Chapter 2
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"Get up, Pikachu. Go buy me cigarettes."
That was the first thing I heard after being shoved into this new body. Not exactly the warm welcome I was hoping for.
"What kind of damn body did they send me?" I muttered under my breath.
"Oi, what the hell are you mumbling about? I said buy me cigarettes! And where's the Pikachu sound I expect, Park Hyung-Seok?"
I ignored the asshole barking orders at me and took a moment to study my new shell.
Short, chubby hands—like sausages. Legs that looked more like pig trotters than human limbs. The belly? A full-on baby bump that could rival a second-trimester mom. And the chest? Man boobs. Glorious, shameful man boobs.
The Rulers really did me dirty.
"Oi—stop daydreaming!"
I finally turned to face the prick, but before I could open my mouth, a fist came flying at me.
I could've dodged it, if this body actually listened. But no. Like a marionette with tangled strings, I stumbled, the punch landing squarely in my face and slamming me into the wall.
Something scratched my cheek.
Glasses? This kid wore glasses?
And just like that, the floodgates opened.
Memories surged in—vivid, raw, and overwhelming. Everything this sorry excuse of a vessel had endured came crashing into me at once.
Park Hyung-Seok.
Seventeen years old. First-year in high school. Live in Seoul, South Korea. Human doormat.
The kid had been bullied so much, he practically spent his lunch breaks playing court jester and delivery boy. No self-worth. No spine.
Weirdly enough, it felt… nostalgic. High school? South Korea? That name stirred something from my past life.
But I shoved that aside.
Right now, all I could focus on was the rush—pure, unfiltered ecstasy.
"Logan, I think you broke him. Look at that smirk."
I stood up slowly, grinning wide. "That's right. You're so right! HAHAHAHAHAHA!"
When was the last time I felt pain this real? When did my blood last pound this hard in my ears?
Finally, I could enjoy fighting again!
"Holy shit, Logan, you hit Pikachu way too hard."
These fuckers again. Three of them—two guys and a girl.
From what I gathered, they loved dragging Hyung-Seok into the men's restroom just to mess with him.
The one who haunted this body's memories most was Logan, aka Lee Tae-Sung.
Since day one, Hyung-Seok had been his errand boy and personal plaything.
"Looks like I haven't punched him hard enough," Logan sneered, cracking his knuckles. "How dare he look at me like that."
He stepped forward, lips curled in a cruel grin, ready to end me.
But not today.
Today, I—Aiden, son of Antares—will end this pathetic cycle once and for all.
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On a sunny day, the peace of an otherwise unknown high school shattered with a thunderous explosion that rocked the entire building.
"What was that?!"
"An earthquake?!"
"No—no, that came from the toilets! Somebody call a teacher!"
"Wait… could it be a dungeon break?!"
A few students puffed up their chests, suddenly acting like wannabe hunters, ready to throw down with whatever monstrosity crawled out of the plumbing.
But when the teachers rushed in and opened the door to the source of the chaos, the scene stunned them into silence.
The men's toilet was obliterated—walls blasted apart, rubble scattered like confetti from hell. Tiles cracked. Pipes spewing water. A gaping hole where a wall used to be.
"What the hell happened here…?"
None of them dared step inside. Not until a few braver teachers pushed forward, gripping their radios like weapons.
They peered through the dust and wreckage—and saw it.
Watching from the second-floor restroom, just beyond the blast zone, the teachers saw something that defied logic.
"That student… is that Lee Tae-Sung?"
They all recognized him. Logan. The school's nightmare. The bully no one could rein in.
But what truly shocked them wasn't that Logan had been involved.
It was what came next.
Through the hole in the ruined wall, they saw it clearly.
A small, overweight student was dragging Logan—by the hair—across the school field, like a sack of trash.
And every student was watching from the windows, mouths agape, eyes wide.
Nobody said a word.
Nobody moved.
"Kuhuk! Wha… what the hell just happened?"
Logan was dazed, confused.
"This can't be real."
Lee Tae-Sung had always been a top predator—even when he was overweight.
His body was solid, larger than average, and now, with his recent awakening, he had become even more formidable.
It all began around twelve years ago.
Gates—portals connecting Earth to other worlds—started appearing across the globe.
These portals, now referred to as "dungeons," would open after a certain period, unleashing monsters that rampaged through cities, destroying everything and killing indiscriminately.
At the same time, humanity experienced a sudden and mysterious evolution: some people became capable of using magical energy.
These individuals came to be known as "Awakeners."
Like the monsters they fought, Awakeners were ranked from E to S.
Becoming an Awakener—even just an E-rank—meant a person was no longer ordinary.
They possessed strength, speed, and abilities far beyond that of a normal human. Many of them became hunters, risking their lives by entering dungeons to slay magical beasts.
Logan is one such Awakener. Not long ago, his magical power was measured at C-rank.
Yet Logan didn't care too much about fighting monsters. He preferred smoking behind the school gym, picking fights with other students, and bullying anyone he thought weaker than him.
Before his awakening, he was already a terror. After? He's untouchable.
No teacher could stop him from bullying kids like Park Hyung-Seok.
"Kiek!"
Hyung-Seok grabbed Logan's hair and smiled wickedly.
"Hehe~ I can see it in your eyes—you never get a proper beating, huh?"
Logan squinted, furious.
"You fucker! How dare you grab my hair and humiliate me—"
Bam! Hit again. Over and over.
"What'd you say?" Hyung-Seok asked calmly.
"Huek… kuhuk!" Logan's eyes clouded, mouth full of blood.
The Alpha. The predator who never saw others as human.
As Hyung-Seok grabbed his collar, Logan's lifeless gaze scanned the crowd. All he saw were a pack of sheep staring at him, terrified and helpless.
Those sheep were the real manifestation of Logan's will—the students and teachers nothing but weak prey.
"But man, I'm surprised you lasted this long. How about round two?"
"What the fuck are you talking about? I'm on the edge of death here!"
"Good! Let me heal you first."
With a snap, Hyung-Seok restored Logan's battered body.
"What the—?"
Logan felt light, as if all his pain was an illusion.
"Round two!"
"AHHH!"
Hyung-Seok broke his limbs, punched, kicked, and burned him—then healed him again and again. Logan was forced to taste every bit of the suffering he once dealt.
Snap! "Heal."
Green mana bathed Logan, healing him once more.
"You psycho! What's wrong with you?!"
Hyung-Seok's face remained calm as Logan shouted.
"Hyung-Seok, if you're angry for everything I did, let's call it even. You've tortured me like an animal. What the hell do you want? Why break all my bones, crush my organs, and then heal me over and over?!"
Hyung-Seok was silent for a moment.
"What the fuck are you bitching about?"
"Huh?"
"There is no reason, Logan."
The words were simple. Flat. But they hit Logan like a freight train.
He froze.
Hyung-Seok stood there, smiling—too wide, too calm. It wasn't the kind of smile that came from joy. It was the kind that crawled under your skin and made your instincts recoil. Something cold slithered down Logan's spine.
This wasn't the Hyung-Seok he knew.
No, this was someone else entirely. A stranger wearing his face like a mask.
Why does this wolf wear sheep's clothing underneath?
That gaze—it didn't see him as a person. It stared through him, hollow and predatory, like Logan wasn't human anymore. Just another thing in the way.
There was no hate behind it. No anger. No twisted ideology.
Just a man who did things because he wanted to. Because he could.
A man without reason.
Just like him.
And that—more than anything—terrified Logan.
Hyung-Seok is still grinning, still calm.
"Now," he said softly, like he was asking for a photo, "say Pikachu."