I began rehabilitation training the next day.
“I will believe in a miracle.”
Medical Officer Kim said that as he studied every kind of rehabilitation theory.
A month passed.
Step.
“It worked! It worked!”
“Congratulations!”
“It actually worked.”
“Hyung, congratulations!”
Using the walking aid to support my weight, I succeeded in taking a step.
“What happened today?”
“Fencer Jeong walked today!”
“What?”
The guards and inmates who knew me burst into cheers.
“After killing people like that, he is desperately trying to save himself.”
“He should have reported it first. The fact that he tried to solve something like that by swinging a sword himself should disqualify him from being a national representative.”
There were plenty of sarcastic remarks, but I did not care.
I only hoped that someday, they would return home to find tattooed pig gangsters beating their families and preparing to beat them as well.
Three months passed.
“Hoo, ha.”
Leaning on crutches, I succeeded in taking a step.
My hands trembled at the thought that I might someday be able to hold a sword again.
“Turn on fencing.”
“Pardon?”
“I said turn it on. There is a competition going on, right? We get sports channels here too, do we not?”
That day, for the first time since being shot, I looked for fencing footage.
“Yes, yes!”
“Understood.”
“Hyung, you are watching fencing?”
The inmates sharing my room looked utterly surprised, then hurriedly grabbed the remote.
[Breaking News! “The Sky Has Split Open!”]
[A rift of light appears over northern Seoul; strange life-forms emerge.]
“Huh?”
But fencing was not on.
“What is that?”
“Is that not a Gate?”
“A Gate? What kind of fucking otaku nonsense is that?”
The competition was not on either.
[“Police and fire authorities have immediately blocked nearby roads and are evacuating citizens.]
[Experts say it is ‘impossible to explain as a natural phenomenon’ and are urging the government to conduct an emergency investigation.”]
It did not seem to be that kind of situation.
“Eh. The military will deal with it, right? They are strange life-forms, are they not? One bullet and it is over, right?”
Of course, the inmates were calm.
They laughed as though they had heard an interesting story amid their boredom.
“Right. Even I, who was called the Greatest Swordsman Under Heaven, went down in one shot. What would make strange life-forms any different?”
I felt the same way.
[Army Armored Division Wiped Out; Evacuation Order in Paju]
[Defense of Seoul Abandoned!?]
I still felt that way when martial law was declared a few days later and residents of northern Gyeonggi Province were evacuated.
[Breaking News! Government Announces Capital Relocation]
[Ten Million Refugees in the Capital Region; Rationing Implemented]
[Superhumans Appear? Awakened Hunters!]
Then, over the course of several months, the government abandoned Seoul, ten million refugees emerged in the capital region, and rationing was finally implemented.
[Food Shortage; Inmates with Sentences of Three Years or Less Released]
[Strange Life-Forms Named ‘Demon Beasts’]
[Demon Beast Byproduct, ‘Magic Stone’?]
[Samjeong Group Turns Magic Stones into Electricity!?]
[Hunter Ban Hae-jin Successfully Closes S-Rank Gate]
“This country's fucked, isn't it?”
None of us thought it was an interesting story anymore.
In the chaos, I lost contact with Chae-ha too.
I thought I would go insane with worry.
Dragging my ruined leg, I tried to escape from prison, only to be caught.
“I understand. I am going crazy worrying about my family too.”
“…….”
“But with that leg, you cannot swim, so you cannot even leave this island. No. Let us say you somehow get out. What then? Are you going to walk to Seoul? You know what state the country is in now.”
“…….”
“I will pretend I saw nothing, so do not think about anything else and focus on rehabilitation. Right now, this is the safest place.”
The warden sent me back to the infirmary.
In the end, my daily life did not change.
The Gates and Demon Beasts appeared around the capital region, while this was a prison on an island at the southernmost edge of the country.
“Good, very good!”
A year passed.
I could now walk with one crutch instead of two.
[Korean Armed Forces Successfully Defend Pyeongtaek]
[Hunter Ban Hae-jin Establishes Private Military Company ‘Guild’]
[Government Suppresses Awakened Gangs]
[Prices Soar! What Will Become of Ordinary People's Economy?]
News reported that the front line, which had reached as far south as Sejong, had moved a little farther north.
Letters from Chae-ha began arriving again, though only sporadically.
“Put some strength into it! Straighten your back!”
Two years passed.
I could walk with a cane instead of crutches.
