Magical Boy(2)
"Normally, it would have been reported as an identity theft using a resident registration card, but the blood type and genes of the re-collected blood perfectly matched with Kang Moon-soo's autopsy from 15 years ago."
"Ah..."
"Is it really you?"
"Yes. I am Kang Moon-soo. You may not believe me."
An absurd situation where I have to prove that I am 'me'!
It was a novel experience.
Also,
'I'm going crazy!'
Next to the name on the resident registration card is the aptitude.
Therefore, identity theft is considered deceiving aptitude and is severely punished.
This means that instead of escaping from this world (dream), I might be judged by the law and imprisoned!
It's dangerous.
"In fact, my aptitude is not health medicine but genetic engineering. I also take pride in being a member of Elmorangs."
"......"
What is this doctor suddenly talking about?
"Therefore, I am confident in my medical knowledge and skills. From my judgment, I am 100% certain that you are not a cloned human who copied genes, but Kang Moon-soo himself."
"Ah!"
"Welcome back to the present world from hell, Mr. Kang Moon-soo."
"Ah, yes."
I've never died though!
"I'm curious about how you have maintained the appearance of 15 years ago, but it is not my jurisdiction from now on, so I will pass the baton."
"From now on? Is there something left?"
"Don't worry, it's not the police. She will be a great help when you restore your deleted resident registration card."
"I'll take care of this..."
"If you want to be treated as a clone and have your human rights violated, you can leave the hospital right now."
"...Hahaha! I guess I can't do it on my own. Doctor, what should I do now?"
I decided to unconditionally follow the hospital's judgment!
* * *
The next schedule that the genetic engineering teacher mentioned, and the person to receive the baton, was met much later than I expected.
The time was already 3 a.m.
At a time when everyone was asleep, I was walking down the dark hospital corridor.
"Mr. Kang Moon-soo, this is it."
"Thank you."
Is this a coincidence?
Or is it fate?
In the hospital research room I found with the polite guidance of the nurse, there was Choi Kang-min's attending physician.
"Welcome! Come on in!"
She, who was staring intently at the computer monitor while sitting at her desk, welcomed me with a very happy face.
"Hello."
"I wanted to meet you right away, but I couldn't because handing over a surgery in progress to someone else is illegal."
"It's okay-"
Gurgle.
"......"
It seems my body isn't okay!
Maybe it's because I couldn't eat anything while being tested. My stomach started to roar asking for food.
"Oh dear! I'm sorry, Mr. Kang Moon-soo. You must have missed mealtime waiting for me. Would you like some snacks?"
"If you give me some, I'll be grateful!"
Free is always right!
Although all the facilities and decorations of Elmorangs Hospital are excellent, they were not comparable to here.
'There's a lot.'
A built-in display case filled with trophies and medals that there was no place to put occupied one side.
And on the opposite wall, there were hundreds of acrylic frames with certificates and qualifications...
They were so brilliant that the top-notch home appliances and various furniture that suit the reputation of Elmorangs Hospital looked pitiful.
"Has your trust in me increased a little?"
"Huh? Oh, yes."
"There are more trophies and medals in the warehouse, but due to the small room, I compromised to this level. I thought this would be enough to gain trust from patients and guests."
"It seems so."
The reason the room feels small is probably because of various medical equipment, including a bed.
In particular,
'She raises jellyfish...?'
Inside a cylindrical glass test tube large enough for a person to enter, there were a bunch of translucent jellyfish about 5mm in length.
"Turritopsis nutricula."
"...Yes?"
"That's the scientific name of that jellyfish. It is known in this country as the small protective tower jellyfish."
"I see."
No matter what its name is, it's a jellyfish. I lost interest right away.
"This jellyfish lives an eternal life like a phoenix."
"It seems to have a long lifespan."
"No, it really lives forever. When its body is damaged or about to die, it returns to its polyp stage. So it can live forever like a Möbius strip. Even if I die someday, those jellyfish will keep living. As long as my successor doesn't abandon them and manages the tank."
"Wow..."
My interest, which had cooled, sprang up again!
"You must have noticed by looking at the Turritopsis nutricula, but I am very interested in you, Mr. Kang Moon-soo."
"In me?"
"A man known to be dead returned after 15 years, with his youthful appearance from back then. Isn't it similar to the immortal Turritopsis nutricula?"
"Ah!"
"That's why, Mr. Kang Moon-soo, I wanted to meet you in person. As soon as I heard the news, faster than anyone else! I even canceled all my appointments and made time."
"You didn't have to go that far..."
It's quite burdensome, isn't it?
"Let me introduce myself. I am Seo Hye-joo, the vice-president of the Elmorangs University Hospital."
"Wow! You are a very high-ranking person."
"It's not a big deal. It's just proof that I've lived according to my aptitude. I don't have any mysterious power like transcending time and death like you, or like the Magical Boy. I'm just an ordinary human being that exists everywhere."
Magical boy.
A word that has been appearing quite frequently since I fell into this world that resembles the Earth where I lived.
"You say you're ordinary, but you haven't aged at all, Vice President."
"Have you seen me before?"
"Uh... I happened to see your picture while searching the internet."
"...I see. The secret of my youth is the power of Elmorangs, which leads the medical world. Although I can't turn back my youth like Turritopsis nutricula, I can hold onto it as long as possible."
"I see."
To me, who barely manages to take cheap multivitamins because my body is my only asset, it was a distant story.
"Mr. Kang Moon-soo. I'll ask you bluntly. How were you able to return from death?"
"I don't know either."
"According to the report I received, you were wandering in front of room 1906..."
"That's correct."
"May I ask why you were looking for Mr. Choi Kang-min?"
