Heavy rain poured without mercy.
Grey clouds smothered the sky.
The monks continued their funeral chant, low and rhythmic, echoing through the hall like a heartbeat that refused to stop.
A full day had passed since Kim Yeon's passing. Ingrid knelt silently at the side, a thin pillow placed beneath her knees. She barely felt it.
Relatives, friends, and loved ones moved in and out of the hall, each bowing before the casket to pay their respect.
She kept her gaze low. Her hands rested on her lap, but her fingers curled tightly, holding back a storm she refused to let out.
"Hey, that's Ingrid Mikage, right?"
"I heard it was a rape case, yet she did not file a report."
Their whispers slithered through the air. Ingrid's breath hitched. Her fists trembled more.
Tears gathered at the corners of her eyes, swelling, but she forced them back with every ounce of strength she had left.
Then a new voice cut through the murmur.
"Oi, instead of talking nonsense, the least you can do is show some decency."
She raised her head slightly. Shan Wolf stood there, rain still dripping from his shoulders, a garland held gently in both hands. His expression carried no judgment, only sincerity.
He walked toward her, steps quiet and respectful, and lowered himself beside her.
"Sorry," he said in a soft tone. "I do not know much about Korean funeral traditions. First time actually."
"No worries." Her reply was lifeless, barely above a whisper. Her eyes stayed fixed on the floor, empty and dull, as though the world had already taken everything from her.
"Ingrid…"
"Shan, please." Her voice quivered, but she refused to let it break. "Pity is the last thing I ever want for me."
Shan nodded slightly. "I see."
He rose to his feet, placed the garland gently on the altar, lit the incense sticks, and bowed deeply.
His movements were slow and careful, as if he feared disturbing even the air around her. One of the relatives approached and asked how he was connected to Kim Yeon.
Ingrid started to shift, intending to answer, but Shan spoke before she could.
"She is my neighbour's daughter," he said calmly. "She always comes to the next building and plays and sparks off. I helped her with homework sometimes, and she kept calling me uncle."
The relatives accepted the explanation with quiet understanding and returned to join the others in conversation.
Shan sat down beside Ingrid again. She did not look at him but spoke anyway, her voice gentle but exhausted.
"You know it is a lie. She only called you uncle once or twice."
Shan gazed at the casket for a long moment, then slowly turned his eyes back to her.
"Does it matter?" he asked.
Ingrid finally looked at him, her expression fragile, soaked in grief.
"No," she said, voice trembling. "It does not matter anymore."
The chant of the monks continued.
The rain fell harder. And in that quiet corner of the hall, two people sat side by side, carrying the weight of a loss that words could never quite reach.
New faces approached the hall. Shan looked up and saw Kim Ju On and Kei Kun Sook entering. His eyes widened. He slowly turned to Ingrid.
"Did you…"
"Yes."
"Why?" Shan asked, voice low.
"I lost." Ingrid said it without looking at him. "I lost to you, Shan. You happy now? You blackmailed me with that video of me running over Kim Ju On while she was pregnant. None of this would have happened if you would just delete that video."
Shan's jaw tightened. "You know Gin Chu Won was the one at fault. Not me. Whether I was involved or not, the outcome would still be the same."
"And yet, the pedophile still lives."
Shan Wolf reached into his coat and handed her today's newspaper. Ingrid frowned, took it, and unfolded it with shaking fingers. Rain tapped softly against the roof as she scanned the headline.
[Executive Director of Won Group Gin Chu Won, Dead.]
Her eyes widened. She slowly looked up at him, breath uneven.
"Shan… you didn't…"
"I went there for Sae Jin Mei." His eyes softened. "Did not expect your daughter to be there, remember?"
"So you killed him." Her voice wavered, caught between horror and a dark relief she refused to show.
"Yes. But for now, let the dead rest. It is not the right time to"
The doors slid open again.
Eh San Won, chairman and founder of the Won Group, entered with a solemn expression.
Beside him walked Jen Heo Won, Vice President of the Won Group, and his daughter. Their presence filled the hall with a heavy tension that made several relatives fall silent.
Ingrid's eyes locked onto Jen Heo Won. Fury sparked immediately. Her body surged forward as she tried to rise.
Shan Wolf gripped her hand firmly, stopping her mid motion. She turned to him and saw in his face a quiet warning. This was not the moment for the storm raging inside her.
