12 Hours After

Translator: Khan

Editor: Aelryinth

At 8:50 in the morning…

Ever since I had received a strange fate four years ago, I’d always been in front of my computer at this time, but I didn’t think I’d ever been as excited as I was today.

‘I remember the old days, when I was at work, and I first got this email.’

I opened the email box thinking about it. There were five emails in all in the mailbox: Gm 12 Hours After, Gm 12 Days After, Gm 12 Weeks After, Gm 12 Months After, and Gm 12 Years After.

When I saw the five emails, I clapped and pulled my hands apart.

‘I have more work to do.’

I grabbed the mouse and moved the cursor to Gm 12 Years After. However, I thought, ‘No, I’ll see the best one last time,’ and I pulled the cursor back up, and I took it to Gm 12 Hours After, and clicked. In 12 Hours After, the news didn’t change much, except that it said, ‘State Setting: Korea. Change?’ at the bottom.

‘This is the new active skill… the state setting window. If I keep this, Korean news will come out… I can change the country by pressing the change button next to it?’

I pressed the change button. The names quickly listed out in the order of the major countries, ‘U.S.A., China, Germany, England, France, Japan…’

If I changed the setting here, it seemed like there would be future news for the country in the next news.

‘I see… it’s simpler than I thought. Apparently, if there’s urgent news, I just have to change it right away.’

Having learned how to use the new active skill, I nodded and checked the articles one by one. If there was anything important, I took notes. And finally, I brought the cursor over to the news Gm 12 Years After.

‘What’s it going to say?’ I clicked it with anticipation. The contents immediately flowed out.

[Politics – There was a violent struggle between the ruling and opposition parties in the National Assembly, and some wounded men were brought out.

Economy – Now, ordinary people can also travel by train from Busan to Lisbon.

Society – VR games causing low birth rate?

Life/Culture – The next work of the writer of ‘From Hell’ will probably be a fantasy game.

World – A man with a fifty-year-old beard in Turkey is recorded in the Guinness Book of World Records.

IT/Science – NVIDIA’s GTX 6080Ti launch. What’s the initial price?

Entertainment – Actor Shin Seung-joo wins the Baeksang Cultural Prize.

Sports – LG Twins win 2024 Professional Baseball League!]

I looked through the articles one by one, starting from Politics first. To be honest, the title was very boring. Nevertheless, I clicked on it.

‘There’s no reversal, either.’

The contents of the article were the same; only the name of the legislator that was struggling had changed. Someone pushed someone, someone ran off with the gavel.

‘… Politics haven’t changed. After a few years, they’ll have a physical fight.’

I closed the article while reading it. Fortunately, the economic news was a pretty good one. I clicked on it.

‘Oh… at last… we can cross Siberia by train across North Korea.

Inter-Korean relations had been good and bad in recent years, depending on political situations; they continued to do so every time, but it looked like they would gradually improve. The railway to North Korea had been laid quite a while ago, but for some time, civilians were not allowed to enter, only imports from Russia and China, and exports from our country.

‘However, in the near future, it seems that the ride will be changed for civilians. In a word, it means that civilians can also cross North Korea. They can’t go around North Korea at will there, but they can pass by rail. But what year is this?’

I checked the date.

[It will be in service from June, 2024.]

If it was 2024, it would be an article two years later. It was positive news, not too far away.

‘June 2024… If I invest in economic cooperation stocks by then, I’ll see a strong return. But isn’t unification possible by then? I know that’s really hard work. If we go back and forth like this, we’ll be able to do it some day. Our country will have land twice as large and a population 1.5 times as large as South Korea’s, if the two Koreas are unified. It means that our country will have a basic physique that can compete properly with such countries as Germany, France, Britain, and Japan.’

Not yet done, I clicked on the following article, [VR games cause low birth rates?]

It was news I could guess roughly. When I clicked, it revealed the simulations of cyber model men and women, similar to real life. Needless to say, they were great looking. ‘… I think they’ve made a copy of a celebrity…’

These days, as this developed, free love gradually disappeared and more and more people were becoming immersed in VR. ‘It seems to be getting worse in the near future when technology is developed. Should I invest in VR technology? Well, that’s not exactly good news for society, though.’

Next was Life/Culture news, and it was a Web novel-related one.

‘It seems that they see a fantasy game in the future… It was popular when I was a kid, and it seems to still be popular in the future. However, any genre novel depends on which writer is writing, just as the flavor of any dish depends on which cook is cooking. No matter how old a genre is, every time a new writer comes out, a new piece can be born.

