Chapter 2
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 2
Chapter Title: Reincarnation Experience
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Choi Si-woo barely managed to open his eyes amid the dizziness.
Looking around, he found himself in a dim back alley, where three thugs were lounging arrogantly.
Slap!
Before he could even grasp the situation, a sharp impact stung his cheek.
"Argh!"
A scream escaped involuntarily from his frail body.
A burly adult man had just struck Si-woo, who was now in a child's body.
"Hey, kid. Where's your friend?"
Si-woo was dumbfounded.
He had closed his eyes in his room and opened them in a completely different place. And right away, he got slapped.
'What the fuck...?'
On top of that, the thugs were speaking Chinese... but how could he understand them?
His bewilderment didn't last long. The entire life of this reincarnation body flooded into his mind.
'Possession!'
It seemed his soul had entered the body of this kid. As the memories injected themselves, a fierce headache erupted.
"Urk!"
It felt like his brain was turning to mush. He couldn't stand straight. He staggered, letting out groans.
The hellish moment passed in a flash, and all the memories of this body resurfaced.
He gritted his teeth against the lingering pain echoing like an afterimage.
"Ha! Fucking brat, whining after just one hit? Think that'll stop me from beating you? You cocky little shit—if you don't wanna get hit, spill it now! Where's your friend!"
Thud!
The dog-like thug kicked him. Naturally, there was no chance to dodge—he took it full force.
'Fuck!'
His body floated up, and excruciating pain bloomed in his gut.
The silver lining was that the pain came with the headache fading and the memories settling into place.
He didn't know his exact age, but he was a boy around ten years old. These three bastards in front of him were scum who kidnapped and sold kids.
For some reason, they were threatening him to reveal where he'd hidden his friend.
'What a shitty situation.'
Even stranger was that this world had the Murim Alliance—it was a realm of martial artists. It was common knowledge even for a kid his age.
Sorting through the injected memories, Si-woo glared at the thugs.
The thug with a knife scar on his face chuckled as he approached.
"Kid's got some fire in him."
The bastard sneered and swung his foot.
Si-woo had no desire to get beaten by these morons. He rolled on the ground to dodge the attack.
He immediately fumbled at his waist, but only felt thin cloth.
Somehow, all his equipment had vanished. No gun, not even a sword.
'Fucking hell... If only I had my gun.'
He'd clearly been fully geared up in his room, but it was all gone. Well, his body had changed, so the gear wouldn't stick around.
The knife-scarred guy licked his lips and said,
"Oh! Dodging now? Not bad, kid. Hey, this one's worth selling too. Limbs intact, full of energy—gonna fetch a good price."
The hairy one watching from behind tried to hold him back, then flashed a nauseating grin.
"Heh heh, step aside. Beating kids ruins the merchandise. Kid, we're not bad guys. Just tell us where your friend went, and we'll let you go. That silver-haired pretty little girl—just tell us where she is, okay?"
Behind the hairy one, the knife-scarred thug toyed with his dagger and growled,
"Fuck that. Just cut off his limbs till he talks. Start with the fingers."
"Hold on! Kid, this guy's a real sadist. Can't even hold him back myself. Where's your friend? Huh?"
The thug scum pulled off their clumsy good cop-bad cop routine. It was ridiculous, but for an ordinary kid, it would be hard to endure.
Their violence was real, unlike the shitty acting.
His body might be that of a child, but his mind was an adult's. And as a porter, he'd seen countless deaths in the rifts.
He wasn't scared of these weak-ass thugs. It just pissed him off that he was weaker than them right now.
Si-woo quietly asked the thugs,
"...You really gonna let me go?"
The hairy one grinned wide and said,
"Of course! Promise! Kid, I like you."
Si-woo lowered his head slightly and slowly approached.
'Two steps, one step... Now!'
"I'll tell you—grk?!"
Sslash!
A faint afterimage flashed. Blood sprayed from the hairy thug's neck, startling the knife-scarred one behind him.
"W-What!? Where'd that sword come from?!"
Thud!
The hairy thug, spewing blood like a fountain, collapsed like a broken doll.
Si-woo had summoned the 20-million-won sword from his dormant inventory and swung it. As expected from an expensive blade, it was razor-sharp.
His equipped gear had vanished, but items in the Temporary Inventory were intact.
'Two left. Can't stop now.'
He gripped the sword hilt tightly. It was his first kill, but the shock was faint. His mind was filled only with the need to kill the enemy.
He'd luckily succeeded with the surprise attack, but the fight was just beginning. He had to keep pressing.
'Damn, this sword's heavy.'
But it wasn't easy. He needed to regain his stance, but this weak kid body made it impossible. As he staggered and barely recovered his balance,
"F-Fuck, is that a treasure?"
"A treasure...?"
The two thugs snapped to attention. It was a shame—he'd wasted the perfect ambush window just steadying himself.
