I sprang out of bed.

Then I immediately looked around, and saw a familiar scene.

“Man, this is my room?”

In my main house in Cheongdam-dong, Seoul.

So I got out of bed and went straight to the mirror.

And in the mirror was the past me, not the present me.

I looked like a high school student. And I knew I had gone back to that time.

The calendar hanging next to the wall showed it was July 21, 2021, when I was a freshman in high school.

It was also the time when summer vacation just started, and the time I was looking for a game through the virtual reality connector, feeling frustrated that I couldn’t improve my grades no matter how much I studied.

So I quietly opened my mouth.

“Ice!”

Pasasasak!

Ice swelled up above my right hand.

At that moment somebody yelled.

“Juyoung Hong, meal time!”

It was a voice I could never forget. It was the voice of my sister.

Hearing her voice, I left my room cautiously.

Then I could see my father and mother, and my brother and sister sitting at the table, and they all looked much younger than the last time I saw them.

“Come and have a seat,” said my father, who told me to survive until the very end.

“What are you doing over there with your eyes wide open like a frightened cat?” said my sister, who was always kind to me, even though the way she spoke to me was rather tough.

Slap!

“Ouch! Why are you slapping me, Mom?”

“Don’t you know Juyoung doesn’t want to hear that kind of thing?”

My mom always worried about me.

Lastly, my elder brother said, “Come on, brother!”

He was my strong ally until the end.

Everyone in my family was here.

Looking at them, I said quietly, “Well, I’m very hungry today.”

That evening I lay on the bed, wearing a 3rd generation VR device on my head.

“Search Revival Legend.”

Search target does not exist.

“Oops! Search Forgotten Legend.”

At that time,’Revival Legend’ had yet to exist, and it was available as a closed beta called Forgotten Legend.

And a message rang at my words.

Search target does not exist.

The next day, Juyoung Hong left the house in a hurry because he needed to meet somebody.

While he was moving across the garden, something gently appeared in the space where he stepped on and lifted his feet. Of course, he did not notice it because it appeared very briefly before vanishing again.

***

Some, or almost everyone, called the Autoborn Stage and the Continent of Judges hell.

But it wasn’t like that to Jiwon Lee because the Autoborn Stage faced again was inevitably a place of new opportunity for him who had already gone through it before returning to the Earth. And he thrived upon his memories before returning.

Of course, even he went through hardships and adversity in the process. Even if he had the memories and experiences before returning, he was a total outsider.

In the end, he could overcome all those hardships and adversity to climb to the highest position, so he could consider those experiences as just past memories.

Let’s go to the stage of Mamont. Jiwon Lee, you and I can climb to a position higher than anybody else! You have unlimited potential!

He clearly mentioned the Judge who appeared after winning the Continent of Judgement right after reaching the Autoborn Stage. To be honest, I was curious about him.

I wondered what was at the end of this game, and I also wanted to know how strong I could be.

But Jiwon Lee shook his head. He did not make the choice to move on to Mamont.

When he made that choice, the Judge spoke to him again.

Water must flow. Stagnant water is bound to rot. Do you still want to go back to the start? The place you return to can no longer enter the Autoborn stage.

“But that doesn’t change my choice.”

Alright. I hope that your choice is the right one, you returner, Jiwon Lee!

So Jiwon Lee returned to Earth at the point just before it entered the Autoborn Stage.

After that, he got pretty busy. He never forgot to offer help to those who were with him on the Autoborn Stage and the Continent of Judgement stage because he was still strong enough to be called a god, and he had the title ‘Owner of Earth’

Anyway, he spent happy days on Earth.

He fulfilled his duty as a son for his mother, who was alive, but who didn’t know he was a returnee. And he could date Haein Song who really liked him, but which he pretended not to know at the start. And obviously he was happy for 10, 20, or 30 years.

But after exactly 100 years passed, something happened.

“Son, I’m sorry. This mom is so sorry to leave you alone like this.”

Jiwon gave youth to those around him in the name of his power. But there was a limit to that ‘youth.’ In particular, it was not very effective for those who were older. So not only his grandfather, but also Chairman Daechang Song, the grandfather of Haein Song, who was first his lover, then became his wife, had died a long time ago. And this time, even his mother passed away.

Jiwon had no choice but to watch his mother close her eyes so slowly.

Even though he possessed so much power that he could be called a god, he could not control his life and death.

But he could endure it because there was still someone who stood by his side, namely, his wife Haein Song.

After that, time passed like an arrow.

500 years later.

“Honey, I’m sorry. I’m really sorry.”

“What are you sorry for?”

“I’m so sorry to leave you alone like this…”

“Don’t be sorry. I want to thank you for standing by me.”

Jiwon had no choice but to say goodbye to his wife Haein Song, his last lover.

Then he felt what it was to be very lonely.

Of course, he still had something like kinship.

Even though he was childless, he was close to a girl called Samanko, who he treated as his daughter. But it has been 200 years since she disappeared.

Since he knew why, he didn’t bother about it.

He still was a greedy man, but there was nothing on Earth he could desire. Even the Earth itself belonged to him.

Anyway, after Haein’s death, he secluded himself, or more precisely, he fell asleep.

For he had no children, and there were very few he had left to care about.

And it was exactly 3000 years later when he woke up again.

“…”

After he woke up and confirmed that 3000 years passed on Earth, he could not help but feel emptiness, for aside from everything else, Earth had not changed since he fell asleep. But humans didn’t feel anything strange about it.

Only then did he understand the meaning of what the so-called Judge said.

Water must flow. Stagnant water is bound to rot.

Of course, he did not regret the choice he had made at that time..