Chapter 2: Second Life

Instinctively, I realized this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that would never come again.

‘Am I really going to become the luckiest person in history?’

A light thrill surged through me.

“Is this luck something like winning the Lottery First Prize whenever I cheat, getting a Perfect Test Score whenever I try, or getting hit by a Windfall from the Sky while just walking down the street?”

[Hahaha, sometimes in life, you might stumble upon such a Treasure from Heaven. But you can’t live expecting those things every time. Life in the Incarnation World isn’t like that.]

So I asked again.

[When you were punished by Heavenly Punishment, everything you did was constantly sabotaged, right? But this time will be the opposite.]

Oh!

[Good Fated Bonds will gather, and from there, big and small opportunities will arise. If fortune also follows at the right time, life will be quite enjoyable. That is what is called Great Fortune.]

Yama smiled warmly.

[So please, be careful about the bonds you form. Fortune in the Incarnation World originally comes from these bonds.]

“I will keep that in mind.”

I bowed deeply.

Those words carved themselves into my bones.

I truly had the worst luck with blessings.

[How do you want to live in your Next Life?]

I want to experience what I couldn’t in my past life.

A life in the sunlight where I can proudly live with my own name in front of others.

A healthy body that doesn’t draw open scorn and disgust because of visible scars.

A warm family life, loved by parents from childhood, living happily with a wife and children as I grow up.

It would be even better if I were born with a silver spoon in my mouth.

[What blessings do you desire?]

Yama spoke confidently.

[Wealth, fame, outstanding talent, handsome looks, beautiful women, noble children, health, and longevity. Pick whatever you want.]

“Thank you.”

I expressed my gratitude with my whole body.

I decided not to mention the unjust Heavenly Punishment I received or the hardships that followed.

‘As a weak person, arguing right or wrong is just arrogance. Claims are made only when you have a reason and the strength to back it up. I am in no position but to beg for mercy now.’

Yama was the absolute ruler who decided my fate unilaterally.

“Please choose whatever you think is best, Your Majesty. I will trust and follow you.”

[Hmm, when it comes to blessings in the Next Life, everyone goes crazy to snatch them up. Are you sure I can pick for you?]

“Of course. I trust you to choose wisely.”

[Hahaha, wise. Good. Very good!]

Yama pounded the table and declared heartily.

[I promise in my name to take full responsibility. I will give you all the blessings I mentioned earlier! And of course, all at the highest grade.]

It was truly a Windfall from the Sky.

Had I chosen on my own, I might have had to give up some of them, but I received all Five Blessings.

“Thank you.”

[Hmm, but why that expression? What’s troubling you?]

I hesitated for a moment before speaking.

“I know this is presumptuous, but I have regrets from my past life.”

[Regrets? Is it about your foster parents or your biological parents?]

“Both.”

There are three bonds so deep that even Heaven cannot sever them.

People call this the Heavenly Law.

The bonds between parents, spouses, and children.

I never had a spousal bond, so I could only have regrets about the other two.

“Will I be able to meet my deceased parents? Because if not in the Afterlife, there is no other way to meet them.”

My mother passed away when I was seven years old, and all I knew about my father was that his surname was Cha.

I never met him even once in my life.

So my parents became my lifelong longing and regret.

[Hmm.]

But somehow, Yama looked troubled.

“Please, I beg you.”

Thud.

I dropped to my knees.

“Please show mercy and generosity for this pitiful soul. I beg for your compassion.”

If this wasn’t enough, I was even willing to perform the Five-Point Prostration.

I didn’t want to lose the chance to meet those precious to me by clinging to pointless pride.

That’s something only a foolish man would do.

If I could just meet my parents again, I was a man who would do anything for his son’s happiness.

“If there is a price to pay, I will pay it. Is it still impossible?”

Snap.

Yama snapped his fingers.

Time stopped for the departed soul.

Yama spoke to the Grim Reaper who had brought Cha Jeonghyeok here.

[Cha,]

[Yes, Your Majesty.]

[I see this man as a precious jewel that is almost impossible to appear again in the Incarnation World.]

The Grim Reaper raised his head sharply.

‘The king praises a mere human soul so highly!’

It was the Grim Reaper’s first such reaction in 30,000 years of service.

He looked at Cha Jeonghyeok again with wide eyes.

[Your Majesty, are you serious?]

[Of course.]

Yama said.

[You know the Heavenly Punishment that falls on traitors.]

[Yes, it is one of the most dreadful punishments even in the Afterlife, forced to endure in the Incarnation World.]

