A/N:Nothing to say on this one, just thanks to all of those that are following and liking the story. Really appreciate it!
Inimicus: I see what you mean. I'll remember to keep making sure Jee-Han gains the appropriate levels for even the most basic of skills and activities. Actually, what you said had me thinking alot how in the original manga Jee-Han rarely if ever gained any stat points when he was running away or fighting. Although, it does get daunting at times trying to keep a hold of every stat Jee-Han is supposed to gain or level. I suppose that's just the price author's of these kind of stories have to pay.
Skyozoru: Thanks for the advice! I'm glad that you enjoy what I try to do with the supporting characters. Haha, I'm glad you like Shi-Yun as she's easily one of my fav's in this story so look forward to more stuff from her. As for your question about the story, Yes the canon will still be appearing but don't fret, the divergence is upon us soon. I'll fix the repeated words immediately, thanks!
Onward!
Disclaimer: TheBlackDuelist does not claim any ownership of "The Gamer" Manwha written by Sung San-Young and Sang-Ah. I am not using this fan fiction to make profit off of this story.
The Gamer – Restart
Chapter 7
"You said you wanted to become stronger, right?"
Jee-Han hesitated for a second as he was put off by the intimidating glare the elder gave him. He looked at him with a glare that indicated he was sizing him up; questioning if his intent to become stronger was fake or not. Jee-Han swallowed his spit, clenched his fist and pulled out a toothy grin. He was going to show him his resolve.
"You bet your ass I do!"
The elder nodded in satisfaction as Sae-Young had returned, carrying a box that had a weird symbol on the front. He guessed it was their insignia or something.
"What's this?" Jee-Han could feel a mysterious but familiar presence emitting from the box, like what he felt when Sun-Il was practicing. In his mind, he gave himself a thumbs up for being able to pick up on these kind things now. It was probably an after effect from learning the [Yunhon Soul Recovery].
Sae-Young opened the box in front of him and smiled.
"In here are our clan's most basic martial arts techniques. Anyone outside our clan is free to learn them, even geeks like you"
Jee-Han stuck his tongue out at that last remark.
"So, what am I supposed to do with these?" He asked as he walked forward to look at what was inside.
"Just wait a sec, I'll get them out for you" She leaned forward to pick them up, revealing a bit of her cleavage from her v neck yellow shirt. Jee-Han who was standing right in front of that glorious view blushed furiously at the sight.
"Damn it Sae-Young! Are you purposely giving me the nip slip, you vile temptress!?" He cursed the old man for not scolding her for not trying to cover herself up anymore. Although, it's not as if anyone here would take advantage of Sae-Young; not unless they were suicidal.
"Now, try learning that Jee-Han. Before we begin training your scrawny ass, I'd like to observe how your ability works."
"Who's scrawny!?" Jee-Han growled at the geezer before turning back to the book. Before he could learn them however, he needed to know one thing.
"You don't mind if these disappear right?"
The elder shrugged.
"They're copies so I don't care. Consider these your late birthday presents."
Jee-Han side eyed him before observing the book. Like before, a notification popped up.
You've obtained the skill book [Chunbu Spirit Technique]
Would you like to learn the skill?
Confirm (Y) / Decline (N)
He pressed confirm, because why the hell not? The book glowed before bursting into feathers and surrounded his body. The knowledge and contents of the book poured into Jee-Han's head.
[Chunbu Spirit Technique (Passive & Active) LVL 1 EXP: 0.00 %]
A basic inner Ki technique developed by the Chunbumoon.
A technique that purifies Ki, the world's basic energy and stores it inside the ki center, allowing the user to freely use that power.
Passively Increases STR, DEX, VIT, INT, and WIS by 10 %.
Additional 30 increase in STR and DEX when active.
It was amazing
It was such a wonderful and captivating feeling that Jee-Han felt as if he had the power to do anything. The knowledge of utilizing ki was something that Jee-Han couldn't believe he hadn't learned before. Like the Yunhon Soul Recovery technique, it just felt natural to know about it now.
Also, he was in awe of the bonuses that the technique bestowed upon him. It increased all but one stat by 10 %! Not only that but also, the increased bonuses of the technique would improve when his MP increased, making it a completely broken ability! Jee-han could only marvel at his Gamer ability and how it could convert such a basic ability into something this incredible.
"So, how do you feel?" The elder asked as he was taken by slight surprise when the book really did vanish. The boy had spoken the truth.
"Incredible… using Ki…absorbing Ki…I understand it now." As he said that, the elder narrowed his eyes and saw that Jee-Han's body was being surrounded by a lime green aura, an indication that his body had become accustom to using the Chunbumoon's method of accessing Ki.