The bastards swallowed hard, eyes blatantly coveting the sword that had appeared from thin air.
"Kill him."
They charged from both sides at once. Despite watching their comrade bleed out right in front of them, they rushed in without hesitation. These guys were more battle-hardened than expected.
'Tch.'
He forcibly aimed the heavy sword. His wrist twinged with pain—probably sprained.
Ignoring the ache, he thrust at the first one charging in—
Swoosh!
Something faint flew in from the side.
Black sand. He reflexively shut his eyes, but a few grains got in.
"Grk...!?"
His eyes burned like fire. It wasn't ordinary sand. Intense pain surged, but he clenched his teeth to stifle the scream.
Forcing his eyes open, he saw a log-thick leg.
Thud!
His body lifted into the air, a heavy blow landing in his lower abdomen.
"Gah!"
Strength drained from his grip. The untrained child's hand lost hold of the sword.
Clang!
The sharp blade flew through the air before clattering to the ground.
"Hah! Tough little shit. Takes poisoned sand to the eyes and doesn't cry?"
"...Kill him. Can't leave a kid like this alive."
Their repulsed voices echoed faintly. His insides felt ruptured—blood welled up in his throat.
'Ahh... This hurts like hell.'
The hazy world was stained red. Breathing was hard. Something was probably broken; sharp pain stabbed his chest.
Shing!
The thug's face hardened as he drew his dagger and mercilessly stabbed at Si-woo's heart. No way to dodge.
'Dying like this...?'
Si-woo blankly stared at the approaching dagger.
A futile death.
At the exact moment a certain boy was pierced through the heart and died.
One thug with his throat slit was already dead, and the remaining two eyed each other while fiddling with their weapons.
Selling this sword that popped out of thin air on the black market would make them rich beyond dreams.
"..."
Drenched in greed, the two thugs glared at each other in tense silence.
Right before one drew his dagger.
A girl burst out from a pile of trash in the alley corner.
"Nooo!!"
Unaware it was his death spot, she hugged the boy who had become a corpse. But the already-dead body showed no response.
Her appearance eased the tension a bit. One thug took a step back.
"Hey, don't get greedy—split it half-half. Take this kid and sell her too."
"...Fine."
With a rough agreement, they turned to the girl.
"Ahem. Silver hair, red eyes! Wow! This bitch'll make a lot of men cry when she grows up."
"Gulp! Way prettier than they said! She'll fetch a high price too. We're striking gold today."
The thugs grinned in ecstasy.
The girl glared at them murderously. She picked up the sword rolling on the ground, but lacked the strength to even aim it properly.
"Keh! Feisty one. Needs some... training."
"You filthy scum."
A sudden icy voice rang out. The thug approaching the girl froze in place.
"Wh-Who—gurk!"
In an instant, the two thugs' heads spun through the air, and fist-sized holes punched through their hearts.
A mysterious woman descended from above. She spoke to the girl staring up at her in a daze.
"How pitiful... Child, will you come with me?"
The girl's eyes sparked faintly as she looked down at the thugs' corpses.
"...Yes."
"Good. What's your name, child?"
"So-hyang..."
The girl sniffled back the tears she'd held in. Her precious friend—the only support since her parents died.
But he too had died, just like her parents.
One-room apartment.
Si-woo rubbed his chest where his heart was. No pain, but the unease lingered.
"Fuck. Those shitty thugs."
He scowled, then looked down. The gear he'd equipped before departure was still on him.
Just in case, he checked the stopwatch he'd set.
7 seconds.
The brawl with the thugs had lasted over five minutes, yet less than 10 seconds had passed.
Thinking about it, those 7 seconds were just after returning to his original body, rubbing his chest in unease. In reality, almost no time had passed.
'Time stops, huh? That's handy.'
Still, logging into Earth-21 and dying right away... He was glad to be back in his real body, but irritation boiled.
'I hope So-hyang's okay.'
He worried about the girl from the reincarnation memories, but there was nothing he could do now.
Though they were injected memories, they felt vivid. He fretted over the kid who was that boy's only friend and family.
[Earth-21]: Reincarnation Body Death, Re-selection Wait Time (23:58...)
He tried to log back in, but the wait time made it impossible.
Re-selection, huh. Seemed he couldn't possess the already-dead reincarnation body again.
He clicked his tongue, then paused. A sense of incongruity hit him.
'I'm not that nice of a guy, though?'
He'd only inherited that Deok-gu bastard's memories, so why was he worrying about a girl he'd just met?
He shook off the nagging feeling. It was all in the past now.
'Earth-21... It's like a martial arts novel world.'
He renamed [Earth-21] to [Martial Arts Earth].
He went to check his quest rewards, then froze. It felt like he'd forgotten something hugely important.
'What is it...?'
How long did he mull over the uneasy sensation?
Suddenly, something flashed in his mind. His jaw dropped. He clutched the back of his neck and yelled,
"Fuck! My 20 million won!!"