Ace
Over the weekend, Seong-min trained hard.
Or rather, he worked out.
Working out, of course, meant the gym.
He showed up at seven in the morning on both Saturday and Sunday, putting in serious effort. He always started with a light warm-up, spent ten minutes on the treadmill, then moved into weight training. After more than an hour of weights he rehydrated, headed back to the treadmill, and ran hard. Having already grinded levels once to push his stats to their targets, Seong-min was thoroughly used to this kind of treadmill work.
Whoa… this guy’s incredible. How does he stay on that treadmill all day? Is he seriously thinking of becoming a marathon runner?
The trainer had already warned him that overtraining was bad for him, yet Seong-min just said he was fine and kept running. By now the trainer no longer even tried to stop him. Watching him made the man click his tongue in pure disbelief.
Did he have some kind of grudge against running or something?
That was how far the thought went. The trainer simply shook his head at the sight of Seong-min pouring sweat and never stopping.
That was how Seong-min spent the entire weekend grinding levels.
When the workout ended, he downed a cold cup of water and opened his Status Window to allocate the points.
Name: Lee Seong-min
Age: 24
Education: Hancheon High School graduate
Level: 121
Points: 0
Banter: 10
Appearance: 20
Vigor: 10
Martial Power: 60
Physicality: 60
EXP: 35/100%
Level 121. Appearance had gone up by the planned five points to twenty, and Physicality now sat at sixty. Seong-min had a clear reason for pushing Physicality that high. Whether he was working out or working a job, the Physicality stat was extremely useful. Martial Power was no different—it didn’t just make him better in a fight; it increased raw strength as well. Raising both Physicality and Martial Power was essential for him right now.
He closed the Status Window and headed for the locker room to shower.
Water hissed down as he stripped off his workout clothes, grabbed his toiletries, and stepped into the stall.
Raising Martial Power really does change the body.
Fat was melting away and his frame was taking on clean, balanced lines. Chest muscles filled out; triceps, biceps, forearms—every muscle group across his body developed evenly as Martial Power rose. It was exactly like a game character: put points into a stat and the body changed. There was no long cycle of tearing muscle through exercise and then growing it back through rest. Seong-min had already learned how these shifts worked.
Then there was Appearance. He had raised it by ten points on a trial basis, bringing it to twenty. Watching his face carefully in the mirror, he couldn’t spot any dramatic change from only ten points, but one thing stood out: his jawline looked a little sharper, and his nose bridge seemed—maybe it was just his imagination—a touch more refined. The difference of ten points wasn’t enough for certainty, yet if the subtle shifts he noticed were real, Appearance clearly altered facial structure and features.
And height. After raising Appearance by ten he checked whether his height had changed. To his surprise, he had grown 0.2 cm. That meant every ten points of Appearance added roughly 0.2 cm of height. Just as he had expected, Appearance affected stature as well.
So fifty points would give me a full centimeter.
Seong-min was 177 cm. Fifty Appearance points would put him at 178 cm.
I can raise it gradually later.
Right now Physicality and Martial Power mattered far more than looks. Once both of those hit one hundred he would start looking at Appearance, Vigor, or Banter. After everything that had happened recently, he had decided to focus on pushing Physicality and Martial Power to one hundred first.
He finished the cool shower, dried off, dried his hair, dressed, and left the gym.
Tomorrow was Monday—the start of a new week.
The next day Seong-min was heading out for courier loading work when the front door opened and Auntie Hye-suk stepped into the entryway.
“Starting again today?”
“Yes. I’ve got to work hard.”
“You always do. Be careful out there.”
“I will.”
With her send-off he stepped onto the morning commute under a rising sun.
Time to start earning money again in earnest.
Rescuing Min-hyeok had cost a fair amount. Seong-min didn’t regret a single won of it. Money could be earned again; Min-hyeok’s situation back then had been anything but certain. The gratitude and tears on Noona A-reum’s face before he left still sat heavy in his chest. He doubted he would forget that look anytime soon.
Subway, then bus, and he arrived at the Courier Distribution Center. The day-shift crew was already there. And one more person.
“Hyung~ Why are you so late?”
To his surprise, Min-hyeok was standing right there on site.
“What? You actually showed up?”
“Of course I did~! Gotta work hard and pay everything back…!”
“Pay back? Did you go and get into debt somewhere else again?”
“No. To you, Hyung.”
“Me?”
“Thanks to you I got free of those bastards. I’m grateful, and so is my sister—so grateful she doesn’t even know how to repay you.”