‘Umm…’

I glanced at the remaining articles.

‘GTX6080? Well, I’ll have to change my computer when this comes out. LG eventually won the game. Congratulations. Shin Seung-joo? Who is he? Is he a future celebrity? I’ll write that down and let President Kwon know.’

I went through all the articles like that. However, did I have high expectations? Aside from the news, “Increasing economic cooperation with North Korea,” there was no other news that said, “Wow, this is the future world.” I pursed my lips slightly and thought, ‘Well… if I look at it further, I’ll find something interesting. Maybe it’s because there’s no particularly catchy news today in 12 Years After.’

As I thought of it, I looked down into People Search. Seeing that, there was nothing to be disappointed about.

‘I have this. What am I doing twelve years later?’

I wrote the three letters of my name, Han Sang-hoon there. A strike came immediately this time. [Chairman Han Sang-hoon of SHH Group ranks first in the chaebol rankings.]

‘Finally… I got good news. It is the news that the name “SHH” which I just set after receiving the Grandmaster Class Guide, will top the list of chaebol rankings. In other words, our company will take the top position, beating all the chaebols that are now in existence, such as the Susung, Mirae, LC, and Hanhak groups. It is saying that SHH, which now has only sixty billion dollars, will have over three hundred billion dollars, and it will crush the Susung Group.

‘Hmm… as expected.

‘In a way, it is natural. With the ability to know the future, Crow that can learn things like a ghost if it is present information, People Search through which I can search for people and know everything, and Ranking News which can report only the hottest news, it is only a matter of time before I rank first.

‘Yes, it’s only a matter of time. Let’s see when this article is…’

It was an article dated January 2025. It was about two years and three months from now. It meant that if I would not do anything weird, that was what would happen.

‘Hmm. All right. Two years and three months.’ I tried to lower my gaze further by thinking about it. But then, the phone rang. I looked at it.

‘… I absolutely told him not to call unless it’s a real emergency.’

I picked up the phone while closing the email window I was looking at.

“Why?”

“Boss, your wife says she has a little fever since this morning, but the boss’s cell phone is off.”

Ah-young was sick. I jumped up from my seat.

———————–

A large obstetrician near the house…

“Please say ahh~'”

“Ah~”

Standing behind Ah-young, I shivered nervously with my arms folded. Then, finally, I couldn’t bear it any longer and asked the doctor, “How is she, doctor?”

“Well, looking at the patient’s symptoms and the weather these days… I think it’s just a cold.”

I came up with the next question. But before I said it, my wife spoke first, “Is everything all right with the baby?”

“Yes, it’s fine. Your wife is in the stabilized period. The baby will not have any problem. You just have to think about the prescription… Take a few days off at home, and then I’ll give you a prescription if your symptoms are getting worse.”

That was a relief. I swept away my surprised heart. The same seemed to be true of Ah-young.

“Thank you, doctor.”

“Thank you, doctor.”

As I was about to leave the doctor’s office, suddenly I said to the doctor who examined Ah-young.

“Doctor.”

“Yes?”

“Could you be my wife’s dedicated doctor during her pregnancy?”

“A dedicated doctor?”

“Yes. I hope you could accompany Ah-young until she gives birth, and take care of her health.”

The female doctor made a rather obnoxious expression on my words. “But I’m employed in this hospital…”

“Yes, I know, but as you know, I’m quite rich. So… instead of this hospital, I’d like to give you more than that and monopolize your time.”

The doctor’s eyes were shaken when I talked about the pay.

I thought, ‘She’ll come over to us if I tell her the amount.’

“Now that she’s three months pregnant, she has seven months left, right? I’ll give you one million dollars if you help my wife give birth safely as a dedicated doctor for seven months. What do you think?”

My words brightened her face. “Yes. I’ll do it. I will.”

One million dollars in seven months was surely a little too much for her, but it was no different than just cent for me. I gave that amount on purpose so she could not turn it down. And I added one more option. “If you help my wife have a healthy birth… I will continue to hire you. For your information, I’m going to have about three children.”

She recognized my words right away, and bowed deeply to me. “Ah, I see. I’ll do my best to take care of Madam’s health.”

My wife, who had been looking at the whole process, gave me a slightly odd look, but I looked at her and shrugged my shoulders slightly.

‘If I want to take care of my family’s health, this is a small amount of money.’