People Aren't Meant to Fly
People are beings meant to live with their feet on the ground.
There were all sorts of ways to defy gravity for a time, but a human being itself could never truly fly. That was common sense—the truth Kang Min-jun had always believed.
And yet…
He’s flying.
A person was flying through the air.
“Aaaaaaaaaah!”
Leaving a long, drawn-out scream in his wake, the man sailed a good several dozen meters.
Kang Min-jun and his seniors stared straight ahead, eyes trembling wildly. The one who had just granted a human the power to ignore gravity stood right there.
Gulp—.
Someone swallowed hard.
“Wh-what the hell is that.”
The platoon leader’s voice shook in fine, rapid vibrations. Kang Min-jun understood exactly how he felt. This was the kind of scene you only ever saw in movies or anime.
A man in a shabby tracksuit swung a long blade.
Whoooosh—!
Just the sound of it cutting the air was enough to imagine how devastating the force behind it had to be.
Baaaaaang—!
The noise that followed was even more shocking. Whether he had struck with the flat of the blade instead of the edge, no bodies were sliced open—but…
“Aaaaaaaaaah!”
Everyone hit by it flew skyward without a single exception and smashed into the ground far behind.
Is he dead?
Dozens of meters. That much impact force far exceeded what a fragile human body could possibly endure. Fortunately, it seemed he wasn’t dead—judging by the way he still twitched and writhed on the ground.
After about ten men went flying, no one else dared approach the stranger.
“Fuck, stop! You don’t stop and we open fire!”
The platoon leader. Opening fire on a fellow citizen? Kang Min-jun thought it was absurd, yet he raised his rifle and aimed at the man all the same. Honestly, that guy didn’t even feel like a citizen—or human. He was displaying strength and speed no person should possess.
“Talking about opening fire? Hey, shoot. Let’s see what happens.”
Dozens of muzzles locked onto him. The man didn’t so much as blink.
Is he bluffing?
What kind of person stayed calm in front of guns—especially with dozens of trained soldiers aiming at him? Yet the man moved without the slightest hesitation. No fear. No thought of dodging. If anything, he looked like he was daring them to fire for real as he walked slowly, straight toward them.
Grind—!
The sound of the platoon leader’s teeth grinding reached them. He looked furious enough to spit blood.
He won’t actually shoot… right?
Kang Min-jun had raised his weapon on reflex, but he never believed they would truly fire on a person. This wasn’t a war. Open fire in the middle of Seoul over one guy? He told himself it was impossible—yet his finger still trembled. The platoon leader’s eyes looked wrong. Anger? Panic? He couldn’t tell, but something was off.
“Selector to single fire.”
…Crazy.
Kang Min-jun turned to stare at the platoon leader before he even realized it. He wasn’t alone. The rest of the platoon did the same. A few of the seniors wore expressions that clearly said this insane bastard?
“P-platoon leader!”
One staff sergeant stammered.
“I know, you bastards! I know this is crazy!”
At least he was self-aware. He still didn’t retract the order.
“Higher-ups said if subduing the intruder is impossible, just kill him. You don’t have to like it. It’s an order, so follow it.”
At the platoon leader’s low voice, Kang Min-jun’s face hardened.
“They gonna shoot?”
Yujin watched them talking from a distance. He couldn’t make out the words, but the atmosphere alone was enough to guess.
“Looks like they’re thinking about it.”
Muzzles swung his way.
“Hmm.”
He quickly took stock. Roughly thirty soldiers left—about a platoon’s worth. He hadn’t done his military service yet, so the exact count was fuzzy. The real problem was that more support kept pouring in. Thirty would become a hundred soon enough, and if he dragged this out any longer it would multiply several times over.
That’s a problem.
Yujin was strong. Against ordinary people he could handle hundreds alone. Guns, though, changed the math. He still couldn’t tank bullets. Around level 100 his durability would outclass firearms, but right now he was only level 31. One or two rounds he might dodge. Dozens? Impossible.
Ah, right—I have God-Infused Body [S], don’t I?
An S-grade trait. That ought to stop them… right? He considered it for a second, then shook his head. He had zero desire to test that hypothesis with his own body.
And there’s no need.
He couldn’t block bullets. So just neutralize them before they fired.
The soldiers’ conversation seemed to be wrapping up. The gaze of the one who looked like their leader sank deep and cold. Yujin didn’t hesitate—he accelerated his thoughts. Surrounding time slowed to a crawl. The instant he felt it, he kicked off the ground.
Exterior-Interior Unity [E] turned his body into a blur of monstrous speed.
“Fire!”
To the soldiers it must have looked like Yujin simply vanished. Panic, maybe. Either way, the order to open fire finally dropped.
They’re actually shooting.
He’d half expected it. In the slowed world Yujin watched the bullets racing toward him.
Can’t dodge.
