Chapter 1: Remaining Within the Limits of Being Human ans You Would Be Vaporized By a Taepodong
I don’t rember what was the trigger. All I know is that ever since I can rember, I’ve always yearned after “powers in the shadows.”
Was it because of ani? Manga? Or movies? Actually, it doesn’t really matter. As long as it was a power in the shadows, it didn’t matter what it was, I loved it.
Not the hero. Nor the last boss. I’m talking about those existences that work their interference and flex their true strength only from the shadows.
I adored them, and wanted to be one of them.
What heroes were to everyone else was what powers in shadows were to . That’s all that was.
But unlike those children who adored heroes, mine was not a short-lived passion. It was sothing much deeper, sothing that burned from the depths of my heart, and it continuously propelled forward.
Karate. Boxing. Kendo. Mixed martial arts. And more. To beco strong, I threw myself into learning everything I would need, all while hiding my strength. For the sake of the day when I would get to reveal myself.
At school, I was diocrity itself. Harmless to man and beast, one and all. Mob character A.
But on the flip side of my everyday life was grueling training.
That was my youth, and that was my school life.
But as ti passed and I grew older, unease pressed upon . It beca ti to face reality.
The reality that all my effort was aningless.
No matter how many martial arts I master, I would still be far from the overwhelming power possessed by those powers hidden in shadows depicted in stories.
The most I could achieve would be the strength to beat up a few punks. If firearms ca into the picture, things would get tough. And if I got surrounded by soldiers wearing full equipnt, well then, that’d be ga over.
Power in the shadows that gets beaten up by soldiers. How laughable.
Even if I spent several more decades in training, even if I beca the world’s strongest martial artist, if I got surrounded by soldiers, I’d still get beaten up. Mm, or maybe I would be able to handle it sohow. Perhaps, with enough training, humans might possess the potential to beat up soldiers even if originally surrounded.
However, even if I could beat down every single soldier, if a taepodong fell on my head, I’d get vaporized. That is the limit of being a human.
(T/N: ‘Taepodong’ is a North Korean ICBM.)
This alone I could say with utmost certainty. The power in shadows that I adored would not get vaporized by a re taepodong. Which ans that I, too, had to beco a human who wouldn’t be vaporized by a taepodong.
What is it that I needed such that a taepodong wouldn’t be able to vaporize ?
Punching power?
A sturdy body?
Endless stamina?
Of course not.
I would need sothing different, an altogether different kind of strength.
Magic, mana, qi, aura, anything was fine. I would need to acquire a mystical power of so sort.
And that was the answer that I had arrived at, after facing reality.
If there was soone searching for real magic, I’m sure everyone would doubt that person’s sanity.
So would I. Of course he’s insane.
But, well, how is it really?
In this world, no one has yet been able to prove the existence of magic. But on the flip side, neither has anyone been able to disprove, with utter certainty, that magic does not exist.
Sanity would not grant the strength that I sought. It for sure is sothing that lies beyond the realm of insanity.
From that point on, my training beca much more difficult.
Magic. Mana. Qi. Aura. No one knew how to learn any of these.
I ditated Buddhist-style, I ditated under waterfalls, I ditated quietly, I fasted, I mastered yoga, I converted, I searched for spirits, I prayed, I even affixed myself to a cross.
There was no correct answer. My only option was to keep going down the path that I believed in, all alone in the darkness.
With the passage of ti, I finally approached the last sumr of my high school era.
I still had yet to find magic or mana or qi or aura......
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After finishing the usual training, I realize that the sky has beco completely dark.
I put on the underwear that I’d dropped next to before threading my arms through my school uniform.
I still had yet to grasp a mystical power. However, I feel like I’m making so progress in my recent training.
Such as right now.
Having just finished a training session, there is a bright light flickering on and off inside my head, and my vision is wobbling unsteadily.
Either magic...... or perhaps aura......
I am definitely feeling the effects of either one of those.
I can say that today’s training was aningful indeed.
By taking off all my clothes while in the forest, I was able to feel myself becoming one with nature. By continuously banging my head against a thick tree trunk, I was able to purge my mind of distracting thoughts AND stimulate my brain to encourage it to awaken to mystical powers.
It is a perfectly logical training nu.
Aah, my vision is blurring over.
It’s almost as if I’m suffering from a cerebral concussion.
With floating steps – it’s as if I’m almost floating through the air! – I co down from the forest.
Abruptly, I see a swaying light.
Two lights actually, swerving through midair.
How mysterious they are! They seem to be guiding , inviting .
“C-, could it be...... magic?”
I approach with tottering steps.
It must be! It’s magic!
Finally! I have finally found a mystical power!
Before I knew it, my steps have turned into a dash. There are tree roots in my way, but even when I trip I continue rolling towards the lights, simply plunging forward like a wild animal.
“Magic! Magic! Magic! Magicmagicmagicmagicmagic!!!”
I jump out before the two lights, and grab......
“Ah......?”
The headlights dye my world pure white.
The sound of screeching brakes reverberate inside my head.
The shock penetrates my body, and I...... my...... magic............
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In conclusion, I did find magic.
When I woke up, my surroundings was filled with magic. It’s a bit different from those two lights that I saw at the end, but hey, who cares about the insignificant details.
Oh right, and another insignificant detail is that I apparently reincarnated. Perhaps it was because I found magic that the gate of reincarnation opened for . Or whatever. Again, who cares.
At the mont, I am a baby of several months. It was only recently that I ca to be fully aware, and my sense of ti is still a bit blurry, so I’m not sure of the exact details.
Above anything else, I don’t understand the language. All I do know is that this world has a dieval European-like culture, which, well, I suppose is good enough.
Because what actually does matter is that I have finally gotten my hands on magic.That is the be all and end all. The process and other extra details are of no interest to .
As soon as I’d co to, I had noticed the magic. The sight of those glittering particles floating around in the air is exactly like what I had felt while running through a field of flowers buck naked as part of my training in my previous life.
That training was by no ans pointless. The proof of that is the fact that I’d imdiately been able to sense magic, and that now I’ve beco as proficient with it as with my own hands and legs. This feeling is just like that ti when I had affixed myself to a cross while buck naked...... no, it is like when I had repeatedly converted religions and danced in prayer while buck naked...... I’m sure every bit of my training is now bearing fruit.
I’ve already confird that physical strengthening is indeed possible.
Pouring all the free ti that a baby is blessed with into training, this ti for sure I will beco a power in the shadows...... ah, gonna poop.
Speaking of which, I’d learned sowhere that birds are incontinent, but so are human babies. No matter how much my reasoning tells to resist, my instinct screams at to let it out. However, with the physical strengthening that I had spent days and nights training up, I constrict my anal sphincter to buy ti, during which.....
“GYAaaaaaAAAA!”
...... I call for help.
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