The Lightning-Struck Capsule
Lim Dojun had once been obsessed with becoming a Fire Tribe member.
Retiring early and living a carefree life. At one point, that lifestyle had become something of a trend.
“Once this mission is over, I’m really getting out!”
Those words had constantly spilled from his lips back then. Especially after returning alive from assignments where even five lives might not have been enough, or after gunning down villains who made the underworld tremble. He had lived solely for discharge, dreaming of nothing else.
“And I made that dream come true.”
Dojun let out a small chuckle as he wheeled his chair toward the front door. The doorbell had just rung.
-Ding-dong.
He pushed the door open with force, and the automatic support stand beneath it unfolded on its own. On the other side stood two deliverymen. They flinched slightly at the sight of Dojun in his wheelchair, then quickly bowed their heads, trying not to show it.
“Good afternoon, sir.”
“Yes. Please bring it inside.”
He noticed the emotions flickering in their eyes, but Dojun paid them no mind. Ever since receiving his disability diagnosis five years ago, he had grown sick of those looks. If it had been his first year, maybe it would have stung. Now it barely registered.
“Should we assemble it in here?”
“Please.”
“We’ll have it done in no time.”
The deliverymen entered one of the smaller rooms in the two-room villa and began unpacking the boxes. They snapped the various parts together with practiced efficiency, and soon a capsule the size of a king bed stood completed.
“All done. It should work once you plug in the power. Here’s the manual. We only know how to assemble it, so you’ll need to read the instructions for the rest. Would you like us to go over anything specific?”
“No, that’s fine.”
“We’ll take the packaging with us.”
“Thank you.”
Dojun considered himself lucky. With only his right arm still functional, cleaning up trash was an enormous hassle. The fact that they were taking it away was a relief—especially on a day of torrential rain. Throwing out garbage in this weather would have been pure torture.
After the deliverymen left, Dojun skillfully grabbed the pole leaning beside the entrance and removed the door’s support stand. That pole served as both his arm and his leg.
Just then, a text message arrived.
Dojun, the rehabilitation capsule arrived today like I mentioned, right? I’m so sorry. I was supposed to come with it and explain everything, but an urgent academic conference came up, so I sent it ahead. Please read the manual and try using it first.
It was from the director of the national rehabilitation center Dojun attended. A truly kind person. Someone who always poured passion into their work and tried to do even more.
“This looks insanely expensive.”
Dojun marveled at the massive capsule that took up nearly the entire room. He wasn’t an expert, but even at a glance it clearly cost a fortune. People often said that once you devoted yourself to the nation, you were thrown away like a used rag. But at least in Dojun’s case, that hadn’t happened.
Maybe it was because he had risen to team leader of the Special Counter-Abnormal Team. The country had showered him with treatment costs, severance pay, pension, and various allowances. Thanks to that, even though his body had become inconvenient, he could live the life of a Fire Tribe member with dividends rolling in for the rest of his days. It wasn’t enough to make him despair.
“So this is how you use it?”
-Beep.
After skimming the manual, Dojun pressed the button on the capsule. The lid and side door opened smoothly, revealing an interior designed like a bed where one could lie down.
“Here we go.”
Using his only functional right arm, Dojun pushed his body forward while grabbing the support bar inside the capsule and swung himself in with a smooth motion. Moving one’s entire body instantaneously with a single arm was a feat only professional gymnasts could pull off, but for Dojun—who had once been a powerful hunter—it wasn’t particularly difficult.
That was why he managed to live fairly well even with just one arm.
The inside of the capsule felt cozy.
‘Full-dive virtual reality simulation rehabilitation device.’
The principle was to transfer the user’s mind into a virtual world, have them move a healthy body there, and thereby stimulate movement in the real body as well. That was what the manual said, and Dojun found it rather plausible.
“I don’t know how much this will actually help with rehabilitation, though…”
The disability he suffered wasn’t a simple injury. It was closer to a curse.
The Crystal Dragon’s Will he had taken on in exchange for driving the Crystal Dragon away from Korea. Still, considering the damage that monster could have caused if left unchecked, he had gotten off cheap. A few soldiers dead and one man crippled in exchange for saving the country.
That was probably why the nation continued to provide generous compensation and ongoing treatment support.
-Beep.
