“I slept too much…” Do-Yun groaned.
It was afternoon and he got out of his bed after wrestling with it for hours. That mattress sure knew a powerful body hold. He was completely helpless and now running late.
Yet, a quick shower later he looked through the cabinet under his desk like he had all the time in the world. Flipping through the well-organized folders he found a distinct green colored folder.
This folder contained his bank documents and cheque book. He placed it atop another pink folder he set aside beforehand. That one had copies of his ID and Driving license with other important documents he would need.
He put his white sneakers on and left the house.
‘First, visit the bank to withdraw money and ask for a new card. Then buy a phone and reactivate the old number if possible. I also need to get the ID and license reissued. Lastly, no that's enough for the day.’ There was a lot he had to do today, or else the inconveniences will keep piling up.
He exited the building after going down the empty staircase. On a normal day kids would be frolicking in the playground near the main gate around this time. But today it was deathly silent.
No one wanted to step outside because of the breaking news that dominated the screens. Every channel showed the devastating aftermath of the incident across the nation.
People who had survived this and those who heard about it, none of them wanted to take a step outside of their houses. But, Do-Yun did not feel the same, and that didn’t end well.
‘The bank isn't open… No, everything is the same…’ He sighed.
Walking here was a waste of time. Even though the bank office wasn’t that far, his plan to withdraw money had failed and halted the objectives.
“I’ll try again tomorrow,” Do-Yun started his walk back to the house.
From time to time he would feel a few eyes on him from the surroundings. But the only humans he saw outside were the Police patrolling the area.
They didn’t ask anything, but did give him a side eye when he passed them by. Ignoring it he moved along. However, soon he came across another guy, and he wasn’t a copper.
That T-shirt couldn't hide his strong biceps. The guy was taller than him and appeared intimidating from afar with his quick gait. But, when he came close there was a sudden shift.
“Hello? Good Afternoon,” He was like a deer in headlights when he spotted Do-Yun.
“Good Afternoon, good day isn’t it?” He didn’t expect such a reply either but still nodded. Clear skies and soft refreshing winds that made one want to visit a park. The weather was great today, but the atmosphere couldn’t be worse.
“What are those pamphlets for?” Do-Yun’s eyes items he carried close to his body. From the little he could see, it piqued his interest.
“It is for the Gym I work in. I ordered these from the printers. They were to be delivered yesterday. But, they said the delivery wouldn’t be possible today either. And we were running out so… I went to get them…” His words trailed off as he remembered something. Panic set into his orange eyes as he realized his mistake.
“Sorry, I gotta go. The gym is still open!” He ran past Do-Yun like a flash of lightning. When Do-Yun turned around, he was gone..
For someone to not only open the gym in a time like this but also visit the printers to get the pamphlets on his own.
“Now isn’t that interesting?” The direction of his footsteps changed.
Following the direction where that guy ran. Do-Yun exited the bleak side street and arrived on the main street. But there was no sign of him here either.
‘I should be able to get right now,’ He closed his eyes for a few seconds.
Soon Do-Yun sensed dim particles floating in the darkness around him. The unrefined Magic energy inside his body stirred. It resonated with these similar particles, these particles bouched off the surroundings. And gave him a rough image.
There he found a stream of orange energy following in a crooked manner. He opened his eyes and it led to the second side street on the left side across the road.
[All conditions have met. Extra Skill Magic Energy Sensitivity (C) acquired.]
‘I’ll leave it on the full range for now. Do-Yun stepped toward his destination as he ignored the heaviness in his head.
[The Skill Adaptation (EX) is adapting to Mental Fatigue (E), progress 10%, 20%, 30%....]
With a smirk, he turned a few corners walking down the clean streets lined with closed shutters. Soon Do-Yun stood in front of the only open entrance in the area.
Gun’s Martial Arts Training Centre.
The board appeared as old as the building. The entire area was a collection of smaller buildings that got turned into stores way back. On a normal day, this place may have a good number of traffic, but not today.
“Hello… Oh… Do you need something?” The man was a little surprised when he saw Do-Yun enter.
“What is the membership plan here?” Do-Yun asked.
“Umm, It is 20,000 won for a month. but there will be discounts if you sign up for longer plans.” A little perturbed by the sudden question he still answered.
“You are charging half of what the others do?” Do-Yun still remembered the gym charges he searched for last night. They were outrageous. Especially when he wouldn’t be using half of the facilities they offered.
