Chapter 3

### Chapter 3: The Advertising Genius, Myung Do-hyuk

Everyone has once imagined being reborn.

There's even a joke that says, "This life is a mess, so I need to be reborn to live properly."

The dream of regressing like in a novel, investing in Bitcoin, making money in real estate, and living a new life.

I used to dismiss such unrealistic thoughts, but now they were unfolding right before my eyes.

As I stepped into the house, a hot surge rose from my heart.

There, in the living room of my childhood, stood my mother, who had passed away last year.

"Son! You must have worked hard. I was about to go to the base, but you came so early in the morning."

"Mother!!"

My eyes welled up without me realizing it.

Do-hyuk ran to his mother and hugged her tightly.

"Is it awkward that our son is so affectionate?"

"Mother!"

"Stop calling me mother and let's have breakfast. Today's meal will be delicious. I bought everything."

Still that cool tone, it's really my mother.

Mother looked healthy and young. She had been terribly ill with cancer when she passed away last year.

To meet her again like this, tears blurred my vision.

The table was filled with a generous seafood stew, tofu hot pot, and bulgogi, just like the special meal she had prepared for my discharge. She had bragged about getting all the ingredients from various famous restaurants.

Suddenly, I really wanted to eat my mother's home-cooked meal.

My mother, who worked all her life, was a terrible cook. She always served the same menu, like Gold Boy's dumplings. Fried eggs, seasoned seaweed, and a mysterious stew.

Back then, I often complained, "Do I have to eat this until I die?"

"Mother, if I say I want to eat something else, will you make it for me?"

"What do you want to eat? Since it's your discharge day, I'll make an exception."

"I want fried eggs and seasoned seaweed."

"You must have missed my cooking while in the army. Okay!"

Mother quickly made fried eggs, seasoned seaweed from the market, and a vague kimchi dish.

Looking at the real home-cooked meal my mother made, my heart ached.

This simple breakfast my mother prepared continued until she passed away.

Even when she took care of my nephew, she only fed him seasoned seaweed and fried eggs.

I later heard that my nephew cried when he received a different breakfast at his kindergarten, shocked to learn that other breakfasts existed.

I laughed for a long time at that story.

Tears welled up as I looked at the fried eggs and a sheet of seasoned seaweed.

Myung Hyun-jin's eyes widened as he saw my moist eyes.

"Wow, Myung Do-hyuk, are you moved by eggs? Mother, he must have gone crazy after the army! He's a lunatic."

"Hyun-jin, what do you mean by calling your brother a lunatic?"

"Can't call a fool a fool..."

Hyun-jin's "lunatic" comment was also welcome.

It had been so long since I heard his raspy voice.

He used to shout at every special broadcast, from the South Pole to the Amazon, until his voice became hoarse from nodules.

"Your voice is beautiful, sister?"

"Is this kid really crazy?"

I deliberately said something sweet to hear my sister's young voice.

Even the "are you crazy?" comment was genuinely welcome.

To the point where I didn't want to wake up if this was a dream.

I ate my meal, tears welling up. The taste of the steam, eggs, and the mysterious kimchi dish filled my mouth.

This wasn't a dream. The touch of my hands, the sensation in my mouth, everything was so vivid.

I slowly ate while looking around.

The familiar nostalgia, the wooden cuckoo clock, the leather sofa, and the barley tea in an orange juice bottle. It was all so heartwarming.

After barely holding back my tears and finishing my meal, I entered my room.

The pale wallpaper, the single bed, and the slightly rustic green bedding were visible.

"What a nostalgic feeling. Wow, is this really me?"

Do-hyuk burst out laughing.

In the full-length mirror next to the desk, a young Myung Do-hyuk in his early twenties was reflected.

After regressing, I was disoriented and didn't properly check my changed body while dealing with Jin-woo's affairs.

Do-hyuk carefully examined the mirror.

A sturdy and muscular build, taut skin, and a tall, slender figure.

The belly fat that started to appear in middle age was gone. Most importantly,

The furrowed brow and the blurry eyes like fish eyes were gone.

The young man in the mirror looked at him with lively eyes.

It was a long-lost, passionate gaze that was welcome.

'Wow, Myung Do-hyuk, you were quite handsome. Huh?'

Drunk on his youth, he searched for his phone. He had put it on hold during his military service.

The phone, hidden in the drawer, was a model that boasted a horizontal instinct. It was a product that appeared like a comet and disappeared like the wind.

Moreover, it had a number starting with 011. Wow, crazy.

Do-hyuk organized his belongings and once again felt the reality of his regression.

He then fell into deep thought.

Honestly, I never thought I would be given another chance at life.

I didn't have the luxury to imagine such a novel-like scenario.

I had lived a hectic life, competing in PTs and writing copy all night.

-Myung Do-hyuk, is this the best you can do!

The question that came to mind at the moment of death. Perhaps regression was the answer to that question.

He had returned to the point in his life where he regretted the most.

If this regression was the answer to that question, it meant that his previous life was not the best.

I thought I had given it my all, but the result of my past life was disastrous.

