Ranker Who Lives Twice

Chapter 357 Cha Jeong-woo (3)

Team: HH, Yahiko, thursdays (2/10)

That instant, light exploded.

Countless letters scattered and wrapped around the world of Yeon-woo and Jeong-woo.

Hwaak!

* * *

Beep.

Beep beep.

I was extremely dizzy.

I didn’t even drink, but why was I so dizzy?

Drink?

Wait. Did I ever drink before? I did secretly buy a bottle of soju with Hyung on my last birthday, but that was it. Since he said he didn’t like it, I never drank more after that sip.

No.

I’ve drunk all night with Valdebich before.

We learned that Henova was fermenting beer in the alcohol cellar and snuck in secretly at night. It was so good that we ended up emptying five oak barrels.

Although, we ended up getting beat up by Henova’s pipe because we passed out there.

Still, it was worth it. Ah, I’m drooling just thinking about it now. Is there any way I can get it again? It seemed like Henova was secretly fermenting it somewhere else. Should I take a look around?

But wait.

Henova? Who is that?

Thoughts that I couldn’t make sense of filled my head.

Did I have a strange dream?

Unfamiliar names appeared and disappeared in my head. So did multiple memories. There were some holes in them, and they were so completely dismembered that it was hard to tell what they were about, but they felt vivid like they happened yesterday.

I was glad, happy, anxious, depressed, sad, and grim at the end….. like I saw a sad movie.

But the jumbled memories quickly scattered, like how dreams suddenly vanished when you wake up. All the scenes were swept away like sandcastles on the beach.

“…..What is this?”

I rubbed my temples, opening my eyes. I could see a neat desk and books stained with spit. There was a notebook with a pen lying next to it. I guess I fell asleep while I had been studying all night.

What were all those memories?

They felt important, but I couldn’t remember what they were no matter how hard I tried. I frowned, trying to remember them again somehow.

Beep. Beep.

My alarm clock rang noisily, pulling me back to reality. The headache that was pushing against my head disappeared like it was never there.

No.

I didn’t even recognize it was gone.

07:32

“……S***.”

School began at 8.

I was late.

The strange memories were already gone from my head.

* * *

“Whew! I barely made it.”

“Dang, what? You made it?”

“Of course. Hehe, who do you think I am?”

“D***. They’re directly discriminating against us now. It’s a sad world to live in for people who can’t study.”

The high school classroom was bustling today, too, because it was an all-boys school filled with gross, sweaty guys.

Rumble. They must’ve been playing a game of piling up on each other or something somewhere because some chubby dude slipped on the floor.

The desks and chairs around him fell down like dominos.

The kids whose books and snacks fell to the ground cursed as they stepped on the chubby guy.

It was a nest full of beasts and confusion.

S***.

I didn’t know I would come back here. Still, I had been a bit glad to come back here since it had been a while, but it felt like all those feelings vanished at once. What should I do about these heated beast bastards?

……Huh?

It had been a while?

I came here in the classroom yesterday, but what was I thinking? I pressed my temples again and got rid of the strange feelings I had. This was all because of my headache this morning.

“What’s wrong? Does your head hurt?”

My friend asked with a concerned face. He had been joking around just a moment ago. We became close because we were in the same class in freshman year. His name was….. huh? What was his name again?

“Do you wanna go to the nurse…..?”

“I’m fine. Good. And don’t tell Hyung. He’s gonna nag me again.”

I waved my hand.

I was sick frequently since I was young and suffered from colds all the time.

Now, I was better and only got headaches, but I was still careful because of my genetic susceptibility.

Mom was often sick, too. Doctors said the symptoms we had were hard to diagnose with modern medicine. They said it should be reported to the field or something? Thankfully, we were able to use that for my mom’s hospital bills, but it was still a horrendous disease.

“But I think you should tell Yeon-woo…..”

“It’s fine. I know my body best. I can just endure it for a bit and I’ll be good. Also, if I bring the guy who’s probably getting beat up in front of the school gates, I’ll be the bad guy.”

Unlike me, who was weak to no end, Hyung was super healthy. Even though we were identical twins, he didn’t suffer from any of the rare symptoms and was athletic. He also got into fights all the time. Thanks to that, he was marked as a problem child by teachers and was corporally punished by them.

He was so different from me, who was classified as a model student, so he was pretty famous in our school.

Even though I had rushed over, I was 10 minutes late, but teachers let me off the took.

My brother, who had arrived 5 minutes later than me, was mercilessly beaten with a stick in front of the school by the dean of students.

He was probably grinding his teeth while getting furiously beat up right now.

I snuck out of the house this morning even though I knew we were late.

Today, I planned on avoiding him.

He shouldn’t have eaten my mango jellies in the refrigerator without my permission.

I felt refreshed after taking revenge.

Well, it was a bit cowardly, but there was nothing else I could do.

I couldn’t defeat him with strength, so this was my only option.

“Then that’s a relief. Anyways, if you can’t hang in there, tell me right away. Don’t just faint like last time. F***. The back of my head was hit my Yeon-woo so many times that it’s flat now.”

My friend grumbled as he shook his head. Right, he was also a victim of my brother’s temper.

It was pitiful.

I should be nicer to him.

“Our Hyung is a bit like that, hm?”

“You brothers are the same.”

I frowned at what he said.

I was still better than my brother.

No. I couldn’t even be compared to him.

How could he compare me to that schizophrenic?

