When I was little, my father would sometimes say something while eating dinner.
"What is your dream, Hoyoung?"
I answered.
"I'm a soccer player. I want to become an excellent player like Park Ji-seok."
Then my father said this.
"You need talent to become a soccer player, and in my opinion, Hoyoung has extraordinary talent."
right.
At one time I thought my father's words were right.
I have a special talent.
The townspeople all gathered together and said the same thing.
Hoyoung is a soccer prodigy. He needs to be raised professionally.
The year is 2002.
When interest in soccer was skyrocketing in the wake of the 2002 World Cup semifinals, I played soccer with the expectations of adults on my shoulders.
But I realized it later.
The fact that I was a soccer prodigy was a foolish illusion······.
3rd grade.
When I joined the soccer club, I felt like I was facing a huge wall.
Kids who are better than me.
I was no match for the kids who had trained professionally in soccer.
Moreover, because I am small, I often fall over before I can even catch the ball.
Then one day, the soccer coach said to me.
"Hoyoung, go over there to the left and get some training."
The group I was excluded from was a group of children who were below standard.
I was scared.
It felt like there was a huge, insurmountable wall blocking my path.
So my passion died down and I quit the soccer club as if I was running away.
give up.
When I got home, I cried and cried.
My father spoke to me, trying to comfort me.
"Hoyoung-ah. The time when flowers bloom is different for everyone. Just because the buds sprout early, it doesn't mean the flowers will bloom early."
At that time, I didn't understand what my father said.
I shook it off as I ate the seasoned chicken my mother had ordered, relieved that I was free from my fear.
But now that I think about it, I feel a lot of things.
What if I hadn't given up then?
Did I really have talent
If I had put in the hard work, would the flowers have bloomed and the fruit have come by now?
"Hey, shit."
"Hey, Hobbang. Why are you grumbling all of a sudden? Are you drunk already?"
A traditional tavern with a cozy atmosphere.
Hoyoung, who was lost in thought for a moment, clinked the dented bowl with his elementary school classmate Yongsu Lee.
"It's nothing. Anyway, congratulations on getting a job."
"You congratulated me earlier. Why are you congratulating me again?""If not now, then when else would I congratulate you? I should do it a lot when good things happen."
This event was held to congratulate Lee Yong-soo.
A friend of mine who plays soccer was recently recruited to a professional team.
"Use it."
The alcohol was bitter.
In 2016, I was 24 years old and working part-time at a convenience store. But my best friend was doing well, so I felt depressed for some reason.
'I want to be a soccer player too.'
You fucking idiot, you shouldn't have given up then.
"Oh my. If I had continued playing soccer, I would have been playing with Ronaldo and Messi by now."
"Stop talking nonsense. I already won the Ballon d'Or, dude. And what's the point of regretting it? It's too late."
Hoyoung has lived with regrets ever since elementary school.I didn't end up playing soccer as a hobby, and I didn't run away from it!
It was a lifelong regret.
Of course, there were plenty of opportunities to challenge myself after that.
But I always thought it was too late and just kept repeating the same regrets.
'I want to go back. I want to go back to the past. I want to start over······ ·. You idiot!'
While Hoyoung was internally torturing himself, Yongsu Lee, who had been fiddling with his cell phone, opened his mouth.
"Hey, do you want to go play futsal? I heard Sangho is looking for two seats. 4-on-4 futsal."
"now?"
I looked out the window and saw rain falling steadily.
But it didn't matter.
Because Hoyoung was crazy about soccer.
"call."
"Hey~ Long time no see!"
Hoyoung arrived at a nearby outdoor futsal court and greeted his classmates.
We were friends who had been watching TV together since elementary school, but among them, there was one guy who particularly stood out.
'That bastard Yoon Jeong-ho doesn't even say hello.'
Yoon Jeong-ho.
He was a former player and was so talented that he received the Cha Bum-kun Football Award.
There was even talk that he would follow in the footsteps of Park Joo-hyung, but he ended up giving up his career as a player due to injury.
He and Hoyoung had a few conflicts when they were young and their relationship wasn't that good, but it seemed like he still kept it to himself.
Hoyoung also just ignored it."Hey, hey. It's raining more. Why did you come here instead of going inside?"
"It's full. Let's play a quick game before it rains more.
The game was decided quickly.
The rule is 4 vs. 4, 5 point bet.
"Hey, bun! You go out!"
"okay."
As always, Hoyoung was the scorer today.
This is because he was a well-known goal scorer in the soccer club that followed his father around.
