Reawakening
Inside of a dark unknown space.
"Where am I??.. Why can't I see anything??!!!... It's completely dark!.. Is the afterlife supposed to be this dark?!!..."
Suddenly, the space was lit by a blinding orange-red light, but very quickly, the brightness of the light slowly decreased until Hyuk Il-hwang could open his eyes.
"Who are you?!... Are you Death?!... Are you going to crush me in your palm?!"
Hyuk Il-hwang was startled as he saw that he was standing on a huge palm covered by a jet-black gauntlet ,and that he was surrounded by five sharp claws. Furthermore, he could see to huge glowing purple eyes looking at him attentively, there was a huge jet-black helmet with two curved black horns, and glowing flame-like purple hair coming out f it, right in front of him.
"Wake up!!"
The enormous knight clad in a jet-black armor and a long smoky black cloak, and that was wielding a pure black sword in his right hand, ignored the questions of Il-hwang. Then, he closed his left palm very quickly, and the space was once again completely engulfed in darkness.
_________________
"HAAAA.... HAAAA... HAAAA.... HAAAA... Where am I again? After being transferred into a dark space and then being .... hmmmm... How should I put... squeeze to death without being feeling any pain by a black knight that was as height as a skyscrapers... Now, I am here in that well-lit up hospital room-like space... Is the afterlife like that? I must say that it is one hell of a pain!!.. Also does someone produces sweats in the afterlife or does it come from some hallucinations or something?!.."
Hyuk Il-hwang woke up in a jolt with sweats flowing down his face, and with an expression filled with surprise and fear. He noticed that a catheter in his right arm, and immediately tore out the catheter. His expression was instantaneously changed into one of pain and then he folded his right elbow while the content of the intravenous injection was dripping on the floor.
"AAARRGGGHHH!!.... Why do I feel pain?.. Am I not dead?.. Why?!!.."
He stared at his folded arm attentively for a few couples of seconds before tears started to flow from his eyes. He then proceeded to opening his elbow, and then opened and closed his hands repeatedly for a few dozens of times. Finally, his expression changed into one filled with anger, sadness and regrets.
"So, I really survived and Jinwoo-Hyung died... On top of that I can't give up on the life that he saved by giving his own, once again..."
He lifted his head and stared at the light in the ceiling as his tears fell on his white blanket.
"I vowed to protect his family for as long as I live... In order to repay him for his sacrifice.. REST IN PEACE HYUNG!.."
Before he could lower his head a transparent bluish window-like 2-D hologram appeared in front of his eyes. He was surprised at first but rapidly displayed a stoic expression while staring blankly at the bluish hologram. He lowered his head and wiped his tears and removed the white blanket covering his lower body with a move of his right hand about five seconds later. He then sluggishly got off the bed and stood up while reading the contents written on the hologram.
{
!ALARM!
[WELCOME, PLAYER]
____________
!MENU!
[STATUS]
[INVENTORY]
[SHOP]
[MAILBOX-2(UNREAD)]
}
'My life is turning more into a fantasy web novel with each passing day, since five years ago... I suddenly woke up in a fantasy world... I have awakened as a E-rank hunter and had no other choice than to raid dungeons, which are filled with mana beasts in order to survive in this world... I was on the brink of death and I suddenly obtained a system...
I don't know if all those events are due to a superior being, or not... Furthermore, if it is true, I don't know his intention and I'm only a pawn that he is manipulating... Yet, I will use that system to become so strong that I will be able to face that being, if he exists and take full control of my life... Right now, I'm to weak and have no choice but to play along... OPEN STATUS!!'
{
NAME: HYUK IL-HWANG
LEVEL: 1
CLASS: NONE
TITLE: NONE
HP: 315
MP: 45
FATIGUE: 0%
[STATS]
STRENGTH: 12
VITALITY: 12
AGILITY: 12
INTELLIGENCE: 12
PERCEPTION: 12
(AVAILABLE STATS POINTS TO DISTRIBUTE: 0)
[SKILLS]
PASSIVE SKILLS:
-(UNKNOWN) Lv. MAX
ACTIVE SKILLS:
-NONE
}
'My stats are not particularly strong, but I think that they are still better than the stats of the average characters of a game... Their stats are all usually ten.... I think that I will as also get much stronger as I perform quests to obtain stats points and to level up... I also think that I should save my stats points to use as a last resort to immediately get stronger...
Also if this world is like a game, I should obtain more rewards if my stats are lower than the required ones... But It will be more dangerous for me, but this will allow me to get stronger faster... CLOSE STATUS!!... OPEN INVENTORY!!'
