Chapter 3: I can’t… breathe

Kim Seo-jun grew even quieter than usual when it came to battle.

His principle was that it was more beneficial to land one more hit than to waste time arguing with the opponent.

That was why he had kindly warned him repeatedly to stop talking so much and focus on sparring.

But Go Han-seok was too impatient to keep his mouth shut.

“Heh heh. Kim Seo-jun. Did you eat some rotten meat somewhere and go crazy? You dare lecture me? I heard your old man is just like you, huh? You’d do better to keep quiet and just do what your superior tells you, but you keep poking your nose into things you don’t understand, so you can’t get out of being a lowly office clerk? How come father and son act so damn alike?”

Go Han-seok suddenly dragged Kim Seo-jun’s father into the fray.

At that, the expression on Kim Seo-jun’s previously indifferent face cracked, and for the first time, he showed emotion.

“Don’t… cross the line.”

He barely held back the surge of anger as he spoke.

If this had been the old Kim Seo-jun, he would have drawn his sword and cut him down without hesitation.

“What? Don’t cross the line? What are you saying, idiot? Now that I think about it, your old man’s magic is barely D rank, right? A D-rank father and an F-rank son. What a pair of idiots, hahahaha!”

Snap.

That was the sound of Kim Seo-jun’s patience snapping in his head.

Go Han-seok had been waiting for this moment.

He deliberately provoked Kim Seo-jun to shake his emotions and create an opening.

The plan worked perfectly.

The moment Kim Seo-jun’s pupils briefly dilated and then shrank, Go Han-seok exploded his magic and activated his mystic ability.

When Go Han-seok’s eyes turned golden, he sprang forward like a lightning strike and swung both fists like a storm.

Bababababang!

Six cannonball-like fists flew toward Kim Seo-jun from all directions.

This was Go Han-seok’s C-rank mystic ability, Concentrated Fire.

Kim Seo-jun’s eyes accurately measured all six fists.

Without retreating even half a step, he raised both hands toward the fists that flew almost simultaneously.

Those cannonball fists slammed into Kim Seo-jun’s body.

At that moment, golden light flickered in Kim Seo-jun’s eyes.

The world slowed down in an instant.

The incoming fists also moved as if caught in slow motion.

Though it seemed like they arrived simultaneously, there was a slight time difference between the fists.

The first to reach was the one aimed at his right eye.

Kim Seo-jun moved his head sideways and caught that fist with his hand.

A heavy force pushed back briefly.

But that force was swallowed up by his right hand and vanished like a candle blown out.

The second attack was a fist aimed at his left chest.

This time, he grabbed the fist slamming into his chest with his left hand and pressed it down.

At the same time, his left hand absorbed the powerful force within the fist like a sponge.

The third and fourth arrived simultaneously.

Two fists heading for his ribs and forehead.

Kim Seo-jun accurately predicted their trajectory and blocked those two fists as well.

At that moment, even greater force gathered in both of Kim Seo-jun’s hands.

He blocked the fifth fist aimed at his jaw and the sixth at his solar plexus with perfect timing using his palms.

Chrrrkkk.

The force of the final strike sent Kim Seo-jun sliding and gliding across the mat.

Only then did Kim Seo-jun’s perception return to normal.

Go Han-seok stared dumbfounded at Kim Seo-jun, who had blocked all of his mystic strikes barehanded.

Go Han-seok stood with one large step forward, fists extended.

Kim Seo-jun, who had stepped back, quickly dashed toward him.

With a swish, Kim Seo-jun was already inside Go Han-seok’s guard.

He brushed past Go Han-seok’s right shoulder and powerfully thrust his right hand forward.

The moment the red-hot palm touched Go Han-seok’s chest,

Fwahak!

An enormous light burst from his palm, illuminating the entire training hall.

Bwoooom!

With a shock like a giant balloon bursting, Go Han-seok’s body flew through the air.

“Gahk!”

His upper body fully bent backward as he flew through the air, eventually tumbling onto the special shock-absorbing mat about ten meters away.

He kept rolling for a while.

He finally stopped after slamming into the wall with a thud.

Silence fell over the hall.

Professor Shim Jae-deok pointed his finger at Kim Seo-jun, repeating “You! You!” while the students covered their mouths, staring at the pitiful, unconscious Go Han-seok.

Among them, Mit-mit stared at Kim Seo-jun.

Kim Seo-jun, the weakest in Class A of the Hunter Academy.

