002. Unfair Contract

As the unknown entity had said, pain began to spread through my entire body. It was an unbearable agony, unlike anything I had ever felt before. My muscles felt as if they were on fire, and my heart was racing so fast it felt like it would explode. The pain in my eyes made them feel like they were going to pop out, and my muscles contracted and relaxed repeatedly in a cycle of torment.

It wasn’t just physical pain. Mentally, it was akin to torture. I hallucinated that the cockroaches I despised were crawling all over my body. At first, there were only a few, but soon hundreds of them swarmed and covered me.

This isn't real pain... It's just a hallucination.

I tried to convince myself of that, but the pain was too vivid.

When humans experience immense pain, they typically pass out. But I didn’t lose consciousness; I had to endure the pain completely. If I had fainted, I wouldn’t have felt any pain or torment.

Wait... was it intentionally made so I couldn’t pass out? Because if I pass out, I wouldn't feel the pain? If so, that's genius...

I thrashed about, trying to resist, but the pain crushed me completely, leaving no escape. I had no idea how much time had passed. In what felt like an eternity of despair, I finally opened my eyes amidst the excruciating pain.

Suddenly, a calm silence enveloped me. The pain disappeared, and I saw a familiar sight before me.

I was at home. The ceiling, the wallpaper, even the familiar scent was the same.

But why am I waking up at home? I should still be sprawled on the road after the car accident. Or maybe waking up in a hospital.

There was only one possibility I could think of.

Time travel, or resurrection.

I moved my arm in a familiar motion to grab my phone.

5:08 AM
July 5th, 2024

As expected, I had returned to the day of the accident.

The moment I grasped the situation, a date appeared in the upper left corner of my vision.

7 days.

It must be counting down the time I have left.

That was when I remembered the contract proposed by the unknown entity.

Proposed? More like an unfair contract forced upon me.

But there was no time to dwell on that. I hurriedly called my mother.

— Son, do you know what time it is—
“Mom! Is Dad okay?”
— What are you talking about all of a sudden? What about your dad?
“Ah, no, I just wanted to check if everything's fine.”
— Everything’s fine, so hang up already! I need more sleep!

Click.

Just in case, I called my younger sister too. I had never been so relieved to hear her grumbling before.

Luckily, my family was safe.

In any case, the contract was now in effect. To save my family, I had to kill someone within the next seven days.

I collapsed onto my bed, clutching my head. The physical pain was gone, but the mental anguish still weighed heavily on me.

"Ahh... Why is this happening to me all of a sudden? It’s all because of that drunk driver."

It was the first time in my life I had ever blamed someone else.

Who should I kill, when, and how? I’ve never even hit anyone before—how can I kill someone?!

The more I thought about it, the more the mental torment grew.

Ring. Ring.

Fortunately, or unfortunately, the alarm set for 7:00 AM went off, snapping me out of my thoughts.

Time for work.

It was a brief escape from the mental anguish.

"Right, there's no point in worrying about it now. I can't cancel the contract, and I can't abandon my family and die again either."

I got up from the bed to prepare for work, just like I always did.

But why does my body feel so light?

It was strange. It wasn’t just that I felt light. I felt refreshed, beyond anything I had ever experienced in my life. It was as if 28 years of accumulated fatigue had been wiped clean. I felt as if I had been reborn.

"Well, I guess I was reborn."

I opened the bathroom door in surprise, and the doorknob broke off with a snap. I had opened it like I normally would.

At that moment, I remembered what the unknown entity had said.

[You mustn't get hurt, so I'll give you powers no human can possess.]

Looks like I really did get powers.

I stared at my hand. It looked the same. When I looked in the mirror, my physique was unchanged too. The same unremarkable reflection stared back at me.

So, the power that mysterious being talked about was superhuman strength? Not bad.

Just as I finished my thought, I suddenly heard the sound of water running upstairs and someone yawning downstairs. All the noise around me flooded into my ears. I could hear things I had never been able to hear before.

I covered my ears, but it didn’t help. The noise was still painfully loud.

Shaking my head to clear it, I suddenly noticed that I could even see the bacteria on the bathroom floor clearly.

Ugh.

I concluded that all my senses—sight, hearing, taste, smell, touch—along with my strength had been heightened to absurd levels.

Powers no human can have, huh.

But isn’t there a saying that too much of anything is bad? There’s no way I could live a normal life like this.

How do I control these powers?

As I wondered, I realized that I could adjust my powers at will without even thinking about it.

“Oh, that changes things. This is pretty convenient.”

I couldn't explain how, but it just felt that way.

Anyway, time for work.

I had to head to the "Cheongsol" town office for work, just like I had before I died. Why? Because it was still July 5th.

It hadn’t even been a day since the day I died, but it felt like a year had passed in my memory.

"Ugh, this is exhausting. Living the same day twice is harder than I thought."

As always, I waited for the bus while watching the morning news. But today, it wasn’t just about passing the time; I had to plan for the week ahead.

Out of the blue, several pictures of people appeared.

[The Universe Special Investigation Bureau has released a new wanted list for mutated criminals. 'Dune,' previously ranked number one, has been pushed to second place, and 'Shadow' has claimed the top spot due to additional charges of assassinating a high-ranking U.S. official.]

Mutated criminals.

Normally, I wouldn’t have paid attention to this kind of information, but for some reason, it stuck in my mind.

***

I worked the same as usual, and left work at the same time. I was standing at the same bus stop at the usual hour.

I glanced down.

My shoelaces are untied, just like last time.