"Sae-Young, give him another"
"Roger that" She rummaged through the box and handed Jee-Han another book.
You've obtained the skill book [Self-Enhancement Breathing Technique]
Would you like to learn the skill?
"Guess I'll learn this too" He pressed confirm but an error message had appeared.
A detrimental effect may appear if this skill is learned due to the Chunbu Spirit Technique.
Would you like to learn the skill?
"W-What does a detrimental effect mean?" He was puzzled. He had never seen this kind of message before.
Sae-Young raised an eyebrow "Huh? What are you talking about?"
"You'll have to explain that to her Jee-Han, she's never played games before" Sun-Il had finished resting and came back into the group as he put on a shirt.
"About time…" Jee-Han absently thought.
"What happened when you tried to learn the skill?" The elder asked as he too was curious.
"An error message occurred. I think it's trying to tell me that something bad will happen if I learn this skill differently than it was meant to be learned"
The old man rubbed his chin, analyzing the aspects of Jee-Han's strange ability.
"Your ability is very strange indeed, it creates short cuts that otherwise would be impossible to create. Hmm…"
Jee-Han felt uncomfortable being gazed at so passionately at by the geezer.
"I want to test something. Give him that one, Sae-Young"
"Are you sure gramps?"
The elder nodded and Sae-Young shrugged her shoulders. She pulled out another book and handed it to him.
As he held the book, Jee-Han looked between the two of them. "Is this important or something?"
"You could say that, just try learning it. If it says anything about a detrimental effect, don't learn it."
"Right…"
Seeing no reason to object, Jee-Han looked at the book.
You've obtained the skill book [Chunbu Divine Technique]
Would you like to learn the skill?
Confirm (Y) / Decline (N)
He confirmed and yet again, he received another error message. However, this one was familiar.
You cannot learn this skill.
Your INT must be at least 90.
Woah.
A stat requirement was expected but Jee-Han wasn't expecting the requirement to be that high. It must have taken a scientific genius to have an INT that high and he was no Albert Einstein. Which begged the question, did anyone here know this technique? Surely the old man would know it. It was a thought for another day.
"Yea…I can't learn this skill. I need to have ninety INT in order to use it."
The elder was confused "INT? What's that?".
"Basically, game characters have abilities represented in numerical values. INT would refer to a person's intelligence and my intelligence isn't even close to the requirement"
"Hmm, I don't quite grasp these terms you keep using. I suppose I'll need to learn about them in order to fully understand your ability" The elder brought a hand to his lengthy beard and stroked it.
Jee-Han's eyes lit up "Heh, so you finally see the importance of games? Why don't I recommend you some?".
"I'll pass…" The elder knew he'd say that.
"Che… spoil sport."
"But does your gamer power really allow you to become smarter just by raising your INT?" Sae-Young asked.
Jee-Han sported a happy grin "Pretty much, it dumbs it down for me. Just the way I like it"
"How strange…" The elder thought about it for a minute and concluded that there was only one explanation for the effectiveness of his powers.
"You must be a late bloomer then, how frightful…"
Jee-Han cocked his head to the side.
"Late bloomer?"
"Yes. We classify natural ability users by two terms, Early Flowers and Late Bloomers. Those who belong to the former are ability users who are tremendously powerful from the start. Those classified under the latter like yourself are those whose power has almost limitless potential. Consider yourself lucky, very few of your kind exist in the Abyss"
"I-I see…" That did sound impressive to Jee-Han.
"Give him the others, he'll need them to start his training"
"Right" Sae-Young complied and handed Jee-Han several different books. He ended up carrying half a dozen books and looked at the elder with disbelief.
"Can I seriously have all these?" It may have only been the basics but still, to be handing out this many for free seemed too good to be true. There had to be a catch.
"Why are you hesitating? You said you wanted to become stronger, no? So don't complain and just take them, I already told you that they're only copies so there shouldn't be an issue"
Under normal circumstances, handing out this many books to someone of Jee-Han's status wasn't common but since Jee-Han was somewhat family, he'd make an exception.
"Well, I'll accept then" He didn't see any point in resisting further and grinned happily, confirming them all.
He felt as if he was going to faint as the rush of knowledge flushed into his head when he learned several abilities of the Chubumoon.
You've learned [Chunbu Sword Technique]!
You've learned [Chunbu Martial Arts Technique]!
You've learned [Chunbu Foot Technique]!
You've learned [Chunbu Outer Ki Technique]!
You have learned all of the Chunbumoon's basic martial arts techniques.
