#068.
Thud. Thwack!
Fists moving at hyper-speed relentlessly battered the sandbag.
Clank. Clank.
The chains attached to the ceiling shook with a deafening racket.
"…."
Normally, moving like that would leave someone gasping for breath, yet the man didn’t have so much as a ragged breath.
"…It’s meaningless."
A low, sunken voice.
He was a hero who had moved for a full hour and barely shed a single bead of sweat.
Having finished his business in China, he had returned to Korea.
He had heard from Yoonchan, the leader, that he could rest, but he couldn’t stay still.
‘Weak.’
It was something he used to think all the time, yet after training with Yoonchan, he hadn’t thought that even once.
It was even more so after his ability bloomed.
He was none other than the Fist King.
Having awakened an ability that ranked at the absolute pinnacle—almost countable on one hand—in unarmed combat, he had thought he cast off his weak past entirely.
But that wasn’t the case.
He felt it clearly in the battle with Qin Shi Huang.
Compared to his comrades, he was definitely weak.
And not simply because he hadn’t played an active role in the battle.
‘I’m still a coward.’
Qin Shi Huang—that monster—the instant he faced it, he couldn’t help but feel fear.
He had thought he escaped his past, yet the habits and thoughts from back then still remained.
While his comrades rushed in unafraid of death, he…
‘Trash!’
…had fallen back, afraid of losing his life.
That weighed heavily on his heart, and he was too ashamed to face his comrades.
To relieve that stress, he had punched the sandbag without rest, but there was no way his heart would feel lighter.
"Haa—"
He lay flat on his back with a sigh.
Lying still and staring at the ceiling, all sorts of thoughts came to mind.
‘Should I stop here?’
It wasn’t simply because he was ashamed to see his comrades.
The fundamental problem tormenting him was whether someone who still couldn’t escape fear could truly be of help to anyone.
Scratch, scratch. He spent his time scratching his head neurotically.
As time passed like that.
"Rather than just worrying, I should at least say something."
It seemed he needed counseling.
He might have balked at the fact that his counselor would be Yoonchan, who was younger than him, but that wasn’t the case anymore.
He already recognized Yoonchan as the leader, so he felt no reluctance about opening up to him.
However, if there was one thing bothering him, it was revealing his inner self, filled with fear.
But he couldn’t just keep worrying forever.
He needed to speak his mind and hear what his comrades thought about it.
Picking up his black gym bag, he left the gym.
The city center was ruled by darkness.
It was so deserted that not a hint of human presence could be felt.
And for good reason.
With the Awakening Ritual, public order in the city had become a mess.
Because outlaws and looters ran rampant, the government had discouraged nighttime activities in sparsely populated areas.
But the hero walked those streets alone.
It was only Qin Shi Huang—a monster beyond the realm of humans—who had scared him; an ordinary Awakened would never be his match.
His ability itself aside, having achieved two full-body reinforcements, he was currently an existence in a league of his own.
As he walked through that incomparably desolate city center.
Kwaang!
An explosion rang out, and flames erupted, illuminating the darkness.
‘A raid?’
Was some other idiot Awakened causing trouble after awakening?
Thud.
He dropped his gym bag and immediately dashed toward the source.
His body, forged through full-body reinforcement, brought him to his destination in an instant.
Tatadak—
What he saw there was a corpse burning amidst the explosion.
"P-please save us."
"Please. Please, please!"
Beside the burning corpse, two people who appeared to be a husband and wife were begging, tears and snot streaming down their faces.
And between them.
"Waaah—"
A child who looked about four years old was bursting into sorrowful wails.
The cause of all this was the child’s whining.
The atmosphere had been so grim lately that they couldn’t go outside.
It was natural for a child at an age where they needed to move around to whine that they were bored.
Normally, they wouldn’t have walked the dangerous night streets ruled by darkness.
But they had asked their next-door neighbor—an Awakened acquaintance they were close with—for help, enjoying a rare moment of ordinary life on a stroll through the cool night air.
At least until his unexpected appearance.
"This son of a bitch…."
It was the moment the furious hero clenched his fist, about to erupt in anger.
"Well, who do we have here?"
At the familiar voice, he flinched, his body trembling.
Straight ahead, the man wearing a despicable smirk had a very familiar face.