"It is not the right time for confrontation," Shan whispered. "This is for condolences."
Ingrid swallowed hard. "Shan, please. Just not her."
"Alright, Ingrid."
Shan stood, his steps sharp and controlled, and moved to intercept Jen Heo Won before she came any closer to the casket.
"You are not welcome," he said coldly.
Jen Heo Won paused, unreadable, her expression blank like a mask she had worn for years. "I understand. But just so you know… this was not my doing."
With that, she turned and left the hall, her face still void of emotion.
Not long after, Eva Kim arrived. She bowed deeply, lit incense sticks with steady hands, and offered her quiet condolences. Her presence was gentle, almost giving Ingrid a moment to breathe.
Kim Yeon's boyfriend, Jon Kin Kon, entered next. The moment he saw the casket, his knees buckled. He cried uncontrollably, reaching toward it, shouting her name.
His friends rushed in, pulling him away as he screamed and sobbed, his grief echoing painfully across the hall.
When the noise settled, Eh San Won approached Ingrid. His steps were slow, his age showing in every movement. He took Ingrid's hand in both of his, his grip warm but fragile.
"I am sorry for your loss, Ingrid," he said quietly. "I know we have history. But you should know the Won Group will do anything for you."
Ingrid bowed her head slightly. "Doesn't matter, Chairman. I am grateful you gave me a chance to meet your expectations in the past years."
"I know," he said with a tired exhale. "You were my masterpiece in my… ahem… collections of you know what. But I always knew you were more than that."
He released her hand gently. The weight of old sins hung behind him like ghosts.
Without another word, Eh San Won, old and wrinkled, walked out of the hall with his daughter Jen Heo Won, leaving Ingrid in the dim glow of incense smoke and the relentless murmuring of monks outside.
The rain continued. The grief stayed heavy.
And the funeral moved on, as if refusing to pause for anyone's pain.
More colleagues from the Won Group arrived.
Rae Yoorin and Mei Yoo Jun walked into the hall, their steps quiet and respectful as they approached the altar. They lit their incense sticks, bowed deeply, and offered their condolences to Ingrid.
Ingrid rose slowly from her seat, her legs trembling from kneeling so long. She turned to Shan Wolf, who watched her with concern.
"Shan, can you watch over things for a moment?" she asked softly. "I need some time alone."
"Yeah… sure," he replied with a nod. "Whatever you need, Ingrid."
She began walking toward the back room, but paused in the doorway. She turned slightly, her expression softening despite the grief carved into her features.
"Shan… I should thank you," she said. "You did not help much in most things, but that one time… on New Year's Eve, when Eva invited me and Kim Yeon to your place."
A single tear rolled down her cheek. She tried to hide it with a faint smile.
"It made me feel like a family person again. Like you were the husband, I was the mother, Eva was the aunt, and Kim Yeon was that rebellious sixteen year old. It felt joyful. And I am grateful. Thank you."
She wiped the tear quickly and slipped into the room.
Shan exhaled and walked outside the hall to take a smoke. The rain tapped on the roof as he lit his cigar. Eva joined him, leaning casually beside him.
"You are gonna do it, boo?" she asked, arms crossed.
"I already saw the outcome in the funeral," Shan said quietly. "No dangers, no loops. Eva… you were right."
Eva raised a brow. "About what?"
"I love her," he admitted. "I love Ingrid."
Eva's eyes widened before she let out a soft laugh. "Knew it. Even though she is a widow. She did everything for her daughter. And you, brother… I knew you 'hate' love her."
She made air quotes with her fingers around the word hate.
She sighed and looked at him. "So? You gonna go die to turn back time?"
"Yeah. Eva, if I don't come back from this… then tell Ingrid that…"
"Oi, asshole," Eva interrupted, jabbing his arm. "You will come back. You are the GOAT in our time. Kidnapped, turned child mercenary. Don't act like some rookie."
Before Shan could answer, a piercing scream echoed from the back room.
Both he and Eva froze, then sprinted toward the sound.
Inside the room, they found Ingrid collapsed on the floor. Her wrist was slit, blood pooling across the tatami. A blade lay beside her hand. A folded note was soaked at the edges but still readable.
Shan fell to his knees, grabbing the note with trembling fingers.
It was her suicide letter.
**"Dear Shan Wolf,
I hate you. I wish you were dead sometimes. I wish you would just leave.
