《My Mom Is My Guardian Deity》 CH 1 ¡°¡­¡­.How can I get out of this damned situation?¡± [¡®Joong-won* Sword Deity¡¯ advises ¡°I don¡¯t have a solution no matter how much I think so just give up!¡±] *(t/n: A continent of the Moorim world built above clouds where strong martial artists live.) ¡°Is that something a person-in-charge as my Guardian Deity has to sa- Cough !?¡± I spat out the blood filled in my mouth pouring from the pit of my throat. Since I was fell forward a ´ó shape*, my face was soaked with the blood I vomited. *Reference for ´ó shape It probably meant that the lethal dose of the poison started doing its work. As soon as I entered this blindingly dark cave where I couldn¡¯t even see an inch ahead, I was surrounded by poisonous fog. And once I regained my senses, this ridiculous situation was taking place. But how? I definitely don¡¯t remember seeing anything like this being mentioned in the investigation team¡¯s report. Anyway, guess bread always falls on the buttered side. And so what happened when I requested SOS from my Guardian Deity in charge you ask? [¡®Joong-won Sword Deity¡¯ takes a moment of silence and says ¡°Imo find a better Guardian Deity¡±] This crazy- It was my fault for making such a guy my Guardian Deity and playing with my life. He could throw any skill or item that can work as an antidote but instead, he speaks nonsense like that. No but seriously, I should just die if there¡¯s no solution? How can a Guardian Deity give that sort of advice to its representative? ¡°Gasp¡­!¡± I let out a gasp as I felt blood rushing to my head and my chest tightened. It felt like my brain was being ripped into bits and pieces alongside feeling dizzy. At one point, I realized that blood was now even flowing out of my ears and nose. To think that Chil-gong-bun-hyeol*, which would only happen in martial arts novels can actually happen in reality, Is this for real¡­ *t/n: Lit. Blood flows from seven places. A condition in which one bleeds from the seven features on the head, namely, two eye sockets, two nostrils, two ear sockets, and the mouth. Am I also paralyzed? I can¡¯t even crawl till the cave entrance because my whole body is stiff. ¡°Ah¡­.¡± It feels a bit..real now. The fact that I have a 0% chance of making it out alive from here. Death. The weight of that short word weighs down on my cold body like a piece of lead. Even though I was slowly losing consciousness, tears rolled down as I was scared. It was driving me crazy to think how unfair it is that this cold cave where there is no one to listen to my will, is going to be my grave. ¡­But wait. Joong-won Sword Deity, that bastard. He isn¡¯t going to help me till the end huh. ¡°Agh cough¡­! Planning to rip me to dea- splat !? During my last moments, I decided to swear instead of saying my will. Towards that damned Guardian deity who abandoned his ¡®representative¡¯, me who used to listen to everything he said throughout my life just because I got a bit grumpy, like a pair of used shoes. ¡°Hey, you bastard! You still call yourself my Guardian Deity in charge after doing that?! You can hear me right? Huh?! Then show yourself! So that I can sew up that nonsense-spitting mouth of yours!¡± After every sentence, every phrase I spoke, blood poured out of my mouth like a leaking water pipe. Not that it matters. I¡¯m going to die anyway so spitting out a few more drops of blood isn¡¯t going to change anything. Instead of trying to crawl in my last moments, let me just leave stress-free. I put my middle finger up towards the ceiling beyond which would be the clear sky. ¡°That petty bastard who would only throw a few midget sized items bossed me around so much and now, at such a crucial time said what? I don¡¯t have a solution so just give up? How did he grow up to be like that? Son of a-¡± Eventually, I ended up cursing someone else¡¯s parents, normally something which I would never do. I mean I was about to. [New Guardian Deity prohibits representative¡¯s language activities] But in the end, I wasn¡¯t able to curse even though it was at the tip of my tounge because it felt like my vocal cords stopped working for a momet. That damned guy again. Now he¡¯s crossing the line ope¡­ ¡°¡­¡­¡± No. Wait a minute. What? ¡­New Guardian Deity? Till now I haven¡¯t received any message from another Guardian Deity except for Joong-won Sword Deity though? But then this¡­ [New Guardian Deity is furious and says ¡°Who are you pointing your middle finger at in an ungrateful manner!¡±] What does this mean? When I fell in a state on confusion, Bathump-! ¡°¡­¡­!¡± My heart skipped a beat. *** ¡°Heoghh?!¡± I had a seizure and woke up. My heart was racing like crazy. As a reflex, I held my chest. ¡° Huh? Huhh?¡± I was surprised at the fact that my heart was beating. That¡¯s right. For some reason I was alive. And that was not it, I was surprised to the point of almost passing out after realizing I was in my room. ¡°D-don¡¯t tell me¡­¡± I quickly opened the smartphone beside my pillow and checked the date. -1st September, 2025- If my memory isn¡¯t wrong, It¡¯s the date when I first felt the presence of a Guardian Deity and woke up. Right now, I can¡¯t even process if it¡¯s a dream or reality but I mumbled these words; ¡°Did I regress?¡± [The Newly in-charge Guardian Deity replies ¡°That¡¯s right¡± and sends their first greeting.] A translucent hologram window popped up with a di-ring sound blocking my view. ¡°It always popped up when my Guardian Deity sent over a doctor and It¡¯s the exact same font and design.¡± I became certain. I¡¯ve come back to 3 years ago. Of course, realizing it didn¡¯t mean that this dumbfounded feeling went away. The first thing I did after sitting up dazed in the bed for about a minute was to, Curse out loud. ¡°You bastard, you¡¯re Joong-won Sword Deity aren¡¯t you?¡± The Guardian Deity confidently replied that¡¯s right when I asked if I regressed a while ago. That means, he knows very well about the situation I¡¯m in right now. So he must also know why I¡¯m swearing at him out of nowhere right? ¡°Get lost, You nasty asshole! I don¡¯t even wanna talk to you! I want a refund! Get me someone else! If I have to spend this life with you again then forget about regressing or whatever, I¡¯ll end up getting cancer and di-¡± [The Newly in-charge Guardian Deity protests and says she isn¡¯t Joong-won Sword Deity!] ¡°¡­Ah.¡± Silence followed. I cleared my throat after staring at the hologram with blank eyes. ¡°Ahem, I¡¯m sorry. I didn¡¯t even know that and was rude during our first meeting¡­.I¡¯m sorry.¡± Even though it might seem servile you gotta accept what you did wrong. To survive In a world full of monsters, it¡¯s a must to have a Guardian Deity¡¯s ¡®Sponsorship¡¯. And all the Guardian Deity¡¯s are very moody. If you do something they are not pleased with then the frequency of the sponsorship decreases or, even if you receive an amount, it¡¯s ridiculously less. This was also the reason why I let out all the curse words I¡¯ve been silent about towards Joong-won Sword Deity only when I was on my deathbed. [The Newly in-charge Guardian Deity smiles and says ¡°It¡¯s okay, it happens.¡±] Oh. This dude¡¯s personality seems pretty okay. If it was Joong-won Sword Deity then he would totally be like what are you bickering on about. If he¡¯s so open-hearted that means he will be relatively easy to please. Just when I started to see the ¡®Newly in-charge Guardian Deity in a positive light. [The Newly In-charge Guardian Deity scolds ¡°By the way, if you¡¯ve woken up then you should tidy your blanket first!¡±] [The Newly In-charge Guardian Deity adds ¡°The first step of your new life can¡¯t be messy!¡±] [The Newly In-charge Guardian Deity rebukes in a serious manner ¡°But why does your house look like a pigsty!¡±] ¡­¡­. Was I wrong? Well, he kind off seems like the type to nag alot¡­. Despite everything, Joong-won Sword Deity never pointed out my way of living though. Di-ring! Di-ring! Di-ring! Even after that, the hologram window continued to appear like crazy which was torture for my eyes and ears. No, Ah. No way. I¡¯m getting confused. Stop it! ¡­is what I wished to stay but couldn¡¯t, instead, while breaking out in a cold sweat I asked, ¡°Um excuse me, Guardian Deity who chose me, May I know your name¡­No I mean, your nickname? Guardian Deities do not reveal their real name. Instead, they use a nickname in the form of a phrase. Just like Joong-won Sword Deity, even that dude probably has another name but he¡¯s called ¡®Joong-won Sword Deity¡¯. Just then, a hologram appeared. [The Newly in-charge Guardian Deity laughs aloud and says ¡°What do you mean by something upsetting like a nickname between us!¡± Wait, does that mean he¡¯s going to tell me his real name? I mean I can¡¯t keep referring to him as ¡®Newly in-charge Guardian Deity¡¯ in the future [The Newly in-charge Guardian Deity smiles and says ¡°I¡¯m not supposed to do this but you¡¯re an exception.¡±] [The Newly in-charge Guardian Deity edits the ¡®notification system¡¯ in a rush!] [Name of Guardian Deity is being edited!] [Name of Representative is being edited!] While I was blanked out amidst the storm of the continuous renewal notifications, -Di-ring! A hologram window way bigger than usual appeared, it made the other notification windows disappear and stood stand-still before my eyes. [Guardian deity ¡®Sung Hyun-sook¡¯ sends sponsorship package to ¡®My son ?¡¯!] [Package list: (Korean) Breakfast Package] ¡°¡­¡­¡± M-mom? CH 2 ¡°You have fun with uncle here. We¡¯ll be right back.¡± ¡°Honey, hurry.¡± ¡°Yeah¡­ wait.¡± Kiss Her soft lips kissed my forehead. Her nice smelling hair lightly tickled my cheek. I looked at my mom and dad nervously. Through the closed door, I could hear loud noises of people screaming and shouting. What could be happening? Just when I was on the verge of crying in fear, my mom stroked my head with her warm hands and said, ¡°When I come back, I¡¯ll make my Jae-min his favourite toast. I¡¯ll put a lot of honey on it too.¡± I silently nodded my head. After smiling brightly at me one more time, mom looked at the man standing next to me. Please look after my son. That is what her gaze meant. The man replied okay with a nod. Creak¨C The door opened from left to right, and I could vaguely see a glimpse of the city set on fire. After the raging wind along with heat blew on them, my mom and dad boldly left for the city that had been transformed to hell. I could only keep looking at their backs with blank eyes. ¨Cthud. The door closed. After that. I could never eat the toast my mom made forever. *** [Guardian deity ¡®Sung Hyun-sook¡¯ sends sponsorship package to ¡®My son ?¡¯!] [Package list: (Korean) Breakfast Package] I couldn¡¯t stop staring at the hologram in from of me. What? Is this a dream? I tried rubbing my eyes with my hands, then even slapped myself a couple of times. But it¡¯s real as heck. I¡¯m so shocked I could faint just by the fact that I regressed, but now my Guardian Deity in-charge is¡­? Sung Hyun-sook. There¡¯s no doubt. That¡¯s definitely my mom¡¯s name. And by seeing how she called me ¡®My son¡¯ that means there¡¯s only one conclusion to this. ¡°I-is that really you mom¡­?¡± [¡®Sung Hyun-sook¡¯ scolds ¡°How can a son not even recognize his own mother!¡±] In this situation wouldn¡¯t it be more weird if I¡¯m just like ¡®Oh, I see¡¯ though¡­ I have no clue what¡¯s happening. I¡¯ve regressed back to 3 years ago and 13 years ago- no wait, now it¡¯s 10 years ago my mom who passed away is now a Guardian Deity who sponsors me? ¡°¡­¡­¡± Calm down. Let¡¯s talk about everything in detail after I at least drink some cold water. In a dazed state, I walked like a zombie in a stumbling manner to the corner of my room and opened the fridge. Five bottles of 2L mineral water, three cans of beer and a convenient store lunch box I had bought to eat for breakfast, It can be said that the beauty of emptiness stands out inside the fridge. [¡®Sung Hyun-sook expresses her grief and says ¡°Why do you live so pitifully!¡±] I tried hard pretending to ignore the hologram beside me and just gulped the cold water. Pu-ah. ¡°¡­What should I do. I can¡¯t seem to calm down.