You might find this hard to understand. No, it’s perfectly normal if you don’t.

Revenge, retribution, punishment!

How could someone who was betrayed by their lover and best friend, someone who vowed cruel vengeance, be leisurely applying makeup the moment they regressed to the past?

Time was of the essence.

Seo Jieun and Choi Taehun were both currently at a higher level than me, with better items as well.

To get revenge on them, I needed to either level up quickly or improve my swordsmanship skills as fast as possible.

If not that, I could at least win the lottery or invest in stocks to earn enough money to buy high-grade items.

But instead—

"Wow, even scars get covered up with this?"

I was busy dabbing BB cream all over my face to improve my appearance.

The reason was simple.

[Swordsmanship Quest 15]
[Reach Level 60 (51/60)]

To complete the quest tied to my innate talent, swordsmanship, I would have to raise my level by nine.

I couldn’t buy items because I didn’t have the money.

I didn’t remember the exact winning lottery numbers, and while I had vague knowledge of profitable stocks or cryptocurrencies, I wasn’t sure which ones would rise immediately.

In the end, developing my newly acquired Beauty talent after regression was the best option.

And it was surprisingly rewarding.

I hadn’t done anything extraordinary—just applied the skin lotion, toner, and BB cream I’d bought in bulk at OnlyYoung.

[Facial imperfections have been covered.]
[Appearance Power +1.]
[Appearance Power: 2.]

With just that, my Appearance Power increased by one, bringing the total to two.

Then—

[Auxiliary Beauty Quest 4]
[Achieve Appearance Power 2 (2/2)]
[You have completed Auxiliary Beauty Quest 4.]
[Rewards: Strength +3, Stamina +3, Magic Power +2, Charm +2.]

Completing the quest granted me a total of 10 stat points.

Although they were distributed randomly, the total was equivalent to leveling up twice.

Clearing an E-rank dungeon at least six times wouldn’t yield that much progress. Yet, simply grooming my appearance had given me that boost.

And the benefits didn’t stop there.

[Auxiliary Beauty Quest 5]
[Your lack of sleep has disrupted your skin and bodily balance.]
[Take a 30-minute nap (0/30).]

The next quest had an absurdly low difficulty.

Take a 30-minute nap?

For a moment, I thought it was a joke, but it wasn’t.

After receiving the quest, I climbed into bed, took a short nap, and woke up.

[Auxiliary Beauty Quest 5]
[You have partially restored your skin and bodily balance through a nap.]
[Take a 30-minute nap (30/30).]
[You have completed Auxiliary Beauty Quest 5.]
[Rewards: Agility +2, Intelligence +2, Magic Power +1, Charm +1.]

The quest was genuinely completed.

"Wow, this is such easy money!"

Earning stat points just by sleeping? This was even better than regression.

Honestly, when I first realized I had regressed, I thought it was the greatest gift ever.

By using my knowledge of the past, I could become stronger and wealthier than ever before.

But for now, the benefits of the Beauty talent outweighed those of regression.

Regression required waiting for certain events to occur in the timeline to utilize my knowledge. Meanwhile, the Beauty talent had accelerated my growth within just a few hours.

Of course, there was one ambiguous point.

While reviewing the reward messages, I noticed that the Charm stat had consistently increased.

"Charm? Come to think of it, what does that even do?"

The Charm stat had risen steadily as part of the rewards from the quests, but its exact function remained unclear.

After fixing the bedhead caused by my nap, I turned to Swallow, who was perched on the laundry rack.

"Swallow, what’s the deal with the Charm stat? What’s it for?"

"Oh, didn’t I mention it? Charm is a unique stat tied to the Beauty talent. You can gain it by completing Beauty Quests. Additionally, as it increases, your appearance improves, and reaching certain thresholds unlocks skills, traits, and even titles."

"Skills, traits, and titles, huh…? So it works just like other talent stats."

I nodded, understanding Swallow’s explanation.

Just as the Swordsmanship stat granted skills, traits, and titles depending on its level, the Charm stat seemed to function the same way within the Beauty talent.

Still, one question remained.

"You said raising Charm improves my looks. Is that really working? I’ve raised my Charm stat by six through quests, but I don’t see any noticeable changes. My Appearance Power hasn’t increased either."

"That’s because Master was so hideous to begin with. At the very least, you’ll need to escape the negative range before you start seeing results. Appearance Power increases will follow, too."

