"Teach me to shoot a gun?" Joon-ho Yoon asked, a puzzled crease forming between his brows. "I mean, I can, but… why?" He raised an eyebrow, a flicker of suspicion in his eyes.

I coughed, forcing a casual air. "Well, we need to get supplies soon. This place is barren, save for what you brought. Guns are our best bet against other humans, and maybe some of those… things, if we encounter any. I think we should all learn. And since you served in the army, you should be pretty good at it."

Joon-ho Yoon's suspicion deepened. "How did you know I served?"

Shit, I cursed inwardly. Think, damn it, think! "Kan told me," I blurted, the first excuse that came to mind. It seemed to work. His suspicion eased.

"Okay," he said, but his gaze was still sharp. "But what the hell was that back there? You killing that thing? I told you not to leave the car!"

"Well, there was no other way to get here, and there's no reason not to get familiar with killing those things," I retorted. "But I have some questions for you, and something else… something I haven't been telling Kan's father. First, I know what's happening. It's from a novel I read, Will of War. I've only read half of it, and I know a second wave of monsters and abilities is coming, but I don't know the ending."

Kan's father’s gaze lingered, intense. "Okay," he finally said. "So, what's your plan?"

A grin spread across my face. "Well, I plan on taking on one of the Pillars. Those Pillars lead to other worlds, and monsters of low rank will continue to pour out if we don't stop them."

Kan's father looked at me intensely. "So, when are you planning on going? And how exactly are you going to take on these Pillars?"

Grinning wider, I stated, "I was planning on leaving in two days, find the mayor, and work my way up to a general, or the president of Korea."

Kan’s father simply stared. "Can you leave these Pillars anytime you need to?"

My grin faltered slightly. "It depends. The one I was planning on entering… you just have to get past a very dangerous birdie," I said, using a deliberately childish term for a creature that would likely make a demon weep.

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

"What's the point of doing this?" Kan’s father asked, his voice laced with skepticism. "Is the Pillar even mildly safe?"

"It's the easiest of them all," I replied.

"How so?"

"That damn bird makes death a suggestion, not a given. Until we kill it, we can't die."

Joon-ho Yoon looked at me as if I'd lost my damn mind. And you couldn't blame him. Saying something like that was akin to claiming divinity. "How does that make it easier?" he asked, his voice laced with disbelief.

I answered calmly, "In the other Pillars, we have one try, potentially against beings thousands of times stronger. In this one, we have an infinite number of tries. True, our minds might collapse eventually – I'd say four attempts max to stay mentally unscathed. But most of our 'deaths' will be reconnaissance, training. It'll help our fighting styles, martial arts… but not pure strength. So, yeah, that's what I was planning on doing."

I turned to Joon-ho Yoon. "Reveal."

He hesitated, then followed my request. His eyes widened as the screen appeared before him. "Read me your skills, blessing, and curse," I instructed.

"Iron Body… Brutal Strike… Unyielding Will," he recited. "Those are my skills."

"Nice," I commented. "Now, your blessing?"

To my shock, he simply said, "The blessing and curse… they aren't on my screen."

What? I thought. What happened? The blessing and curse should be there! It should be the Blessing of Stone and the Curse of Intimidation. What was going on? I knew my existence was an anomaly, but a blessing and curse not existing? That was truly weird.

And then another thought struck me. Why couldn't I remember details of the story, like the Old Ones' names and other aspects? Maybe the blessing or curse was preventing me from remembering. Well, if so, thank them for it. If I did remember, I’d probably have already turned into some monstrous being.

I thanked Kan’s father and asked him about the best guns for highly armored enemies. After Yoon explained the details, we practiced shooting various weapons. It didn't take me long to get the hang of it, but it was strange. In my previous life, I just warped space to hit my target. No need to aim when space simply moved the projectile.

After finishing, I went to check on Kan. To my shock, he was still practicing, mostly improving his downward slash. Walking up to him, I touched his shoulder. He jumped in utter fear, whirling around to see me. His face contorted in a mixture of rage and annoyance. "Why the hell do you keep sneaking up on me?!" he cursed.

"You just don't pay enough attention to your surroundings," I replied, as usual.

"How was my stance?" he demanded. "And what did you and my father talk about?"

"Your stance and downward slash are getting better," I answered. "And we talked about plans for the Pillars."

Kan dropped his sword. "The Pillars?" he repeated, his voice laced with apprehension. He stopped me mid-sentence. "Are you calling a monster that makes death non-permanent a damn bird?"

I simply shrugged

. "Yeah, what about it?"