Chapter 4
Episode 4 [Sign (1)]
Thanks to the fine dust that has been gradually improving for some time, the Bukhansan Mountain walking trail was popular from early in the morning.
A person who goes hiking. A person who participates in sports. People heading to the mineral spring. Most of them seemed relaxed, which is not typical of people living in Seoul.
The vacant lot next to the mineral spring in the middle of the walking path is equipped with exercise equipment such as iron bars and parallel bars, and has been crowded with people exercising for a long time. There were a lot of people today too, but they weren’t people who gathered to exercise.
The exercise equipment was empty except for one parallel bar, and the people gathered were looking at the parallel bars.
A man was doing parallel bars.
Swish. Swish. slam.
A big swing followed by a handstand and then a mid-air rotation. The scene seen at the gymnastics competition was unfolding in the vacant lot next to the mineral spring.
wow.
Every time a difficult action was performed, people unconsciously burst out in admiration, and the number of people watching increased even more.
“She’s really good. I guess she’s a gymnast.”
At the words of a woman, the man who was the head of the mineral water site shook his head.
“Even for a gymnast, that’s impossible. The bar material is different.”
Unlike the parallel bars for artistic gymnastics, which are made of wood and have good elasticity, the parallel bars here were made of solid steel pipe. I didn’t know how to swing or do a handstand, but aerial rotations were impossible.
“He’s good at it.”
“Iknow, right.”
However, the man could not find the words to answer the woman’s question.
“Wow, that’s been a while. Doesn’t your arm hurt?”
“Before doing that, you did over a hundred pull-ups with a bar?”
“really?”
The man who had been watching from early on was busy telling the people around him what he had seen, and their surprise grew even greater.
‘Why is it so loud?’
Kyung-hoon, who had been working hard on the parallel bars for a while, was confused by the noise around him.
Surprised, he came down from the parallel bars and this time was properly cheered.
match! match! match!
“Wow! That’s amazing!”
He was startled by the crowd of people around him and the applause.
He knew a few people were watching, but he didn’t expect so many people to come in.
People looked at him curiously, and some people came up and tried to talk to him. .
Kyung-hoon hurriedly left the place. People’s stares and cheers didn’t feel too bad, but now wasn’t the time to be stared at.
He started going down the mountain at a fast pace.
“Wow, you’re not an ordinary person to run, are you? ”
“You run on the mountain path as if it were flat. What kind of athlete is this?”
The people behind him startled him once again, but he was so lost in his thoughts as he ran that he didn’t hear them.
Kyung-hoon, who fell asleep right away yesterday due to fatigue and stress, only woke up near dawn.
Perhaps it was because my physical condition had changed, or perhaps because I had slept for a long time, but when I woke up, all my fatigue and stress had disappeared.
Perhaps it was because his body had changed, or because he felt refreshed, but he couldn’t stay still. In the end, I decided to go exercise in the morning.
I put on my gym clothes, left the house, and started running. Even though I ran 1km and 5km
for a long time, I was still out of breath.
In the end, he ran to Bukhansan Mountain, which was quite far away, and has been exercising ever since.
Contrary to my initial thoughts, the reason I moved to an excessive extent was because I wanted to know how much I had changed.
‘It’s not a full sprint, but he doesn’t get tired even after running for more than 20km, has achieved the Guinness Book of World Records on the bars, and has parallel bars skills comparable to that of an artistic gymnast… When he returned to his room, he
took off his shirt and looked at his body in the mirror.
As expected, his body was different from before. His muscles are much bigger and more tightly knit than when he was in his prime in the military, and his height is slightly taller.
My physical abilities had increased so much that there was no way my body would be the same as before.
Kyung-hoon, who was examining his body, took a quick look inside his panties.
“I don’t know about anything else, but this is really good.”
Kyung-hoon was able to smile with satisfaction for the first time. While
examining the body, he looked under the bed for a moment. The items he brought yesterday were hidden deep under the bed. What
happened yesterday? When I thought about it, I didn’t really want to take it out, but at the same time, I was also very curious.
Guns and cell phones. They were all items that clearly contained over-technology that I couldn’t understand. They were items that were unsafe to leave under the bed like this. I used that as an excuse
. ,He took out the hidden items under the bed.
Body armor, a dagger, a long sword, a pistol, a magazine, and a cell phone. First,
he picked up a pistol. Although the K-5 pistol was a similar-looking gun, it was a gun that had a completely different power.
First . From the moment I shot it, I really wanted to disassemble it. Once
he made the decision, Kyung-hoon started disassembling it right away.
Disassembling
it was not that difficult. No, it was easy enough to close your eyes.
The inside of the pistol was not that different from the existing K-5 pistol. It was. As I had done countless times during my time in the military, I was able to quickly line up the pistol parts on my desk.
Many of the parts were similar, but not at all the same. The
inside barrel of the gun was engraved with the pattern that had been engraved on the pistol bullets, and it was a modified gun. There was a small jewel in the inner space of the gun.
‘So, did this pattern and jewel improve the gun’s performance?’
That was the only difference, so it was a reasonable guess.
Kyung-hoon looked at the long sword and dagger placed next to him. They both had the same pattern. They could have had a similar effect. I
swung the sword briefly, but unfortunately, I didn’t feel much of a difference.
‘Is this the end?’
Unfortunately, there was no way to find out any more. This was beyond what he could do.
But right now, he had no intention of taking it to anyone else or the police. Although there were people he was close with, it was easy to tell such nonsense. No.
He shook his head and assembled the gun again. After confirming that the gun was assembled properly, he turned on the mobile phone screen.
