Chapter 3: 3

Act 2

Dong-ha University was one of the top three renowned universities in Korea . Su-hyeun was still attending this school until the day before, when he was Sung-in in his past life . But… .

“It’s not here?”

“How many times must I tell you?” The man who looked like the faculty’s teaching assistant replied nervously . Su-hyeun knew him . It was the same teaching assistant back when he had studied here . It was this school, but… .

“Student number 201413109, Kim Sung-in . This student isn’t from our school . You may have come to the wrong place; it’ll be faster for you to double-check . ” It was evident that the teaching assistant was suppressing his anger while answering . Perhaps he should have been, since he was wasting his time on something so time-consuming . Su-hyeun could only trudge out of the faculty department .

As classes ended, students came pouring out of the classrooms . Seeing this brought a probable thought to Su-hyeun’s mind . However, no one knew of the student named Kim Sung-in, even if he remembered their faces and names .

It couldn’t be… .

A sudden thought got Su-hyeun to flip out his smartphone . Su-hyeun opened his bank’s website and entered his name and resident number, which then brought him to the authentication page .

The result: The name and resident number do not match .

The result was the same, regardless of how many times he tried . Could he have misremembered? No, it couldn’t be . Su-hyeun wouldn’t be able to get into Dong-ha University if he couldn’t even remember his resident number . Did I… disappear?

It was hard to believe . As Su-hyeun’s mind turned blank and cooled, his steps steered toward one direction . He immediately headed to his old house .

Su-hyeun rang the doorbell to his old house in Pyeongchon, Anyang . Ding-dong . The bell rang . Su-hyeun’s heart started racing, and his blank mind was immediately filled with complicated thoughts as soon as the door opened . “Who is this?”

It was his mother . Not Su-hyeun’s, but Kim Sung-in’s mother . Why was she home? She wouldn’t be in most of the time, except for a day or two a month . Should he consider himself lucky? But Su-hyeun couldn’t bring himself to speak in front of his mother . “Who are you?”

“I’m… . ” Su-hyeun then forced a smiling face and asked, “Is there… someone named Kim Sung-in here?”

“Kim Sung-in? No, I live alone here . Did you perhaps get the wrong place?” As expected, the answer was no different . It was his mother, not anyone else . Su-hyeun half-expected that she might not have remembered him . He was now certain that his life as Kim Sung-in did not exist in this world .

“Ha… . ” It eventually came to this . It didn’t take him long to get this straight in his mind . It was one of the possibilities he had in mind .

That’s true — I’m here . There shouldn’t be another me since I’m here . It was easier to think of it that way .

If so, mother too… would not have remembered Su-hyeun . It was an awkward feeling . The woman standing in front of him now was no longer his mother . But why? She didn’t look disturbed . It was just him who felt confused . If so… .

As expected, I can’t get any closer .

Su-hyeun lowered his head and bowed . “I seem to have found the wrong place . I’m sorry . ” Su-hyeun left the premises and headed towards town with a knotted heart . He gradually calmed down as he walked along the busy streets .

I’m Kim Su-hyeun . There was a question that he had been asking himself numerous times for the past month: Am I Su-hyeun or Sung-in? And the answer to his question finally came . I’m now… Su-hyeun .

He repeated this countless times in his head so as to not be wavered by it, and to avoid confusion . Out of nowhere, he heard Shin Su-yeong’s voice . “I’ll not ask why you’re trying to change . Just don’t go astray, and don’t go too far away from home . ”

Why would she say that? Now he seemed to have understood . Shin Su-yeong felt anxious . Su-hyeun realized that she too had the same worries that he was having now — that he might leave for somewhere further away, that he might go somewhere far away and not return at all .

He slapped both his cheeks hard with his hands . That woke him up . He was no longer attached to his past life . There was no one to remember him and nothing else for him to leave or regret .

No, just one . Su-hyeun’s eyes sank as he started to walk . Fafnir .

Not from the past, but the future . No, more accurately, something that he would encounter in the future . If it was 2018 now, Fafnir would appear someday, and this world would fall . If this was a world where Kim Sung-in did not exist, then this world would only become worse, not better . That is, if he did nothing .

On his way home, Su-hyeun observed his surroundings while walking on the busy streets . The sky was blue . Being in the bustling and lively landscape seemed to make one feel strangely excited . Until now, he would not have thought that he would miss this moment . In this landscape, in this setting . He wanted to protect the future that he would be living in .

