Chapter 4
Chapter 4
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 4
Chapter Title: Ways to Utilize the Ability
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The house was only about a ten-minute walk from here.
But with his little brother on his back...
'Taxi? Nah, forget it. Think of it as rehab therapy.'
Woojin glanced back at his brother, who was mumbling drunkenly while slung over his shoulders.
"Hyung... don't die, hyung... how am I supposed to live without you..."
"......"
A four-year age gap.
It didn't seem like much now, but back in their teens, Sangjin had been a full head shorter.
His body had been light, too.
Whenever Sangjin envied his friends getting piggyback rides from their dads, Woojin had always carried him.
That childish voice mumbling "hyung is the best" still echoed in his ears.
'Grown a lot, haven't you... you little punk.'
"I'm not dying and leaving you behind, you idiot. I'll live long enough to see your grandkids, till you're smearing shit on walls."
Today, more than anything, Woojin wanted to walk down the street with his brother on his back like the old days.
As Woojin trudged along with Sangjin piggybacked, he noticed something strange.
He'd been carrying him for quite a distance, but it didn't feel tiring at all.
'What's this? Stats are still showing minus values, but Sangjin feels lighter than I expected. Did he lose a ton of weight worrying about me?'
Ten years ago, carrying Sangjin home had been pure agony.
Sangjin had been a bit taller and heavier than Woojin back then, so it was less a piggyback and more a fireman's carry all the way home.
Sweating like he'd taken a shower was a given, and the next day his back hurt so bad he'd considered calling in sick.
But now? It was different.
'No... his weight feels about the same as back then.'
Sangjin's face wasn't particularly gaunt, and how much weight could a full-grown man really lose?
A few kilos wouldn't make this big a difference.
Which left only one possibility.
'I've gotten stronger.'
Thanks to the enhanced nutrition pills and fatigue recovery meds, his severe debilitation had downgraded to plain old weakness.
He had no sense of how good that was.
No baseline to compare it to.
Still, one thing was clear.
He was stronger than a regular person.
'Getting stronger's a good thing, no complaints there.'
Screeech—
Thud—
The rusty front door creaked shut, and Woojin laid Sangjin straight onto the bed.
Flop—
"Bee... beehive samgyeopsal... so damn good..."
Woojin chuckled at his mumbling brother and headed to the bathroom for a shower.
'Yeah, he probably hasn't been sleeping right, worrying about me all this time.'
Sangjin was out cold—deep enough that someone could've carried him off without waking him.
"Guess I should wash up first."
Trickle trickle trickle—
Woojin let out a hollow laugh at the showerhead's pressure, barely changed from a year—or even ten years—ago.
'Jeez, some things never change. Still, beats Unriworld. This is paradise compared to that.'
His body had grown accustomed to the world's discomforts after his time in the game realm. Even with water pressure like an octogenarian's trickle, Woojin showered contentedly, toweled off, and draped the towel around his neck.
Then he cracked open a can of beer and took a few gulps.
"Kaaah—!"
Shower then beer.
One of the things on his bucket list for returning to Earth.
"Hah, never thought I'd actually get to do this again."
Having checked off one item, Woojin slipped back into Sangjin's room, grabbed the laptop, set it on the dining table, and powered it on.
The laptop he'd slaved away on construction sites to buy when Sangjin started college.
'Man, the hell I went through to get this...'
Sangjin had earned a scholarship into college, and Woojin had been so proud he insisted on buying him a brand-new laptop, come hell or high water.
The million-won price tag had made him shudder, but this was one thing he refused to skimp on for "value."
In the end, he'd worked twenty-hour days for weeks to gift Sangjin the top-tier model right on the first day of classes.
Shaking off the painful memories, Woojin refocused.
'No more scraping by. With this enhancement ability, I can get rich. First things first—gather intel.'
Click—
Click—
Woojin slowly clicked through, searching news articles.
<각성자. 그들은 누구인가? 어째서 나타난 것인가?> became [Awakeners. Who Are They? Why Have They Appeared?]
But since it's news headlines, translate them naturally in the text.
<Awakeners. Who are they? Why have they appeared?>
<Unknown monsters emerge from gates. Nations on highest alert.>
<Human evolution? The mysterious powers of awakeners.>
<Crisis is opportunity: Humanity's unification and resurgence.>
The news was wall-to-wall about awakeners, gates, and monsters.
Then one article caught his eye.
<People in comas awaken. They possess superpowers like awakeners.>
Woojin had woken up today.
He was impressed by how quickly the article had gone up.
'Hmm... Not many Koreans in Unriworld... Come to think of it, Myungwoo probably made it back safe too, right?'
With only 10,000 simultaneous global players pulled into the game, Koreans numbered barely thirty including Woojin.
And they hadn't crossed paths often.
Koreans in the game were all combat types—like a battle nation stereotype—everyone except Woojin was a fighter.
Still, they'd greet warmly when fellow countrymen met up.
Hearing each one had died... it had hurt bad.
Especially Myungwoo, that bright 20-year-old kid.
