Sangwoo still slept in the walk-in closet.
It wasn’t particularly uncomfortable.
The life of a Sword Master didn’t require much sleep.
For someone like him, who had constantly endured attacks in another world, he thought it was truly a good ability.
Only after becoming a Sword Master did he gain the qualifications to live an ordinary life in another world.
The less he slept, the more prepared he could be for attacks.
Usually, he woke up after three hours.
His mind was perfectly clear.
Especially after coming to the modern world, his body was overflowing with vitality to the point it became a problem.
Whenever he felt like he needed to release his strength somewhere, he would step outside for a bit and swing his sword.
If someone caught him, it was obvious he would be arrested by the police for carrying a real blade.
This was one of his daily routines.
A routine of falling asleep at midnight and waking up at 3 a.m.
But today’s 3 a.m. felt a little different.
“Why is the light on?”
As Sangwoo picked up his sword and stepped out of the room, a faint light was leaking through the gap in the door.
It was his older sister.
His sister was awake at this hour instead of sleeping.
At 3 a.m., she was always asleep, so the light was never on.
“Did she fall asleep without turning off the light?”
Sangwoo grabbed the doorknob.
No matter how gently he opened it, there would be noise, so he wrapped aura around himself to block the sound.
Carefully opening the door, he saw his sister’s side profile.
She was sitting in front of the computer, wearing earphones, clicking the mouse.
‘Is she playing a game?’
It felt so unfamiliar since he had never seen his sister play games before.
‘My sister’s a person too, so she can play games. Still, isn’t it too late? She has work tomorrow.’
He was planning to tell her to hurry up and go to sleep for the sake of tomorrow’s fatigue.
For some reason, it felt like he was playing the role of their mother this time, and a grin slipped out.
“Sister. Do you know what time it is, playi—”
“Kyaaaaaaak!”
His sister jumped in shock and hurled the mouse.
The earphones had already slipped out of her ears and rolled across the floor.
“That’s dangerous.”
Sang-woo said as he caught the thrown mouse.
His sister clutched her chest.
“Ah, you scared me. How can you open the door without knocking! You startled me!”
“No, I thought you’d fallen asleep with the light on, so I was going to turn it off. How was I supposed to know you were sitting in front of the computer.”
“How could I not be startled when there’s a pitch-black man holding a sword standing there?”
“Ah…”
Sang-woo looked himself over.
He was wearing the simple black tracksuit his sister had given him, with a sword in his hand.
From head to toe, he was all black and did look suspicious.
“That’s my fault. Sorry.”
“Get rid of that sword. Don’t come in here carrying weird stuff.”
“Weird stuff? This thing has saved my life so many times.”
“I know you were in dangerous places, but this is a safe place now, so put it down.”
“I don’t carry it around except when I train for a bit.”
“Training, my foot. Just don’t take it outside. If someone with weird pronunciation walks around carrying a sword, won’t people get scared?”
“My pronunciation has gotten a lot better.”
His sister looked at Sangwoo with exasperation.
“You’re forty years old. You’re not some little kid who goes around carrying a fake sword.”
“This is a real blade, though?”
“Yes, yes. Of course it is. Anyway, don’t go out carrying that thing and end up getting dragged to the police station as some weird FW.”
“What’s an ‘FW’?”
“Foreign worker.”
“Ah, foreign worker? Why shorten something like that?”
Sangwoo thought people really abbreviated absolutely everything.
Still, being scolded like this just for startling her a little felt unfair.
Whose fault was this supposed to be anyway?
Wasn’t it his sister’s fault for being awake at 3 a.m?
“No, Sister. You’re the one staying up at 3 a.m. playing games. Are you even going to be able to work the next day?”
“It’s not a game. I’m working.”
“Huh? Working?”
Sangwoo blinked.
It was 3 a.m., and she was working?
“No, what kind of company makes you work until 3 a.m.?!”
“It’s not my company. I’m doing some side work.”
