Hello all! My apologies for taking so long with the next chapter My Hero Academia: Dynasty. I've been working on a new OC insert story for a manhwa I am a huge fan of, Solo Leveling! I will still try my best to work on both MHA: D and SL: PT. Please enjoy chapter one! - Spectafyr
[The Daily Quest has arrived.]
[Push-ups (0/100)]
[Sit-ups (0/100)]
[Squats (0/100)]
[10 kilometer run (0/10)]
*Warning: Failure to complete the daily quest will result in a penalty quest.
"...Damn it."
The digital clock that read 7:30 had begun to vibrate and ring with a constant screech. The humanoid mass of fabric nearby wriggled and squirmed as if expressing annoyance to the alarm that he himself set—revealed a pale foot emerging from the darkness to tap the clock's top with a heel.
"Taeyang!" a voice called, sharp and urgent. "You're gonna be late!"
"Yeah... yeah..." grumbled the figure within the darkness. "I'm up. What was that dream…?"
Taeyang rubbed his eyes, recalling his dream. He was in a world where magic portals and monsters existed and he was fighting one of them. It was a hot desert that he dreamt of and he woke up when he was stabbed in the stomach by a goblin-like beast.
Sitting upright on the edge of the bed, a lean and tall young man pulled open the curtains, welcoming the early morning sunlight into the room. "Whatever… It's just a dream."
"Make sure you eat your breakfast, Taeyang," urged an elderly woman seated at the kitchen table, where various plates of vegetables and stew awaited. "It's your first day of senior year. Aren't you excited?"
"He's too cool to be excited," chimed in another elderly voice, this one masculine.
Taeyang, now washing his face in the bathroom adjacent to the kitchen, responded with a groggy voice, "I guess so, halmeoni... but I don't even need high school for the job I want in the future."
"Oh? And what's that?" inquired his grandmother.
Taeyang tied his hair into a half-bun and sat down at the table.
"A traceur."
His grandparents exchanged a glance before bursting into laughter.
"What the-?!" he exclaimed. "What's so funny?!"
"A traceur, huh?" his grandmother chuckled, wiping a tear from her eye. "You mean like those people who do parkour?"
"...Yes? Who else?"
"Are you gonna be in American Ninja Warrior?" his grandfather mocked.
His brow twitched, evidently irritated. "Whatever, harabeoji," he snarked while placing his utensils on his bowl and grabbing a navy jacket with a lotus logo stitched onto it. "Whatever I do, I'll be the best at it."
His harabeoji gave him a firm pat on the shoulder as Taeyang stood up and went to leave.
"He has his father's determination," Taeyang's grandmother added.
"It doesn't look like determination to me," his grandfather responded. "Looks like he wants to be the best purely out of spite."
"...Whatever makes him happy."
Yun Taeyang (윤태양).
Eighteen years old.
Student number 3-0821, a senior in homeroom 3-A at Yeonkkoch High School.
His grades placed him at the top of his class, but his conduct at school sunk his GPA and class ranking to amazingly average.
Because, despite his genius, he had a background that molded him into an unusual type of delinquent.
"Is that a new student? He's kind of hot…"
"Yeah… is that blonde hair natural? It looks dyed with how it fades to orange."
"It's the first day of school, there's tons of new students."
Taeyang walked through the bustling halls with not a care in the world. Wired headphones blasted music into his ears until he collided with a large, burly figure, causing the headphones to fall and hang around his neck. Looking up, he met the gaze of a student sporting sunglasses and slicked-back black hair.
"Huh…?" the student questioned Taeyang. "What's with the blonde? It's hideous."
Taeyang only responded with a dirty, blank look.
"Sorry."
As Taeyang attempted to walk away, he was halted by another hand. He wasn't alone.
"Sorry? That was so informal!" the bully's friend exclaimed. "You're supposed to bow…"
Without resistance, Taeyang's head was forcibly grabbed and lowered.
"...and say 'My deepest apologies, hyung-nim.'"
Taeyang remained silent, and people began to notice this altercation.
"Is he just letting them touch him?
"That's terrible… but he's avoiding conflict-"
"Hey… listen," the bully with the slicked hair began while getting up close and personal with Taeyang. "It's the first day of school, so I'll cut you some slack. Run me your pockets and I'll let you go back to the whorehouse that your parents-"
"Kka-heok?!"
The bully coughed up saliva as a sensation struck his solar plexus, pushing him against a wall, and causing a bulletin board to fall. Taeyang, now in a new position with his foot raised high, glared down at him.
"Don't you talk about my fucking parents."
The hallway fell into a stunned silence.
"You little shit!" he roared, lunging at Taeyang, attempting to save face.
Taeyang interrupted his charge and delivered a swift kick to his head, with the students around him forming a crowd.
