CHAPTER 57: CHAPTER 57 - GHOST OF THE PAST I

Hyun Woo walked home after school, following the same road he always did.

The sun was still up, kids were laughing somewhere behind him, but the closer he got to his house, the quieter everything felt, like the noise just faded out the moment he turned onto his street.

He pushed the gate open with one hand and stepped inside. Nothing had changed.

The house looked exactly the same as it did in the morning — still, untouched, like no one had walked through it in days.

When he opened the front door, the silence hit him right away. No sound of cooking, no TV in the living room, no shoes by the entrance except his own.

The air felt old, like the place hadn’t been lived in. He took a slow step forward, closed the door behind him, and even that small sound felt too loud.

He didn’t move right away. He just stood there, staring at the dark hallway, reminding himself again this place never really felt like home.

It was just walls. No one asking how his day was. No one waiting for him. No one who cared if he came back at all.

He walked through the living room on the way to his room. The shelves were empty, the table bare, everything plain — except for one thing on the middle shelf.

The picture frame. It was the one thing he actually kept clean. The glass was clean, wiped so many times it looked almost new. He slowed down without even thinking and stopped in front of it.

His eyes stayed on the frame for a long moment before he reached out and picked it up carefully with both hands.

His thumb brushed across the glass once. The frame felt warmer than the rest of the room. He swallowed and breathed in slowly, but the breath caught halfway.

"...If I had this power back then," he whispered, barely audible, "you’d still be here."

He stared at his brother’s bright smile frozen in the picture.

"I could’ve stopped them from taking you. You wouldn’t have died scared and alone."

Then he looked at his mother.

"I could’ve stopped the robbery. You didn’t deserve to bleed out like that."

Then his father.

"And I could’ve found the hit-and-run bastard. I could’ve chased him until he begged."

His hand trembled, and his vision went blurry before he even knew a tear fell, landing on the frame with a soft sound.

He didn’t wipe his face. He just stared at the picture, shoulders slowly sinking under the weight he’d been carrying forever.

"If the System came a little earlier..." His voice cracked. "I wouldn’t be standing here alone. I could’ve protected you. I could’ve changed everything."

Another tear slid down, then another, falling quietly against the glass he always kept clean.

The room was silent, and something in his expression changed. The grief didn’t fade — it tightened. Hardened. Burned.

He placed the frame back on the shelf and stared at it, breathing hard, eyes stinging.

For a second, it felt like every memory in that picture was crushing him again — the fear, the loss, the helplessness that never went away.

Then suddenly, like something suddenly lit up inside his chest, a single thought jumped into his head so suddenly it felt like a bolt of lightning ran down his spine.

...I have the System now.

It hit him fast like a jolt — sharp, loud, impossible to ignore.

If I have the System... then I’m not powerless anymore.

I can find them.

I can hunt them.

Every last one of them.

The sadness in his eyes didn’t fade. It changed into golden fire. His breath steadied. His shoulders stopped shaking.

A faint gold flickered in his eyes, gold flickered in his eyes, like fire catching again.

Something in him wanted answers. Wanted names.

A fire that wasn’t going to go out until he had every truth buried under those years of loss.

And in that quiet room, with nothing but the picture frame watching him, the gold in his eyes didn’t fade.

He turned away from the photo and walked into his room. He closed the room door.

"What do I need..." he whispered, leaning closer to the glowing menu, "to make them pay for everything?"

He sat on his bed, opened the interface in front of him, and focused on the Shop menu.

He hadn’t really explored it before.

But now...

Now he wanted to see what he could get.

What he needed.

What could help him hunt the people who destroyed his family.

His hand tightened slightly.

"Let’s see what you have," he muttered.

And he opened the shop.

[ Justice Points: 4,700 JP ]

[ Skill Upgrade ]

[ New Skill ]

[ Personal Enhancement ]

[ Passive Effects ]

[ Authority Weight ]

[ Rank Upgrade ]

[ Justice Artifact ]

Hyun Woo tapped New Skill. A long list dropped down.

He scrolled.

Most of the skills were blocked with the same grey mark:

[ Locked – Higher Judge Rank Required ]

[ Locked – Higher Judge Rank Required ]

[ Locked – Higher Judge Rank Required ]

Some didn’t even have names. Just:

[ ????? ]

[ ????? ]

[ Requires Higher Authority ]

He scrolled again.

And again.

A few skills were unlocked... but they were pointless.

[ Minor Pain Resist – 200 JP ]

[ Basic Tracking Mark – 600 JP ]

[ Low-Level Fear Intimidation – 350 JP ]

[ Weak Illusion Flash – 500 JP ]

He stopped at each one for maybe half a second, then kept going.

None of it was useful.

Nothing here could trace a person.

Nothing could uncover a hidden name.

Nothing could dig up a buried case.

Nothing showed what he was looking for.

Nothing could find the people who ruined his family.

"Seriously...?" he muttered, his voice flat.

He dragged the list faster, almost flicking it.

He let out a slow breath through his nose.

"I have almost five thousand points, and I still can’t find anything?"

Annoyance crept up in his chest, the same old feeling.

He scrolled one more time just to make sure.

All grey.

All locked.

Nothing useful.

He let out a short breath. ’...Great.’

He stared at the screen for a moment, jaw tight, then swiped back to the main menu.

His eyes went to Personal Enhancement next.

He tapped it.