Haneul’s face went awry.
* * * *
Haneul returned back to his home.
The three of them used to live here in the past, but now he was alone and the scenery inside the house didn’t feel too different from before.
Haneul’s head was hurting and everything just felt like a dream.
He was sure that once he slept and woke back up, everything would be back in place.
Haneul fell asleep as if he fainted and by the time he opened his eyes and awoke, the sky outside was dark. Monsters, transforming, heroes, and…….his mother.
It was too hard to say that everything was a dream, because this “dream” was too vivid with details.
Haneul turned his computer on to search for news articles.
The Hero in Silver……..
It wasn’t a dream.
Haneul tried to pull the ring off his middle finger again, but as usual, the ring didn’t budge. If only it had a will of its own……
Flutter.
A bright silver light flew out from the ring and enclosed itself around Haneul.
His head ached.
Haneul searched online, meticulously, regarding heroes and earthquakes.
Each search came with quick results.
The first earthquake phenomenon happened in the early 70s, where it simultaneously sprung up all over the world. At first, it turned out to be a strange anomaly but as time pa.s.sed by, monsters started to appear. This was also around the time when humans with special powers started to awaken. These people were so strong, that they were unable to be compared with normal human beings. The government recruited them, and they were later known to be called as heroes.
All of this info was something very new to Haneul, but for the rest of the world, not knowing these details was even weirder.
Haneul looked at his ring.
“Yeah, it must be this ring. Everything seems to have changed after I put it on. I knew there was something different about it.”
The fact that the ring didn’t come off, and with the incidents that happened at the terminal, the more Haneul thought about it, he realized that the world flipped upside down after he got hit with the strange dizzy feeling.
Would everything change back to what it was once I take the ring off?
That’s when Haneul’s messenger rang.
Minah Choi.
His eyes grew round as he saw the name and picture of the person who messaged him.
“Minah? What for……”
The messenger continues to ring.
– Hey, Silver Hero!
– n.o.body else can recognize you, but I can! Why didn’t you tell me?
– Why aren’t you responding back? Are you busy?
“…….”
With a blank expression, Haneul looked at his log book and saw that Minah was part of his contacts.
Another situation that was different from his “other world”. Minah was just someone who he said Hi to every now and then, not someone he messaged on the phone. He didn’t even have her number to begin with.
– I see that your reading my messages, but you’re not responding. If you continue to ignore me, I’m going to call you instead.
Call?
They were close enough to be on a calling level?
– Oh, sorry. Is there something wrong?
– I guess now you decide to respond back to my text huh? What do you mean is there something wrong? You’re trying to hide this even from me? I’m just texting you to congratulate you on your awakening.
– Awakening?
– Stop trying to play with me. That Silver Armor. You used to always show off saying that when you awaken, you were going to look like that. What did you say again, Silver Knight? Yeah, that’s right, Silver Knight. You seemed to have had a spectacular debut yesterday morning, in Central South, without even telling me.
She told him as if it was a matter of fact, but it was something that Haneul knew nothing about.
Minah seems to be someone who’s really close to Haneul in this world.
– Even if you’re someone who likes getting attention, I’m sure there are a lot of people who wouldn’t like it if they knew you didn’t properly register with the organization, yet still went out and fought like you did yesterday. Well, I don’t know what you had in mind when you did that, but feel free to tell me everything. I’m right around the corner from your house, so come out right now.
– What??
– Don’t make me wait. I’m going to get mad.
As Haneul looked at the time, it was past 7 P.M.
Minah came here just to meet him?
With a frustrated expression, Haneul threw on some clothes and walked out.
There were a lot of things running through his mind.
What type of relation did he have with Minah in this world?
‘And awakening?……Does that mean that the Haneul in this world originally didn’t have the ability to transform?’
That meant that n.o.body in this world knew the type of powers that Haneul had in his hands.
Haneul walked with a complicated face, and decided to take things one step at a time.
“It’s okay. I’m not going crazy. There’s nothing wrong with me.”, muttered Haneul, as if he was rea.s.suring himself.
The place where Haneul was supposed to meet Minah at was a cafe known for its cheap prices.
Haneul was pacing back and forth outside the cafe. Minah, the girl he always looked at secretly, was meeting him one on one. His head felt like it was going to explode with so many questions, yet his heart was beating fast regardless.
As Haneul was pacing back and forth outside of the cafe, he glimpsed inside to see a girl sitting there alone.
‘Minah…….’
It really was that Minah. A slender face with big eyes, she was even fashionable and super popular with all the guys. Even now, all the guys inside the cafe were secretly staring at her and admiring her.
With a firm decision, Haneul walked into the cafe.
As soon as he did, Minah lifted her head and with a smiling face, she waved her hand. All the guys that were staring at her in secret, now looked at Haneul with envy and jealousy.
Haneul walked up to her with a disbelieving face.
“What are you doing? Sit.”
“………..”
Haneul sat in front of her.
“Are you going to drink anything?”
“Ah, no, I’m okay.”
“Really? Alright. Now, can you start telling me the details. Why were you hiding the fact that you awakened? No, Isn’t it normal to have at least told me about it?”
Awakening…..
The existences known as heroes always go through an awakening phase, which only half of those who hold magic will go through. When the internal magic blooms and opens a path to special powers, that’s when it’s called an awakening.
“What, why aren’t you talking? You’re being weird today. With your face expression from earlier as well, what’s wrong? Are you not feeling well? Is it because of your awakening?”
Minah extended her hand and placed it on top of Haneul’s forehead. A shocked expression could be seen.
“Wow!! Haneul, the amount of magic in your body has skyrocketed.”, said Minah with an excited face, but Haneul didn’t hear her at all.
It was because of her action just now, that his heart was beating fast.
“I’m sorry to ask this out of nowhere but……what exactly is our relationship?”
“What?”
Minah’s face became cold.
“What is that supposed to mean?”
“Ah, nothing, there’s no meaning behind it. It’s just……..I’m not in the right mind right now. There are a couple of things I can’t seem to remember. I, I hit my head on the scene yesterday, as I was fighting.”
“What? If that’s true, you should go to the hospital. Have you gone? You should have gotten a hero examination at least. That reminds me, it’s been told that there have been situations of people being anxious after awakening. Since it’s late tonight, let’s go get it checked tomorrow.”
Haneul was sure of it now. He and Minah weren’t normal friends and could be something closer to being girlfriend/boyfriend status. Her face expression from before proved it all.
“Hey Minah.”
“Don’t call me like that. It sounds like we’re complete strangers. You really can’t tell who I am? Can you not recognize me at all? Should we try going to the hospital right now? No, we should definitely go. Let’s go.”
With an anxious face, Minah grabbed Haneul by the arm and tried to get him to stand up. But he didn’t budge.
Going to the hospital wasn’t a good idea.
If he told them that he came from a world without heroes and magic, he was sure that they would think he was crazy.
‘Let’s tell her the truth. If the ‘me’ from this world has a special relationship with her, it’s better off letting her know everything.’
“I have something to tell you. It’s something you need to know if we are in a serious relationship.”
Chapter 1 – End.