Fast. Way too fast. Speed-wise they were on the level of monsters from the 80th floor and above. Even with all his ridiculous traits, current Yujin had no hope of avoiding them. In the brief moment he assessed the situation, the rounds were already at his nose.
Tsk.
No more time to waste. Yujin activated a skill without hesitation—the upgraded Moment [D]. Twice a day now. Instant teleportation inside a ten-meter radius.
Paat—!
This time his body truly disappeared. Dozens of bullets punched through the empty air where he had just been standing.
And then—
Yujin reappeared right in the middle of the stunned soldiers.
“Take a nap and wake up.”
He felt nothing particular toward them. The only one he’d disliked was the first guy he’d met. The rest had simply followed orders; there was no real need to spill blood. Of course, actually pulling the trigger still demanded a little payback.
Solar Blade [D] cut through empty air. Unlike earlier, the edge now blazed with flame thickly saturated in mana. The soldiers never even registered when or how the blade struck them. Moving through the space of a single instant, Yujin’s speed was simply that overwhelming.
Thwack-thwack-thwack-thwack-thwack—!
Yujin danced. The flat of Solar Blade [D] slammed into the soldiers dozens of times per second.
“Guhhhh!”
“Keck!”
“Aaaaaaah!”
The fight ended in a heartbeat. Not one of the thirty soldiers remained on his feet. Each clutched some part of his body and collapsed where he stood.
Yujin glanced at the men who could no longer fight and turned away.
“Better move before this gets more annoying.”
If more gun-toting soldiers kept flooding in, even he would start having a hard time. So he needed to find Lee Ki-seok—fast.
Yujin kicked off the ground and rocketed toward the Tower of Light at a speed that tore the air apart.
Wheeeeeee—!
Only the wail of sirens and the soldiers’ groans remained where he had been, ringing out in raw, desperate chorus.
“Who the hell is he?”
“Could he be from China? Or America?”
“Possibly.”
Lee Ki-seok stared at the unidentified intruder on the CCTV feed, unable to hide his shock. Speed and power no human should possess—like something out of a superhero movie.
“He’ll be here soon.”
The intruder who had dismantled an entire platoon in the blink of an eye was charging straight toward them. He moved so fast even the cameras struggled to track him.
“I’ll increase the security detail.”
The appearance of the mysterious structure named the Black Tower was an unscientific, supernatural event. Precisely for contingencies like this, an entire division had been stationed on guard. The intruder might display superhuman physical ability, but one man could never stand against an army. Full mobilization would make capturing him relatively simple.
Yet—
“No. Leave it.”
At the urgent suggestion from the Ministry of Science and Technology director who had come for Black Tower research, Lee Ki-seok shook his head.
“We can’t stop him anyway.”
“Can’t stop him? That’s impossib—”
“He’s already here.”
“Ah.”
KWA-AAAAANG—!
The sealed door of the research wing exploded inward. The entire building shuddered as if a bomb had gone off. Researchers buried in experiments and paperwork inside screamed in shock. The only person who remained perfectly calm was Lee Ki-seok.
“I should go meet him. Find out who he is while I’m at it.”
The science director nodded but did not follow.
Thud—.
Lee Ki-seok walked through the chaos-filled corridor toward the front entrance. The man from the CCTV footage appeared before him—a young man in his twenties wearing an oversized tracksuit and carrying a long blade.
He sauntered forward with a bored expression, then spotted Lee Ki-seok and his eyes widened slightly.
He knows me?
That was the impression.
“Identify yourself.”
Lee Ki-seok spoke in a calm, even tone. What came back was not an answer but a question.
“Lee Ki-seok? You’re that whatever theoretical physicist guy, right?”
Whatever? Mildly offended, Lee Ki-seok opened his mouth.
“More precisely, quantum—”
“Nah, that crap doesn’t matter.”
He was cut off instantly. Quantum, legitimate, illegitimate—whatever. The young man continued with an expression that said he had zero interest.
“Anyway, so you are Lee Ki-seok?”
“…That’s correct.”
It was a novel experience. No one had ever treated him—hailed as a once-in-a-generation genius of Korean science—like this.
“Lucky I found you so quick. Good fortune, maybe?”
The young man grinned—a clear, refreshing smile.
“And who exactly are you?”
Now it was Lee Ki-seok’s turn to ask. He hadn’t expected a real answer. Everything the man had shown so far made it clear he hadn’t come for a polite conversation.
Yet the reply was unexpected.
“I’m Seong Yujin.”
“Seong Yujin?”
To think he would simply give his real name. The man had entered a restricted zone and beaten down soldiers along the way. A name was an excellent lead for tracking him. Lee Ki-seok had never imagined he would hand it over so casually.
An alias? Has to be an alias.
If it was his real name, the man would be called not merely careless but outright stupid, and he would have no defense.
“Well, introductions end here. You’re pretty curious about that tower, right? I came to talk about it. Got a minute?”
Lee Ki-seok’s eyes went wide.