Chapter 2

“Um, customer. It says you don’t have enough balance…”

“Oh, right. I forgot.”

Kang Taehan awkwardly took back his card and rummaged through his wallet.

Fortunately, he had some cash, so he pulled out a 5,000 won bill and held it out to the cashier.

“Thank you, please come again.”

Kang Taehan stepped outside, acknowledging the employee’s farewell.

What he had bought was nothing other than a 500ml bottle of cola, cold enough to make his palms tingle.

“Ahh! This is the life!”

He immediately took a gulp, the exhilarating sensation flowing down his throat.

It was as if he was being awakened to the modern life he had forgotten for so long.

“Fortunately, it’s not as unfamiliar as I thought.”

It had been sixty years since he had lived in the world of Murim.

It wouldn’t be wrong to say that he had practically forgotten his memories of the original world during that time, but as soon as he came out, most of his memories came flooding back.

‘I worried for nothing.’

He had been concerned that he might not be able to adapt after returning after such a long time, or that he wouldn’t be able to find his way around… but it was all for naught.

Although he felt a nostalgic sense of déjà vu, he didn’t feel awkward or unfamiliar at all.

Well, even though he had spent 60 years there, no time had passed here.

It was literally like waking up from a long dream.

‘Taking the subway would be faster…’

Kang Taehan checked the time.

He had plenty of time before his meeting with Choi Seonghyeon, but he had come out early to take a walk around the streets for old times’ sake.

Kang Taehan slowly started walking.

‘It’s not that far.’

Kang Taehan decided to walk to get used to things.

He traced the route, checking the location Choi Seonghyeon had sent him via KakaoTalk.

The jimjilbang Choi Seonghyeon had pointed out was a fairly large place, appearing on the first page of a simple search.

It seemed there was a sizable massage shop inside, and that’s where they were looking for help.

Of course, he and Choi Seonghyeon were still students who hadn’t even graduated from college, but it seemed that having a license was enough to qualify.

‘They say getting any license will be helpful someday.’

That was exactly the case.

To put it bluntly, he was reaping the benefits of a license he had obtained 60 years ago.

‘That aside, this body is really weak.’

Kang Taehan exhaled a long breath.

He had only walked about 7,000 steps, but he could feel his calves starting to ache.

This was due to the fact that his body was poorly trained, let alone having any internal energy in his dantian.

Lightness Skill was out of the question, and he could barely use even a decent third-rate footwork, so he was only able to utilize the basic principles to a small extent.

‘It’s useless even if I know dozens of secret manuals.’

He had learned and mastered most of the mental methods that existed in Murim, as he was once called the Heavenly Demon.

However, mental methods were ways to absorb Qi and refine it into internal energy.

It wasn’t about creating nonexistent internal energy out of thin air, and even that required a foundation of a strong body and internal energy to handle.

And this was the modern world.

As he walked down the street, he carefully observed, and as expected, the concentration of Qi floating in the air was extremely low and turbid compared to Murim.

In the first place, the efficiency of mental methods was bound to be extremely low.

‘Well, this is the average here…’

Of course, this wasn’t Murim, so there was no need to obsess over physical strength.

He shouldn’t think based on the standards of his time in Murim.

But still, shouldn’t a man have enough strength to protect himself to walk with confidence?

He should at least be able to stop a truck to feel safe.

“Should I look for a mountain with good energy?”

In this situation, it might take at least 20 years… no, maybe even longer, to acquire decent internal energy.

“Hey, Taehan! You’re here!”

At that moment, someone waved from ahead.

It was none other than Choi Seonghyeon.

Kang Taehan couldn’t help but smile at the sight of his old friend from his memories.

“It’s been a while.”

He smiled and clasped his hands… then belatedly released them and waved.

He almost unconsciously slipped into a Murim habit.

“…It’s been a while? I told you to stop reading so many martial arts novels. When will you drop that act?”

“…I see.”

The corner of Kang Taehan’s eye twitched.

The speech patterns and habits ingrained in his body were those of Murim.

Now that he was back in the modern world, it would be good to change back to his original ways, but it felt awkward.

‘It’s a funny situation.’

When he first entered the world of Murim, he was treated as a weirdo for his modern speech and etiquette, and now it was the other way around.

Well, he could change back slowly.

Kang Taehan grinned and clasped his hands again.

“This lord watched a martial arts movie yesterday.”

“…You’re really committed to this act. Whatever. It’s not like you’re doing this for the first time. At least you’re only mimicking the speech.”

Choi Seonghyeon scoffed as if he was dumbfounded.

He had been known for his love of martial arts since high school, and he would do this kind of thing periodically, about once a month.

“But don’t do that when we get there, okay?”

