Chapter 4
Chapter 4
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 004
Chapter Title: Gravity Training
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📜 NEW QUEST 📜 Sudden Quest Occurred!
[Endure 3x gravity for 6 hours.]
[If you lose consciousness, the quest fails.]
🎁 Success Reward: Inventory acquired
⚠️ Failure Penalty: Permanent physical impairment from gravity
He had closed his eyes feeling great, only for this utterly absurd quest to pop up right in front of him.
A sudden quest, no less. As if things weren't tough enough already.
Han Jeong-woo quickly racked his brain, trying to make sense of his current situation.
"...Endure gravity?"
He recalled the goblins and lizardmen who had been crushed to death under 10x gravity just moments ago.
Fortunately, the gravity he had to endure was only 3x, not 10x.
If it had demanded he withstand 10x gravity for six hours straight, he probably wouldn't die thanks to his awakening... but his bones would surely shatter, and his internal organs would be wrecked beyond repair.
"Interesting."
The corner of Han Jeong-woo's mouth twitched upward.
"Trying to test me, are you?"
And the reward was an inventory, no less. It felt like bait tossed out the moment he had wished for a bag.
"But has there ever been an Awakener with an inventory ability?"
He'd heard of subspatial rings or bags as items, but an actual inventory power? This was brand new.
Whatever. Who cared?
Without a second thought, Han Jeong-woo hit accept.
[06:00:00] [05:59:59] The moment a six-hour countdown appeared in his vision...
A heavy pressure slammed into him all at once, crushing his entire body.
"...Kuhk!"
His breath caught in his throat. His lungs shrank, breathing became labored, and his whole body sank like a waterlogged sponge.
His 75kg body had ballooned to 225kg in an instant, and with the added precursor symptoms of mana depletion, it was only natural.
"Hoo... Hup..."
Han Jeong-woo gasped for air roughly.
Thanks to his awakened and strengthened body, it was somewhat bearable, but "bearable" and "painless" were two entirely different things.
Soon enough, he flopped onto the bed spread-eagled.
Maximizing his surface area against the bed dispersed the pressure a bit, easing his breathing.
'If I just lie here breathing and endure... six hours might be doable somehow.'
But pushing through the quest like this felt off, somehow unsatisfying.
Quests were devices meant to aid character growth, after all.
Sure, some just handed out rewards, but Han Jeong-woo doubted cheesing this sudden quest by lying in bed was the right way.
'If there's a system or operator behind this quest for me...'
Would that entity really want to see him just lying there enduring for six hours?
That thought made his current approach feel like a cheap exploit rather than proper progress.
In the end...
"Hup...!"
Han Jeong-woo held his breath once, then painfully dragged his heavy body off the bed.
Sluuuur... Sluuuur...
Unable to lift his feet from the floor, he dragged them across the room toward the front door.
Mutants had their own mutant ways.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ Someone once said humans are animals of adaptation.
The pain didn't vanish, but he was gradually getting used to the crushing heaviness weighing down his body.
Even taking a single step in his cramped studio was a struggle. But once he stepped outside into the cool breeze, walking slowly like a stroll became surprisingly manageable.
After about an hour, Han Jeong-woo realized he was picking up the knack.
Taking large strides overloaded one leg too much.
So, short steps, slow pace, and using the whole sole of his foot.
Stick to those three, and he could walk under 3x gravity without issue.
Time had nearly halved before he knew it.
Suddenly, he realized this activity itself was an incredible form of training.
Without any separate exercise, just enduring 3x gravity was stimulating his core muscles immensely.
With about an hour left until quest completion...
An unbelievable message floated before his eyes.
Han Jeong-woo staggered to a nearby park bench and plopped down. He stared blankly at the hologram window.
⚔ STATUS UPDATE ⚔ ⚡ Strength stat has increased by 1. "My stat went up?"
He hurriedly opened his status window. Sure enough, his Strength had risen by 1.
"...Why? How?"
He got that walking under 3x gravity counted as exercise.
But raising a stat—the kind you only got from the Tower—just from walking? And this wasn't even a quest reward.
Right then, a hypothesis flashed through his mind.
"Enduring gravity itself is some kind of hidden quest... something like that?"
A body enduring 3x gravity was, by simple math, three times stronger than normal.
What if he pushed to 4x... 5x... gradually increasing the load?
Training like this could let him grow at a speed others couldn't even dream of.
A shiver ran through his entire body. He'd found a way to get stronger without even entering the Tower.
But this training method had one problem.
He couldn't control his own gravity.
He'd tested it multiple times—could he float by setting his gravity to zero? No, he couldn't manipulate gravity at all.
"So climbing the Tower is still the answer, huh."
The Skill Enhancement Ticket from the Tower. Using that might level up his skills and let him control his own gravity.
As he harbored that hope, the sudden quest countdown finally hit zero.
The crushing pressure lifted in an instant, and a 5x5 grid of 25 square hologram slots appeared before him.
⚙ QUEST COMPLETE ⚙ [Sudden Quest Success!] [Inventory acquired as reward.] "So this is the inventory."
Discovering a hidden Gravity Training quest, followed by this massive inventory reward. With luck piling up like this, Han Jeong-woo could barely keep his head straight.
