Chapter 5 – Glacier Bullet

Time passed.

Lines began to reappear on his chubby face. Se-min touched his chin as he looked in the mirror.

Tremble, tremble.

It was still closer to a plane than a line.

However, it held deep meaning for him. Gradually, his former appearance was returning.

Because he was so obese, the speed of his weight loss was also fast. He burned with determination as he watched himself change day by day.

Se-min left his home, mimicking the way of speaking of his rehabilitation instructor, Director Kim Deok-bae.

“Today, I’ll lightly run inter-val, inter-val training.”

Leaving the studio apartment area, he began to run through the riverside park.

Although his frame was still large, he had escaped the appearance where the act of running itself looked miraculous. Now, he looked like a sturdy fat man working hard to lose weight.

“Hup! Hup! Hup! Hup!”

Exhaling periodically, Se-min flailed forward.

His only thought was the single-minded goal of reducing his weight to under 100 kilograms.

And that determined appearance was causing repercussions in a place he had not anticipated at all.

“I see that man again.”

A woman who jogged along the riverside every morning, Kim Seon-ha, opened her eyes wide today as well upon seeing the fat man sprinting as if he were about to gasp his last breath.

It was a mysterious sight no matter when she saw it. The sight of a man of massive size, who looked like he would have trouble even walking, dragging that enormous mass and pattering along as he ran made her look back on herself.

She had laughed when she first saw him.

Because gaining that size was his own fault for failing to take care of himself anyway.

She had laughed when she saw him the second time as well.

He seemed to be making quite an effort, but people do not change. In the end, he would give up, return to his old ways, inhale chicken and pizza, and whine about how his constitution made him gain weight even if he only drank water.

But that became three, four, and five times.

Even to her eyes as she passed him by every day, the volume of the man’s body was noticeably shrinking. Now, he possessed the complete shape of a human.

The man even performed the trick of throwing his body onto a horizontal bar and doing pull-ups while running.

“If you don’t start! You can’t! Become strong!”

Though it was merely hanging rather than a pull-up, Se-min pulled in his arms and desperately twisted his body.

The words that one cannot become strong without starting were what Shadowless Killer Dam Woo-gwang hyung had left on the post Se-min wrote while drunk that day.

“Even if you die! Die! Beneath the sun!”

It was the shout of Death Lord Geherdt hyung.

“I! Am not! A coward!”

And the great words of his most respected hyung, the Greatest Demon of All Time Dokgo Cheonma hyung!

Se-min was gradually recovering his former self. Before his ego was buried in abundant fat, Lee Se-min was a man who walked around with shoulders back on grit and pride, even without aura.

“Uwaaaaaaaaaah!”

Anyone looking might think he was doing some life-or-death self-discipline training, but he was merely hanging from the bar and wriggling faintly!

Even so, at this very moment, Se-min fought a battle against himself and achieved another tiny victory.

“Hoo!”

He let out a single shout and jumped down from the horizontal bar. His arms were loose, but his lower body was still ready to run.

It was the moment Se-min was about to run along the park path immediately.

“You are always working hard.”

A fresh voice drifted in from somewhere.

Turning his head, a slender woman in training wear was smiling.

“Ah, yes.”

Se-min replied indifferently.

“It’s because I see you every time I come.”

“Yes.”

“I was impressed. It’s rare to see people working this hard.”

“Yeah, well.”

Se-min’s attitude was cold as ice.

Kim Seon-ha’s expression changed.

“I’m sorry. I must have disturbed you.”

“Not at all. Farewell.”

While saying it was not so, Se-min began running past her as if he had been waiting. His body fat shook with every step.

An absolute iron wall!

It was not because Se-min was a sage who treated women like stone, or because she was not his style, or because he was a born-to-be badass who naturally exuded the scent of a bad boy.

Se-min smelled it.

The smell of a Raider.

“Dirty Raider bastards.”

Kim Seon-ha was exuding aura. Since he was not at a level to measure his opponent’s boundary, he could not know precisely, but she likely exceeded the Blue Mark.

“Raiders are my enemies.”

He was someone who had entered a private Raider training facility and struggled. Therefore, he knew the physiology of Raiders well.

To speak from the conclusion.

They won’t become human.

Borrowing Director Kim Deok-bae’s phrasing, most of them were fellows who would never become human.

As Raiders are born with aura, they are guaranteed physical force far stronger than ordinary people. Even a champion of various combat sports could not defeat the lowest tier Blue Mark Raider.

They were beings trained to face monsters in the first place. Their points of comparison were not humans, but guns, missiles, and mortars.

On top of that, economic abundance was also guaranteed.

This brought about a class consciousness.

Even the guys who smiled good-naturedly had class privilege dripping out if you split their heads open.

Because Se-min was someone who associated with prospective Raiders somewhere in the middle—neither an ordinary person nor a Raider—he knew that fact better than anyone. Therefore, he held a hostility toward Raiders.

Furthermore, his weight had gone up, making him fat. Sometimes, you just grow to dislike successful people.

“Hup, hup… As expected, I was right.”

Se-min panted heavily and nodded.

