Home in the Jungle
It was hot.
The humid heat pressed down on my skin like a heavy blanket.
Under my palms, I felt the gritty texture of soil, and the tip of my nose was filled with the sharp scent of grass mixed with something that might have been rotting leaves.
I slowly sat up.
Through the thick, tangled branches overhead, beams of sunlight pierced down like threads of light.
Everywhere I looked was green.
Was this Southeast Asia? Or maybe the Amazon? I wasn’t sure.
It was impossible to have a jungle right in the middle of a city like this. No matter how I looked at it, I knew this wasn’t the South Korea I used to live in.
I reached for my memories.
A dark room, curtains drawn, hot water poured into instant ramen. Same as always, I was scrolling through internet communities and doodling.
Pzzzt—!
[Gate has been open for three months and the ramen’s all gone lol lol lol]
Right. For three whole months I’d been locked inside my house while the world tore open with Gates and monsters poured in.
Attention, citizens. This is not a military or hunter situation. Unidentified organisms are entering the area—please do not leave your shelters and stay indoors.
I’d been the classic shut-in who never left his room anyway, so I’d survived three months gulping down tuna cans, ramen, and canned food.
In the communities, real-time videos of monsters smashing through city streets and “hunters” taking them down flooded in.
Hunters?
Was I a hunter too? I’d joked about it before, but when I shouted “Status Window!!” nothing happened.
Finally, I crammed one last tuna can into my bag, couldn’t hold out any longer, and twisted the door handle.
Squeak—!
Crack—! Sizzle—!
That was when the memories cut out, like a video tape with static. My recollections were broken and blurry in places.
Haa—
I clutched my pounding head and looked around. But the sigh that escaped my lips came out strangely thin and high-pitched.
What the—
My eyes dropped.
From the slender, long fingers up to the wrist, and then the slender white ankles, my whole body was laid out before me.
And while my gaze lingered on that ankle, a small convex bump caught my eye in the corner of my vision.
Every time I turned my head, strands of hair tickled my cheeks…
Most of all.
The heavy “it” that should have been pressing between my legs beneath my pants felt strangely hollow and empty.
Only then did I realize how much my vision had shrunk compared to before.
Eh, no way.
My trembling hands slipped under my clothes to check.
…?
“…Shit?”
Ding—!
Like saying goodbye to my manhood, a clear notification chimed inside my head.
[System Alert: Confirming user consciousness.]
Shin Ara
Level: 1
Unique Ability: Electricity Manipulation / ???
Power: 0%/100%
[Body optimization complete. Body has been reconstructed.]
A semi-transparent blue window floated in front of my eyes.
This… was the status window I’d only heard about?
I stared at it with wide eyes.
Electricity Manipulation and three question marks. Electricity Manipulation I could accept, but what was up with those question marks? I poked the screen with a finger.
[Guide: Detailed information cannot be checked because the conditions have not been met.]
Hey, I’m supposed to have powers! At least give me a hint!
I didn’t expect something grand like a wizard or swordsman, but why the hell was my power at zero from the very start? What kind of setup was this?
Grumbling, I rummaged through my pants pockets and felt a hard, angular object.
My smartphone.
I pulled it out with a grin, pressed the power button, and tried fingerprint unlock. My sweaty fingers kept failing. Finally, I drew my familiar pattern to unlock it.
[Communication service disconnected]
Of course. A data signal wouldn’t work deep in a jungle like this.
I laughed out loud and shoved the phone back into my pocket.
I had one smartphone and a pair of filthy bare feet. The situation was seriously hilarious.
Squelch—!
As soon as I stood, a twig stabbed my sole and sent a jolt up my leg.
I finally collapsed on the ground. Whether I starved to death slowly or got eaten by some wild beast, I couldn’t hold out much longer.
Food and a safe place were urgent.
Pushing aside dense vines, I limped forward.
The weather was scorching hot, my clothes stuck to my back with sweat. After a while, a half-overgrown building came into view, half-swallowed by vines.
Glass walls, refrigerated display cases, and a counter.
It was clearly a convenience store, even if it was rundown and vines had punched through the ceiling.
I paused at the entrance and peeked inside.
The ceiling had been completely pierced by vines.
Please, let there be something!
I carefully stepped inside.
The refrigerator was off, but dusty bottles of water and umiamu water lined the shelves.
I wiped the dust off a bottle, popped the cap, and drank.
Gulp, gulp!
Haa… It’s so cold.
It was lukewarm, but worth its weight in gold.
After swallowing, I noticed a calendar on the wall.
[February 15, 2047]
The last day I remembered was the 14th, so I must have been unconscious for a full day.
I kept searching and found several healthy energy bars and a pair of shoes under the shelf. My soles were about to be crushed, but it was lucky.
No matter who you are, thank you for leaving the shoes… overwhelming gratitude…!
I slipped on the shoes and turned my head. A mirror thick with dust caught my eye. I rubbed it roughly with my sleeve.
Swoosh—
The dust fell away, revealing a hazy human shape.
