperor had begged them to give humanity one last chance.

That chance was No Hyung-jin.

And now he was dead.

“I’ll have to bend the rules.”

“You mean… reverse time?”

“What else can I do? He has no body left.”

“The gods won’t be pleased.”

“I’ll take that risk.”

He already knew some of the gods would look the other way. Not all of them wanted the world destroyed.

“Even if you turn back time, he’ll just die again if nothing changes.”

“Then I’ll give him enough power to protect his own life.”

“Power to protect his life?”

He wanted to grant him divine strength—enough to reshape the world—but that much power could cause another apocalypse.

He had to limit it.

“Let’s hope he survives this time,” Lord Yama murmured, looking at No Hyung-jin’s wandering soul.

“Ugh!”

Hyung-jin jerked awake—then immediately hit his head hard and fell backward.

“Idiot,” said a girl’s voice.

He looked up to see a young woman peeking down from the top bunk bed.

“It’s been over a month since we bought that bed, and you still haven’t gotten used to it?”

“…Noona?”

“At least you didn’t lose your memory from the shock.”

“You’re… alive?”

His sister, No Hyun-ah, frowned.

“Do you want to die? I’ve been alive and well for seventeen years!”

“Seventeen…?”

“Yeah, seventeen. Born and raised right here in Korea, genius.”

He stared at her in confusion. She looked about seventeen—
and that made no sense.

“Get your head together and go to sleep,” she said, disappearing back into the top bunk.

Hyung-jin sat frozen for a moment before lying down again.

‘Wait…’

His memories began piecing themselves together: the past, his studies, history—
and his death.

‘Was it all a dream?’

But it was too vivid. He could still feel the knife buried in his chest.

‘What the hell is going on?’

He couldn’t sleep.

“I’m off!”

His sister dashed out of the house, biting into a slice of bread.

Hyung-jin trudged out behind her.

“If you’re late, that’s your problem,” she called.

He looked down at his uniform.

‘Middle school?’

He was a second-year middle schooler. In his memories, that time had long since passed.

“So that makes Noona seventeen… first year of high school.”

He couldn’t remember every morning of his childhood, but the big things—those, he remembered.

‘What happened to me?’

He had definitely died. Yet here he was, back in the past—and his sister was alive.

His eyes stung.

Her life had been tragic. The boyfriend she met in high school became her husband,
but he was a terrible man. After two children and a painful divorce, she struggled alone. Then, a tragic accident took her kids away.

She left Korea soon after, moving to Japan, saying she wanted a quiet life.
Then came the tsunami. Her body was never found.

“Wait… that means…”

If his memory was right, this was about the time she first met that guy—the so-called delinquent with the good looks and bad reputation. The one every high school girl fell for.

‘No way… this has to be a dream.’

It had to be. But the unease twisting in his gut said otherwise.

Because if she met him again… her life would spiral into hell.

‘Is this a dream? Or was my old life the dream?’

He didn’t know.

‘I have to check.’

So instead of heading to school, he changed direction—
doing something he had never once done before.

“Ha-ha! Nice shot!”

“Damn it!”

Across the basketball court, a boy was playing energetically, sweating under the sun.

Cho Hyuk-woo.

His brother-in-law. His nemesis.

The same man who would one day marry his sister, cheat on her with countless women,
lie about being single, and blow through their savings paying settlements.

A human piece of trash.

But right now, he looked perfectly normal—a handsome, athletic student.

“He’s… real?”

If this was a dream, that guy shouldn’t exist.
He shouldn’t have met him until years later, when his sister brought him home to “introduce her boyfriend.”

And yet here he was.

“Maybe this isn’t a dream after all.”

Every memory felt real.

“Dream or not,” Hyung-jin muttered, staring at him,
“I’ll make sure she stays away from that bastard.”

He didn’t know which world was the dream anymore—
but he knew one thing for certain:

He would not let that man near his sister again.