Episode 1: The Swimming Prodigy Who Returned from the Deep

A cold, suffocating darkness pressed down upon his entire body.

Dozens of meters beneath the surface, in depths where even the faintest trace of light could not reach, the frigid seawater mercilessly constricted his lungs as they struggled desperately for air. A bone-chilling cold that seemed to tear through his skin combined with crushing water pressure, squeezing every bone and organ in his body as though they might shatter at any moment.

His oxygen-starved brain screamed in desperation.

When he instinctively opened his mouth, what filled his lungs was not the air of life, but cold, salty seawater.

The sensation of liquid sliding down his throat was horrifyingly vivid.

There was nothing beneath his feet. Nothing to hold on to. No ground, no surface, no point of support.

That overwhelming helplessness gnawed away at Do-jin’s consciousness.

Was this how it would end?

Would he become nothing more than another forgotten fragment of the deep?

The muscles that had once sliced through swimming lanes and carried him toward the exhilaration of victory had now stiffened like blocks of lead, becoming shackles that dragged him deeper into the abyss.

As the thread of consciousness grew thinner, fragments of the past forced their way through the cracks, surging like a storm.

Memories of the day he had fallen from the pinnacle of glory to the bottom.

His own image, head bowed helplessly as he faced an investigation by the national swimming federation.

The faces of those who had laughed behind his back.

They shimmered before his eyes like distorted reflections on the surface of the water, tormenting him.

The water he had once loved so dearly had transformed into a predator, devouring him and squeezing the life from his lungs.

His body continued sinking endlessly into the depths.

Bubbles escaped from his mouth, spiraling toward the surface, but there wasn’t even an ounce of strength left in Gwon Do-jin’s limbs to propel him upward.

Beyond his fading vision, a shrill ringing began to tear through his ears.

“Isn’t that guy a complete fraud? He can’t even touch the pad properly, and they call him a national team athlete?”

“Gwon Do-jin! You finished last because of a calculation error. Do you have anything you’d like to say to your fans?”

“Do-jin, the game is already over. Just accept it.”

Cruel words.

Jeers.

Cold betrayal.

Mockery.

The public’s condemnation and the abandonment of those he had trusted crashed over him like dark-red currents of blood.

His glorious days, when he had been called a prodigy and effortlessly cut through the water, had been painfully brief.

After a single mistake sent him crashing down, there had been nothing left but an endless descent.

The end of his athletic career.

The collapse of his business.

And finally, that last moment when, standing beneath the merciless sea wind with a bottle of alcohol in his hand, he had thrown himself into the freezing depths.

‘So this…’

‘This is where my life ends?’

A despairing sigh escaped him.

His vision went completely black.

Darkness.

“Beep—- Beep—- Beep—-”

A sharp, dry mechanical alarm pierced his ears.

At the same time, the harsh smell of disinfectant stabbed at his nose.

“Gah…!”

Do-jin’s eyes flew open as he gasped violently, pain tearing through his lungs.

A crushing pressure weighed down the center of his chest.

He instinctively raised a hand and gripped the painful area tightly.

“Haa… Hah… Cough! Cough!”

His chest heaved uncontrollably as he desperately struggled to catch his breath.

Do-jin looked around in confusion.

This wasn’t the dark, freezing ocean.

Above him was the plain, worn ceiling of an old hospital room, white to the point of dullness.

Several unfamiliar IV stands stood beside his bed, transparent fluids slowly dripping through their tubes.

As if he couldn’t believe what he was seeing, Do-jin moved his arms and legs.

The crushing pressure that had paralyzed his entire body only moments ago was gone.

Instead, a dull, throbbing pain radiated from his right shoulder, apparently the site of an injury or surgery.

It was proof that he was alive.

No—

That he had survived.

On the bedside table lay a canned drink with an expiration date still far in the future, along with several worn sports magazines.

Afternoon sunlight poured through the hospital window, so bright that it almost hurt his eyes.

It was an ordinary, peaceful scene.

The complete opposite of the darkness beneath the sea.

Do-jin was stunned.

His heart was still pounding like mad, and he could almost taste the salty seawater mixed with the sharp scent of disinfectant lingering in his mouth.

Slowly, he pushed himself upright.

His body felt light.

This wasn’t the battered body of a man in his mid-thirties.

This was the firm, resilient body of a teenager, still carrying the vitality of youth.

Could this really be reality?

“Where… am I…?”

His voice trembled.

“I’m… alive?”

Do-jin slowly raised his shaking hands and touched his cheek, then the back of his neck.

Instead of the cold, suffocating sensation of seawater, he felt the faint warmth of living skin.

Then his eyes caught sight of an old calendar and clock hanging on the hospital wall.

[May 12, 201X]

Do-jin’s pupils widened in shock.

“No way…”

His voice barely came out.

“201X…?”

“Ten… years ago?”

Was this a dream?

Or was it the final hallucination his dying brain had created?

Do-jin hurriedly grabbed the old flip phone lying on the bedside table.

His fingers were trembling uncontrollably.

The year and date were clearly displayed on the screen.

And then, as if on cue, a text message arrived.

[From: Choi Yeon-woo]

Choi Yeon-woo.

Just thinking of that name made something inside Do-jin turn cold.

He had once called himself Do-jin’s closest friend.

In reality, he had subtly belittled Do-jin’s talent, manipulating him until he became emotionally dependent on him.

Years later, he would embezzle Do-jin’s business funds and disappear without a trace.