Indeed, he was not wrong.

Because the woman he had seen earlier was chasing him from behind, openly emitting aura.

As she passed by Se-min, she spat out.

“Keep working hard, fat mister. Though it won’t be of much effect anyway!”

The woman sneered at Se-min while scattering a faint aura and overtook him ahead.

It was a speed at which Usain Bolt, the last ordinary person who was the fastest in the world before Raiders appeared, could not even show his face. Before that, he would have been slapped by the owner of a business card shop for trying to print a card in the first place.

“As expected, they won’t become human. Hup, hup.”

What a crude personality, returning the favor like that just because he treated her slightly coldly.

“You have to become human, human. Hup.”

Se-min suddenly noticed a man running toward him from ahead.

A man wearing sports sunglasses, his short athletic pants fluttering. He possessed marathon runner legs with clearly visible muscle definition.

Although he was not perturbed by the massive speed of the woman passing him, he flinched upon seeing Se-min running with his heavy body.

Then, he firmed his mouth and raised his fist.

Se-min raised his fist in return.

If mountaineers had ‘The summit is near!’ or ‘Have a safe hike!’, marathoners had this silent exchange of greetings.

Respect.

The two shared that as they passed each other.

Would that woman running off in a cloud of dust in the distance even know such a thing? Raiders are indeed fellows who will never become human.

Se-min revived his fading energy and burned fat.

“Hurrah!”

It was today.

His weight, measured for the last time, was 100.2 kilograms.

Today, once this sprint ended, he would finally be able to obtain the quest reward.

***

Se-min returned home and, without even showering, immediately connected to the Transcendent Network.

Welcome, Unemployed Jobless Lee Se-min.

Transcendent Network.

A community connecting the transcendents of each dimension.

When he wished for the Transcendent Network in his mind, the connection message popped up. The General Board appeared immediately.

Several posts had been uploaded. From lamenting one’s fortune to self-boasting and trivial personal stories, it was no different from any ordinary internet board.

Se-min also wanted to post, but he held back.

He had made up his mind to take a break from message board activities for the time being until he could stand proud before the transcendent hyungs and nunas.

“I wonder what Iana nuna is doing lately…”

Out of habit, he searched for Iana’s name using the page navigation keys in the window.

“What is she doing that she isn’t even showing her face?”

Se-min was hooked on Iana.

Having bound him tightly and treated him like something trivial, she had revealed her gentle true intentions and worried for him before leaving, causing him to harbor romantic feelings for her.

Yet she was a person too distant to reach.

‘Then, transcend.’

Those words of hers were another driving force moving Se-min right now.

Unfortunately, unlike ordinary internet communities, the Transcendent Network did not have search functions or a function to skip multiple pages at once. Therefore, to find past posts, he had to repeatedly click the next page button himself.

It was a pity for Se-min, who wanted to browse the site’s history once.

“Ah, whatever.”

Se-min turned the page.

He was a person who saved the egg yolk for last.

That was why Se-min had browsed the General Board for no reason.

The final pleasure remained.

He moved to the quest section.

“Now, tell me my weight!”

Measuring member Lee Se-min’s weight. Beep-bip-bip.

Since he had the Transcendent Network, a separate scale was unnecessary.

Member Lee Se-min’s weight is 100.02kg.

“…!”

No, I ran that much, and it’s still not enough?

Are they cheating me?

“Dammit.”

His throat was burning, so Se-min tried to take a sip of mineral water.

Then he froze.

If he drank 100 milliliters of water right now, it would mean gaining that much weight.

Se-min ran to the bathroom and urinated. Because he had just exercised, perhaps due to a lack of moisture, it came out drop by drop.

Member Lee Se-min’s weight is 100.0005kg.

“Ah, this is seriously dirty and petty.”

Se-min blew his nose hard and cut his long front bangs at eyebrow level.

Congratulations! Lee Se-min’s weight has reached 99.99999998kg.

As a quest reward, 100 Transcendent Network points are paid.

Please spend it in a useful place!

In any case, he obtained what he needed.

He immediately clicked on the Tip Board. His access was still blocked.

The Tip Board is accessible from member level Lv2 or higher.

Upgrading your grade costs 100P.

Would you like to upgrade?

Yes, of course.

In this way, Se-min became a proud Lv2 member.

He accessed the Tip Board.

A new world unfolded.

***

Can you walk on water? The mysteries of Water Walking!

Capturing even dragons! One-hit kill ★HELLFIRE★

Take all my secrets

★Martial arts to become supreme★ Sword★Heart★Sure-Hit★Circle!

Ready to shake OK? Dance dance continent dance! Grand Earthquake!

Everything about Breath –Dissection Manual–

As if they had thrown away the dignity of transcendents, everyone on the Tip Board was struggling to draw people’s attention.

On the Tip Board, reading a single post costs 100P, and registering a post costs 200P. When someone reads your post, 10P is rewarded per view.

“This is like…”

Like swans on a lake coughing dryly and acting like scholars on the General Board, here they were nothing but merchants.

Iana was also among the authors.

♥Growing a World Tree with ♥Iana♥ >.