And then it happened. Just as I expected, the car that had killed me once before came swerving toward me.

Everything unfolded in slow motion, like a scene from a movie. I could now see things I hadn’t noticed during the accident.

It was a luxury foreign car. A middle-aged man, with glazed-over eyes, was in the driver’s seat, and a young girl was sitting in the passenger seat.

When I locked eyes with the man, the frustration and anger from that day surged back.

Stubbornness flared up within me. I had thought about dodging the car at first, but I decided against it. The car’s headlights flashed before me, and then it crashed into me.

Naturally, I was unharmed. The car, on the other hand, had its front end severely damaged.

I had known from the start that I would be fine.

If I really have to kill someone, wouldn’t it be most fitting to kill this driver?

He had already killed me once, so I didn’t think I’d feel guilty if I killed him.

Thoughts tumbled one after another in my head.

This man might just be the first person I need to sacrifice in order to survive and justify my actions.

While I was lost in thought, the man staggered out of the car and approached me. Thanks to my newfound abilities, I could smell the strong stench of alcohol on him even from a distance.

“Damn it, why’d you crash into my car?!”

The man shouted.

Now that I got a better look at him, I noticed he was much bigger than the average person.

Wait, did I hear him wrong? Does he still not realize what he did?

“Hey, why are you just standing there, staring?! Get lost, now!”

His speech was slurred, but I could still make out what he was trying to say.

If I kill him in this state, soaked in alcohol, he won’t even feel any pain.

“You bastard, are you ignoring me?!”

Before I could respond, the man swung his fist at my face. Instinctively, my body reacted.

Whip, swoosh, thud.

The result was unexpected. The man’s head burst like a watermelon under my punch. Not a single drop of blood splattered on me.

“What the...”

I stared down at my fist, unable to comprehend what had just happened. I hadn’t meant to do it. I had never been in a fight or thrown a punch before. I was confused as to why my body had reacted so quickly.

Is this part of my powers, too?

A whirlwind of thoughts spun in my head, making me dizzy.

[The deceased’s soul has been successfully absorbed.]

[The deceased’s soul has been purified.]

[The deceased’s ‘life memories’ are being stored.]

What was that? Absorbed? Purified? Life memories?

Apparently, I had just stored the memories of the man I had killed. Honestly, I was bewildered. But soon, the reality of it sank in. Literally, if I wanted, I could access his entire life history.

Thud.

I quickly turned toward the sound. The girl in the passenger seat had collapsed on the ground.

Did she pass out? She’s not dead, right?

I got closer to check if she was still breathing.

Ah, thank goodness. She’s still alive.

I let out a long sigh of relief and looked around slowly.

The bus stop was covered in blood. The man’s lifeless body was still leaking blood onto the ground.

“It’s done. I don’t have to kill anyone else now. This is the last one.”

I muttered to myself.

There was no need to overthink things.

I’ll just consider this payback, and I need to get out of here before the police arrive.

I thought about running to the next bus stop, and before I knew it, my body was already sprinting toward it. The speed was beyond description.

This must be part of my powers, too, obviously.

Thinking too deeply about it was pointless for now. It would only give me a headache.

Nothing about what was happening to me made any logical sense.

Thanks to my incredible speed, I managed to catch the bus. And fortunately, not a drop of blood was on my clothes. No one would ever suspect that I had just killed someone.

As the adrenaline wore off, instead of feeling guilty about killing someone, I felt like I had saved someone. If that man had lived, someone else would have been his next victim. The chances were extremely high.

I kept rationalizing, quickly adapting to the situation.

Maybe it’s because he killed me once before, that’s why I feel this way.

Anyway, all I wanted to do now was hurry home.

Ugh, I need a shower.

When I got home, I found a piece of paper on the table.

<Contract for the Ownership of Body and Soul>

This contract is made between Party A (hereinafter referred to as “Faust”) and Party B (hereinafter referred to as “Cheol-su Kim”).

1. Contract Details 

1) Ownership 

  - Faust may take ownership of Cheol-su Kim’s body and soul at any time. 

  - Cheol-su Kim will return to the moment just before death. 

  - The contractor will be granted random abilities until the body and soul are claimed. 

2. Contract Terms 

 1) Survival 

  - Cheol-su Kim must survive until Faust retrieves the body and soul. 

  2) Obligation to Kill 

  - Cheol-su Kim must kill one person every seven days. 

  - Each time a person dies, the seven-day timer resets. 

3) Confidentiality 

  - The terms of this contract must remain known only to the contractor, Cheol-su Kim. Any breach of confidentiality will be considered a violation of the contract. 

4) Breach of Contract 

  - If Cheol-su Kim fails to kill someone every seven days, it will be considered a breach of contract. 

  - In the event of a breach, Cheol-su Kim and his family will die immediately. 

5) Contract Doubts 

- If Cheol-su Kim doubts the validity of the contract, one of his family members will die immediately and be revived one hour later. This clause will be activated as soon as the contractor reads the contract. 

3. Termination of Contract 

 1) Termination Conditions 

  - The contract will terminate if Cheol-su Kim breaches the contract or if Faust retrieves Cheol-su Kim’s body and soul.

This is a special contract and does not require a signature.

July 5th, 2024. 7:32 PM.

“So, that mysterious being’s name was ‘Faust.’ But wait... there’s something odd about the obligation to kill clause. ‘Every seven days?’”

It didn’t take long for suspicion to turn into certainty. The words “7 days” appeared once again in my field of vision.