The Rules of a Changed World
My very first thought upon facing this back-alley outlaw was simple: She's huge.
As she approached me with her hands shoved deep into her pockets, I realized I would have to crane my neck quite a bit just to look her in the eye. I estimated a height difference of at least twenty centimeters. Since I was barely over 150 centimeters tall, she had to be somewhere in the high 170s. For a girl, she was exceptionally tall with a well-balanced frame. Her muscles were clearly defined, showing she hadn't slacked on her training. Her right arm was particularly robust, and the calluses on her knuckles were heavily worn down—telltale signs of a martial artist who favored her right hand.
As I quietly sized her up, a scoffing smirk escaped her lips. "Who said you could smoke? Were you talking to me just now?"
I gave her a casual shrug, as if to say, Who else would I be talking to?
The smirk on her face slowly hardened.
"...You really are exactly like Hui-ji said. Cocky as hell."
As if confirming my suspicions, she laced her fingers together and cracked her knuckles with a loud, echoing pop. It was a gesture clearly meant to intimidate and terrify rather than actually warm up her hands. It amazed me how third-rate thugs behaved exactly the same way, no matter how much the world changed. The sheer predictability of it all was just exhausting.
"Y-You're dead meat now! Do you have any idea how strong Unni is?"
Funnily enough, the one who looked truly terrified by this display was Lee Hui-ji, who was standing off to the side. Her voice trembled violently as she shrieked, "Unni isn't some common Awakened like you! She's a student at the Academy!"
"Yawn. Really?"
An Academy student. I didn't know much about it, but it was probably a big deal. Likely a highly prestigious institution that only a select few elite students could enter. Given how Lee Hui-ji bragged about it as if she were revealing some grand truth, that had to be the case.
But it didn't move me in the slightest. If you boast to someone who has absolutely no concept of what you're talking about, how are they supposed to react? At best, you'll get a half-hearted, "Oh, uh... cool, I guess," or a completely forced, "Wow, that's amazing! I'm so shocked!"
I chose the former. However, I had just logged off Asteria after swinging a sword for the first time in ages. Perhaps because it was my first time using a virtual reality device, a wave of deep fatigue had washed over me. As a result, a small yawn slipped out of my mouth mid-sentence.
"You really think I'm a joke, don't you...?"
My yawn must have looked like a blatant provocation, because the nameless martial artist's face flushed a furious crimson. She looked ready to burst with rage.
Why was she so angry? Did she honestly expect me to sing her praises after she picked a fight with me?
First, there was Lee Hui-ji (14), who had pulled out a dagger the moment things didn't go her way. Now, there was this Academy martial artist (presumably a minor) who looked seconds away from throwing a punch.
My conversation with Yujeong had led me to believe that this version of South Korea wasn't all that different from the one in my memories, but clearly, I had been mistaken. Seeing people so eager to resort to violence made me realize that while public order existed on paper, this world still possessed the distinct undercurrent of a lawless zone—a feeling I was all too familiar with.
Then again, in a world where Awakened individuals could fly through the sky and monsters straight out of movies roamed the earth, it would be stranger if society had remained completely unchanged. A changed world would naturally have its own set of rules. Ultimately, my top priority would be to quickly learn and adapt to those rules.
Whoosh!
Without warning, the wind split as the martial artist's fist shot straight toward my shoulder. The straight punch carried enough force to put an ordinary person in the hospital for weeks. Given our height difference, aiming for my face would have been much easier. The fact that she didn't suggested she knew turning a person's face into a bloody pulp would be difficult to cover up, even for her.
Conversely, it meant that breaking the arm of a fourteen-year-old orphan girl with zero connections was nothing more than a minor chore to them.
Hmm.
Though my expertise lay in swordsmanship, I wasn't entirely defenseless when it came to bare-handed close-quarters combat. There were plenty of times in my past life when I didn't have a proper weapon on hand, or when using sword qi was simply impractical. Over the years, I had picked up a few handy hand-to-hand techniques.
I called upon one of those techniques, letting my muscle memory take over.
I coated my eyes with a thin film of mana. Through my enhanced vision, the world slowed to a crawl. The incoming fist drifted toward me at a snail's pace.