No, it wasn’t surprising to call him the weakest first-year student overall.

Yet Kim Seo-jun had just sent Go Han-seok, who was practically a DB-rank Hunter, flying like a soccer ball.

Shhhhsshhh.

White steam rose from Kim Seo-jun’s fully spread palm.

His hand was red-hot, and a ping-pong-ball-sized magic circle glowed on the back of it.

Kim Seo-jun relaxed his stance and clenched his outstretched hand into a fist.

Then, quietly, he addressed the professor who was pointing at him.

“I believe the match is over.”

Professor Shim Jae-deok swallowed hard at Kim Seo-jun’s calm words.

“… The match?”

Suddenly confused, the professor realized belatedly that Go Han-seok was foaming at the mouth and collapsed, rushing over in panic.

“Go, Go Han-seok!”

Shim quickly lifted Go Han-seok and dashed toward the infirmary as if flying.

Kim Seo-jun watched quietly and flexed his fists once more.

‘If I hadn’t held back at the end, he would’ve died.’

He had momentarily lost control and used excessive force, but it was all Go Han-seok’s fault.

‘How dare he insult my father in front of me.’

That was a line far beyond acceptable.

Kim Seo-jun turned his head with an indifferent gaze.

The classmates, meeting that look, hesitated briefly, then one by one began leaving the training room.

‘What crocodile birds…’

Seeing them, Kim Seo-jun was reminded of crocodile birds, which cling to the crocodile’s body and pick off scraps.

Then, it happened.

Kim Seo-jun felt a chilling shock as if struck by lightning, his entire body stiffened, and he collapsed.

“Gahk!”

His limbs curled up, and even breathing became too difficult.

‘I can’t… breathe!’

He felt like he was going to die.

His body had no strength at all and trembled uncontrollably as if trapped in a freezer.

‘So this is it…?’

Kim Seo-jun immediately realized his condition.

The seizure symptoms that had started after he first awakened his mystic ability as a child.

He had a weak constitution to begin with, but ever since awakening his mystic, if he overused magic even slightly or exerted his body too much, he would suffer seizures like this.

The strain of facing Go Han-seok had triggered his seizure.

Kim Seo-jun quickly recalled the secret formula of the Sun God Technique to try to control his body.

Though his dantian wasn’t fully formed yet, just breathing and moving his energy according to the formula quickly stabilized the seizures.

At the same time, he could recall more memories from his childhood.

‘Oxygen poisoning… what a pathetic thing. Did I really think I could become a Hunter with such a frail body?’

Young Kim Seo-jun had kept his severe oxygen poisoning a secret from everyone.

Even the doctors at the hospital said it was incurable, a side effect of awakening, and told him to give up on his Hunter dream.

Moreover, even Kim Seo-jun’s parents didn’t know their child was suffering from oxygen poisoning.

There was a good reason for that.

To young Kim Seo-jun, his parents and family were more precious than anything in the world.

His parents believed in him more than anyone else and devoted themselves entirely to giving their child a bright future.

Because of that, he couldn’t give up on the path of becoming a Hunter.

That was why he could never fully use his magic or move his body vigorously, nor could he reveal the terrible illness he suffered from.

How could he tell anyone that just a little strain made it hard to breathe and would cause him to lose consciousness?

So, since entering the academy, young Kim Seo-jun avoided making friends or communicating with others to keep his secret safe.

That led to another tragedy.

Kim Seo-jun became an outcast and was ostracized at the academy.

His refusal to communicate and closed-off behavior made classmates pick on him one by one.

For young Kim Seo-jun, life at the academy was becoming more and more like hell.

‘Haa… I don’t even know where to start.’

Kim Seo-jun sighed deeply, feeling a suffocating pressure on his chest.

He was extremely grateful that his parents, who had lost their lives at the hands of Cheon Kang-woo years ago, were alive and well now.

Living under the same roof with those parents felt like a blessing from the gods.

But it wasn’t a true blessing.

The moment the terrible disease that had seeped into young Kim Seo-jun’s body was discovered, his parents would be crushed with despair.

If 29-year-old Kim Seo-jun had not taken over this body, he would have lived a miserable life as a powerless cripple.

‘I have to get rid of this damn oxygen poisoning first.’

To do that, he needed to completely transform this weak body.

Barely regaining his senses, Kim Seo-jun looked wearily at his sweat-soaked body.

‘Can I build internal strength even here?’

