To Become Stronger (4)
The conversation had ripened fully, and after finishing a delicious meal, it felt like it was time to part ways.
"Jihwan."
Baek Seolhui had started calling me by name.
"If you awakened as an ice ability user, Jihwan, how would you use your power?"
"Are you asking me for advice as a frost specialist?"
"Yeah. Just a question. It'd be nice if it helped me."
"What could I possibly tell a specialist in frost abilities?"
"They say even a white sheet looks better when shared. Come on? If you awakened ice magic and could freely create ice, how do you think you'd fight?"
"Hmm..."
Was she asking the enemy for advice? Well, she didn't know I was the enemy yet, so we could chat this casually.
"I... I've only seen videos of how you fight, Seolhui. You use ice whips, make walls of ice, spread wings of ice...?"
"Right. What variations could I add from there?"
"Hmm..."
Should I help her? When it came to frost-related abilities, I definitely knew more than Baek Seolhui. Frost was an indispensable power in subculture.
"First... how about ice spikes?"
"Ice spikes?"
"Yeah. Literal spikes, but the size of stalactites. Stab the enemy with them to pin them down. If it pierces their shoulder and sticks them to a wall, they can't escape without shattering the ice, right?"
"I see."
Her reaction was lukewarm. It wasn't much different from her usual skill—ice spears, in two words.
How to do it.
Should I tell her about the ice magic she awakens with in the original story? Or something that doesn't exist in this world, but I know from elsewhere?
Ma'am Chongsu. You told me to pull out all the stops to win her over, so don't complain later.
If she got mad later that I'd empowered Baek Seolhui—Snow White—I could just say I was faithful to my mission.
"Looks like you already knew about ice spikes."
"Well... for now."
"Then how about this? Scatter ice crystals in the air. Like compressed dry ice that instantly freezes anything it touches."
"...Hmm."
Now she looked troubled for a different reason.
"Is... that even possible?"
"Whether it is or not depends on you, doesn't it, Seolhui? Ability users' powers evolve based on imagination, right?"
"You know your stuff about ability users."
"For someone living in this world, knowledge about superpowers is like knowing how to use a computer or smartphone."
I brushed off her suspicion lightly and pointed to the ice cream served for dessert.
"Ice chunks this size, scattering everywhere—hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands of them. When they touch, the compressed ice bursts, and the chill engulfs the enemy."
"Hmm..."
"You could call the technique something like 'Ice Spirit Scatter'."
"Even a technique name? That's specific."
"Everyone tries making their own hero when they're kids."
So-called self-insert creation.
"Just one expression of that imagination."
"No, I think it'll help a lot. I don't quite get the feel yet, but if I can build on this idea, it could become a big technique later."
Of course. That's your ultimate in the original novel.
I shoved the words rising to my chin down with some ice cream.
"Then, if you were an ability user, Jihwan, what kind would you want to be?"
"Me, an ability user?"
"Yeah. Any power. Any rank. Do you have a superpower you wish for?"
"Ugh..."
Before becoming Dokkaebi, would I have wished for such a power? No, I still do.
"A power to enter books?"
"Pardon?"
"The ability to experience different story worlds firsthand. Dive into worlds you've only read in print, see, hear, and feel the protagonists in action, make those worlds come alive."
"You really love stories, Jihwan."
"Yeah. I really do."
So much that I trashed some over-the-top nationalist light novel, and ended up in this world.
"You seem to enjoy stories purely, Jihwan. Others analyze them, thinking how to turn them into their own power."
"Pardon?"
"That's how it is. In this world, others' imaginations become your superpowers. Manifesting abilities from comics or novels isn't plagiarism—it's 'homage,' and it gets popular. That's reality now."
"......."
"Jihwan, do you know the most common sword ability users wield after awakening?"
"Lightsabers, right?"
Orange. Humming as it springs out. A blade powered by the Force.
"Exactly. That's what we all learned. Since we awakened young, that's what we grew up with."
The reason they're popular? Because back then, that was the superhero content adults could show kids with powers.
"Did you watch kids' TV channels much? Most of it was like that—education on not abusing powers. Only when kids were old enough to control themselves did they get real stories."
Of course, as kids grew, they started creating their own powers, and adults made media from their imaginations to boost that.
"To me, this world feels harsh for a place built on imagination. We can't enjoy entertainment as entertainment—it's all for power growth."
That's why.
"Know what I thought watching that movie earlier? 'If I made a dinosaur out of ice, it'd fight just like that. With ice wings, how would I fly into space? How to block a meteor with ice magic?'"
The movie we watched? Ability users analyze it as 'How to break the atmosphere?' or 'How to fight as a dinosaur?' That's this era's reality.
"In that sense, I'm jealous of you enjoying the movie purely, Jihwan. As pure entertainment."
Baek Seolhui smiled brightly, genuinely, and raised her tea to me.
"Even after Sejong Academy starts, can I ask you to chat like this sometimes?"
* * *
Evening. Leaving behind her encounter with the mysterious man Do Jihwan, Baek Seolhui returned home and flopped onto her bed.
Beeeep! Beeeep! Beeeeep!!
As soon as she switched from privacy mode—unreachable except for emergencies—to daily mode, messages flooded in. Offers for hero public service ads. Requests to appear at government events. Invites to Busan hero alumni gatherings.
All public, forcing her to be 'the hero' in front of others.
There was no private human 'Baek Seolhui' there.
Just the S-rank ability user, Korea's pride.
"Haa."
Baek Seolhui covered her face with her hands.
"Am I doomed to live like this forever...?"
Probably until death. The state would even handle her marriage. If she fell for a foreigner, the whole country would mobilize to nitpick and interfere.
Her freedom as a hero was gone.
From the moment she stepped onto the path of light.
Overpowered heroes roamed like emperors overseas, but in Korea, it was tough.
"I..."
The moment Baek Seolhui reached toward the air.
"......!!"
An ice crystal she unconsciously formed in the air scattered in an instant.
One small ice shard became two, two became four, four became eight—doubling each time.
She lifted one arranged in a grid like a cube and gently tossed it at the balcony glass.
Crack.
Frost spread across the balcony window like hoarfrost settling.
Just a palm-sized area, but the tiny shard exploded with chill like a bomb.
"Whoa..."
What was this? Did that conversation with him spark a new skill?
Just from what he suggested once?
"No way."
She'd never thought of this skill.
Yet it felt familiar, like she'd always known it. She'd intuitively mastered a new one.
Thanks to Do Jihwan's imagination.
"......Hehe."
Baek Seolhui grabbed her smartphone.
And checked the profile photo of that man, Do Jihwan.
"...What?"
His face was fully visible in the profile.
"A selfie? Pfft."
An awkwardly posed selfie.
"......Hmm."
Click.
With the capture sound, Baek Seolhui started flipping through his profile pics.
Click. Click, click. Click.