Chapter 2: Acquisition
An alarm clock rang.
Myeong had intentionally set it up to wake him up a lot earlier in the morning, he hadn't gotten a lot of sleep and therefore he hadn't woken up abruptly, although he wasn't to blame for that. His bed seemed like it was on the verge of breaking at any second. He leapt out of bed skilfully and half-heartedly went down the stairs.
Like always, something caught his attention and he stared at it for an entire minute.
The container.
It was the last thing Myeong's father had brought in from work, and it had stayed in the place he left it, the dining table. It was fairly small yet, it unsettled him a lot. One thing was definitely clear, whatever was inside, was there for a reason. That was enough for him to resist the temptation of opening it.
***
The entirety of the day passed by and it was exactly like the last.
The alarm rang once again, yet this time... it was different.
Myeong woke up abruptly, to his shock his vision was blurred, and he felt very dizzy. He tried yelling but even his words felt distorted- he felt paralyzed. After carefully limping down the stairs he proceeded to search everywhere for a syringe.
Due to a rare medical condition, Myeong was required to have 2 doses of a special medicine provided by the government. Since he had fell asleep after eating in his room, he hadn't taken his dose for the day and the consequences were very clear.
After almost blindly sweeping, he had managed to get the syringe but no matter where he looked, he couldn't find the container with his medicine. His vision was getting blurrier he reached to a container on a dining table and struggled to open it with his shaky hands.
After opening the container, he noticed there was a plastic test tube and he immediately drew out the liquid with his syringe and quickly plunged the syringe into his arm.
Ki Myeong collapsed on to the floor.
***
"What just happened?" Myeong groaned, his head felt heavy.
He stood up after regaining consciousness almost half an hour after passing out. His memory was fuzzy, but he dismissed it immediately after the realisation that-
"!!"
"I'm going to be late!"
***
After arriving in class, Ki Myeong unpacked his things and sat down in a seat near the window. Without even trying, Myeong fell asleep within the second lesson of the day. Everything felt so strange, it was peaceful... Too peaceful?
"Ello there.."
Hwa Ae-Cha leaned over Myeong and smiled. After being ignored for a few seconds, she sat down next to Myeong.
"You know it's rude not to reply."
Myeong continued to ignore her.
After staring out of the window, and losing track of time for the second time that day, he realised most of the people in his class had packed up and left including the teacher. Only 5 or so boys remained and Hwa Ae-Cha, who closed the door and took a seat on a desk near the middle of the classroom.
All of them were staring at Myeong viciously...
"Well well well..." one of them said whilst smiling.
It wasn't a complete lie to say that all the boys in the room were more well-built than Myeong.
"What is it?" he responded.
All of them laughed.
After which, they began approaching him.
[ I̶̱̞̗͎͍͇͔̝͙̿̾́͒̚t̷̪̹̋͌̋́̔̎̄̄̋͜͠ͅ'̶̡̞̝͈͌̈́̔̊̃̄̔̃ś̷̡͉͔͔̻̼̜̠͛̾͐͘͠ ̴̢͙͕̠̖̘̭̘̍̀̌͐̓̀̽̚b̸̦͖̪̬͉̭͕̗̤̄̅̽̊̈́̃̋́ę̷̝̭͍̻͉͎̐̈́̽̊̿̀̊͐͜ę̷̞̞͎͇̦̞̬͋̎͌̾͌̒̾͛̾ͅn̵̞͎̦̮͇̬̺̯̊͒̃̀̎̏͋ ̶̬̥̺̩͗s̴̨̞̀̉̾͜ỏ̶̡̇͛̉̈́̐̓͐̅ ̵̭̋͋͝l̴̖̽̀̎̍̃͠ǫ̷͕̻̜̘͖̩͍͑̌̃̃͋͌̕n̴̡̳̮̦̰͔̲̑̅g̸̮̥͉̃͑̔ ̶̟̠̦̺̝̣̀̈́̉̅͗́ş̸̮͙͍̼̞̟̻̹̈́i̸̲̜͑̄̑̃̿̌̐͘n̸̞͇̭̖̖̈́̊͊c̷̰͆̐̈́͆̿͊̑́͒͝e̵̢̧̩̪̺̅͜ ̶̢̝̤͊́̂̉͊͝Ī̴̯̺̼̗̯̮͕̮̮͉̇̊̈́̈̅̊'̵̧̨̹̘̬͔̪̯̟̥̆̓̄͐̏̂v̴̳̋͗̇̿̈́̇̒͊̕e̴̺̲̻͇̘͖̙͆͆ͅ ̵̠͍̦̜̼̜͚̋̿͘̚b̶̨̡̞̟͔̲̪̬̤́̚̚͝e̷͙͚̘̠͔̦̝͍͑̀̇̈́͘e̵̺̰̻͇̹̯̩̬̝̰̐́͑͌̃͐̽͘͝n̴̰̞̍͊̇̆̔͘ ̸͇̋̓́̃̾͒̈͌̀r̶͓̘͚͍̰̯̥̐̾͌͠ȩ̸̰̝̪͕̀̾͑̔̕l̸̙̾͒͑̋͝e̶̡̜͍̤̯̮̹͎̱̒̋̆̈͛́́͌̚͠ā̷̧̡̼͛͆̂͆̿s̷͈̝̱̪̊̆͜͜͝͝e̷̖̟̱͓͇͖̺̓̓͝d̶̦̝̮͉̱͙̱̮͖̝̓̌ ]
A sudden text flashed in front of Myeong, his head jerked and it hurt for a few seconds.