Although I have never trained professionally, I am above average both physically and technically.
It was at a level where I could say that it was cool to go somewhere and see.
But it's nothing compared to election.
"evil!"
The moment Hoyoung created an unmarked chance, Yoon Jeong-ho appeared like lightning as if he had been waiting and intercepted the ball.
Then he raised one corner of his mouth and mocked Hoyoung.
'That kid.'
The same situation continued to recur after that.
He deliberately gave himself some space and used his speed to intercept Hoyoung's ball.
It was an obvious method, but I knew it and still had no choice but to fall for it.
Because the election is definitely different.
But Hoyoung actually hoped for this situation.
Quality football.'Yoon Jeong-ho. I will definitely get through it today.'
I was blocked from attacking time and time again, but the more I did that, the more I became arrogant.
Seeing Hoyoung like that, Yoon Jeong-ho openly provoked him.
"As for the level."
Sigh.
And at that moment.
Boohoo!
Yoon Jeong-ho hit the ball aimed at Ho-young.
The ball, which had spin, hit Hoyoung's knee and bounced out of the futsal field.
Hoyoung couldn't hold it in any longer and rushed towards her.
"Stop whining, you little punk."
Hoyoung is only 170cm tall, but he is the type of person who doesn't get intimidated no matter where he goes, so he didn't stand out.
As soon as a fight was about to break out, those around them tried to stop them.
"Haa... I'll hold it in. Go get the ball. You hit me with your foot and left."
"What the hell."
Leaving those words, Hoyoung went outside to get the ball.
Chae-joo saw a soccer ball lying between the raindrops.
And then there was the moment when I was about to reach out for the soccer ball without thinking much about it.
"···?!"
Suddenly, a dazzling light poured down.
"Eugyagyagyagyaek!!"
Kwarrung!
The sound of thunder echoed throughout downtown Seoul.
That was Hoyoung, who was suddenly struck by lightning and died.
"AAAAAAAAAHHH!"
Struck by lightning and dying.
At first glance, I heard that about 200 people die each year from being struck by lightning in the United States, so it was natural to scream and cry when someone died from such an absurd probability.
Because it was unfair.What did I do to deserve to die already?
Even though there is no upper or lower level in the afterlife, I wondered if it was okay for a person to die so meaninglessly.
"Give it back! Give it back!!"
After crying for a while, a question arose in my mind.
"Then where is this place?"
The futsal field where I had just stood was nowhere to be found.
Instead, all that remained was a dark space where nothing could be seen.
And in between, a hazy shape began to appear.
"Heh heh."
An unpleasant voice that lands in my ear.
"Surely it's not the devil or something···?"
"You know a lot."
"······ That's what it looked like."
"Yes. I am the Demon of Greed. People call me Mammon."
So, Mamon came out of nowhere and whispered.
"Will you make a deal with me?"
"······."
Hoyoung needed some time to calm down.
Because you can't just make a deal with the devil.
And most of all, I couldn't believe what was happening right now.
It was after quite some time that Hoyoung opened his lips.
"First, let me hear what the deal is."
"Okay. You can trade two things with me. First, time. Second, power."
Time and power.
After that, Mamon explained the two things in an easy-to-understand way.
First, time.
"I can turn back time by at least 10 years and up to 23 years. Into the past."
"oh···."
"But I guess I'll have to pay the price, right? There's no such thing as a free lunch in this world."
"What do I have to pay?"
"For every year of regression, one year will be reduced from your lifespan. If you go back 23 years, it means that you will die 23 years earlier in your next life. However, no one knows when you will die."
"Hehehe... That's a fantastic balance."
Hoyoung nodded readily.
'As long as you don't have hair loss or baldness, it's fine. Besides, we live to be 100 years old, right? It's not like I can just live a short but fulfilling life until I'm about 80...'
Of course, there's no guarantee that I'll live to be 100, but I've decided to be positive.
"Then second. What is your ability?"
"I will give you my power."
It was truly a tempting offer, the devil's power.
"What kind of ability is it?"
"It's greed."
"avarice?"
"It is the ability to obtain what you desire."
"······ hmm."
I didn't understand it just by hearing it. I felt like I had to try it myself to understand.
'Anyway, I can get that 'something' I want, right?'
A strange light appeared in Hoyoung's eyes.
'This isn't a deal, it's a charity donation?!'
Mamon opened his mouth.
"Okay, then tell me. Which time do you want to go back to?"
"Haha… It's ridiculous, but if that's true, then I…."