As the unidentified being had said, Cheol-su Kim began to feel pain spreading throughout his body. The pain was unbearable, unlike anything he had ever felt. His muscles burned, his heart pounding as if ready to explode. His eyes felt like they might pop out of their sockets, and his muscles twitched in an endless cycle of contraction and relaxation.
It wasn't just physical torment. Mental anguish followed, akin to torture. Hallucinations of cockroaches crawling all over his body appeared in his mind's eye. At first, it was just a few, but soon they multiplied into hundreds, covering him entirely.
'This isn't real… it's just a hallucination. It's only a hallucination!'
He tried to convince himself, but the pain felt all too vivid.
When humans experience extreme pain, they usually lose consciousness, but Cheol-su was denied even that reprieve. He had to endure every ounce of agony fully.
'Wait a second… is that why I'm not passing out? Because if I pass out, I wouldn't feel the pain? That's… brilliant, in a way.'
He writhed and struggled, but the pain pressed down on him mercilessly, leaving no room for escape.
How much time had passed?
In what felt like an eternity of despair, Cheol-su endured and endured until he finally opened his eyes amidst the searing pain.
Suddenly, silence. The pain was gone, and he found himself staring at a familiar sight.
It was his home. The ceiling, the wallpaper, even the familiar scent—everything was just as it had always been.
'But why did I wake up at home?'
There was only one possibility Cheol-su could think of.
Regression, or resurrection.
"Ugh, my head… my whole body aches, and it feels like I heard something, but I can't remember it."
He instinctively reached out to grab his phone from the bedside table.
5:08 AM, July 5, 2024
As he suspected, he had regressed to the day of the accident. The moment he realized what had happened, a date appeared in the upper left corner of his vision.
7 days.
'It must represent the remaining time. But now… how am I supposed to kill someone?'
That's when he remembered the contract the unidentified being had proposed.
'Proposed? More like coerced into an unfair contract.'
But this wasn't the time to dwell on it. Cheol-su quickly called his mother.
Ring-ring.
"Hello?"
His mother answered in a groggy voice, clearly still half-asleep.
"Mom! Is Dad okay?! Is he…alive?!"
"Cheol-su, do you even know what time it is—"
"No, is Dad okay?!"
"What's this nonsense? Your dad's sleeping soundly. Why are you shouting like a madman in the middle of the night?!"
"Oh… no reason. Just checking."
"Everything's fine. Now hang up! I need my sleep!"
Click.
Just to be sure, he tried calling his younger sister as well.
The person you are trying to reach is unavailable. Please leave a message after the beep.
She didn't answer, but that was reassuring in its own way.
'Phew, she's safe too.'
Fortunately, his family was unharmed. Now, only one problem remained.
The contract had been made. To protect his family, he had to kill someone within seven days.
Cheol-su lay back on his bed, clutching his head. The physical pain had disappeared, but the mental burden weighed heavily on him.
"Why is this happening to me? This is all that drunk driver's fault."
Hatred surged through Cheol-su, raw and unrelenting. The intensity of it, so foreign, almost scared him.
"But still, how can someone like me, who's never even punched anyone, kill a person? This is insane."
The more he thought about it, the heavier the burden on his mind grew.
Beep-beep. Beep-beep.
His alarm for work rang.
It was a brief reprieve from his mental anguish.
'Well, nothing's going to change just because I worry about it now. I can't undo the contract, and I can't let my family die. I have to figure it out.'
Cheol-su got out of bed to prepare for work, as he always did.
"Huh? Why does my body feel so light?"
It wasn't just light; he felt astonishingly refreshed, as if every ounce of fatigue accumulated over 28 years had vanished.
"Well, I guess I was reborn, technically."
The memory of the excruciating pain resurfaced, sending chills down his spine.
"Ugh, forget it. Forget it."
As he shook his head and opened the bathroom door, the doorknob snapped off in his hand. He had opened it as usual, yet it broke.
He stared at the broken handle in bewilderment.
"How…?"
Then he remembered what the unidentified being had said.
[You will be given powers beyond human limits to protect yourself.]
Cheol-su gazed at his hand in amazement.
'So, I really do have powers now.'
Outwardly, nothing seemed different. His reflection in the mirror showed no changes in his physique.
'The power the being mentioned must refer to enhanced physical abilities. Well, I guess that's not so bad.'
As that thought crossed his mind, he suddenly became aware of sounds from his surroundings—the water running upstairs, the sound of someone yawning downstairs. Every noise was crystal clear. Sounds he'd never noticed before assaulted his ears.
He covered his ears, but it was no use. The noise remained piercingly loud.
Shaking his head to block it out, he noticed something even stranger: he could see the bacteria on the bathroom floor with startling clarity.
"Ugh."
From sight to hearing, touch, and strength, every sense and ability had been heightened to an extraordinary degree.
'So this is what it means to have powers beyond human limits.'
But didn't people say too much of anything was bad? Living an ordinary life with these powers seemed impossible.
'How am I supposed to control this?'
As soon as he thought it, he realized instinctively that he could control his abilities at will.
"Oh, that's convenient."
How it worked, he couldn't explain, but it just felt natural.
'I'm going to be late. Better head to work.'
Cheol-su prepared to leave for his job at the Cheongsol Town Office, just as he had before the accident. Why? Because today was still July 5th, the day he had died.