“The older one beats people up when he’s bored, and the younger one mocks people with his mouth. What’s the difference?”

“Looks? Don’t I have better looks?”

I was someone who received confessions from girls although I went to an all-boys high school, sucker.

“This son of a…..! Argh! Let’s just not.”

My friend sighed. Just then, the bell for first period rang.

Although he always complained, he was a gracious guy who took care of us brothers the best.

A tsundere.

He was like Henova.

…..Henova? Another strange name popped in my head. It seemed like a name I missed. I didn’t remember anything at all. Why? Was it the name of some philosopher?

I thought to myself, looking at my friend who was returning to his seat.

But really, what was his name again?

* * *

[Our poor schizo] Hey, you son of a b****. You’re dead. Really.

[Me] Hmmm?

[Our poor schizo] Would it hurt you to wake me up?

[Me] Huh?

[Our poor schizo] The f***.

[Me] ?

[Our poor schizo] Shut up. Before you get f***ed over.

[Me] ? ?

[Our poor schizo] I told you to stop sending weird stuff.

[Me] (cat emoticon with desperate eyes and paws gathered)

[Our poor schizo] I’ll really teach you what happens if you mess with me.

[Me] Huuuuuh?

[Our poor schizo] AHHHHHH%[email protected]#[email protected]#

“Geez. He really can’t argue for the life of him.”

I grinned, looking at the curse-filled messages. Seeing as how the messages kept on scrolling up, he seemed pretty mad. He was probably super frustrated because the messages were marked as read but there was no response.

“Ahhhham.”

Class was so boring that I yawned.

As seniors, we knew everything that was being taught. Classes were only conducted for grades, and with the college entrance exams coming up, most of us just used class time to study.

Teachers didn’t say anything about students who were solving problems from prep books on their own.

I could get away with using my phone. Of course, if the teacher noticed me on my phone too much, he would take it away, but if I apologized, he would just give it back.

This was why the reputation of a model student was important. I was already learning how to act in society.

I thought about getting a prep book out to study like my other classmates, but strangely, I didn’t feel like it.

I’ve felt like this since the morning.

Like I was missing something.

What was I missing? It seemed important…..

No matter how much I revisited my memories, I couldn’t remember anything.

I was sitting blankly at my desk with my phone all day.

I felt strange, and I studied a lot until now, so I thought a day of slacking off wouldn’t hurt.

Of course, after lunch, I planned on clearing my head and holding my pen again.

Urrng, urrg—

Just then, the phone in my hand suddenly vibrated. I was just about to download a game.

(Ad) You can make a wish if you reach the end of the Obelisk.

Would you like to participate?

YES or No?

“This again.”

It was the spam message that I got everyday.

It was annoying because I blocked it, but it came back with another number. Now, it was almost interesting how I got the same message with the same information and the same time for about a month.

‘Obelisk.’

A monument to worship a god or mark the history of a victory.

However, here, it seemed like it was talking about a “tower.”

A standard game ad.

The problem was that where it said “Yes or No,” there was no ad link.

There wasn’t any button to download the game even if I wanted to. Did they want me to play or not?

I didn’t know what the message wanted me to do.

Urrng, urrrng—

My phone vibrated again. It was another text. After seeing the sender, my face stiffened.

Father

I deleted the message right away without reading it. It was obvious what it would be about. The day Hyung found out I was in contact with this person….. bad things would happen.

There was a big difference between my brother being jokingly mad and really mad.

He was so cold that he felt like another person. And it was clear what would happen after that. I didn’t want to see it.

Was there really nothing to do?

I scanned through social media, and after that, I really didn’t have anything to do.

I still felt strange, but it was better than this morning, so I put my phone down and lifted my pen again.

No matter what I did, I still had to study.

I couldn’t give up my grades or the college entrance exams. Getting into a prestigious college with a four-year scholarship. Then, joining a munitions company instead of doing the regular soldier duties to earn some money for my family and immediately working at a big company after that.

It was the future I dreamed of. Taking care of my sick mother and creating a family was my dream. There was no time for rest.

I was about to go through my prep book when my phone vibrated again.

I thought it was a message again, so I was about to turn it off, but it was a call.

The moment I saw the sender, my heart skipped a beat.

Hospital

* * *

“It happened suddenly while she was getting better…… haaa. Since the urgent issue was taken care of now, let’s watch her and see what happens.”

After the physician left, I looked at my mom blankly.

Beep—

Beep—

She was breathing through an oxygen mask. No one would be able to believe that she had been joking with us yesterday. She didn’t look good at all.

“I’ll be back after some fresh air.”

I didn’t listen to my brother’s response and left the hospital room with wobbly steps.

I felt like all the energy left my body. Why did I feel so dizzy since this morning?

Urrng, urrng—

Just then, my back pocket vibrated. I blankly pulled out my phone.

(Ad) You can make a wish if you reach the end of the Obelisk.

Would you like to participate?

YES or NO?

Even though it was a spam message I saw all the time, it was particularly conspicuous because it came at a different time.

One word stood out the most.

Wish.

It would be nice if it wasn’t just a game ad and was something that appeared in movies or novels.

If I could really make a wish and heal my mother’s mysterious disease, I would want nothing more.

I tapped the screen, trying to calm down.

Just then, the “Yes or No” section turned blue. There was a link connected to him.

I found myself clicking the “yes” button.

Note: Thanks everyone for your patience till now. according to current situation HH will be able to return back to translating in a week so probably by next week we will be back to normal.