But honestly, when you caught me that day on that dark night after the accidental crime…
Your blackmail turned into a solid truce.
As we grew to understand each other, I found you trustworthy.
I found you brave.
Loyal to your words.
Scheming in a hard way.
Deep down, I wished to have maybe just a coffee with just us two.
No disturbance, no distractions.
If Kim Yeon came along, I know you would not mind.
The time we had, with our ups and downs and our necks between each other's throats, was arousing.
I admit… you, Shan Wolf… are a real man.
You take what you want…
No.
You take what you need.
If there was another life, I wish to know you better.
Maybe a cup of coffee or two.
But a life without my daughter is a stab to my heart.
Goodbye, Shan Wolf."**
Shan's fist tightened, crumpling the paper until it tore at the edges. His eyes were burning with a rage and heartbreak he could barely contain.
"Shan…" Eva whispered gently.
He stood up, shaking, breathing heavily.
"Watch over her, Eva," he said. "I am going now."
"Alright," Eva replied, pain in her voice.
Shan walked out of the building into the cold rain. He pulled out his pocket knife.
"Don't worry, Ingrid," he murmured, lifting his eyes to the storm clouds overhead. "I am coming."
He tightened his grip on the blade, preparing to stab his own heart to activate the time jump.
Rain splashed down his face as his resolve hardened.
"We will take that bitch down," he whispered, voice trembling with fury. "And I will be there to protect you…"
He slid the knife from its sheath, raising it to his chest to activate Deathborn. To go back and save both Ingrid's fall and Kim Yeon's life before she was raped.
He was inches away from plunging the knife into his heart when a mocking voice echoed behind him.
"Ahahaha… oh dear brother. You are really going to die over a widow? I did not know you had a thing for ripe wine."
Shan froze. Slowly, he turned.
It was his sister, Xiang Mei Li.
Her smile was wide and twisted.
"Who are you?" Shan demanded, hiding the knife behind him, masking the ability he was about to use.
"Oh, don't play dumb," she purred. "I know you did not call me out that night in the hotel."
Shan's eyes widened. "How do you…"
"Oh, brother." She pressed a hand to his chest, then slid it upward to lock around his neck, her touch cold and intimate.
"My dear brother… mother misses you so much she sent me."
Her smile widened further, unsettling and cruel.
"But seeing your little games amuses me," she whispered. "So I decided to see the outcome."
But then Xiang Mei Li leaned in close, her breath brushing his ear.
Her voice slithered into him like poison.
"I too have an ability," she whispered. "I am immune to your return by death. I remember every past life you turn the clock."
Shan's body stiffened. His breath caught.
Before he could react, she grabbed his jaw and pulled him into a sudden kiss.
Shan shoved her back immediately, wiping his mouth with disgust.
"You are a psycho, bitch."
"Puhahaha…" She burst into laughter, sharp and unhinged. "Oh, I am not bad. I was born this way."
Her smile twisted, eyes gleaming with dark amusement.
"But seeing you so determined…" she said, tilting her head with a mocking sweetness. "I will not get in your way. Just remember, my dear older brother…"
She took a step back, turning away slowly.
As she reached the edge of the street, she looked over her shoulder with a wicked grin.
"I am watching. Until the time is right. Kekekeke…"
Her laughter echoed as she walked out into the storming rain, vanishing into the night like a shadow.
Shan Wolf stood alone again.
His hand trembled as he looked down at the pocket knife.
The rain hit the metal blade, sliding down like tears.
"Here goes," he whispered.
He raised the knife with a heavy breath.
But instead of aiming for his heart…
He dragged the blade across his own neck.
Warm blood spilled instantly, pouring down his chest. His knees buckled.
He coughed, choking on his own breath as the world blurred, fading into darkness.
His body collapsed onto the soaked pavement. His eyes dimmed. Death embraced him.
And then—
In an instant—
He snapped awake.
He was standing at the entrance of the Harlon Hotel Nightclub.
Neon lights flickered. Music thumped behind the doors. People laughed and stumbled past him.
He knew this moment.
Minutes before Kim Yeon would be raped.
Shan's expression hardened, filled with fury and purpose. His fists clenched. His entire body shook with resolve.
He rushed inside.
And this time—
He will save her.
No matter what it cost.
---
Chapter 63 — End.