“Side work?”
Curious, Sangwoo stepped into his sister’s room and looked at the computer.
He didn’t really know what it was, but some kind of program file was open, and a video was displayed in one corner.
“What’s this?”
“Video editing. I’m doing outsourced work.”
“Video editing? Did a broadcasting station contact you?”
“Not a broadcasting station. YouTube or some other place.”
“What’s YouTube now?”
If something called YouTube had existed twenty years ago, maybe he would have known what it was.
Anyway, what that was didn’t matter.
What mattered was that his sister was doing side work.
“It’s a site where anyone can upload short videos, like a broadcasting station…”
“No, that’s fine. Why are you doing side work?”
“Because I need money?”
That wasn’t what Sangwoo had been asking.
It was only natural that one did side work because they needed money.
What mattered was why his sister needed money badly enough to do side work in the first place.
She already had to work and then take care of her daughter after coming home.
On top of that, until he came back, she had often gone to visit their mother.
She was doing all of that, and on top of it, side work?
There was something he had never asked until now.
What on earth was his sister’s husband doing that his wife had to go as far as taking on side work?
Since his sister and Yewon were getting along just fine, he had vaguely assumed the husband was away on a business trip or something.
Even the tracksuit he was wearing now had been handed to him as something the husband used to wear, which made him think that way.
But now, he couldn’t avoid asking.
“Sister. Wasn’t my brother-in-law on a business trip?”
“Did you hear that from Yewon?”
“What?”
Sangwoo had no idea what she was talking about.
Clutching the sword to his chest, he plopped down.
“No, talk to me. What kind of person is my brother-in-law that you’re having such a hard time?”
His sister was always bickering, but to him, she was family.
Seeing her like this made him angry at the man called his brother-in-law.
Wasn’t working dual incomes enough, that she even had to do side work?
He was curious to the point of wanting to know what on earth was going on.
“Why can’t you say it?”
His sister hesitated.
As if it was hard for her to talk about.
After letting out a sigh, she opened her mouth.
“I got divorced.”
“What?”
“I said I got divorced.”
“No, why? You have a kid.”
Sangwoo was a little shocked.
If there was a child, no matter how big the fight was, people usually endured it once.
That was how he had seen everyone live.
But if she had gotten divorced, didn’t that mean something unbearable had happened?
What on earth had that man, her husband, done?
“Ugh.”
His sister only let out deep sighs.
Then she furrowed her brows and, with difficulty, opened her mouth.
“An affair.”
With that single word, Sangwoo understood everything.
To be honest, he had already guessed as much when she said she was divorced.
After having a child, there weren’t that many reasons that would lead to divorce.
But hearing it directly was a shock.
“Trash.”
“Trash.”
“If I’d been there, I would’ve torn him apart.”
“Thanks. Even just saying that.”
He really could do that.
He wasn’t a Sword Master for nothing.
Of course, he didn’t want to see blood even here.
“Still, it helps that the bastard’s alive. He sends child support.”
“Isn’t that why you’re doing this? Because it’s not enough?”
“If I keep doing this, it’ll be fine.”
His sister shrugged.
To Sangwoo, that sounded like it wasn’t fine at all.
How could it be fine when she was raising a child alone and even doing side work?
It sounded like she was exhausted to death.
That was how it sounded to him.
He didn’t know why his sister was pretending to be strong even in front of him.
Was it because she had to act strong to live strongly as a mother?
Or was it to reassure him?
He didn’t know anything.
“Honestly, you’re struggling, aren’t you?”
“That’s enough. Everyone lives like this.”
Not everyone lived like this.
Some people might live like this.
But he just wanted his sister to live an ordinary life.
Just like how he had always tried to fall within the range of what counted as ordinary in another world.
He knew that ordinary daily life was the hardest thing to have, but he still wished that for her.
All the more so because she was the one who had taken care of their father and mother in his place.
“Yeah. I get it.”
“What do you get?”
“It makes me decide.”
