Chapter 2: Mother

Johan's POV

*Ding* Bell sound.

"A customer!" exclaims a woman with slightly squinted eyes.

"I'm back... Mom," I say calmly, observing the woman who is the reason for all of the original Johan's fights.

"J... Johan," she mutters. I could see tears slowly rolling down her cheeks after she uttered my name.

"I'm really sorry... I'll leave..." Before I could say more, she grabbed me to hug me.

"You're finally back, mommy's sorry, mommy's sorry."

She cries in my arms, repeating that "mommy's sorry."

"I'm sorry too," I say instinctively. There were various emotions currently in my heart, but the strongest is undoubtedly guilt mixed with relief.

I feel like a lost child who has finally found his way home.

"We can't stay here, a potential customer might come," she says, taking my hand to guide me inside.

The conversation that followed was surprisingly pleasant but also nostalgic. Johan's mother seems to be doing better, but her vision is almost gone.

It would take surgery to hope for a potential cure, but I know it's a stupid wish to want to heal her through that. I'm really lucky to have chosen a healing ability and not another power.

"Oh! Excuse me, you must be tired and I'm just talking about my life," she says, slightly embarrassed.

"No, no, it's good to catch up on lost time," I reply honestly.

She really doesn't bother me by talking about her past. It's been a long time since I've had a discussion with my parents as John.

I'm sure my disappearance won't make anyone sad among my family members. I was technically a burden to them.

If I had to describe myself as John, it would be like a social Rudeus. I was literally a recluse who only went out for work and necessities.

"Can you tell me... about yourself?" she asks hesitantly.

It seems she's wondering how her son survived on the streets.

"I was with other homeless people my age, we helped each other out and there's not much to say," I explain vaguely.

I can't tell her about the God Dog gang or Gun Park. These things are my problem and I'm going to handle them myself.

No, I'm not going to handle this alone.

The old Johan wanted to do it alone and the result? He lost to Gun. I remember he lost again to Gun during his revenge in the webtoon.

I can't end up like that in this life. I'm going to build a crew influential enough to unify the other crews and face Gun again, but also Goo.

I haven't faced him yet in this life, but he beat me with a piece of wood in the webtoon. I think I need to beat him to satisfy my pride.

I don't care about Charles Choi, he's Daniel Park's problem.

"I see," she says simply, nodding in understanding.

*Clap* Sound of applause.

"I'm going to prepare your favorite meal to celebrate your return," she says, getting up to go to the kitchen.

"A meal made by a mother, huh," I say in a low voice, looking at the ceiling.

I had forgotten the warmth of a home, but it's a shame it's temporary.

...

One week later.

"Thanks for accepting my whim," I say sincerely to my mother.

"It's just my duty to send you to high school," she replies in good spirits while eating breakfast.

It's been a week since I became Johan and frankly, I can say that I've managed to adapt quickly to my new life despite the cultural changes.

It must be said that Koreans are extremely different from Americans, they use too many polite phrases and eat... peculiar things.

Besides that, I've enrolled in Gangbuk West High School to resume my studies.

I had to take an evaluation test, but it wasn't too hard since I had already finished university in my past life. But I'll still have to take additional classes outside of normal class hours.

"I'm done," I say, getting up to leave for high school.

"Have a good day and don't forget your packed lunch," she says quickly as she sees me heading for the door.

I had almost forgotten the packed lunch, I grabbed it quickly before leaving.

My mother's complexion and mood have improved a lot since my arrival. She's become more energetic and I've noticed that she's started to see again, but it's still extremely blurry.

She mentioned wanting to see a doctor, but I dissuaded her. I was able to convince her that it was divine intervention and that she should instead thank God through prayers.

Religious as she is, my words were able to convince her and it wasn't technically a lie.

"Here it is, Gangbuk West High School," I mutter, looking at the building.

This is where I need to start my reunification of the Gangbuk district. I was too busy with paperwork to restart classes and recover the hidden savings of the original Johan.

So, I haven't had time to take care of "K-House" and Jin Jang.

"Did you see him?" whispers a female voice.

"Yes, he's handsome," mutters another voice.

"Is that the new guy?" says another voice in a hostile tone.

There were several people currently muttering in front of me. I had arrived in my class and it seems I'm already the center of attention.

"Calm down, please," the teacher declares in an authoritative tone.

"We have a new student among us," he says before signaling me to introduce myself.

"I'm Johan Seong, I hope we'll have a really interesting year," I say simply with a friendly smile.

"Please choose an empty seat," he says before dealing with some documents.

I found a suitable place next to a student who seems familiar to me and I sat down calmly.

I don't know why, but people's looks towards this person seem to be of fear.

Anyway, I'm not afraid of almost anyone in Gangbuk except for Hansu Seong.

"Hi, I'm Johan," I say in a friendly tone.

"Uh... Hanju Gu," he says simply before starting to sleep.

My brain disconnected after hearing this name. I had in front of me an important character from the story of the Questism manhwa.

Hanju Gu, an extremely competent boxer but surprisingly self-taught.

From what I remember, it had been mentioned that he's one of the people with enough potential to be able to unify Gangbuk, but unfortunately his mental state poses a problem.

He's an individual without real determination and he has no desire to be a leader, but there was no one who possessed the criteria that could make him want to follow them.

"I think I'm really going to have fun at this school," I say in a low voice, sketching a smile.

The classes went by quickly. I had to answer some questions from the teachers, but there was nothing that caught my attention.

It seems the teachers wanted to know where to place me mentally and I think I've taken on the identity of the intellectual with them since I've always given a good answer.

"Hello, my name is ####," declares a girl approaching me.

She wasn't alone as there were other people too. I think they want to socialize with me.

"If you want, we can give you a tour of the high school," declares a boy next to her.

"No need, I have a friend here who can help me with that," I say, looking at Hanju who's preparing to leave.

(Image)