"I don't care who you are," Taeyang approached the bully, who was writhing on the floor, and grabbed his head. "You have no right to disrespect my family."
"I-I'm… s-"
Taeyang slammed his face back into the floor, and he was quickly seized by school security.
"A fight on the first day of SCHOOL?!" the principal of Yeonkkoch High School, Mrs. Choi shouted.
Taeyang sat in front of her desk, his arms crossed, while a tall, bruised student sat to his left, his formerly slicked-back hair now tousled and unkempt.
"Taeyang, your grades since you came here were exceptional, and that's the only reason why you're not expelled," she began. "But your behavior here is unacceptable. If you continue to fight students, we'll have no choice but to transfer you to another school."
Taeyang avoided eye contact with her, muttering a reluctant, "Yes, ma'am."
Mrs. Choi organized the stack of papers on her desk. "We won't expel you, but we have other punishments."
Her next words irked Taeyang immensely.
"Yun Taeyang, you will be assigned as the tutor of this student, Kim Su-Jin," Principal Choi declared. "Both his grades and conduct are putting him on the verge of expulsion. Additionally, we will be assigning both of you to work under one of the candidates for valedictorian to improve your behavior."
"Mrs. Choi, that's bullshit!" both students stood up and protested.
"I don't want to hear it. I want the three of you to get along and spend as much of your time at school together as possible."
Taeyang scratched the side of his head in visible irritation.
"A fight on the first day of school?!" Taeyang's head recoiled back in response to the loud scolding coming from his phone.
"I'm sorry, halmeoni," he said, walking with his phone to his ear in the school courtyard.
"This is unacceptable, Taeyang," his grandmother began. "You're so smart, but your anger issues are too much... it reminds me of your father."
"...Halmeoni," Taeyang mumbled. "Who is my father?"
"...What?"
"My father. My mom's husband. Who is he? Why did he leave?"
"He's a wonderful man… but he left to protect you. Why don't we discuss this after school?"
"...Fine. Bye, halmeoni."
"Bye, halmeoni…?"
Taeyang groaned. "I LOVE you, halmeoni."
Taeyang returned his phone to his pocket when he heard someone call his name.
"Yo-! Taeyang!" a familiar voice called.
He turned around and his expression morphed into complete disgust. "Kim Su-Jin-?! What are you calling my name for?!"
"Hey, I'm not a fan of it either," Su-Jin approached. "But Principal Choi is forcing this on us, or else we're expelled."
"You mean YOU'RE expelled," he corrected Su-Jin.
"Whatever…"
"THERE you guys are!" another voice called.
Both students turned around to find a rather short woman, though possibly of average height since both Taeyang and Su-Jin were tall. She wore a skirt, leggings, and the blazer of their school's uniform, with a hibiscus hairclip on her blown-out black hair.
"We were supposed to meet in the principal's office!" she groaned. "How are you supposed to stay at this school if you can't even be on time for things?"
Taeyang and Su-Jin looked at each other and then back at her.
"...Who are you?" Taeyang asked.
"Taeyang…!" Su-Jin mumbled with a frightened voice. "That's Hwang Jiyeon, one of the top candidates for valedictorian!"
"I thought Su-Jin was just an annoying musclehead," Taeyang thought. "But it's a cover-up to appeal to the other muscleheads, I guess. Or maybe he's intimidated? What a mystery."
"Ah…" Taeyang responded to Su-Jin. "Sorry... I'm Yun Taeyang."
He bowed, and Su-Jin followed suit, repeating his name.
Jiyeon scoffed before reciprocating their bows.
"Hwang Jiyeon… class 3-F."
"Are you gonna make us do homework?" Su-Jin asked.
"Huh? No…" Jiyeon responded. "Taeyang is your tutor, so that's his job. It's MY job to correct both of you guys' behavior."
"I'll make sure Su-Jin does six hours of homework a night," Taeyang mocked.
"Don't you dare!" Su-Jin pushed Taeyang and their confrontation was reignited, exchanging punches.
"STOP!"
The whole courtyard fell into silence, with Taeyang and Su-Jin grabbing each other's collars.
"Principal Choi has given me the authority to stop our partnership at any moment, and both of you will be expelled. All I need to do is give her a call."
Jiyeon waved her phone, which displayed Principal Choi's contact information, tauntingly at Taeyang and Su-Jin. Both promptly let go of each other and stood up straight.
"Fine…" grumbled Taeyang.
"I'm sorry, Mrs. Hwang!" Su-Jin bowed.
"...Definitely a cover-up," Taeyang thought. "He has no spine."
"Well… the school day is over," Taeyang announced. "So I'll be going home… see you guys later."
He readjusted his bag strap before heading to the gate of the school. As he walked further and further from the school, he noticed Su-Jin and Jiyeon following him.
Incessantly.
Annoyingly.
