Location: Studio Waiting Room.

“Wow, do you get this whole place to yourself?”

The moment I stepped into the waiting room, I couldn’t help but let out a gasp of admiration.

I had assumed that a model’s waiting room would be some tiny, cramped space.

But no, it was a spacious area with an open glass window offering a full view of Gangnam’s skyline.

“This is the biggest room here.”

Choi Yeon-jung replied casually, as if saying something extraordinary was no big deal. She picked up a small remote control and operated it toward the window.

With a beep, the wide-open window suddenly turned an opaque gray.

“Wow…”

I couldn’t help but think that this might be why people dream of becoming explorers.

‘Although she’s a particularly unique case.’

Shin-gung Choi Yeon-jung,

Like me, she was a hero summoned from another world, and she is now one of the most renowned explorers worldwide.

An explorer here refers to an expert in labyrinths or dungeons that have mysteriously appeared across the world for centuries.

Twelve years ago, she retained her powers from her hero days as compensation. With that, she shook up the industry and quickly rose to the top ranks of explorers.

Her current fame wasn’t just because of her extraordinary skills. Her looks, more dazzling than any celebrity’s, certainly played a part.

“What do you want to drink?”

“What do you have?”

“Hmm… Everything. Even alcohol.”

Choi Yeon-jung, rummaging through a small bar in the corner of the waiting room, held up a luxurious bottle of whiskey with a playful grin.

She was a well-known lover of alcohol.

“No alcohol. I drove here, remember?”

“You can just call for a driver.”

“Forget it. Just give me something cold, whatever works.”

Pouting slightly in disappointment,Choi Yeon-jung poured a drink and handed it to me.

“Thanks.”

“So, what do you need my help with?”

Taking a light sip, I brought up the main topic in a low voice, sitting across from her on the sofa.

“I’m trying to find someone.”

“Someone?”

Her eyes widened slightly as she tilted her head curiously.

“Who?”

It was hard to bring myself to say it outright.

The person I was looking for wasn’t exactly someone you’d casually mention.

“…This person…”

I pulled out a note I had prepared beforehand and slid it onto the table.

“…?”

With innocent curiosity, Choi Yeon-jung picked up the note and glanced over its contents.

“What is this?”

Her eyes narrowed instantly, and I hurried to defend myself.

“Look, just so you know, it’s not anything weird, okay?”

It was definitely something weird.

“Isn’t she about the same age as Na-gyeong?”

“Uh, yeah. She is.”

The note I handed her contained the name and age of a young girl.

It was information I had obtained earlier from the Goddess of Prosperity—the details of my wife’s… my wife’s new reincarnation.

“Who’s this girl?”

“Huh?”

Choi Yeon-jung turned her gaze toward me, narrowing her eyes with a suspicious expression.

“What’s her deal? If you’re asking me for help, she must be someone really important.”

Her perceptiveness was off the charts.

‘Should I tell her?’

The goddess had warned me about revealing too much, but she hadn’t explicitly forbidden it.

‘Besides, it’s not like she’s just anyone. She’s a former hero too.’

I decided to cautiously open up.

“…This morning, I met a goddess.”

“…What?”

Choi Yeon-jung’s expression immediately turned cold and unreadable, her eyes narrowing sharply.

Her hostility toward goddesses was oddly intense, and it wasn’t surprising to see her react this way.

“Not the Goddess of Luck we know. A goddess from… this side.”

“A goddess from this side…? Anyway, so what? What did she say?”

I hesitated for a moment before answering.

“She asked me to take care of this girl.”

For a while, Choi Yeon-jung stared at me in silence, her face shifting between surprise and seriousness as she glanced back and forth between me and the note.

“Be honest with me.”

Her tone suddenly took on a probing, interrogative edge.

“Who is she?”

“Who do you think? I don’t know her. I’ve never even seen her face.”

I tried to brush it off casually.

“That’s exactly what I’m asking!”

It didn’t work.

“Of all people, why would you—the guy who’s avoided anything to do with goddesses, to the point of abandoning your sword—agree to take care of her?”

I understood why Choi Yeon-jung reacted this way.

Since we returned from the otherworld, she had been trying to recruit me as her partner.

When I refused to fight anymore, she even offered an outrageous salary just to hire me as her manager.

But I had no intention of stepping back into that world, so I turned her down every time.

