Chapter 4 – A New Routine
The blue screen hovered silently in the air, its glow casting faint light on Raizen's face.
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[SYSTEM]:
"Complete all quests of this verse. Then you will get the answer to that question."
---
Raizen Nocturne — now Kang Minjae — narrowed his eyes.
(Raizen, thinking):
"So I won't get any real answers until I clear this world completely…"
He sighed and crossed his arms.
Raizen:
"So... what's my first quest, then?"
The screen flickered again:
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> [QUEST]:
Objective: Go to school.
Reward: EXP + Bonus Reward.
---
He stared blankly at it for a second, then blinked slowly.
Raizen:
"...Really? Go to school?"
His shoulders slumped. The absurdity of his new "epic journey" starting with a school bell almost made him laugh.
Raizen (muttering):
"It's already evening. I guess I'll go to school tomorrow."
He dragged his sore feet down the cracked sidewalk. Each step echoed in the near-empty streets, the soft hum of far-off traffic barely audible.
Raizen (quietly):
"Let's go home now…"
---
Home — if that's what you could call it — was a rooftop room above a run-down convenience store. The kind of place people forgot existed. The kind of place where hope came to die.
The store owner didn’t care about him. He just liked having a free worker who never complained. As long as the shelves were stocked and the register rang, Raizen could sleep upstairs.
The ceiling leaked when it rained.
The fan made death noises whenever it spun.
And the bathroom? Shared with two other tenants. One of them hadn’t flushed in weeks.
Still…
Raizen (thinking):
"Better than the white room atleast."
He tossed his bag on the floor, flopped down on the thin mattress, and stared at the ceiling fan.
Raizen:
"My old place wasn’t luxurious… but the owner of this body? He was barely living."
He rubbed his eyes, then sat up.
Raizen:
"Whatever. Let’s check my powers."
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> [POWER 1 – COPY]:
Can perfectly copy talents and skills after observation.
---
His eyes lit up slightly.
Raizen:
"I’ll be going to school tomorrow… probably meeting the typical bully squad. I should copy some basic combat skills just in case.If they turned out be strong or too many.No one can know what might happen in different word."
He opened his phone, searched a few martial arts tutorials, and focused hard:
Brazilian Kick
Basic Boxing Combos
Muay Thai Knees and Elbows
Few karate moves
Few kick boxing moves
Few Aikido moves
Few Sumo moves
His body absorbed the moves. He could feel the flow of motion. His muscle memory synced with the demonstrations — but only partially.
He got up and threw a few test punches in the air. The technique was there, but his speed and control were sloppy.
Raizen:
"I can use them… but not perfectly. This body’s still weak. Guess I have to train it like my old one."
Then a realization hit him.
Raizen (confused):
"Wait… I have the same power level as before. Does that mean… I couldn’t use them properly even back then?"
He blinked. Then shrugged.
Raizen:
"Whatever. I’ll figure it out later. Right now… I need sleep."
He set an alarm for 5:00 AM and collapsed onto the bed.
---
[Morning – 5:00 AM]
The alarm blared — shrill and heartless.
Raizen groaned but rolled out of bed without complaint. Years of mental discipline kicked in. He found the toothbrush, washed up, and stared at his reflection.
His eyes were tired, but focused.
Raizen:
"Let’s exercise and stretch first. Nothing heavy — just enough to wake up the muscles."
Jumping jacks. Pushups. A few light kicks. His joints creaked, but his blood began to flow.
A familiar rhythm returned to his limbs. It wasn’t much, but it reminded him who he was.
Raizen glanced at his phone.
6:30 AM.
Raizen:
"School starts at 7:50. Takes about 25 minutes to get there… Old Minjae was always late. But I’ve got time."
He headed toward the small mirror outside the shared bathroom.
His eyes widened slightly.
Raizen (surprised):
"This body… It’s different. Slightly more defined. Muscles showing. Still shorter than me, but… he doesn’t look bad anymore. Is this the effect of just stretching and exercises?"
---
[SYSTEM]:
"I have modified this body to match the power level of your original one."
---
Raizen:
"So that’s it…"
He leaned closer, staring at himself.
Raizen:
"I don’t know if I look like Kang Minjae anymore… or someone else entirely."
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7:00 AM
Raizen:
"Time for breakfast."
He checked the cabinet.
Raizen:
"Instant ramen. Classic. Not much of a breakfast, but it’ll do."
He boiled water using a cheap electric kettle, poured it into the styrofoam cup, and sat quietly while the noodles soaked.
He picked up the chopsticks.
Tried to eat.
Failed.
Raizen (deadpan):
"…It looked so easy in the videos."
He gave up and grabbed a spoon instead.
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7:20 AM
Raizen:
"Time to go school."
He locked the rooftop room and walked downstairs. The street was still cool, the sky turning from pale blue to golden.
He remembered the school was around a 10-minute walk and after that 15-minute bus travel.
Raizen (thinking):
"Let’s try running. Let’s see how my stamina holds up."
He took off down the sidewalk.
Two minutes later, he was already there — barely sweating, heart rate steady.
Raizen (grinning):
"Stamina’s solid. Nice."
He waited for the bus, surrounded by half-awake students in matching uniforms.
One kid was watching a K-pop MV. Another girl was yawning into a book. The buzz of normalcy filled the air.
The bus arrived.
Raizen stepped on, grabbed a seat by the window, and watched the city pass by.
His fingers tapped nervously on the seat. Despite everything — the system, the powers, the killing, the explosion — this part still made him anxious.
The quiet moments.
The small, fragile bits of peace.
Raizen (softly):
"A new life, huh… Let’s see what this world throws at me first."
He arrived at the school gates at 7:35 AM.
His new story… had just begun.
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End of Chapter 4
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