Skill set effect is activated.
STR, VIT, DEX, and INT are increased by 2.
"T-This power…!" He thought as he stared at his hands and feet.
'So, how do you feel?" The elder asked.
Jee-Han shot him a cocky grin.
"I've just gotten tons stronger, I can feel it!" He clenched his hand firmly, pleased with the results. Today's trip over here had been beneficial in spades!
The elder sighed "To be able to learn and use techniques just by touching them…what a cheaty ability".
"That's what I said" Sun-Il commented with a shrug.
"Don't be jealous of my greatness!"
The elder chose to ignore that and walked straight towards Jee-Han, grabbing his palm. He could see small remnants of the Chunbu's ki envelop his body and nodded in confirmation.
"As I suspected, your power allows you to learn skills quickly but because you skip the entire process of learning the skill through trial and error, you start off with a very weak skill . You said you have things called skills and masteries, right?"
Jee-Han nodded before taking out his trusty bat that had been damaged over time and was slightly bent.
"Yup, if I use skills often they'll gain experience and level up. Here, watch!" He slammed his bat into the ground, spraying bits of dirt around his feet. The impact had left a noticeable hole and the elder was intrigued by it.
"I could have never done something like that if I hadn't increased by [Blunt Weapon Mastery]".
"I see. Well, you'll just have to start practicing our clan's techniques in order to properly use them. Starting tomorrow, you'll be training here. I'll talk to your mother about it so don't –
"H-Hold on a second! Why do I have to train here!?"
Sae-Young put her hands on her hips and frowned "Is that a problem?"
Jee-Han let the bat fall to his side and used it to support his body, sighing at how the elder and Sae-Young failed to grasp how his powers works. The burden of being awesome was almost too much for Jee-Han.
"What's the point of doing your training if I can just grind these skills at home? All I've got to do is keep using them and they're levels will go up and poof, I'm a badass"
An awkward silence followed as Jee-Han looked in between the three of them and raised an eyebrow. Did he say something wrong?
"Wow, you two were right. He really is a game idiot" The elder announced, breaking the silence. Jee-Han growled under his breath but before he could retort to the geezer's wise cracks, Sun-Il raised a hand to let him finish.
"Look, just knowing the basics doesn't mean you've gotten any stronger. Grinding may work in increasing their power but you still lack experience in actually using these new skills. Thinking like that is only going to get you killed in the long run, so I suggest you take some notes on what this old fossil has to say. Do you understand?"
Truthfully, Jee-Han didn't really but he had an idea on what the geezer was saying. He was basically saying that if he didn't have any combat experience, he'd get killed.
Jee-Han sighed and accepted it.
"Fine, I'll train here."
The elder nodded in satisfaction before turning to Sun-Il.
"I can trust you'll take care of it?"
Sun-Il nodded in agreement and with that the elder had said his farewells before returning inside.
Jee-Han looked a bit depressed as he placed his bat inside his inventory and headed to the entrance with Sun-Il and Sae-Young.
"Great, now I've gotta do martial arts training… I might not be cut out for this…" He lamented. Sure, he said he'd get stronger but suddenly becoming a martial artist? Could his body handle that kind of rough training? He was hoping all he'd have to do is just grind these skills and he'd get stronger but the elder insisted otherwise.
Sun-Il patted him on the back.
"Hey, at least give it a shot man. Who knows, you could discover you have a natural talent for it".
Jee-Han looked hopeful.
"Really?"
"No not really, I just like to be optimistic".
Jee-Han slumped again, causing Sae-Young this time to pat his shoulder.
"Hey cheer up Jee-Han! Just work hard and you'll be able to do it!"
"Do you really believe that?"
"No not really…"
Jee-Han slumped again and Sun-Il and Sae-Young shot each other looks of "Maybe we shouldn't have said that".
After Jee-Han had gotten over his slump, he opened the gate and walked outside, saying his goodbyes to his "friends". He used the term very loosely now.
Before he could go though, he noticed Sun-Il still at the door with a smile on his face.
"Hey…Jee-Han…"
Sun-Il's low and serious voice caused Jee-Han to turn around.
"What's up?"
"I really owe you big time for treating my injuries. My brother's Phantom Rain and Phantom Wind also say their thanks. I don't think we could have survived going weeks without being able to train".
Jee-Han snorted before adopting a grin.
"Heh, well my powers of healing are just that impressive. So don't sweat it"
Sun-Il sighed but this time; it was a friendly sigh as he waved a hand goodbye and closed the gate.