"What the hell was that?" Myeong yelled aloud.
"Have you been beaten up so many times you've finally lost a screw?" One of them snarkily commented.
[ Ä̷͙̙̣͎́m̶͉̮͈̘̦̏̓u̷̧̗͈͖̍̑̅̔͗̈̐̐͌̕͜s̵̝͇̮̙̿̓̍́è̴̡̝̮͚̝̲̝̞͓̅̈́̍̽͐̈́͂͑ ̴̡̢̨͔̙͈͚͕̮͙̍̒͐̈́͠Ṁ̸̮͍̖̩ẽ̶̱͙͈̯̮̱̖̮̞́́͜͝ ]
[Unknown Entity has donated (0.05%) of his power]
At this point Myeong knew he wasn't hallucinating, it felt like every vein in his body was springing with energy and his senses, from his sense of sight to his pure reflex, he felt... stronger? He looked over to Hwa Ae-Cha who was smirking whilst watching the boys.
"How's your mother?" one of them said.
It was followed by a roar of laughter, that echoed in his head.
"How's your father?"
The laughter continued, it deafened him.
"Do you see anything in common? They both left you... because you are a waste- A compliance no one could tolerate,"
Memories flooded in Myoeng's mind as well as a constant ringing sound.
He instantly remembered sitting alone in his dining table. The pain he felt looking at his father's corpse. The loneliness that never left him.
He also remembered the pain he had to endure. Even in class:
Ae-Cha fell off the seat and on to the floor.
"Why did you assault me?"
"Ae-Cha I- I didn't touch you."
Myeong almost missed it but it seemed like for a second she smiled.
The entire cafeteria became silent and stared at Myeong and from the corner of his eye he saw Ae-Cha grinning. He began leaving when he was pulled by the arm from Ae-Cha who was still on the floor.
"I was only interested in your father's influence. You can get lost now, okay?" she whispered calmly, so calmly that it infuriated every last nerve in Myeong's body but instead he chose to walk away.
Myeong's dad always told him to avoid trouble, instead of fighting it. Yet, for once, that advice seemed useless.
Myeong was always reminded of his regret of telling Hwa Ae-Cha about his passing of his father. He needed someone to talk to, someone to rely on but he was too naïve. Her words stung the most, unlike her boyfriend's who always had it out for Myeong. Even now he stood right in front of him, mocking Myeong, to his face.
***
"A compliance no one could tolerate, at least, they have finally found peace, away from you..-"
Ki Myeong instinctively punched him.
The person who previously stood before him was now head-first into a wall which was now completely cracked apart from the edges. A wave of air brushed everyone in the room and was only stopped when it had reached the far corners of the room.
"Have I always been this strong?" Myeong thought to himself.
"You little-"
Another one came at Myeong to punch him but he easily evaded and kicked the guy in the direction of Hwa Ae-cha at an insane speed which led to her falling of the desk and piercing the wall behind her causing her to land on a wall in the corridor outside of the classroom along with the person Myeong kicked.
"Be grateful, you wouldn't have much luck touching a girl otherwise." Myeong snarkily remarked to the boy that now lied on top of Ae-Cha.
Myeong walked through the new hole he created, he walked past Ae-Cha and paused. He smiled and then continued on his way.
Ae-Cha who had now stopped screaming in pain, opened her mouth but the words that came out were slow.
"You will... regret this...."
Myeong walked back a few steps, turned around and looked at Ae-Cha.
"I don't think your in a position to be saying such things."
Myeong chuckled a little and continued walking down the corridor.
Myeong's mind was blank.
He continued to walk down the corridor but he was still shaken by everything that had happened in the classroom. He continued walking down the corridor and turned past a corner.
Suddenly his legs stopped...
"Why can't I move,"
"What the-!"
A portal of sorts opened beneath him, although he tried his best to resist, it was continuously dragging him in at insane speeds. Adrenaline was still running through his veins and he desperately tried to resist some more but it was useless. Garbage left on the floor was beginning to get sucked in and before he knew it he joined them.
***
"Where am I?" Myeong mumbled.
To his shock he had gained consciousness during the night but he had woken up on a road in between 2 beautiful glass skyscrapers. At first, Myeong had thought he had somehow been transported to Seoul but looking around there was not a car or a person anywhere nearby.
"..."
Ki Myeong looked up at the sky to notice a green moon. After staring at it for a while, he began to feel almost sleepy and his vison was fading.
A middle-aged man with a fairly long beard approached Myeong from behind but Myeong's hearing was almost as bad as his vision and the man's voice was zoning out at a fast pace.
"What are---" the man uttered.
Ki myeong fell shoulder first to the ground.
[Synchronisation 1%]