“What debt? You don’t have to think like that.”
“No way…! Taking help like that and just moving on like nothing happened? That’s the real low-class move! I’m going to work my ass off, earn money, and pay you back~!”
“Don’t say ‘pay back.’ Just say you’ll return the favor. Otherwise I sound like a loan shark.”
“Ah, yeah, that could look bad…! Okay, then I’ll work hard and return the favor…!!!”
Min-hyeok clenched both fists and pumped himself up. Seong-min could only give a wry smile.
At seven the shift supervisor called them over.
“Huh? Look who decided to show up—our little slacker.”
“Yes, sir~ I’m here to work today!”
“What’s wrong with your eyes? Pinkeye or something?”
“Ah… personal stuff… haha…”
“It’s not pinkeye, right…?”
“It’s not.”
The supervisor still looked suspicious, so Seong-min stepped in.
“They’re just swollen, not infected. I’ll vouch for him.”
“If Seong-min’s vouching, fine. Since the slacker’s here, you two can work as a pair today.”
“Oh~ Same team as Hyung?!”
“You got a problem with that?”
“Problem? Thank you!”
“Seong-min, you okay with it?”
“I’m a little tired, actually…”
“Why?”
“He’s kind of a slacker, you know.”
“Hyung~! What are you talking about~! I work hard~!”
“Want me to put you with someone else then?”
“Huk! Is working with me that bad?!”
Min-hyeok’s dramatic flailing made Seong-min snort.
“I’m kidding. I’ll take Min-hyeok. He works hard when he actually works.”
Relieved by the joke, Min-hyeok got the partner he had hoped for.
The supervisor explained the pairings and the day’s notices to the gathered day crew, then left them to it.
“Hyung, that was mean. Do you know how panicked I was?”
“You always overreact, so I figured I’d try it again.”
“Do you just enjoy watching me freak out?”
“Not enjoy, exactly. More like the impact feels good.”
“Wow… you’re a scary hyung…”
Min-hyeok sighed and shook his head.
“Go have a smoke. I’m hitting the bathroom.”
Seong-min clapped him on the shoulder and walked off.
They regrouped at twenty-five past, received final instructions, and moved to their assigned line.
“Hyung, let’s really go hard now that we’re starting again!”
“Just do your part.”
“I always do~”
Exactly at half past the first courier truck rolled in. The moment the straps came off and the rear door opened, the real work began.
“All right. Let’s go.”
With Physicality and Martial Power both at sixty, Seong-min lifted even the heavy boxes without trouble and set them on the conveyor. Higher stamina and strength made a massive difference on the job. And the work itself was excellent experience, steadily feeding his level.
“Urgh… ha!”
From the first box onward Min-hyeok didn’t complain once. He worked steadily even though the weather was hotter than last time and the labor that much harder. Before long they had emptied an entire truck onto the rail.
“Here. Drink.”
“Thanks~!”
Min-hyeok drained the thermos cup of cold water in one go.
“Nothing beats cold water after hard work—better than any soda~!”
“Still, a cold carbonated drink hits different, right?”
“Okay, that I admit… heh.”
They rested a short while, talking, until the second truck arrived.
“Produce this time. Stay sharp.”
“Leave it to me~!”
Fully locked in, Min-hyeok began hauling the agricultural boxes the moment the doors opened. Time slipped by. At lunch they ate the company boxed meals and drank the free drinks, rested, then threw themselves back into the afternoon shift starting at one.
“The day went by faster than I thought.”
“That’s what happens when you focus.”
The supervisor called everyone together. One by one they received the usual “good work” and the envelope containing the day’s pay—a hard-earned 170,000 won.
They grabbed coffee from a nearby vending machine and left the center.
“Get home safe.”
“Yes, Hyung. You’re coming tomorrow, right?”
“Of course.”
“I’ll be here too. Let’s keep grinding, Hyung~!”
“Yeah.”
From that day on both Seong-min and Min-hyeok showed up every single day, sweating for their daily wage. After courier work Seong-min went straight to the gym for an hour or two as if it were the most natural thing in the world. Between the job and the training, experience piled up and levels rose steadily.
A full week passed. Around Wednesday of the following week, Seong-min was on his way to the gym after work when his phone rang. The caller was none other than the team leader of the gombang crew he belonged to.
“Seong-min, can you come out tomorrow?”
“Why? You got a job lined up?”
“Yeah. Five-story construction site. Hauling cement bags.”
“What’s the daily rate?”
