Chapter : 118
“Then you believe me?”
“I’ve believed you since the first time you said it! Ah, really…”
Suddenly, her head throbbed. Choi Ji-eun pressed her hands to her temples and groaned. Suhyeon grabbed her shoulder and asked if she was okay. The gesture was so natural that Ji-eun was suddenly surprised. How long would someone have to spend with their future self for such a movement to come out instinctively?
‘Appearance-wise, he’s definitely my type…!’
Ji-eun scanned Suhyeon from head to toe. She had looked into the news about the first human magician out of curiosity, but she never imagined she’d be involved with him like this.
“Move your hand.”
“Ah, sorry.”
“No, you don’t really have to apologize… So!”
Come to think of it, it wasn’t Suhyeon’s fault. She herself had spent time with him in the future. Feeling a sudden pang of guilt, Ji-eun quickly changed the subject.
“Why are you telling me this?”
“Because I need your help, of course.”
“…….”
“I also made a promise to you.”
“…Ugh.”
Ji-eun felt embarrassed again for no reason.
“About being betrayed… Can I really trust you? You don’t know who betrayed me.”
“Ah, you definitely don’t know.”
Ji-eun was slightly surprised internally by the certainty in Suhyeon’s voice. From what she’d heard, he seemed cautious, but he trusted her that much?
“You died too.”
“What?!”
“It was officially an accident, but I think it was intentional. In my opinion, the guy who hit me in the back of the head probably dealt with it. If you had been alive, you would have helped me no matter what.”
“….”
Ji-eun twirled her long hair and pondered. It was hard to accept, but she had no choice but to.
“Alright. I’ll help. But let’s set some rules.”
“What rules?”
“Future me aside, present me isn’t your… your girlfriend. So don’t get all friendly like earlier. Got it?”
“Got it. I’ll remember.”
“And also… in exchange for my help, you’re responsible for my safety.”
The fact that she was supposed to die in the future felt horrifying, even though it was a distant story. Suhyeon nodded calmly.
“I already planned to do that, even if you hadn’t said it.”
“Again! I told you not to!”
“No, I didn’t…”
Suhyeon protested as if he were unfairly accused. After all, he hadn’t been treating her like a girlfriend.
“Alright, let’s get back to the story. Do you have any guesses about who betrayed you?”
“There’s no shortage of suspects. The Planet Management Department officers, military commanders above them, private companies… and definitely the Chinese forces. They couldn’t have not been involved. Definitely affiliated with the Black Panther Unit.”
“How do you plan to find out? You don’t have any evidence.”
“That’s fine. I don’t need evidence.”
“?”
“If I kill all the suspects, one of them will be the culprit.”
“…!”
It sounded like a joke, but it didn’t feel like one at all.
“Joking, right?”
“Maybe?”
“…That’s for you to figure out. I’ll only give the help I can. First, before we talk about future plans, there’s one thing I’m curious about.”
“Ask me anything.”
“Don’t you notice anything strange about coming back to the past?”
“?”
Suhyeon didn’t immediately understand what she meant.
“I mean… nothing seems off about how you returned to the past?”
“Well…”
Now that she thought about it, she had never questioned why she returned to the past. She had always focused on the future, so she never needed to wonder why he came back.
“Before you went back, did you have anything special?”
“You mean an artifact? No, I didn’t have anything like that.”
“Are you sure? Maybe you overlooked it.”
“I’m sure. I wouldn’t mistake that kind of thing.”
Suhyeon wasn’t foolish enough to overlook an artifact. When he answered firmly, Ji-eun nodded slowly.
“Then there’s only one possible answer.”
“What do you mean?”
“You definitely reversed time.”
It took a moment for Ji-eun’s words to sink in. He reversed time. Suhyeon asked incredulously:
“I reversed time?”
“I can’t fully believe it myself. But there’s no other explanation… When you eliminate all impossible reasons, whatever remains, no matter how absurd it sounds, is the truth.”
“Even so… reversing time… is that possible…?”
“Let’s go step by step.”
Ji-eun stretched out her long, pale fingers.
“After returning, was there anything that changed?”
“…!”
Yes. His psychokinetic powers had strengthened.
“The power of your existing ability increased.”
“…And you didn’t suspect anything?”
“I had too much to do. I was focused on what I needed to do, so why would I doubt a gift?”
“If you awakened as a magician before coming back and got a time-reversing ability, then… the increase in psychokinetic power can be explained. What do you think?”
Hearing Ji-eun, Suhyeon remembered something: the Great Magician Lubenfeld’s grimoire. The voice there had said:
“First, I tested your constitution. Without innate abilities, you wouldn’t have been able to come here.”
Since Suhyeon had never considered himself a magician, he thought the innate ability was a psychic power. But if it actually meant he was a magician?
It was strange that someone could awaken psychic powers by consuming something. Even if the conditions were identical, only those with the potential became psychics; others didn’t.
From a magician’s perspective, it was doubtful that anyone could just acquire magic immediately. Even with Lubenfeld’s extraordinary skill.
“You’re saying I was already a magician?”