¡± First. Let¡¯s start by checking whether it¡¯s true or not. To be honest I can¡¯t believe it at all. I¡¯m not that gullible to go like ¡®Yay! Mom!¡¯ after my dead mom comes back as my Guardian Deity out of nowhere. ¡®If my mom actually appeared right before my eyes, that would be a different story though.¡¯ All I can see is just a few lines of text. Who knows? Maybe they¡¯re doing a webcam prank event through the Guardian Deities. If it¡¯s something like that then that is not funny at all. ¡®Or maybe it¡¯s just Joong-won Sword Deity messing with me¡¯ He¡¯s someone who exchanged his whole personality for swordsmanship skills so no matter how much I swear at him, it won¡¯t be enough. I glanced at the small frame kept beside the computer. It was a photo of me when I was 8 years old with my mom and dad at an amusement park when we went on a family trip for the last time. These bastards, if they¡¯re really doing this nonsense in my mom¡¯s name then I¡¯ll curse at them like crazy. ¡°So I need evidence that you¡¯re my mo-¡± [¡®Sung Hyun-sook¡¯ asks ¡°Do you still look for ice cweam* as soon as you enter the amusement park?¡±] *t/n: not a typo! ¡°Pardon?¡± What I was about to say got stuck in my throat. Ice cweam? What¡¯s your intention for asking such a question? Is what I was going to ask¡­ But suddenly, a few scenes passed by in my head as if it was struck by lighting. -Mom, I want ice cweam. -No wonder this brat went on his father seeing how he looks for food first instead of rides, even after coming to an amusement park. -C¡¯mon, ice cweam! I wanna eat ice cweam! -Okay fine. I¡¯ll buy it. If you keep whining like this then mom¡¯s going home. I came to know about it later but, my parents were famous players. And because both of them were S-class players, apparently, they came to be known as the ¡®S-class couple¡¯ In the situation where different monsters kept appearing, would the world have left my parents alone? ¡®No way.¡¯ Because of missions or whatever¡­the time I spent alone was way more than the time I spent with my parents. Compared to others my age, I had no choice but to realize solitude a bit earlier. But whenever they had a little time, mom and dad would take me to the amusement park. Even if it was a day after they fought with monsters. ¡°I look for ice cweam first¡­?¡± Actually, I remember liking the bead ice cream sold there more than riding the rides because it was so delicious. All the memories came to my mind one by one. Even the fact that I used to call ice cream as ice cweam as I was still young and had a short tongue. But. ¡°How do you know¡­¡± How does that Guardian Deity know about my faint memories which I haven¡¯t told to anyone? [¡®Sung Hyun-sook¡¯ laughs ¡°I even remember how you wore diapers until you were seven.¡±] Damn it, did I? I think I maybe did but for some reason I don¡¯t want to admit it. I patted my flushed face. Besides being fond of recalling the old memories, I had goosebumps all over. ¡®Despite that, I can¡¯t trust those words 100%¡¯ Guardian Deity. They are beings who sponsor skills and items that transcends cognition from a realm unknown to mankind. South American S-class player Jayden has even stated that he received the skill to control time by his Guardian Deity in charge, hence, nothing else is needed to be said. ¡®It wouldn¡¯t be a surprise if she has an item to look into the memories or past of a human like me.¡¯ Is there nothing else? Something that can make me convinced so I can make out her authenticity. Well if we keep talking, won¡¯t I be able to find something? ¡°I¡¯m sorry if I¡¯m being picky but I still don¡¯t trus-¡± [¡®Sung Hyun-sook¡¯ glares and says ¡°Now stop rambling and just eat the food before it gets cold.¡±] [Do you wish to open Sponsorship item: (Korean) Breakfast Package? Y/N] No but, why does she keep cutting me off when I¡¯m speaking since a while ago. Is she really my mom? In the past, mom used to at least listen to everything I said till the end. ¡®I want to say that the food is not important right now but¡­¡¯ The hologram window kept putting text in front of my face like a bird pecking with its beak. How troublesome, really. ¡°Okay, fine. I¡¯ll eat. I¡¯ll eat it.¡± Maybe because I went through a lot of things at once, I think I¡¯m kind of feeling hungry anyway. To think I¡¯m actually feeling hungry in this situation. [Sponsorship item: (Korean) Breakfast Package is being served!] [If you wish to look through the package items then please command: ¡®look through¡¯.] A cube box that looked like it came out of a casual game dropped down from empty space. ¡°Look through.¡± After just saying one phrase, on the floor of my rented room which had nothing on it but dust, opened up a dining table for one. And on the table was a simple but filling meal consisting of rice and side dishes. Rice, Korean soybean paste stew, grilled yellow croaker, kimchi, and other seasoned veggies¡­ ¡°Hmm¡­¡± It¡¯s better than a convenient store lunchbox. And there¡¯s even a spoon and chopsticks to complete, sweet. The moment I picked up the spoon to taste the soybean stew. Pause. Out of nowhere, I stopped my hand after remembering something and spoke to the Guardian Deity. ¡°Isn¡¯t there something else besides thi- Ouch?!¡± Smack-! Suddenly the energy of something intangible hit my back. [Sung Hyun-sook gives a penalty to ¡®My Son ?¡¯ !] [¡¯A physical hit filled with love¡¯ has been given to the representative!] [¡®Sung Hyun-sook¡¯ scolds ¡°How can you nitpick over food even after turning that old!¡±] That hurt! It really felt like someone hit me with their palm! After unconsciously getting teary-eyed, I screamed feeling unfair. ¡°I¡¯m not nitpicking over food so can you please just hear me out till the end!¡± [¡®Sung Hyun-sook¡¯ folds arms and says ¡°If you have something to say then go ahead.¡±] Aside from the fact that I was lonely as a kid, my mom was very strong-willed. She didn¡¯t hesitate to give me a ¡®back smash¡¯ if I did something wrong. Damn it, Seeing how I¡¯m feeling the heat on my back like then, she might really be my mom¡­ ¡°My mom always used to make me my favourite food when she came back home.¡± I spoke with glaring eyes. ¡°I¡¯m sorry but that¡¯s what I want to eat for breakfast right now.¡± It¡¯s obvious but I intentionally didn¡¯t mention what type of food exactly. My favourite food out of everything mom used to make. Which is none other than French toast. With a lot of honey only on one side. To this date, I can¡¯t forget the taste of the toast my mom made. I know this might sound weird. But I can clearly differentiate the taste between toast made by someone else and my mom. To be precise, I can explain which parts taste different. It¡¯s like, my taste buds send me an immediate signal. Saying this tastes different from the toast mom used to make. ¡®It¡¯s a matter of intuition.¡¯ Even though it¡¯s been 13 years since I last ate mom¡¯s toast. For some reason, I think I¡¯ll be able to recognize it instantly. In fact, it¡¯s to the point I¡¯d like to ask myself how can you not forget that taste. If the Guardian Deity replicates the exact taste from that time then I¡¯ll accept it. ¡®Because If I suspect her even after that then there will be no end to this.¡¯ There was silence for a while. Then¡­ [Guardian Deity ¡®Sung Hyun-sook¡¯ sends sponsorship package to ¡®My son ?¡¯!] [Package list: Toast] Drop¡­ Just like a feather falling, a piece of toast gently dropped on the table. A ¡®toast¡¯ as if it was something obvious. But like I said earlier. It wouldn¡¯t be a surprise if a Guardian Deity has an item to look into the memories or past of a mere human. To figure out what food I liked as a kid could have been a piece of cake. But for some reason, ¡°¡­¡­.¡± The moment I saw the toast, both my hands started trembling unconsciously. My pupils started shaking to the point I could realize it myself. I picked up the toast with my hand. Honey generously applied only on one side. Not even jam, but honey. No, don¡¯t tell me¡­ No way. Crunch¨C The moment I took a bite of the toast. I felt my mind going blank once again. But it was different from the feeling of getting struck by lightning earlier. As if a white canvas was being painted with colours. I don¡¯t remember exactly when it was, but a scene unfolded in my mind. -It¡¯s burnt again. Geez, what¡¯s so hard about this that every time I cook it only this part gets burnt? Jae-min, should I make another one? -Uh-uh. I like the burnt part. -So weird, really. I know you¡¯re my son but you¡¯re really weird. The left corners of the bread. Even the burnt part is as it was. Mom grumbling about, no matter how many times she cooked it only this part gets burnt, echoed in my ear. Crunch- How can this possibly be. Whenever I was in a bad mood or was scolded after doing something wrong, Mom always made me this to eat and feel better. It would be more strange in fact, if I forgot this shape, this taste. No matter how much time has passed. ¡°When I come back, I¡¯ll make my Jae-min his favourite toast. I¡¯ll put a lot of honey on it too.¡± 10 years ago, it was the last thing mom said to me. Since then, mom never came back. Destruction monster, Germadon. On the day it came back to Korea, mom and dad fought it. And ended up sacrificing their lives to end the destruction in the country. The world found back its peace but I couldn¡¯t find my parents again. Nor the toast I loved. Crunch- I thought I would never be able to eat it again. Something tickled my cheek. Just like how my mom¡¯s hair tickled my cheek back then. I realized that at some point while I was chewing the toast I started squeezing it in an unsightly manner. I swallowed the toast through my throat and asked in a quavering voice. ¡°You¡¯re really, really my mom?¡± [¡®Sung Hyun-sook¡¯ asks back ¡°Then who else would do this for their son if not their mom?¡±] I didn¡¯t doubt anymore. No, in fact there was no doubt. I didn¡¯t want to believe the taste of this toast is a lie. Now I¡¯m sure of it. The fact that my mom, who died 10 years ago, appeared in front of me again as my Guardian Deity. I started sobbing like an idiot. I didn¡¯t care if people in the neighbouring rooms could hear me as the soundproofing in this rented room was crappy. Because I couldn¡¯t hug the hologram, I looked at the text filled with my mom¡¯s words and said. The words I had planned to say if we met again in heaven after I die. ¡°I¡­I missed you, mom.¡± [¡®Sung Hyun-sook is teary and says ¡°I missed you too!¡±] Ha¡­. I have no words. Even though I¡¯m in shock on one hand, on the other hand maybe it¡¯s because I¡¯m so overwhelmed, I laughed for no reason. [¡®Sung Hyun-sook¡¯ scolds ¡°By the way, if you¡¯re done having breakfast then go tidy up your blanket!¡±] Mom, did you really have to ruin the moment like this? CH 3 ¡°¡­But mom, how did you end up becoming a Guardian Deity?¡± After eating the toast tearfully and neatly piling up my blanket, I asked my mom with a voice that no longer quavered. There were a lot of things I wanted to talk about, but decided to get cleared up on that first. [¡®Sung Hyun-sook¡¯ is proud and says ¡°I was qualified to become a Guardian Deity after being recognized as a hero by the ¡®Hall of Fame¡¯!¡±] [¡®Sung Hyun-sook¡¯ says ¡°That was a great question¡± and sends sponsorship package to ¡®My Son ?¡¯!] [Package list: Vitamin pill filled with love (1 pill)] ¡­Suddenly a sponsorship package? No, I mean what did I do? While I was being speechless because I was surprised, a pill dropped on the table. ¡°¡­Is this really a vitamin pill?¡± The pill looked so black as if someone dipped it in ink. [¡®Sung Hyun-sook¡¯ says disappointedly ¡°Do you think any mother would give their child something harmful?¡±] ¡°No I mean, you sent me a sponsorship out of nowhere while we were talking so I was just a bit flustered¡­¡± When Joong-won Sword Deity was my Guardian Deity, no matter what sort of crazy things I did, I never received something useful. Ugh, it makes me mad thinking about it again. ¡°What is the Hall of Fame? Is it like a social organization or something made by all the Guardian Deities?