[All kinds of obstacles and illnesses, betrayal and deceit, endless slander and humiliation without reason. Along with poverty and misfortune.]

It was literally living hell on earth.

[Those who receive Heavenly Punishment tend to be alike in their end. Not only do they torment themselves and those around them, but they also commit various sins blaming fate. In short, they are beyond redemption.]

[That is true.]

[But this man is different. It is said that it is harder for a rich person to go to heaven than for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle. Yet he overcame even Heavenly Punishment and purchased his own ticket to heaven.]

Life is originally the result of one’s actions.

[He was allowed only black money, and every bond he had was a bad one. That fellow’s talent is really something.]

Yama clasped his hands and rested his chin on them.

His gaze toward Cha Jeonghyeok was intense.

[It’s too precious to erase all his memories just like that. It would turn him back into a raw gem.]

[Your Majesty, the memories of a reincarnating human must be erased. That is the law of the Afterlife!]

The Grim Reaper shouted in alarm.

[No! Would you commit a grave sin over mere curiosity?!]

[A grave sin? You mean the time you mistakenly labeled a national hero as a traitor and dealt with him accordingly.]

[Ugh……]

[Shouldn’t you take responsibility and properly fix that?]

The Grim Reaper shut his mouth tight and bowed deeply.

[There happens to be a good way to fix this matter.]

Yama snapped his fingers again.

Snap.

Time for the departed began flowing once more.

Yama nodded.

[Good. I will grant your wish. You will meet your parents.]

“Really?”

[I will also extend your bond with your foster parents. This time as your real son.]

“Thank you!”

My chest felt like it would burst with joy.

After 45 years, I would see my deceased mother again!

I could meet my father I had only imagined!

I could see my son again!

I was overwhelmed with emotion.

Snap.

Yama snapped his fingers.

A golden light flashed from my body.

[In addition, I, Yama, will grant you special eyes. Please use them well.]

Special eyes?

[One more thing. You might not have known, but you were actually a third-generation conglomerate heir. You just never enjoyed it because of the Heavenly Punishment.]

“What?”

[Ask your mother directly. Who your father really is.]

‘Wait a minute!’

[Also, try visiting your maternal family this time.]

‘Wait a minute!’

[Then live happily through your second life, and we’ll meet again in a hundred years.]

Whoosh!

Yama shook his sleeve and a whirlwind blew.

I was helplessly swept up in the vortex.

The Grim Reaper who brought me here screamed as he spun around with me.

[That is your guardian spirit. A bonus.]

That was my last memory in the Afterlife.

“Huff!”

The breath I’d been holding burst out.

I jerked upright.

Cold sweat drenched me.

My body trembled from the cold air outside the blanket.

“Ugh! My head!”

I grabbed my head from a terrible headache.

***

The 52 years of memories I saw on my death’s projector flashed like a waterfall.

The flyers, newspapers, TV shows, even phrases from books I’d only glanced at in passing seemed forcibly etched into my mind.

The overwhelming flood of information made me dizzy and sick to my stomach.

“Huff huff, huff…”

Everything was too vivid.

My mind was a complete mess.

With Yama’s final words, the excruciating headache ended.

‘I thought I was an orphan with no relatives since childhood, but I’m a third-generation conglomerate heir? And I even had a maternal family? Why did my mother never say a word to me…?’

I chuckled bitterly.

‘Adults always have their reasons.’

Anyway, the fact remained that no one came looking for me after my mother died.

I couldn’t even enter an orphanage and suffered all sorts of hardships.

A life in the cruel, lonely back alleys began, worse than I had imagined.

‘I’ll ask my mother when I meet her. What really happened. Where is she?’

I looked around the room, searching for my mother.

The dim moonlight outside cast a blue glow in the room.

Floral wallpaper, aluminum window sashes, cheap yellow linoleum, a colorful tiger-patterned blanket, a vinyl wardrobe, and a folding metal dining table.

Even the light switch hanging from the fluorescent light was there.

“0+……?”

When I realized where I was, a chill ran down my spine.

‘This is the Kuro-dong Shanty House where I lived with my mother as a child.’

It was just as I remembered.

Only this place must have been long demolished right after my mother passed away.

My gaze landed on the wall calendar, and I froze.

“……!”

A day I could never forget in my life.

I lost my mother on this day when I was seven years old.

‘Could it be that second life isn’t reincarnation but regression? Then right now, I’m not in the Afterlife, but still in the living world…!’

I immediately threw back the blanket.

“Mom!”

My mother was curled up like a shrimp, softly snoring as she slept.

I could feel her warm body temperature and the nostalgic scent of my mother.