Jee-Han on the other hand looked towards the sun high above the sky and took in a deep breath, before slapping himself across the face. He had prepared himself to start training so he needed to stop complaining and get with it. He made the choice to become stronger and even if it meant going against his lazy instincts, he needed to endure it. Seeing Sun-Il in a hospital was something Jee-Han never wanted to see again. For his sake, Jee-Han wanted to be someone he could count on if he was ever in a bind.
He wasn't going to let him fight alone.
[7:00 PM, Chunbumoon Dojo]
Drinking a refreshing cup of green tea, the head of the Chunbumoon clan, Shin Sun-Oh was supervising Sun-Il who was upside down, doing push ups. He had already completed eleven sets of one hundred push ups and would be going for his last set soon. A pretty basic exercise if he said so himself.
As he gently placed his tea cup back down, he recalled his encounter with Jee-Han and heaved a troubled sigh. Of all the things to happen, that geek had to become a natural ability user. It wasn't so much a shock as it was just incomprehensible that someone like him could obtain such a tremendous ability. The Chunbumoon were a clan made up of acquired ability users so seeing a natural one was quite rare, especially a Shinin class.
They classified natural ability users under a hierarchy system. It went:
Shinin → Ren → Phantom →Yoma → Human
Abilities under the [Shinin] class were able to change aspects of the world to help their powers grow. The fact that Gaia granted such an ability to someone like Jee-Han irked the geezer to no end, but he supposed that it was better than a person who aimed to bring about pain and destruction received that power. If it was the gamer brat, he would definitely not be a threat. Hell, perhaps his ability could be used to strength to Chunbumoon? A light-hearted chuckle escaped the elder's lips at the thought. What an amusing thought.
"Grandfather, I've finished" The elder's gaze fell upon Sun-Il who had standing up right and sweating, having finished his exercises.
"Very well, since you've just recovered we'll leave it at that. We'll begin your advanced training tomorrow. Prepare yourself properly for it"
"Of course" Sun-Il bowed as he complied with his orders and walked into the main house.
The elder stretched his aching back before getting up and heading towards the entrance of the dojo. He had an appointment with a certain someone today so he wouldn't want to be a bad host and be late. His eyes darted to every corner of the house, confirming that no one was watching what he was about to do. He concentrated and by using his ki, created an Illusion Barrier.
"It's been awhile, Sun-Oh"
Sun-Oh turned his attention to behind him and saw the man he was waiting for, Hwan Sung-Gong sitting comfortably on the edge. He rose to his feet and jumped, gracefully landing on the tip of his shoes and stuffed his hands within his own pockets.
"...I see you're still as cheeky as ever" Sun-Oh retorted.
Sung-Gong found this humorous and lightly chuckled before adjusting his glasses.
"I'm surprised. I was confident that you'd show me a more hostile introduction after what I did to your grandson and friends"
Sun-Oh's face cramped up once he heard that and he expressed a deep sigh.
"Forgive me for that. I never wished to send Sun-Il and the others to engage you but I didn't have much of a choice as the other family heads were hounding me to do something about your actions in the Seoul region" Sun-Oh shook his head in disgust. "Negotiations were a much simpler solution but alas, time was short. I'm grateful to you though, the fact that you only injured them to that extent is already a great mercy when killing them out of annoyance was an option" In the corner of his mind, the elder thanked Jee-Han once again for healing his students, allowing his guilt for what had happened to ease if only by a little.
Sung-Gong's gaze shifted towards the moon "I'm not as cold blooded as some people perceive me to be. I won't tolerate anyone getting in my way but I won't kill someone unless they give me a reason too. It's that simple"
Sun-Oh nodded, understanding his intentions. Sung-Gong may have appeared to be a villain but that was very far from the truth. If only the other clan heads would believe this, Sun-Oh wouldn't have as many wrinkles as he did now.
"In any case, I just want to state my terms so that there's no confusion. All I'm asking is for you and your clan to stay out of the way and don't interfere. If you can comply with that, we won't have any issues"
"...and what of the Yunhonmoon?"
A playful smirk appeared on Sung-Gong's face.
"I don't think they'll be bothering me any time soon"
The elder chose not to say anything more on that subject.
"I see… I just hope you understand the possible repercussions of your soul gathering. Your power is great and as such, your Illusion Barriers hold the risk of collapsing. Not to mention-
"I'm aware of that" Sung-Gong cut him off.
"I purchased this Illusion Barrier fully aware of the consequences, Sun-Oh. The Abyss may be a shady place, but with my reputation, only a fool would dare sell me an item that is unstable"
The elder knew there was truth in what he was saying and grunted in agreement. He and his clan had purchased several items from the Abyss so he could vouch for the quality. However, that didn't eliminate the possibility of being sold something that was not meant to be used.