“I’ll explain everything when the time is right.”

All I could do was appeal to her sense of friendship.

“For now, just help me out.”

“……”

After glaring at me for a long moment, Choi Yeon-jung sighed deeply and leaned back against the sofa.

She glanced at the slightly crumpled note in her hand before reluctantly agreeing to help.

But, of course, there was a catch.

“There’s a condition.”

“A condition? What is it?”

“Drink with me tonight.”

“What?”

“If you don’t like it, go find someone else to help you.”

With a sly smirk, Choi Yeon-jung placed the note back on the table with a sharp thud.

Suddenly, I was reminded of Na-gyeong’s stern warnings about drinking.

“Don’t you dare drink outside! I’ll come find you if you do!”

It wasn’t a hard decision to make.

‘Sorry, Na-gyeong.’

Finding my reincarnated wife was more important than staying sober tonight.

After a night of heavy drinking at Choi Yeon-jung’s place, I finally returned home.

I was greeted by my daughter, who had stayed up all night waiting for me with wide, furious eyes. My poor back bore the brunt of her exasperation as she smacked me repeatedly, and I earned a weekend full of scolding for my efforts.

But it was worth it.

[Address: Seoul, ……..]

At last, I had managed to gather some information about my reincarnated wife.

‘This is why it’s so important to have good friends.’

While sitting in the office van during work hours, I used a break to thoroughly review the details about her.

“Hmm…”

One detail on the screen caught my attention and tugged uncomfortably at the edge of my thoughts.

[Currently Enrolled at the Academy]

Of all places, she happened to be attending the same academy as my daughter Na-gyeong.

‘I had a feeling they might be the same age, but still…’

Scratching the back of my head awkwardly, I sighed at the bizarre situation.

Not only was my reincarnated wife the same age as my daughter, but they were attending the same school.

Thankfully, they seemed to be in different departments, so they weren’t in the same class. Still, I couldn’t shake off the unease.

It felt like a strange, inexplicable sense of social guilt was poking at my conscience.

‘…Well, it’s not like I’m going to date her or anything.’

I convinced myself.

I was simply a senior hero guiding a promising junior.

With that thought, I calmed my nerves, put down my phone, and started the engine. There were other tasks to finish for now.

‘Is this the right way?’

After wrapping up the afternoon’s work, I found myself parking near a subway exit where she might pass by.

‘This feels so wrong.’

I knew from my daughter’s schedule when the academy classes ended. And in today’s world, simply entering an address into my phone revealed all the directions I needed. It wasn’t difficult to figure out how she’d commute home.

It’s moments like these that make you realize how easy it’s become to stalk someone in this age.

…Of course, I wasn’t stalking.

‘This is necessary.’

According to the Goddess of Prosperity, my reincarnated wife hadn’t officially become a hero yet.

To be precise, she was a “hero-in-training.”

The goddess didn’t elaborate much, but the gist was clear.

“It’s not time yet.”

The affairs of the gods are beyond human comprehension.

Anyway, I had been tasked with guiding her when the time came.

Sure, I could just wait until she was officially chosen and then make a grand entrance like,

Ta-da! But…

‘How am I supposed to wait for that?’

Now that I knew everything, patience wasn’t exactly my strong suit.

Especially not when it came to my wife.

“She should be here by now…”

I tapped the steering wheel and craned my neck to look down the street, knowing I’d have to head back to the office soon.

If she didn’t show up today, I’d have to try another day.

“Ah.”

Just then, people began trickling out of the subway exit. The train that came every 14 minutes must have arrived.

‘If she’s not here this time, I’ll call it a day.’

With a flicker of hope, I scanned both sides of the street carefully, waiting for her to appear.

“Hmm… Looks like another miss…”

As the crowd leaving the subway dwindled, I started to give up.

“…Hmm?”

Then, I caught sight of a familiar uniform emerging from the exit.

It was sleek and stylish, with a blue base and gold accents—a clear indicator of the academy.

“!”

There was no doubt. It was an academy student uniform.

‘Finally!’

Swallowing nervously, I pressed my face against the car window, observing her closely.

A short, curly black bob that swayed near her chin.

Sharp eyes, a delicate nose, and full lips framed her small, elegant face.

Her athletic, curvaceous figure was reminiscent of my wife in her prime. The name tag on her chest read Chun Seo-hee.

