Another Me in the Darkness

"Stop!!!"

Avery's scream filled the cramped one-room apartment.

His voice slammed against the walls, echoing back as he jolted upright, gasping for breath.

His entire body was drenched in sweat.

His damp clothes clung to his back, as if he had been swimming through a nightmare.

He ran a trembling hand through his hair, breathing heavily.

His palm was moist.

For a while, he just sat there, staring blankly.

Was what he had just seen merely a dream—

Or fragments of a forgotten memory?

…Wait a minute.

He was supposed to be dead.

His last memory.

The cold sensation of Gwangmyeong's sword pressing against his neck.

The sharp, unmistakable feeling of the blade slicing through flesh.

And then—

Pitch-black darkness had swallowed him whole.

That should have been the end.

His hand instinctively reached for his neck.

The wound that should have been there.

But his skin was smooth.

Not even a scar remained.

"Did I… survive?"

He murmured quietly.

He shut his eyes tightly, trying to compose himself.

But his mind was still in chaos.

A suffocating, heavy confusion

Weighed down on him.

As long as he was alive, nothing else mattered.

….

When he opened his eyes again, he finally had the composure to take in his surroundings.

Things he hadn't noticed before in his initial state of panic.

A cramped yet unfamiliar space.

He was sitting on a bed.

Soft and plush to the touch.

A comfort he had never once experienced in his previous life.

The room was small, furnished with simple and modest pieces, yet felt alien to him.

A stark contrast to the cold and damp world he once knew.

But just as he was about to stand—

"Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep!!!"

A piercing noise filled the room.

"Ugh… What the hell is this?!"

A loud alarm was blaring from the nightstand beside his bed.

The sharp ringing drilled into his skull,

Pressing down even harder on his already throbbing head.

And then—

Suddenly.

Memories came crashing in.

As if someone was forcibly replaying another person's life.

He became an unwilling spectator, watching the scenes unfold before his eyes.

A childhood.

The first day of school.

A mother's warm smile.

A first love in high school.

And the bitter sting of a first heartbreak.

He saw unfamiliar faces.

Fragments of an ordinary life surfaced.

Yet, strangely, all of it felt too familiar.

The life of a man named "Avery" played out before him.

And those memories seeped into him as if they were his own.

He now felt a strange sense of familiarity with this room.

And—

A convenience store part-time job.

The work he was currently involved in.

He could grasp the basics of life in this modern world.

However, not all the memories were perfect.

Some scenes were blurred,

And certain voices sounded distant, as if echoing underwater.

As if someone had deliberately painted over them,

The fragments of memory remained incomplete.

The overwhelming flood of recollections gradually subsided.

Avery leaned against the wall, breathing heavily.

Sweat trickled from his forehead, dripping down to his chin.

His head was spinning.

"What the hell is going on…?"

He muttered under his breath.

"Whose memories are these…?"

He was confused.

But no matter how much he tried to deny it,

These memories felt oddly familiar.

The emotions within them resonated vividly in his heart.

As if they had belonged to him all along.

Staggering as he steadied himself, he fumbled through the cramped one-room apartment.

Eventually, he found the bathroom.

Just as he had seen in his memories,

A mirror was mounted above the sink.

Gripping the edges of the sink with both hands,

He cautiously lifted his head.

The face staring back at him from the mirror.

A face both unfamiliar and familiar.

He knew it.

And yet, at the same time, he didn't know it at all.

It was undoubtedly his own face,

But somehow, it was different from before.

Younger, softer.

The scars etched into him from countless battles—

The cold, hardened gaze—were all gone.

"…Ha."

Avery slapped his cheek with full force.

Smack!

A stinging pain spread across his cheek.

Blood trickled down from his nose,

And he staggered, bracing himself against the wall.

But now, he was certain.

This wasn't a dream.

"No way… Did I reincarnate?"

He whispered in disbelief.

"And as… a convenience store clerk?"

He glanced around the small, cluttered one-room apartment.

Posters, clothes, and scattered knickknacks lay everywhere.

Everything screamed ordinary.

A world completely different from the one where he once lived as 'Night King Yeomra.'

It was the exact opposite.

He couldn't begin to comprehend this absurd situation—

But the moment he looked into the mirror again,

A slow, incredulous smile spread across his lips.

This wasn't a nightmare.

This was his reality now.

"Should I call this a blessing from the gods?"

He murmured under his breath.

Of course, it would have been even better if he had been reborn as a farmer in a quiet countryside.

A life completely cut off from the chaos of the world.

But—

This wasn't so bad either.

After piecing together the fragments of his memories,

The life of "Avery" was the closest thing to the ordinary life he had always wanted.

Unlike his past, where the shadow of death constantly loomed over him,

Here, he was nothing more than an ordinary person.

And…

Who knows?

If fate had granted him another chance,

Then maybe, in this life, he could one day achieve his dream of owning a small farm.

Stranger things had already happened, hadn't they?

"Interesting."

Avery let out a quiet chuckle.

What an absurd irony.

The most feared assassin in the martial world, a nightmare lurking in the shadows—

Was now a convenience store clerk.

…Wait a minute.

Convenience store?!

In that instant, reality crashed down on him.

He was late!

Avery's heart skipped a beat.

If he wanted to maintain this new life, there was an urgent problem he had to solve—

Getting to work on time.

And if he got fired?

According to the information from his newly acquired memories,

This world wasn't exactly kind to slackers.