“Just kidding. So, what do we have to do there?”

Kang Taehan asked in a relatively natural tone.

“It’s all I told you on KakaoTalk. We just go there and wait, and only take customers when all the other massage therapists are busy.”

It seemed they would be deployed when customers came in after the professional massage therapists were all occupied and there was a shortage of manpower.

In other words, they were backup.

They would get paid minimum wage just for waiting, and if they took on work, they would get a portion of the revenue as a bonus.

And it was quite a hefty sum.

“Of course, we do some errands while we wait, but even considering that, it’s a sweet deal. I was originally planning to enjoy this alone, but the manager said they were short-staffed.”

Choi Seonghyeon chuckled and led the way.

After walking for a while, they reached their destination.

A large eight-story building with its own parking lot.

The entire large building, visible from quite a distance, was a jimjilbang.

“Manager! I’m here!”

“Oh, Seonghyeon? You’re early.”

They entered through the employee entrance at the back, and a spacious area appeared.

They seemed to be quite close, as Choi Seonghyeon waved first and went inside.

“So… this is your friend?”

“Yes. He’s a really good friend. He’s diligent, skilled, and even gave the professor a shoulder massage.”

“Really…? He doesn’t seem that trustworthy at first glance.”

The man called the manager looked at Kang Taehan out of the corner of his eye.

Judging by his expression, it seemed he wasn’t too impressed with the first impression.

“Come on. He’s really good, I tell you. He got his license on the first try, and there’s no one like him among our classmates.”

“Since you’re saying that, Seonghyeon, I’ll give him a try, putting aside the others…”

Their conversation continued for quite a while.

He couldn’t hear everything they said, but he could guess what they were talking about.

‘So that’s how it was.’

He had said he brought him because they were short-staffed, but it seemed Choi Seonghyeon had asked for this position separately.

Kang Taehan smiled bitterly.

‘He’s always been like this.’

He didn’t show it on the outside, but he was a softie who worried about others.

He had been like that since high school.

He probably did this because he heard Kang Taehan was running low on living expenses.

“Hey! We’re done talking. Let’s change clothes and get to work.”

Choi Seonghyeon, having finished his conversation, returned with a bright smile.

“…Alright.”

“Want to go wash up in the bath? We have time since we came early.”

“Sounds good. We can use the bath too.”

Kang Taehan didn’t bother saying thank you.

He simply resolved to repay him someday.

⟢⟢⟢⟢⟢⟢

“Ugh…”

Pop.

As soon as the man sat down on the floor, he opened the lid of the sikhye container and took a big gulp.

Ice crunched in his mouth.

While the sound of ice breaking echoed cheerfully, he stared blankly into space.

“I’m dying, I’m dying…”

Assistant Manager Nam Woohyeon.

He was called an assistant manager, but it was just a title given to him so he wouldn’t be looked down upon when he went out on sales calls. His treatment wasn’t much different from that of a regular employee.

‘But the workload keeps increasing…’

Work followed by more work, and even more work.

When he finished one task, two more would appear, and checking his work schedule made him sigh.

Moreover, he belonged to the sales team.

Although the drinking culture was gradually improving these days, it was still a far cry from the sales department.

As a result, the longer he worked, the more he felt like his body was wearing down.

‘I wish I could just replace my head.’

Assistant Manager Nam thought, clutching his tired, foggy head.

He used to be able to stay up for two nights in a row and still be full of energy, but these days, even after resting all day, his body felt heavy.

That was assuming he could even get a full day of rest in the first place.

‘It would be so great if I could just replace my head like Anpanman.’

At least visiting the sauna like this after a business trip used to be his escape… but even that had lost its appeal now.

It only felt good when he soaked in the bath, but as soon as he came out, he was back to square one.

‘I really need to quit this job, seriously… Huh?’

As he came to his usual conclusion and reached for his sikhye again, a signboard caught his eye.

『 Sports Massage 』

『 Course A: Focus on Fatigue Recovery 30 minutes/60 minutes 』

『 Course B: Focus on Skin Elasticity 20 minutes/40 minutes 』

『 Course C…… 』

‘Massage…’

He had frequently visited saunas and jimjilbangs, but he had never gotten a massage there.

It felt somewhat unfamiliar, and frankly, he felt like it was a waste of money.

But right now, exhausted as he was, he craved a new stimulus.

He was so desperate that he was even paying attention to a signboard he would normally ignore.

‘There seem to be quite a few customers?’

It looked like customers were coming and going quite frequently.

That meant it wasn’t a place with absolutely no skill.

‘Let’s see… If I get a 30-minute massage and go back to the office, the timing would be perfect.’

Assistant Manager Nam Woohyeon finished the rest of his sikhye and got up from his seat.