CHAPTER 3: AWAKENING

Suddenly, the light became so bright that it was blinding.

 

It could have been nothing more than mere coincidence and timing, but Lee Jin-woo stared at the light as if he had gained sudden enlightenment.

 

An absurd possibility crossed his mind, and his instinct whispered to him with conviction.

 

“…”

 

The experiment began immediately.

 

Shortly thereafter, the light dimmed and brightened repeatedly according to his will, then rapidly flickered and went out completely.

 

And at that moment, a curse erupted from one side.

 

“Don’t mess around!”

 

It was a vulgar, rude, and aggressive tone and voice that immediately extinguished the excitement that had been building up from the supernatural phenomenon that he just felt and witnessed.

 

However, what hardened Lee Jin-woo’s expression, like flipping a bucket of cold water over himself, was the overly familiar feeling, despite hearing something that should have been clearly unfamiliar.

 

The voice of his senior, who had driven him to the point of death.

 

Lee Jin-woo quietly turned his head to where the sound came from, wondering if it was really him, and saw the man who had been rescued with him, silently spitting curses towards the empty air.

 

Although he appeared to be mentally unstable, Lee Jin-woo couldn’t stop himself from scrutinizing his appearance.

 

I paid little attention earlier, so I didn’t notice…

 

Upon closer inspection, he vaguely recognized his senior’s face.
If he hadn’t witnessed the change in himself firsthand, he would have just thought they looked alike.

 

The reason he didn’t recognize the other much quicker could be attributed to his mistake.
However, considering the temperament that was clear in the other’s speech and attitude, as well as the context in which they were situated, he was almost certain of his identity.

 

“Ugh, he’s having a fit.
It must be his innate disposition…”

 

Lee Jin-woo, who had been watching his senior curse at the air, turned his head at the sound of a sigh beside him.

 

Cliff, who had woken up from his nap, shrugged his shoulders and spoke to Lee Jin-woo in a calming tone.

 

“Don’t worry too much.
He’ll stop talking soon.
The security agents are patrolling, so they’ll take care of the lighting.”

 

“Okay.”

 

Although Lee Jin-woo was boiling inside, having discovered that he was on the same train as the culprit who had nearly killed him, he couldn’t act rashly.
It wouldn’t be good to cause a commotion while security agents were patrolling.

 

Click!

 

Lee Jin-woo quietly lowered his hand, which had been raised, to turn the lights back on.

 

For some reason, he had a feeling that revealing his ability or his past life identity would not be beneficial.

 

He shouldn’t stand out unnecessarily for the sake of a peaceful life, he thought, recalling the wisdom he had gained from his difficult social life.

 

***

 

The train fell silent once again.

 

Jin-woo struggled with his complex and confused thoughts.
In his heart, he wanted to grab someone and ask them everything about the current situation.
But the problem was that there was no one around him who he could trust.

 

Although Cliff was kind, Jin-woo couldn’t completely trust him since they had only recently met.

 

In the end, Jin-woo rummaged through the sling bag he received from the information desk and pulled out a guidebook he could rely on.

 

 

“…”

 

It was too thick to be read in one go, but he searched for the parts he was curious about.

 

『Manifestation of Supernatural Abilities

 

It has been investigated that the brain function of 1.5th generation reincarnators who have awakened their supernatural abilities has improved by 110-120% compared to their past life.

 

It is speculated that the activation of these brain functions has led to the manifestation of supernatural abilities.』

 

Jin-woo was seeking guidance regarding the measures and techniques to consider when awakening supernatural abilities, but he couldn’t discover any practical advice in the guidebook.

 

Instead, the guidebook repeatedly emphasized the need to report to the government when supernatural abilities manifested.

 

『Benefits of voluntary self-reporting of supernatural abilities:

 

·       Payment of settlement support funds

 

·       Payment of compensation for participation in research institute experiments

 

·       Employment support from related companies/institutions』

 

There were various incentives to encourage voluntary reporting.

 

Looking at it from a different perspective, it implied that others could not become aware of someone’s superpower unless that person chose to reveal it voluntarily.

 

…Yes, it’s probably best to keep my mouth shut for now.

 

It’s a common law that if one flaunted their exceptional talent recklessly, they were likely to become a tool for others.

 

It might be possible to settle down comfortably for a while, but the rest of one’s life was bound to be uncertain.

 

There was always the possibility of being scouted by government agencies or large corporations and becoming a human machine, a secret weapon, or even an experimental subject.

 

Jin-woo struggled with the thick guidebook for a while, but most of the information was just surface-level.

 

In the end, he didn’t gain much and just stared out the dark window with dull eyes.

 

There was no clock to confirm the time, but it was clear that it was quite late.

 

It would be wise to sleep when he could because he didn’t know what was waiting for him tomorrow.

 

But his mind was filled with thoughts of experimenting with his new ability.

 

Jin-woo looked around, hearing people snoring, and quietly got up from his seat.

 

There must have been some outside space between the train cars…

 

Thud.

 

Clunk, clunk…

 

He made his way out, but the space in front of the door was too visible from inside.

 

“…”

 

The train wasn’t running at a particularly fast speed.
Jin-woo hesitated for a moment, then climbed up the ladder next to the door and onto the roof of the train.

 

Contrary to his worries, the roof was flat, and there was a low fence-like handrail to sit on.

 

He settled into a comfortable position and looked up at the dark sky, still drizzling with rain.