Chun Seo-hee

It was undeniable. She was the one I was looking for.

“Wow… this is insane…”

How long had it been since my heart raced like this from seeing a beautiful woman?

Unconsciously clutching my chest, I stood there, staring blankly at her retreating figure.

“……”

Defying the trends, she wore old-fashioned “kal-guksu” wired earphones as she silently walked across the road and disappeared into an alley.

“Hah.”

Only then did I finally snap back to my senses.

‘This is crazy.’

It felt as if I had encountered my first love again after years apart.

‘Pull yourself together, Han Do-hyun! She’s practically your daughter’s age!’

Technically, the age gap was less than 12 years. But the fact that she was the same age as my daughter Na-gyeong made it an awkward reality to confront.

Having a mother the same age as my daughter… wouldn’t that create issues for her?

“Phew…”

With a sigh, I rested my forehead against the car’s steering wheel and took a deep breath.

Although I had yet to confirm if she was truly the reincarnation of Kim Yoo-bin  my late wife…

‘Is it just my imagination?’

The sudden, inexplicable ache in my chest suggested otherwise.

After confirming the existence of Chun Seo-hee I found myself visiting her neighborhood multiple times to observe her from afar.

Of course, every time I did this, I was overwhelmed with guilt, as if I were doing something wrong.

But the thought that Kim Yoo-bin might be alive—alive in some form—kept overpowering my rationale.

The wife who had died in my arms might still exist, even in another body.

Love, to me, was just that intense.

“Na-gyeong.”

“Yes?”

One day, after trailing Chun Seo-hee for what felt like the hundredth time, I decided to bring up the subject during dinner with Na-gye ong.

“What would you think… if I got remarried?”

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

As expected, she set down her chopsticks with a frosty expression.

“No, it’s just something people have been saying around me lately…”

“Who’s been saying that?”

“Huh?”

“Was it Aunt Yeon-jung? Did she tell you to get remarried?”

With her trademark icy glare, she interrogated me in a tone sharp enough to cut through steel.

She really was the spitting image of her mother in moments like these.

…And that was the problem.

“No, it wasn’t her. It’s just… people from work.”

“Unbelievable. What kind of audacity do those people have to meddle in someone else’s family business?”

Perhaps it was the remnants of her memories of her mother, but Na-gyeong had always been vehemently opposed to the idea of me remarrying.

Once, a friendly coworker suggested I watch a movie with her. When I agreed Na-gyeong ran away from home.

The words she left behind when I found her at a dark playground still pierced my heart like a dagger.

“How could you forget Mom like that?”

Since that day, I had resolved to dedicate my life solely to her.

‘There’s no way I can explain this to her.’

It was a complicated situation, to say the least.

“Anyway! You’re supposed to live with me forever!”

“Of course. I only have you, Na-gyeong.”

“Good. So tonight, I’m sleeping in your room!”

“What? No, that’s not happening.”

“I don’t care! I’m sleeping there tonight!”

With a huff Na-gyeong angrily stuffed her cheeks with food.

It looked like I’d have to resign myself to being squished in bed with her tonight.

A few days later, I made my way back to Chun Seo-hee’s neighborhood after leaving work early.

‘She’s beautiful today too.’

Luckily, I caught sight of her just as she was exiting the station.

For a moment, I admired her from a distance with a satisfied smile.

But once she disappeared from view, the guilt I’d been trying to ignore came rushing back.

It was a deeply miserable feeling.

‘What am I even doing, not saying a word? This is pathetic.’

After days of this repetitive “stalking,” I finally decided to stop.

There had to be a better, more dignified way to approach her.

‘There’s got to be a breakthrough somewhere.’

Then, one day, while eating a meal prepared by Na-gyeong we were chatting about random topics when she mentioned something that caught my attention.

“Oh, right. Starting next semester, we’re getting temporary teachers at the academy.”

“Temporary teachers?”

“Yeah, it’s a new program. They’re recruiting active explorers as teachers.”

“Wow, that sounds pretty good. Makes sense—it’s hard to manage that many students with just the regular staff.”

“Exactly. I wonder who we’ll get on our side…”

I was casually nodding along when I froze.

“……Wait. Teachers?”

“Yeah. Why?”

Finally, a plausible idea struck me.