episode_0001

“So… you’ve been living alone since you were 14?”

As I nodded, the female civil servant’s expression twisted.

“Senior. Isn’t this complete abuse?”

“So, what about contact with your family…”

As I shook my head, the male civil servant sighed. An hour had passed since we sat facing each other in the narrow one-room apartment, exchanging stories.

They looked serious among themselves; I wish they would just leave.

Seoul City officials visited my home as part of the Isolated Youth Support Program.

I wondered how they knew about me, only to find out that the landlord had filed a complaint with Seoul City.

“Tsk. Useless troublemaker…”

It seemed they were worried about me, who spent all 365 days of the year at home.

Perhaps they were concerned about finding a body in their building, so they decided to intervene.

A wannabe web novel writer spending their days writing at home—what else could they be doing?

Living a life cut off from family was indeed true.

In a world where superhumans fly in the sky.

In South Korea, where everyone awakens and lives.

In such a society, I, who failed to awaken, was rejected by my family.

My older sister and younger sister had awakened when they were young.

In contrast, I, who failed to manifest any ability, suffered abuse, constantly spitting blood from insults and beatings, citing shame on the family.

The day I entered middle school.

I was ordered by my biological mother to move into a one-room apartment near Mt. Gwanak.

There was no resistance against a Grade 5 superhuman on the verge of stepping into the realm of superheroes.

Six years have passed since I extended my life by receiving a million won monthly through automatic transfers.

Even that money stopped coming in once I turned twenty.

“Mr. Kim, you are in a situation of emotional and physical isolation. It’s very dangerous.”

“I’m fine… really. I told you.”

“But not having a family is also a difficult situation.”

Looking at the civil service ID, it read Kim Ayoung from Seoul Special City.

It had been years since I had been this close to a woman.

A fragrant scent wafted from her, appearing to be in her twenties.

Her long hair fluttered over her left chest.

Seeing her fair skin made me curious about her inner self.

“In Seoul City, we provide various services. Please participate!”

“No, I have to write web novels, so…”

“We also have activity-based programs like sports and hobbies. Would you like to see them here?”

Why did they come if they were only going to say what they wanted to say?

I listened absentmindedly to the civil servant’s explanation that I couldn’t swallow no matter how much they said.

“A nice smell.”

To catch the scent, I approached her a bit more. Body wash. Or maybe shampoo.

Or it could be hormonal scent emanating from her crotch.

“…………”

Sniffing loudly from the side, she glanced at me, her words trailing off.

“Well, do you have any concerns or need help?”

“Concerns…”

“Yes. Concerns! Would you like to talk about it? Financial aspects are honestly a stretch. There’s a budget set by the city…”

When asked about concerns, I hesitated.

Still, she was a kind civil servant who seemed caring. Looking at the kind Kim Ayoung civil servant, my confidence surged.

“S-s-sex.”

“Sex…?”

“Yes. I want to have sex.”

I had been a virgin for twenty years.

Although my appearance was fine, due to the abuse, it was hard for me to make eye contact with people.

As a result, during my school days, I mostly kept to myself.

Talking to a woman for this long was also a first for me.

Thanks to the woman in front of me, I had been aroused for a while. The scent she emitted was so enticing that I wanted to lie in bed and inhale it all night.

At the mention of sex, Kim Ayoung’s face gradually contorted.

Beside her, a man who couldn’t hide his confusion gave me a sharp look.

“Just now, what Kim Shin said is indeed sexual harassment.”

“You asked me to talk about my worries…”

“No matter how much, that’s right.”

With a shocked expression, Kim A-yeong licked her lips. She began to stare at me intensely.

“Ki, Kim Jumugwan…? What, what? No! Hey!!”

She raised her clenched fist and swung it towards my face.

Thud!

I was thrown back and slammed against the wall with a single blow.

The strength to subdue a twenty-year-old adult male in one strike. I felt a dizzying sensation shaking my brain after a long time.

Kim A-yeong was skilled.

“Hey! Kim A-yeong! What if you hit a civilian!”

“Senior. It’s so damn annoying. You heard it! Ugh. I really can’t stand being a public official. Damn, being of low rank makes me a bad woman.”

“Oh my god. I’m going crazy. Uh, there… Kim Shin? Open your eyes!”

Uwah.

Feeling dizzy, I started dry heaving.