"Will you guys quit it?!" Taeyang looked over his shoulder. "The day is over. We're not required to be with one another anymore."
"Ah, well…" Su-Jin stammered.
"My house is that way," Jiyeon pointed toward Taeyang's neighborhood.
"So is mine," Su-Jin added.
Taeyang groaned. "What a pain."
The two students caught up to Taeyang and they began walking together, with Taeyang standing awkwardly in the middle.
"So…" Jiyeon began. "What do you guys like?"
Su-Jin turned his head. "Tteokbokki and Hwarang: The Poet Warrior Youth."
Taeyang was taken aback by his response. "Really?"
"Yeah… so what?"
"Hwarang's a period drama. I thought you were too stupid to understand it-"
Su-Jin slapped the back of Taeyang's head and Taeyang elbowed his kidney, causing Jiyeon to hold her phone up once again. They promptly stopped.
"They're like children…" Jiyeon thought.
"Since Su-Jin said food and a television series… I like Korean barbecue and anything with Ma Dong-seok," Taeyang responded.
"Songpyeon and The Glory," added Jiyeon.
As Jiyeon and Su-Jin were talking with Taeyang in between, he caught a glimpse of a food stand selling gamja hot dogs. Without warning, he abandoned the two and was seen at the stand.
"I'll have one with potatoes and ketchup."
"How did he get there so fast?!" Jiyeon yelled. "It's across the street!"
"WILL YOU TWO QUIT FOLLOWING ME?!" Taeyang shouted from the stand.
…
"Thanks for the corndogs, Taeyang," Jiyeon and Su-Jin mumbled.
"...Uh huh," Taeyang replied in the middle of chewing. "Get your own money next time."
As the three were walking, they walked past an alleyway holding many dumpsters. "Oh good, a trash can," Taeyang said, walking towards the darkness.
"Taeyang, it's creepy in there!" Jiyeon said, following him.
"Then stay out there. I have trash to dispose of."
Jiyeon and Su-Jin looked at each other before reluctantly deciding to follow suit. For what ever reason, the three of them had garnered an unusual bond despite only knowing each other for a few hours.
Taeyang threw his popsicle stick into a green dumpster. "See? Completely harmle-"
A rush of wind from further down the alleyway interrupted his words and ruffled his hair and clothes. Su-Jin and Jiyeon were subject to this same gust and the trio looked at the source of the wind.
"What the…" Su-Jin muttered. "What's that glowing thing…?"
"A gate," Taeyang mumbled, seemingly uttering information that he never even knew himself.
At the end of the alleyway, a swirling mass of mist and vapor took form. It had a sky blue glow to it, and it pushed dust particles outward. Su-Jin and Jiyeon were understandably astonished by its appearance, but Taeyang felt an odd sense of familiarity coming from it.
"What did you say Taeyang?" Jiyeon interrupted. "A gate? It looks sketchy… maybe its a trap for some thieves."
"That's a really elaborate trap just to get a few bucks," Su-Jin added. "We should just get out of here-"
"Hold on," Taeyang said, approaching the swirling mist.
Jiyeon and Su-Jin had an apprehensive look on their faces which turned into a screaming shock when they saw him plunge his head into the void.
"TAEYANG!"
Taeyang was met with a storm of red gas that released several tons of pressure on his shoulders. From outside the portal, crackling red electricity sparked from the mist as soon as Taeyang's curiosity drove his head into the gate, sending Su-Jin and Jiyeon back.
"What the…" Taeyang mumbled, unaware of his friends' cries.
He felt a magnetic force suck him further and further into the portal. The formerly blue portal grew in size and flashed to a deep red that released even stronger currents of wind pressure. The screaming coming from the alleyway thanks to Jiyeon and Su-Jin was now attracting a crowd.
"JIYEON! SU-JIN!" Taeyang's arm reached outside the portal.
"Shit-! Get out of there, Taeyang!" Su-Jin shouted as he tried pulling on Taeyang's hand.
The pull of the gate was too strong and Taeyang's arm retreated, his body disappearing into the void as a whole. The intense vortex that was the gate now subsided into a calm, red typhoon.
"What the hell…?!" Jiyeon mumbled, unable to form words. "We need to call the police!"
Su-Jin tried chasing Taeyang into the portal, but it was as if he was banging on glass. The gate prevented anyone else from entering as soon as Taeyang did. But what was a gate? They lived in a world where magic was only the stuff of fiction. That's what it should've been. No one in the entirety of Seoul- no. No one in the entire world could've known. Except for possibly one.
March 1st, the first Red Gate in the new timeline has appeared.
Status
Name: Yun Taeyang
Level: 0
Class: None
Title: None
HP: 100
MP: 0
Fatigue: 0
Strength: 0
Vitality: 0
Agility: 0
Intelligence: 0
Sense: 0