[Presidential Inaugural Memorial Address]
[Samjeong Pharmaceuticals Develops ‘Awakening Drug’]
[Artificial Awakened Death Rate Soars]
[Top Ten Guilds Open Large-Scale Public Hiring for Non-Awakened Employees]
A pharmaceutical affiliate of the conglomerate that had once sponsored me made a drug called the Awakening Drug.
[Oppa, I got a job.]
Around then, I received a letter saying that Chae-ha had found employment at Saetbyeol Guild.
I had worried she might be struggling financially, so it was truly a relief.
“Slowly. Let us take it slowly.”
Three years passed.
With only a cane, I could walk almost no differently from an ordinary person.
[Korean ‘Guilds,’ a Model for the World]
[Samjeong Pharmaceuticals Prepares Awakening Drug 2.0]
[Ordinary People's Economy at Its Worst!]
The outside world seemed to be gradually growing accustomed to Gates, Demon Beasts, and Hunters.
Then, several more months passed.
Tap, tap, tap.
When I went to the infirmary with my cane.
“I will be transferring to a different post tomorrow. It seems I will be going to a military hospital.”
Medical Officer Kim said that.
“I was truly happy that I could see you walking again before I left.”
I closed my eyes once, then opened them.
“It is thanks to you, Medical Officer. If I can hold a sword again, I will dedicate the first medal I win to you.”
“It is because you have done your best.”
He too closed his eyes once, then opened them.
“There is something I intended to tell you today.”
“Yes.”
“Do you know of the drug called the Awakening Drug?”
“I saw it on the news. Is it not a drug that lets anyone become an Awakened and gain superhuman physical abilities?”
“You may be able to receive that drug.”
“Pardon? I understood it was so expensive that everyone was desperate to get it.”
I could hardly believe my ears.
Medical Officer Kim began to explain.
“Even the 1.0 version had incredibly severe side effects, but the country's circumstances were so bad that they released it immediately……”
To rebuild the economy, enormous quantities of Magic Stones were needed. But after people learned how dangerous Hunter work was, they did not want to do it.
Receiving the Awakening Drug was dangerous, and Hunter work was dangerous too, so the number of applicants had plummeted.
With everyone already struggling, public opinion was poor about feeding criminals with taxpayer money, so paroles had become more frequent as well.
“……So they are conducting clinical trials for version 2.0. If you successfully awaken, you can replace your imprisonment with Hunter work. Will you volunteer?”
“How severe are the side effects that people do not want to take it?”
“Your nerves burn out. You either become completely incapacitated, or in the worst cases, die instantly.”
“And if it succeeds?”
“As you know, all physical abilities improve dramatically.”
I listened to Medical Officer Kim's explanation.
“They say the nerves cannot endure the shock of physical changes that come at the moment of Awakening. But you were an athlete, were you not? Your nervous system should be much better developed than other people's, so there is a good chance you will awaken safely.”
“That is true.”
I closed my eyes once more, then opened them.
In truth, I knew.
My rehabilitation was progressing well, but only by the standards of daily life.
Four years had passed, and I still could not run.
Recovering enough to resume an athletic career was practically impossible.
But all physical abilities would improve dramatically.
There were things that might not be more important than life, but were just as important.
“I will take it. I will give Hunter work a try.”
If I could live while freely swinging a sword as I had before, I could risk my life a hundred times over.
If I could return to Chae-ha's side, I could risk my life any number of times.
***
The process moved forward in an instant.
A week later, employees from the Awakened Association entered the prison together with Samjeong Pharmaceuticals researchers and Ministry of Justice officials.
Tap, tap, tap.
“I hope it goes well.”
“Hyung, do you really have to do that? My friend outside is a Hunter, and he says a lot of people die.”
“If you are doing it, make sure you succeed. Weren't you an Olympic gold medalist? With your skill and an Awakening, you will be cutting everyone down.”
As I crossed the corridor with my cane, many guards and inmates offered words of encouragement.
“Son of a bitch! Melt into mush and die!”
“You are getting out fast. For a man who got ten years. Must be nice.”
“You are not being released. This is only alternative service. If you go swinging a sword around carelessly outside now, one bullet might not be the end of it. Do you understand?”
I did not even look at those hurling jeers and venomous remarks.
“Are you ready?”
“Yes. I am ready.”
I lay down on the infirmary bed and held out my forearm.
A Samjeong employee opened an attaché case and took out a syringe filled with a liquid that glowed a soft blue.
STAB!
The needle sank into my forearm.