¡± While I was fidgeting with the mysterious pill in my hand, a translucent hologram popped up in front of me. If humans who have been awakened as players have the will to learn more about a ¡®skill ball¡¯ or ¡®item¡¯ sponsored by the Guardian Deity then, an information box will be created. Just like this, ===== Name: Vitamin pill filled with love Classification: Consumption Description: [Information cannot be viewed because of the intervention of the sponsor.] Effect: [Information cannot be viewed because of the intervention of the sponsor.] ===== What the. She said it wasn¡¯t anything harmful then why is she hiding the most important information like that. I don¡¯t want to be suspicious but if she does this then it makes me uneasy for no reason. [¡®Sung Hyun-sook¡¯ suggestively smiles and says ¡°You¡¯ll come to know its effect once you eat it!¡±] ¡­Ah, I see. This isn¡¯t a vitamin pill. Right? If it was a regular vitamin pill then there would be no reason for her to smile so suspiciously. Anyway, I don¡¯t feel good about this so I¡¯ll leave eating it for later. I pushed the pill with my finger and came back to the main topic. Mom answered my question of whether the Hall of Fame is a social organization made by the Guardian Deities. [¡®Sung Hyun-sook¡¯ says ¡°You can say it¡¯s kind of similar.¡±] [¡®Sung Hyun-sook¡¯ adds ¡°Only heroes who are reputed in their respective field or have great achievement can climb the Hall of Fame.¡±] ¡°Heroes who have great achievements¡­¡± In short, it meant that those who were called heroes during their lifetime would be able to become Guardian Deities after they die. If that¡¯s the condition then there¡¯s no reason for mom and dad to not become a Guardian Deity. My parents sacrificed their lives to protect not only Korea, but the whole world from Germadon. Thanks to that I became an orphan. ¡®¡­Suddenly this is depressing.¡¯ Forget it, stop thinking about it. Yeah, this is the time I should be proud that my parents are such great beings. [¡®Sung Hyun-sook¡¯ cautiously asks ¡°Do you resent us?¡±] Gasp, that surprised me. ¡°B-by any chance can a Guardian Deity read the minds of the representative they are in charge of? I don¡¯t think I¡¯ve heard of it though¡­¡± [¡®Sung Hyun-sook¡¯ smiles bitterly and says ¡°It¡¯s not like that, but I can tell what you¡¯re thinking just by looking at your face.¡±] That¡¯s a relief. I know she¡¯s my mom but I wouldn¡¯t want her to be able to read my mind. Maybe because I was having useless thoughts, it showed up on my face. I quickly pulled my lips up in a smile. ¡°I don¡¯t resent you. Of course when I was immature, I hated you for leaving me all alone¡­.But when I became older and a bit more intelligent, I could understand it.¡± I know about my parent¡¯s situation so well, why would I need to resent them? Also, if it wasn¡¯t for mom and dad then the whole of Korea would have disappeared because of Germadon back then. [Guardian Deity ¡®Sung Hyun-sook¡¯ is relieved.] She must have been holding it in. In order to distract her, I asked her the next question without erasing the smile on my mouth as much as possible. ¡°What about dad?¡± I fully understand that mom became a Guardian Deity after being accepted as a hero by the Hall of Fame or whatever. ¡­.But then where did dad go? [¡®Sung Hyun-sook¡¯ laughs in vain and says ¡°He is currently in the process of registration screening of a Guardian Deity.¡±] [¡®Sung Hyun-sook¡¯ proudly raises shoulders and says ¡°I was able to pass the screening much earlier because I had more achievements than your dad.¡±] ¡°I see¡­¡± For some reason, I can imagine mom¡¯s face filled with confidence after she beat dad. But it¡¯s true, compared to my dad, my mom worked way harder. To be precise, it was more like mom saying ¡°Geez, rather than trusting your dad with it, it¡¯s better I do it myself!¡± and taking on the whole mission by going in front of dad. Thanks to that the head of the family was always able to maintain her pride. ¡°Anyway, that means I¡¯ll be able to meet dad soon too right?¡± This is a secret but¡­ I actually like dad more than mom. Of course, you shouldn¡¯t be favouring someone more over the other between your beloved parents, but you know there¡¯s always that question. ¡®Do you like mom more or do you like dad more?¡¯ I like dad more. Why because, he¡¯s less strict than mom. [Guardian Deity ¡®Sung Hyun-sook¡¯s expression suddenly darkens.] Gasp, what the hell? D-don¡¯t tell me she was able to figure it out from my face this time too? [¡®Sung Hyun-sook¡¯ finds it a pity and says ¡°When you¡¯re a trial Guardian Deity you can only have one representative before you get promoted, so you¡¯ll still have to wait to see your dad.¡±] Phew. I thought she read my mind- wait, what did she say? Now, what does that mean? ¡°What do you mean by trial, even Guardian Deities have levels or what?¡± [Guardian Deity ¡®Sung Hyun-sook¡¯ agrees.] [¡®Sung Hyun-sook¡¯ adds ¡°After the ¡®Trial¡¯ level, if you¡¯re promoted to ¡®Official¡¯ then you will be able to make a contract with five representatives.¡±] ¡°Sigh¡­¡± I thought it was a place where Deities are freely united, but there seems to be a systematic class system. So that means until dad gets promoted to the ¡®Official Guardian Deity¡¯ position, there won¡¯t be any contact point between us in the meantime. ¡­Huh? wait a minute. ¡°But mom you¡¯ve already made a contract with me right? Then doesn¡¯t that mean even after dad becomes an ¡®Official Guardian Deity¡¯ and is able to make a deal with five representatives, in the end he won¡¯t be able to make a deal with me?¡± [¡®Sung Hyun-sook¡¯ dismisses your worries ¡°If the Guardian Deities agree to cooperate then it¡¯s possible to look after the same representative!¡±] [¡®Sung Hyun-sook¡¯ shakes her said and says ¡°However, it¡¯s impossible for trial Guardian deities to be able to co-foster a representative.¡±] Hm¡­so that means it¡¯s possible for two people to raise one game character together. And there needs to be a mutual agreement between both the parties who will be sharing the character. I thought as a representative, I was only allowed to have one Guardian Deity. ¡®I was clearly wrong though.¡¯ [¡®Sung Hyun-sook¡¯ adds ¡°It¡¯s rare to find Guardian Deities co-fostering a representative though.¡±] As I thought. Who would like to share their game character with someone else? Anyhow, even though it¡¯s in the far future, my heart fluttered at the fact that I could reunite with dad someday. For that to happen, both my parents need to become ¡®Official Guardian Deities¡¯. ¡°So how do you get promoted?¡± [¡®Sung Hyun-sook¡¯ explains ¡°You need to earn enough achievements in the present time to meet the ¡®standard for promotion¡¯ set by the representatives.¡±] To put it simply don¡¯t you just need to be good at fostering your game character? If the success of the representative is the condition for promotion then¡­ ¡°Isn¡¯t the problem solved if the Guardian Deity keeps sponsoring the representative so that they can have it easy?¡± [¡®Sung Hyun-sook¡¯ frowns and says ¡°Do you think it¡¯s that easy to raise someone in the ¡®low level?¡±] ¡°¡­What do you mean raise someone of the low level. It¡¯s not even a tamagotchi or something¡­¡± [¡®Sung Hyun-sook¡¯ adds ¡°To sponsor skills and items, the Guardian Deity needs to pay ¡®God coins¡¯¡±] [Guardian Deity ¡®Sung Hyun-sook shares ¡®Keyword¡¯ with ¡®My Son ?¡¯] [God coin: The common currency used by the Guardian Deities living at the ¡®Hall of Fame¡¯.] ¡°¡­.Ah, I get it.¡± In other words, ¡®God coin¡¯ is not just game money used by Guardian Deities to sponsor their representatives. It¡¯s like ¡®cash¡¯ that is necessary to enjoy a normal life. ¡°So basically, whenever you give items and skills to a game character, you have to pay for it right?¡± [¡®Sung Hyun-sook¡¯ is amazed that ¡®My Son ?¡¯ is so smart!] To think you need cash instead of game money to play the game. So there was a reason why Guardian Deities are so stingy with the sponsorships. I thought it was an RPG game but it turned out to be a betting site. [¡®Sung Hyun-sook¡¯ she is ready to sponsor ¡®My Son ?¡¯ with bright eyes!] ¡°D-don¡¯t overdo it, mom. Didn¡¯t you say that the God coin is like cash in the Hall of Fame? I wouldn¡¯t want your life to go downhill because of me¡­¡± [¡®Sung Hyun-sook¡¯ winks and says the success of ¡®My Son ?¡¯ is like her success!] ¡­Damn, that was touching. It¡¯s even more touching when I think of the days I suffered because of that stingy bastard, Joong-won Sword Deity. ¡®He couldn¡¯t even sponsor such a common Level C skill for me¡­Go to hell, you stingy bastard.¡¯ But it¡¯s different now that I¡¯ve regressed. As long as mom¡¯s my Guardian Deity, then this life¡¯s going to be a piece of cake! I even came to know about the ¡®Hall of Fame¡¯, which other representatives probably don¡¯t know. Why don¡¯t the other representatives know you ask? It¡¯s because even if they ask a related question, they get a message with only filtered information. When Joong-won Sword Deity was my Guardian Deity, I received a message like that too. [This message is private!] ¡®Annoyingly, I always received such messages.¡¯ So even after going through a disastrous event, humans don¡¯t even know the basics of the world, which has changed into a game. ¡­But I just found out because mom told me. Come to think of it, I feel like I¡¯ve come to know some really big information. ¡°Why don¡¯t the messages you send get filtered, mom?¡± [¡®Sung Hyun-sook¡¯ smiles and says ¡°That doesn¡¯t apply if the rate of friendliness between the Guardian Deity and representative is high!¡± ¡°Rate of friendliness¡­it¡¯s usually between 20% to 30%. As far as I know, Liu Kai from China who is known to be close to his Guardian Deity has a rate of 60%¡­I guess yours and mine must be higher than that?¡± [¡®Sung Hyun-sook¡¯ sniffs and says ¡°It¡¯s exactly 89. 01%!¡±] ¡°¡­¡­.¡± Oh, hmm. No wonder. Because I¡¯m her son, out rate of friendliness obviously has to be high¡­right? Suddenly I became curious how much it would be with dad. It¡¯s a secret from mom, but with dad, I think it¡¯ll be above 90%¡­. ¡°Ah.¡± I almost totally forgot to ask this. I asked a question for the last time. ¡°How did I regress back?¡± [¡®Sung Hyun-sook¡¯ scratches her cheek and says ¡°I¡¯m not sure about that either.¡±] ¡°¡­Even the reason why I died in the first life?¡± In fact, it still remains a mystery. I definitely don¡¯t remember seeing, poison fog will suddenly appear in the cave being mentioned anywhere in the investigation team¡¯s report. But that doesn¡¯t mean I went to another route instead of the assigned one. I just went straight along the path given in the report. This can mean two things. Either the report was wrong or, Someone tricked me intentionally with the intention of killing me. ¡­or maybe it¡¯s both. [¡®Sung Hyun-sook¡¯ is frustrated and says ¡°How you regressed, your cause of death, etc. is a riddle for me too.¡±] You¡¯re frustrated too, mom? I¡¯m frustrated too. But if I were to look at the timeframe alone, just a few hours ago I was on the verge of death and my heart felt like it stopped but somehow, I managed to maintain my rationality. Is it because later the fact that mom came back as my Guardian Deity was more shocking for me? Anyway, ¡°Well, it can¡¯t be helped if you don¡¯t know. We can probably start looking for the reason eventually.¡± Though, I¡¯ll need to start finding out why I died in the dungeon from now on itself. Because there¡¯s no guarantee I won¡¯t suffer through the same thing again. ¡°For now, the most important thing is¡­¡± I tightly clenched my fist. ¡°That I won¡¯t let this life go downhill like my previous one!¡± [Guardian Deity ¡®Sung Hyun-sook¡¯ is happy.] [¡®Sung Hyun-sook¡¯ persuades ¡°In that sense, take your vitamin pill and take care of your health!