“That is because we don’t have a lot of equipment compared to normal gyms. This place used to be a training area for martial arts. And tuition was the main source of income here.” He answered as a wry smile formed on his lips.
“You have weights?” But, Do-Yun did not inquire further about unrelated matters.
“Yes, we do have a decent range for that,” He nodded.
“Then I’ll be back in a few days,” Do-Yun turned around with a smile.
“Oh… ok,” He was a little dejected at losing a customer who came after a long time. However, it wasn’t like he thought.
“I lost my wallet yesterday, so I don’t have my card or money. I’ll be back when I can withdraw some from the bank,” Do-Yun explained.
You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.
This place was cheap and had what he needed. So, why would he go elsewhere? If not for his empty pockets he would’ve signed up then and there.
“Oh… something like that must’ve been tough…… Right! How about this, you start from today. The payment can come later,” He suggested with a big smile.
“Are you sure?” Do-Yun asked and he nodded enthusiastically. He already had a form in hand with a pen on the counter.
“I’ll take the offer.” Do-Yun shrugged and picked up the pen. He started to fill in his information.
‘He is older than me.’ The guy was speaking in a neutral tone till now. But when Do-Yun put down his age, it made him reconsider that.
“My name is Park Byung-ho, and I am 25 years old. It was nice to meet Hyung,” He had an inkling before, but no it was clear. Do-Yun was older than him.
“Well, you can see my information on the form,” Do-Yun said turning it over.
‘It is a little messy but not unreadable.’ Byung-ho read through the information. Most of it was clear. But, there was an important part still missing.
“Hyung the phone number isn’t here,” He didn’t understand why this was blank.
“Lost my phone too, didn’t even have time to look for it. It probably got destroyed anyway.” Do-Yun answered. If he could withdraw money things would’ve been easier. But that too wouldn’t have helped much in the current situation.
To anyone else, he would look like a typical scammer.
‘Hyung must be having a hard time.’ But not to Byung-ho.
This was a small gym with barely any members left. Aside from some iron plates and barbells, there was nothing worth stealing. here What would he get out of those anyway?
And it wasn’t like Do-Yun’s words were far-fetched either. There were a lot more unrealistic things happening in the outside world.
“I see, we’ll get to it later then,” Byung-ho placed the form in a file and turned to him with a cordial smile, “let me show you around the place,”
“Well, aren’t you easy-going?” Do-Yun chuckled and followed him.
The first floor had racks and benches placed in order. With weights lining up on the opposite side of the full-body mirror, and the rubber floor was of good quality. There were a few more machines in the corner, but he wasn’t interested in them.
The two went up the flight of stairs next to the showers and changing room on the far left.
‘This is also good,’ A mat covered the entire second floor. It was there to dampen the landing when practical classes were in session. The punching and kicking bags were off to the side. And there was another changing room and shower here.
The only common thing between the floors was the emptiness. Yet, Do-Yun thought that it was perfect. Coming back to the first floor he set down the folders on the main counter and gathered the weight plates.
‘What is Hyung doing?’ Byung-ho who returned behind the counter watched with wide eyes. The weight Do-Yun was attempting to deadlift was 150 kilograms.
He wouldn’t show such a reaction if Do-Yun didn’t look so weak. He appeared fit. But he didn’t have enough muscle to lift that kind of weight.
However, he thought that his mind was playing tricks on him. Byung-ho has been in this gym for seven years. Even at that time, he had only seen a few people do something like this.
“Byung-ho do you think this can hold 300?” Do-Yun asked, curling 150 kg like it was a bag of cotton.
“N-No, But we have an Olympic-grade barbell in the back, I’ll get that for you,” Byung-ho said walking out of the counter.
“Thank you,” He heard Do-Yun’s words while walking away. This was no big deal after all he was the caretaker of the place and it was his job to help the members
But, this was the first time he was at a loss for what to do. Do-Yun had a little difficulty at the start, and now he used 250 kilograms for his bench press sets.
‘So, he has awakened,’ Byung-ho saw it in the news last week. The teenage boy from Greece who shattered the World record of Weight lifting.
He had no prior history of going to the gym and looked like a string bean. But he raised that weight with one hand and spun it on his forefinger like a basketball. And many people around the world showcased such abnormal abilities.
Even the Korean Army did a demonstration on live TV not too long ago. Some members of the First Awakened Squad showed off their abilities. It went viral across the continent and became a topic of discussion. So, compared to them Do-Yun’s case was more digestible.