“Ghk!”
A liquid like burning water flowed into me.
“GAAAAAH!”
In an instant, my waist curled like a bow.
It felt as though fencing swords were stabbing my entire body.
SNAP, CRACK, CRACK-CRACK!
My limbs twisted in unnatural directions.
My muscles swelled from the inside.
My right leg hurt as though it were being seared by fire.
Put another way, it was pain still within the bounds of metaphor.
“Ghhk!”
I endured, gritting my teeth.
CRACK!
My right leg straightened completely.
“Ah.”
The pain vanished entirely.
A ringing remained in my ears, but I could call this all right.
No. More than all right, it felt as though strength was overflowing through my body.
“--, --!”
“---!”
The Association employees and Samjeong Pharmaceuticals employees shouted something.
Supporting myself on the bed with one hand, I tried to rise.
BANG!
“Huh?!”
I flew all the way into the opposite wall, slammed into it, and fell.
Patter.
Chunks of concrete from the prison wall rained down over me.
Spiderweb-like cracks spread from where I had struck.
This was insane.
If there had been an employee in the way, it would have been a disaster.
“……Mr. Jeong!”
The guards, Samjeong employees, and Association employees all raised both hands in gestures telling me to calm down.
Very, very slowly, just as I had when taking my first step during rehabilitation, I raised myself.
I nearly launched forward like a cannonball again after misjudging my strength, but somehow managed another step.
After taking two or three more steps, I began to get a feel for how to control my strength.
“Ah, hahahaha!”
Laughter burst out of me.
It almost sounded like crying.
It had been five years.
For the first time in five years, I moved without anything supporting me.
I could not contain this excitement.
I threw away the damned cane and hurled myself toward the infirmary door.
“Mr. Jeong!”
“Get him!”
“No. Let him go. How badly must he have wanted to run?”
No one's words reached me now.
A long corridor stretched before my eyes.
With a Lunge (a forward step), I kicked off the ground.
BANG!
My body lifted low into the air and shot forward.
“Huh?”
When I looked back, the concrete floor was gouged in the shape of my foot, and torn pieces of my shoes lay scattered around.
I seemed to have shot forward at least thirty meters.
“Ha, hahaha!”
Having once been an athlete among athletes, I understood better than anyone how absurd this was.
As far as I knew, the Olympic long-jump world record was under nine meters.
With one light advance step, I had surpassed the record made by athletes at the peak of humanity who had focused solely on jumping as far as possible.
Strength overflowed throughout my body.
Tap, tap-tap!
I worked through my footwork as though I would perform every step I had been unable to take over the past three years.
I repeated short advances and retreats, mixing diagonal steps with attack steps as I moved in every direction.
Then, as I repeated those movements.
“Huh?”
Stagger!
The strength left my right leg again.
“Mr. Jeong!?”
“Jeong Jae-ha!”
I rolled across the floor pathetically.
What was going on?
***
“The Awakening itself was successful. However……”
“However?”
“The level of neural activity in your right leg is markedly lower than that of your left leg. If you maintain high-speed movement like before for more than five minutes, the nerves seem to enter an overheated state, blocking motor signals.”
I was carried back to the infirmary.
The Samjeong Pharmaceuticals researchers immediately conducted a detailed examination.
“Did you not say that every injury and disability I had would recover, and that my physical abilities would improve overall?”
“It cannot be said that they have not. Even now, you are displaying physical abilities that are sufficiently enhanced by ordinary standards.”
It felt as though the sky had fallen again.
“The effect of the Awakening Drug is like multiplication. Let us say it multiplies your strength, endurance, and reflexes by ten.”
“Yes.”
“However, your right leg's nerves are already largely dead. So even after being multiplied by ten, it cannot maintain balance with your left leg.”
“…….”
“If it was five and fifty before, now it is fifty and five hundred. The multiplier itself remains the same, but the absolute gap has grown larger.”
I nearly vomited on the spot.
At the same time, I felt a small measure of relief.
If I had not gritted my teeth and continued rehabilitation, the problem would have been far worse.
By that analogy, I would not have become fifty and five hundred as I was now, but 0.5 and five hundred—someone truly unable to do anything.
“Still, looking at these values, it seems recovery itself will occur. Your regenerative ability has increased greatly. At this rate, both legs will be balanced within ten years.”
“Ten years?”
“Ah, naturally, there is a way for you to recover faster. Fortunately, there are many precedents for it.”
“What is it?”
“Catch Demon Beasts.”