The Weight of Concentration
[Tower of Trials 1st Floor Residential Zone — Sinners' Street]
“Focus…”
Jin Hong followed Yeon Cheong’s instructions, concentrating even as she walked. She poured every ounce of attention into the smallest details—her footsteps, the sway of her body, the air brushing against her skin. Every movement around her, every shift of people and objects, registered in sharp clarity. Her mind was stretched to its absolute limit. Never in her life had she focused this intensely. She was so absorbed that she didn’t even notice the drool trailing from the corner of her mouth.
The Concentration Artifact helped, of course, but the real credit belonged to her own will. For Jin Hong, Deliverymen were saviors of the Tower, figures she idolized. The highest among them—the Tower Conquest Team—were chosen from the very best Veteran Deliverymen. If they succeeded in conquering a Tower, the surrounding monsters would be suppressed and the dust storms that ravaged the land would finally be held at bay. Humanity would have a real chance to survive. Yet conquering even one Tower demanded everything humanity could give. Only one had ever been cleared, and even that victory had become meaningless in the face of humanity’s impending extinction.
‘Focus…’
Her thoughts drifted again. The moment she began thinking about why she needed to concentrate, other ideas crept in. Especially thoughts of Deliverymen. Whenever they crossed her mind, a strange, piercing headache followed. Was it simply overwhelming desire, or had that desire hardened into obsession because becoming a Deliveryman was her only remaining hope? There were no psychiatrists in the Tower. No one to talk to.
“Hey.”
A man called out to her while she maintained her focus. She didn’t hear him. The artifact had accelerated her thoughts, so she tuned out everything except the presences Yeon Cheong had told her to watch and the sound of her own footsteps.
“This bitch ignoring me?”
Only when she sensed the presence drawing closer did she finally notice. She turned around.
“Yes?”
“You just stepped on my foot and kept walking. Everyone saw it, right?”
Three or four men who looked every bit like street thugs grinned and nodded at one another. An old woman nearby muttered under her breath and hurried past.
“Aigoo, poor thing. Getting caught by those guys…”
The man who had stopped Jin Hong flipped the woman off.
“Shut up and keep walking. We’re busy here.”
The 1st Floor was full of criminal organizations, which meant plenty of low-level thugs looking to prove themselves. They had to show “results” before they could join—extorting food, stealing from homes, or beating someone who had insulted the organization until they could never walk straight again. Today, Jin Hong had become their target. She had wandered into a remote alley she would normally avoid.
‘I focused too hard. I didn’t even realize where I was going.’
Sinners’ Street. The heart of the criminal organizations. Thugs roamed freely here. Most residents avoided the area, and it was far from the guard post at the main gate. Law and order were nonexistent. Even the guards rarely patrolled unless something serious happened.
“You sure about this? It’s cleanup week.”
One of the men, lounging with his feet on a public table, spoke up. Cleanup week meant the guards were arresting people for the smallest offenses.
“Doesn’t matter. After that black-market incident, they’ve been steering clear of this place.”
The guards were still human. Fear worked on them too. They had already arrested several high-ranking criminals during the black-market raid. No one wanted to risk retaliation by coming this deep into Sinners’ Street.
“And if she stepped on your foot, it’s self-defense, right?”
“Did she actually step on you?”
Another thug shook his head. Whether she had or not didn’t matter. They had already decided to take everything she had.
“Um…”
Jin Hong took a nervous step back. The size difference alone was overwhelming, and being surrounded by grown men as a fifteen-year-old girl was terrifying.
“Um what?”
The thug feinted a slap, then slowly extended his hand.
“Hand over whatever food you’ve got left.”
“…I don’t have any.”
“Don’t lie. You want to get hit?”
The other thugs stood up.
“I really don’t have anything.”
“…”
Jin Hong never carried food with her. There was nothing to give.
“Look at how skinny she is. Of course she doesn’t have anything.”
One of them pointed at her body—the very picture of 1st Floor poverty. Jin Hong felt an unexpected sting of shame.
“Then take off your clothes.”
“What?”
“They look pretty valuable.”