For a test, he picked up a small pebble from the roadside and shoved it into the inventory.
[Storing 1 Pebble.] The pebble turned into a 2D graphic icon, settling into the first slot of the 25.
Pretending to drag it out by touching the icon, the exact same pebble reappeared in his palm.
"Nice...! There goes my bag worries from earlier. Problem solved."
Big trident? 10kg of magistones? No issue now.
Free from six hours of gravity and with an inventory in hand, Han Jeong-woo headed home with steps as light as if he could fly.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ Grrrooowl. His stomach roared loudly as he got home.
He'd stocked up on daily necessities via online delivery, but skipped actual food ingredients.
To eat, he'd have to order delivery or head out.
"Big Brother! I'm here!"
Choosing the latter, Han Jeong-woo called out to Lee Jong-su.
He wanted to see his Big Brother's face after so long, and since he'd mooched dinners off him plenty, this time he wanted to treat.
Today's Tower earnings alone: one million won.
Dinner was no big deal now.
"Hey, you look better already just one day after quitting that job?"
Spotting Han Jeong-woo, Lee Jong-su grinned and waved happily.
"Ahaha, you think so? Come on in. I haven't eaten all day."
The place they ended up was a fancy buffet—100,000 won per person easy.
"...Man, I thought we'd be grabbing kimchi jjigae or something. What're we doing at a place like this?"
Lee Jong-su looked intimidated by the lavish interior, his voice flustered.
"I've always wanted to bring you somewhere nice like this once I started making good money."
"You got money now? You just quit yesterday."
"Don't worry, Big Brother. I'm buying today. I've mooched off you enough."
After a light back-and-forth, they sat down.
"Hey, Jeong-woo. This place is 100,000 won a head."
"I know. That's why I picked it—to treat you to something fancy."
"Tch... How's a Big Brother gonna let you pay and lose face?"
Lee Jong-su paused awkwardly before continuing.
"But... I've only got 150,000 won left for the month. Sorry, but spot me 50,000?"
Instead of answering, Han Jeong-woo just stared at Lee Jong-su's face.
'Why does this Big Brother go so far for me...?'
He swallowed the words rising in his throat and said something else.
"Big Brother, I'll be making good money from now on. So don't worry."
"Even if you do! Big Brothers buy the meals! Unless you're pulling 100 million a month."
100 million a month. Felt impossibly distant right now.
Today's Tower haul: one million won. Simple math put a month at 30 million. Nowhere near.
But considering an EX-rank's potential, it wasn't impossible.
The Tower overflowed with magistones and priceless items.
"Then once I hit 100 million a month, can I start treating from there?"
"Obviously! You think a guy making 100 mil a month would mooch off a day-laboring Big Brother?"
Han Jeong-woo and Lee Jong-su burst out laughing, facing each other. The age gap vanished in moments like these—they just clicked.
"But 100 mil a month... wonder what that feels like? That guy's probably making over 100 mil."
Lee Jong-su nodded toward a huge ad photo on the buffet wall.
"You know him?"
"Yeah, he's famous. A-rank Awakener who's also an actor. Name's... Park Hoyeon, right?"
Same age as Han Jeong-woo, yet he'd climbed to the 40th floor.
But he'd hit a wall at 40, abruptly quit climbing to become an actor full-time, stirring up a media storm.
"But no matter how I look at it, I think I'm better looking... right?"
"What? You? Compared to him? Compare apples to apples, kid. Whoops... sorry."
Big Brother's arm, reaching for Park Hoyeon's photo, accidentally bumped a passerby. He quickly bowed and apologized in surprise, but the guy's reaction was anything but normal.
"Ah, shit. You bump into someone and think a sorry fixes it?"
A burly early-20s guy with a thick gold chain around his neck glared menacingly down at the profusely apologetic Lee Jong-su.
"Hey, old man! You think brushing off a normal person with an apology is enough?!"
It was just a graze, but the guy acted like it was deliberate, flying into a rage. Both of them were stunned.
"No, young man! It was an accident, and I apologized. How's this picking a fight?"
But Lee Jong-su wasn't one to back down either.
A middle-aged family man who'd seen it all on construction sites wasn't about to swallow this petty bullshit meekly.
"Oh? Wanna go? I was gonna let it slide if you knelt and apologized—"
The guy grinned like he'd been waiting, shrugging off his jacket. Under his sleeveless tank, his arms and chest were covered in thick black tattoos.
"Old man. I'm an Awakener. B-rank, no less. I've cleared past the 20th floor."
But even faced with a B-rank threat, Lee Jong-su didn't flinch. He bellowed back even louder.
"Good, you said it right. An Awakener acting like this? You think you can just beat up normals? Huh?!"
Seeing Lee Jong-su charge at him like he was ready to brawl, the guy scoffed in disbelief.
"This won't do. Old man, I'll fix that attitude for you today."
The instant the guy's massive palm swung viciously toward Lee Jong-su's cheek...
Han Jeong-woo, who had been quietly watching, felt his eyes flash cold as ice.
'An Awakener can handle this much, right?'
⚡ SKILL ACTIVATED ⚡ [Enhancing target's gravity to 5x.] The next moment, the guy's hand froze dead in midair.