ALL NOVEL Chapter 3 - Accident!!!
Three days after being discharged, after confirming there were no issues with my body, I visited the gym.
And soon I realized it.
My body… had changed.
I did have a feeling that my five senses had become strangely sharp.
But now I think I know.
My body has become very sturdy, capable of lifting about 320kg for the three major lifts combined.
But considering the time I spent lying in the hospital room… I shouldn’t have lost that much strength, yet I don’t feel that at all.
From the warmup, something felt off, but I didn’t expect it to be this extreme.
My personal records based on 1 rep max were 80kg for bench press, 120kg for deadlift, and 120kg for squat.
But now, the 100kg bench press felt way too light.
I hurried back home.
Could this be that?
The thing that often appeared in the hero movies I used to watch.
That feeling of becoming a super-powered individual after being bitten by a radioactive spider or something.
How did this happen?
Is this a new ability? Did I really gain a new power in that critical moment to save my own body?
With those thoughts, I hurried back home.
I closed the door, stripped off my clothes, and stood in front of the full-body mirror.
My body did seem sturdier than before.
I also had a strange feeling of becoming more good-looking… nah, nevermind.
It was as I was absentmindedly stroking my chin while gazing at the mirror.
Kuhuhuhuh.
Some creepy laughter echoed.
It gave me an ominous, hair-raising feeling.
And then I discovered it.
Kuhuhuhuhuh!
An eye and a mouth that had sprouted on my right hand.
“Aaaahhhh!”
I immediately collapsed onto the floor.
In shock, I grabbed my right hand with my left.
There was still an eye and mouth like a human’s on it.
Kuhuhuhuhuh!
It kept laughing as if mocking my appearance.
Ah… I wish this was just a nightmare.
“Ack, shit!”
I slammed my right hand onto the floor and started pounding it with my left hand.
“Fucking shit!”
I don’t know what’s going on, but this is fucked up.
With that thought, I struck my right hand like a madman.
Kuhuhuh…. Ugh! Kraaack!
As I started hammering my right hand with my fist, the ominous laughter turned into pained sounds.
It was only then that I could calm down a bit and look at my right hand.
“You… what the fuck are you…”
It hurt me too, but seeing this thing suffer calmed me down a bit.
Kuhuhuhuh…
“Shit?”
I raised my fist again, about to strike my right hand.
But then my right hand moved on its own and tightly gripped my left hand.
Speak with words.
Unlike before, it spoke in a solemn, stern, and grave tone.
It felt like my mind went blank for a moment.
I blankly stared at the news reports constantly playing on TV.
Reporter Naeun Choi. What is the situation on site?
This is Naeun Choi. I’m currently at Buwon Hospital…
Superpower Syndrome is a disease with unknown causes and unknown treatments.
It’s a disease that afflicts those with superpowers, most of whom die, with a few spontaneously recovering.
Those who recover are less than 1 in 10 – it’s an extremely cruel disease.
Yet the patients admitted to this one hospital for that disease have all recovered and are undergoing rehabilitation exercises.
“So you’re saying you did that?”
You did it too.
“Don’t beat around the bush.”
Fine. I ‘ate’ them.
The thing attached to my right hand said that and stuck out its tongue disgustingly.
“Fucking hell…”
With conflicted feelings, I went to cover my eyes with my right hand but ended up covering them with my left instead.
It felt unnaturally uncomfortable.
Should I just cut off my right hand?
That would be difficult.
It said that, and by the time I noticed, it had formed an eye and tongue on my left hand too, looking at me.
“The fuck?”
Wasn’t it just attached to my right hand like in some Japanese manga?
You and I have become one. I am you, and you are me.
“What the hell are you…”
Hmm… I’m what you humans call a monster.
What… really?
I wanted to become a hero, but becoming a half-villain and dark anti-hero wasn’t really my taste…
In any case, it did seem pretty messed up.
You’re calmer than I expected.
Calm my ass.
This thing can move from my right hand to my left too, so of course I’m messed up.
If researchers get ahold of me, I might immediately end up dissected like a biology class model and studied.
How annoying.
I gave up on being a hero, and now I’ve become a monster instead.
But it’s not all bad.
It’s nothing but bad, you bastard.
If you had just stayed on my right hand, I could have at least felt lucky…
Even if you cut off your right hand,
No, fuck. Not that.
Yeah, that.
I couldn’t do it for a long time while hospitalized… if you’re on both my left and right hands, won’t it be really awkward?
-…
The eye and mouth that had appeared on my right hand disappeared, slithering away.
As if nothing had happened.
As if telling me to call it if I need anything.
It wasn’t exactly welcome, but it was a timely consideration.
…
…
With a strangely calmed mind, I organized my current situation.
“So you were that chunk of corpse from back then?”
Yes.
The monster residing in my body is apparently a mutant type that has been emerging lately.
It seems to be that monster without a core that I had disposed of.
It formed a tiny body from the core and hid, then discovered me in my half-dead state.