¡±] ¡°Ugh¡­¡± She won¡¯t let anything slide. No wonder she¡¯s my mom. I put the pill, which I suspect to not be a vitamin at all, in my mouth and drank water. Gulp. ¡­Nothing happened though. It was really just an ordinary vitamin pill? [Guardian Deity ¡®Sung Hyun-sook¡¯ is happy.] ¡­It¡¯s the same message as a while ago but why does it feel different. Well, it¡¯s nice I guess. The regress start point is the first day I woke up as a player. What else happened on this day? Baaang-! Just then. Out of nowhere, a rock came flying and destroyed one of the four sides of my house. Oh. Right, I remember. ¡°Yeah I lost my house the first day I woke up¡­¡± Damn it, it¡¯s already a mess. CH 4 [¡®Sung Hyun-sook¡¯ is furious and says ¡°You worked so hard in tidying your blanket now what is this!¡±] ¡°¡­Mom, aren¡¯t you being angry about the wrong thing?¡± My house is in shambles. Although it is a studio apartment that is the size of a pea, a house is a house. ¡°Crap, my bed¡­¡± Ah, my blood pressure is about to rise from day one of regression. When I looked outside through collapsed wall, I could clearly see the faces of the bastards who turned my nest into dog food. [Grrrr-!] Ten monsters with a strong physique like that of a bodybuilder have been screaming in the middle of the road in broad daylight. ¡®That¡¯s right, it was them.¡¯ Orcs. I don¡¯t know what tricks the heavens were playing on me but, from the first day of awakening I got struck by lightning after the gate near my house broke down. After that, I lost my house as a bonus. So what did I do you ask? I jumped. No, to be exact, while I was about to run but there was no way to do that, I jumped. It wasn¡¯t out of my own will. And it definitely wasn¡¯t because I was in a hero mindset after being so happy by the fact that I woke up as a player. ¡®Joong-won Sword Deity, that damned bastard pushed me saying you should go for a grand debut now that you¡¯ve awakened¡¯ Joong-won Sword Deity. Because his name sounded like some kind of master I trusted him and was filled with courage I didn¡¯t even have. I was like wow! Such a person is my Guardian Deity? So in the end? It is as described above. When an orc threw a punch in my stomach, I flew like a bullet and realized that reality was like the gutter. Then I came to know I was an F-class. That meant the difference between me and an ordinary human who hasn¡¯t awoken yet is the height of an acorn. ¡°Well just because I regressed doesn¡¯t mean I¡¯ll immediately change from an F-class to an A or S-class¡­¡± I vowed to not let my second life go downhill too. Throwing yourself into a fight you can¡¯t even win is not courage, but abuse. Being here is dangerous so for now I should find a shelter. When I turned to the front door after making up my mind. [¡®Sung Hyun-sook¡¯ holds onto her excited heart and says ¡°The preparations for the grand welcoming ceremony have been done!¡±] ¡°Mom?¡± Why are you suddenly speaking like Joong-won Sword Deity? That makes me nervous. ¡°Mom, by any chance, what was I doing the exact moment you became a Guardian Deity?¡± [¡®Sung Hyun-sook¡¯ nods with a sad face and says ¡°You were dying because of the poison fog.¡±] ¡°¡­Then you¡¯ll probably have no idea how I lived before I regressed right? Back then, I actually got beaten to a pulp by the orcs, mom.¡± [¡®Sung Hyun-sook folds arms and says ¡°Then shouldn¡¯t you use this opportunity to give back a 100 times as revenge.¡±] ¡°No, that¡¯s what I mean, I¡¯m no match for them!¡± In frustration, I hit a rock stuck in the wall like it was a piece of modern art. ¡°See! An F-class like me can¡¯t even get break a piece of ro-¡± Crack¨C Oh. ¡­It broke? I speechlessy stared at the cracks engraved on the rock. [¡®Sung Hyun-sook¡¯ raises shoulders and says ¡°This is all because you became healthy after eating the vitamin pill!¡±] Don¡¯t lie to me. It¡¯s because you fed me something that wasn¡¯t a vitamin pill. Bathump bathump. In the midst of my fluctuating heartbeat, a hologram with my mom¡¯s words showed up with a di-ring- sound. [¡®Sung Hyun-sook¡¯ strongly advises you to focus] Focus. I coud tell at once what she was telling me to focus on. I ignored the roars of the orcs, the screaming and shouting of people I could hear and focused on my inner self. And¡­ Whoosh-! A sound as if a tornado was passing by resonated around my chest. I listened to the sound of my mana circulating in a circuit. Mana. The source of power that only players have. It was fluctuating inside of me. ¡°Oh¡­.¡± If it was to simply exits then there would be no reason for me to be this surprised. I¡¯m surprised because it is different. Before I regressed, only after I flexed my stomach like a person with constipation with all my strength would my mana react, that too in a pea-sized amount. Right now, it immediately reacted to my will and is circulating like a stream gushing out from a broken dam. ¡°What exactly did you feed me?¡± At some point, I looked at my fists surrounded by blue shining energy in amazement. During my first life, I had never seen such bright and pure mana boiling out of my body. I thought it was strange so I called out the Player¡¯s info. Di-ring- ===== Name: Hwang Jae-min Skills: *Strengthening muscle strength (Level E, Basic) Special note: [Information cannot be viewed because of the intervention of the sponsor.] ===== ¡®¡­What?¡¯ What¡¯s with this unorganized and unfriendly status window. How does it make sense when it¡¯s my body but I don¡¯t know what¡¯s going on. Especially that x. It¡¯s not even an equation and I¡¯ve never heard of a status where an unknown variable is added. ¡®But looking at the numbers inside the parentheses, the basic starting point seems to be the same as before I regressed¡­¡¯ Which is the same as the basic skills given as soon as you awaken. For your information, having the E level muscle strength just means that at best, you have more strength to lift about a bag of rice. Looking at the stats again¡­adding an unknown x means that there are some additional effects. I guessed it had to do something with the ¡®special note¡¯ where the information is hidden but¡­I won¡¯t know until mom tells me exactly what it is. ¡°¡­.This is all because of that vitamin. Right, mom?¡± [¡®Sung Hyun-sook¡¯ winks at ¡®My Son?¡¯ and says ¡°I¡¯ll let you know if you go and kill those orcs.¡±] [¡®Sung Hyun-sook¡¯ is burning with fight spirit and says ¡°I can¡¯t stand seeing my son living like a coward even if I¡¯m being held at gunpoint!¡±] ¡°So that¡¯s how you want to play?¡± Whatever the identity of that unknown x is, a plus is a plus nonetheless. Plus. It means right now I¡¯ve become stronger and definitely can¡¯t be weak. And a clear evidence of that is, the rock in front of me which has my visible handprints. ¡®This makes things different.¡¯ I hit a rock stuck in the wall which was blocking my way. Baaang-! As if it was obvious, the rock got crushed to dust. ¡°¡­this is no joke.¡± A smile that can seem obnoxious to others grew on my face. I can¡¯t stand seeing my son living like a coward even if I¡¯m being held at gunpoint you say? ¡°I feel the same way.¡± *** [Keuaaah-!] Ten orcs that were in full vigour, were rampaging through the city. Whenever they destroyed something, there was endless screaming and violence. ¡°Player! Where is a player! How can there be nobody around!¡± ¡°Euaack-!¡± ¡°No, my restaurant!¡± It¡¯s of course the ordinary citizens who shed tears over the baseless violence. All of a sudden, people whose lives were threatened ran with all their might to a safe shelter. However, evacuations are never free of accidents. Trip! ¡°Ah¡­!¡± A young boy carrying a backpack tripped over while running. And he couldn¡¯t get back up after probably spraining his ankle. [Grrrr¡­] One of the orcs stealthily approached the fallen boy. Thick saliva dripped from its curved fangs sticking out of its mouth. A huge shadow cast over the boy¡¯s face. ¡°P-please save m-¡± [Keuaaaa-!] Before the boy could even complete his plea, the orc was already holding a spiky wooden mace up high. Smack-! Just then, a horrifying sound of flesh being smashed resonated. From the orc¡¯s groin. [Gasp¡­?!] With a rock being stuck on its male member, the orc started twitching in the same position it was holding the wooden mace high. Thud! Soon, its mouth started foaming and it collapsed. ¡°¡­No, I was aiming for the head.¡± I easily threw a piece of rock bigger than my fist as if it was a baseball. Besides my beautiful pitching strength, the aim and control were still lacking. I slowly stroked the head of the fallen boy who had a puzzled face. ¡°You got hurt while you fell down earlier didn¡¯t you? Don¡¯t move and wait right here.¡± ¡°Hic, yes, okay¡­! Hyung*¡­¡± t/n: A term used by younger males to refer to older males. ¡­During my first life, this kid must¡¯ve been beaten to death. [¡®Sung Hyun-sook¡¯ is annoyed and says ¡°What were the parents thinking leaving a child alone during these times!¡±] I know right. I picked up the mace used by the orc, who died of shock due to groin rupture. Hm, it¡¯s almost as long as my body, but thanks to the vitamin pill, its weight feels like I¡¯m holding a bat made of aluminum. The grip feels nice. [Grrrr¡­!] As I tested the mace by swinging it around, an orc outraged by the death of its colleague rushed my way. The orc had tattoos on its shoulder. ¡®That time I definitely got hit by this dude¡¯s fist.¡¯ I clearly remember that face. ¡°Thanks to you, back then I almost swam the Sanzu river* as soon I woke up, you bastard!¡± T/n: The Sanzu river is a mythological river in Japanese Buddhist tradition. Before reaching the afterlife, the souls of the deceased must cross the river to get to the other side. I threw the rock I was already prepared with in my hand towards it¡¯s leg. Smack-! Hit on target successful. [Gasp¡­?!] The orc whose leg bone cracked stopped running and faltered for a while. Thanks for stepping in first so that I could take my revenge on you. In return, I hit the staggering orc¡¯s head using the mace with full force. Crack-! I thought the grip was good but the sense of hitting is even better. The orc whose head was smashed started to bleed and collapsed. Ugh, it splattered on my face. My core muscles hurted like crazy every morning as the after effect of being hit by this monster, but now I won¡¯t need to worry about that. [Guardian Deity ¡®Sung Hyun-sook¡¯ proudly smiles and watches ¡®My Son ?¡¯] Mom? Still, to look at your son whose face is covered in blood and smile proudly, isn¡¯t it a bit grotesque? ¡­Well, yeah, nevermind. If it¡¯s my mom who used to be a S-class player we¡¯re talking about then it¡¯s possible. [¡®Sung Hyun-sook¡¯ advises ¡°It¡¯s more efficient to kill with your bare hands than to fight with a weapon!¡±] ¡°I-I see.¡± Yeah it would be more thrilling to feel a direct blow with your fist than with a mace. At my mom¡¯s advice I threw the mace at one of the shocked orcs. Wham-! The mace that flew like a missile got stuck accurately in the orc¡¯s chest. Do I have about 10 of em¡¯ left now? [Keuaaghh-!!] The remaining orcs roared loudly and rushed towards me in unison. Hey, it¡¯s not fair if you all come to me at once like that. You guys look like you would be able to chew on steel, don¡¯t you have any pride? [¡®Sung Hyun-sook¡¯ glares fiercely and says ¡°Get ready for another back smash if you lose.] Who cares about a back smash if I lose, your son¡¯s about to die, mom. But if it was going to be a disadvantageous fight then mom wouldn¡¯t have said that. I decided to trust the power of the vitamin pill filled with love. jump-! I jumped and forced myself through the orcs. Then, with my fist surrounded by mana, I punched the nearest orc¡¯s abdomen. Wham-! Looking at the orc falling backwards with a dented stomach, I couldn¡¯t help watch in amazement. ¡°Woah.¡± Is this power really from my fist? Seriously, I¡¯m so curious to know what was it that mom fed me. For the sake of knowing it, I should fight hard in front of my mom, right? Whoosh-! An orc swung its heavy axe blad, but I bent low and dodged it easily. The axe blade that cut through the air ended up taking the life of the orc¡¯s colleague. Slash-! The axe blade dug deep into the face of the orc that was aiming for my back. I was surprised even though I dodged it. How should I put it, um¡­It¡¯s like my body reacted before my mind could even think¡­ With a clear difference seen in my agility, I got excited like a child. ¡°Thanks for the team kill!