The thugs had noticed the outfit Chunja Halmae had personally mended. It had once belonged to a former Deliveryman, so both its design and practicality stood out. That was what they wanted now.
“…Um…”
“Stop talking!”
The thug swung his open palm straight at her face.
Whoosh!
The slap never landed. It cut through empty air.
“…?”
“What the hell are you doing?”
Jin Hong swallowed hard, just as surprised as they were. She had dodged it. She had actually dodged a sudden attack.
‘Focus…’
Her thoughts were running several times faster than normal. Even in this extreme situation, her brain was waking up, sharpening her concentration further.
“Grab her!”
Three men rushed at her. Jin Hong tracked the size of her own body, the space around her, the trajectories of their arms and legs. She slipped between them in an instant, using her natural agility and quick thinking to weave through the group and escape their grasp.
‘I can see it.’
A fragment of Yeongdeung. She could predict their movements. Through the presences she sensed, she knew which way their muscles would tense and which direction their arms would swing. She didn’t understand the details, but she knew exactly where each blow was aimed.
Their loud voices grew muffled. The sound of wind filled her ears, carrying their presences to her. She felt every footstep, every brush of fabric against skin. Jin Hong closed her eyes and concentrated deeper. It felt as if she were finally reaching the level Yeon Cheong had described.
With a shout, the thugs attacked again. Jin Hong moved. She used their own momentum against them, landing precise punches one after another. Her small fists struck their faces like hammers, twisting their features in pain.
“What the hell is this girl?”
The difference between someone who possessed martial arts and someone who didn’t was absolute. Even a frail girl could overwhelm street thugs once she grasped even a sliver of Yeongdeung.
Jin Hong reset her stance, still in that hyper-focused state.
‘…’
The thugs stared at one another in shock. Only now did they realize they had picked the wrong target.
“Shit, is she a Deliveryman?”
“…”
“Look at her clothes! We should’ve run instead of trying to strip her!”
One of them panicked. The others began to waver. No matter how young and delicate she looked, the skill she had shown made them certain she was a Deliveryman.
“What do we do?”
“…What do you think?”
They reached the only possible conclusion.
“Run like hell!”
The thugs kicked up dust and fled. Jin Hong watched them go, her concentration finally breaking. She gasped for air.
“Haa… haa…”
Using Yeongdeung, even briefly, had drained her mental strength. Fatigue crashed over her all at once. Her head spun.
“Just now…”
She didn’t understand what she had done or how she had done it. For a moment she even doubted whether the person who had moved was really her.
“Wait…”
Dizziness overtook her. She collapsed to the ground, clutching her head as nausea rose.
“Drink some water. You’ll feel better.”
Yeon Cheong appeared and offered her a canteen.
“Cheong…?”
“I came to help, but you handled it better than I expected.”
“…”
The tension left her body all at once. Jin Hong passed out. She had pushed her mental strength to its absolute limit.
“If this is all it takes to knock you out, you really don’t have the talent for it.”
Yeon Cheong had been impressed by how far she had gone, but he still judged her talent lacking. What she had used was only the tiniest fraction—barely a taste. Even so, managing it at all was an incredible achievement. Learning a martial art normally took months of training. Jin Hong had done it after nothing more than a single explanation. She clearly had a gift for learning.
“And you lot.”
He slung the unconscious Jin Hong onto his back and turned to the thugs. Their faces were so swollen they were nearly unrecognizable. They had been hit with sudden, overwhelming violence.
“Try anything like this again and I’ll kill you.”
“W-we’re sorry…”
“Get lost.”
Yeon Cheong waved them away. The group scrambled to flee. He had appeared in front of them in an instant, beaten them just enough to leave them alive, and finished the entire fight in ten to twenty seconds. For the thugs, it had been a humiliating eternity.
Once they were gone, Yeon Cheong sighed and spoke to the girl on his back.
“When you become a Deliveryman, eat more. You’re way too light. Body weight matters too.”
The unconscious Jin Hong didn’t hear him. Yeon Cheong chuckled softly and walked out of Sinners’ Street.