Swoosh.
As the dust cleared, the first thing that caught my eye was a strange sky-blue hairstyle.
And deep, crystal-clear blue eyes. Flawless, snow-white skin without a single blemish and a straight nose.
I poked my own cheek and pinched it. The girl in the mirror did the same.
Beautiful. No, beautiful wasn’t enough—it was a face that perfectly matched my taste. If I weren’t me, that is!
But… it was strangely a face I’d never seen before, yet I felt a vague familiarity.
A glitchy, sparkling noise flashed through my mind.
Bright lights.
A long, snow-white corridor.
A crowd cheering on both sides.
And reflected in the glass, walking toward me right now was a face exactly like mine.
[Crack crack crack—]
The video cut into static.
“What the heck was that just now.”
Did I walk a runway or something in a memory?
I shook off the ridiculous thought. It was a face I’d never seen before—I couldn’t have been standing in a place like that.
When I opened my mouth, a clear, chime-like voice came out, but now was not the time to think about random memories.
After eating something sweet, my mind started working again.
I tore open the energy bar wrapper and bit it, then walked to the battery corner on the shelf.
[AA Battery: Dudusel]
The moment I held the battery in my hand, something inside me twitched.
As if it had been waiting, the charge reacted, and a crackling spark jumped from my fingertip.
Batteries are full of electricity, right?
Staring at the smooth, shining battery made my throat gulp.
Could this battery really taste this good? When I held it, a subtle humming sensation tickled my brain.
Should I eat it… or not?
I wiped my drooling mouth and tore off the packaging. Crackle!
The moment I bit and swallowed, a thrilling coolness flooded down my throat like a waterfall.
Swaaa—
The sensation of electricity flowing was incredibly relaxing. It spread through my esophagus and into every cell of my body.
Finally, in the center of my chest, blue currents swirled around my heart like a Möbius strip.
[System: Power: 10%/100%]
“It’s rising…!”
So this really was a system that only worked by absorbing electricity.
My eyes rolled back as I grabbed every battery on the shelf. Dudusel, Dudusonic, Duduser!
Crackle, crackle!
[Power: 50%/100%]
[Power: 100%/100%]
With a satisfied fullness in my stomach, my mind sharpened again. Empty battery shells littered the floor around me.
“Whoa, I overdid it.”
Focusing, I pushed the batteries out of my palm. Blue lightning crackled from my fingertips. This time I poured every bit of power into my hand and tapped the shelf.
Thud—!
The steel shelf crumpled like paper.
“Oh… this might make a decent weapon.”
I swept up the remaining batteries and stuffed them into my bag. These were my ammo and food. I slung the baseball bat I’d found in the corner onto my shoulder and finally felt some relief.
I opened the convenience store door and stepped back into the forest. After walking a while, a low groan came from beyond the bushes.
“…Ugh.”
I cautiously parted the grass and found a middle-aged man leaning against a tree, bleeding. His side wound was serious.
“Are you okay?!”
“…A person?”
Looking closer, it was the store manager uncle from the convenience store right in front of my old house.
His pupils were already dilated, and his lips trembled as he gasped for air.
Be careful… there’s a monster… nearby.
Cough!
He couldn’t finish his sentence and spat blood with another cough. Panicked, I fumbled in my bag for bandages, but the uncle grabbed my wrist with a rough hand.
“Take this…”
A thick leather wallet was pressed into his trembling palm.
“Inside there’s a family photo… if you meet them…”
Cough—
“Deliver this for me…”
The uncle gave a bitter smile with his bloodied lips.
“I was on my day off today…”
That was the last thing he said.
Thud.
His head drooped forward limply.
“…Uncle?”
I shook him, but he didn’t answer.
Even though my fingertips were still warm, that warmth quickly faded.
Inside the wallet was a bright family photo of a wife and young child smiling.
He must have survived in this jungle searching for them.
Back when I was hiding in my room, gates and monsters were just someone else’s problem. Now the cold, meaty scent of blood spread over my whole body.
This wasn’t a safe city anymore. If I didn’t snap out of it, I’d end up as one of those cold corpses.
I shoved the wallet deep into my pocket and gripped the baseball bat tightly with both hands.
Crunch—!
The twig snapped under my foot.
I stood slowly, and the bushes split open, revealing the golden-yellow eyes of a snake staring straight at me.
The green scales that gleamed in the light.
A lizardman.
A real monster…?
A chill crawled up my spine. Right after seeing a human corpse, trembling was the most natural instinct.
At that moment, the electricity filling my body reacted with tension and surged in my chest. My heart pulsed powerfully, sending a crackling electric shock up my spine all the way to my brain.
Zzt, crackle crackle!
The electricity pierced my brain, instantly eliminating the shivering in my fingers.
With the insane chill, the electricity tensed every muscle in my body.
I swallowed dryly and steadied my grip on the baseball bat.
“…There’s no place to run.”
Blue sparks erupted from my fingertips and tore savagely through the darkness of the jungle.