“That was good,” Do-Yun shrugged his shoulders. The black crewneck he wore dripped with sweat, but he didn’t mind it for now and lay on the comfortable floor.
“Hyung went on for too long,” Byung-ho sighed.
He had pushed his body to the limit doing weighted squats and pull-ups like a madman. Byung-ho tried to stop him before, but Do-Yun passed it off like it was nothing serious. Even now there didn’t seem to be any effect on his body.
However, the damage was internal and wasn’t shown on his face.
[Skill Adaptation (EX) has started to adapt to status effect Physical Strain (E). Progress 30%...]
[Skill Adaptation (EX) has started to adapt to status effect Fatigue (E). Progress 40%...]
‘It will take some time before I hit my limit with this,’ Do-Yun stretched his creaking arms and stood up.
“Then I’ll call it a day for now,” Do-Yun was ready to leave after he picked up his folders. The plan was to go home and take a shower. He could do it here but he didn’t have a change of clothes.
“I am sure I kept them here?” Do-Yun looked around the counter with blinking eyes.
“I kept them in the drawer,” Byung-ho walked up and took them out from the drawer in the middle.
He placed them next to a box on the counter. The box belonged to a popular phone brand in the country and had a picture of the phone on the surface. The box was in good condition. But, why was he showing this to him?
“Hyung can have it, the number I used before is active in this one,” Byung-ho said.
Do-Yun didn’t have anything on him aside from the folders, not even a wallet. Because of the transparent material Byung-ho saw through it. From what he could make out one of them had bank documents while the other had a copy of his ID. So, he kept them in the drawer locker lest someone stole them when he stepped out.
“I tried to ask Uncle Ryu from two streets over if he could open his store for a bit. But he wouldn’t come out and only gave me this used phone. Hyung might be able to get a new one in a few days, I think?” Byung-ho said
“Well, even if he does open I need money to buy the device,” Do-Yun said taking the folders and the phone. If the guy has already decided to go this far then he wouldn’t reject it.
“Also, Hyung has an account in K-bank right?” Do-Yun nodded. As expected Byung-Ho had some news about this too.
“I asked Uncle Baek, he said the bank will open tomorrow from 9 A.M. to 11 A.M.” Do-Yun now understood where this guy went before.
“Thanks, it might’ve taken me a while to figure that out,” This made his task easier.
Now the only thing remaining was to reissue his ID card and Driver's license. But he would have to figure that one out on his own.
“It is nothing Hyung,” Byung-ho shook his head.
After a few minutes, Do-Yun left the Gym. He was walking back to his house. The streets were still devoid of any activities so he could focus on his Status window.
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Name: Lee Do-Yun
Age: 28
Gender: Male
Profession: None(8 choices Available)
Main Skills: Adaptation (EX), Regression (SSS).
Extra Skills: Instinct (D), Magic Sensitivity (C)
Strength: 15
Agility: 13
Vitality: 13
Intelligence: 18
Magic Energy: 11
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His stats increased by a fair bit after the battle with the boss. But they could grow more.
‘I need to get all the stats I can get from training and building up my body.' Do-Yun didn’t plan on staying in this weakened state for long.
He'll need to go through rigorous training for that. But it wasn’t anything he hadn’t done before.
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Skill Name: Adaptation
Rank: EX
Proficiency: 0.00000001726553%
Description: The one in possession of this skill can adapt to anything and everything. The Skill is Passive.
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As much as he hated this skill. This was the main source of his strength and something like an Ultimate cheat. Using this Do-Yun had built his strength using extreme methods on his own or he got pushed to do so.
‘Those bastards sure had a field day with their experiments.’ He cracked a smile. But it soon faded away under the orange glow of the setting sun.
“Even then this skill has its faults. But the main kick in the nuts is another one,” The skill window changed and displayed his second main skill.
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Skill Name: Regression
Rank: SSS
Proficiency: 76.97%
Description: Upon death, the skill bearer goes back to the day they received the skill. Once activated the skill wouldn't stop.
Use counter: 19,076
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Do-Yun had mixed feelings about this skill. If only it allowed him to set the day of return according to his preference. But even that seemed futile to him now.
‘I have tested everything in that world,’ He wasn’t interested in doing it all over again.
Especially not now that he had a new set of possibilities in this changed world. With his skill Proficiency for Adaptation turned back to zero, he saw some hope.
“Climbing the Tower to search for new chances is the only way.” Do-Yun stared at his target in the distance.
In a world where terrified humans hide from the otherworldly Beasts.
Someone was plotting his visit to their den.