"Sun-Il informed me that you received permission from the Existence Eater. Is this true?"
Sung-Gong briskly nodded.
"I see…" If he had permission from him, then it was out of his hands. That man's opinion was highly respected among every clan and if he believed what Sung-Gong was doing would not upset the balance, then who was he to question it?
"I understand. I'll speak with the elders of the Yunhonmoon to settle this matter. Those old buzzards are stubborn but I'll explain to them what you've told me. We won't interfere with your plans from now on"
A smile, if only faint appeared on Sung-Gong's face "That's appreciated. I've almost finished gathering the souls I've needed. Once that's done, I'll be out of your hair for good"
Sun-Oh chuckled. "I doubt that, somehow you always seem to find your way back here one way or another"
Sung-Gong turned around and began to head for the exit before the elder's voice caused him to stop.
"Sung-Gong, answer me this. What exactly drives you to take such risks such as angering both the Chunbumoon and Yunhonmoon?"
Silence befell the both of them as a chilling breeze filled the air. Suddenly, Sung-Gong looked over his shoulder and met the old man's powerful gaze with one of his own.
"Just a father trying to give his daughter the best life she can get"
With that, Sung-Gong's body vanished into thin air and the elder was left with many things on his mind.
[6:00 PM, Han Family Residence]
Jee-Han's eyebrow's twitched. He was sitting cross legged on the floor in his room, hands tucked into his armpits as he viewed his skill window.
This was annoying.
Very annoying.
Since it was the weekend, he had decided to spend today organizing all of the skills he had created and collected so that he would know which ones to use during battle. That didn't go quite as planned for two specific reasons.
The first was that because he spent all last night playing games due to a new expansion pack, he had slept in all day and blown most of the day. This wasn't that bad but the next reason was what annoyed him the most.
Yesterday, he had gained five amazing new skills from the old man. Don't get him wrong, he was completely grateful for the skills that he accepted from the elder. The issue however was a more complicated case in his mind. It was simple; with the addition of those five he had too many skills to remember.
If he were to go up against an enemy right now, what would he use first? Verbally shouting the skill was how it usually worked so he had to choose carefully.
He sighed.
"If I knew it would have come to this, I wouldn't have accepted all of them and only chose the most important ones"
As he gazed at all of his skills, his attention focused on [Power Strike], [Blunt Weapon Mastery], and [Energy Bolt]. By using these three skills, he had become confident enough to deal with any normal zombie. They still scared him shitless when they were grouped together but he now had enough courage not to run away as his first option.
His bat was more effective than using his bare hands so he looked at one of the first skills he created, [Rip]. He brought a hand to his chin, wondering if having too many skills clog up his window would prove to be a hassle for him. Deleting would make sense right? No point in keeping a skill you don't need or use.
"How would I delete a skill…?" He raced through his mind to think of a command before the realization of a simple phrase popped into his brain. He clicked the [Rip] icon.
"Delete skill"
DING!
The skill [Rip] has been selected for deletion.
Would you like to delete this skill?
Confirm (Y) / Decline (N)
"Sweet!" His mind joyfully expressed before pressing confirm. Just like that, the icon that represented [Rip] had now left Jee-Han's skills.
"Good, I'll no longer need that so I had to make some space. In any case, its time to test these Chunbu skills out in my own Illusion Barrier!"
He couldn't wait. He had never tried to use his Illusion Barrier to practice before so he felt really anxious.
He got up and put on a brown jacket that matched his black jeans and headed down stairs, passing his mother who requested him to purchase some vegetables for dinner. As a result, another quest appeared that instructed him to pick up some vegetables for dinner again. He was beginning to think Gaia loved his mother's cooking since most of the quests involved things like that. He sighed and reluctantly accepted, a few extra experience points were worth it.
30 minutes later...
Jee-Han walked out of the grocery store with a white grocery bag in his hand, filled with the vegetables his mom wanted and some sour peaches. He was craving some sugar and damn it, he was going to have some sugar.
He looked around and saw no cars passing by and the streets void of any people before he smirked and raised his left hand into the air.
"ID Create!" His energy filled the air and an Illusion Barrier had been set up. His gaze moved all around the area as he noted the eerie silence that followed, an ominous feeling washing over him.
"Alright, where are those zombies?" He did a raffle in his head and the lucky winner was the martial arts technique he learned earlier. He still recalled what gramps had told him about fighting and scoffed at the idea. He knew he was no warrior but his gaming ability would prove its usefulness right here and right now. He'd show the old man who was right.
