Kids These Days Are Scary.
Knock knock knock!
"Is anyone there?"
Two police officers and a neighbor, who appeared to be the one who made the report, anxiously stared at the tightly shut front door.
"Are you sure there's not a fire? Look, just touching the door, it's hot!"
Just like the neighbor said, the door radiated noticeable heat, warm enough to feel through a palm.
As the two officers hesitated in front of the door—which, unlike the others nearby, felt warm—the neighbor spoke up again.
"Shouldn't we call the fire department? What if this turns into a big fire?"
"We're not certain yet…"
Just as the officer tried to calm the resident, she snapped.
"If this place burns down, will you take responsibility, officer?!"
The sharp scolding from the middle-aged woman shut the officer right up. Now that responsibility was being mentioned, the situation grew more complicated.
If there really was a fire inside, they needed to call the fire department immediately.
If the delay in reporting was because of them, they could be in serious trouble, maybe even lose their jobs.
The more senior-looking officer, frustrated, knocked more forcefully on the door.
BANG BANG BANG!
"Is anyone inside? We're responding to a report!"
"Just open the door already! How else will we know if there's a fire?!"
The woman's frantic insistence made the officers visibly uncomfortable.
They couldn't just break into a private home without clear evidence of danger—it could get them in trouble.
And in a situation this urgent, there wasn't time to quietly call a locksmith to pick the lock.
They'd have to break in, but if it turned out there was no real issue, they'd be responsible for the damage—and it wouldn't follow proper procedure.
"We can't damage private property without solid evidence," said the officer.
The woman burst out again.
"What if it turns into a huge fire?!"
"And if it doesn't, are you going to pay for the door, ma'am?"
The younger officer snapped back, silencing the woman.
The older officer stepped in to mediate and calm things down.
"If there was a real fire, smoke would've come out by now. Even if it's a basement, I don't think it's a fire. Maybe they just turned the heater on…"
"Come on! Who turns the heater on in the middle of summer?!"
"Well… if someone was really sick with a cold or something…"
"Does that even make sense?!" CLICK!
Just as the woman was about to have another outburst, the tightly shut door opened.
As soon as it did, a wave of heat poured out into the hallway, brushing past the three people.
"What's going on?"
Seowoon, his face flushed and drenched in sweat, stepped out the door. Seeing him, the officers visibly relaxed.
"Ah, we responded to a report. Your neighbor felt the wall was hot, and the door was warm too, so they were worried there might be a fire and called us."
"What? If you think there's a fire, you should call the fire department… Anyway, there's no fire. I had a bad fever, so I turned the boiler on for a bit."
"Yes, that makes sense. Glad it wasn't anything serious. Honestly, if there really was a fire, we'd already be choking on smoke."
The officer glanced at the middle-aged woman and emphasized his words.
"Well then, take care."
The moment the sentence ended, the door slammed shut again. The woman who made the report was already opening her own door to go inside.
"Ma'am! Please check more carefully before making a report next time. We're busy too. And for fire emergencies, call 119!"
The woman, now speechless like she had swallowed honey, silently disappeared into her apartment.
"Whew…"
As Seowoon let out a deep breath in one go, hot air flowed out of his mouth.
"I really almost died."
If the internal energy technique he had learned hadn't been white flow flame technique, then ten times out of ten, his energy channels would have been torn apart and he would've been dead by now.
Fortunately, thanks to white flow flame technique ability to protect his meridians, Seowoon was able to break through the blocked energy channels and complete a Small Heavenly Cycle , collapsing to the floor as he sprawled out.
"I never imagined the energy from the elixir would go that wild."
Having previously dealt with that kind of energy in another world, he'd been rather confident—but he had overlooked one important fact.
Back then, he had consumed the elixir after completing his Small Heavenly Cycle. This time, he had taken the elixir without having completed it.
Even so, channeling the elixir's energy while partially clearing his meridians to form the cycle was entirely different from forcefully pouring an enormous amount of energy into a completely blocked system.
If he hadn't been able to protect his meridians from the explosively rampaging energy, the police might've found his corpse instead.
"Still…"
Clenching his fist, Seowoon's flushed face was full of powerful confidence.
The energy of the Cheongun Pill that he had absorbed into his lower abdomen filled him with strength.
He was itching to try out this newfound power, eager to put it to the test as soon as possible.
"But before that…"
From a subspace, a martial arts manual appeared in Seowoon's hand like magic.
[Ding! Would you like to learn Fist technique?]
The moment the alert sounded, the manual crumbled into dust, and Seowoon's eyes sparkled as he watched.
If he hadn't learned this movement technique, there was no way he would've made it to the Top 2 in the last game.
The final blow that killed the guy who kept thrusting that massive rapier had only been possible thanks to the eight mirage clones he created by unleashing fist technique to its extreme.
After learning the technique and sitting quietly for a while, the heat that had risen in his body subsided, and his internal energy fully stabilized.
Taking off his sweat-soaked clothes and underwear, Seowoon stepped into the narrow bathroom and took a shower. He then changed into a training suit and stepped outside.
After finishing a meal at his usual diner, he made his way toward the mineral spring at the back of the neighborhood mountain. His steps felt lighter than ever.
Bounding up the mountain with light jumps, his speed made it feel like he was sprinting up at full force.