Starting over from scratch wouldn’t be hard, but it would take too long.

Besides, even if he had internal strength, it would be useless if he triggered oxygen poisoning symptoms with slight exertion.

‘Oxygen poisoning, huh…’

He needed to start seriously applying the Sun God Technique to carefully monitor his body’s condition.

Looking around, he saw that not a single classmate remained in the training room—everyone had left.

‘They don’t even care that a classmate collapsed and is moaning…’

No one was concerned about whether he was okay or if he needed an ambulance.

Kim Seo-jun smiled bitterly and headed toward the locker room.

The practice room’s CCTV was recording, so the scene of his energy exercise was being logged.

The locker room was empty.

Passing by a mirror at the entrance, he stopped.

Reflected was a tall, slender 19-year-old with a somewhat thin but model-like handsome face, standing 185 centimeters tall.

‘I look very different from how I did ten years ago.’

In his previous life, Kim Seo-jun had started harsh martial arts training at age nine, so by nineteen his physique was exceptional.

Compared to then, he was now skinny.

‘Anyway, I’m alive again. That’s what matters.’

Kim Seo-jun didn’t want to waste the new life he had been given.

He wanted to triumph over oxygen poisoning and live happily with his parents.

Clenching his fists tightly, Kim Seo-jun found a secluded spot—somewhere difficult for anyone to find if they came in.

He sat down cross-legged and began slowly reviewing the memories of his younger self.

He discovered that the main cause of his oxygen poisoning was the absorption of pure oxygen due to physical activity.

Even slight vigorous movement caused hyperventilation, which produced an excess of pure oxygen that was fatal to humans, preventing proper cellular function.

As he thought this through, images of the effects of the Sun God Technique flooded his mind.

The secret of the Sun God Technique was to decompose and recombine the energy (qi) generated through breathing, producing intense heat energy that was then compressed and stored infinitely in the dantian and muscles as an intangible force called ‘fire energy.’

But because this heat energy was so intense, it vaporized even the oxygen inside cells.

That’s why when the Sun God Technique reached a high level of mastery or drew on more power than the limit, the cells necrotized and gradually died.

‘What if I use the Sun God Technique to break down the pure oxygen?’

It was truly an ironic situation.

The Sun God Technique was a devil’s martial art that vaporized cellular oxygen and caused necrosis.

But in this young Kim Seo-jun’s body was a strange disease that produced pure oxygen excessively and limitlessly.

Kim Seo-jun was confident in his theory.

So he immediately recalled the secret formula of the Sun God Technique and cautiously began to breathe.

He focused all his mind on reading the elusive flow of qi.

Then, through his energy sense, he caught a strange yet familiar qi flow.

Once grasped, the qi flowed freely throughout his body at his will.

It gathered at his dantian and transformed into warm and solid energy.

‘It’s working!’

Kim Seo-jun’s sensitivity to qi was so great that forming the dantian wasn’t difficult.

As soon as the dantian formed through the Sun God Technique, a reaction began in his body.

Though faint, the internal strength immediately penetrated his entire body and began rapidly vaporizing oxygen inside the cells.

The vaporization rate was faster than expected.

If he stayed still, the cells and organs inside would slowly die again, just like before.

‘If I want to survive, I have to keep moving constantly.’

He needed to move his body to produce an excess of pure oxygen.

This was a situation Kim Seo-jun should actually welcome.

Now that the Sun God Technique was taking root in his body, he had to be active to survive—and that was the fastest path to getting stronger.

Kim Seo-jun jumped up from his spot.

He began bouncing on the spot, moving his legs quickly.

As his body moved vigorously, it reacted.

The oxygen concentration saturating his cells began to rise sharply, pushing his body close to oxygen poisoning symptoms.

But the seizures did not occur.

Using the Sun God Technique rapidly lowered the oxygen concentration.

His body, which used to trigger abnormal symptoms with slight exertion, was functioning better than ever.

The disease that had been a curse and shackle for young Kim Seo-jun’s body was now becoming the perfect condition for mastering the Sun God Technique.

Kim Seo-jun quickly changed clothes, packed his bag, and stepped out of the practice room.

Darkness had already fallen outside.

He checked the time: past 7 p.m.

‘Mom’s going to worry.’

He was so happy and grateful that he had a home to return to and a mother waiting for him there.

‘I won’t ever let this chance slip away!’

Kim Seo-jun clenched his fists firmly and started running energetically across the academy grounds.