“Two hundred fifty thousand when we’re done. Be there by eight in the morning.”
“Got it. Send me the address.”
“Figured you’d say that. Sending it right now~!”
“Okay.”
He was about to hang up when he spoke again.
“Actually, I’ve got a favor to ask.”
“A favor? What is it?”
“I’ve got a younger guy I know. I’d like to bring him along if that’s all right.”
“A kid? Is he a hard worker?”
“He is. He’s the one who’s been doing courier loading with me.”
“Ah, that so? Then he should be usable. Bring him. Dong-su left for the countryside and we’re short-handed, so the timing’s perfect.”
“Wasn’t Dong-su supposed to leave in a month?”
“Originally, yeah. Family stuff came up and he left last week.”
“Ah, I see.”
“Anyway, bring that kid. I’ll watch how he works and consider putting him on the team if he’s solid.”
“Understood.”
The call ended.
“Gombang work again after a while.”
He was doing courier loading now, but gombang work had always been his main gig. The labor was brutal, yet the daily rate of two hundred thousand or more made it worth it.
Seong-min immediately dialed Min-hyeok. The call connected almost at once.
“Yes~ Hyung. I’m on the bus right now.”
“You heading home?”
“Yeah.”
“Come do a different job with me tomorrow.”
“A different job?”
“Yeah. Pays better than courier loading.”
“Oh~ for real? What kind of work?”
“It’s called gombang work. I’ll send the address. Be there by seven-thirty tomorrow.”
“Got it.”
Seong-min ended the short call, forwarded the address the team leader had just texted him straight to Min-hyeok, and continued on to the gym.
The next morning Seong-min left the house on time and headed to the location the team leader had sent. When he arrived the other older guys were already there; the team leader had shown up as well but had gone to meet the site owner. While Seong-min was chatting with the crew, a flash of bleached-blond hair appeared in the distance—Min-hyeok walking toward them.
“That the kid?”
“That’s him.”
“Blond hair and looks like a punk.”
“Total slacker vibe, right?”
The older men eyed Min-hyeok’s appearance with open skepticism as he approached.
“He looks like that, but he’ll do fine.”
“If Seong-min says so…”
“Hyung~”
Min-hyeok reached them.
“You’re here. Introduce yourself. Like I texted you last night, these are the guys you’ll be working with today.”
“Hello! I’m Han Min-hyeok! Looking forward to working with you!”
He bowed a full ninety degrees. The men who had been looking at him dismissively suddenly wore surprised expressions.
“Whoa~ this young guy’s got manners.”
“Right? Full ninety-degree bow and everything.”
“Looks like he’s got some fire in him too.”
“Name’s Han Min-hyeok?”
“Yes, sir! I might look like a bit of a slacker, but when it’s time to work I get it done for real, so don’t worry—just watch me!”
“We’ll have to see how he works… but the kid’s got the right attitude.”
Their softened expressions were exactly what Seong-min had expected. He knew Min-hyeok’s friendly, smooth personality well; the kid would blend in without trouble.
Just then a middle-aged man with a kindly, well-fed face approached.
“Oh~ Seong-min’s here?”
“Yes. And this is the friend I mentioned yesterday. Min-hyeok, say hello. This is the team leader who runs our gombang crew.”
“Han Min-hyeok, sir! Looking forward to working with you!”
Another crisp ninety-degree bow. The stout middle-aged man burst into a hearty laugh.
“Hahaha… this kid’s got spirit. All right, Han Min-hyeok? Let’s put in a good day’s work.”
“Yes, sir! I’ll work so hard my ass falls off—you’ll see!”
“Good, good… let’s do this.”
After the first greetings and introductions, Min-hyeok finally looked at the cement bags he would be hauling that day. Even at a glance they looked no joke.
“Hyung, we’re moving those, right?”
“That’s right.”
“So it’s pretty much the same as courier loading.”
“Similar enough.”
“Then we’re good~! My body’s already trained from the courier work, heh…”
Seeing Min-hyeok’s overconfident attitude, Seong-min added one more detail.
“Oh, I didn’t tell you where we’re moving them, did I?”
“Just carry them inside, right?”
“No. Starting from the fifth floor, then fourth, third, second, all the way down to the first—we have to distribute the exact number of bags to every floor.”
“……”
“Don’t worry. It’s doable.”
“……”
“Like you said, the courier work already toughened you up, right?”
“……”
“Hyung believes you’ll do just fine.”
Seong-min clapped Min-hyeok on the shoulder as the younger man stared blankly at the mountain of cement bags.