'As expected! Internal energy really is everything!'
After climbing for a while, he reached a quiet clearing with a few pull-up bars and two benches.
Elderly people were scattered around the clearing, some exercising, others resting.
'Still quite a few people around. I should've waited until sunset.'
He had hurried up, eager to move his body, so of course it wasn't empty.
Just then, a group of students in school uniforms came swarming into the clearing.
There were easily more than ten of them. Seowoon glanced at them casually, but then noticed the elderly people quickly leaving, obviously wary of the students.
The students laughed amongst themselves, seemingly amused, and soon pulled out cigarettes and lit them.
From the side of the mountain, the students' school could be seen below—it seemed like this was a common hangout for them to sneak up and smoke.
Seowoon frowned but chose not to interfere.
After all, it wasn't like he hadn't tried smoking during his school days. More importantly, he'd seen too many cases of adults getting into trouble for lecturing today's youth.
'The sun will set soon, and they'll probably leave once they finish their smokes.'
With that thought, he started doing pull-ups on a bar—but then more students appeared, hands full of black plastic bags.
The moment he saw what they were carrying, Seowoon let go of the bar.
'Seriously? Drinking on a mountain? Is that how kids drink these days?'
He had snuck a drink or two during school trips before, away from adult eyes.
But drinking openly in a mountain clearing before the sun even set? That was something else entirely.
"Hah… Guess this spot's a lost cause today."
As it became clear they weren't just going to smoke but were setting up for a full-on drinking session, Seowoon gave up and started to leave.
Just then, an elderly man, seemingly in good health, briskly walked past him toward the clearing, huffing with righteous anger.
Sensing something was off, Seowoon stopped walking.
'No way… Ah, this kind of development is never good.'
As he thought that, a thunderous voice shouted behind him—just as he expected.
"You punks! Smoking in school uniforms?! What's that—alcohol?! You brats…!"
Seowoon hesitated for a moment, head lowered in thought, but then turned around with a sigh.
Just as he feared, the worst-case scenario was unfolding.
Two sturdy-looking students stood up and hurled foul language at the much older man.
The rest of the students watched the scene as if it were amusing.
Some female students, skirts hiked up and legs splayed out, were egging the boys on.
"Hurry up and get rid of him. Damn, he's ruining the mood."
Just as one of the boys approached the flustered elder and was about to grab him by the collar—
Seowoon opened his mouth.
"Stop right there."
The students, noticeably more tense than when the elder appeared, turned to Seowoon—but sneers were already forming on their faces.
"What the hell. It's that idiot from before."
"Let's get out of here before we get our asses kicked. Getting hit by a kid hurts the pride."
The guy speaking with a cigarette dangling from his mouth was absurdly huge—practically cheating.
He wasn't just tall; he looked like he had done some kind of sport, with a well-built, muscular frame.
Even his shaved head added to his intimidating presence. Seowoon, who was watching him for a moment, stepped toward the elderly man.
"Sir, are you okay?"
"Huh? Y-yes, I'm fine! But these punks, I tell you…"
Just then, the large student's hand shot out toward the old man's chest.
The elderly man was struck speechless as the hand flew in, apparently aiming to grab his collar, but Seowoon reached out his own hand to intercept.
Smack.
Just before the hand touched the old man, Seowoon caught the guy by the wrist and spoke with a calm smile.
"Sir, I'll handle this. Please go on ahead."
"Hmph! Then I'll do just that."
The old man glanced at the massive student whose hand Seowoon had caught, then quickly turned and walked away.
As he passed by Seowoon, the old man mumbled softly:
"Be careful…"
"Ha! Think you're something, huh? You a little punk who used to act tough back in the day?"
A scrawny guy next to the big one spat between his teeth and sneered. The atmosphere was clearly off, and students who had been sitting behind them started gathering around.
"Sung-hwan, just toss him."
The skinny student said that as he touched the big one's shoulder. Immediately, the big student dropped to his knees and grabbed Seowoon's hand with his other hand.
"Aaaghhhh!!!"
Kneeling like he was clinging to Seowoon, the large student looked up at him pitifully.
Thanks to the power ring that tripled his strength, it wasn't hard for Seowoon to subdue someone like that with just his grip strength.
"Sure, you can smoke and drink. I'm not saying you can't. But don't you know how to do it out of sight, with at least a shred of decency? You think bullying the elderly makes you someone important?"
As the heavyset student—apparently named Sung-hwan—collapsed, the other students seemed to realize something was wrong and hesitated.
Just then, a fast-moving one lunged at Seowoon, kicking out a leg.
As the leg stretched forward to push him, Seowoon casually dodged to the side—and the next move of fist technique came to mind.
Tap tap.
"Guhh! Gahk!"
All he did was lightly strike the passing opponent's knee, then tap his neck with the same hand.
That alone sent the attacker clutching his throat and knee, writhing on the ground.
The big guy was still begging Seowoon to let go of his wrist, and the one who had attacked had gone down in an instant—causing the other students to go pale.
"You don't have to revere the elderly, but did it not cross your mind that beating one up is just wrong? You're old enough to know at least that much."
[T/L: Read extra chapters on my ko-fi page "Pokemon1920" : https://ko-fi.com/pokemon1920 ]