2. Earthquake

“Ah, Mr. Seo Kangrim. You’re here?”

Coming to my senses, I found myself standing in a bright place.

Looking around, it appeared to be a café.

The Demon Realm, drenched in corpses and blood, was nowhere to be found—only the neatly organized interior of a café met my eyes.

Did I succeed in regressing?

I stood there blankly, unable to determine exactly when I had returned to, when someone approached me.

“Thank you for coming on such short notice. The person scheduled for today suddenly bailed on us…”

“Bailed?”

“Yes. Didn’t I mention it on the phone earlier? The fortune reader scheduled for today suddenly couldn’t make it, so…”

Hearing those words, I realized exactly when this was.

Five years ago. The days when I was failing at job hunting one after another.

I had been working part-time at a fortune-telling café.

The day someone suddenly dropped out and I had to fill in on short notice.

A day I could never forget even if I tried.

I gave a slight bow to the café manager, who was looking at me with puzzlement.

“Yes. I heard you. I’ll get to work, then.”

If this was the day I remembered, I needed to be here.

After the manager smiled and left, I glanced toward the café kitchen.

There was no one there at the moment.

I picked up a kitchen knife and tucked it into my coat, then entered the consultation room set up in one corner of the café.

After waiting briefly, a couple soon walked in.

While I read fortunes half-heartedly, three or four teams came and went.

And without a moment’s rest, the next team entered.

“Hello, we’re here for a fortune reading.”

A man walked in with a cocky grin.

A rather sleazy-looking face.

A familiar face.

But not the person I was looking for.

The man called toward someone behind him.

“Sooa, come on in!”

Shin Sooa stood there.

Without her eye patch, her face more youthful than in my memory.

This day was also when I first met Shin Sooa.

As the man sat down with a leering grin, Sooa sat at a distance, clearly reluctant.

“We had a blind date today. So we came to check our compatibility.”

A faint displeasure showed on Sooa’s face.

Had she mentioned that a friend had pressured her into going on a blind date, only to get tangled up with a strange man?

I handed a form to both of them for now.

“Please write down your names, dates of birth, and times of birth.”

They filled out the form and handed it back.

The man glanced at Sooa’s form and said:

“Sooa, shall we go on a date for your birthday? I know a fancy restaurant…”

“I’m sorry, but I have work.”

When Sooa rejected him flat out, the man was momentarily speechless.

He coughed awkwardly and turned to look at me.

“Excuse me, before checking our compatibility, could you read my fortune first? I’ve heard my fortune is excellent, but I’ve never had it properly read. They say I have great fortune with money and a good personality.”

The man said this, giving a subtle signal with his eyes.

Then and now, his obnoxiousness was one and the same.

I looked into the Man-se-ryeok and told the man his fortune.

“You have fortune in wealth. Your Eight Characters indicate you benefit greatly from your parents.”

I saw the corners of his mouth twitch upward.

I continued the reading.

“However, you should be careful.”

“Why?”

“Your fortune shows a pattern of overturning your own feast table. If you’re not careful, you’re liable to bring ruin upon yourself.”

The man’s face flushed red in an instant.

Sooa looked at me with a slightly surprised expression.

I smoothly changed the subject.

“Shall I check your compatibility, then?”

“…Sure.”

The man said this with a thoroughly unsettled expression.

Meanwhile, Sooa was now beginning to show a flicker of interest as she looked my way.

I began the explanation slowly.

“A person’s Five Elements attribute is determined by their fortune. They are divided into Metal, Water, Wood, Fire, and Earth, and these attributes have their own compatibilities with each other.”

The man was staring at me as if to say, ‘Stop the nonsense and check our compatibility already.’

I slid the paper with my notes forward.

“The gentleman’s fortune has a strong Metal type, while the lady has a strong Wood attribute. In fortune, this is called Metal Overcomes Wood…”

The man’s eyes were brimming with expectation.

I met his gaze and continued.

“It’s a clashing compatibility, like an axe felling a tree.”

In other words, stay far away from this kind of bastard.

The man’s face hardened in an instant.

Sooa blinked in mild surprise, then smiled.

“I see. If our compatibility is poor, there’s nothing to be done.”

At Sooa’s words, the man glared at me as if he wanted to kill me.

He jumped to his feet as if ready to grab me by the collar.

“Are you messing with me? What the hell are you doing? Where’s the manager?”

“At the counter.”

When I answered calmly, the man’s face turned an even deeper shade of red and blue.

“Sooa, let’s get out of here! This guy’s a total quack…!”

“This person seems to read fortunes quite well. I’d like to stay and get my fortune told.”

Sooa said this with a composed expression.

Her response left the man dumbfounded before he flared up again.

“Y-you’re going to regret this. Where do you think someone like you is going to find a man like me?”

“I have no intention of meeting anyone, so goodbye.”

In the end, the man stormed out in a rage.

Sooa looked at me quietly.

“You seem to read fortunes quite well. Could you tell me my fortune for this year?”