{
!INVENTORY!
¬LONGSWORD -2
¬14 EMPTY SLOTS
}
Il-hwang touched the icon of the longsword that was similar to his previous longsword. Then, his right hand entered the hologram to his surprised, and when he hurriedly pulled it back. As his hand came out of the holographic screen, he saw a longsword that was identical to his longsword in his hand.
He attentively examined the longsword from all angles and even pulled it out of its scabbard, and it was indeed the longsword that he carried around in that raid.. He sheathed the sword, and tried to place it in the slot from where he took it. To his surprise, he succeeded on the first try and he then pulled the other longsword.
The longsword that he was holding didn't have scabbard like his, and its edges were also sharper. Yet, he couldn't fully erase the expression of anger and disgust that was showed off for a split of seconds on his face.
'Calm down.... Mr. Kim Sangshik was not completely wrong, he did what a mentally sane individual would do in that situation... He fled in front of an extremely dangerous situation... Take a deep breath and chill...'
[OOUUUUHHH.... HAAAAAA.... ]
Il-hwang took a deep breath and his expression returned to being stoic as he placed the longsword back in the 'inventory'. Then, he walked to his nightstand and took a jug that was filled with water.
He then tried to place it into one of the free slots in the inventory, and he succeeded in doing so. The jug with its content appeared as a small icon in his inventory, and after a few seconds, he pulled it out and put it back to its place.
'My longsword and the one left behind by Kim Sangshik were both automatically stored in the 'inventory' option of the system... It must be because I was holding them in my last moments in that double lair dungeon.. From the experiment with the jug of water, it seems that I can store any objects and their contents too...
But I can't store more that one object in a slot, then that will limit the number of objects that can be stored to 40... I can't be sure that the number of slots will increase as I level up... Furthermore, I must leave some free for my potential rewards for quests.... Let us leave that for later and check the 'shop' option.. CLOSE INVENTORY!!... OPEN SHOP!!'
{
!SHOP!
-SPECIAL NOTICE: ONLY THE 'SELL' OPTION IS AVAILABLE TO THE PLAYER UNTIL LEVEL 20.
[SELL]
}
'Okay... So I'm too weak to even open the 'buy' option of the system... And I don't have any thing to sell, so let us leave those options for latter... CLOSE SHOP!!... OPEN MAILBOX!!!'
{
¬CONGRATULATION ON BECOMING A [PLAYER](UNREAD)
¬[DAILY QUEST: PREPARATIONS TO BECOME STRONG] IS NOW AVAILABLE(UNREAD)
}
'OPEN FIRST MESSAGE!!!'
{
[THIS SYSTEM WILL SUPPORT THE GROWTH OF THE 'PLAYER']
[THE SYSTEM WILL BESTOW REWARDS AND PENALTIES DEPENDING ON THE PLAYER'S ABILITIES OR INABILITIES TO COMPLETE THE QUESTS ISSUED.]
[REWARDS HAS ALREADY BEEN DELIVERED FOR PERFECT INTEGRATION OF THE SYSTEM]
[REWARD: SKILL :- (UNKNOWN)Lv. MAX {CONDITIONS HAVE NOT COMPLETELY BEEN MEET FOR COMPLETE ACTIVATION}]
}
'CLOSE FIRST MESSAGE!... OPEN SECOND MESSAGE!..'
{
[DAILY QUEST: PREPARATIONS TO BECOME STRONG]
¬PRESS-UPS : 0/ 100
¬CURL-UPS : 0/ 100
¬SQUATS : 0/ 100
¬RUNNING: 0/ 10 Km
REWARDS: 1 RECOVERY + 3 STATS POINTS
(WARNING: APPROPRIATE PENALTIES WILL BE GIVEN FOR FAILURE TO COMPLETE DAILY QUEST)
TIME REMAINING: 175:45:01
}
'I have less than 3 hours left to complete this quest... I'm curious to know the penalty but I don't want to take the risk and lose those 3 stats points... Anyway, it is time to do a bit of physical exercise..'
[clakk... claakkk... ]
Hyuk Il-hwang cracked his neck and then, his fingers before he started to stretch his body. After 5 minutes of stretching his body, he got onto the ground and got into position to start performing his 100 press-ups. It took him 45 minutes to complete the 100 press-ups, and he also noticed that only perfectly executed press-ups were counted down by the system. Then, he changed his posture and proceeded to performing the 100 curl-ups.
Two hours later.
