A Touch of Dragon's Will
At first, it was his left hand.
Then came his left foot, followed by his right.
“Haha.”
Watching his fingers and toes wiggle cautiously, a laugh slipped out of him.
He’d wondered what good a virtual reality rehabilitation treatment could possibly do.
He still wasn’t sure about the physical benefits, but mentally? It had helped more than enough.
It had been a long time since he’d felt such a deep surge of emotion.
‘Wait. If I go back to reality, won’t I just fall into despair again because my arms and legs still won’t move?’
He might even end up addicted to the virtual world at this rate.
Compared to his ruined body in the real world, this was the perfect escape.
‘Well. That’s a problem for the developers to worry about.’
All Lim Dojun had to do was enjoy the situation right in front of him.
His mental fortitude wasn’t so weak that something like this could break him.
His slowly moving body adapted quickly.
At first he simply twitched and shifted here and there, but soon he planted both feet and stood up.
After that, he took one step at a time, walking slowly.
He felt off-balance and wobbly at first, but he quickly found his center and the motion became natural.
Just because he hadn’t walked in five years didn’t mean the habits ingrained in his body had vanished.
There were still some uncomfortable sensations, but this was already a miracle.
For the first time in ages, his view of the world was from a proper height again.
Held Skills:Jiren-style Combat Arts, Crystal Dragon's Will
Current Condition: All injuries caused by the Crystal Dragon's curse have been fully healed. However, the residual Crystal Dragon's Will remains.
‘Hmm. The Will remains…’
Lim Dojun frowned at the line written in his status window.
If it was fully healed, then it was healed. The part about something still remaining unnecessarily grated on his nerves.
Still, there was nothing he could do about it right now, so his gaze shifted to the remaining achievement points.
Now that he could move, he planned to properly explore this world.
‘I need to use these points wisely.’
Ten points remained after recovering from his injuries.
It seemed he was supposed to raise his potential with them, and he already knew exactly how he wanted to spend them.
Magic Power +5
Magic Power: 10/10
He maxed out his magic power first.
When Lim Dojun had been on the Special Counter-Abnormal Team, magic power had always been what held him back the most.
His physical talent had been outstanding, but his magic power had been painfully average.
Of course, he had still risen to team leader through sheer physical ability, sense, and mental strength…
‘But I always regretted my lack of magic power.’
Even though this was only a virtual world, he wanted to max out his magic power.
No matter how outstanding one’s physical abilities were, at the highest levels, magic power was what truly mattered.
‘And with what’s left… Luck!’
His strength, agility, and stamina were already at 7, 7, and 8 respectively—more than enough.
Raising them further would be nice, but he didn’t feel the need to.
Even at those values he had felt no discomfort during his prime, and with proper magic power backing him up, his talent would surpass even his peak days.
What really caught his eye was his luck sitting at a measly 3.
He hadn’t lived that long, but the longer he lived, the more he realized how important luck was in life.
The sayings “seven parts luck, three parts skill” and “nine parts luck, one part skill” didn’t exist for no reason.
‘How did the system even know I have terrible luck?’
Looking back on his life, Lim Dojun’s luck had never been particularly good.
Bad things always seemed to find him, yet he had overcome them all through pure effort.
In the end, he hadn’t been able to escape that final stroke of misfortune and had ended up crippled…
But he had never told anyone about any of that.
He was curious how the system had known to set his initial potential this way.
Had it simply judged him after seeing that he was disabled?
Luck +5
Luck: 8/10
Luck at 8.
It was now equal to his highest stat, stamina.
Since Lim Dojun had never once fallen behind anyone in terms of stamina, he was certain this luck value would prove incredibly valuable.
‘At this rate, only good things should happen to me in this world.’
Unlike his miserable, crippled state in reality, he was now completely recovered.
A small chuckle escaped him.
He suddenly realized how pointless it was to care so much about potential inside a virtual space.
Even if he had just picked randomly and wandered around, it would have been enough for rehabilitation purposes.
‘Still, since I’m doing this anyway, I might as well do it right.’
Lim Dojun walked slowly down the mountain path.
He hadn’t even picked a proper direction—he simply followed the trail leading downward.
Wandering around a mountain like this was the perfect way to get lost, but what did it matter?
It had been so long since he last went hiking that he simply enjoyed the scenery, and before he knew it he had reached the bottom. In the distance, a massive city came into view.
“Oh. A city.”
He was already feeling the effects of his raised luck.
How likely was it to stumble across a city just by following a random trail down a mountain?
‘I’m curious how well they’ve recreated cities in this world.’
It felt like he had become a returnee.
Unlike naturally awakened hunters, returnees were people who had fallen into another world through a gate, gained power there, and returned.
They experienced entirely different worlds and cultures, bringing back high-level techniques and knowledge.
That was why, on average, they were stronger than naturally awakened hunters. But that didn’t necessarily make it a good thing.
Other worlds were incredibly dangerous, and the stories said adapting to them was an extremely difficult and painful process.
Still, those who endured and returned were superior to regular hunters in every way—gate adaptation, quick thinking, overall ability, everything.
The number of outstanding returnees a country had was often used as a measure of its strength.