I lost my wife by neglecting my family. Even though I had demanded a divorce, it felt like I had been abandoned, or rather, she had been abandoned throughout the marriage, as she cried and stamped the papers.

Living a life drenched in nicotine, alcohol, and caffeine, I ran forward like a madman.

I risked my life for a single ad, but in the end, I was fired from the company. I was even chased out without being able to pack my own belongings.

'Is this the starting point for the best life?'

Do-hyuk's eyes hardened.

Thus, he found himself back at the starting line.

* * *

Let's organize my thoughts.

While lying the horizontally instinctive phone on its side, he confirmed the time of his regression.

Since he had regressed, he couldn't waste this life. Being abandoned after a life of hard work was enough.

Let's thoroughly analyze my life.

Starting with the easiest. Money.

From now until just before the regression, South Korea will experience several upheavals.

It will be a continuous period where one can become a sudden millionaire or a sudden pauper, depending on these upheavals.

At the center of it all are real estate, stocks, and Bitcoin.

Most importantly, there's gold, which can be gradually accumulated even as a student.

Myung Do-hyuk knows the flow of all the upheavals to come.

He leaned back in his chair, folding his arms behind his head.

A capitalist smile naturally spread across his face.

Next, school.

Do-hyuk's major was English. He started advertising as a hobby in a club and changed his career path after winning a small advertising competition.

'Do I have a reason to re-enroll in the English department?'

There was no need. He had already graduated with excellent grades and scored close to perfect on the TOEIC every time it was updated.

There was no reason to waste tuition by returning to the English department.

However, jumping straight into the advertising industry without a degree was ambiguous.

In society, academic credentials are very important. It was true in the past and before the regression. Especially in large corporations, there was a clear glass ceiling based on degrees.

In the era of lining up based on school connections and rubbing palms, a university diploma was essential.

'Should I change my major?'

The most frustrating time during his career was when the advertising and public relations majors banded together.

Especially at Taekang Ad, there were many graduates from the advertising and public relations department.

Although they were from the same university, he couldn't quite fit into that line due to his different major. The seniors were too busy taking care of their own juniors.

After rolling in the advertising industry for over a decade, he was curious to approach it academically.

He hadn't systematically studied advertising, after all.

Who knows, he might end up teaching at a university after retirement. For that, a degree was essential.

So, he decided to change his major.

Next, the company, what to do with Taekang Ad.

It would be a bit ridiculous to just do the assignments given by the school after changing his major to advertising and public relations.

On the other hand, it would be too boring to just participate in university advertising contests like he did twenty years ago.

Suddenly, Do-hyuk remembered the Taekang Ad internship posting on the advertising club bulletin board.

"Taekang Ad used to start internships around this time. It must have been very popular."

Muttering to himself, he turned on the PC hidden under the desk.

The PC, which used to boast about following famous ads, turned on slowly, tediously, and frustratingly.

He smiled, recalling the speed of 5G, which could search in a second.

It felt like he had found the lost time.

While the PC was taking its sweet time to turn on, he made coffee. It was the first time he had seen instant coffee in a long time.

He stirred two spoons of instant coffee, two spoons of sugar, and two spoons of cream in a rustic floral cup.

The sweetness of the manual process was welcome, and a smile naturally spread across his face.

Holding the coffee cup, he sat back in his chair and looked at the screen.

-Beep

The familiar login sound and the bright, fresh screen.

He had really returned to this nostalgic era.

Deeply feeling the return, he slowly scanned the now-on screen.

Sure enough, the advertising industry was booming, with job ads overflowing.

Tapping his fingers on the desk, he smiled gently.

An internship seemed manageable alongside his studies.

Besides, how bored would the workaholic Myung Do-hyuk be after retiring? His hands were itching.

Do-hyuk slowly sipped the remaining coffee, savoring its taste.

The sweetness of the sugar at the bottom was intense, as if hinting at the sweet days of his second life.

'It can only be a smooth path. I know everything about the future.'

Hit products, representative ads, the rise and fall of companies.

Myung Do-hyuk, who was at the forefront of Korean marketing.

The memories of his past life flashed by as he slowly replayed them.

This time, he wanted to broaden his horizons and live a more relaxed life.

He had been given the insight to do so, and Myung Do-hyuk would be the best.

Money, fame, success.

Isn't a life of constant struggle just like being a machine part? Worn out and discarded when broken.

Therefore, this time, he wouldn't grow old as a slave at Taekang Ad. The position of chief copywriter could go to the dogs.

But there was something he definitely wanted to do before quitting.

The soda-like actions that could only be done inside Taekang Ad.

'I'll take the best parts and kick them out. I need to play with Taekang Ad until I gather enough funds and become independent.'

He planned to use them as a stepping stone to surpass Taekang Ad and become a competitor. He would also take down the villains inside.

'Whether I rise to the top inside Taekang Ad or crush them from the outside, I'm still young, so I'll take my time.'

He slung his bag over his shoulder, looking at his younger self in the mirror.

Today was the application day for the Taekang Ad internship.