Chapter 3

My growth didn’t progress as I wished, which made my mother suffer more. She was worried when I first started shaking, and her expression of dread reminded me of when I faced the dungeon. It was just a natural movement from suppressing pain, but she thought it was from epilepsy or seizures.

The doctor comforted my mother, saying it was a temporary phenomenon due to my growth spurt, but she couldn’t stop fretting about tiny things like all mothers.

There was no internet back then, so my mother had to learn how to take care of a baby all by herself.

I started to cry on purpose after I realized it made her worry less than when I trembled silently from growing pains.

“Waa! Waaaaaa!” I cried.

My mother couldn’t sleep at all because of me last night and had massaged my limbs until morning.

“I’ll see you later, son. Honey, I’ll try to come home early today if possible,” my father said.

My father went to work early in the morning. I could hardly believe I was seeing him again because I still remember the day I was told my dad had passed away.

Then, I realized that my father’s voice was more distinct than usual, and I could see objects’ outlines very clearly. I had grown up more than yesterday, but my babbling was the same. No matter how hard I tried, I could only say vowels that were easy to pronounce like ahh, uhh, and ohh.

“My son, are you singing?” my mother asked.

Although I couldn’t bring out the status window, I was satisfied with my mother enjoying the moment. My babble was my mother’s energy, and she smiled despite the tiredness.

“I can’t believe I gave birth to this cutie pie. Who made you this cute? Coochi-coohchi-coo~”

My mother didn’t kiss my lips or cheeks, but she saw my toes sticking out from the blanket and gave them multiple kisses. Then, she raised her t-shirt naturally and lifted me up.

The quest would be completed after this feeding, and my stats have increased in other ways as well. It must be a natural value due to my growth. Normal babies around my age developed that much from their mothers’ sacrifices, even if they didn’t have superpowers.

However, points were a different story because it was a unique ability only the Awakened could gather.

I latched onto my mother’s breast. My taste buds were working much better than before, along with my vision and hearing. My mother looked at me with loving eyes as I swallowed her milk that tasted like coconuts.

[Become Healthy 1: Drink breast milk 300/300]

I was full and the survival instinct of moving my mouth would stop when I got a bit older.

[You have completed the quest ‘Become Healthy 1.’]

[Your Health has increased by 1.]

[Your Sense has increased by 1.]

[You have obtained 3 points.]

[Total points: 3]

***

The youngest memory I can recall was of a particular day in 1988. I remember watching the Seoul Olympic opening ceremony on television, and, ever since then, I seemed to be holding a doll of the Olympic mascot in most of my pictures. My memory of 1988 is that single fragment, which feels like an old dream. Before that date, I had only heard about the life of my parents from 1985 to 1987.

My mother and father suffered a lot early in their marriage, and it was true. We lived in a single room, shared a bathroom with the landlord’s family, and used their kitchen when they were not using it.

One day, my mother worked in the kitchen while carrying me on her back. I knew it was the day when I saw fish cakes on the table. My mother had spoken to me about this day for a long time, that she had to steal a few slices of the owner’s fish cakes because she wanted to eat them so badly but didn’t have enough money. She said she cried so much when eating them. The reason why my mother still remembered that day was because of how the owner’s wife caught her and horribly berated her.

Things were happening based on history. My mother glanced out the window and ate an uncooked slice of fish cake. She seemed to have planned to eat only one, but her hand instinctively reached for another.

I had to cry as best as I could because even though it seemed trivial, this experience would become a traumatic memory for my mother.

“Waaa! Waaaa! Waaaaaa!” I cried.

My mother’s hand turned toward me and reached for me instead.

“Baby, okay, okay. Mommy is sorry,” my mother said with a teary voice, then rushed out from the kitchen.

At that time, my mother ran into the owner’s wife, but she was able to pass by without much trouble. This insignificant thing would not change history, and even if it changed, I could live with that for my mother.

***

The news said that the current president, a former military official, visited the U.S. with a formal invitation from their president. My mother was able to relax a little that month as my growing pains had died down noticeably and I stayed calm most of the time. Also, my father brought her his first month’s wages.

