The Industrialist - Chapter 77: Delay

In a peculiar twist of fate, Lee Taeok, found himself in an extraordinary predicament. Little did he know that his scathing critique of a popular novel, ridiculing its blatant naivety and overly innocent take on romance, would set in motion a perplexing chain of events, ultimately leading to his unexpected rebirth as the delinquent character, Baek Taeyang, from the very same novel.“You should have taken better care of your girlfriend.”In the world of the Academy Sweet Love Diary novel, Baek Taeyang is destined to “rescue” the heroines.

Lin Xing has the ability to turn back time.Whenever he faces a life-threatening danger, he would return to the past.He falls to his death, and returns 5 seconds earlier.He is killed by a falling object, and returns 1 minute earlier.He is struck down by a dump truck, and returns 20 minutes earlier.Then one day... he finds himself having returned to one year ago.

Hulk was a pro football player, a guy who loved nothing more than clutching a pigskin and barreling through the defense like a runaway freight train. He lived for the gridiron. But he never, in his wildest dreams, imagined he’d see a pair of nipples bigger than a football. He became a giant baby, reborn with a new name: Orion. Orion was the runt of the giant litter, the weakest of the bunch. But when he turned ten, something crazy happened. He saw a strange panel – that not only displayed his stats but also helped him level up. With the panel’s help, and a whole lot of elbow grease, Orion led his giant tribe to become the most powerful in the Barren Mountains. He went from zero to hero, becoming a mighty Titan King. He was no longer the runt; he was the top dog.

“Hey, Yoshi-kun. I think you’re——”

Hearing that voice for the first time stopped me in my tracks. On my way home from school. On the playing field of our junior high, and at the bookshop in front of the station. And then in the empty lot where the white cat slept. Shiina Yuki, the strange girl who somehow knew all about me, always approached me like that.

We laughed, cried, got angry, held hands. Again and again, we repeated those disappearing memories and ephemeral promises. That’s why I never knew. I never knew the value of Yuki’s smiles or the meaning of her tears. Nor even the singular sentiment behind her many ‘Nice to meet you’s.

This is a captivating, heartrending tale of meetings and partings.