Lying down, Dojun pressed the start button among the few available controls. According to the manual, a beta version of a game developed by some gaming company was installed inside. It was supposedly provided for people like him who required special rehabilitation. That part had him somewhat excited.
For the past five years, the only thing his inconvenient body had allowed was gaming. And now it was virtual reality? He was genuinely curious.
With that thought, Dojun gradually felt his consciousness fading.
The moment his mind completely fell asleep—
-KRRRRAAAAAANG!
-FLASH!
A bolt of lightning struck through the violent downpour.
Most of his funds were tied up in stocks to ensure steady dividend income, so he lived in this old villa. Whether due to a flaw in the lightning protection design, an overwhelming surge of electricity flooded into the capsule.
-CRACKLE!
A visible spark erupted from the capsule as the power cut out.
-Vrrrrrm.
Then, after a brief pause, a brilliant flash burst forth, and the device began operating normally once again.
A dizzying haze. The sensation that his heart had stopped for a moment.
-Thump. Thump.
Everything before his eyes turned pure white, then his stopped heart seemed to beat again.
“Cough…!”
Dojun opened his eyes with a ragged breath.
He was now in an unfamiliar forest. Without thinking, his right hand moved to his chest.
‘Is this the connection process…? I thought I was going to die.’
The shock had felt exactly like being electrocuted. Since it was a beta test, he would definitely need to leave feedback. If logging into virtual reality felt like this, someone trying to rehabilitate might actually die.
Next, touch and smell reached him.
The fresh scent of grass and the breeze brushing against his skin.
“I see news about AI advancing every day, but this is on another level?”
Dojun clicked his tongue in amazement. This felt no different from reality. He had once been a top-tier hunter, so his senses remained sharp. Even with those senses, everything felt completely real.
How could this be fake?
And then…
“…Why does my body feel the same?”
Dojun stared at his limp, unmoving arms and legs with utter disbelief. They had said he would be able to move normally inside the virtual world. Yet he could still only use his right arm.
He had been told that transferring only the mind would eliminate physical disabilities from reality, but this was completely different from the explanation.
‘Ah. Maybe it’s because of the curse?’
It wasn’t a physical problem but a curse cast upon his very soul. That was why even the most capable people had failed to cure it. He simply hadn’t expected the curse to affect him even in virtual reality.
Welcome to $@#%.
You have been identified as a first-time user.
Scanning physical condition.
The message that appeared before his eyes was glitchy, as if not fully optimized yet. He would need to leave feedback on that too.
Please open your status window.
It felt like a tutorial, so Dojun did as instructed.
“Status window.”
“Huh… Did the director already input my condition?”
It felt incredibly realistic. Jiren-style Combat Technique was the martial art he had learned during his military days, and the Crystal Dragon’s Will was most likely the curse he had received from the beast. He found it strange that the curse was categorized as a skill, but he figured it was just how the system was set up.
‘The potential values feel strangely accurate too.’
Even accounting for the minus values from his current state, the base numbers matched his past self perfectly. He had excelled in every category, but no one had been more confident in his stamina than him. The fact that his relatively lower magic talent was also reflected made it clear the director had provided the data in advance.
Overwhelming Achievement!
You possess the Crystal Dragon's Will.
20 Achievement Points awarded.
Dojun couldn’t help but laugh.
‘They’re counting even this as an achievement?’
Surviving that monster was apparently worthy of recognition. Well, if they were giving him something, all the better.
Achievement Points can be used to increase Potential.
Potential represents talent. The closer to 10, the higher the ceiling of that talent.
You may distribute the 20 Achievement Points freely.
Each point could raise a potential stat by 1. In theory, he could max out nearly every value. However, Dojun’s gaze was fixed on the line below.
Injury Recovery: Completely heals all physical injuries.
Required Points: 10
The words Injury Recovery seized his attention like a magnet. Did this mean he could recover from the wretched disability that had confined him to his room for the past five years?
Potential, whatever—Dojun’s hand moved on its own.
10 points consumed.
All injuries have been healed.
“Ah…”
The instant the message appeared, a refreshing sensation washed over his entire body. Dojun closed his eyes without realizing it.
It was clearly happening inside a virtual space, yet if his body were truly healing, wouldn’t it feel exactly like this? It was as if his real body was improving in real time. The feeling was so pleasant that he almost believed it.
-Twitch.
And then.
For the first time in five years, his left hand moved.