Reincarnator’s Stream

Waking up in the trash can, Suhyuk habitually checked his status. It was natural to check one’s condition in a new environment.

Especially in a case like this, where he had just escaped death.

What was his current state?

What was his level of fatigue?

There was nothing better than the system to gauge his condition accurately. But then…

『Status Window』

『Name: Lee Suhyuk』

『Affiliation: Earth』

『Level: 1』

『Strength: 11』

『Agility: 12』

『Stamina: 11』

『Focus: 14』

『Magic: 1』

『Fatigue: 61』

“……”

He was at a loss for words.

The high fatigue level of 61 didn’t even register in his mind. What caught his attention were the pitifully low level and stats.

The hard-earned skills. They were all gone.

‘Am I really alive?’

Suhyuk looked around.

A trash heap in some alley.

Why on earth had he awakened here?

‘This place is now…’

The moment the question occurred to him…

Throb.

A sharp pain, as if someone had struck him hard on the head, caused him to wince. And then, memories of his original body resurfaced, replacing those of Lee Suhyuk of Blue Eyes.

“Your name is wasted on you. Idiot.”

“Earth-born kids are all like that. Weaklings.”

“That’s right. Lee Suhyuk was the weird one.”

“Why did a loser like that even come here?”

“If he sets the floor low, it’s good for us.”

The memories flooded in.

Orphan. Beggar. Lee Suhyuk. Player Training Institute. Bullying. Tutorial Trial…

Starting with a few keywords, his past scrolled by like a film reel. And amid it all, the most surprising revelation wasn’t the dire situation he found himself in.

The most shocking part was—

‘Has it been 20 years since I died?’

That 20 years had passed since Blue Eyes raided the Hydra and he died.

Swish.

His face was reflected in the lid of the trash can lying on the ground. Black hair typical of East Asians and a harmless impression. A young face, still youthful.

Thinking he was dead, waking up in the body of someone with the same name—this was baffling.

‘Is this a dream or something?’

As he leaned against the wall, Suhyuk spotted a player kit lying on the ground. It must have fallen from his pocket before being thrown into the trash.

Suhyuk reached out and picked up the player kit.

“The world must have changed. The one I used was a small orb.”

A kit resembling a smartphone, much like the ones used on Earth. Calls, texts, and internet searches through the player server; in essence, the player kit functioned very similarly to a smartphone.

Buzz.

As soon as Suhyuk touched it, the kit recognized his fingerprint, and text appeared on the white screen.

『What would you like to search?』

He hesitated for a moment upon seeing the text. There were too many things he was curious about. But there was no way this device could explain why this had happened to him.

His finger paused momentarily.

Then, his first search was, as expected…

『Would you like to search for Blue Eyes?』

Blue Eyes.

The guild he had been a part of. The guild that was wiped out by Kim Ilsoo and Blue Zone in the last moments.

After a brief loading time, the most recent articles appeared.

『Blue Zone: Is it difficult for them to carry on the name of Blue Eyes?』

『Marching Blue Zone: They continue the legacy of Blue Eyes and Lee Suhyuk.』

『Guild Master Kim Ilsoo vows to win the next competition.』

『Recalling the heroic sacrifice of Blue Eyes 20 years ago.』

『…』

Numerous articles emerged. He didn’t pay attention to all the content. The information Suhyuk was seeking was just one thing.

Whether any of the comrades he had sent flying had survived.

But—

‘… Are they all dead?’

Nothing.

There was no information.

No news indicating that any survivors from Blue Eyes were found, no matter how many pages he flipped.

“Hah…”

A sigh escaped, feeling empty inside.

He felt hollow.

Strength. Comrades.

He had lost them all, and all that remained was this body, beaten by peers and discarded in a trash heap.

Amidst the emptiness, rage began to boil.

Swoosh.

Suhyuk raised his head. And he spoke as if asking an unseen opponent.

“Why did you do it?”

Grit.

He ground his teeth as he asked.

He knew there would be no answer.

But he wanted to know the reason.

Why had it come to this?

-“Practicing again?”

Kim Ilsoo.

He hadn’t had a bad relationship with him. In fact, it had been good. Comrades who risked their lives together climbing the tower rarely had bad relations.

Friends.

At least, Suhyuk had thought of him that way.

-“I think I need to leave Blue Eyes.”

-“What are you talking about all of a sudden?”

-“It’s just how it is. Please don’t ask why. And do me a favor by explaining it well to the others.”

Suhyuk had tried to stop him. Saying it wasn’t fair to leave without explaining. But Kim Ilsoo had already made up his mind.

-“Don’t worry, my friend. Even if I leave, I plan to remain your shadow.”

And a few years later, Kim Ilsoo founded the guild called Blue Zone and appeared in front of Suhyuk again.

That was the “shadow” he had spoken of.

“What happened?”

Squeeze—

Tock, tock—

His fingernails dug into his skin from clenching his fist too tightly. Unaware of the blood trickling down his hand, Suhyuk stared at the articles on the kit’s screen.

After searching for Blue Eyes, the screen was filled with photos of Kim Ilsoo and stories about him.

Blue Zone.

In this era, it seemed they called Blue Eyes by that name.

“…I see.”

Tock—

Dropping the kit to his side, Suhyuk raised his head.

“What happened isn’t important.”

His friends died by his hand.

Why should the reason matter?

If he was really curious, he could go up and ask him directly. Just like that day, by stabbing the same knife into his stomach.

