Reality Quest: Questism

The hot water ran down my back, scalding but comforting, washing away the layer of sweat, grime, and whatever the hell else had stuck to me throughout the day. My muscles ached… not the kind of ache that came from a solid workout, my healing water completely took care of that, but the deep, lingering kind that told me I'd been tense for too long.

The encounter replayed itself in my head as I let the water beat against my skin.

I exhaled sharply, tilting my head up to stare at the showerhead. Yeah. It hadn't been an empty threat. The guy had SSR+ everything… a monster in a small frame. But… I'd gotten what I wanted. He was interested. Even if it wasn't friendship, even if it was just curiosity, that was enough. For now.

The shower sputtered as I turned off the water. I stepped out, running a towel over my hair, the cool air of the bathroom a sharp contrast to the fading warmth of the steam. My reflection in the mirror was the same as always… tired eyes, a face that looked mentally constipated, and a body that still had a long way to go. Not strong enough yet.

Not yet. But I would be.

SSR wasn't the limit. Seokyoung wasn't the end. UR, LR, MR, X… that wasn't the end either. I needed to reach EX at the very least to even look upon the end.

And how long did I have to do it?

Dowan had a two-month timeskip. After that, if I accounted for the chaos that followed, maybe one or two more months until his second body upgrade…

Four months.

Four months to surpass Dowan. Four months to reach a level of strength that shouldn't even be possible.

I clenched my fist and knocked it against my chest, the dull thud echoing in the quiet of the bathroom.

I hated this feeling.

Weakness. The suffocating weight of it. The way it shackled me, made me bend when I should be standing tall. Was this really about my father? About revenge? Or was I just chasing strength for my own sake, just so I wouldn't have to feel like this anymore?

Would that even be a good enough reason?

I wasn't a protagonist. I wasn't someone who could rise up, again and again, just for the sake of protecting others. I wasn't some unwavering hero.

And besides Jihan… maybe Siyeon…

Did I even have anyone else I could truly call a friend?

The silence stretched around me, thick and unrelenting. I exhaled slowly, then reached for the sink, splashing cold water onto my face. The shock of it snapped me out of my thoughts, grounding me back in my body.

Then I forced a smile.

"Let's train." I said happily.

And with that, I turned and walked outside.

The night air was cool against my skin as I stepped into the garden, feet moving on instinct toward the third battered wooden post out back. The wood was splintered, worn down from countless strikes, and yet, it stood firm.

Just like me.

Who needed sleep? Definitely not me. I could sleep during school anyway.

No fatigue.

No limits.

Not with the healing water.

***

On the way to school, I opened my Gold Card that I'd gotten yesterday.

Normal Card

The Crew Factor

The user can level up their crew members.

"Crew," I muttered, and then another window popped up beside me.

Siyeon Kim

[Strength: C+]

[Speed: B-]

[Potential: B]

[Intelligence: A]

[Endurance: D-]

Oh yeah, I guess she was the only one that actually joined my crew in the end. A snicker escaped my lips. My Crew.

What a joke. A crew? A crew for what? I wasn't going to conquer Gwanak, I wasn't trying to unite Seoul.

No, I just wanted… I don't even know. 

I don't fucking know.

I stuffed my hands into my pockets and carried on walking. 

I walked up to the classroom door, still feeling the heaviness from the morning. As I reached for the handle, I noticed something strange. The air felt... off.

I paused. The hallway was absent of the usual morning chatter, and as I stepped closer to the door, the weight of eyes suddenly felt way too much.

"Hey, Dowan," Jihan's voice broke through my thoughts. His usual quiet tone was laced with something else. Worry? "You should probably... hold on for a second."

I looked at him, confused. "What? What's going on?"

He glanced nervously toward the door, and I followed his gaze. His hands fidgeted, tugging at the edges of his jumper. "I don't know if it's a good idea to go in there."

"Why?" My mind was racing, the confusion settling in. Jihan rarely acted like this. He was always the cautious one, the one who'd want to avoid confrontation at all costs.

"I think... they're waiting for you," he said.

"Who?" I asked, trying to read his face, but the worry was too much. "What are you talking about?"

He glanced back toward the classroom door again. "Joo Hyun... and his friends. They're in there."

I blinked. "Who?" I felt a sudden jolt of confusion… Joo Hyun? I had no idea who he was talking about. The name didn't even ring a bell. "I don't–"

Before I could finish, Jihan answered. "Yesterday... in the lunch queue? You kind of–..." He hesitated, struggling to put it into words. "You know, you had that altercation with them. And now... he's mad."

Altercation? What altercation? My mind was a blur. I tried to recall anything that might've happened yesterday at school but all I could recall was… him. The day was a haze… something about lunch, maybe a little push here or there, but… nothing major, right? It couldn't have been important if I didn't even remember.

"Wait, wait," I muttered to myself, my mind racing, piecing things together. "You mean, over the lunch line?"

Jihan nodded quickly, stepping closer. "Yeah, but... I don't think they're just letting it go. I don't think they're gonna let you walk away from it."

"I don't... I don't even remember what happened," I admitted, running my hand through my hair in frustration. "Who are these guys?"

Jihan sighed. "They're… well, they're big, and they don't forget stuff like that, you know?" He hesitated again. "I think they're waiting for you to come in and they've got friends with them. "

I raised my eyebrows. "All that and Seong-u didn't beat them up?"

