"I had more questions..." Su Jin stood in his room, his mouth still open.
In an instant, the scene had changed.
All other thoughts fell away as familiar things filled his view.
He swallowed several times. His lips trembled, then began to curl into a smile he could not contain.
He rushed to the window and threw the curtains open. Lights shone in countless homes, and a crowd bustled through the night market in the distance.
"I’m back. I’m back... I’m back!"
Joy swept away all reason. Su Jin lay on his bed with his face in his hands, laughing and crying at once.
Several minutes passed before he began to calm down, though a furtive little grin still lingered on his face.
He glanced around and instinctively reached into his pocket to check his messages. There was no phone.
Then he remembered: he had given it to Fu Qingdai.
The thought of her brought his spirits down again. His smile faded, and he fell silent.
It all felt like a dream. How far had they gone? Had they reached the military zone and made camp?
There was nothing more he could do to help them now.
He looked down at his hands. One still gripped the Company’s employment contract.
He moved experimentally, then looked around for his belongings.
His abilities remained. His body still felt extraordinarily light.
But the briefcase and the gun had vanished. The Company had probably taken them back.
There was something else he had forgotten. What was it?
He sat on the bed, thinking.
After a long while, he jolted and slapped his forehead.
"Fuck!"
The money! He had come back without any money... and the Company exchanged currency!
He had planned to grab a bag of gold from a jewelry shop before leaving, but everything had happened so fast that he had taken nothing.
He had completely forgotten about it in his hurry to get home!
There were a few local goods in the briefcase, but mostly food. They would not fetch much.
And since the Company had taken the briefcase, he might not get anything for them at all.
He was penniless!
Su Jin began rummaging through every drawer and cabinet.
He found no cash, but he did find a bank card.
He ran downstairs and kept going until he reached the nearest ATM.
With shaking hands, he inserted the card and checked his balance.
When the number appeared, an excited sound caught in his throat.
1,059,237!
More than a million yuan! The Company’s exchange really had come through!
"Over a million... Where did all that money come from?" Su Jin frowned.
Having money was wonderful, but nearly 1.06 million yuan was a great deal.
He had nothing on him worth that much.
After thinking it over, he realized what it must be.
The watch!
The watch he had picked up in Longlin Tower. He had put it in his bag while packing up with Cheng Du before they went downstairs.
Its face had even broken during the fight with Gao Tianfang.
Yet the Company had given him nearly 1.06 million yuan for a battered watch that the thieves had left behind.
How much would a new one be worth?
Once he recovered, Su Jin checked the time on the ATM.
By his reckoning, he had been gone for more than a month, about as long as he had spent in the other world.
At least he had not been away for too long.
Su Jin took out his card and considered what to do next.
He was in no mood to think about the Company. After more than a month away, he must have a mountain of messages.
He needed a phone quickly, before his family reported him missing.
It was only seven in the evening. The shops should still be open.
He pulled out his SIM card and hurried toward the shopping street where the phone stores were clustered.
...
An hour later.
After wavering between an nOwa phone and a Xiaomi, Su Jin bought a top-of-the-line Redmi K80 and two Xiaomi 15s as backups.
He had not bought a new phone in years. After graduating and starting work, he had lost all interest in tech reviews.
He did not know much about phones anymore, but a salesperson from the other brand was clearly trying to fool him, switching between apps again and again to show how powerful the phone supposedly was.
Even he could tell the demonstration was forced. Xiaomi seemed the safer choice.
After setting up the phone, he called home at once.
It rang a few times before he heard a familiar woman’s voice.
"Son, what huge project have you been working on? You couldn’t even send us a message, and you’re only calling now?" his mother demanded. "Are you finished? Your father and I were about to report you missing!"
Su Jin’s chest tightened. "Mom, it really was a huge project! It’s finished now... and I made money. More than a million yuan!"
Everyone in the Xiaomi store looked over. Their looks ranged from admiration to pity. A few whispered.
"A beggar who cares that much about his parents. You don’t see that often."
"That beggar has parents?"
"Keep your voice down. He might scratch you."
"Look at the sort of person who uses this brand. Who the hell buys Xiaomi? Let’s pick another one. It’d be embarrassing to carry the same phone."
...
"I’m really not making it up... Tell Dad I’ll be home in a couple of days. Call me if you need anything. Talk soon."
After hanging up, Su Jin felt at ease in both body and mind.
He stood there letting people stare for a while, then took his bag and headed for the night market.
The sight of people coming and going filled him with joy.
His grin nearly reached his ears, and he could not make it go away.
Only in the shadow of death did life feel so precious.
The ordinary scene struck him with such force that it swept all his worries away.
The Company and the apocalypse could wait. For now, there was only the bustling crowd.
Su Jin wiped away a tear and sat down at a noodle stall.
"Boss, two bowls of banmian—one with wide noodles, one with thin. Extra noodles in both, two eggs each, plenty of chili, and two chicken legs. I’ll take a big bottle of iced tea too."
"Pay first!"
Su Jin scanned the payment code, split a pair of chopsticks, and waited happily.
Before long, the noodles and chicken arrived.
The smell of the banmian made him grin all over again. He lifted a large mouthful of noodles.
The familiar, rich flavor filled his mouth. Su Jin leaned back in delight.
Then he bent over the bowls and ate with gusto.
After the first bowl, his emotions had mostly settled. As he ate, he took out his new phone, paid what he owed, then opened WeChat.
A flood of unread messages appeared.
At a glance, many were from former coworkers.
His old boss, Old Li, had sent more than ninety-nine.
He opened them one by one. Old Li’s anger had clearly grown over time.
At first, Old Li had ordered him to come back, kneel, and apologize. Later came threats.
[Su Jin, fuck you, *@&*@.]
[How the fuck could you do this to me?! You’ve dragged the whole company down!]
[Stop playing dead and get back here... &@...]
As he read on, nearly every message became a stream of abuse. Old Li had still been cursing him three days ago.
Su Jin laughed as he read.
He could guess what had happened. That idiot client, Wang, could not trouble him, so he had turned on Old Li instead.
Old Li must have had a miserable time, or he would not have lost his composure so badly.
The bowls and cups on the table were empty. Su Jin scrolled through his phone, relaxed, a faint smile still on his face.
He should tidy up and go back to his hometown to rest for a while.
But before he left, he had to visit his old company once more. This time... he would take back everything he had lost.