004 Operation Phoenix 2.0

Let's look at it this way.

I'm Lee Do-woon. Sickly. Weak. A middle-schooler born with a silver spoon.

But the thing is, that spoon? It's lodged in my throat. Choking me. I'm soft and pudgy. Too soft for this world. And with what I've got? It seems only right to get stronger. 

That high of being better? I can only reach it if I'm safe, if I've carved out some space in this world where no one can touch me.

But look at me. I am a brown-haired piece of shit in a world of superhumans.

It's all a bad joke, really. God wouldn't send a failed mathematician back to life with something that could turn him into something like Him. With time, sure, maybe. But here's the problem: the gacha results? 

They're constrained. 

It's like I'm trapped in this box, only getting things that are just on the edge of miraculous, things that make you go, "Wow, that's cool," but then it ends there. Miraculous is where it ends.

Miracles don't mean bullslit if you're dead.

To get stronger, I need time. I need freedom. I need peace of mind.

None of that is available to me as Do-woon. Not when the principal is breathing down my neck after that fight, not when the bullies are still licking their wounds, waiting for their chance, not when my father is already disappointed before he even knows what's happened.

Do-woon's life? It's a prison. A gilded cage. Every bar is forged from expectations, assumptions, limitations, status. I can't move. I can't breathe. I can't grow.

So, I need to be someone else.

Three ways to go about this.

Number one, fake my death and forge a new identity. Make Do-woon disappear off the face of the earth and reappear as someone more, someone who isn't weighed down by this weak body, this reputation, status, age. 

It's drastic, but hey, desperate times.

Number two, go to juvie. Organise some crime, assault someone important, get myself sent away. Start over from the bottom of society, where the expectations are low, and I can manoeuvre in the shadows. 

It's risky, but I could make it work.

Number three, I don't know. Maybe just endure. Keep going as Do-woon. But that's not really an option, is it? That's just slow suicide. Letting the world grind me down until there's nothing left or another intervention comes. But that might just kill me.

The gacha is a lifeline, but it's also a leash. 

It's pulling me toward something bigger, something more, but it's not enough on its own. 

Not yet. I need time. I need space. I need to get out from under this pile of crap that is Do-woon's life.

I need to peace out. Fake my death. Start fresh.

Because here's the thing: I want peace of mind. I want security. I want freedom. And I want time. Time to become stronger. Time to turn these miraculous little scraps of power into something real, something that can protect me, something that can let me sleep at night without one eye open.

So yeah. Do-woon's gotta die. And someone more free is gonna take his place.

That leaves me with, number one, dealing with the principal, and my parents. Number two, faking my death. Number three, dealing with the essence of gacha. Number four, creating better credentials.

For my parents, I could just let it blow over. Make friends before I make enemies. Curry favor from their friends, do things that they like and inconspicuously but make sure that they notice.

The principal, there are multiple things to deal with under this section, just to stall for time for the next gacha or until I could fake my death. I have to clear my reputation, clear any records of that happening, deal with the parents of the bullies, and make sure that this doesn't follow me wherever I end up. If the principal thinks he can control me with this, he's wrong. I've seen how the school operates, how it's a playground for power. The bullies, the hierarchy—they're just pieces on a board. I could play that game too, but it's not worth my time. Not when I'm aiming higher. Not when I've got plans.

First, I'll need leverage.

 Something on the principal, something that makes him back off. Maybe a little digging into his past, his personal life—there's always something. Everyone's got skeletons. I just need to find his closet and rattle them a bit. Enough to keep him off my back while I figure out the rest.

As for the parents of those bullies? I need to make sure they don't come after me, either. Maybe I play the victim card, letting them think their precious children are the real problem.

Or maybe I find a way to make them realise that going after me would be more trouble than it's worth. 

Subtle threats, a little blackmail—just enough to keep them at bay.

And then, there's the essence of gacha. This power that's dangling just out of reach. I have to figure out how to use its fruits better, but for now, I just have to absorb and draw a bit more.

Once I've got the next gacha, I'll know more. I'll have more options. Maybe something that can help me fake my death more convincingly, something that can cover my tracks so well that even my father wouldn't suspect a thing. 

It's all about playing the long game, about thinking ahead, staying two steps ahead of everyone else.

Creating better credentials? That's a part of the process, but it just might be the hardest one, considering I'm in foreign territory. I'll need a new identity, something that can hold up under scrutiny. But not too good—nothing that draws attention. 

Just enough to let me slip through the cracks, to become someone else without raising any red flags.

It's going to take time. It's going to take patience. But I can do this. I have to. Because if I stay as Lee Do-woon, I'm done for. This world will eat me alive. And I'm not ready to die. Not yet.

This world is a machine, gears grinding, chewing up the weak, spitting out the strong. And right now, I'm nothing but grease in the cogs. Lee Do-woon.

The name itself feels like an old choker. Something that was once part of who you were, but now you're just embarrassed of the fact that you were once that type of person. 

But that's going to change.

You don't survive by being a hero. You survive by being smart. By being willing to do what others won't.

So I'll play the game. Smile for the teachers, nod at my father's orders, make nice with the bullies who'd love to see me pecking. All the while, I'll be setting up the pieces, making them think they've got me figured out.

But they won't see it coming. The escape. The vanishing act. 

The sleight of hand that leaves them staring at an empty space where Lee Do-woon used to be. And when they finally realise what's happened, I'll be gone, replaced by someone harder, sharper, and more dangerous.

I'm not just leaving Lee Do-woon behind. I'm killing him. Wiping him from existence. The ultimate act of control, taking the reins of my own fate and steering it off the cliff that everyone thinks is the end.

Because here's the truth: I'm not afraid of falling. I'm afraid of staying on this ledge, watching the world pass me by while I rot away, nobody. That's the real death.

So, I'll jump. And in that freefall, I'll find my wings. I'll turn those miraculous little scraps into something more, something tangible, something I can grip with both hands and use to claw my way back up. Higher this time. Out of reach.

It's going to hurt. It's going to be messy. But that's how you forge steel, isn't it? You hammer it, bend it, break it until it becomes something more than scrap. That's what I'll be—forged from fire. One that no one sees coming until nothing's there anymore.

Too late.

Because this isn't about survival anymore. This is about control. Control over everything. My life, my destiny. And if I have to burn down Lee Do-woon to get it, then so be it.

Let them think they're winning. Let them think I'm just another victim. Because when I disappear, when I finally shed this skin, I'll be reborn. And I'll be better.

Though I'll have to deal with Hannibal Lecter first.

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[Hannibal Lecter - 2%]

[Kick Buttowski - 0%]

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Gimme more powerstones than just zero, you cheapskates. Get the Rick and Morty reference?