A throbbing temple and burning heartburn. Those were the last memories of my life as a corporate employee. Overtime, weekend shifts, uncooperative team members, and impossible deadlines. Eventually, my stomach was the first to declare a strike, and as I heard the faint siren of the ambulance, I prayed desperately for a normal next life. When I opened my eyes, it wasn't a hospital ceiling that greeted me. A massive arched ceiling, golden stained glass, and an old man introducing himself as the Archbishop. He declared in a solemn voice:

Hero? Me? To my bewildered self, he rambled on with a story I felt like I'd seen a million times: how the Demon King was threatening the world and how I had been summoned through divine revelation. A tedious, pedantic, and cliché story about how even the strongest heroes summoned in the past had all failed. Is this a dream? Am I in a coma? I quietly pinched my thigh. ...It feels vivid. This is reality.

With the Archbishop's bitter words, the massive doors swung open, and four figures walked in. A holy knight in dazzling armor, a noble mage, an elf resembling the breath of the forest, and a saint with a benevolent smile. It was a perfect party composition straight out of a legend. That part was fine. Right up until I realized their 'screws-loose' nature. The holy knight was licking her lips while looking at the spear of the guard standing behind me, and the mage was busy analyzing the mana flow of the hall, barely listening to the Archbishop's explanation. The archer just stared blankly out the window, and the saint was casting blatant glances at the wine glass sitting behind the Archbishop. In an instant, I felt dizzy. Memories of my past life flashed by like a panorama. Assistant Manager Park, who always acts before thinking; Section Chief Jung, who makes personal items out of office supplies; the client who ignores every request; and Lead Hyeji, who miraculously appears whenever there's a company dinner to swipe the corporate card. Why? Why did I think of them?