Chapter 2
At least one fortunate thing is that my one-room apartment is close to the station.
The evening in the Red Zone was ‘wild’ itself.
Pickpocketing or mugging was considered child’s play, and being frequently dragged into dark places and beaten thoroughly was common.
Being a high-crime area, it was characterized by almost no women living here.
Drrrrr.
The smartphone vibrated, and one text message arrived.
[Rent is in arrears. Please deposit 750,000 won definitely by tomorrow.]
It was a sharp text from the landlord.
The rent was due by 6 PM on the 25th, and he sent the message immediately after that time passed.
Rent of 750,000 won!
“It’s really Hell.”
Hell is not far away.
Living in a room of about 3 pyeong (approximately 10 square meters) for a month, I have to pay 750,000 won. Including management fees, it’s over 800,000 won.
Management fees where someone can freeze to death!
There’s nothing being managed at all.
I checked my balance first.
In my previous life, I always checked my balance to enjoy how prosperous I was, but now the situation was different.
[Daehan Bank: Account Holder Kang Shin-hwa]
[Current Balance: 5,252 won]
“Even if I combine daily wages of 300,000 won, it won’t cover the rent. I… Really lived hard at this time.”
A self-deprecating laugh escaped me unknowingly.
The well-being life I dreamed of in my previous life flew away with this regression.
The problem was how to solve the ‘Hell Life’ of my current life.
‘Before meeting Nicholas, I wandered for more than 5 years from this period.’
Looking back, I clearly wasted this time meaninglessly. It was the most precious time of my life.
But now it’s different.
I clearly know what will happen to me from now on.
Not only that?
I can awaken the ‘talent’ that I couldn’t bloom for years right now, immediately!
My colleagues called me stagnant water in my previous life.
It was praise that I was the best awakener who penetrated and mastered everything. That was correct.
I did not hesitate to put in effort to improve my skills, and I did not avoid hardships and trials.
Thanks to that, my fifty-year life was always a continuation of struggle and challenge, and that remained purely as knowledge.
‘I used to say there are never margins in my life. A life without margins has become very meaningful!’
Only I know the future.
Moreover, I have all the future knowledge that can dramatically change my current self.
‘Perhaps in this life, I can enjoy a well-being life early?’
The imagination spreads its wings!
I smiled brightly.
The day of the great disaster is still far away. It’s 2052, so there are plenty of 32 years left.
Then, since I’ve come to the past anyway, why not collect money, fame, and power, and retire early?
Don’t I have the reliable asset of future knowledge?
‘Roughly three years should be enough, right?’
The calculation was certain!
After working hard for three years.
I’ll buy uninhabited islands in the South Pacific and turn them into paradise, enjoying the life of a glamorous retiree.
The upcoming great disaster?
No worries.
I have Nicholas, the self-proclaimed ‘regressor’.
When he regresses, he’ll take care of everything and find a solution. He did so in the previous life too.
‘This is totally awesome!’
The exclamation came naturally.
I was feeling discouraged just thinking about returning to the worst period.
No. I was wrong.
I returned holding a pot of honey. Now, I just need to open the honey pot and suck the honey hard!
A humming came out involuntarily.
Of course.
‘No matter how I think about it, this environment is hard to adapt to.’
Reality was still hell.
Before I knew it, I was in front of my 5-story one-room apartment.
My room is on the top floor.
Of course, there’s no elevator.
And due to some ventilation structure problem, the cigarette smell and stench from the lower floors vibrate through the space.
I’ve requested repairs from the landlord several times, but it’s a shameless place that doesn’t even budge.
‘Let’s just endure today. From tomorrow, I’ll completely redesign my future!’
Just as I was entering the rundown apartment building with these grand dreams.
“Hey, Kang Shin-hwa. Coming from work?”
Someone grabbed my shoulder roughly.
It was touch and too strong to be from a close friend, pressing down on my shoulder unpleasantly.
I turned around.
Then I saw a familiar face.
Park Do-won, an unforgettable dark history of this period for me.
He was more memorable because of his smooth, completely bald head with bulging tendons.
He’s also the leader of the violent organization ‘Do-won Commitment’ that runs the local area where I live.
I don’t know what he was thinking when naming it like this, but if the Three Brothers of Yu would know this fact, they’d be scolded even from the afterlife.
“So?”
I answered curtly.
If my memory is correct, Park Do-won’s rank is D-rank. I’m F-rank.
There’s clearly a two-tier gap, which means a significant power difference.
If an F-rank has about twice the physical ability of a normal human.
A D-rank is at least four times that of an F-rank awakener.
“What…? You punk, are you talking back to me? After being a porter, did your head suddenly turn around in the dungeon?”
The dice have been thrown.