His body reacted immediately.

With the quick reflexes honed from countless battlefields,

He threw on his uniform in an instant.

Buttoning up his shirt, slipping on his shoes—

Even amidst the strange sense of unfamiliarity, there was a peculiar familiarity to it.

With no time to even glance at the mirror,

He bolted straight out the door.

—And then.

Bang!

"Where the hell do you think you're running, you damn brat?!"

The moment he stepped outside, he ran straight into—

An old woman sitting on the stair railing, sipping tea.

Avery almost collided head-on with Ms. Kim, the landlady.

"Avery, you little brat! You're behind on rent again, aren't you?!"

Ah, right. The rent.

Before he could even open his mouth, Ms. Kim's nagging poured down on him.

"I mean, is your paycheck really that pathetic? If it is, then get a new job!

You're a young man bursting with energy—what a waste, spending your life at some convenience store!

Have you ever thought about going back to college? You still have a bright future ahead of you, so why are you living like this?

Anyway, when are you going to pay the rent? I have to eat too, you know! Don't you think? Huh?"

An endless stream of nagging, like a never-ending ellipsis.

In just a few seconds, he needed more patience than he had in his entire life as an assassin.

A sudden surge of instinct rose within him.

His past profession, steeped in blood, itched at his fingertips—

But Avery held it in,

Clenching his fists tightly, he took a deep breath.

He had made a vow.

To abandon his past violence and live a normal life.

"I'm sorry, Ms. Kim! I'll take care of it soon!"

Avery shouted hastily as he dashed down the stairs.

He had only one goal.

His bicycle!

As soon as the old bicycle, parked in the corner at the bottom of the stairs, came into view,

He immediately grabbed the handlebars and threw himself onto the seat.

Pedal—full speed ahead!

Clank—!

In an instant, he picked up speed,

And both the apartment and Ms. Kim's nagging faded into the distance.

"You disrespectful brat! I'm not done talking yet! Kids these days have no respect for their elders!"

Her nagging still echoed behind him,

But he easily ignored it.

Objective: Arrive at the convenience store!

The store was about 15 minutes away from his place.

Cutting through the crisp morning air, he sped down the streets.

On the road, office workers hurried to work,

Students who had overslept rushed toward school,

The city was waking up to another busy day.

And finally—

Clank.

By the time he arrived, the store manager was already fiddling with the lock on the metal shutters.

"Manager Takeda."

This man looked as if he had just crawled out of a zombie movie.

A gaunt face, deep sunken dark circles,

And an expression as cold as ice.

But surprisingly, he was also a man with a warm heart.

Of course, his sharp gaze always made it seem like he could see right through people.

"Avery, you're late today."

Takeda said as he casually tapped the lock.

"Usually, you've already finished stocking the shelves before I even get here."

"Sorry. I had… something urgent to take care of."

Avery replied awkwardly.

Ah, what a lousy excuse.

He expected a lecture, but Takeda simply shrugged.

Avery had always been a diligent employee.

Being late once wasn't enough to break that trust.

"It's not a big deal. Just don't make it a habit."

Takeda said lightly.

But then, his eyes narrowed.

…Something felt off.

Avery's way of speaking seemed a little different today.

But Takeda didn't bother prying and simply shook his head.

"Forget it. Instead of making excuses, help me open this damn door. My shoulder's about to give out."

"Yes."

Avery stepped forward and grabbed the heavy metal door.

Just as he put strength into lifting the steel shutter—

Someone else came rushing toward them, completely out of breath.

A convenience store uniform in shades of blue and white.

Short, messy hair.

A girl running toward them, panting heavily.

"Haa… haa…!"

She looked about the same age as Avery,

And she stopped with an apologetic expression.

"Mina, are you late again?"

Takeda let out a tired sigh.

"What's the excuse this time? Did you get held up rescuing a turtle again? Or were you chased by a stray cat?"

Mina was infamous for her outrageous excuses.

And the more surprising thing?

No matter how absurd her excuse was, she never backed down.

"No, Manager! This time, you really won't believe it!"

Mina began speaking frantically between breaths.

"Right when I was about to put my employee ID around my neck before heading out—suddenly, a seagull swooped in and snatched it away! I had to chase it down the street for ages, but luckily, it let go! Wow… what would I have done if I lost this?!"

Her wide eyes and mixed expression of frustration and relief made it clear—

She was completely serious.

And as she firmly raised her employee ID in the air,

She emphasized once again that her story was completely true.

Takeda let out a deep sigh and shook his head.

Here we go again.

Firing Mina would mean the hassle of hiring and training a new employee.

And honestly, aside from her constant tardiness, there weren't many employees as competent as she was.

"Maybe that seagull was trained by a master thief?"

At that moment, Avery casually threw out a remark.

"Gasp! That actually makes sense!"

Mina inhaled sharply, genuinely impressed.

Takeda turned to Avery with a half-defeated look.

An expression mixed with disbelief and sheer exhaustion.

"Avery, please don't encourage her wild imagination. What do you think this is, some kind of martial arts novel?"

At Takeda's words, Avery blinked instinctively.

Martial arts…

That word struck his heart like a hammer.

Right… This was no longer a world of assassins and martial arts.

Right now, he was no longer 'Night King Yeomra.'

He was just Avery, a convenience store worker.

If he wasn't careful, he could lose this ordinary life.

He needed to watch his words.