Thinking it could take over my body and gain my abilities, it entered me and ended up fusing with my body instead.
It was probably because of your strange ability.
“My superpower?”
Yes.
It seems my ability to slow decay prevented this strange monster from taking over my body.
“So you don’t trigger the monster reaction either?”
With this level of manifestation, I likely won’t. I’m in a state without a core right now.
It seemed like if this thing stayed obedient, my daily life could just roll on normally.
“One last question, that dream I had… was that related to you?”
The one about eating?
“…Yeah, that one.”
It was me.
It let out a strange “Kuhuhuhuh” laughter.
According to it, it stole the power residing in the bodies of those lying in the hospital beds.
This made the rumor about superpowers originating from monsters partially come true.
Of course, I can’t really disclose this information anywhere.
Then I’d have to explain how I know about it.
…Alright.
I’ll forget about being a hero now.
I’ve done all I can.
I’m 23 years old.
If I still had to go to the military like before, it would be considered young, but since I don’t have to serve, it’s not that young of an age anymore.
The average employment age is 27, but the sooner I get a job, the better.
Honestly, isn’t it a bit much for a 23-year-old to still admire the idea of being a hero?
This should be enough.
I finished course registration from the hospital.
At the university I attend, the default is 18 credits, but high-achieving students can take up to 21 credits.
I’ve been taking 21 credits since my second semester of freshman year, so I’m taking an additional 15 credits this semester.
I can take 15 credits this semester without issue, and most of them don’t even have exams since they’re P/NP courses.
I spent most of my first three years fulfilling my major requirements.
If I earn 6 credits from general education courses in my first semester of senior year, I’ll have no problem graduating.
Essentially, starting this semester, I’ll have room to prepare for employment.
There was one week until the start of the semester.
I started taking it step-by-step, doing what I could.
In the mornings, I prepared for the NCS (National Competency Standards).
Since I’m not pursuing CPA certification in the business administration department, preparing for the NCS is one of the better options for me to increase my employment prospects.
I don’t know if I’ll be fortunate enough to pass for a public corporation.
After lunch, I’d ask Hyunsung if there was any part-time work disposing of remains, and if not, I’d study again.
And around 4pm, I’d head to Buwon Hospital…
“Ah.”
As usual, I came to Buwon Hospital without thinking.
But there’s nothing for me to do here anymore.
All the people who were lying unconscious on the 10th floor have woken up, so why did I come here…?
Habits really are scary.
Kuhuhuhuh.
Don’t laugh, you crazy bastard.
I wrapped my right hand with my left and headed towards the gym.
This is no longer a place for me to visit.
With that thought, I strangely felt drained of energy.
Even though I had resolved to give up on being a hero and return to a normal life, does this mean I still can’t let go of that attachment?
I arrived at the gym in a hurry.
After changing clothes at the gym and starting my warmup.
I definitely didn’t feel any resistance when I did the 100kg bench press last time.
That would mean I could easily increase the weight by 20kg at once.
Unlike last time, I set the weight to 120kg and checked.
Again, it didn’t feel too difficult.
Boldly, I added another 30kg, and before long, I realized I could do 150kg without any issues.
Just in case, I also checked deadlift and squat, and I could lift 200kg, nearly double my previous weights, without any problems.
I never expected the combined 500kg for the three lifts to feel this light.
By this point, I could sense the gazes of the other people working out at the gym.
There were surprised expressions, quizzical looks, and some that seemed to understand something.
My physique probably didn’t look sturdy enough to be lifting 500kg combined.
Those looks of understanding were probably thinking I was just a Physical Ability Enhancement type.
After confirming I could lift up to the combined 800kg without too much effort, I left the gym.
It seems my body is even sturdier than I had thought.
Just how far can I go?
As I was heading home with that thought, my phone rang.
It was an unknown number.
After a brief hesitation, I answered the call.
Is this Jinwoo Lee’s cell phone?
“Yes, it is. Who is this?”
Ah, my apologies. I am…
After listening to the rest of the call, I immediately boarded a bus.
The call was a request for me to use my ability to provide assistance.
The miracle that occurred at Buwon Hospital.
While investigating that, they managed to get in contact with me and request that I use that ability at their hospital as well.
I didn’t hesitate for long.
I felt my heart pounding with excitement and immediately boarded the bus, saying I would go.
It was only a 5-minute bus ride, a walkable distance, but for some reason, I felt I needed to hurry.
Kuhuhuhuh.
The monster’s disgusting laughter rang in my head again.
Its laughter sounded like it knew everything about me, which was unsettling.
So when I was about to mutter something to avoid other people’s eyes, that was the moment it happened.
“Wha-? Woah!”
“Ack!”
Around 5pm, an ambiguous time before rush hour.
The road was strangely deserted, and the bus suddenly accelerated recklessly.
It even ran through red lights.
“Mister!”
Bang! Baaaaaang!
“The… the brakes aren’t working!”
The bus driver turned on the hazard lights and honked the horn repeatedly as he shouted.
The honking was so loud that the driver’s voice sounded distant.