Of course, even though Lim Dojun was a naturally awakened hunter, he had never fallen behind the returnees.
That was why he had been entrusted with leading the special team.
‘Well. That’s all in the past now.’
He only let himself dwell on those memories for a moment.
He turned his eyes back to the scenery unfolding before him.
Dwelling too deeply on the past would only lead to depression, so it was important not to sink too far into those thoughts.
‘I should treat this like a vacation.’
Since this wasn’t even the real other world, he might as well think of himself as a tourist.
He had thought he would never be able to travel abroad again while stuck in a wheelchair, yet here he was, blessed with this kind of luck.
‘They called it a beta test. I wonder how well the content has been implemented.’
Just from the short time he had spent on the mountain, he could already give it a passing grade.
The memory of walking and hiking again after five years was something he would never forget.
Once inside the city, Lim Dojun wandered through every corner of it.
From the outside it had looked like a medieval city, but the interior was surprisingly clean and well-maintained.
The neatly paved roads and plazas were spotless. In the central fountain, streams of water created by magic danced through the air, and the streetlamps glowed without any visible wires.
Lim Dojun explored the city thoroughly.
He bought grilled skewers from a street vendor he passed, sat for a while in front of the fountain to watch children running around…
“Ha. This is nice.”
It was peaceful and pleasant.
He popped another piece of the skewer he had wrapped up and taken with him into his mouth and gazed at the blue sky.
“I didn’t expect to feel the effects of my ‘Luck’ potential this quickly.”
From the moment he had entered the city, Lim Dojun’s luck had been absurdly good.
It wasn’t as if he had any money to buy skewers from a street vendor.
His steps still weren’t perfect, and when he had stumbled, he had coincidentally picked up a single silver coin.
Not only that, he had also received free charity bread being handed out by a city noble (though it hadn’t tasted very good), and a merchant had even given him flowers, saying he had extras.
In fact, the city being so close when he came down from the mountain had probably been thanks to his luck as well.
In any case, both his first virtual reality experience and his first city had been nearly perfect. He was thoroughly satisfied.
“Excuse me.”
At that moment, a middle-aged man wearing a blue robe and a matching pointed hat approached him.
“Did you call for me?”
“I’ve been watching you for a while. Would you mind speaking with me for a moment?”
“Sure, why not.”
“Are you, by any chance, a great being?”
“…Pardon?”
“I won’t beat around the bush. I’m asking if you are a dragon. If so, I would like to show my respect.”
“???”
The middle-aged man spoke politely, even removing his hat, but Lim Dojun had no idea what he was talking about.
Then it suddenly clicked.
‘Ah. Is it because of the Crystal Dragon’s Will?’
He must have sensed the Crystal Dragon’s Will that was still taking up space in his skill window.
Otherwise, there was no reason for the man to suddenly ask if he was a dragon.
Lim Dojun shook his head.
“No, I’m not. You must have mistaken me for someone else.”
“…You’re not?”
“That’s right.”
The mage tilted his head, seemingly confused, and muttered to himself.
“Hmm. Did I really see wrong…? But this feeling is definitely… It’s very faint, so at first glance it might be hard to notice, but…”
Then, as if he had realized something, he clapped his hands together.
“Ah. Then perhaps one of your ancestors was a dragon. Isn’t that possible?”
“Haha… Well, I’m not sure.”
“It must be. Even if not, there must be some kind of connection to a dragon.”
Lim Dojun was certain that wasn’t the case, but he didn’t bother correcting him further.
“Hmm. In any case, you gave off a feeling that could momentarily be mistaken for a dragon…”
The mage looked him up and down with an intrigued expression before speaking again.
“Would you like to become my disciple and learn magic? I have a feeling you might have talent for it.”
A recruitment offer to become his disciple.
‘Is this normal here?’
“Do other mages also recruit disciples while walking down the street?”
“Of course not.”
‘As expected.’
Lim Dojun nodded to himself.
This was probably another effect of his raised luck potential.
Well, it worked out nicely.
Without much hesitation, Lim Dojun nodded.
“Yes. I’d like to learn.”
He was willing to try anything that seemed fun.
When such a good opportunity came knocking, there was no reason to refuse.
The mage smiled warmly.
“Hehe. That’s a relief. I was actually worrying about whether I’d have to take you by force if you refused. Your constitution seems like it would match our magic tower perfectly. Then I’ll be counting on you.”
“…….”
‘…Pardon?’
-Whoosh.
Lim Dojun ended his session in the virtual reality and opened his eyes in the real world.
The moment he disconnected, the capsule lid opened and the bright fluorescent lights stabbed into his eyes.
Even as he raised his right hand to shield his eyes a little, Lim Dojun was smiling.
“Ah. That was fun.”
He had wondered whether this hunk of scrap metal could really be used for rehabilitation, but at the very least, it seemed to have cured his depression completely.
He would have loved to stay logged in longer, but he needed to contact the center director who had sent him the capsule, so he had logged out for now.
“I’ll just thank him for sending it and then log back in right awa—”
As Lim Dojun tried to move from the capsule to his wheelchair, his eyes suddenly widened.
“…Huh? Wha—!?”
He was moving his left arm and left leg together.
And doing it completely naturally!