“Yes, of cour—”

Ping—

At that moment, ringing in my ears and dizziness struck.

My vision swayed, and Sooa’s body was swaying too.

This wasn’t from dizziness.

Kugugung—!

The building was actually shaking violently.

“Kyaa! What—what’s happening?”

“E-earthquake!”

Screams erupted throughout the shop, mingling with the cacophony of shattering dishware and bottles.

Then Sooa shouted urgently.

“Get under the table, quickly!”

It was the same back then, too.

Sooa was the one who had evacuated me when I stood frozen in panic.

As I squeezed under the table, the building shook once more.

It felt as though a giant had stuffed me into a barrel and was shaking it wildly.

Then darkness descended.

Tremors and darkness, a pain that felt like my skull was splitting open.

Through it all, a voice like tinnitus reached my ears.

[Calculating your abilities based on your Four Pillars of Destiny.]

Today was that unforgettable day.

It was the Day of Awakening.

As time passed, the surroundings grew quiet.

There were no further auditory hallucinations.

The earthquake seemed to have ended as well.

I crawled out of the consultation room and surveyed the area.

The earthquake had ended, but the power seemed to be out, leaving everything in dimness.

Through the gloom, the emergency exit sign flickered with an eerie green glow.

Soon, the confused chatter of people reached my ears.

“What the hell was that?”

“Since when do earthquakes this big hit Seoul?”

“I heard a strange announcement earlier, too.”

“Announcement?”

“Yeah. Something about Four Pillars of Destiny… abilities? That kind of broadcast.”

At that moment, letters flickered in the darkness.

[Confirming your abilities!]

Something like a monitor screen floated before my eyes.

Soon the text vanished, and new content appeared.

═══════════════

[Name] Seo Kangrim

[Rank] Third Insect Grade

[Five Elements] Fire

═══════════════

My rank was no different from my previous life or now.

Unfortunately, the Special Abilities I had acquired through Fortune Stealing had all vanished as well.

‘Regression’ did not exist either.

Instead, there was something I hadn’t seen before.

[You currently have accumulated Karma.]

…Karma, huh.

It had also been written in the description of ‘Fortune Stealing.’

Using this ability accumulates Karma.

I knew accumulating Karma was bad, but there was no helping it.

“Excuse me, get up. We need to evacuate quickly.”

Sooa’s voice snapped me back to my senses.

Through the darkness, I could faintly make out Sooa’s face.

An exceedingly calm face.

She probably couldn’t even see her own Fortune Window yet, but regardless, she remained cool and composed.

“What if another earthquake comes? Let’s get out of here fast.”

“Where are the elevators?”

“We’re on the seventh floor. Let’s just hurry down.”

People were scrambling to leave.

Everyone must have heard the awakening message, yet no one was talking about abilities.

It was only natural.

They wouldn’t be able to see their Fortune Windows.

[Only those with the ability to read fate can confirm their own Fortune Window.]

Without a Special Ability like ‘Fate Detection’ like mine, one couldn’t confirm their own Fortune Window.

In times of such confusion, it might actually be better not to see the Fortune Window.

Amidst the chaos, Sooa tried to join the evacuation line, and I hastily pulled her back.

She looked at me with puzzlement.

“What’s wrong?”

“Wait a moment before going down. There are too many people evacuating right now, so it’s more chaotic.”

The lights were out, leaving the stairwell dim.

It wasn’t completely invisible thanks to the emergency exit signs, though.

Meanwhile, some people were shoving others aside as they headed down.

“Get out of the way! Why are you blocking the path?”

“It’s dark, I can’t see ahead!”

The footing was dark and hard to see.

Besides, the further down, the more crowded it would be with people from other floors.

Moreover, the earthquake wasn’t what mattered right now.

It would begin soon.

I pulled the kitchen knife from my coat.

Sooa stared at me with wide eyes.

Just as she was about to say something, a piercing scream echoed from below.

“Uaaak!”

The sound was coming from below.

And moments later, people who had been evacuating came scrambling back up in a panic.

“R-run! It’s a monster!”

“What? A monster…?”

At those words, people stared in bewilderment—then looked through the doorway and recoiled in horror.

A massive bug was crawling into the shop.

A larva about the size of a medium-sized dog.

The moment they spotted people, they bared their fangs and lunged.

“Get off, get off!”

“Aaaak, save me!”

The larva opened its jaws and bit clean through a man’s hand.

Dark red blood gushed in the darkness, spilling over the stairs.

Just as another bug lunged at Sooa, I drove the kitchen knife straight into its body.

-Kkieeeek!

A pained screech rang out, but I had no time to pay it any mind.

I began slaughtering the remaining bugs one by one.

I split them in half like tearing apart a Geojam, then wiped the slime from my cheek.

I turned to look at the people.

The way they looked at me was rather jarring.

They looked at me—a mere Insect Grade—as if I were something to be feared.

I addressed them.

“If you don’t want to die, prepare to fight.”