The Korean Expedition

The stats were based on Level 1, so an ordinary person would sit somewhere between 1 and 2. At least none of them were a flat 1, which was a relief. Not a bad starting spread. The highest value, my appearance at 10, was insanely high. When you considered that 10 was the absolute ceiling for a completely untalented normal person, it meant I was the most handsome among regular humans. Sure, some top-tier celebrities probably pushed past 10, but still.

What bothered me was how low my charm was compared to my appearance. Usually the two scaled together, but it looked like my charm simply couldn’t keep up with my looks.

For reference, appearance in the physical category and knowledge in the mental category couldn’t be raised with level-up points. Appearance required elixirs or surgery, while knowledge could only be improved through actual study. Although if you installed cyberware, knowledge could be boosted easily with downloads.

And what the hell was this Shinkai Yatsude in the skills column?

When I focused on it, a semi-transparent window popped up.

…Isn’t this straight-up Lovecraft?

Come to think of it, the original Jin Yong-tae had been a Zainichi Korean who suffered severe bullying and learned martial arts to overcome it. But why the hell did he pick up something this terrifying? Then again, if he’d just learned some normal-grade karate I probably would’ve cursed him out. At this level, I wouldn’t have to worry about close combat at all. Since it was Mythic rank, its performance was basically guaranteed.

Jin Yong-tae really pulled a jackpot in the gacha. If you rolled this good in random mode in The Youngest Son of a Mega-Corp Family, it would be considered a perfect starting character.

Anyway, it was time to consume the Cheonwanghwan. After calling up the status window, I focused on the item I was holding and another semi-transparent window appeared.

No doubt about it. I popped the Cheonwanghwan into my mouth.

And then I lost consciousness.

When I opened my eyes again, it was 10 a.m. I must have been out for nearly ten hours. My stomach was growling; time to get up. The moment I stood, though, something felt off. My field of vision was much higher than before. The elixir must have increased my height. In the game only the numerical stats changed, but ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠here the stats seemed to alter my actual body as well.

I had slept in a gown last night, but when I tried to put on my clothes, nothing fit. Thankfully the waist still worked, but the thighs of my jeans looked ready to burst and the ankles rode way up my calves. The sweatshirt had become skin-tight. If I flexed even a little, would the clothes actually rip like in a manga? That would be pretty funny.

Just how much had the stats risen for this to happen?

Strength rose by 6, agility by 3, stamina by 7, resistance by 4, recovery by 6, nerves by 7, and appearance by 5. Since it was supposed to raise stats between 1 and 7, this was pretty lucky. The smallest increase was still 3. It felt good and I even got the Regeneration trait I’d been hoping for.

The explanation was short, but it still felt great. Since it would also apply during physical training, it was the perfect trait for the physical side. For now, I needed to head out and buy new clothes.

I used to be in the upper 170 cm range, which wasn’t short in Japan, but now I looked at least mid-to-upper 180 cm. What was I supposed to tell Mom? That the samgyetang was really effective? Just thinking about samgyetang made me crave it again.

I searched for a nearby clothing store on my phone and bought a full casual sportswear set at a Nike outlet. Comfortable as always. While paying, I asked the part-timer to throw away the clothes I’d been wearing. The moment she looked at my face, her cheeks flushed red. So this was what Appearance 15 felt like. I had never experienced anything like it before the possession. Back then I’d just been average.

It felt good, but if I kept drawing this much attention it would cause problems when I needed to obtain items, so I bought a cap and mask and put them on. I could ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠enjoy the attention later. This trip to Korea wasn’t for fun.

This time I had to travel quite far. My destination was Hwacheon in Gangwon Province. I took the subway to Yongsan Station, rode the ITX to Chuncheon Station, then caught the bus to Hwacheon.

A certain corporation’s secret research facility was located in Hwacheon, and somewhere nearby, someone had hidden a prototype artificial elixir created at that facility. I arrived safely in the vicinity, wandered through the mountains for a while, then dug beneath the tree that had grown in the shape of an X exactly as I remembered. A box appeared.

Nice. Now I just had to watch out for the occasional patrol…

“Who’s there?”

I’d been caught! At least I had already secured the box with the elixir. That was a relief. A gunshot rang out and I was hit in the side. Ugh!

Maybe because the Yeouiju’s damage reduction was active, the pain wasn’t that severe. The two guards seemed shocked that I ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠was still running at full speed after being shot. They paused for a moment, then started chasing after me.

There were plenty of places to hide in the mountains. But instead of hiding, I chose something else. If I kept running, my back would eventually turn into a honeycomb.

Shinkai Yatsude — Shokushu Jin (Tentacle Blade).

I spread my fingers and formed a spear hand, then hid behind a tree. The moment the guard ran past, I struck the side of his neck. The guard couldn’t withstand the monstrous strength granted by the Cheonwanghwan. His Adam’s apple caved in and he died on the spot.

Grabbing the corpse by the neck, I charged straight at the remaining guard.

“Don’t come any closer!”

Bang! Bang! Bang!

I used the dead guard’s body as a shield against the bullets, then drove Shokushu Jin into the second guard’s forehead. It felt completely natural, as if my hands were moving on their own even though I wasn’t consciously controlling them. My fingertips shattered the bone of his forehead and delivered a shock to the brain. The guard foamed at the mouth and collapsed.

I caught the falling guard and stripped him. Since I’d been shot in the side, I needed to change clothes. I couldn’t walk around in bloodstained ones. While taking the clothes off, I couldn’t hold it in and vomited on the spot.

I had killed people. Two of them.

After emptying my stomach, I changed into the guard’s shirt and pants.

“It was self-defense.”

I had simply exercised my right to self-defense against armed opponents. I hypnotized myself with those words. Using my newly strengthened muscles, I tore my old clothes to shreds and scattered the pieces as I descended the mountain. Thanks to the Regeneration trait, the gunshot wound was slowly healing. The bullet pushed out of the closing flesh and fell with a soft thud into the snow.

I caught the bus straight back to Seoul, sat down, and opened the wooden box. Inside was a small glass vial containing a green liquid.

The increase was tiny compared to the Cheonwanghwan, but elixirs that raised mental stats were extremely rare, so this was still a valuable item. I opened the lid and drank it immediately. Since it was only a prototype, they hadn’t bothered with flavor. It tasted like nothing.

If my willpower increased, would I be able to overcome this guilt of having killed people?

Feeling the elixir’s energy boil inside my stomach and the bus’s steady vibration at the same time, I forced myself to fall asleep.