¡± As a token of gratitude for reducing my trouble, I swung an uppercut to the chin of the orc who just swung the room. [Ku-egh-?] His neckbone immediately bent backwards, and a fang sticking out of its mouth broke and fell down. I easily snatched it and threw it on the head of another orc who was trying to get me from the left. At the same time, I quickly took a look at the situation. ¡®How many are left?¡¯ Damn it, it¡¯s hard to count each one of them because I¡¯m not in my right mind. [Kreeuaa-!!] Just then, an unusually large orc who was twice as big, roared loudly. Behind the muscular giant, who was about 6m tall, three rocks were stacked as if it were a forklift. I could tell at once. ¡°You¡¯re the bastard who broke down my house huh.¡± The monthly rent is cheap, it¡¯s close to the subway and the landlord is kind. It wasn¡¯t bad at all for a studio apartment. But damn you, you destroyed it? ¡°You¡¯re dead meat.¡± Jump-! I jumped up like a rabbit and stuck onto his face. [Grrrr¡­?!] At the sudden darkness, the giant orc hurriedly stretched out both its arms and tried to remove me. How dare you. ¡°Stop squirming around and stay still!¡± Wham-! I kicked the adam¡¯s apple of the giant orc who kept fidgeting. [Gasp¡­?!] Whether it be a person or a monster, when they are hit in the adam¡¯s apple, they become powerless. While the giant orc made a fuss and grabbed its neck, I lifted a rock using both my hands from its back. Oof, this is kind of heavy. Even though this won¡¯t be of much help, I¡¯ll use the E level muscle strength skill so it should be okay. Two is always better than one isn¡¯t it? [Skill ¡®Strengthening muscle strength¡¯ will be activated!] [Muscle strength increases by 5% for 10 minutes!] [¡®Sung Hyun-sook¡¯ worries and says ¡°What if you overdo it and break your back!¡±] I¡¯ve been feeling this for a while, but I think the point my mom gets angry or worried about is always a bit weird. I raised the rock, and after supporting both my legs on the giant orc¡¯s neck, I looked down at the rest of the orcs who were standing still in confusion. ¡®About six of em¡¯ left huh?¡¯ Considering the size of the rock, four of them could be taken down in one shot. ¡°Let me show you how big is the price of destroying someone else¡¯s precious house.¡± To be exact, this dude I¡¯m standing on is the one who destroyed it, but let¡¯s look past the trivial things. I threw the rock at the orcs who were gathered in one place like idiots. Baaang-! Without having a moment to dodge, a total of six orcs were crushed by the rock and turned into filefish. One of them who was remaining managed to survive, but only avoided the rock halfway and had its entire lower body squashed. [Keuaaghh-!] ¡­Yikes, I think dying would be less painful than that. Crack-! In the meantime, I broke the cervical spine of the giant orc with my hands. The giant, who is about 6m tall, slowly began to lean forward. Thud-! Soon, he collapsed on top of the orc whose lower body was crushed by the rock. It¡¯s over. I gently jumped down from the giant orc¡¯s corpse. ¡°Huu¡­¡± Unknowinlgy, I let out a sigh at the sense of loss of energy. I think I fought in a trance, almost like I forgot myself. I turned my head and looked around the surrounding where the dogfight took place. ¡°¡­.Wow.¡± I can¡¯t believe I¡¯m the one who did all of this. Before regressing, if I encountered and fought three or four goblins, I would almost have to bid my soul farewell. I stood blankly for a moment, staring at the scene which I didn¡¯t know should be proud or gruesome. Suddenly I felt someone looking at me, so I turned my gaze in that direction. ¡°H-huh?¡± Definitely, until a while ago, the people who were running away without looking back suddenly stopped and drew their attention towards me. Wh-what. Why¡¯re they looking at me like- Ah. ¡­It¡¯s weirder if they don¡¯t look isn¡¯t it? There was a short moment of silence and then, Clap Clap Clap! The people started applauding me. Some of them even cheered by blowing whistles with their mouth. ¡°Damn! Who is he?!¡± ¡°You were awesome!¡± ¡°Did we have such a player in our neighbourhood? He¡¯s no joke!¡± ¡°It¡¯s my first time seeing a player fight in real life, wow¡­¡± The people¡¯s enthusiastic cheers surrounded me. Everyone looked at me with proud eyes and cheered or held up their phone camera. Before regressing, I had never been praised by people this way. ¡®So this is what it feels to be in the spotlight huh.¡¯ What does it feel like you ask? It feels damn awesome. ¡­For about 5 seconds. After that it feels damn embarassing. ¡°N-no. Everyone. Umm¡­¡± I realized this after going through it. Happiness is short but embarrassment stays forever. [¡®Sung Hyun-sook¡¯ wipes her tears and says she is proud of ¡®My Son ?¡¯] Mom, can¡¯t you see that your son is about to die of shame? ¡°¡­¡­¡± Well, I guess¡­ Seeing mom say that, I¡¯m getting kind of emotional. She must be happy. Because the only time her son did something was getting a 100 on the dictation in kindergarten when he was seven. I¡¯m about to die out of embarrassment as it is, but if I cry in front of people, then that will just be straight up shameful. ¡°I fought well enough, right? Then as you promised, tell me about the vitamin pill.¡± [¡®Sung Hyun-sook¡¯ willingly accepts the request of ¡® My Son ?¡¯ and says ¡°Of course, I¡¯ll tell you!¡±] [Restriction of information on the sponsorship item ¡®Vitamin pill filled with love.¡¯ has been lifted!] [Some of the information in the status of the item can be seen!] What could it be? First, I read the item info. ===== Name: Vitamin pill filled with love Classification: Consumption Description: It is an oral capsule made by grinding ginseng grown in the ice caps of the mountain behind the Hall of Fame. Effect: All the basic stats increase 4x after taking it. ===== Did I read that right? Ice-grown ginseng? The commonly used energy booster in martial arts novels, That ginseng? [¡®Sung Hyun-sook¡¯ pouts and says ¡°What¡¯s so wrong about a mom feeding her son some ginseng?¡±] Mom, you¡¯re probably the first mother who has fed her son ice-grown ginseng in the world. I guess things like this just grow casually in the mountain behind the Hall of Fame¡­ ¡®¡­.No but, wait.¡¯ I don¡¯t think now is the time to be fascinated about ice-grown ginseng. All my stats increase 4x just by eating it? ¡°Really?¡± ===== Name: Hwang Jae-min Skills: *Strengthening muscle strength (Level E, Basic) Special note: *Taken ¡®Vitamin pill filled with love¡¯ (Basic stats increased 400%) ===== ¡°¡­So it¡¯s true?¡± I thought you fed me a vitamin pill, but it turned out to be a cheat code. Mom, I love you! CH 5 ¡°Mom you¡¯re the best¡­¡± I¡¯m so ecstatic that I¡¯m talking to myself. Right now my total stats are up to nearly 90. This can only be seen with S-class prospective players. Compared to the first life where my average stat was barely over 5, this is a huge difference. People who turned into A-class or S-class were different from the start itself. And right now I am on the same line as them. ¡®Wait¡¯ That means I¡¯m somewhat equipped with the hardware. And plus, the Guardian Deity who sponsors me is my mom who loves me the most in the world! In that case¡­! ¡°Mom, can¡¯t you sponsor me the S+class weapons while you¡¯re at it?!¡± [¡®Sung Hyun-sook¡¯ slowly shakes her head and says ¡°Not a chance so don¡¯t speak nonsense!¡±] ¡°¡­.Oh, you can¡¯t?¡± Mom, you can¡¯t suddenly feed me lemons* like that. *T/n: original idiom used was sweet potato, which basically means to be frustrated. [¡®Sung Hyun-sook¡¯ quickly shakes her head and says ¡°I know you¡¯re my dear son but I can¡¯t raise you to be a spoilt brat!¡±] Can¡¯t raise me to be a spoilt brat? But I¡¯m already a mature adult¡­ ¡°Then maybe give me a skill ball or something¡­¡± I stared into the air with moist eyes like that of a puppy soaked in rain. ¡­Nothing pops up huh. Not a chance again, is that what she wants to say? So mean. After I got rid of all those orcs as you asked me to, mom. My shoulders automatically drooped down because I felt dejected. Sigh. [guradian Deity ¡®Sung Hyun-sook¡¯ peeks and tries to figure out ¡®My son¡¯s ?¡¯ mood.] [¡®Sung Hyun-sook¡¯ pretends to act like nothing happened despite being worried inside and asks ¡°Are you mad?¡±] [¡®Sung Hyun-sook¡¯ swears ¡°Why does this stupid hologram system have to reveal all my feelings like that!¡±] ¡°I¡¯m not mad.¡± I pouted my lips and grumbled. Geez, asking her twenty plus year old son if I¡¯m mad like I¡¯m a kid. ¡­Even though I am infact mad. [¡®Sung Hyun-sook¡¯ honestly says ¡°Actually I don¡¯t have any ¡®God coins¡¯ left after buying the vitamin pill so I can¡¯t give you anything.¡± ¡°What, so that¡¯s what it was?¡± Then you should¡¯ve said so since the start. I was about to be really disappointed. But I guess mom and me not being honest to each other is the same as ever. [¡®Sung Hyun-sook¡¯ puts hand on waist and says ¡°But I still don¡¯t have any intentions of raising you as a spoilt brat!¡±] Yes ma¡¯am, go ahead. You should have just said alright instead. But actually looking at mom¡¯s personality it¡¯s true, there¡¯s no way she would have raised me to be a spoilt brat. Forget that¡­ ¡°These God coins, how can you earn them?¡± [¡®Sung Hyun-sook¡¯ answers briefly ¡°You can earn them by working.¡±] [¡®Sung Hyun-sook¡¯ adds ¡°You won¡¯t know even if I tell you what work it is.¡±] ¡°So you can earn it by working¡­¡± To be honest, I was really curious to know what work it was but, I couldn¡¯t ask looking at my mom¡¯s attitude as if it were an ¡®adult¡¯s thing¡¯. Well, it probably won¡¯t be anything strange because it¡¯s a place where pretty famous heroes gather. My mom isn¡¯t someone to do anything shady either. Buzzz! Just then. I heard the sound of a siren and saw an armoured vehicle coming closer from a distance. The player guild in charge of the neighbourhood¡¯s security¡­What was their name again? Ah, right it was . I realized it after looking at the logo on the vehicle. ¡°They came so fast huh.*¡± t/n: He¡¯s being sarcastic They really keep up to their name. I know it¡¯s the weekend and the alarm didn¡¯t go off but isn¡¯t this too much? ¡°Those idiots, they¡¯re very early aren¡¯t they*.¡± t/n: They¡¯re being sarcastic too ¡°Why¡¯d they come? Just tell them to go back again. They¡¯re a huge step behind.¡± ¡°And after this, they¡¯ll brag about it. When in fact all the work was done by that guy!¡± People complained as they saw the armoured car rushing in. Even if they pretend to come in a hurry, the situation is already over. Clank! After the vehicle door opened, about 10 men rushed down of it. Among them, a man who appeared to be the leader walked a few steps and looked around the scene with a devastated face. Damn, look at his face. Someone might think I stole their food or something. ¡­Or maybe it¡¯s true? ¡°How did this¡­!¡± The man burst into a sigh and suddenly looked at me. I boldly looked back at the man as if to say ¡®do you have something to say to me?¡¯. Stop frowning. The man, who kept looking at the orcs lying down in blood behind me, finally spoke his first words. ¡°Did you do all of that?!¡± ¡°Oh those dudes? Yeah.¡± ¡°I mean, there¡¯s something called commercial morality which is maintained between the same kind of industries! This is our jurisdiction, how can you do as you wish like this?¡± I never expected the word ¡®Commercial morality¡¯ to pop out of his mouth. Haha, you crazy bastard. My fist¡¯s crying to hit him. [Guardian Deity ¡®Sung Hyun-sook¡¯ looks nervously!] Don¡¯t stop me. Didn¡¯t you say you can¡¯t stand your son being a coward, mom? [¡®Sung Hyun-sook¡¯ sighs and says ¡°There are so many people looking, it¡¯s too bad you won¡¯t be able to hit him to your heart¡¯s content!¡±] ¡°¡­So that¡¯s what you meant.