“Decide what?”
“I’m going to get a job.”
“…?”
Sangwoo made up his mind to get a job.
Even now, he would work and earn money somehow.
“You’re forty.”
“Yeah.”
“Who do you think is going to hire you?”
“…”
For a moment, Sangwoo felt cognitive dissonance.
In another world, being a Sword Master was at least decent employment credentials, but here, was being a Sword Master even a qualification?
“Even at forty, I can get a job.”
“It’s hard. And you haven’t even been back in Korea that long, and you’re talking about getting a job. At least adjust for a month. Your pronunciation isn’t good either.”
“No. I can do it. Getting a job isn’t anything special.”
“It is something special, so just adjust first.”
“I lived in Korea for twenty years. What do I need to adjust to?”
“You weren’t in Korea for twenty years.”
To be honest, things had changed so much that he didn’t really know anything.
But even so, he couldn’t just sit still.
“Anyway, just you going to check on Mom is already a huge help to me. And taking care of Yewon when she comes back, too.”
Sangwoo had never even considered that.
That his sister might feel such great help from him looking after their mom and Yewon.
Watching over their mom was simply him doing what he hadn’t been able to do.
As for Yewon, honestly, he spent time with her mostly because he wanted to tease her.
And because she was his sister’s daughter.
“Still, the food expenses must be a lot.”
“I’ll figure something out later. There’s no need to rush right now. I don’t want to see you already looking gloomy just because you can’t get a job.”
“Alright. I’ll look for a part-time job at least.”
“Yeah. Sure. I don’t even know if there’ll be a place willing to hire you.”
“Why?!”
“Because you’re forty.”
Sangwoo bristled.
“Enough with this forty thing. If you just look at my face, I’m twenty.”
“That’s true, but… that’s what worries me even more.”
“Why?”
“Because you’re forty but your face looks twenty. What do you think other people would think?”
“What would they think? That I look ridiculously young.”
“Your face is pretty average, so not ridiculously young.”
“…”
They lightened the mood with that kind of banter.
They both let out small laughs.
His sister brushed her hands off.
“I need to work now. Get out.”
“Alright. Then.”
As he left, Sangwoo made a decision.
He would at least do some simple part-time work and help with the household.
Either way, he needed to work for his own hobbies as well.
“Let’s look for a part-time job tomorrow.”
***
The next day.
Left alone at home, Sangwoo tried to look for a part-time job.
But then he wondered how one even went about finding a part-time job.
He had been dragged into another world right after turning twenty, without ever really enjoying proper college life, so he had never tried to find a part-time job before.
Didn’t people usually find part-time jobs through acquaintances?
“Should I try searching on the internet?”
There were computers even twenty years ago.
If he searched, something would probably come up.
He went to his sister’s room, where the computer was.
He turned on the main unit.
Looking at the computer screen, a game came to mind.
“It reminds me of MapleStory.”
Before he had been summoned, MapleStory had been all the rage.
“These days, way bigger games must be topping the rankings, right?”
It was a game from twenty years ago, after all.
Considering its popularity, it might still be around.
He suddenly felt like playing it again after a long time.
“Maybe it’s gone?”
The world had advanced so much that the game might already have been buried.
“Let’s find a part-time job first.”
Sangwoo sat down and looked at the monitor.
The desktop felt unfamiliar somehow.
Instead of icons, a natural landscape filled the entire screen.
He pressed Enter.
Tap.
“Huh?”
Sangwoo blinked.
[Please enter the password.]
He got stuck right from the computer startup.
“Why does it need a password from the start? What is this?”
Windows 98 didn’t have things like this.
“Windows 10? Why did the numbers get smaller?”
Faced with technology that was so advanced and puzzling, he couldn’t do anything.
So he quietly turned off the computer.
“I’ll ask Yewon when she comes.”
The forty-year-old Sword Master still needed to adapt to the modern world.
Here he was, someone who couldn’t even properly turn on a computer.