His cheerfulness and age reminded Woojin of Sangjin, so he'd looked out for him. When he heard Myungwoo died, he'd raged like fire.
Dead meant back to reality, so he was probably living well somewhere.
Truly a relief.
<'Players': Another breed of superhumans distinct from awakeners>
They were calling Unriworld returnees "players."
Fewer articles than on awakeners, but steady coverage.
'Guess that makes me a player, huh?'
Woojin spent hours scouring the internet for info.
Less "info gathering" and more grasping how the real world had changed.
'Monsters appeared, awakeners too... Dangerous. Even if low-rank monsters now...'
In Unriworld, monster invasions had grown stronger over time.
Worried, but two names came to mind.
Aaron Benes.
And Yoo Jihyun.
America's and Korea's top expedition players.
Without them, the expedition would've failed for sure.
He didn't know about Aaron, but Myungwoo had told him Jihyun missed Earth.
'With her around, Korea's safe.'
Reading articles closely, the world seemed to be handling it well.
'Modern weapons work on monsters... Not time to panic yet.'
Articles on items too.
<Mysterious powered tools. Where do they come from?>
Woojin's expression grew serious.
His ability was special.
Even in Unriworld, only he could enhance, but "enhancement stones" substituted.
Here?
Unlikely Unriworld stones existed here.
They were alchemists' tower products, limited supply—that's why he'd grinded so hard.
'Okay, got the gist. Not much change yet. Gates and monsters aren't disrupting modern society big-time.'
Relief. Most citizens lived peacefully as before.
Situation grasped. Time to test his ability.
It had changed from in-game.
'First, see enhancement limits. Won't always succeed. Test failure too.'
Looking around for stuff, he grabbed pens from bedroom, kitchen knife, spatula, tongs, plate, brought to living room.
Cheap stuff first.
Pen first.
"Enhance, enhance, enhance."
Three enhancements in a flash. Checked pen info.
He scribbled on paper with the enhanced pen.
Scritch—
'Whoa... writes like a dream. And since when do I have handwriting this good?'
Woojin always got chewed out by Sangjin for his chicken scratch.
But with a +3 pen, elegant script flowed like Han Seok-bong possessed him.
Just +3 felt this good—what about higher? Woojin kept enhancing.
"Enhance, enhance, enhance, enhance, enhance."
From +4, failure chance kicked in.
Five more tries, stuck at +4.
Refusing to quit, as he tried again...
"Hmmm... Mana shortage, huh?"
Higher enhancements cost more mana, and retries after failure cost even more.
Just like Unriworld.
'Not making it easy, are they? Well, unlimited enhancements would break balance.'
Woojin used the +4 pen to jot notes on his enhancement skill.
Retrying failed item feels roughly double mana cost.
Current mana 14 - Seems enough for ~20 +3 items?>
Enhancement possible indefinitely, but mana limited high-end stuff.
'So +3 most efficient for now.'
No failure risk, low mana—best bang for buck.
'But what to sell?'
Biggest issue.
Couldn't just enhance random junk and hawk it.
Not medieval era—patents, tech, trademarks everywhere.
Meant to browse net for ideas, but mana-drained Woojin felt crushing fatigue.
'Rest today, discuss with Sangjin, start tomorrow. Gotta apply for SG Group compensation early too.'
Sangjin's snores grew louder. Woojin laid out a mat in the living room and crashed.
Staring at his home's ceiling after ten years, thoughts flooded.
'I'm really back...'
Rundown, cramped, drafty—no boiler, no AC—but to Woojin, better than any five-star hotel.
'They say modern slacker beats medieval millionaire...'
Sangjin's snores soothed him somehow. Woojin closed his eyes and drifted off.
The next morning, Woojin woke early and watched Sangjin rush out.
"Damn it, I'm late! Hyung! I'm off!"
Still mid-semester.
October—prime school time for Sangjin.
"Yeah, have a good one. When you coming back?"
"Before dinner? Hyung, go do that compensation claim. Apparently gotta go in person 'cause of all the scammers."
Sangjin reminded him of the day's task.
"Was gonna hit that first anyway. Over 100 million won? No way I'm missing it."
Sangjin grinned at Woojin.
"Hyung, we getting beef with that cash?"
Woojin laughed along at his brother's simple wish.
"Beef? Let's try that steak we've only heard about."
"Ooooh! But steak between dudes feels off—let's do that fantasy-world Korean hanwoo flower sirloin instead, hyung."
"Fine, whatever. Hurry up, you're late."
Sangjin checked his phone and added,
"Whoa, really late. Oh yeah—hyung's phone's cut off, so grab a new one with the cash. Yours is ancient, barely turns on."
Woojin thought of his decade-unused phone.
"Got it."
"Alright, really going now. Still remember my number? Text when you get the phone!"
With that, Sangjin bolted out.
'That kid... so young, full of energy. College life suits him.'
How hard had he worked to see that sight?
Over drinks last night, Sangjin said he'd never missed a scholarship in a year.
Despite his mess of a brother, top of every class.
A proud smile lingered.
After watching Sangjin go, Woojin clapped once and shouted spiritedly.
"Alright then—time to get ready myself!"