I didn't even bother trying to dodge. Instead, I simply reached out and firmly grabbed her extending wrist. Spinning on my heel, my other hand clamped down on her heavy upper arm. Bending my knees slightly as if preparing to stand up from a squat, I leaned forward.
The martial artist's body lifted off the ground with surprising ease. Feeling her chest press flat against my back, I executed a clean shoulder throw, hurling her over me.
With a deafening crash, she collided with the concrete.
Instantly, the slowed flow of time snapped back to its normal, rapid pace.
"G-Gah..."
"W-What in the world?!"
Lee Hui-ji shrieked at the sight of her savior sprawled face-down on the ground. From her perspective, both the martial artist's punch and my lightning-fast counter-throw had occurred in the blink of an eye.
"Unni! Unni, wake up! You said you could beat her!"
It seemed she couldn't comprehend how her supposedly invincible protector was suddenly gasping for air on the ground, eyes rolled back into her head.
Meanwhile, I clicked my tongue inwardly at the unexpectedly severe outcome.
I didn't think she'd pass out...
My control over my strength had been flawless, but I had misjudged her actual durability. Since she was an Awakened with a decently trained body, I assumed she could easily handle a basic throw. My goal had been a simple, clean suppression—just enough to leave her temporarily winded and unable to move. I never expected her to lose consciousness entirely.
I briefly wondered how I should clean up this mess, only to realize I didn't need to do anything. It wasn't like I had killed her; her injuries would just leave her feeling sore and sluggish for a few days.
Moreover, they had chosen this alleyway specifically to corner me, meaning it was a perfect blind spot with no security cameras in sight. No one had witnessed me slamming the martial artist into the pavement.
Sure, Lee Hui-ji had seen it, but no one would ever believe her. No matter how strong Academy students were supposed to be, it was common knowledge that an ordinary middle schooler couldn't possibly overpower one.
In short, this was none of my business. There was absolutely nothing for me to do.
I just needed to head back to the orphanage, rest my weary body and mind, and call it a day.
I turned on my heel and strolled out of the alley. Lee Hui-ji's pathetic, desperate cries echoed behind me, but I ignored them.
If this world had truly reverted to a lawless wasteland, then I would simply act accordingly. Fortunately, living like an outlaw was something I was exceptionally good at.
"What on earth did I just watch?"
From the shadows of the alleyway the girl had just vacated, Cheon Se-rin stepped forward. After murmuring in a daze for a moment, she pulled out her smartphone and played back the video she had been recording. The footage clearly showed a young girl effortlessly neutralizing her opponent in the blink of an eye.
"Wow."
Se-rin clicked her tongue in sheer admiration of the flawless, waste-free movement.
A petite frame, a youthful face, shimmering blonde hair, and a school uniform. At most, the girl looked like a high school student.
Where could she have learned such martial arts at that age? How much practice did it take to achieve that level of mastery? Did she have a master? A barrage of questions flooded Se-rin's mind, but she quickly brushed them aside.
There was one question that took absolute priority over everything else.
Where can I find her?
She needed to locate the girl. It was obvious she wasn't a student at the Academy. If such a monstrous talent existed there, Se-rin, as a professor, would have known about her instantly.
Se-rin had to find out where she lived and what she did. The girl was the perfect embodiment of what Harman, the founder of the Academy, had always emphasized: a brilliant talent held back by a poor environment.
The girl's worn, frayed school uniform in the video was proof enough.
Unpolished gems buried in the dirt, destined to never shine—it was for people like her that Harman had created the special recommendation admission system.
The Recommendation Letter that Se-rin hadn't been able to use for years had finally found its rightful owner.
By the time Se-rin snapped out of her thoughts, the girl was long gone. However, she wasn't entirely without options. Right in front of her was someone who clearly knew who the girl was.
Se-rin walked deeper into the alley. The student who had been sobbing hysterically over the unconscious girl on the ground let out a startled hiccup at her sudden appearance.
"W-Who are you?"
"I am Cheon Se-rin, a professor at Harman Academy. It looks like one of our students has been quite badly hurt..."
Se-rin offered a harmless, gentle smile as she continued, "Would you mind telling me exactly what happened here?"