He had his guard up and looked around the empty city for any zombies but couldn't find any. He didn't understand, usually there would be a pack of them swarming around by now but there was nothing. Just empty vehicles and unpicked cans on the street.
In what he referred to as his "spicy sense", a spine tingling sensation shivered down his back and he swiftly spun around but saw no one. He could have sworn he felt as if something was licking him.
"Kekekeke…" The cackling sound of a child perked his ears up and he looked behind him, shrieking in terror at the sight.
Floating in front of him was a transparent figure that was wrapped from head to tea in a white robe that had the eye sockets and mouth cut out. All in all, it looked like a bad TV drama ghost.
"W-What the hell is that!?" He uncontrollably shouted, stumbling back a few feet to regain his sanity. His heart rate went up again and he smacked his chest with a hand, breathing in and out. He had to calm down and think things through.
He didn't know what had happened but this wasn't a zombie Illusion Barrier he was used too. He frantically looked around and saw several other spirits wandering throughout the town, appearing out of buildings and objects. They must have been hiding.
"What's going on! I should have created a zombie Illusion Barrier, so why are there ghosts!?"
The spirit started cackling again and reached its ghostly hand towards him.
"Whoa!" He staggered to his feet as he ran away and passed a corner, hiding behind it and panting heavily. Unlike his experience with zombies, ghosts were completely new to him. The same terrified feeling he got when he first saw the zombies were coming back and he was having trouble calming down. He felt so pathetic when he remembered how confident he was earlier.
"Wait…" He opened his skill window and clicked on the [ID Create] Icon.
[ID Create (Active) Lvl 2 EXP: 0.0 %]
Currently available ID list:
1. Empty ID – monsters: none
2. Zombie ID – monsters: zombies
3 Ghost ID – monsters: ghosts
4. Combined ID – monsters: zombies, ghosts
Somehow, he had gained a level in his ID creating skills and was able to now summon ghosts. He didn't know when he had gained that level but he theorized that it could have levelled up instantly by using it a second time to create this dungeon. He was happy that it levelled up but annoyed that he created the wrong dungeon.
He began to calm down as he got to his feet and looked over the corner to see a bunch of ghosts just floating around aimlessly. They might not have been zombies but it couldn't hurt to try and take them on. Yea, they couldn't be that much stronger than zombies so taking them out shouldn't be an issue.
He activated both the [Chunbu Spirit Technique] and [Chunbu Martial Arts Technique], the former increasing his STR, DEX, and VIT by 30 % and the latter raising his bare handed strike power and speed by the same amount. Quite the useful abilities to have when in need of a power up.
"Let's try it out!" He shouted and rushed one of the ghosts that had come close to the corner. He threw a fist at it, hoping to punch its lights out but only realized at that moment he had forgot one important thing.
It was a ghost.
His fist flew right past it and he tumble to the ground with a thud. He staggered for a bit before noticing that the ghost was mocking him and cackling, annoying him as he rose to his feet.
"Crap… in my excitement I totally forgot that normal attacks don't work on ghosts…" For someone who played a lot of RPG's, he felt pretty embarrassed for not knowing that.
He decided that he would use his [Energy Bolt] but before he could bring it out, his body went numb and he couldn't raise his arms.
"W-What..!?" He didn't understand. His body felt as if it was paralyzed as he struggled to move his arm but it was no use. It wouldn't budge.
"Kekeke" He heard cackling coming from below him and he used all of his strength to face downward. His eyes widened in complete shock as he saw a new ghost popping out from his stomach, giving him a disgusting and terrifying grin that could turn grown men into babies.
"When did it… shit!" His mind was racing on what to do next as he struggled to move. He realized that the ghosts that weren't paying him any attention before had taken note of him. They moved in closer towards him and began to sweat profusely at the eventual collision.
"Sta...tus!" Not only his arms and legs, but now his jaw had become paralyzed and he couldn't move or speak. This couldn't be happening.
His last command had been able to open up the status window and observed his empty MP bar and rapidly decreasing HP. The ghost must have been absorbing his MP the entire time and was now beginning to suck out his HP. He recovered only about 3 MP per second so there was no chance of it coming back before he was devoured by these freaks.
He cursed himself for being so careless and made his brain go into overdrive. He needed to think and think soon. He looked at his HP and he calculated that it would hit 0 in about sixty seconds.
The ghosts had almost made it to him and he tried to summon every ounce of strength he had to shout [ID Escape] but it was for naught. The [Paralysis] was too strong. Tears began to build up in his eyes at the prospect of being killed by a bunch of ghosts and he started desperately shouting in his mind.