As my mother laid down and breastfed me, I pretended to sleep until she fell asleep. I stopped sucking from her breast when she started snoring, then twisted my body sideways as much as I could. My limbs were still out of my control, but it was possible to toss and turn. I tossed my body and after multiple tries, I finally got space to freely move my lips.

People said babies start speaking after about 18 months. However, I had already taken enough rest for the past fifty days and couldn’t wait that long.

It was more urgent to call on the status window than control my limbs. My goal was to open the bronze box that was given as a bonus item when an Awakened called on the status window for the first time.

I was extremely certain that the first person who opened the status window would have an incredible benefit, as the title of being the first always has been. Especially, if it was the title of being the first Awakened…

However, I was only able to babble vowels like ahh, uhh, and ohh. My ‘s’ pronunciation sounded like wind coming out of a balloon since I didn’t have any teeth. One fortunate thing was that the system was generous enough that a perfect accent was not required as long as it was understandable. I started practicing speaking again, next to my sleeping mother.

***

The television my mother turned on was louder than usual. They were focusing on the results of the summit between South Korea and the United States and the agreement that the U.S. would support the direct conversation between South and North Korea. They also highlighted the scene where all these were explained to the three parties’ representatives. It was as if the president was a hero who accomplished a great achievement, despite the fact the current government was under a military dictatorship. It was an era in which our economy was continuously growing. The television only broadcasted hopeful news such as the number of registered cars nationwide was over a million, or that we had become a country great enough to provide humanitarian aid for our enemy North Korea and poor Ethiopia. The news disclosed the dark side of this period, and I couldn’t help but laugh.

It was not only because I knew the history but also the state of affairs in Korea or the changes in the world were just the relics of the old times.

Humanity was not prepared at all for the Day of Advent. I was born and grew up in a time when the Cold War between two ideologies ended, and a new battle arose between human beings under the idea of capitalism.

However, our civilization crumbled so easily in the future, and we were helpless as we faced supernatural events that we neglected as being unscientific. Our politicians, economists and financiers all had been useless. The most serious problem was that we didn’t stop fighting against each other, and the end result was the Eight Evils and the Eight Virtues.

There were people who were called heroes, but there was no one who could be truly called heroic. The boundaries between evil and virtue were vague, and people considered those closer to S class virtuous, and those far away as evil. At least that’s how I felt about the future. Fucking future.

After all that, watching our president pretend to be solemn and the condescending U.S. president’s face on an antique television looked like a children’s play to me.

All the traces of your life filled with ambition will collapse!

“Oh my gosh, my son!”

My mother was astonished at me watching the television so seriously. However, she had no one to brag to, so she talked to me a lot.

This was the time I had been waiting for. My mother fell asleep while feeding me as always, but I stayed awake like the television that was still turned on. I felt something good would happen today since I could hold my tongue when it used to wriggle like eels before. It was the result of practicing whenever I had time. I ignored my awkward pronunciation and focused on completing the words.

Status Window. Status Window. Status Window. Status Window.

I started again when a vowel was sandwiched unintentionally and finally managed to speak the word, albeit clumsily.

S…tatus... Wind..ew

[Name: Na Seon-Hu, Characteristic(1)]

Surprisingly, that was all I saw. My Health, Strength, Agility and Sense values had constantly increased, but I still had a long way to go before those were added to my status window.

[You have received a ‘bronze box’ as a reward for awakening.]

I had expected this much, and the next step is the important one. Please pop up! Please!

[Congratulations! You are the first Awakener.]

I knew it! I was so happy that I almost screamed when I saw the sentence. My small heart beat so fast that my entire chest fluttered, but the next sentence chilled my spine.

[You have received a ‘challenger box’ as a reward for being the first Awakener.]

Challenger box! I was aware that the first Awakener reward would be amazing, but I didn’t expect the challenger box. It was a challenge for S classes in the future, and I had only dealt with it once in my life. Time reversal opportunities were given through an astronomical improbability. The time I spent saving points just to open one challenger box was beyond description. But a 60 day-old baby gets the box? I started to be more scared than happy.

Perhaps, I might have twisted the System’s structure, or I had been chosen like the Eight Evils and the Eight Virtues. I was now sure of one thing: the fact that I was now the first in the race.