[Awakened]
[Mana Grade: F]
[Characteristic: Dimension Shifter]
* Please register your personal information.
[79 hours left until the next feature is activated.]
I haven’t registered my personal information yet. Thanks to that, I couldn’t see the screen properly, but I couldn’t carelessly enter my personal information into an unknown machine. ‘
The problem is the text at the bottom.’
There was a phrase similar to the phrase he saw before returning yesterday.
After the words [Estimated time for characteristic activation has arrived] appeared on the phone screen, he was able to create a hole to return home. Now, he could not feel the sensations of that time. . I remembered how to do it, but I couldn’t feel the underlying power itself.
‘Is it like the cooldown time of the game?’
I didn’t know why the time was different from then, but according to that phrase, it was clear that 79 hours later, a hole could be created to get to the destroyed city. ‘
But it’s too dangerous.’
Kyung-hoon turned off his phone screen and placed it on the desk.
He was very curious about what happened, but as the saying goes, ‘Curiosity kills the cat,’ it was too dangerous to answer the question. Fortunately, it doesn’t seem like he was forced to move, so he is deep in the deep end now. I felt like I had to bury it.
Woof! Woof! Woof!
As Kyung-hoon sighed, he heard the untimely howling of dogs.
***
After putting away the items, Kyung-hoon returned to the life of an ordinary retired worker.
Applying for unemployment benefits online . I went around the job search site and looked at the job postings.
I still had some money left in my account and wasn’t in a position to get a job right away, but I had no choice in order to receive unemployment benefits. As I
searched through the job postings, I just sighed. There was no need for life in this strange world. The reality was as daunting as the danger.
It was lunch time for the third day, after working out in the morning and surfing the Internet, and trying to avoid it. He decided to go out to eat for the first time in a long time. As time became less and less,
he became restless at home.
The place I went to was a small restaurant on an old street a little away from my room. It was a soup and rice restaurant that was considered one of the best restaurants in the neighborhood. “
My aunt is here.”
A small restaurant with 4 tables. Kyung-hoon entered the restaurant and waved his hand toward the kitchen.
“It’s been a while. What are you doing at this hour? What about work?”
Although we didn’t come often, we were regulars for a long time so we knew each other’s situation to some extent.
“It was cut. “Well.”
“Oh.”
The woman who was happy to see me clicked her tongue quietly. It was a common occurrence in today’s world, but I couldn’t help but feel sorry for her. “Just wait and I’ll cook something delicious for you.” “Yes.
”
Blunt
. This restaurant, run by an old man and a generous woman, was a place where Kyung-hoon could feel some affection in this dreary Seoul.
After a while, a rich table was set out in front of Kyunghoon.
“I haven’t ordered this many times.“
“It’s been a while since I came here and I’m the one shooting. “Just eat.”
The owner replied bluntly to Kyung-hoon’s words.
“Haha, yes.”
From his past experience, he knew well that such kindness should not be rejected. Kyung-hoon happily accepted the kindness of the two people. “
Kkkkkkkkkkk!”
“Kaaaang!”
While he was eating, a dog came from afar. I heard a barking sound.
It wasn’t just one or two dogs.
As I raised my head with a puzzled expression, I heard the woman’s angry voice coming from inside.
“What the hell is going on today? “Earlier, I heard a cat screaming, but this time it was dogs?”
Kyung-hoon was also curious about the sounds of dogs sounding like screams, but he soon paid attention to them. Fortunately, the dog’s barking didn’t last long.
“I ate well.“
“Cheer up! You’ll get a job soon!”
“Yes.”
Although she clearly knew that it wasn’t easy, the lady cheered her on, and Kyung-hoon smiled and said goodbye.
‘If only we had people like these, we could live well in Seoul.’
But Kyung-hoon knew well that it would be difficult to do so.
Anyway, it was when he was trying to walk with a happy heart.
A strange feeling tickled Kyung-hoon. It felt like the wind was gently blowing, or like being tickled by cotton wool. I was born. It was the first time he felt energy.
He looked back. The energy was flowing from far behind. A sweet sensation, as if it was tempting him.
He glared at the road with a serious expression, and after a while, he came to a conclusion.
‘Let’s go.’
Normally, it was a feeling that he would have ignored, but he couldn’t ignore this feeling because of what happened a few days ago.
Moreover, this wasn’t a strange world full of danger, and his confidence was high thanks to his stronger body.
He walked in the direction where the dogs were barking just moments ago. .
***
After following the feeling, I went on for a while and came across an abandoned factory complex.
There were dozens of tattered banners in front of the factory complex.
A quick look showed that it was a factory complex that had been twisted due to land issues. It was the same Seoul, but Gangbuk was still there. There were quite a few places like this.
He stopped in front of the factory complex. A small sound was heard from inside the factory complex.
Ugh, tsk tsk tsk tsk.
It was the sound of something being crushed and chewed with the mouth.
It was a sound so small that the average person could not hear it, but it was clearly audible to his ears.
But he was disappointed.
‘Is this a place where abandoned dogs or abandoned cats live?’
This was because along with the sound, the body odor of animals could be felt within the factory complex.
I thought I might discover something new, but it wasn’t such a strange world and there was no way something like that could happen.
He turned around with a regretful expression and at some point stopped walking.
He frowned and twitched his nose.
This was because a different smell was felt while the animals were being harvested.
‘The smell of blood?’
The scent of blood was flowing from the factory inside the complex.
He put his hands on his waist. I felt a hard feeling in my hand. I couldn’t come this far and back out without seeing something.
He decided to go inside and have a look.
Sabak Sabak.
Kyung-hoon walked towards the factory where the smell of blood was coming from.