"…Jeong Minseok…?"
The one who had been defeated by Yoonchan—or more precisely, the one who had been forced to serve a sentence by Chairman Kang’s capital—was standing there unscathed.
"How…?"
"How? What do you mean how? I broke out of prison."
The reason he was roaming around outside when he should be in prison was simple.
A prison break.
He had committed a serious crime rarely seen in Korea.
"But to run into you right here. If this isn’t fate, what is?"
"…."
Without bothering to answer, he glared at Minseok.
‘Did his ability bloom?’
He was using fire without any tools whatsoever.
He seemed to have awakened some ability that caused flames.
If that was the case.
Pat!
The moment he recognized him as an enemy, there was no hesitation in his movements.
As he charged at Minseok with his upper body lowered.
"Bastard!"
The curse drilled into his ears.
If it had been merely a curse, he wouldn’t have cared.
Kwaang!
But due to the sudden explosion and flames erupting right in front.
"Kuhk!"
He was forced to step back.
In that gap.
Ttak!
Along with the sound of his index finger and thumb rubbing together.
Kwa-kwang!
An explosion occurred in the air once more.
Hwaarak—
Heat engulfing his upper body along with the bursting light.
He bounced back, retreating out of the explosion’s radius.
"Hahaha! You little shit, you're still good at running away."
Minseok wore a fishy smile, brimming with confidence.
And for good reason.
『Explosion Demon』
Because he had awakened a powerful ability that caused explosions wherever he desired.
This ability, which caused explosions through the simple act of friction, was inevitably a devastating power in the current situation where proper defense systems had yet to be established.
"What? Come in, come on in, you bastard!"
"…."
Though he was a hero who had completed two full-body reinforcements, he couldn’t approach easily due to that power.
Part of it was the compatibility between close-range and long-range attacks, but it was also because of the difference in ability evolution.
Surprisingly, Minseok had already achieved the 1st-stage evolution of his ability.
No matter how much one underwent full-body reinforcement, the difference in ability evolution was enormous.
But that didn’t mean it was a one-sided affair.
"Come on, come at me!"
Despite his words, Minseok wasn’t using his ability either.
‘Range.’
At that moment, the hero was certain.
That explosion had a range.
And that its effective range wasn’t very long.
‘So what changes even if I know that?’
The fundamental problem was that the hero had to fight unarmed.
He had to somehow get close, but approaching was impossible due to the explosions.
"Ha, you little shit. So that’s how you want to play it?"
With a treacherous smile fixed on his lips.
Ttak!
He snapped his fingers.
At that moment.
Puoong!
A small explosion unlike anything before—it was aimed at the child hiding in the corner.
"Kyak!"
"Ji Yoon!"
The startled parents quickly checked on the child.
Fortunately, it had been a small explosion, so her life wasn’t in danger.
"Waaah, waaaah—"
But her arms and skin had suffered melting burns.
It was pain that a mere four-year-old child couldn’t endure.
"Please…."
The child’s mother, intuiting that Minseok would show no mercy.
Her face covered in tears and snot, she gazed at the hero with desperate eyes.
That single word "please" contained so much.
"Kihk."
Minseok laughed as he watched that scene.
"Coward bastard. If you don't want to come in, don't. I'm enjoying myself anyway."
It was an obvious provocation.
To get the hero within his attack range.
But.
Kung!
The hero couldn’t help but feel a shock as if struck by a hammer.
‘Coward…?’
Just moments ago, he had been regretting not facing Qin Shi Huang properly.
But what about now?
Nothing had changed from then.
He couldn’t advance because he feared the explosions.
If it were only that, it could somehow be understood.
Because charging into an unfavorable situation was foolish.
But what about now?
People whose lives hung by a thread were begging.
If he ran away here because it was disadvantageous, he would end up choosing the path of a coward who runs away in countless battles from now on.
'He’s right.'
He was still a coward, still a fool living in the past.
Kku-uk.
He bit his lip hard enough to draw blood.
His mind snapped awake with the metallic taste of blood.
'If you want to change, show it through action.'
Don’t worry about what your comrades think of you; worry about how you show yourself to them.
Action.
That was what he needed now.
"Yeah. I am a bit of a coward."
Chuk.