If I want to live peacefully here, I must clearly take care of Park Do-won.
Otherwise.
He’ll keep coming to find me, extorting my daily wages and harassing me. Like before.
This is why I always shudder, thinking of my five years as a porter in my previous life as a dark history.
Whoosh.
I quickly drew up the magical power located in my heart and began circulating it inside my body.
In the past, I had no idea how to handle magical power at this time.
Now I know everything.
Although it’s an F-rank body, there’s a method to explosively draw out a small amount of magical power and deliver a single strike.
‘In the past, I misunderstood many things.’
Back then, I considered myself only capable of physical enhancement, a reinforcement-type awakener.
So I never thought of using other abilities, just blindly relying on brute strength. Trusting only raw power.
‘But my talent was basically reinforcement, closer to a transformation type that could modify various things!’
So by stably controlling magical power, I could selectively cause changes to specific body parts!
This is exactly what I’m trying to do now.
Tracing my memories from my previous life, I’ve prepared to activate the ‘Explosive Fist’, one of the best counterattack options.
‘Having no telegraphing, making the attack’s timing completely unpredictable.’
That’s the strength of Explosive Fist.
I learned Explosive Fist from a guy named Muk-cheol who came from the ‘Martial Continent’.
I remember clinging to his pant leg, begging and offering nearly all my money to learn it.
It was the most optimized martial technique for me.
The connection between the Martial Continent and Earth happens on the first day of 2030. It’s still a future event that hasn’t occurred yet.
Anyway, with my current magical power, I can only manifest the first chapter of Explosive Fist, but that’s enough.
“Scared? Why aren’t you saying anything?”
A smile appeared on Park Do-won’s lips as I remained quietly silent.
He seemed to think I was terrified and had become a docile lamb.
“Why aren’t you answering? Do you think I’m a joke?”
He asks again.
“…..”
I waited a bit more.
To take him down in one blow, his arms need to drop a bit lower.
Still, he’s a D-rank awakener. If he reflexively raises his hand to block, the attack’s power would be halved.
“Well, I’m going to check today’s balance.”
Finally, as Park Do-won arbitrarily approaches to check today’s wages.
A gap appeared.
“Die, you bastard!”
I threw my punch without hesitation.
[Explosive Fist, Chapter 1 – Fury]
In an instant, my entire clenched fist hardened like steel.
Immediately turning bright red, beginning to heat up intensely.
It was emitting explosive heat, like a red-hot iron lump from a blacksmith’s forge.
Not just reinforcing the fist, but transforming its very nature.
Boom!
“Urgh!”
Before Park Do-won could react, the Explosive Fist was planted directly in the middle of his face.
He was extremely obese, his face area easily more than twice that of a normal person.
A wider target is much better.
Even with a casual punch, it accurately hit his face.
Kwaaaaa! Kwang!
Park Do-won’s body flew like a bullet, more than half embedded in the one-room building’s exterior wall.
Precisely imprinted on the wall, exactly matching his shape.
“Ugh……”
Park Do-won’s face, which already had blurry boundaries between eyes, nose, and mouth due to layers of fat.
Was completely smashed by the Explosive Fist.
Completely broken nose, sunken eye bones, shattered teeth – his face was a complete mess.
Like looking at the face of a slimy mollusk.
“Ugh.”
But he still seemed conscious enough to recover.
‘As a D-rank awakener, this level of durability was expected.’
I drew up the remaining magical power in my body and silently walked towards Park Do-won.
“How… How did you… How could you…?”
Perhaps due to blood pouring from his mouth, Park Do-won barely finished his sentence.
His eyes were filled with unbelievable shock.
Naturally.
It’s impossible for an F-rank awakener to knock down a D-rank awakener in one blow. That’s common sense.
But regression is not common sense.
The things that will happen to me, who will cleverly enjoy the regressor’s advantages, are obviously beyond common sense.
‘Hit quickly and retreat! Retire fast without getting tangled with these damn bastards.’
I made my resolution.
And faced the sacrificial pig for my future.
‘Just by using Explosive Fist now, I’ve shortened time by 10 years. This means I’m already surpassing my previous self!’
Thinking back, I was definitely enjoying an incredible privilege.
This is the strength of a regressor.
Guys like Park Do-won are no longer an insurmountable mountain, just entities about to disappear into the background of my dark history.
“Haaaa!”
With a shout, I delivered another Explosive Fist strike to his face.
Next moment.
Kwaaaang!
With a shock wave that shook the entire one-room building, Park Do-won’s body was perfectly embedded into the wall.
It was over.
From head to toe, with not a single unbroken part, cracked and fractured.
“Ugh……”
He passed out right there.
The perfect moment of cutting off the terrible connection who had always beaten me, extorted money, and threatened my life in my previous life!