"Please! Someone, save me! Sun-Il! Sae-Young! Geezer! Mom! Dad! Anyone!" A tear drop dripped from one of his eyes and hit the floor when all of a sudden...
"Soul Blaze Purification!"
A torrent of flames erupted from the sky and engulfed the ghosts plaguing Jee-Han's body. Their cries and pains of anguish only lasted a fraction of a second before they disintegrated into nothingness.
A woman landed in front of Jee-Han who was wearing a school uniform identical to his and caught the weakened Jee-Han in her arms, gently lowering him to the ground.
She placed one of her hands onto his chest and closed her eyes. She concentrated her Ki and poured some of it into Jee-Han's body.
A few minutes later, his eyes flickered ever so slightly as he felt his HP rise back up and his body's aches and pains were mostly gone, even the paralysis. He finally opened his eyes completely and took in the figure of a beautiful red haired girl looking at him with a blank face.
"Shi…Yun?"
She nodded her head and helped him stand as he looked his body over and noted he was mostly fine. He checked his status window and saw that his HP was back to full and MP was half way full. What the hell happened?
"How…what…where…why are you here?" He didn't know where to start.
"I saw you walking from the grocery store and noticed you had created this Illusion Barrier. I was curious so I followed you in. I saw you surrounded by monsters with tears in your eyes, so I saved you".
She was rather blunt. Jee-Han felt his face redden in embarrassment when he remembered he had begun to cry like a baby. He quickly rubbed the tears that were still in his eyes and sniffed while looking down, unable to look her in the eye. It hurt his pride to know a woman like her had seen such an unsightly side of him.
"Do you feel alright?" she asked.
He weakly nodded "Y-Yea I'm fine. My body feels a bit weird but overall I feel pretty good. How did you heal me?" As if he already didn't know.
"Its a technique from my clan called Yunhon Soul Recovery. I'll leave it at that since you probably don't understand anything about using Ki".
Jee-Han tried to rebuke her but honestly, she was right. Though he had learned the fundamentals from the skill books, today had just proven how inexperienced he was at using them. Because of his carelessness, he was rendered utterely useless again and would have no doubt died if it hadn't been for her. He swallowed his spit at the thought and gritted his teeth at being so weak and helpless. He should have listened to the geezer!
Shi-Yun noticed his strange behavior and cocked her head to the side.
"Is something wrong?"
His gaze finally met hers and he swiftly avoided eye contact, denying anything was wrong. Looking her in the eye was still too embarrassing for him at the moment.
"Sorry that I got you involved with my mistake, I'm really grateful for your help"
"Don't mention it. You were just fortunate I was watching you leave the store. By the way, this has been bothering me for awhile now but why did you look scared of me when I first met you in class?"
"Shit, so she did notice..." Jee-Han cursed in his mind. However, since she did save his life and all, he figured he could at least tell her that much.
"Well... who wouldn't be scared after seeing a girl fight a three headed monster and killer mantis as if she was a super hero?"
Shi-Yun had a bewildered expression and eyed him curiously. What in the world was he talking about?
"What do you mean?"
"Huh" Jee-Han looked up again, able to finally hold her gaze but still looked away from time to time.
"I said, what do you mean? How did you know I fought with Sung-Gong's summoned pets?"
"Oi... are you playing with me?" He was starting to get annoyed. Was she purposely forgetting the fact that they had met each other not even a week ago?
"Playing what? I don't understand what you're saying" She still had that same blank face she always had.
"Y-You don't recognize me from before we met in school?"
"No"
She didn't even hesitate.
"C-Could this girl have horrible memory?" He absently wondered but made sure not to speak it out loud.
Jee-Han spent the next few minutes describing his first encounter with her and Sung-Gong. It took a few seconds before Shi-Yun narrowed her eyes as if she had remembered something.
"Oh. You were that helpless weakling that Sung-Gong took hostage"
Jee-Han fell to the ground in shame at her piercing words. They hurt, far more than any injury he had received thus far. He'd have that humiliation for the rest of his life.
"Speaking of Sung-Gong..." Her tone of voice seemed to exhibit more hostility than she had ever shown, causing Jee-Han to tense up a bit.
"Y-Yes?"
"What information do you have about him? What he is after and what does he want?"
An array of questions that came flooding in like a raging tidal wave. Jee-Han obviously had no idea about what Sung-Gong was ultimately after but this girl didn't seem like the type to take no for an answer. Worst case scenario, he could possibly be roasted into charcoal and he didn't want to be roasted. Being roasted wasn't fun, he imagined.