He spat out those words and took a step.
But no explosion occurred from that step.
Was he not within effective range yet?
'So what?'
The hero would no longer be devoured by the beast called fear.
"But right now…."
The parents and young daughter begging for help.
The hero glanced at them and clenched his fist.
"…I’m a slightly brave coward."
Like a loosed arrow, he kicked off the ground with all his might.
"Bastard!"
Kwaang!
An explosion erupted right before his eyes.
Light blinding his vision and tremendous heat.
The hero from just moments before would have feared it and fallen back.
Hwiik!
He veered aside with minimal movement.
Of course, an explosion wasn’t something you could avoid just by dodging.
Hwaak—
The heat engulfed his skin, causing a burning pain, but he didn’t stop.
A ferocious charge toward the front, toward Minseok.
"Where do you think you're going!"
Kwa-kwa-kwang!
As expected of the Explosion Demon.
Chain explosions erupted with virtually no delay.
Explosions surging from left and right left nowhere to dodge.
Should he retreat?
'No.'
To win this fight, he had to advance and close the distance.
If he fell back fearing the explosions, the game was over.
"Haap!"
Driving out fear with a battle cry, he pushed through the explosions and advanced.
Chiiiik—
His skin, engulfed by the flames, began to burn, leaving black scorch marks.
He clenched his teeth against the unbearable pain.
"Die, die, die!"
Kwa-kwang, kwa-kwa-kwa-kwang!
Minseok’s bombardment continued toward the hero charging like a wild boar.
An ordinary person would have already lost their life to a single explosion.
However.
"…."
The hero had crossed his arms in an X-shape to block only the heat heading for his face and continued charging.
His skin was so charred that some parts were melting.
No matter how much his body was reinforced, if he continued being exposed to the flames, he would die.
But the hero had overcome the fear of death.
That gave birth to a miracle.
Tsu-tsu-tsu-tsu.
His melting skin was regenerating rapidly.
The cause of that phenomenon, as if a saintess had used healing magic, was—
『Hyper Regeneration』
Just as Yoonchan had the talent called the Eye of the Empath, the hero had Hyper Regeneration.
A recovery talent that instantly regenerated all damage—the hero’s trademark from before the regression.
Although he hadn’t undergone much ability evolution yet, so the synergy wasn’t great, it was enough.
Kwa-kwa-kwang!
It maintained his skin so that even as it melted from the heat, it didn’t melt away entirely.
Though the terrible pain remained, it couldn’t bring fear to the hero.
Having overcome fear, he was reborn alongside the talent called Hyper Regeneration.
"Y-you…!"
A neurotic reaction.
In the end, the hero closed the distance.
After reaching a range where he could attack.
Seureuk.
His arms crossed in an X-shape unfurled.
The hero’s eyes thus revealed gleamed like those of a predator hunting prey.
"Heup!"
Minseok’s body froze the moment he met that gaze.
He had been pretending to be strong, but he couldn’t help but recall the moment of his past defeat at the hero’s hands.
And that determined the outcome of the match.
Ppeoeok!
The hero’s fist, loaded with power, directly smashed into Minseok’s face.
Hududuk!
Broken teeth fell to the ground from the shock.
Hwiing!
His body flew backward like a kite with its string cut.
Kudangtangtang!
Minseok’s body, which had flown for quite a distance, rolled pathetically across the ground.
Squirm. Squirm.
His body twitched.
He showed no signs of getting back up.
Just one blow.
The match had been decided by that single blow.
"Uraaaaah!"
He roared a beast-like howl.
And at that moment.
Swaaaaah!
He could feel a refreshing sensation sweep through his body like sweet rain.
Ability evolution.
Having overcome fear, he achieved the 1st-stage evolution together with his Hyper Regeneration talent.
'Finally!'
While everyone else was evolving their abilities, he alone had been left behind.
Perhaps that had been the cause of his fear.
But now he had overcome it, and he would never return to his weak past.
"…."
Drenched in joy, he looked up at the night sky.
And he was forced to witness an astonishing sight.
Shwiung!
A single trajectory decorated the dark night sky.
No, it wasn’t just one.
Shwiung, shuuung!
A rain of stars.
An enormous number of meteors, leaving long trails of light, were pouring down.