The text he had sent, written in such a warm and caring tone, now felt disgusting—like the flickering tongue of a snake.

[Do-jin, today is the last day to register for the National Junior Championships. How’s your shoulder? Don’t push yourself if it’s too much…]

The strength drained from Do-jin’s hand as he stared at the phone.

‘Choi Yeon-woo…’

‘And this is… the exact day I first injured my shoulder and ended up in the hospital?’

The memories of hell came flooding back like a dam bursting apart.

From this moment onward, Choi Yeon-woo would put on the mask of a caring childhood friend, manipulate Do-jin psychologically, and slowly push him into an inescapable pit.

Coach Kim Tae-young, who would exploit Do-jin’s talent solely as a business asset before discarding him.

And Yoon Hae-in—

The rival with whom Do-jin would develop a bitter, relentless feud, one that would drive him to despair time and time again.

“Hah…”

Do-jin let out a bitter, self-mocking laugh.

“Is this some hallucination I’m having before I die…?”

“Or… is this some kind of punishment from God?”

Fear squeezed his heart.

The specters that had destroyed him in his previous life were coming back.

They would crawl out once again and engulf him.

Cold sweat trickled down his forehead.

The thought of reliving that miserable, humiliating life made every cell in his body scream in rejection.

Do-jin desperately tried to steady his breathing.

The memories of his past churned through his mind like strong liquor.

That summer when his shoulder injury had crushed his dreams.

The hypocritical smiles of people offering him words of comfort.

The ridicule that poured down on him every time his times failed to improve.

He was terrified that the entire nightmare would repeat itself.

But at the same time, something hot and unfamiliar began rising from deep within his chest.

It was hatred.

Regret.

And above all—

An overwhelming desire to live.

‘Yes.’

‘If this really is a second chance…’

‘If God truly took pity on my miserable death and gave me one more opportunity…’

The fear in Do-jin’s eyes slowly faded.

In its place emerged cold, rational determination.

He was no longer the gentle, promising athlete who had allowed others to manipulate him.

Inside the body of a teenager, the soul of a man who had experienced every bitter taste life had to offer was awakening.

But—

‘No.’

Do-jin clenched his fist.

The veins on the back of his hand bulged as his fingers tightened until his nails dug into his palm.

The stubborn determination never to return to that cold, miserable abyss again—

That fierce desire to survive—

Exploded through his veins.

“I don’t care whether this is a punishment or a hallucination.”

Do-jin steadied his ragged breathing.

Then, without hesitation, he pulled the IV needle from his arm.

Plop.

A drop of blood fell onto the floor.

He didn’t care.

Do-jin swung his legs over the side of the bed and stood up with determination.

He walked toward the sink in the corner of the hospital room and twisted the faucet open.

Cold water poured out.

He cupped it in his hands and splashed it roughly over his face.

The moment the cold water touched his skin, his frozen mind snapped sharply awake.

He raised his wet face and looked into the mirror.

There he was.

A younger Gwon Do-jin.

A teenager who had yet to be devoured by the filth and failures of the world.

His features were youthful, but there was already something sharp about them.

He looked strangely full of life.

Yet his eyes—

His eyes were deep and dark, as though they had crossed decades of time.

Do-jin carefully touched the muscles around his injured shoulder.

It was still swollen with inflammation, but it was far from irreparable.

In his previous life, he had listened to Choi Yeon-woo’s sweet words and rushed back into training before he had properly recovered.

That decision had ultimately destroyed his athletic career.

But this time was different.

He already knew who the best rehabilitation specialists were.

He knew which training methods would work for him.

He even knew what mistakes he had to avoid.

And when it came to his enemies, he possessed something no one else did.

Information.

He knew who envied him.

He knew who was plotting behind his back.

He knew what would happen ten years into the future.

The world was no longer an unpredictable source of terror.

To Do-jin, it had become a carefully arranged game board.

All that remained was to overturn the board—

And become the one who controlled the game.

“Gwon Do-jin.”

Do-jin stared directly into the mirror.

“Listen carefully.”

He cupped his own face with both hands.

Cold droplets of water rolled down his jaw.

‘That pathetic sympathy that brought me down.’

‘Those false relationships that used me.’

‘And even the useless trauma I created for myself…’

Do-jin clenched his fist.

Every knuckle tightened.

The sensation of cutting through the water in a swimming pool flashed through his mind.

This time, the current would not be a wave that swallowed him whole.

It would be a tool that carried him higher.

He would choke the traitors who had betrayed him.

He would silence the tongues of those who had mocked him.

He made a vow to the reflection staring back at him.

Never again would he let anyone control him.

This time, he would finish his race in his own lane—

By his own will.

The confusion and hesitation disappeared from Do-jin’s eyes without a trace.

In their place grew something darker.

A bloody determination.

A ruthless ambition.

“I don’t believe in miracles.”

Do-jin turned off the faucet.

The mechanical hum of the IV machine was the only sound breaking the silence.

He stared deeply into the mirror and spoke in a cold voice.

“If this life I’ve been given again is a chance…”

Do-jin dried his face with a towel and picked up the athletic jacket lying on the bedside table.

He zipped it all the way up to his chin.

There wasn’t the slightest hesitation in his movements.

“This time…”

His eyes gleamed with determination.

“I’ll drag every one of you down to the deepest bottom.”

He opened the hospital room door.

His footsteps echoed coldly through the hallway.

And so, into the waves of a destiny that had begun anew—

Gwon Do-jin took his first step.