Chapter 2

Of course, the name of the talent is a bit strange... But anyway, since I got it for free as soon as I fell into the novel world, it's fine.

"View the details of the talent I just obtained."

Since I got my first talent, I decided to check its effects.

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* Your mental fortitude and resilience become extremely, incredibly, immensely strong.

* The more your health decreases, the stronger this effect becomes.

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However, the simple and straightforward explanation was so different from what I expected that I couldn't help but reread the talent description.

There's no way a setting-heavy novel I know would describe a talent so casually.

I thought it might be a talent on par with 'Indestructible Body,' which is considered one of the best talents for warriors, judging by the emphasis, but I soon stopped thinking about it.

"Ha."

Feeling drained, I threw myself back onto the bed.

The bed, which I had only used for a week, felt as comfortable as if I had been using it all along.

Thinking that today would be the last day I could use this bed made me feel a bit depressed.

Beep! Beep! Beep!

Kang Daeyong's smartphone, which was rolling around next to the bed, started ringing loudly.

I picked it up and stared at the screen.

Today is the day Kang Daeyong and the other main and supporting characters of the novel start at the Hero High School 'SHA (Seoul Hero Academy).'

SHA is a school that has risen to become the world's top high education institution by producing all eight of the 'Eight Heroes,' who are revered as the world's strongest heroes, seven years ago.

With the support of several large guilds and companies, the school's campus is as large as a university, and it is equipped with state-of-the-art facilities and various amenities for daily life and hobbies.

Therefore, it is extremely difficult to get into this school unless you are a superpowered individual with exceptional talent.

Moreover, the admission fee and annual tuition are very expensive, but Daeyong, who is a 'basic living support recipient' and a 'potentially powerful superpowered individual,' was admitted for free due to government support.

This world is short of superpowered individuals who can fight against monsters for some reason.

Thus, the government implemented this support policy to cultivate a large number of powerful superpowered individuals.

In any case, since the school enforces dormitory life, I suddenly found myself having to leave the apartment where Daeyong lived after just a week.

Of course, this part makes me feel a bit uneasy, but the real problem is something else.

"How do I get there? Shit."

I don't know where this dream school is located.

I have no idea why I fell into the novel world, and now I'm supposed to go to the opening ceremony, which is driving me crazy.

But if I don't go, I'll lose my means of survival in this world, where I don't know how long I'll have to stay.

"Should I use a map app to get there?"

So, I was pondering this as the best option when...

"Ouch!"

A splitting headache, as if my skull was being split in two, came with a ringing in my ears.

I clutched my head and squeezed my eyes shut.

It was a different kind of pain from what I felt before being eaten by a dragon in the nightmare.

However, the pain didn't last long and quickly subsided.

"Huff... huff..."

I don't know how many times I had to gasp for breath.

Of course, since I unlocked another talent, the pain was worth enduring, and I consoled myself with that thought.

"...Show me the details of the talent I just obtained."

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* You gain a deep and detailed understanding of the setting of 'The Demon-Eating Reincarnator.' You can review any setting you want by thinking about it in your mind.

* If you command Daewiki to find a character, object, or place, it will automatically locate it for you.

* However, undisclosed settings are replaced with brief hints.

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So, this is what it is.

In reincarnation novels, it's common for the protagonist to be a seasoned reader who receives the novel's text file from the author, and this talent seems to be a similar mechanism.

I don't like the name of the talent, but...

In any case, since the novel has become reality, there might be new settings I don't know about, and there are certainly things I've forgotten from the original settings, so it's definitely a good talent.

"Hold on."

Then, I suddenly thought:

Can I use my talent to understand the sudden reincarnation?

I tried to formulate a specific question in my mind to resolve this doubt.

'The reason I entered the novel world.'

Of course, it doesn't tell me. How about this?

'The way to return to my original world.'

This doesn't work either.

So, do I have to progress the story to find out why I'm stuck in this novel?

I hoped for a cliché breakdown, but the cruel reality I'm facing seems to faithfully follow the clichés of reincarnation novels.

Alright. Let me summarize my situation...

Who dropped me here? The author is the most suspicious.

And the reason, though I have no evidence, is probably something like 'make the ending for the novel I serialized.'

I have to find a way back to my original world by progressing the main story.

"Maybe I should take a shower first."

There's not much I can figure out right away.

I really don't want to go, but I have to visit the school where monstrous superpowered individuals gather.

***

After cleaning my dirty body and putting on the student uniform from the closet, I looked at myself in the mirror.

I had hoped the uniform would look stylish, but wearing it made me look like just an ordinary high school student, nothing more, nothing less.

"I need to build more muscle."

Of course, I can build my body quickly.

SHA students typically start their day with intense training, and I plan to follow the same schedule.

For a while, my diet will include protein shakes, but it's just a matter of time.

More importantly, the key is whether I can handle my superpowers well.

"Can I do it?"

Honestly, I'm not confident.

If there was a talent to help with this, it would be different, but superpowers are activated by finely controlling a special energy called mana.

So, I might have to train hard until I get used to using mana.

I sighed deeply, slinging the bag Daeyong packed over my shoulder.

Is it really right to go to the school without adapting at all?

But thinking about the family and friends I left behind in my original world, I need to move quickly, and I'm afraid of the disapproving looks I'll get if I skip the first day...

"...I'll go."

Muttering this, I opened the front door with determination.

I'm not particularly motivated, but I'm trying my best.

To be continued

Episode 1: Damn Reincarnation (2)

The district names in 'The Demon-Eating Reincarnator' are a bit different from the Seoul I lived in.

