CH1 | MCT

Regression: 1972

Tae-soo was dying.

To be precise, he was being murdered.

Inside the VIP room of Seoul Cheongil Hospital, where South Korea’s top medical team was stationed.

“Ugh!”

Crash.

He collapsed onto the floor, entangled with medical equipment whose names he didn’t even know.

Dressed in a patient gown, Tae-soo writhed in pain.

“That injection—! Ugh!”

“Yes, that injection was the problem. Your muscles will relax, your organs will shut down… and then, you’ll pass away peacefully.”

“Han Il-kwon—!”

His vision blurred.

The elderly Kang Tae-soo, now in his seventies, reached out toward the culprit.

With the last of his strength, he managed to grab the man’s sleeve.

“Get your filthy hands off me.”

Two bodyguards rushed in and pried Tae-soo’s hand away.

Han Il-kwon, a man in his seventies who looked at Tae-soo as if he were nothing more than an insect, dusted off his sleeve—
as if it had been tainted by filth.

“Tsk, now my expensive suit is all wrinkled.”

He was Tae-soo’s direct superior, the head of Cheongil Group—the number one conglomerate in South Korea—and the man who had once been his in-law.

“Tae-soo, our Cheongil Group stands at the very top of Korea’s business world. And that’s all thanks to you and your uncanny ability to sniff out money.”

“You… ugh! What are you talking about…?”

Tae-soo had a special ability.

He could literally smell money.

A strange gift that allowed him to sense profitable business opportunities as if they had a distinct scent.

<The Ultimate Capitalist Power – The Ability to Sniff out Money>

This was the secret behind how he had propelled Cheongil Group to the ranks of the elite conglomerates.

He had only pursued ventures that reeked of profit—how could he not rise to the top?

“Tae-soo, even until the end, you keep secrets from me. Were we ever really friends?”

“You… how do you…?”

“I heard about it. But who could it have been, I wonder? Heh heh heh.”

Tae-soo’s eyes trembled violently.

Who told that bastard my secret?

Han Il-kwon chuckled.

Then, without hesitation, he began kicking Tae-soo with his leather shoe.

“Did you never think it was strange? Your parents, siblings, wife, son, daughter—even your friends—they all died young, in unnatural ways. That’s not exactly normal, is it? Heh heh heh.”

“Ugh—ugh—ugh…!”

“Oh? Looks like your tongue is stiffening now. Hahaha!”

Tae-soo clenched his powerless fist with all the strength he had left.

Grinding his teeth, he struggled to lift himself up.

He wanted to land at least one punch on that bastard Han Il-kwon.

“I hated you. So I killed them, one by one. Just to see you shed tears of blood.”

Han Il-kwon began recounting, in excruciating detail, exactly how he had murdered Tae-soo’s family.

Tae-soo wanted to block out the words.

"The bear does the tricks, but the man takes the money"—you know that saying, don’t you?"

Thud.

“So you should’ve just performed your tricks and disappeared quietly. If you had, everything would’ve been fine. But no—like a stubborn fool, you clung on, and it was driving me insane!”

Thud. Thud. Thud.

The Cheongil Group had started as Gyeongseong Grain, founded by Han Cheong-ho, a pro-Japanese collaborator.

By colluding with political powers, the company had risen to the ranks of the top conglomerates.

However, his successor, Han Il-kwon, was often ridiculed as ‘a dog born of a tiger father’—a man unworthy of his lineage. Han Cheong-ho had always been doubtful of his son’s abilities.

That was when Tae-soo caught his eye.

Tae-soo, you have the talent to turn Cheongil Group into Korea’s number one company!

Remember the kindness I have shown you. Take care of my son.

Han Cheong-ho was renowned for his keen judgment.

He saw potential in Tae-soo, who was nothing more than a delinquent at the time. He invested in him, supported him unconditionally, and pushed him forward with full force.

Tae-soo had thought of him as his savior.

When Tae-soo’s father was abducted by loan sharks and buried in the mountains, it was Han Cheong-ho who sent people to retrieve the body.

He paid off the debt Tae-soo’s father had left behind and found Tae-soo’s mother a job.