Though only a day had passed since his death, it felt like a year's worth of memories weighed on him.
'Living the same day again is exhausting.'
***
Cheol-su went about his day as usual, working and leaving the office at the same time. At the bus stop, he glanced down at his untied shoelaces. 'Of course.' He barely had time to process the thought before the same car came hurtling toward him, swerving erratically.
This time, everything seemed to move in slow motion, like a scene from a movie. He could see things he hadn't noticed during the accident.
A luxury imported car. A middle-aged man with glazed eyes in the driver's seat, and a young woman in the passenger seat.
When his eyes met the driver's, the resentment from that moment came rushing back.
Cheol-su felt defiance rising. At first, he planned to avoid the car. But instead, he stood his ground. The headlights flared, bearing down on him.
As expected, Cheol-su emerged unscathed. Instead, the car's front end crumpled on impact.
'If I have to kill someone, this driver would be the most fitting target.'
Since this man had killed him once before, Cheol-su felt no guilt at the thought of taking his life. The idea of using this man as a sacrificial lamb to justify his actions began to solidify in his mind.
As he debated, the man staggered toward him, the stench of alcohol overpowering Cheol-su's enhanced senses.
"You bastard! Look what you did to my car!" the man shouted.
Now that he got a closer look, the man was much larger than the average person. Before gaining his powers, Cheol-su would have found this situation intimidating.
'Did I hear that right? He still doesn't understand what he did wrong?'
"Hey! What are you staring at? Apologize right now!"
His words slurred, but his tone was demanding.
'Well, if he dies in this alcohol-soaked state, at least he won't feel any pain.'
"You're ignoring me, huh?"
Without warning, the man swung his fist at Cheol-su's face. But Cheol-su's body reacted instinctively.
Wham. Crunch.
To his shock, the driver's head shattered like a watermelon the moment Cheol-su's fist connected. Strangely, not a single drop of blood landed on him.
"What the…"
Cheol-su stared at his hand in disbelief. He hadn't meant to do it. He had never been in a fight or thrown a punch before, so he couldn't comprehend why his body had reacted so quickly and decisively.
'Is this another aspect of my powers? Some kind of defensive mechanism?'
Confused thoughts swirled in his mind.
[The deceased's soul has been absorbed.]
[The deceased's soul has been purified.]
[Memories of the deceased's life are being stored.]
'Wait, what? Absorbed? Purified? Memories?'
Cheol-su realized with a mix of dread and amazement that the driver's memories were now stored in his own mind.
'Seeing someone else's life? That's… unsettling.'
Despite his discomfort, it was now an undeniable reality. His mind filled with a flood of memories from the driver's life, as vivid as watching a movie.
Thud.
Startled by the noise, Cheol-su turned to see the young woman in the passenger seat collapse to the ground.
'Did she faint? She's not dead, right?'
He approached her cautiously and checked to see if she was breathing.
'Phew, she's alive.'
Cheol-su let out a deep sigh of relief and scanned his surroundings.
The bus stop was a gruesome scene. Blood pooled around the driver's lifeless body, staining the ground with dark, vivid streaks.
"That's it. I don't have to kill anyone else now."
There was no need to overthink it. Dwelling on the situation wouldn't help; it would only make his head hurt.
'I've avenged myself. Now I need to get out of here before the police show up.'
Before he realized it, his body moved. He sprinted. Faster than humanly possible, he reached the next stop.
'This must be another power. Nothing about my situation is normal.'
Thanks to his incredible speed, he managed to catch the bus. However, the sheer exhilaration he felt while running made the idea of taking the bus seem almost unnecessary. Still, he wasn't ready to completely abandon his humanity just yet.
Plus, his clothes were spotless, with no trace of blood, so no one on the bus would suspect him of anything.
He boarded the bus and sat down, feeling his adrenaline gradually subside. Instead of guilt for killing someone, he felt a strange sense of satisfaction. If the drunk driver had lived, someone else might have fallen victim to his recklessness.
'Whatever. I just want to go home and take a shower.'
When Cheol-su arrived home, he noticed a piece of paper on the dining table.
This contract is made between "Party A" (hereinafter "Faust") and "Party B" (hereinafter "Cheol-su Kim").
Contract Terms
1) Ownership
- Faust may claim ownership of Cheol-su Kim's body and soul at any time.
- Cheol-su Kim will regress to the date of his death.
- Until the body and soul are reclaimed, the contractor will be granted random abilities.
Contract Conditions
1) Survival
- Cheol-su Kim must survive until Faust claims his body and soul.
2) Obligation to Kill
- Cheol-su Kim must kill one person every seven days.
- Each kill resets the seven-day timer.
3) Confidentiality
- The terms of the contract are known only to Cheol-su Kim. Breach of confidentiality will result in a violation of the contract.
4) Breach of Contract
- Failure to kill within seven days results in the immediate death of Cheol-su and his family.
Contract Termination
1) Termination Conditions
- The contract may be terminated upon breach or when Faust claims Cheol-su Kim's body and soul.
This is a special contract and does not require a signature.
July 5, 2024, 7:32 PM.
"So that being's name is Faust. But wait… the obligation to kill says 'every seven days'? Really?"
It didn't take long for his suspicion to turn into certainty. The number '7 days' reappeared in his vision.