¡± Even though I wanted to hit him, I didn¡¯t actually think of doing it. Anyway, my mom sure has some hot blood. But there¡¯s always a line one shouldn¡¯t cross right? Cursing at him and starting a bloody fight right now will only make me the same level as him. I smiled at the angry man with a round balloon-like smile. ¡°I cleaned up the shit that you guys were supposed to clean so I think as a token of respect you should have thanked me first but, judging from your character looks like I was expecting too much.¡± ¡°W-what?¡± ¡°I¡¯m really sorry. I¡¯ll clean up here so don¡¯t force yourselves and it¡¯s the weekend so go home and get some sleep.¡± Pat pat. I patted the man¡¯s shoulder as a way to say he has worked hard coming in late. I think I was pretty polite. But why do their faces still look grumpy? ¡°You, you brat¡­Spill your name and the guild you¡¯re part of right now! Don¡¯t you know it¡¯s basic manners to not interfere with another guild¡¯s area?!¡± ¡°Yeah. I don¡¯t know. Also I got awakened just now so I don¡¯t have any guild. And I don¡¯t have my registration card and enough loyalty to tell you my name.¡± ¡°¡­just now? You mean today is your first day after waking up¡­? This dude isn¡¯t planning to thank me till the end huh. Does he think I¡¯m a pushover or what. ¡®Talking to a guy like this face to face is just a waste of my time.¡¯ I took out my phone and searched for an emergency contact. Let¡¯s see. The number of the player¡¯s association¡­Hm, found it. If I worked so hard to catch a monster then I should get paid right. The objects left by the dead monster are all upto the person who caught it. All the related procedures are handled by the Player¡¯s association. Just when I was about to press the call button Reach out. Suddenly a white business card covered my phone screen I looked up to see what it was, and the man who had been staring at me as if he was going kill me until a while ago was now holding his business card in a polite position. ¡°This is who I am, sir.¡± And he¡¯s suddenly speaking formally. I can¡¯t see the screen, move your hand damn it. Hit. I shook off the man¡¯s business card with the back of my hand. But soon, I sighed and had no choice but to look because the man¡¯s hand returned to the same position holding the business card just like a boomerang. This dude¡¯s seriously¡­ ¡°Please forgive me for my disrespectful behaviour earlier. I must have been blind to not be able to recognize such a great person¡­¡± ¡°I see.¡± ¡°If you¡¯ve woken up today, then you will soon be judged by the association, I hope you will come to our guild after it. We were desperately looking for a talent like you.¡± ¡°Wow, really?¡± ¡°If you¡¯ve just woken up and were able to catch orcs by yourself, then you will definitely be B-class or higher. For your information, our guild provides A-class items to our rookies free of cost for half a year and give them training-¡± Yeah, keep blabbering all you want. Because I¡¯ll do what I need to. ¡­But I can¡¯t see my phone¡¯s screen because of this jerk¡¯s business card. There¡¯s a limit to being annoying too. After sighing again, I put away my phone and accepted his business card. I clearly saw the man¡¯s expression change brightly in a moment. Rip-! Of course, I saw his expression change devastatingly after I ripped the business card into pieces too. Maybe it¡¯s because it¡¯s made of cheap material, but it rips easily. Should¡¯ve used something nicer, when it¡¯s supposed to be a business card. ¡°Oh no, the wind suddenly blew.¡± I threw the torn pieces of paper on the man¡¯s face. What could have been his name? I suddenly feel curious after ripping the business card. I kindly smiled at the man whose complexion had turned completely white. ¡°It was nice meeting you. Now excuse me as I need to make a call.¡± ¡°You son of a-¡± When I turned around, the man put his hand on my shoulder. I looked back at the man who was staring at me as if he was going to smack me any minute, and said. ¡°What¡¯s wrong? Don¡¯t tell me, a player like you is trying to hit an ordinary citizen like me?¡± ¡°Ordinary citizen? Don¡¯t give me that bullshit! You just said you woke up today yourself-¡± ¡°I did? I¡¯m not sure, I don¡¯t remember it. I don¡¯t even have a registration card so there¡¯s no way to prove it I guess.¡± ¡°¡­¡­..¡± I could be mistaken, but I felt the man¡¯s shoulders tremble. It doesn¡¯t matter if one has awakened or not, they are considered ordinary citizens if they don¡¯t have a notarized registration card. What if a player, like this dude, hits me, a citizen you ask? If a player inflicts injury to an ordinary citizen, he or she will be sentenced to at least 10 years in prison. Depending on the severity of the damage, life imprisonment or the death penalty is possible. You can¡¯t get out of it with just a fine or probation. If I make up my mind, I can even report him just for keeping his hand on my shoulder. But I don¡¯t want to deal with this guy for another second so that won¡¯t do me any good either. ¡°If I¡¯ve said this much I believe you understood. If you did, then go back and stop holding onto busy people.¡± ¡°You, you¡­!¡± ¡°I¡¯m saying it for the sake of your guild. And please move that hand from my shoulder. Can¡¯t you feel the people around staring?¡± ¡°People staring¡­?¡± Only then did the man realize and looked at all the people around. The people were staring with a look as if to say ¡®Why isn¡¯t he moving his hand?¡¯ ¡°A-ah¡­¡± Cold sweat flowed down the man¡¯s cheek like a waterfall. His guild members, who were standing still like scarecrows behind him, could not hide their embarrassment from their expressions. The man hurriedly took his hand off my shoulder and muttered softly. ¡°¡­I-I¡¯m withdrawing.¡± Yeah, get lost. Vroom-! He left the scene in the armoured vehicle with all his members as if he was running away. Clap clap clap! The people gave me a light round of applause again. ¡­No I mean I¡¯m relieved right now too, but this atmosphere just doesn¡¯t suit me. ¡°Ahem.¡± After coughing out of embarrassment, I called the Player¡¯s Association. When an employee answered the phone, I briefly explained the situation and gave the address of this place to him. Only after hearing the reply that they would send an official to the site immediately, could I put my phone back in satisfaction. [¡®Sung Hyun-sook¡¯ who was watching the situation, is very satisfied!] [¡®Sung Hyun-sook¡¯ is excited and says ¡°As your mom, after this, I can¡¯t not sponsor you!] [¡®Sung Hyun-sook¡¯ says ¡°I¡¯m going to borrow God coins from my close friends so just wait for a bit!¡±] ¡°What?¡± Borrow what? You don¡¯t have to overdo it when you¡¯re broke as it is¡­. ¡°¡­Mom?¡± There¡¯s no reply. Damn it, looks like she¡¯s really gone to borrow money. Didn¡¯t you say you won¡¯t raise me like a spoilt brat¡­Geez, you¡¯re so unpredictable. ¡°Ah, right.¡± After the tough situation ended, suddenly the forgotten reality hit me hard. ¡­I¡¯m talking about the fact that my house is no more. Ah, seriously. You damn orcs. ¡°Let me see, during the 1st life¡­¡± While I was looking from a distance at the place where my house was, now filled with smoke, and trying to look back at my previous life, ¡°¡­Excuse me.¡± Someone called me from behind. CH 6 ¡°Thank you so much. I don¡¯t know how I should repay back your kindness¡­¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s okay.¡± ¡°I really wish to pay you back somehow. If it wasn¡¯t for you then my brother would have¡­Sniff, thank you so much.¡± Stop it. How many times are you doing to thank me? I¡¯m going to get a scar on my ear. Of course, I can¡¯t say that out loud so I just smiled without saying anything. The one who called out to me was a girl with tears in her eyes. She¡¯s the older sister of the boy I just saved. ¡°I don¡¯t have anything right now as I came in a hurry, but if you¡¯re okay with it perhaps I could treat you to a meal¡­¡± ¡°No, It¡¯s okay.¡± Let me repay you. No, it¡¯s okay. But still. No, it¡¯s really okay. This repertoire has been repeated about five times till now. ¡®Wait, but.¡¯ It¡¯s strange. Why does she feel familiar the more I look at her? I¡¯m sure this is the first time we met but I feel like I¡¯ve seen her somewhere¡­ It¡¯s almost like I can remember it but can¡¯t¡­Ah, I really hate this type of feeling. While I was repeating ¡®it¡¯s okay¡¯ like an automatic machine and trying to recollect my memory. Behind the girl¡¯s shoulder, I could see two men in suits walking this way. Looking at the name tags on their chest, ¡®It¡¯s the association officials.¡¯ I was in a dilemma about how to end this conversation with her so nice timing. I took a step with an amicable smile on my face. ¡°The people from the association are here. Then, please excuse me first.¡± ¡°Uh, um then please accept this at least!¡± While I was leaving the girl grabbed my hand and gave me something. Damn, she¡¯s really tiresome. Now, what is it this time? Rustle- It was a piece of paper. It felt a bit too stiff to be an A4 paper. ¡°This is my business card. Please call this number whenever you¡¯re free. Later, I would really like to treat you to a meal sometime.¡± You had a business card too? You look younger than me who¡¯s twenty-three, I mean twenty so that means you should be a high-schooler. I looked down and checked the contents of the business card. -Guild: From Player name: Lee Ji-yoon HP: 010-xxxx-xxxx ¡°Huh?¡± Turns out the girl standing in front of me is part of a guild. I wasn¡¯t surprised by the fact that she is a player at all. Because nowadays there are players who are minors too. ¡°¡­¡­¡± But, I had goosebumps all over my back. First, I was shocked reading her guild¡¯s name but more importantly, I almost gasped at the girl¡¯s name itself. ¡°¡­ Lee Ji-yoon?¡± No wonder I thought she was familiar since a while ago. This girl. She¡¯s her. The demon. During my first life, and exactly 1 year from now, the name people will keep talking about. The mass murderer. *** 1 year from now. That guild called disappears from the world. It can¡¯t be a coincidence that this was when the ¡®demon¡¯ started spreading it¡¯s notoriety in the people¡¯s perception. Because that demon, Lee ji-yoon kills all of her guild members. It was hard to believe that the one who caused the tragedy was a high school girl who didn¡¯t even have a coming-of-age ceremony yet, but of course, the public was in a frenzy. Reports about Lee Ji-yoon continued day after day in the media, and it was around that time she earned the nickname ¡®demon¡¯. ¡°Please be sure to contact me.¡± Pat pat. Lee Ji-yoon¡¯s thin hand patted my hand holding the business card. It felt as if my five senses and including my brain froze at the touch of that eerie feeling. ¡°Thank you very much for today.¡± When I imagined the ¡®demon¡¯s¡¯ face over that innocent-looking face, sweat dripped from my face without realizing it. After smiling once again, Lee Ji-yoon left with her brother. ¡­.It¡¯s unfair, no matter how much I want to deny that her face just resembles the mass murderer¡¯s face a lot, there¡¯s no way out when it¡¯s clearly written on this business card. ¡°What is this¡­¡± Such a kind-looking girl later turns out to be that crazy witch? What could have happened in 1 year for her to change so violentl- ¡°Are you the one who reported?¡± A heavy voice cut off my train of thoughts. Surprised, I looked back and saw the two employees from the association. ¡°Uh, y-yes, I¡¯m the one who reported.¡± I answered the man who looked like the boss out of the two. Because my throat was dry and my voice came out hoarse, I coughed for a while. Damn it, my mind is all over the place. ¡®First, let¡¯s stop thinking about Lee Ji-yoon.¡¯ It¡¯s not like it¡¯s going to happen right now, what¡¯s in front of me is more important. Just in case, I¡¯ll keep this business card safe. Just then, the man next to his boss took out a document which I assumed to be a personal statement. The contents of ownership of the monster¡¯s leftover objects should also be included in that. The boss reached his hand out to give it to me. ¡°Can I see your player registration card please?¡± ¡°Ah, actually¡­I don¡¯t have it yet.¡± ¡°Pardon?