CH 4: Nostalgic Memories

As Jinwoo followed Yeong up the stairs and down the nostalgic halls of his high school years, they finally came to a stop at the fashion class.

His teacher, Yeong strides in, back straight, eyes forward, and a menacing plague-like aura rushes out of him. A bleak cape of fear and terror drapes over the class. Seconds later, small surges of scrambled bloodlust attempt to surround him like muck and shuck.

A civil war of dominance between Yeong and the inferior delinquents created a beautiful scenery of battered desperation and crushed hopes. His longing for battle and his daily matches with 'that man', his shadows, and the sunfish bastard, clouded his humanity.

Witnessing this magnificent play of theatrics, Sung Jinwoo found himself grinning with maniacal ideas breezing his thoughts. The intensity of the one-sided slaughter of the students was so breathtakingly overwhelming Sung Jinwoo could hear the silent wails of the moderate humans.

Minimal scents of the metallic odor of blood seep out, as the loud thumps of heads blanching on tables and chairs screeching backward echoed the halls.

The once loud and boisterous corridors were dead silent. Sung Jinwoo hasn't entered, yet he was eager to get inside. This battle reminded him of manna intimidation tactics he saw and had done in the past.

'Wait. Manna?'

His eyes widened. Since entering this world, not even a wisp of manna could be sensed. Until, he realized he no longer possessed infinite manna, nor was he a God that ruled the Underworld alongside his partner.

He scrunches his nose at the memory of him before focusing on his theory. Narrowing his eyes, he looked ahead and focused on every single living and moving thing around him.

Then, he heard a distant yet loud click in his head.

Manna.

He found it.

He's been trying to sense it for months with every possible method he could think of but there was nothing. Until today.

He squints his eyes. "Gates might exist in this world..." he murmurs under his breath. "I...I could see him again, but I have to get stronger to protect my family and be worthy enough to be considered a sub-scenario." Just then a flashback of their first meeting invaded his thoughts;

✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨

It was Monday morning in the early springs of July. The sun in Seoul City was as bright as it can be. The familiar scenes of big glowing blue orbs that plastered themselves onto buildings, highways, streets, construction sites, etc. could be seen glistening with pride from his rental apartment. It was a nice, peaceful day. The system hasn't asked for any new missions since yesterday. Only the daily workout quest. Jinwoo wanted to take a small break. Maybe doing absolutely nothing after his workout.

He went to the park, the wind bustled with the warm breeze and he could feel the hot sun's radiation seep through it. The park was a little more quiet than usual, and he found it lovely. After his 10km jog, the 100 push-ups, sit-ups, and pull-ups, he decided it was time to head home. He opened the door to find Jinnah laying around her couch, watching TV, littering the house, while his mother was doing housework.

He tugged her by the ear, causing her to shriek in annoyance, she asked him why he is giving her such cruel treatment. Jinwoo deadpans and Jinnah glares at him, but then Jinwoo looked over to the kitchen and Jinnah understood why now. Her head limps down as her lips pressed harder than the diggings of her nails. Jinwoo's eyes softened.

"Go, help mom."

"Ok..."

He walked towards his room, opened the door, and before walking in, he crooked his head back to catch a glimpse of his sister and mother talking happily in the kitchen while washing and wiping the dishes. He strides in with a soft, happy smile on his face.

He takes his phone out of his pockets, lays it on his bedside desk, and just as he was about to jump and slump onto his bed like the lazy egg he was that day. The buzzing sound of his phone rang like a pack of wasps. Jinwoo groaned. 'What now?' he thought as he heard the low, menacing rumbles coming from Beru growling. Jinwoo sweatdrops. 'Ber-' "Who dares disturb my lieges rest?" he asked. Tone laced with poison.

'Be-' "My liege, allow me to eliminate and kill this lowlife." 'B' "I promise you I will get rid of him or her with swift ease." Jinwoo begins to feel a little ticked off as he sighs in slight exasperation.

If he didn't straighten Beru out now, he might commit arson. Jinwoo clears his throat, condenses his manna into his shadows, allows it to slither through his mental link, and guides it to the shriveling Beru, who just realized his mistake.

"F-Forgive me, my King!" he begged, his knees pressed against the ground, toes were sitting upright, hands were flatly stilled on the floor, as his head gripped the ground for dear life.

Jinwoo closes his eyes and breathes in. "Beru. Don't go after them."

"Yes, my liege." Jinwoo cocks his head up and Beru quickly scurried away. Poor Beru.

He sat up and looks at his phone for a couple of seconds before begrudgingly grabbing it and furiously swiping his screen, till it cracks. Jinwoo clicks his tongue, not even bothering to check who it was, and spoke in a dangerously low voice. "Jinwoo. Speaking."

Silence dreaded the room for three seconds before a familiar chuckle resided in the cryptic audio of the mobile phone. It sounded a lot like Go Gunhee.

Wait.

"Oh."

"Someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed."

"I'm sorry. I was thinking of having a day off today."

"Sorry to bother."

"It's fine." Gunhee clears his throat. "Right. I'll get straight to the point. We have a new A-Rank almost an S-Rank gate that formed here in Seoul. It's bigger than Jeju's."

"Where?" Jinwoo asked as his manna crackled and sizzled like fireworks.

"Near your neighborhood. I haven't informed anyone else, but I think the others would know about it soon. Since it's on the news. However, I think you're capable of handling it after the stunt you pulled last time. Will you take it?" Jinwoo's eyes gleamed with menace. Screw vacation when a possible S-Rank gate just appeared. Of course, he's taking it. Who knows, maybe he could take in a new member of his ever-growing army.