Il-hwang was lying on his back with his blue hospital T-shirt and pants completely drenched in sweats. His cheek-length, black hair were also wet, and the wet strands of hair were sticking together.
{
[DAILY QUEST: PREPARATIONS TO BECOME STRONG]
¬PRESS-UPS : 100/ 100
¬CURL-UPS : 100/ 100
¬SQUATS : 100/ 100
¬RUNNING: 10/ 10 Km
STATUS: COMPLETED
REWARDS: 1 STATUS RECOVERY + 3 STATS POINTS + 1 RANDOM BOX
(REWARDS HAVE BEEN DELIVERED)
TIME REMAINING: 05:05:57
}
"Haaaa...Haaaaa.... I finally completed that quest... Haaaa... Haaaa.... And it's about midnight... I thought that I would die several times... Anyways, I should check my status and rewards... OPEN STATUS!! "
{
NAME: HYUK IL-HWANG
LEVEL: 1
CLASS: NONE
TITLE: NONE
HP: 315
MP: 45
FATIGUE: 0%
[STATS]
STRENGTH: 12
VITALITY: 12
AGILITY: 12
INTELLIGENCE: 12
PERCEPTION: 12
(AVAILABLE STATS POINTS TO DISTRIBUTE: 3)
[SKILLS]
PASSIVE SKILLS:
-(UNKNOWN) Lv. MAX
-TENACITY Lv. 1
¬THE USER WILL NEVER GIVE UP IN DANGEROUS OR DESPERATE SITUATIONS.(SPECIAL EFFECT: RESISTANCE TO FEAR WILL INCREASE WITH EACH LEVEL.)
ACTIVE SKILLS:
-NONE
________________
REWARD(S):
¬ ONE STATUS RECOVERY AVAILABLE
}
'I successfully received the stats points and I also got a new skill due to persevering in my quest, even though I felt like giving up many times.. CLOSE STATUS!!.. OPEN INVENTORY!!'
{
!INVENTORY!
¬LONGSWORD -2
¬RANDOM BOX -1
¬37 EMPTY SLOTS
}
He pulled out the random box from the inventory, and it appeared as a small box that perfectly fit in the palm of Hyuk Il-hwang. He then open it and it glowed into a blinding white light. As the light completely faded, a can of beer was left in his hand. Hyuk Il-hwang was completely taken aback by this unexpected development.
'Hmmm... It turned into a can of beer... I must admit that I never saw this coming... I was expecting some gears like in games or at least weapons, but not a can of beer... Is the system joking with me?... Anyway, having a beer in my current situation is not that bad.. '
He opened the can and started to gulp it down. May be he was thirsty, but he drunk all the beer in one-go.
[HAAAAAA... ]
'That was a nice cold beer... hmmm... What is this notification!!'
{
!AlARM!
[A HARMFUL SUBSTANCE HAS BEENDETECTED.]
[BUFF: CURE POISON'S EFFECT IS HEALING YOU.]
}
{
3... 2... 1... CURE POISON HAS BEEN COMPLETED
}
"Dammit... Don't tell me that I can't even enjoy some beers from now on... what a pain!.. puuuuffff... Hmmm... Another notification!"
{
!ALARM!
[ALL REQUIREMENTS FOR THE SKILL (THE BLESSING OF THE GREAT SORCERER, KANDIARU) HAS BEEN MET.]
}
'CLOSE NOTIFICATION!... OPEN STATUS!!!'
{
NAME: HYUK IL-HWANG
LEVEL: 1
CLASS: NONE
TITLE: NONE
HP: 315
MP: 45
FATIGUE: 60%
[STATS]
STRENGTH: 12
VITALITY: 12
AGILITY: 12
INTELLIGENCE: 12
PERCEPTION: 12
(AVAILABLE STATS POINTS TO DISTRIBUTE: 3)
[SKILLS]
PASSIVE SKILLS:
-(BLESSING OF THE GREAT SORCERER KANDIARU) Lv. MAX
¬EFFECT: LONGEVITY:-
ALL DISEASES, POISONS AND STATUS EFFECTS ARE HEALED, AND SLEEPING WILL EXPLOSIVELY INCREASE REGENERATION ABILITY.
-TENACITY Lv. 1
¬THE USER WILL NEVER GIVE UP IN DANGEROUS OR DESPERATE SITUATIONS.(SPECIAL EFFECT: RESISTANCE TO FEAR WILL INCREASE WITH EACH LEVEL.)
ACTIVE SKILLS:
-NONE
________________
REWARD(S):
¬ ONE STATUS RECOVERY AVAILABLE
}