"What? You little…!"

Flap!

I lashed out in frustration at Swallow’s mockery, but the bird had already flapped its wings and escaped to the ceiling.

Despite my anger, I couldn’t deny the truth in his words.

[Charm: -93]

As Swallow mentioned, my Charm had initially been -99.

Even after raising it by six points through quests, the difference wasn’t enough to be noticeable.

But was it just my imagination?

"Hmm, now that I think about it, maybe my face does look slightly better?"

Perhaps it was Swallow’s explanation influencing me, but when I examined my face in the mirror, I felt like something had changed.

I used to look like a gorilla, but now, my jawline seemed slightly more refined—closer to human-like, though far from handsome.

Anyway, whether it was real or imagined, increasing my Charm stat couldn’t hurt.

In fact, it was great.

I had always been insecure about my unattractive appearance in my previous life, so any improvement was welcome.

"Alright, let’s keep doing Beauty Quests!"

Recalling the face I had while using Bloom, I grinned and checked my next quest.

[Auxiliary Beauty Quest 6]
[Achieve Appearance Power 3 (2/3).]

After completing the nap quest, I had been assigned the task of reaching Appearance Power 3.

Since I had already raised it to 2, I just needed one more point to clear the quest.

"Hmm, what should I do next?"

I was already wearing the shirt and slacks that had boosted my Appearance Power by one, and I’d applied BB cream to my face. I needed to improve something else.

"Let’s try using what I bought."

Rustle—

I spread out the cosmetics and tools I had bought from OnlyYoung across the table.

"Oh, you’re aiming for Appearance Power 3, Master?"

"Yeah. Don’t bother me; I need to focus."

Ignoring Swallow’s chatter, I stared at the items.

But there was a problem.

"How am I supposed to use this stuff?"

While I had bought a variety of products, I didn’t know how to use them.

Raising my Appearance Power to 2 earlier hadn’t been an issue.

Back then, as soon as I applied BB cream, my Appearance Power had increased immediately.

Skin lotion and BB cream were basic products. I’d even used sunscreen and BB cream over ten times in my previous life while clearing desert or lava dungeons, thanks to Seo Jieun.

But now—

"Concealer? Foundation? This thing looks like a pencil—what’s it for?"

Faced with the prospect of actual makeup, I had no idea what to do.

I had thought of makeup as the first step to improving my appearance, so I’d bought cosmetics and tools, but as an ordinary Korean man, I only knew how to apply skin lotion and sunscreen.

"Well, I’ll figure it out somehow."

Lacking any clear plan, I boldly started experimenting.

I began with foundation, having seen people use it on TV shows and dramas. They would dab it on their faces using a cushion.

Feeling incredibly awkward, I grabbed the foundation and tried dabbing it on my face, mimicking what I had seen.

I had no real strategy. I wasn’t even sure if I was supposed to start with foundation or how much to use.

I just thought that imitating others might yield some effect.

But I was wrong.

"Uh, is this how it’s done?"

Pat-pat. Pat-pat-pat-pat!

The moment I dabbed the cushion across my face—

[Your face is unbalanced.]
[Reduced Charm causes Appearance Power to decrease by 1.]
[Appearance Power: 1.]

A message popped up next to the mirror, and my Appearance Power dropped.

"What the—? Why did it go down?"

I was stunned. Despite applying makeup, my Appearance Power had decreased.

Confused, I turned to Swallow, who had returned to his perch on the laundry rack. The bird explained in a calm tone.

"First, the product’s color doesn’t match your skin tone. Additionally, over-applying it has disrupted the harmony between your face and neck. Your makeup technique is lacking. Beauty often hinges on subtle details, Master. You can’t take this lightly."

"…"

I was at a loss for words.

Honestly, I had underestimated this.

Grooming my face into something presentable wasn’t exactly my style, but I thought a quick dab here and there would magically make me handsome and raise my Appearance Power.

It didn’t help that using just lotion, toner, and BB cream had boosted my stats earlier, giving me a false sense of confidence.

But makeup was a completely different ballgame.

If I applied it carelessly, it could backfire and make me look even worse.

Still—

“No, once it’s finished, it’ll look great!”

I refused to give up and pressed on with my makeup experiment.

Even though the system and Swallow were ruthlessly criticizing me now, I believed they’d have no choice but to praise the finished product.