 

Despite getting soaked in the rain and having his hair blown around by the wind, his gaze remained fixed on the loud, rumbling clouds.

 

The clear presence that was nothing like the light inside the train awakened the senses all over his body.

 

“…
“

 

Jin-woo reached out his hand as if possessed by something.

 

Zap!

 

A small, vivid bolt of lightning revealed itself.

 

No matter how professional he was at handling electricity, he couldn’t logically explain this phenomenon.
He could only understand it through his senses.

 

He realized he could control electricity.

 

***

 

The next morning, the scent of fragrant coffee filled the train car where Jin-woo slept.

 

“Hey, wake up.
You have to eat breakfast,” Cliff said, opening the curtain on the window.

 

“Ugh…”

 

Jin-woo, who had been tossing and turning slightly, groaned as he quickly turned his head at the sudden rush of sunlight.

 

“What’s wrong?”

 

“It’s breakfast.
Are you not getting up? Here, I brought coffee, so drink it and wake up.”

 

Jin-woo thanked Cliff and accepted the coffee.

 

However, the sunlight coming in through the window was still dazzling, so he furrowed his brows.

 

“Your irises are such a light color, you’ll have a hard time under the sun.
You’ll have to buy sunglasses when you can finally earn money.”

 

“…”

 

“Let’s go to the convenience store first and grab some food.
The government probably provided some support funds on the point card they gave you.”

 

As they arrived at the train convenience store, Cliff saw his companions from yesterday scattered around, having breakfast.

 

It was a common morning scene of workers seen on the job site.

 

The only thing that bothered Cliff was the sight of a senior citizen eating bread like a dementia patient in one corner.

 

“Wow, there’s no shortage of pigs around here!”

 

“…”

 

Even Gilbert’s behavior, who was laughing and watching from the side, was enough to make him annoyed.

 

 

“Gilbert, stop bothering our busy friend.”

 

“Don’t worry, I’m just trying to get friendly with him.”

 

Although it was an ambiguous comment, Cliff did not want to raise his voice from the morning, so he did not press further.

 

***

 

“Come to think of it, do you remember your name?”

 

As he took a bite of a sandwich that was not much different from those on Earth, Cliff asked, and Jinwoo just remained silent.

 

Then Cliff nodded with an understanding expression and extended his hand.

 

“I guess you still don’t remember.
Well, there are a few people among our party who made up names because they couldn’t remember in the end.”

 

“Ah, I see…”

 

“You seemed to study the guidebook diligently yesterday.
Did you manage to look through it all quickly?”

 

“I couldn’t understand a lot of things just by reading it.
Like the 1.5 generation or non-citizens…”

 

“Well, to put it simply, we call those who suddenly appear like you as the 1.5 generation.
On the other hand, those who were properly born and raised in this world are the 2nd generation.”

 

“Then what is the 1st generation?”

 

“It refers to those who live on Earth.”

 

“So what do non-citizens mean?”

 

“It refers to people like us.
Unlike the 2nd generation who were born and raised within residential areas and have citizenship from birth, the 1.5 generation have to buy their citizenship with money.”

 

“…Are you saying you buy citizenship with money?”

 

Cliff pointed at the point card hanging around Lee Jin-woo’s neck with a bitter smile.

 

“You have that card, right? You need to accumulate enough points to exchange for 300,000 Brings.”

 

“…How much is that Brings worth approximately?”

 

“Well, roughly equivalent to dollars.”

 

At the shocking statement that they need to accumulate about 300,000 dollars, or approximately 3 billion won, just to get citizenship, Lee Jin-woo’s expression involuntarily became despondent.

 

“That’s not a small amount of money.
However, it’s fortunate that we don’t need to struggle to find jobs.”

 

Lee Jin-woo recalled what he had heard from the information desk clerk.

 

“You mean working at a factory?”

 

“You can work in a factory, or become a Roamer like me.
Oh, if you were a professional like a doctor in your previous life, you could easily get by here too.”

 

Cliff grabbed Jin-woo’s hand tightly, his two eyes shining suddenly.

 

“Those who can remember things quickly, like you, are the kind of people who did something great in their past lives.
Honestly, I’m quite hopeful,” he said.

 

“Is, is that so?”

 

Jin-woo was proud of himself as an electrician, but he had doubts about being referred to as “someone who did something great.”

 

“If you remember your past talents or skills, you should definitely apply for an interview.
If a company or organization is in the middle of hiring, you might be able to obtain citizenship right away.
Of course, you’ll be starting from a pile of debt.”

 

Cliff let go of Jin-woo’s hand and continued, “Isn’t it better to live like a proper human? But if things go well later on, don’t forget our connection.”

 

“Okay, I won’t.”

 

Jin-woo replied with an awkward smile.

 

“By the way, Mr.
Cliff, what do you do?”

 

“As you can see, I’m a Roamer.
I don’t fit well in a factory.”

 

 

Seeing Jin-woo’s curious face, Cliff explained his job as a roamer.

 

“We call those who travel by train and collect valuable resources Roamers.
Since there are risks involved, the pay is good, and we usually work in teams.”

 

“What about when you discover something?”

 

“We are actually in the middle of collecting.
We had a day to spare while the train is stopped at the next station, so we plan to finish up the job then…”

 

Cliff looked at Jin-woo as if he were measuring something, then asked him with determination.

 

“Hey, would you like to come watch us clean out a beehive?”