Chapter 1: Awakening in a Broken Life

Darkness.

A vast, suffocating void consumed my consciousness, and for a moment, I felt weightless, as if I were drifting through an endless abyss. There was no sound, no sensation—just an overwhelming nothingness.

Then, pain.

A splitting headache tore through my skull, and my breath hitched as I gasped for air. My body felt weak, frail even, like I had been sick for days. My chest rose and fell rapidly, and my vision blurred as I struggled to make sense of my surroundings.

A ceiling. Old, discolored, with visible cracks running along the plaster. The dim light of early morning streamed through a half-broken window, illuminating the dust particles floating in the air.

I blinked.

Where was I?

As if a dam had burst, memories flooded my mind—two different sets of memories, both vivid and real.

I clutched my head as my past life rushed back to me.

My Previous Life: A Hardworking Orphan

I was 35 years old when I died. A man who had spent over a decade working in Korea's finance industry, struggling to climb the corporate ladder.

An orphan, abandoned by fate, with no family to rely on. From a young age, I had learned that hard work was the only way forward.

I had taken small jobs in different companies, never really standing out, but never slacking off either.I saved diligently, hoping for a better future, but life was never kind enough to give me a break.I had spent years in an office cubicle, crunching numbers for people who barely acknowledged my existence.

I had always dreamed of living a more fulfilling life—perhaps finding love, traveling, enjoying the luxuries that only the rich could afford. But reality had a way of crushing those dreams.

And in 2024, I died.

The memory was foggy, but I recalled an accident—a sharp, metallic screech, the impact of a collision, and then… nothing.

That should have been the end of my story.

But it wasn't.

My New Life: A 17-Year-Old Kid in 2007

The second set of memories belonged to this body—a 17-year-old boy living in May 2007.

A boy with nothing to his name.

My name was Jung Woo-jin, a high school student from a lower-class family. Life had once been simple—we weren't rich, but we were happy. My father and mother worked tirelessly, barely scraping by but doing their best to give me a future.

Then everything fell apart.

My mother fell ill. Some cruel, relentless disease that drained her strength, turning her from the strong, caring woman she had once been into a frail, bedridden patient.

And my father?

That bastard sold our house and ran away.

He took the money, left behind his sick wife and only son, and disappeared with another woman.

We had no relatives to turn to, no safety net to catch us. I watched my mother struggle, suffering in cheap clinics because we couldn't afford proper treatment. I begged for help, worked odd jobs after school, but it was never enough.

And then, yesterday…

She died.

Cold. Lifeless. Gone.

The last warmth I had in this world had vanished, leaving behind only me.

I sat up, my hands trembling as I ran them through my unkempt hair. My throat felt dry, my chest tight. Was this really happening?

I wasn't just remembering another life—I had become someone else. I was no longer the 35-year-old finance worker wasting away in a corporate office.

I was now Jung Woo-jin, a 17-year-old boy with nothing to his name.

Reality Sets In

I slowly got out of bed. The floor beneath me was cold, the small room barely furnished. The air smelled of dust, the faint scent of medicine still lingering—a reminder of my mother's last days.

In the corner of the room, a single framed photograph sat on the table. My mother and I, from happier times. I reached out and picked it up, my fingers tracing the edges.

I had seen death before. I had lived through loneliness before.

But this?

This was something else entirely.

I exhaled deeply, gripping the frame tightly before setting it down. Crying wouldn't change anything. I had already shed my tears—both in this life and the one before it.

Right now, I needed to think.

I needed to figure out my next steps.

A New Beginning

I wasn't just a high school student anymore.

I had the mind of a 35-year-old, with over a decade of experience in finance and business. I knew things that no one else in 2007 did—the future of the world, the stock market, the rise of technology, the entertainment industry.

I wasn't helpless.

If life had given me a second chance, I wasn't going to waste it.

I was going to use my knowledge to rise to the top.

To build a future for myself—one where I wouldn't have to struggle, one where I could enjoy life, wealth, and power.

I wasn't interested in revenge or dwelling on the past.

I had no family left, no ties to hold me back.