Tap-tap. Tap-tap-tap.

I dabbed the cushion all over my face, staring into the mirror.

The results seemed promising.

My dull skin looked brighter, and some of the scars that covered my face were now less noticeable.

“Oh… this might actually be working.”

I smiled in satisfaction as I examined my face in the small mirror on the table.

But then—

[Overall harmony has been disrupted.]
[Your face looks worse.]
[Mismatch between face and outfit: Appearance Power -1.]
[Appearance Power: 0.]

The result was catastrophic.

Even though I had evenly applied foundation across my entire face, my Appearance Power had dropped instead of rising.

“Damn it… I worked so hard to raise that stat!”

“Pfft! I’m sorry, Master. I can’t hold back my laughter… kuhuhu!”

I clutched my head in frustration while Swallow perched on the drying rack, covering his beak with a wing as he stifled his laughter.

This wasn’t the outcome I’d hoped for.

But failure wasn’t the end.

As they say, failure is the mother of success. I just had to try again.

Using a wet wipe, I cleaned the foundation off my face and straightened my clothes, and—

[Appearance Power: 2.]

It was restored.

Still, there was no time to relax.

“Damn it, time’s running out…”

I frowned and glanced at my phone.

On the screen—

<Missed Calls>
<Seo Jieun (1)>
<Choi Taehun (5)>
<Messages>
<Seo Jieun: Hyunsoo oppa, is everything okay? Why aren’t you answering? Should we come over?>
<Choi Taehun: Hey, you didn’t forget about the raid later, did you?>

The notifications showed missed calls and messages from Seo Jieun and Choi Taehun.

Since my regression, those two had been constantly contacting me.

We were supposed to raid an E-rank dungeon together.

When I didn’t respond to their calls and messages, they kept reaching out.

I understood their frustration.

In my previous life, I would have answered their messages within seconds.

But things were different now.

I ignored their attempts to contact me.

Partly because I felt more composed in this second life, but mostly because I didn’t trust myself to stay calm if I saw them right now.

If I faced them now, I might lose control and lash out. I needed time to grow stronger before confronting them.

But my patience was reaching its limit.

It wasn’t just the memories of my past life that irritated me.

The fact that Seo Jieun’s message suggested they were together was a gut punch.

“Come to think of it, there were some odd moments back then, but I always brushed them off… like an idiot.”

This wasn’t the first time their behavior had been suspicious.

There had been numerous subtle clues in the past.

But whenever I brought it up, they would dismiss it as nothing, using their supposed “friendship” as an excuse. And if I showed discomfort, they’d brush it off as me overthinking things.

And now—

<New Message Received.>
<Seo Jieun: If you don’t show up today, I swear I’ll never see you again!>
<Choi Taehun: I paid for the gate fees since I couldn’t reach you. If you don’t come, you’re seriously the worst!>

They were trying to guilt-trip me, just like they always did.

In my previous life, this tactic worked like a charm.

They would cut contact with me whenever I disagreed with their plans, making me feel guilty. Then, they’d reach out at just the right moment to reassert control over our relationship.

If I didn’t join them for the E-rank dungeon raid today, they would probably ghost me for about a month.

“That’s not happening. I can’t wait that long.”

They say revenge is a dish best served cold, but I wasn’t that patient.

Even though I needed time to grow stronger than them, waiting an entire month would drive me insane.

“Status window, open.”

I opened my status window to take stock of what I’d gained from the Beauty Quests.

The stat boosts from the quests totaled the equivalent of five levels, plus I had gained the Bloom skill.

On top of that—

[The Handsomer You Are, the Stronger You Become (A)]
[Appearance Power: 2.]
[Appearance Power Effect: All stats +2.]

Thanks to the The Handsomer You Are, the Stronger You Become trait, I had an additional stat boost equivalent to two levels.

A total gain of seven levels.

It wasn’t enough for a decisive victory, but it would let me put up a decent fight.

I closed the status window, grabbed my longsword and leather armor, and prepared to leave.

Swallow, perched on the drying rack, wiped off his smirk and adjusted his sunglasses.

“Wait! Master, you’re not planning to start already, are you?”

“Yeah. I’ve done everything I can for now. Time to settle this.”

Revenge should be swift and decisive.

“Just wait. You’re both dead meat.”

Bang!

I slammed the front door shut and marched toward the place where Seo Jieun and Choi Taehun were waiting.