Guro, which was destroyed by a monster attack, was rebuilt and renamed 'New Guro,' and Shin Dorim has disappeared, which confirms this setting.

'I didn't expect there to be a Gwanak District in this world's Seoul.'

According to my talent, SHA is located in the Gwanak District.

Although it's a setting-heavy novel, SHA's location was only described as being 'somewhere on the outskirts of Seoul,' without a specific address.

Thinking about it now, there were a few loose ends in the setting.

Why did I read and reread such a novel?

'Ah, yeah. Very well done.'

My talent is quite noisy. It always adds unnecessary comments when I ask it something, and it even reads my thoughts and complains without being asked.

...Anyway.

The apartment where Kang Daeyong lived is the 'Basic Living Support Hero Student Exclusive Apartment,' also known as the 'BLS Apartment,' located in the Gwanak District, which is close enough to SHA to walk there.

The opening ceremony starts at 9 AM, so I decided to walk there leisurely.

"It's cold."

The wind is as cold as a knife, and considering that it was mid-August before I fell into this world, the weather is hard to adapt to.

I took in the first scenes I encountered while walking through the streets.

In the residential area of Gwanak District, there weren't many cars or people walking on the sidewalks.

The peaceful scene, where a monster could suddenly open a 'gate' and attack people, reminded me of the ordinary world I lived in.

If possible, I hope this tranquility continues.

But I know this world is not that easy.

It could be a lawless place where I might suddenly get involved in an incident.

Yes. Even the mother and daughter standing next to me, waiting for the traffic light to turn green, could be involved in an accident in an instant.

"Kyar!"

"Ji-hye! I told you not to run like that!"

As the traffic light turned green, an innocent girl ran across the crosswalk.

A young woman, who seemed to be the girl's mother, followed her.

I also stepped onto the crosswalk to follow them.

But at that moment.

A car, ignoring the red light, sped towards the girl.

"Ji-hye!!"

The woman, who seemed to be the mother, urgently called out and hugged the girl.

They would probably die.

Not only the speed of the car but the aura surrounding it was too lethal for ordinary people.

Makki (魔氣).

A unique energy used by the main enemies in 'The Demon-Eating Reincarnator,' monsters and demons, which is completely opposite to the 'mana' humans use. This energy is like a malevolent hand that brings all kinds of negative effects to humans.

But knowing this doesn't change anything I can do.

I can only watch two people die in front of me.

As the horrific scene was about to unfold, I had to close my eyes tightly.

But if there are cowards who run away, there are also heroes who rush in without looking back.

Everything stopped.

The woman screaming and hugging the girl, the girl looking at the car approaching on the road, and the car speeding like it had lost its mind.

Only I was moving my eyes and fingers normally.

Just as I was surprised by this, another mysterious ability was activated.

A message appeared, and something wavered like mist in front of the car. I knew exactly what that waver was.

Another message appeared.

With the message, I saw a man running towards the girl.

The man quickly reached where the mother and daughter were standing, gently embraced them, and calmly walked out of the road.

Immediately after, time resumed.

Crunch!

The speeding car split in half as if it had been cut with a ruler, and the girl and her mother were safely rescued.

The hero who rescued the mother and daughter asked them with a smile.

"Are you both okay?"

That man seemed to be someone I knew.

His handsome appearance, which could make several women cry, and the fact that he had made several heroines cry in the story, made him stand out.

He was the top-performing student among the new students at the school I would be attending.

A man who shines brightly but is also dark.

The man is the protagonist of this novel world, the reincarnator, Choi Yuseong.

***

"It's the work of an Electromagnetic Ghost again."

"Yeah. I don't know how many times this has happened lately."

A few minutes later, the police arrived at the scene and cleaned it up.

The handling of the incident was surprisingly quick.

According to the police, this incident was caused by an 'Electromagnetic Ghost.'

The Electromagnetic Ghost is a very rare monster that parasitizes electronic devices and cars, and it can only be detected when it causes trouble.

The method to eliminate it is simple: destroy the device it is parasitizing, and the Electromagnetic Ghost will also be eliminated.

This method works because the Electromagnetic Ghost cannot escape from the device it has parasitized, a ridiculous setting.

In any case, Choi Yuseong, who was directly involved in the incident, gave a few testimonies at the scene and was released with the excuse that he had to go to the opening ceremony.

I also witnessed the incident from a very close distance, so I told the police what I saw and went to school with Choi Yuseong, as we were both wearing the same student uniform.

"My name is Choi Yuseong. What's yours?"

"...Kang Daeyong. Nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too, Daeyong."

I shook hands with Choi Yuseong and had a conversation.

We talked about where we lived, which middle school we graduated from, what our hobbies were, and other common topics for first meetings.

Choi Yuseong listened to my story attentively.

On the other hand, while talking to him, I was thinking about something else.

What is ■■'s ■■?

An ability that can nullify even Choi Yuseong's god-like talent.

Is it one of my undiscovered skills or talents?

"You were amazing. I wouldn't have dared to jump in."

Of course, since there's nothing to be gained from wondering, I decided to flatter Choi Yuseong.

If I get on the protagonist's good side, my school life will be much easier.

"Haha. It's nothing. My talent just enhances my reflexes."

This guy... How can he lie so smoothly without changing his expression?

His talent is a power in a completely different realm from reflexes.

To put it simply, it's a power that can alter the very essence of the world.

In any case, the monster with a talent that can be considered a divine power is this protagonist.

'Choi Yuseong Information Window.'

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Name: Choi Yuseong