¡± ¡°I was awakened just today morning. I plan on visiting the association and getting it issued soon.¡± ¡°¡­That means someone who has woken up today for the first time did all of of this on his-¡± The man briefly cut off his own words and started counting the number of orcs. Except for those who were difficult to figure out because they got crushed by a rock, there were about seven dead orcs. ¡°¡­You¡¯re trying to say you defeated so many orcs alone?¡± ¡°Yes, that¡¯s right.¡± ¡°¡­¡­¡± He looked sharply as if he didn¡¯t believe my words. Yeah, well. There are times like that. Some people deliberately don¡¯t get a registration card even though it¡¯s been a long time since they woke up. Usually, such people are criminals who engage in illegal activities and they want to avoid the official state agencies. But I¡¯m not one of them. Why would I do something that will get me caught by the association in no time? That¡¯s why don¡¯t look at me like that. ¡°No matter how high your basic stats were, it¡¯s not possible to defeat over ten orcs on your own on the first day of waking up.¡± ¡°But I¡¯m telling you that¡¯s what happened. On what grounds should I make you bel-¡­.What are you doing??¡± Shouldn¡¯t you look at someone when they¡¯re speaking, why¡¯re you looking at your colleague? ¡®¡­Now why¡¯s he wearing leather gloves..?¡¯ If I remember correctly, that is an item equipped with a taser function that blocks mana and is used for suppressing players. Aha, now I get it. So you wanna catch me huh? ¡°I don¡¯t know if you¡¯re aware of it, but if you don¡¯t register yourself within 14 days of awakening, there will be legal punishment.¡± ¡°Yes. I know that.¡± ¡°In that case¡­I¡¯m sorry but you will have to come with us. It will only take a moment. We just have a few questions to ask you.¡± ¡°So you mean, you suspect I¡¯m an illegal player and right now you¡¯re going to arrest me?¡± ¡°It¡¯s just a simple interrogation. As you know, the crime rate of unregistered players is on the rise recently.¡± ¡°¡­¡­.¡± There was nothing I could answer back so I just scratched my ear. Why are these guys making this much of a fuss when I contributed so much for the safety of the citizens? [¡®Sung Hyun-sook¡¯ is shocked and says ¡°I just came back after borrowing the money and now what¡¯s going on?!¡±] Oh! It¡¯s mom. ¡­But looks like she really borrowed it. The God coins. ¡°Aren¡¯t you overdoing it because of me? ¡­.Hm? Ah! Don¡¯t mind me. I was just talking to my Guardian deity. Ah, also instead of just standing still like that, can you call another staff member instead? I just don¡¯t think I can get my words across you guys.¡± ¡°¡­¡­.¡± What¡¯re you glaring at. Without being bothered, I continued to have a cosy conversation with my mom. [¡®Sung Hyun-sook¡¯ disappointingly says ¡°There are only cheapskates here so I could only borrow very little.¡±] ¡°No, don¡¯t be disappointed over something like that.¡± I was feeling bad as it is, why is she being like that to make me feel worse. [¡®Sung Hyun-sook¡¯ asks about the situation ¡°Leave that, why are these guys bothering you again?¡±] ¡°They¡¯re saying I¡¯m a criminal.¡± Haha, I¡¯m going to tell on them to mom. Even though in reality, there¡¯s nothing she can do here. ¡°No, we¡¯re not confirmed now, we¡¯re just suspecting so we plan to investigate-¡­.¡± ¡°Say things like that after you ask your colleague to take off those gloves.¡± [¡®Sung Hyun-sook¡¯ is outraged and says ¡°If it was me, I would have cut off that bastard¡¯s balls!¡± ¡°My guardian deity says if it was here then she would¡¯ve cut off your balls.¡± I said while smiling and at my sarcasm, the man heavily frowned his forehead. Your forehead is going to explode at this rate. Looking at his boss, the loyal colleague released his folded hands wearing the gloves and walked towards me. The dude glared with his eyes. ¡°¡­This is as far we will endure it.¡± ¡°Who¡¯s the one who started it first?¡± Where it won¡¯t be enough to appreciate a citizen for what they did, they¡¯re suspecting him instead? Great going. When the guy was about to hold my collar with his gloved hands, I pulled my head back and easily avoided his touch. Just when the expressions of both the snobs turned sour, a hologram window appeared. [¡®Sung Hyun-sook¡¯ delivers information ¡°There¡¯s an item called ¡®Bead of forgetting¡¯ and it deletes all the memories of the subject!] [¡®Sung Hyun-sook¡¯ asks ¡°I am able to barely buy it with the money I borrowed, would you like to get it sponsored?¡±] In other words, it¡¯s an item to make someone a complete fool. Isn¡¯t that a scam? If I could I totally wish to use it but¡­Sigh, forget it. It¡¯s only a waste of my item if I use it on these guys. ¡°If you keep doing this, you will be arrested and taken to court for obstructing the execution of official duties.¡± ¡°Okay fine. Did I ever say I won¡¯t come along?¡± ¡°¡­¡­.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll come with you so take off those gloves. Because I¡¯m so scared, I feel like I¡¯ll pee.¡± I even raised both my hands up to show that I had no intention of resistance. This is good enough right? Do they find my obedient attitude strange? Both the snob¡¯s had frowned faces. What¡¯s wrong, aren¡¯t I nicely cooperating with what you want? But instead, ¡°Before we go, I¡¯d like to make a phone call. There¡¯s no problem with that right?¡± ¡°¡­¡­¡± ¡°I need to inform my guardian. Isn¡¯t it better if I do it rather than you guys?¡± I slowly took out my phone from my pocket. The two snobs kept their mouths shut as if they didn¡¯t care. Great. You guys keep playing freeze tag like that. When I called the saved number, the ringing tone soon stopped. I put the phone on my ear and said. ¡°Hello?¡± I smiled awkwardly at the other person over the phone. I¡¯m not acting or anything. It¡¯s just that it really was a bit awkward. ¡°Ah, yes. You must be surprised at my call after so long. I¡¯m sorry, uncle. From now, I¡¯ll call you often. Actually¡­it¡¯s just that I was awaken-¡­.ah, don¡¯t scream at me.¡± As soon as I said the word ¡®awaken¡¯ I heard a loud scream. My ears hurt. I continued talking, slightly moving the phone away from my ear. ¡°O-okay I get it. Please calm down and listen to me first. Yes, I woke up and right now I¡¯m caught up in a bit of an awkward situation. So what happened is-¡± After that, I explained to him about the current situation in detail from one to ten without summarizing anything. At the same time, I rolled my eyes and glanced at the expressions of the snobs. They kept looking at me as if to ask who I¡¯m talking to. Yeah, buddies. You feel a bit anxious, don¡¯t you? [Sigh¡­pass the phone to that employee.] ¡°No. I¡¯ll put it on speaker. You can speak now.¡± I raised the volume as much as possible so it would reach the snobs¡¯ eardrums. Then I pressed the speaker button, [You guys won¡¯t let me live.] A sombre voice spread. The voice of a middle-aged man who would have passed forty years at least. I pushed my phone closer to the snobs who were still frowning. The boss, after probably feeling uncomfortable about something, meekly brought his mouth closer to the phone. ¡°¡­W-who is this?¡± [I¡¯m the president of the association.] This is the power of connections, you bastards. CH 7 ¡°We didn¡¯t know even know that and we-¡­.. I¡¯m sorry! Hey, hurry you too¡­¡± ¡°We¡¯re very sorry!¡± Both the douchebags bowed down to me at a 90-degree angle. Their whole attitude changed after coming to know that I¡¯m close to the player association¡¯s president. It really is scary huh, power that is. ¡°I get it so both of you, please stop it.¡± It¡¯s true that it feels satisfying, but that doesn¡¯t mean I have an evil hobby of watching someone keep bending their back. [¡®Sung Hyun-sook¡¯ is frustrated and says ¡°If it were me I would¡¯ve beaten them to death, it¡¯s a problem your personality is too gentle!¡±] If I kill them as my temper pleases then your son will socially die, mom. ¡°¡­Ahem. I apologize once again for my unnecessary disrespect when you¡¯ve put in so much effort for public safety. For now, it has been confirmed without a doubt that you, Mr. Hwang Jae-min has rescued everyone from the herd of orcs.¡± Only then did the boss, straighten his back and said what he should have said earlier. In short? ¡°Is there anything else you are curious about or anything we can help you with?¡± ¡°Hmm¡­¡± Looks like he wants to help with whatever possible just in case any issue arises later. There¡¯s no reason for me to necessarily refuse when he¡¯s offering to do me a favour. I wonder if there¡¯s anything? Suddenly, I remembered what uncle said earlier before ending the call. ¨C Come to the association first. We need to talk. ¡­For the time being, I wanted to hide the fact that I woke up from him. But fine, now that things have turned out to be like this, I guess I¡¯ll have a proper breakthrough. I opened my mouth to speak, glancing at the black sedan which both these guys rode and came here. ¡°Then give me a ride till the association.¡± When I have the chance, I gotta save that transport money. *** ¡°You play with uncle here. We¡¯ll be right back¡± 10 years ago, when Germadon descended. The words mom said to me with dad waiting in the front. Soon after, my mother quietly looked at the president of the association standing next to me. Nothing was said, but that glance definitely meant this. ¡®Please look after my son.¡¯ After that, I became an orphan and grew up at uncle¡¯s residence. He raised me like his biological child. He didn¡¯t forget my mom¡¯s last request and carried out her request throughout his life. I also treated uncle sincerely as my real father. ¡°After feeding and putting you to sleep for years, I doubted my ears when you suddenly said you want to move out.¡± ¡°¡­¡­¡± ¡°And when you called after half a year saying you awakened, I wondered if this was really the reality.¡± ¡°¡­¡­¡± ¡°Well, it¡¯s good I guess. And awakening is not something you can do as you wish. ¡° A skyscraper, located behind the assembly hall main road. On the top-most floor in the association¡¯s headquarters, I was going through the emotions of becoming a sinner. He¡¯s so good at talking gently but brutally hitting a person with facts. In the past though, he would first start by nagging violently at- ¡°But going on a death match with so many orcs alone is just not it, you reckless punk! You think you¡¯ve got two lives?!¡± Nevermind. He just saved it for later. Uncle, who had just entered his old age, said it while frowning even when he had so many wrinkles. I was scared to look him in the eye so I kept glancing at the nameplate on the table for no reason. Mmh, President Lee Tae-ho. You¡¯re very cool. ¡°President, if you get worked up like this then your hair will-¡± ¡°Don¡¯t talk about hair in front of me!¡± A young pretty lady standing next to uncle, touched his sore spot with a calm face. She is uncle¡¯s secretary and I already know her from my 1st life. I think her name was Yoo Su-yeon. Her eyes are kinda scary so I¡¯ve never had a proper conversation with her though. ¡°Not even a goblin but a D rank orc¡­! My heart hurts even now just by thinking about it! Hyun-sook, watching from above must be cursing out loud at me saying what kind of an irresponsible bastard!¡± [¡®Sung Hyun-sook¡¯ bursts into laughter and says ¡°This guy has lost a lot of hair since the past huh!¡±] [¡®Sung Hyun-sook¡¯ can¡¯t control her laughter and says ¡°I need to find if there is any hair loss medicine in the Hall of Fame!¡±] She¡¯s currently saying things that would make you curse out loud though¡­ ¡°Look!¡± Uncle shouted and turned the PC monitor towards me. On the screen, a news article with a video attached was displayed. The title read, -[Breaking news] ¡®Outbreak¡¯ in Gwanak District, Seoul, In just 10 minutes an unknown player-¡­. Ah. ¡°You¡¯ve become a celebrity!¡± Click. -[Report 1] Mysterious player known to have awakened on the same day¡­Estimated to be at least B-class. -[Report 2] Who is the mysterious player? Witnesses currently on the move to the association testify¡­ It¡¯s not even been an hour and the news is already spreading like wildfire. And what do you mean by at least B-class..I¡¯m an F-class though. ¡°I¡¯ve told you so many times that it¡¯s best to live quietly!