Seeing promise in the younger brother, he secured him a position in the National Intelligence Service.

As for Tae-soo, he placed him as his son’s secretary.

And Tae-soo, like a fool, never realized it was all part of Han Cheong-ho’s grand scheme.

In his blind gratitude, Tae-soo devoted himself to Han Il-kwon, growing the company into what it was today.

He had eliminated every relative who dared to covet the throne, ensuring that Han Il-kwon sat firmly upon it.

And all the while, he never realized that Han Cheong-ho and Han Il-kwon were the ones who had been killing his family, one by one.

Tears of blood streamed from Tae-soo’s eyes.

Han Il-kwon, meanwhile, radiated pure hatred.

Whenever he looked at Tae-soo, he couldn’t suppress his jealousy and resentment.

Now, there was no need to hide it anymore.

“This is my company! Mine! The company my father left to me! Cheongil Group belongs to me, not Kang Tae-soo! I am the chairman—Han Il-kwon!”

Bang!

“Ugh—ugh…!”

“Farewell, Tae-soo. Thanks for taking such good care of the company.”

Swish.

Han Il-kwon picked up a thick stack of papers that had fallen to the floor.

It was the Geumsan Group Merger and Acquisition Plan, drafted by Tae-soo.

As he skimmed through it, a satisfied grin spread across his face.

“To think you’d give me such a generous parting gift. You really are the friend who keeps on giving. Idiot. Heh heh heh.”

Having finally rid himself of a secret he had kept buried for nearly fifty years, Han Il-kwon turned on his heel and walked out of the hospital room, looking utterly refreshed.

Han Cheong-ho! Han Il-kwon! Cheongil Group! I will have my revenge! I will crush you! I will not die like this!

Tae-soo thrashed in agony, wailing in despair.

As the drug coursed through his veins, his eyelids grew heavier and heavier.

Han Il-kwon! Even in death, I will never forget! I will chase you to the depths of hell! I will wipe out your entire family!

And with that, Kang Tae-soo closed his eyes.

Until the very last moment, the only thought that remained in his mind was—

Revenge.

Before death, they said one would see their life flash before their eyes.

And Tae-soo did.

As he watched the events of the past fifty years unfold before him, tears of regret streamed down his face.

If I were given another chance, I would live differently. I would protect my family.

Clap!

Someone clapped their hands right in front of his face.

His mind snapped back to reality.

“Where the hell are you spacing out?! Why is a grown man bawling like a damn child? Did you get possessed or something?!”

A shaman was glaring at him.

“…What?”

“Hah! My divine powers have completely blown your mind, haven’t they? See that? That’s how powerful I am! You understand?”

“Oh, of course, of course.”

A scrawny man beside him hurriedly bowed in response.

The shaman, brimming with confidence, shook their bells vigorously.

“Listen well. The General Spirit has spoken…”

The shaman suddenly stopped shaking the bells and pointed straight at Tae-soo.

“You must go into the earth-moving business (real-estate). If you do, you will become a great figure who will shake all of Korea to its core, like the blazing sun.”

Tae-soo was dumbfounded.

But he had heard this before.

What the hell is going on?

He was at a complete loss.

Just then, someone jabbed him in the ribs.

It was the scrawny man.

“Did you yawn? Wipe your damn nose.”

It was a handkerchief.

Tae-soo instinctively took it, his gaze fixed on the side profile of the man bowing before the shaman.

“…Hol-jjook?”

His closest friend. His most trusted companion, who had always been by his side.

The very man whom Han Il-kwon had orchestrated a staged car accident to kill.

Had it been twenty years? Or thirty?

Overwhelmed with emotion, Tae-soo threw his arms around him.

“I never thought I’d see you again in the afterlife. Thank you… for coming to find me.”

“The hell’s gotten into you all of a sudden?”

At that moment, the shaman vigorously shook their bells and shouted,

“The General Spirit has spoken! You shall become a hunter of tycoons—a chaebol slayer!”

Tae-soo smirked at the absurdity of the proclamation.

“A chaebol slayer, huh? I like the sound of that.”

Long story short, against all odds…

He had returned to the past.

To the year 1972.

Back to when he was just twenty-four.