"Sorry...but I don't know..."
Her piercing gaze was still directed towards him and Jee-Han feared for his life before she sighed and returned the blank stare.
"I see... I'm sorry for asking that of you but since you have been entering his Illusion Barriers, I assumed you would have some information"
"D-Don't worry about it, hey I'm sure that if you ask Sun-Il he might know something! His family should be working on that case at the moment" Jee-Han wasn't really sure but it was better than nothing, right?
Shi-Yun had a bewildered expression.
"Sun-Il? Are you referring to the Chunbumoon?"
Jee-Han nodded.
She put a hand to her chin.
"I understand, I shall do that. Come to think of it, I remember that you did exhibit some sort of unnatural ability and escaped from that slime. Are you an ability user as well?"
Jee-Han felt his confidence returning and pumped his chest.
"Yup, I've become a natural ability user!"
Shi-Yun looked mildly impressed as she analyzed him from top to bottom. Despite being a weakling and dumb looking, she was curious as to what type of powers he had.
"Is that right... well, it doesn't matter. If you don't want to end up in those kinds of situations again, I'd suggest not trying to make any more Illusion Barriers"
Jee-Han flinched at her suggestion before adopting a frown.
"Sorry, but I already made a promise to a friend to get stronger to protect myself. I can't afford to stop making these barriers-
"You will die. You know that, right?"
Her cold and blunt words seemed like it cut through Jee-Han's soul as he stopped short. He looked down for a minute before chuckling, surprising Shi-Yun.
"I'm aware of that but my mind's still made up. Today was a good experience for me, I've discovered how truly foolish I really am. I'm grateful that you saved my life but I'll be sure to get stronger so that you won't see me crying all the time. I'll show you the power of the Gamer!" He pointed his finger at Shi-Yun who was slightly startled by his conviction.
"It's your funeral"
She turned around and vanished just like that, leaving Jee-Han annoyed, thankful, and confused all at once. So many conflicted emotions.
"Ah! Wait! At least let me thank you properly!"
It was too late; by the time he had closed his Illusion Barrier and was back in the real world, she was gone. He owed her big time. He only saw it for a second but those intense flames he felt before passing out definitely belonged to her. Ghosts couldn't be harmed by normal physical force but if you imbued your body with enough ki, then it became possible. He had realized that this is what the geezer had meant by learning combat experience. One fatal mistake on the battle field could result in death and that's what had almost happened today.
Jee-Han headed home and had plans on visiting the Chunbumoon Dojo first thing tomorrow morning.
He was going to learn martial arts; the right way.
A/N: Ah, what a nice chapter. So, Jee-Han learned some pretty nifty skills for future use and is now planning on learning martial arts properly from the Chunbumoon. Good for him, I always believed Jee-Han could become a decent martial artist. However, this doesn't mean he'll give up on magic. You'll see where he's headed in the coming chapters.
So as some of you must have noticed, the divergence has begun and this is where we'll begin to see a different route from the canon where Jee-Han's character will develop differently. His relationship with Shi-Yun for instance has taken a definite change as Jee-Han now owes her, instead of vice versa. I won't' speak about the romance just yet; you'll have to see that for yourself.
Look forward to the next one!
Name: Han Jee-Han
Class: The Gamer
Title:《Apprentice Undead Hunter》
Level: 9
HP: 470/470
MP: 380/380
STR: 19 (↑4 UP)
VIT: 19 (↑4 UP)
DEX: 15 (↑4 UP)
INT: 18 (↑3 UP)
WIS: 7 (↑1 UP)
LUK: 9
Points: 12
Money: ₩3000
《Skills》
Offensive:
• Energy Bolt (Active) | Lvl: 3
• Power Strike (Active) | Lvl: 3
Support:
• Observe (Active) | Lvl: 2
• Yunhon Soul Recovery (Active) | Lvl: 1
• Chunbu Spirit Technique (Passive & Active)| Lvl: 1 «NEW»
• Chunbu Martial Arts Technique (Passive & Active) | Lvl: 1 «NEW»
• Chunbu Sword Technique (Passive & Active) | Lvl: 1 «NEW»
• Chunbu Foot Technique (Passive & Active) | Lvl: 1 «NEW»
• Chunbu Outer Ki Technique (Passive) | Lvl: 1 «NEW»
Resistances and Masteries:
• Physical Endurance (Passive) | Lvl: 3
• Blunt Weapon Mastery (Passive) | Lvl: 5
Miscellaneous:
• ID Create (Active) | Lvl: 2
• ID Escape (Active) | Lvl: 1