¡± [¡®Sung Hyun-sook¡¯ wipes her tears and says ¡°I¡¯m so proud of you son!¡±] ¡­Who should I follow? I¡¯m dying of dizziness. ¡°Huu¡­¡± After cooling the heat on his head with a sigh, Uncle suddenly asked. ¡°What¡¯s your Guardian Deity¡¯s name?¡± ¡°Um, it¡¯s¡­¡± I was in a dilemma. Is it okay to tell uncle that mom is my Guardian deity? ¡°Cough, cough.¡± It would look suspicious if I didn¡¯t say anything for long so I pretended to cough. In the meantime, mom is being silent. Does she mean I can do whatever feels right? In that case. ¡°The nickname is ¡®Joong-won Sword Deity¡¯. Have you heard it before?¡± Even if it¡¯s uncle, I don¡¯t think he will easily believe the absurd story of mom being my Guardian deity. He¡¯ll probably be like what kind of crazy nonsense is that. It will be a bother to explain it to him so let¡¯s just hide it. ¡°Joong-won Sword Deity¡­? Judging by the nickname sounds likely a very high ranking Guardian deity.¡± If trash like that is a high ranking Guardian deity then the ¡®Hall of Fame¡¯ should just shut down. ¡°Leave that¡­¡± Uncle tapped the table with his thick fingers, making a da-da-dak sound That¡¯s a sign that we¡¯re going to start a lengthy lecture starting from now. Ah, I¡¯m already about to lose my mind. ¡°You have talent as a player, I¡¯m sure of it. My eyes don¡¯t lie. No wonder, you¡¯re their son¡­¡± No. It¡¯s because of the vitamin pill though. Because I didn¡¯t have any of that damn talent, during my 1st life I kept hearing ¡°Did you throw away all of your parent¡¯s good genes as soon as they cut your umbilical cord or what?!¡¯ to the point I was sick of it. Damn it. ¡°But Jae-min¡­I still wish you would lead an ordinary life. Please at least you. Player? Sounds good. You get to earn a lot of money, have a high social reputation but the problem is you can die young in the blink of an eye! If it was me, I would never do it.¡± Is that what the person in charge of the player¡¯s association has to say? Until now the pattern of the conversation is pretty similar to the one in the 1st life. Except for the talent part. If I keep going along with it the same way then my freshly found 2nd life will turn into ¡®dog shit¡¯ like before. During that time, regardless of my opinion, uncle handed this official letter to the association. ¡®If a player license is granted to Hwang Jae-min, then disciplinary action will be followed based on the newly enacted association regulations.¡¯ Even if you awaken and register yourself as a player, you can¡¯t enter the gate unless you take a test organized by the association and get a ¡®license¡¯. It was only about 1 and a half years later that the absurd notice handed by him was taken down. I can¡¯t let this life, which is only going to be better, turn that way. [¡®Sung Hyun-sook¡¯ suggests ¡®Now that it has come to this, how about we come to a mutual agreement using hair fall medicine?¡¯] ¡­That doesn¡¯t sound too bad but mom, I think there¡¯s always the danger of him feeling hurt instead. It¡¯s okay. I¡¯ve already thought of a plan. ¡°I understand what you mean, uncle. I totally do. But I still want to choose this path. I¡¯m sincere about it.¡± ¡°Ha! I think you¡¯ve become too confident just by killing a few orcs alone, but there¡¯s a lot worse-¡± ¡°I know it too. That¡¯s why I have a suggestion.¡± ¡°A suggestion?¡± Uncle raised one of his eyebrows. ¡°Isn¡¯t there that thing in the association. The training program. What was the name again¡­?¡± ¡°Hm? Are you talking about Cyber Field? How do you know about-¡± ¡°Yes, that. CF. I heard that it¡¯s been covered with dust because there¡¯s no one who¡¯s doing it nowadays? How about I clean that dust?¡± ¡°No, I¡¯m asking how do you know about that?¡± ¡°The internet is pretty scary nowadays, isn¡¯t it! See. Just because I caught a few orcs, my whole identity is about to be revealed already.¡± That¡¯s obviously a lie. No matter how wide and open the internet is, official information only known to a few people doesn¡¯t spread around like that. On this day, after I lost my home, with uncle¡¯s help I started staying in a dormitory dedicated to players who belong to the association And naturally, I would come to know a lot of things too. ¡°¡­A guy who has just awakened wants to do CF? Killing the orcs was probably a lot easier you know?¡± ¡°Just know that¡¯s how desperate I am. Isn¡¯t it sad to just end it after killing a few orcs after you¡¯ve woken up?¡± ¡°¡­¡­.¡± ¡°If I end up doing it and it still doesn¡¯t please you? I¡¯ll clearly give up on it then.¡± If this was the first life, nothing I say would have persuaded him. But this time, it¡¯s different. Because this time I have the title ¡®The one who killed more than ten orcs by himself on the day he awakened¡¯! ¡°I don¡¯t think it¡¯s a bad idea, president.¡± Just then. The charming beauty broke the silence. Uncle and I turned our heads in the same direction at the same time. Towards secretary Yoo Su-yeon. Huh, why is she suddenly¡­? ¡°This is my personal opinion, but I don¡¯t think killing orcs alone on the day of awakening is an ordinary talent.¡± ¡°W-what¡­?¡± ¡°It felt like you were going to let such a talent rot away, so I ended up talking without realizing it. I¡¯m sorry for the rude behaviour, president.¡± Yoo Su-yeon bowed her back with her hands politely gathered. As the silence continued, Deep inside I was happy to have earned one more ally who sides with me. Nice! I thought her personality would be scary because of her eyes but turns out she¡¯s nice. This is why you shouldn¡¯t judge a book by its cover. ¡°Yoo Su-yeon, if you act like this too then¡­¡± On the other hand, uncle, who just gained a foe, had a more haggard expression than before. Heh, that¡¯s nice to see. I just hope your hair doesn¡¯t get more haggard. Me and Yoo Su-yeon waited for a moment for uncle¡¯s answer. ¡°¡­You can¡¯t take your words back later.¡± ¡°Of course!¡± Along with my immediate answer, Yoo Su-yeon secretly clenched her fist. Then our eyes met, but she immediately looked away by pretending to cough. ¡­She¡¯s kinda cute huh. *** ¡°There are five waves.¡± 20th floor of the association headquarters, Capsule Room where the CF program takes place. The first thing uncle said to me while lying on the connecting module that looked like a bathtub and going through the manual. He already said it before coming to the capsule room but he repeated it once again to make sure I never forget it. He still looks like he doesn¡¯t want me to be a player. ¡°If you pass all the five waves, I don¡¯t care if you become a player or not. But if you fail before it then-¡± [¡®Sung Hyun-sook¡¯ shakes her head and says ¡°Repeating the same thing over and over is a sign of ageing.¡±] Don¡¯t be like that, mom. He¡¯s just saying it because he¡¯s worried for me. Actually, I didn¡¯t want to listen to his nagging either, so I roughly put the manual away and quickly put on my helmet. The sound of driving was so loud that I couldn¡¯t hear a word of what uncle was saying. Mhm, finally I can get some inner peace. ¡°Did you go through the manual properly?!¡± ¡­I can hear it faintly. ¡°Somewhat.¡± ¡°Somewhat¡­don¡¯t come crying in tears to me later.¡± Pshhh-! Water vapour rose from the bottom of the capsule and the metal lid began to come down slowly. Upon my view gradually getting blocked from the top and bottom, I could see uncle¡¯s back while he was giving instructions to the researchers in the capsule room. Soon after, as soon as the lid covered my whole body, my consciousness flickered for a moment. Flash¨C At the end of a neutral mechanical sound, my dark consciousness suddenly flashed brightly. My eyes were blurry like a camera that is out of focus. I blinked a few times to correct my foggy vision as if wearing glasses. Only then did I realize that I had entered a space that was white everywhere. It looks like some kind of mental ward. ¡®My body¡­¡¯ An alloyed armour was added over the extremely tight navy blue spandex I was wearing. It¡¯s probably the bodysuit that is automatically given to the avatars who enter the CF program. I remember seeing it at a glance in the manual earlier. It¡¯s just called an avatar, but in fact, it feels as if it were my real body. This is fascinating. <3 minutes before the start of the 1st wave> Hm- In a corner, weapons appeared in a floating manner. From the left, there was a sword, dagger, long spear, axe, mace, bow-arrow and a whip. What should I choose? I¡¯m confused. ¡®For now, a bow, whip and dagger are all a big no.¡¯ In that case, the safest bet would be a spear or a sword. [¡®Sung Hyun-sook¡¯ is surprised at an unexpected discovery and says ¡°They had something like this too?!¡±] ¡°Hm?¡± My mom suddenly said something random. An unexpected discovery? What are you talking abou-¡­ [Sung Hyun-sook thinks for a while.] [Guardian deity ¡®Sung Hyun-sook¡¯ makes a resolution wishing for the bright future of ¡®My Son ?¡¯] [Sung Hyun-sook advises to choose any weapon.] ¡°No, I don¡¯t get what you¡¯re talking about¡­¡± Aside from not understanding mom, I had to choose a weapon within 3 minutes. Until the end, I agonized between the spear and the sword but my final decision was the sword. I asked while swinging around the moderately long sword. ¡°So, what is it that you discovered?¡± But mom didn¡¯t reply. Instead, [Guardian deity ¡®Sung Hyun-sook¡¯ sponsors a ¡®skill¡¯ for ¡®My Son ?¡¯!] Huh? [A skill ball containing the talent of the Guardian deity will be given to the representative!] [Sponsorship list: Skill ball ¨C ] She answered back with a sponsorship. ¡°¡­¡­.¡± Wait a minute. Sponsors what? CH 8 Talent. [Noun] The skill and aptitude to do something. ¡°¡­.are you perhaps talking about that talent, the dictionary meaning kind?¡± I asked while looking down at the glowing bead placed above my right hand. Its size is about half my palm. An enormous amount of light illuminated from its surface. It was more like a small sun than a bead. Skill Ball. There are a total of three cases in which a player acquires a skill. One is when a player is given a skill at the same time of awakening. Another is when a skill is acquired through an accidental action or realization once the system requirements are met. And the last one is, through a ¡®skill ball¡¯ personally sponsored by the Guardian deity. Some people emit lighting through their hands, summon meteorites and run like the wind through this one small bead. While some people hit the ground in regret for getting trash-like skills, one is better off not receiving them. Yeah, you¡¯re right. That was me. But. ¡®But I¡¯ve never heard about being sponsored a talent through skill ball.¡¯ Not only me but when I think about all the players around the world, it¡¯s an unheard concept. [¡®Sung Hyun-sook¡¯ is rushing you and says ¡°To see is to believe that¡¯s why open it up first!¡±] Wait. What¡¯s this uneasiness? For some reason, it feels the same way as when I was given the vitamin pill filled with love. ¡®But mom can¡¯t feed me anything bad!¡¯ Now I have the trust, faith and my mom who is completely in debt! I can feel it. Just like the vitamin pill, This brightly burning ball will brightly light up my second life! But I should still check out its info, right? ===== Name: Blood is thicker than water Classification: Passive Grade: Ex. Description: It is an essence containing the talent of a Guardian deity that was once called a war goddess by everyone. By inheriting her courageous spirit, you will only walk on the path of victory in all the battles and threatful situations ahead. Effect: Regardless of the type, the proficiency in using any weapon and other different abilities will increase. However, The rate of increase is proportional to the influence of the sponsored talent. ====== ¡°What¡­¡± Just when I was reading the skill info and thinking to myself that this cheat sheet is too generous. Flash-! Suddenly a pillar of light appeared on the field.