In the end, as I vomited out what was inside, the blurry vomit material appeared crimson. Liquid also dripped from my nose, and wiping it with the back of my hand revealed that it was blood too.

“Hey, hey…! Kim A-yeong. Damn it… Call 169 emergency services immediately. Right now!”

“Yes. Oh, okay.”

169 Emergency Services.

A fire station unit composed of superpowered individuals specializing in healing abilities, providing initial treatment to patients and sending them to the emergency room.

*Splatter*

As if my head was splitting with a severe headache, everything turned white before my eyes.

Feeling like my body was floating, suddenly a tearing sound, a creaking sound, began to be heard from my ears. The sound converged into a rumble, not of a man or a woman, but of a neutral voice.

[……Kill them, kill them. I am the ■ of this ■ planet. Kill the humans… I need ■… Kill them. It’s too ■. Purify. Kill them… Be my ■… My will… Power… Give ■… Purify…]

These incomprehensible words repeated the word “kill” countless times until gradually fading away.

After the sound ceased, a refreshing sensation spread through my temples.

Something descended down the back of my head, enveloping my entire body.

Feeling every single vein, it was both chilling and exhilarating.

“Excuse me. Patient, snap out of it! Can you hear me?”

My vision returned.

Opening my eyes, I saw several people looking down at me.

“Ha. Phew, thank goodness. Will Kim Shin recognize me?”

As I nodded, the man’s pale face relaxed. Kim A-yeong, who had hit me, looked down at me with a worried expression. The paramedics were also in my room.

“I’m fine… Please, everyone leave.”

“……!?”

Having too many people in my space made me uncomfortable.

After insisting multiple times for the man, who always asked to be contacted in case of trouble, to leave, I finally managed to send him away.

As the guests left, I went into the bathroom to wash my face.

“Ha. So much blood spilled.”

The endlessly flowing blood had miraculously stopped.

Taking off the blood-stained clothes and putting them in the washing machine, I washed my face while looking in the mirror.

“What, what is this…?”

Strange things began to appear before my eyes.

A blue square window was floating there.

***

“Hey. Didn’t I tell you not to hit people recklessly? Huh? You’re a civil servant now. If you report this to the media and make it public, not only us but even the mayor will get into trouble, do you understand?”

The man came out of his studio apartment and scolded Kim A-yeong.

As the neighborhood was what it was, there could be unpleasant situations, so he had thoroughly discussed it beforehand.

University-dong, Gwanak-gu, Seoul. It was a high-crime area densely populated with goshiwons and studio apartments.

There had been a recent murder case in a goshiwon nearby, so they were on high alert because their studio apartment was right next to it.

But seeing his junior beat someone up like that left him speechless. He had worried about his hot temper, but he never imagined the man would actually hit someone.

“Are you listening to me? Why are you just standing there blankly?”

Kim A-yeong stood still, absentmindedly stroking her blood-stained hands.

“Seo, senior… I think something is strange.”

“I also find it strange why you did that.”

“It felt like my strength was draining the moment I hit him…”

“When you beat someone like that against a wall, your strength drains away.”

Kim A-yeong felt frustrated that her senior wasn’t paying attention to her words.

“No, it’s not that… I think I used my ability!”

“What do you mean?”

Suddenly angered by the junior, the man looked at Kim A-yeong with puzzlement.

“My rank may be low, but you know I’m a special case, right? I’ve had a similar experience before. When I was young, I had a friend who used to tease me a lot, and I couldn’t bear it, so I slapped him.”

“Then and now, you’re the same.”

“The problem is that friend awakened after that. And he’s a Transcendent… a Grade 6 Ability User now.”

Grade 6, where those with killing abilities are distributed among most Ability Users and tens of thousands of villains.

The man’s expression momentarily showed confusion.

Then he turned around, glanced at the one-room apartment, and rolled his eyes from side to side.

“No. Nothing will happen. We did well in counseling today, and we won’t need to see each other again. Right?”

“Seo, senior… Is that person… going to be okay?”

“Yeah. He’ll be fine. Let’s go quickly. We need to write the report and leave work, right?”

“Yes…”

The man hurriedly ran downstairs without looking back.

Kim A-yeong alternated between looking at her blood-stained hands and the one-room apartment, her eyes trembling.

‘It’ll be fine.’