Chapter 7: I hope this works!

"Congratulations! You have gained a legendary power! Teleportation F-"

"Teleportation!?" Jihuun yelps. "What a wonderful power! I'll have to test it immediately!"

"I gotta run old dude, glad I could protect you!" Jihuun says hurriedly.

"Hold on youngster, aren't you curious about who that woman was?" The store owner asks.

"Well yeah, obviously." Jihuun replies.

"Well let me tell you, take a seat!" The owner says enthusiastically. Jihuun does so hesitantly. "That lady that you fought was one of the representatives for the mafia boss I told you about, plain and simple." The owner explains.

"Really? What business did she have here, or with me now that I'm thinking about it…" Jihuun asks rubbing his chin.

"I think this might all be my fault young man. The thieves came again last night, the little scumbags. This time though, I confronted them. I got my shotgun out from my closet and threatened them with it." The old man sighs. "It wasn't my proudest moment, but I was desperate."

"What happened after that?" Jihuun asks curiously.

"Well, the thing you should know is that those thieves were almost definitely a part of the mafia I told you about. Unfortunately, this mafia only recruits' people with specific, 'talents'. You yourself are already accustomed to these talents obviously."

"They only recruit people with supernatural abilities?" Jihuun asks.

"That they do." The old man responds shaking his head.

"This could prove to be pretty dangerous for me, and you too obviously," Jihuun sighs, "that just makes my job all the more difficult."

"Do you have business with these guys or somethin'? You'd better not get too tangled in their affairs; they have some pretty dangerous folks in their crew."

"I don't have much choice in the matter unfortunately…" Jihuun sighs.

"Well, best of luck to you, young man. Take this as a token of my gratitude." The store owner utters. The old man hands Jihuun a small lustrous pin with a weird symbol on it.

"Observe." Jihuun thinks. "Old man's gift. When worn anywhere on the body, grants the user +20% increase defense against all psionic and kinetic attacks. Grants free access to the plant shop." "What an amazing gift!" Jihuun chirps, "Thanks old dude!"

As Jihuun is walking home, he realizes he should try training his current abilities so he can better his understanding of them. "Maybe I should start by getting some basic elemental resistances? I got the flame tolerance pretty easily… Maybe it will be similar concepts for all other kinds of tolerances…" Jihuun ponders. "It couldn't be as simple as that. But, it wouldn't hurt to try a few things. Well, it might." Jihuun ponders.

First, Jihuun tests the cold. He asks a local restaurant if he can sit in their freezer for a few minutes.

"Listen, I know it's a strange request, but my friend dared me to sit in a freezer for 20 minutes. If I don't do this, I'll be down 50 dollars. Please, just 20 minutes!" Jihuun pleads.

"Alright, but we aren't liable if you hurt yourself in there. Could you also look at that camera and say that please." The manager states rather dryly.

"Sure thing." Jihuun replies.

Jihuun wears nothing but a shirt and his normal clothes and steps into the freezer. Immediately he is hit by a wave of freezing air, unsurprisingly. "Wow, this is really cold… The workers do this everyday? It really makes you wonder how people do this job for so little..." Jihuun rants.

After about 5 minutes Jihuun is really starting to feel the affects of the cold on his body. He made sure to look up the stages of hypothermia on his phone beforehand, just so he doesn't genuinely die. Worst-case scenario, a worker finds him froze, Hopefully...

He can feel the damp cold seep through his thin shirt and pants, and he begins shivering more vigorously than before. After about 14 minutes, he begins reaching his limit, and he can't take much more. "I-i-is it n-normal to l-lose f-feeling in your t-toes?" He shivers.

By 18 minutes, Jihuun is reaching maximum capacity, and he is about to reach his limit… He can't keep it up for much longer. At around the 22-minute mark, he begins to wonder what he is even doing. "I'm just a normal office worker, how has my life taken such a drastic turn within only a couple of days." He thinks. "What am I even doing…"

After 30 minutes, most of his body parts have lost feeling and his nose starts forming icicles, as silly as it may seem.