“I’m not certain, but that’s my thought. Otherwise, your return to the past wouldn’t make sense.”
“A time-reversing power… I never even imagined it.”
“Like other great powers, it probably comes with a huge cost. But if you go back to the past, it all disappears, so you’re safe. I don’t know much; time-based abilities have never been reported. How they activate or what cost they require… If you’re unaware, measuring it is impossible.”
Reversing time was beyond human capability. Suhyeon had talked with Ji-eun before about reversing time, but never imagined he himself could possess such a power.
He clenched and unclenched his fists. Reversing time was an unimaginable weapon. There was no such magic in Lubenfeld’s grimoire. But more than pride, he felt worry—it was not a power he could fully control.
‘I got back to the past, but this… is really…’
It was practically a ticking time bomb. An ability whose activation he didn’t even know.
“I want to tell you to practice using it as soon as possible, but it’s so different from your usual abilities that I’m careful even suggesting it. If you misfire, you could become lost in space-time.”
“Right.”
Suhyeon nodded. Knowing was better than not knowing. He had already learned a lot just from talking with Ji-eun. Contacting her and confiding in her had been the right choice.
“Let’s stop the superpower talk here. About future plans… what are you going to do?”
“Half of it’s already done. In this position, unlike before, people can’t touch me recklessly.”
Moving in the shadows and remaining secretive was easy to abandon. Knowing this, Suhyeon aimed to establish himself publicly as much as possible in this life. He would no longer be a disposable pawn.
“Now I’ll find the remaining people, strengthen my forces, and handle the suspects one by one.”
“Remaining people?”
“My old subordinates. Even if I don’t know about others, I’ll bring Mun Sa-yeon, Kwak Hyun-tae, and Gu Joong-chul. They’ve been with me from the start. I won’t let them help anyone else.”
“Do you know where they are?”
“I don’t know about Gu Joong-chul, but Kwak Hyun-tae and Mun Sa-yeon should be in the military. They’ll be drafted into special forces units.”
“Mun Sa-yeon is a woman?”
“What, jealous?”
“I told you not to treat me like a girlfriend.”
“Ah, sorry. I keep treating you like before. It’s just habit.”
Ji-eun asked quietly:
“…Was my future self jealous?”
“No. Not really, but back then, when Sa-yeon got drunk and clung to me, you almost shot her with a gun.”
‘That’s jealous!’
Ji-eun shouted internally. She blushed even though it didn’t happen. Worse, she couldn’t deny it—she felt he would have done it.
Even after saying something chilling, Suhyeon appeared unaffected. He really looked like he was reminiscing.
“You had physical enhancement surgery here, so you’ll have a reason to visit regularly. Don’t show that you’re close to me. That’s the safest way.”
“I know.”
“Thanks for today. It was nice to see your face after a long time.”
Ji-eun bit her tongue, refraining from saying not to treat her like a girlfriend. She knew Suhyeon had no ill intent.
“…Keep monitoring your abilities, and if you need to check anything, bring it. And the time-reversing power…”
“I know. I’ll act carefully. I won’t joke about wanting to reverse time.”
“That’s one thing, but what I want to say is different.”
“?”
“Like with fire powers, some people have a fixed form, some don’t. Sometimes they change and grow.”
“Right.”
Suhyeon’s psychokinesis was like that. Unrestricted psychokinesis like his was rare. Usually, it had a fixed form.
“Your power may not reverse time but manipulate it. So, try stopping time consciously. If you can manipulate time itself, it’ll be safer.”
“Stopping time…?”
“You’ve already reversed time once. What’s the big deal? Try anything. There’s nothing to lose.”
“Right.”
Suhyeon chuckled and nodded. At that moment, Lee Sun-hwa entered the room.
“What, you finished the tour?”
“Yes, thanks to Choi Ji-eun, I didn’t waste time.”
“Good. I was worried if Ji-eun could handle it.”
“…It wasn’t that difficult.”
As soon as Lee Sun-hwa entered, Suhyeon shifted his attitude from casual to official. Ji-eun was slightly disappointed in herself for feeling that.
“Once done, come here briefly. Just a simple test, and we’ll end for today.”
“Yes.”
Suhyeon left the lab a few days later. During that time, with Ji-eun’s help, he devoted himself to psychokinesis training disguised as rehabilitation exercises. Lee Sun-hwa joked around occasionally as they worked closely together.
He made no progress with time manipulation, but the conversation with Ji-eun gave him a clearer direction.
“Team leader!”
“How have you been?”
“You weren’t captured, right?”
“What are you talking about?”
“Kim Chang-sik kept saying it was ominous you went to the lab alone…”
“…You must have been bored while I was gone.”
Being present during surgery would have been pointless, so he had been sent away early. Meanwhile, he was already spinning such delusions. Kim Chang-sik made a startled sound. When Suhyeon said that, harsh training usually followed.
“Was the surgery okay?”
“The best expert performed it. What problem could there be?”
“Uh…”
Seo Kang-seok hesitated, his words trailing off. Seeing him hesitate was rare. Suhyeon stopped and turned.
“What is it? Something wrong?”