"I'll take it."

Jinwoo 'Shadow Exchange' with one of his shadow soldiers that were on patrol. He arrived at the scene where he saw a colossal red gate that stood proudly as it blocked the road. Cars, motorcycles, and many reporters swarmed the place like a pack of ants.

The people were hungry for attention and the number of likes on their Instagram accounts, while the reporters were like starved hyenas gleaming with excitement for the story that beholds them. (But they're scared too)

The surveillance team had trouble warding them off, but it became worse after a civilian with messy black hair and baggy clothes saw Jinwoo standing beside him when he looked to his right.

Jinwoo sighed as he felt his body being slammed by the wave-like current of the reporters and people. He heard bells tolling in his ears as the audible, mummified voices of the reporters, and desperate tired cries from the surveillance team fall onto deaf ears. He could only feel the sudden assault of delirium when he felt his senses become heightened and his heart pounding faster as each second passed.

He couldn't stand here, any longer.

A powerful foe awaits him.

He must get there, faster, quicker, and meet the boss that lies waiting in his dungeon.

Without him realizing it, Jinwoo's feet glide past the flock of people like rubbles and debris in a cyclone. When he opened his eyes, he looked around and saw that he was transported to a deserted, dystopian wasteland of dumps, wrecked cars, and motorcycles clamped up like a hilltop Jenga with sand sprinkling it like cake batter. The scorching suns made it worse, but nothing he couldn't handle. What awed him most, was the mountainous pile of monster bodies, that were stacked in the background like the Great Wall of China.

'Incredible...' he thought. 'Is the beast similar to Beru?' the possibility of another strong soldier such as Beru, elated him.

Shortly after, death cries were heard in a far distance and the pile seemed to have risen. Jinwoo grinned.

He dashed to the source, but just when he thought he was close, it furthered away from him. He clicks his tongue.

'This little rat is a lot faster than I have liked. It's as if he knows I'm here and is just killing monsters to run away from me.'

A light bulb pops up in his head. 'Ran away from me.' he sighs. 'But that doesn't even make any sense! Could it be a coincidence then? Alright...I'll find you. Soon, rat.'

"Beru," he called out. A black and purple pudding-like blob emerged from the ground. It crackled with power as it began to form in quick strikes of steel and ember.

His exoskeleton wrapped its body like armor, whilst the upper parts of his back were folded upwards to shield himself and his nape.

The gratingly sharp claws were retreated to illustrate that it's not threatening its master. The two long antennas that sprouted out of his head seemed to have no end as his translucent wings kissed the floors with their foggy dark ends, arched, and pressed themselves onto his back like a magnet.

His big glossy, purple eyes slit down 3/4ths of its head and lowered it. Dropping down to one knee.

"My King." Beru respectfully addresses his master.

"Beru. I need your team to search through the shadows and find him. Don't show yourself, just report back to me."

"Yes, my Liege."

Once the command was set, Jinwoo's shadow entranced in waves as the heads of hundreds, no thousands of ants appeared as they proudly followed their marshal.

"You know what. I think all should just disperse," he told himself in ponderance, before finalizing with a heavyweight in his voice that demanded submission. "Disperse"

The rest of his army did as they were told and what was expected of them.

It took a while, and he'll be damned. The rat is quick on his feet, but he was caught anyways.

"My liege. We have found the rat." Beru said through the shared link, trying so hard to hide his irritation, but failing. The master, he has chosen to serve is very sensitive. Jinwoo chuckles. 'Finally. I can fight you.'

He 'Shadow Exchange' with Beru and hid his presence and used a skill to zoom in. there he saw the man's back, his white coat danced in the blazing wind with such elegance and beauty, he couldn't help but stop and stare. Observe him, before fighting him and killing him.

His midnight silky short black hair ripples through the breeze, following its delicate currents. He glanced at his hand and saw that his skin was pale white, yet it glowed brighter than any star or moon in a stary night sky.

His luster, dark, ebony wings rest behind his back, illustrating the image of an angle and the tiny horns didn't look demonic but added a little decoration to his beauty.

Though he couldn't see his face, his gut feelings told him, that the man that stands before him (From afar) possessed an ethereal beauty that outmatched even the most stunning man and woman on the planet.

When he turned around, he couldn't see his face. It was blocked by something, but that's okay. A challenge is a challenge. He grins.

✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨

Before the memory could completely relapse, he heard his teacher call out to him. He was a bit disappointed, the daydreams were becoming more and more vivid each passing day. There were times when he couldn't differentiate between reality and dreams, but that was fine. If he could be with him again. Even for a split moment, it was worth it. But things were different now.

Jinwoo walks into the classroom with confident strides. He could hear the boys and girls having a debate, about whether or not the new student is a boy or a girl. Both were confident that it was their opposite gender. Completely forgot the incident before.

However, Jinwoo couldn't care less. It didn't matter. He just needs to introduce himself, sit down, and daydream again. He didn't need to pay attention. Why should he? He was a God, immortal, and a college graduate. High school is a piece of cake.

Manna exists and bits and pieces of his past abilities are coming back.

Jinwoo stands in front of the whiteboard. His back straight, shoulders back, and held his head high. He breathed in and out.

"I'm Sung Jinwoo. Nice to meet you," he said with nonchalance and aloofness that most females found attractive. Especially with his decent build. The girls squealed.

'I'll find you, Kim Dokja. No matter how long it takes. I'll find you.'