"Well… they didn't cut in front of him so he's just playing on his phone at the–"

Before he could finish, I heard a muffled voice from behind the door, loud enough to make my stomach drop. "Look who finally decided to show up."

I tilted my head. That was definitely directed at me.

It was clear they were already looking for an excuse. But who were they? I didn't even know their names. And why the hell were they after me? I couldn't even remember what had happened.

I opened the door and stepped inside, immediately met with the tension that hit me like a wave. The classroom was eerily quiet. Everyone else seemed to know exactly what was happening, but there were only a few familiar faces scattered around.

And then, I saw them.

Three guys in the back row, two of them I didn't recognize at all, but the third... He was the one that stuck out. Joo Hyun, I guess? But honestly, I wasn't even sure. All I remembered was that he was big, muscular, and he had some kind of beef with me from yesterday. I didn't remember how it started. I didn't even remember the specifics of the lunch line, but the glare on his face told me all I needed to know.

He was waiting for me.

The two guys beside him weren't any better. One had a scar across his cheek, and the other was just as broad, with a grin that looked more like a threat than anything else.

I walked past them slowly, ignoring their eyes burning into the back of my head. The murmurs behind me were loud enough to make the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.

Joo Hyun's voice broke the silence again.

"Hope you're ready for round two," he hissed, his tone dripping with malice. "You really think you can walk away after what you did?"

I paused. What did I do?

I couldn't remember.

"What'd I do?"

His eye twitched and I stifled a laugh. 

He waved his phone around over his head. "You broke my phone screen, you fucker!" He spat, eyes burning with fury. "You better pay the repair bi—"

Crack!

I jabbed out sharply, hitting the phone right out of his hand. The phone flew into the air with a sickening crack, and before he could even process what happened, it soared through the open window behind him.

The sound of glass breaking made everyone freeze for a split second.

I stood there for a moment, still staring at Joo Hyun's stunned expression. The words felt thick in the air. It almost felt too easy.

Joo Hyun's face twisted in rage, his mouth hanging open in disbelief. "You... you fucking idiot!" he shouted, stepping forward.

I moved fast again, slipping under his punch before it even had a chance to land. I ducked, feeling the wind whoosh above my head as he swung at nothing but air. Then, I delivered a clean jab to his side, hard enough to knock the wind out of him. He staggered back, breathless, barely able to catch himself before hitting the floor.

The two other guys, his friends, looked like they were just starting to get the picture, but by the time they even thought about stepping in, I was already in motion.

The one closest to me tried to throw a punch. It was clumsy, slow, like a bad movie fight, and I just ducked under it, my body moving on instinct. 

The second guy, the one with the scar, hesitated for a moment, clearly unsure whether or not he wanted to get involved in this mess. But by the time he decided, it was already over. I pivoted, landing a quick, sharp straight right to his stomach, sending him to the floor with a breathless grunt.

The first guy looked ready to panic, but before he could back out, I grabbed his collar, lifted him just enough to get his feet off the ground, and slammed him into the wall. I held him there for a moment, just long enough for him to feel the pressure of my grip, before shoving him back to the floor.

Joo Hyun was still on the ground, gasping for air, his face red with frustration. He reached for my leg but I kicked him in the face. It wasn't a full-on strike, just a quick tap of my foot, enough to make his head snap back.

A line of saliva sprayed from his mouth as he reeled, the shock of it enough to send him back onto the floor with a groan. No blood, thank God. Even a guy like him wasn't that weak.

Weak enough that a quest wasn't even generated, but oh well.

I crouched down, getting closer to Joo Hyun, who was still struggling to catch his breath. I grabbed a fistful of his hair and yanked his head back until he was forced to look up at me. His eyes were wide, but there was a hint of fear behind the anger now.

"Do I still have to pay for your phone?" I asked, my voice low and casual.

Joo Hyun winced, probably still reeling from the light kick to the face. He was struggling to put words together, his breath coming in sharp, ragged bursts. "N–no, d–definitely not…"

I tilted my head, letting the silence hang in the air for a second. He was trying so hard to regain his composure, but it was clear I'd broken him. There was no fight left in him. He wasn't going to win this round.

"Splendid," I muttered, letting go of his hair and pushing his head back down onto the floor. "Now fuck off."

I walked toward my desk, feeling the eyes of the class still on me, but I didn't look at them. I didn't need their attention. I didn't need their approval.

I took off my bag and hooked it over the side of my desk, then sank into the chair. 

And that's when the sight of someone in the doorway drew my attention. Not Jihan, no.

Eunsung.

He stood there for a second, his figure outlined by the harsh light from the hallway. His gaze locked onto mine, cold and detached, like he was studying some distant, unimportant thing. His expression never changed, that same unreadable, almost bored look that seemed to follow him everywhere.

I raised an eyebrow, waiting for him to say something. For a moment, I thought he might maybe drop some cryptic line, or at least a challenge. But instead, he just... turned and walked away, disappearing back down the hallway without a word.

What the hell?

"Total weirdo," I muttered under my breath, shaking my head. Eunsung was always like that… silent, distant, like he didn't even care about anything or anyone around him. It was almost impressive, in a weird way.

I turned back to my desk, ready to zone out, when my phone buzzed in my pocket. I pulled it out absently, swiping to see the message.

Siyeon: I'll be outside your school gates at the end of the day don't take long

Siyeon: I'm taking you to see the rest of the members of Boramae

I blinked.

Oh. Lovely.

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