"The last face I remember was my brother Choi Kang-min."
It wasn't a lie.
"Indeed... quite interesting."
"Me?"
"Yes. Because Choi Kang-min is one of the top five shareholders of Elmorangs. He's technically my employer."
"......"
Choi Kang-min had become a world-renowned tycoon.
* * *
The Choi Kang-min I called 'brother' was lying like a vegetable in Elmolangs Hospital room 1906, in a grim situation where he had less than 100 days left to live.
On the other hand, Choi Kang-min of this world (dream) became the head of a conglomerate following his father, who passed away due to a terrible accident.
"Twenty years ago, when the Magical Boy first appeared, everyone was on guard. However, Chairman Choi Kang-min conquered the world market with his daring decision to invest in him.
'The two Choi Kang-mins are too different.'
Up to that point, I thought and asked a question that suddenly came to mind.
"Um..."
"You can call me Vice President."
"Vice President."
"Do you have a question?"
"Yes. Do you know Choi Kang-hoon?"
"If you're talking about the half-brother of Chairman Choi Kang-min, yes."
"That's right. Do you also know what that Choi Kang-hoon is doing?"
The younger brother who had to take over as the successor of his father due to his half-brother's comatose state.
I was very curious about his aptitude and what he is currently doing.
"He's still in prison."
"...Excuse me?"
"You seem to have no idea."
"Of course! Why is he in prison?!"
'Choi Kang-hoon is in prison?!'
I couldn't believe it at all.
"He murdered his father and fled, but was caught by the magical boy."
"......"
"He was sentenced to life imprisonment and has been in prison for 20 years, as he killed his secretary as well, which resulted in an aggravated punishment, and the special law for magical boys was also applied."
"That's impossible...!"
He couldn't even kill an ant, but he killed his father?
Something went terribly wrong.
"Interesting. Don't you remember anything from that time?"
"From that time?"
"The time of your death, Mr. Kang Moon-soo, was 15 years ago from now. And the day Choi Kang-hoon was tried and went to prison was 20 years ago."
"Ah!"
In chronological order, 'Kang Moon-soo' died five years after Choi Kang-hoon went to prison.
So, it would be normal to know about the incidents that happened before I died.
But I don't know. Of course, I shouldn't know.
"Mr. Kang Moon-soo was Choi Kang-hoon's lawyer."
"Me?"
"Yes. There was a buzz for a while about a man, who wasn't even a lawyer by aptitude, jumping into the trial without a fee and playing around with professional lawyers."
"Could it be... that man was me?"
"That's right."
"......"
It seems that 'I' in this world (dream) was quite a figure.
"The trial, which lasted for four years, ended inconclusively with your death, and since then, there has been no media attention on Choi Kang-hoon."
"......"
Choi Kang-hoon's imprisonment.
The death of lawyer Kang Moon-soo.
The foul smell of a dirty conspiracy vibrated.
Why?
'I believe in myself.'
Even if we were close, I would never have defended him if Choi Kang-hoon had really killed his father.
He's definitely framed.
"It seems that Mr. Kang Moon-soo did not just transcend death. It seems that as your physical age became younger to the late teens, your memory also returned to that time."
"......"
She totally misunderstood, but it was good for me that Vice President Seo Hye-joo misunderstood and agreed on her own, saving me the trouble of persuading her.
Besides,
"Vice President."
"You're curious about how you died, aren't you?"
"Yes, I am."
"You were unlucky. An alien spaceship crashed above the law firm where you were working."
"Huh?"
The 'me' who was much more amazing than I thought, even surpassed my imagination in death!
"The spaceship of an alien who was defeated by the Magical Boy fell right in the middle of the city. Many lives were lost in that accident."
"......"
Again, it was related to the magical boy.
'Both Choi Kang-hoon and Kang Moon-soo.'
My head started to cool down.
The magical boy, Choi Kang-min.
If you look at them separately, it's a coincidence, but as soon as I identified them as the same person, all the coincidences fit together like a puzzle and became inevitable.
"So, that's how I died."
"Listen to the end of the story."
"Yes."
"Fortunately, you, who survived, were transferred to Elmorangs Hospital and received emergency treatment. However, you couldn't make it through the night and died."
"It was already too late then."
"No. A broken rib had slightly punctured the lung. It was uncomfortable to move right away, but it wasn't serious enough to die."
"......"
"The cause of death in the records at the time was an absurd 'alien endemic disease'."
"That's really not funny."
I felt a creepy feeling as if a sharp blade had touched my Adam's apple.
"Your resurrection at Elmorangs Hospital was not a coincidence. Because you died here."
"Yes."
Thank you for continuing to misunderstand!
"Also, thanks to our autopsy, the data from that time remains intact. From genes to tailbone, everything. There is enough evidence to prove that you are the real Kang Moon-soo."
"I see."
Even after listening to the explanation, it didn't sink into my head.
"In fact, I wanted to ask. To you, who have come back to life."
"What is it?"
"You must have anticipated it."
"......"
"Mr. Kang Moon-soo. You said you don't remember, but I'll ask anyway. Who killed you?"
"......"
I couldn't answer because I'm not 'Attorney Kang Moon-soo' who died 15 years ago.
'However.'
Even if I don't know, I feel like I know.
Read ahead by supporting me on Ko-fi. Access 5 advance chapters with the Silver Tier ($10) or 10 advance chapters with Shaman Tier($18)
For every $15 collected on Ko-fi, I will release an extra chapter. Choose your tier by clicking the 'Support me' button! Rate and review this novel on NU to help people find this novel. Bonus chapters upon reaching specific milestones. Happy reading!