‘Just wait a little, Ilsoo.’

At that moment, Suhyuk made up his mind.

‘I will come to see you again.’

This anger couldn’t be a dream.

*

After taking some time to collect his thoughts, Suhyuk began to move. At first, he considered whether it might be a dream, but now he had no doubt.

His steps led him to the player training institute’s dormitory, where the original body owner, Lee Suhyuk, resided.

The qualification tutorial for becoming a player was to start in two days. He had some time to spare.

‘Still on the 9th floor, huh…’

As he was walking, Suhyuk slowly dug through the memories his body held.

‘It’s too slow. Is the difficulty that much higher after the 8th floor?’

Given that 20 years had passed, Suhyuk naturally thought they would have conquered up to at least the 10th floor by now.

But to still be on the 9th floor in 20 years? The higher you go, the longer each floor takes to conquer, but this was slower than anticipated.

“Pitiful fools. Why betray us if this is all you can do.”

As he mumbled to himself, Suhyuk’s eyes caught sight of a shabby street vendor.

“…?”

Among the items blatantly displayed, one particularly caught his eye.

‘My mask?’

During his active days, Suhyuk wore a mask. There was no particular reason. He started using a mask-shaped item he obtained early on, found it convenient to cover his face, and it became a habit.

A black base with gold stripes, Lee Suhyuk’s trademark. To think it was being sold in such a low-tier market.

“50 points.”

Yawning as if sleepy, the middle-aged man running the stall asked.

“Buying it?”

“…”

Suhyuk paused for a moment and checked his points.

‘1010 points…’

It wasn’t a generous amount. These points were practically all he had. If he were unemployed and had no immediate income, he should be saving them.

『You’ve paid 50 points.』

Well, it’s not even my money anyway. And money can always be earned again.

‘Is this kind of thing trendy nowadays?’

After purchasing the mask, Suhyuk inspected it here and there, causing the middle-aged man who sold it to ask.

“Are you a Lee Suhyuk fan?”

“Pardon?”

Suhyuk hesitated, unsure how to respond. If he said he was Lee Suhyuk right here, they’d undoubtedly think he was insane.

But saying he was his own fan felt awkward and embarrassing.

“Well, something like that.”

An ambiguous answer after some thought. The middle-aged man clicked his tongue and gave him a suspicious look.

“Something like that, my foot. Then why buy it if you’re not a fan? Are you planning to cosplay as Lee Suhyuk or something?”

“Cosplay as Lee Suhyuk? What’s that?”

“You don’t know? Then, I guess you’re not. So you must be a fan.”

The middle-aged man, asking and answering his own questions, nodded and pointed in one direction.

“Then you should check that place out. It’s small, but there’s a memorial.”

“Memorial…?”

“Judging by your reaction, you haven’t been there. Today is the anniversary, so there should be quite a few people paying respects.”

For Suhyuk, who had intended to head to his dorm with nowhere else to go, this provided some direction. After standing idle for a moment, Suhyuk began to walk, holding the mask in his hand.

‘I have nothing else to do right now anyway.’

Going to a memorial dedicated to himself felt somewhat bizarre. It felt like going to eat at a memorial set up in your own honor.

But he was curious nonetheless. To see how he was remembered there. On the way, Suhyuk bought a flower. It seemed fitting to have at least a flower for an anniversary.

After passing through several alleys, he finally saw the place the middle-aged man mentioned. His first thought upon seeing the memorial from a distance was simple.

‘It’s bigger than I expected.’

He said it was a small memorial. Even at a glance, it looked as big as a small temple. The memorial, with a gigantic image of Suhyuk’s masked face hanging on it.

The guide standing at the entrance glanced at the mask in Suhyuk’s hand and greeted him with an indifferent tone.

“Welcome.”

Nodding in response, Suhyuk entered the memorial. The ceiling was high, and the windows depicted Suhyuk’s masked face instead of gods, indicating the place may have once been a temple.

On another section, a video of Suhyuk fighting was being played using some special technology. Naturally, the largest crowd was gathered there.

“Wow-.”

“This is amazing….”

“This was back then, right? During the competition with the Anuks 25 years ago.”

“Probably. He was incredible back then.”

Suhyuk rising into the air, stepping on lightning. People were mesmerized by the video of Suhyuk dominating both land and sky.

And amidst those people, Suhyuk was there too. Although his level of admiration differed, Suhyuk nodded several times while watching himself fight in the video.

‘I fought well. Definitely.’

He hadn’t realized it while he was in the thick of battle. But watching himself from a third-person perspective felt different.

“Oh, I shouldn’t have done that there.”

He muttered as a small mistake appeared on the screen. But it seemed he had forgotten his surroundings, engrossed in the video.

“What the?”

“Another guy nitpicking even here.”

“He should try doing it himself. Guys like him never realize they can’t do it.”

Even though he spoke quietly, everyone heard him. Feeling wronged, Suhyuk lowered his head.

‘I was just reflecting…’

But what could he do?

Right now, the only similarity between himself and the Lee Suhyuk in the video was their name. While Suhyuk was lost in the video, mesmerized by his own battle scenes, something happened towards the end of the video.

Sss—

Towards the video’s conclusion. A face that twisted Suhyuk’s expression appeared.

“We will remember him.”

A man wearing a half-mask covering his face.

‘Kim Ilsoo.’

It was Kim Ilsoo, with an inspiring line and his hand solemnly placed over his heart.