Jeong Sa-ook blinked.
'How am I... alive...?'
Sa-ook looks around.
'Where am I?'
The first thing Sa-ook noticed was the cold concrete pressing against his folded legs. Then it was the darkness of the alleyway he seemed to be shrouded in. There was a faint smell of sewage and waste that wafted the air, though it wasn't nearly strong enough to make Sa-ook gag (though it was certainly gross).
It was glaringly clear he was no longer on the 999th floor, maybe not even in the tower at all. Sa-ook looked down at his hands, they were noticeably unscarred and his wrists were completely healed, as if there never was an injury to begin with.
Sa-ook runs his fingers across his wrist, completely bewildered. Unless someone with insurmountable healing powers exists, there's no way the scars on Sa-ook's wrists would heal so... cleanly. Even then, why is he alive after Golden-Tailed Dragon's betrayal?
Suddenly, Sa-ook felt a sharp pain in his chest. He keeled over, gasping breathlessly. Instinctively, he clawed at his chest. The pain could only be described as if Sa-ook's body was breaking itself down to dust and building itself back up incorrectly. It felt like someone was burning him from the inside out.
Heaving loudly, he retched. Black-ish blood purging itself from his throat. Sa-ook wiped his mouth, breathing in sharply. His body was coated in sweat and his heart raced loudly, pounding in his ears.
'What on earth was that?!'
He coughed violently, bits of the black-blood splattering onto the cold, concrete floor. Disoriented, Sa-ook clutched the bricked wall of the alley-way, breathing heavily. Slowly, he propped himself up on the wall, leaning his back against it.
Sa-ook closed his eyes, slowing his breathing. He felt the burning again, but this time it wasn't painful. Instead it felt unbearably hot; like a flame that was trying to escape from his lungs. It wasn't a pleasant feeling, but the sensation was all too familiar.
'Wait a second... is this...? Is this what I think it is...?'
Sa-ook smiled. "To think it worked." He muttered to himself. It seemed, Sa-ook had returned to the past. The more he thought about it, the more it made sense.
While climbing the tower, Sa-ook had engraved a Rune into himself. It was a hasty Rune, made of pure paranoia, simply meant to comfort Sa-ook's nerves. The Rune was engraved onto his heart recklessly with magic, a forbidden Rune engrained with a forbidden technique he told no one about, "Rune of Immortality."
Sa-ook had no idea it would work in this fashion, but who's to say the outcome of incomplete Runes?
Sa-ook swiftly patted his trousers, searching for his phone. He quickly pulls it out, opening it. Sa-ook's eyes widened. 18 years... he had gone back in time to 18 years ago, before Sa-ook had become a Runeswielder, when he was still 17. Sa-ook smiled, clenching his teeth.
"Well, I should begin to plot my revenge now, shouldn't I?" He says to himself mockingly, steadily making himself stand upright.
...
After delving into his memory for a bit, Sa-ook had begun to understand the situation 17 year old him had been in.
The reason he was on the floor of an alleyway, despite being a newly registered Player was quite simple, really. It seemed the 'him of the past' had gotten into some trouble with a guild 'Red Goose' after adamantly rejecting their scouting offer.
'It seems they hadn't fully recognized my worth… and of course I hadn't let that slide'
Red Goose didn't let that slide either, seeming to have chased Jeong Sa-ook into an alleyway. Bothersome, but a manageable issue. Jeong Sa-ook decided the best course of action would be to just publicly humiliate Red Goose again, mostly for the excuse to face them head-on, something the old him never would've thought of doing.
Although, Sa-ook heavily felt the absence of the runes on his body. It made him a bit anxious, but thankfully he wasn't in the tower. However he felt considerably weaker and heavier, with slower movements and a scrawny figure. Thankfully Sa-ook remembered his way home though, itching to engrave some runes onto himself, even if they were just temporary. He faintly wondered if there would be any suitable kitchen knives to use.
As he opened the door to his home, Sa-ook's body froze. In front of him, stood his mother, alive and well. Sa-ook smiled, trying to hide anger. 'Of course, this is in the past. Mom hasn't left yet' He faintly reminds himself.
When Sa-ook had reached 18 years old, his mom disappeared without a trace, leaving a single note wishing farewell to Sa-ook. She was a single mother, and was the only family Sa-ook had. Sa-ook thought his mother loved him, but the note revealed that was not the case. Instead Sa-ook's mother viewed him as a commodity, simply a duty to fulfill. After that, Sa-ook had entered the tower for the first time, as you'd expect it didn't go well.
Sa-ook sighed, refusing to meet his mother's concerned eyes and headed to his bedroom.