Jihuun is barely conscious at this point. "Warning! Extreme cold conditions! Leave the cold immediately!" He ignores the system and curls up even tighter. "What a stupid way this would be to die…" He thinks. He has lost the ability to even speak because his lips are stuck together.

As he is about to fully lose consciousness, he finally hears the sweet sound he's been waiting for. "Attention! You've broken through your limits! Extreme exposure to the cold has created a new passive ability! Cold tolerance F- 1/25." "Y-y-yes!" Jihuun squeaks, "f-finally."

Jihuun regains feeling in most of his body parts, but is met with searing pain throughout his entire body. For some strange reason, spending over 30 minutes in the freezing cold caused a lot of his blood to move towards his core, and out of his limbs. The rushing of blood back into his limbs all at once causes a sensation not dissimilar to burning. Funny how that works huh.

"Warning! Your condition is critical! Hp is low! Relocate to a safe place immediately!" Jihuun decides to listen this time and exits the freezer shakily. As Jihuun steps into the restaurant's kitchen, all of the cooks stare him down as if he were an alien creature, which wouldn't be too far from the truth at this point. Jihuun's entire body has turned a sickly pale white, and his fingertips have began turning blue. Jihuun stands next to one of the convection ovens in the kitchen of the restaurant and sits there until he fully regains function in his body. After about 8 minutes of this, he decides it's enough and puts his hoodie on. Jihuun begins to walk back to his apartment to take a well-deserved rest.

He finally reaches the door to his apartment and opens it. It felt like years in the making, but in reality he was only gone for about a day. Jihuun slips off his 'battle-worn' clothes and takes a hot steamy shower to wash away the cold, if there is one thing he wishes it could wash away, it would have to be the burns covering his body. A stark contrast to the torture he just put himself through. Jihuun exits the shower, still feeling some chill in his lower extremities. He brushes his teeth and heads to bed, completely exhausted.

*** ***

Jihuun wakes up to his alarm at his normal wake-up time. He got a full 10 hours of rest, surprisingly. Feeling refreshed, and suspiciously good, Jihuun heads into the bathroom to start his normal routine. What Jihuun did not expect to see was his face and body almost completely healed.

"Huh? How did that happen?" Jihuun ponders, "Oh yeah, that's right." Jihuun remembers that he got the minor regeneration passive ability. "Let me check on it, there's no way it could work that well, right?" Jihuun wonders curiously.

"Profile, skills." He focuses on the minor healing skill and is shocked at what he finds. "Minor regeneration. C+ 34/1100. Can be awakened. Upgradeable." "What is all of this nonsense, can be awakened… That's new." Jihuun remarks. "That is still pretty amazing."

"Attention! A full night's sleep has fully healed your mortal wounds. Your body strengthened overnight! Endurance has increased by 1 and vitality has increased by 2."

"Sweet!" Jihuun exclaims.

As it is a Sunday, Jihuun lazes around his apartment for most of the day taking a break from the chaos. He is juggling his coffee table and a potted plant in the air, teleporting from his couch to his lounge chair. Suddenly, he receives a notification. "Oh no, what is it this time." He wonders.

"Remember everyone, Monday is bring your kid to work day, so everyone make sure they know who the one person is going to be before midnight. We're looking at you, Janice." The text reads.

"Ah, it's just work. Nothing to worry about." Jihuun exhales. "Wait, there's another text… Oh no."

"Hey sunshine, it's me again. I'm incredibly ashamed of myself for being beaten by such a pathetic weakling like you, what do you say we have a rematch in the park today. No strings attached, just for fun. If you decide to accept, I will be waiting for you alone at 3 am. Don't be late." The text reads rather aggressively.

"This is almost definitely a trap." Jihuun remarks. "This could be an opportunity to infiltrate their headquarters though. Bah, what am I even saying? I sound like I'm in a spy movie or something."

"I just can't let this opportunity slip past me though…" Jihuun mutters. "I've got it! I'll just have to get stronger in that short period of time and fight her again, I'm dying to see what I'll get for beating her. I have 8 hours to strengthen myself!" He says triumphantly.

"I'll see you at 3, mystery lady."