To do that, first… . Su-hyeun turned his head and muttered while looking far into the horizon . “I’m going to have to suffer for a while . ”

* * *

Su-hyeun took the bus and arrived home . It wasn’t hard finding his way back . While preparing to be discharged, he noted down his house address in advance . A two-room semi-basement apartment . Su-hyeun entered the house feeling awkward . Click—

As soon as Su-hyeun entered after opening the door with his keys, he could see the small living room and two rooms at once . It wasn’t that small for two to live, but it was apparent that they were not so well-to-do since it was a semi-basement .

Seems that she isn’t back yet . It was early evening . Though it was time for the office workers to get off from work, Shin Su-yeong had yet to return . She usually ended late .

I think we may have a late dinner… . There’s still some time . Su-hyeun went into what seemed to be his room of the two . In a small room of 10 square meters, Su-hyeun sat on the bed that took up half that space .

Although it was his first time, it did not feel unfamiliar . A weird feeling came to him . It was a different sense of relief and comfort as compared to when he stayed in the hospital . It seemed that his body remembered this place .

Pull yourself together . He was quite affected by Shin Su-yeong . It wasn’t in the wrong way . Instead, he liked the comfort, relief, and warmth, which was different from before . But from now on, these emotions would become poison to him .

Smack—

Su-hyeun slapped both of his cheeks hard . Pull yourself together, he repeatedly muttered in his mind .

From now on… I’ll be back as Sung-in . He had lived as Su-hyeun for the past month, and it would stay that way in the future . But besides that, as a Magical Awakener, no one else would be able to catch up to Kim Sung-in .

I’m now… . As if chanting a spell, Su-hyeun continued muttering in his mind . Sung-in . As the spell was finally controlling Su-hyeun . Whoosh—

Su-hyeun’s hand stretched forward and grasped his wide-open hand tightly . Rip! Su-hyeun made a tear in the air, and a space formed . A “doorway” was made such that only Su-hyeun could see it .

Step, step—

Su-hyeun walked towards the door . And after taking the first step, the landscape changed in front of Su-hyeun’s eyes .

* * *

Su-hyeun opened his eyes . The white space came back to him . A familiar place, one that he had seen before . The warm feeling from earlier subsided quickly . Su-hyeun’s eyes changed to those from his past life .

[Welcome to the Tower of Trials . ]

[Kim Su-hyeun, will you start the trials now?]

It started .

The Tower of Trials . A place commonly referred to as an abyss by outsiders . Those who passed the first floor would be able to gain their abilities and become “Magical Awakeners . ” Of course, it was just the first step, but that performance was also equivalent to the Magical Awakener’s level of awakening . If so, how could one enter the Tower of Trials?

No precise requirements were stated yet . And that was the same for Su-hyeun when he was still Sung-in who lived in the future . It was such that one would know when the moment arrived . For Su-hyeun, the moment he opened his eyes in this life, he realized the method of entering the Tower of Trials . No, more accurately, it seemed as though he remembered the way to enter it . His past life had a positive influence . However, Su-hyeun delayed the beginning of the trials until now .

And the only reason . In the best condition .

For the past month, Su-hyeun had been hospitalized . He had been waiting for his fractured bone to heal and for his health to recover fully . His body now had been fully recovered . While he was hospitalized, he had also done rehabilitation training on his own . He was convinced that this was sufficient .

“Let’s start . ”

[Kim Su-hyeun, the trials start now . ]

[Choose the level of difficulty . ]

[Levels 1~10]

[As the level goes up, the level of difficulty increases, and the reward for clearing each level gets better . ]

The explanation for the trials appeared in front of Su-hyeun’s eyes . The trials were divided into a total of 10 levels . The most manageable level started at Level 1, and the difficulty would have reached its highest point at level 10 .

It was a tough question . There was no right answer, and since there was no wrong answer, it was even tougher — to choose level 1 and clear the level with perfection, or to choose a higher level and scrape through the level .

The choice was up to him . And… .

“Level 10 . ” Su-hyeun’s choice was already made .

[You have chosen Level 10 . ]

Su-hyeun had chosen Level 8 in his past life . It was quite difficult, and as tough as it was, the bounty was quite rewarding .

The trials did not start easy . But… . It’s not enough with just this .

There was no end to the Tower of Trials . No one knew how many floors existed within this colossal tower . That was how it was known as being endless . But going up the higher floors did not mean that one was deemed to be stronger . There were cases where some Magical Awakeners who only cleared a few levels were stronger than those who completed dozens of levels . That was the difference when clearing levels and the levels of difficulty for the Tower of Trials .

High risks, high returns . Su-hyeun thought as the world began its fall . What would happen if he had chosen a level of greater difficulty? What if he had taken a tougher route? Su-hyeun soon came to regret his choice for the first time .

This time… . That was how he made up his mind then .

[Level 10 of the Tower of Trials’ First Floor will start . ]