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Chapter 3
Once the sun went down and night fell, Haneul got back home and received a phone call.
It was a call from the Hero Organization. I knew it was going to happen eventually, but they sure work quickly. ‘It’s exactly as Minah predicted.’ Because of the large amount of casualties that happened from the misinformation given by the Organization, Minah told me that the Organization would be on the lookout for me. The official number of those that died in that incident was 1,500 people. With that many casualties, if it was world A (where he’s normally from), that would have been a large number of people dead. Unfortunately, in world B (where he’s at now), that many people dying was a common occurrence once the earthquake hit a certain level. – “When the ma.s.sive earthquake hit us 4 years ago, there were 4 waves of monsters. Many more people died that day, and even heroes were dying left and right.” Minah messaged nonchalantly. That’s when I started to understand things a little better. In world B, people live their lives as if they’re going to die at any moment. ‘So that’s why everyone was so nonchalant in that gory situation. They say people are adapting animals, and I guess that’s true. They just accept things as how they are and continue to live their lives normally.’ Anyways, because the Hero Organization was getting a lot of negative public opinions regarding their error, they needed to find a scapegoat which would be the unidentified Hero in Silver. That’s just how the world seems to work. ‘Well, at least things are a lot clearer for me since their reaction is so transparent.’
“Yes, I understand. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
The phone disconnected. The organization was very clever, and Haneul felt that he needed to adapt to this world. He was still confused with many things, but he was clear on what he needed to do. ‘I have strength right now, so I need to use it for a good cause.’ The Haneul from the past would have never thought like this, but the Haneul now was able to think decisively on what he needed to do. Although he wasn’t able to recognize it himself, Haneul could feel a change inside his heart. Whether that change came from his transport to a different world, or if it was because of the hero Black Walker, or if it was from the strength given from the silver ring, n.o.body knew. But the truth was that Haneul was currently changing. * * * * “Oh man, it’s already time.” Haneul went outside. The Hero Organization was located in Gangnam. Now that I think about it, the original world……Just out of convenience, let’s separate the worlds as world A and world B. Either way, Haneul was able to find another difference with the 2 different worlds, and because there were so many differences, it was harder for Haneul to find similarities. Anyways, the other difference was the name of the locations. For world B, the vicinity in and around Seoul up to Kyung-gi do, was considered to be a special territory. As for the other locations, they were separated into Second Territory, Third Territory and so forth. It’s not exactly the same, but it felt similar to America’s administrative system of independence, which is why these territories were able to become closed territories. ‘This would never have happened in World A’s South Korea.’ The phone rang. Haneul frowned and debated on whether he should pick up or not. “h.e.l.lo.”
“Hey mom, what’d you need?”
“Yeah, it just happened that way.”
She’s going to come? Haneul felt very uncomfortable. The him from World B might think differently, but the him from world A had lost his mother 9 years ago. This was the evidence that showed that he did not belong in this world. He already recognized his mom’s death, so he could just be rejecting her right now. Having to think about all this by himself was already weird. No matter what, his mom will always be his mom. ‘Why do I feel so uncomfortable with having to meet mom?’
“Yes, I’m listening.”
“No, it’s nothing. Alright. Please make me something good to eat.”
After the phone disconnected and even to the point where he got off the subway, Haneul had a very uncomfortable expression. Until just moments ago, Haneul had his mind filled with the conversations he might have at the Organization, and the type of people he might meet there, but now all he could think about was his mom. That’s when the messenger rang. – Hey Haneul, I’m asking because I’m worried but you’re not lost are you? It was Minah. – There’s nothing to be worried about. I told you, the basics are still the same as my world. – Well that’s a relief. I’m still worried though, since you don’t seem to be stable. It would’ve been better if I went with you, because I’ve been there a couple times before. She’s been there before? – Why did you go there? Is that a place where normal people usually go to? – Huh? What do you mean why? Did you forget that I’m also a hero? Minah’s a hero? How shocking. During his conversation with Minah, he finally left the station and now stood in front of the Hero Organization’s grand building. “What reason are you here for?” “Ah, my name is Haneul Kang and I was scheduled to come here today.” “Ah, so you’re Haneul, we’ve been expecting you. Follow me please.” The guide pa.s.sed over a visitor’s pa.s.s with a smile. Gulp. Haneul was already feeling overwhelmed with just looking at the exterior of the magnificent building. He was a normal civilian. If this was still world A, he would’ve finished his major in computer engineering and found a job within that field. This building he was in now was something he would have only seen from his drama shows he watched. The first place they stopped by at was the 3rd floor. With the view of what looked to be an office, Haneul couldn’t calm his heart down. That’s when someone from inside the office appeared. “Hahaha, you’ve finally come. Welcome, it’s nice to meet you. My name is Yoo s.h.i.+k Kim, and I am the HR director for the Hero Organization.” “Oh, h.e.l.lo. My name is Haneul Kang.” If he’s the HR director, isn’t that a pretty a high position? As the female guide put her head down and walked away, Haneul followed HR Director Yoos.h.i.+k into the office. As they stepped into the office, Haneul was even more anxious. “You don’t need to be anxious. Now, in order to get things started, will you please sign a couple of basic paperwork for me please?” “Yes, of course.” The first doc.u.ment presented was the doc.u.ment of registering as a Hero. Hero name. Haneul hesitated a bit at the first blank spot. ‘Should I put my name down as the Silver Knight?’ The him from this world used that name and the other names Minah said he thought of were too horrible to even consider as Hero names. There has been examples of hero’s using their real names, but for the most part, they would create a separate persona for when they were acting as heroes. It was similar to when super stars made separate nicknames, it was so that people could remember them more easily. A hero’s income had a lot to do with their popularity level, but if you are popular and have strong skills, people will respect you more. This could be the reason why heroes try to stand out to the population by having fancy costumes or fancy names. And there were a couple of other truths that Haneul found out after surfing the web. The heroes in this world were closer to being super stars more than anything and was completely different from what he pictured. Many heroes would create blogs for themselves and write about the deeds that they’ve done. They would also schedule interviews on it and try to appeal to the people. There has also been cases where these heroes would show up as a guest on TV programs. As stated before, heroes did this in order to raise their popularity and to make extra income on the side. One can say that the money they got from the government was close to being non-existent, because there are many cases where hero’s would make more money from doing side jobs. ‘A Rank C hero relatively does the least amount of work in an earthquake situation, but there are still cases of deaths like Black Walker. Their salary is at about $4,000 a month, but for a B rank hero who gets mobilized frequently, their salary is at about $6,000. Seems pretty unfair. In world A, no one would want to fight and protect the people with that little amount of money, but I guess this world is like this because it’s in a special situation.’ Either way, Haneul has never made that much money before so to him, it was quite a lot of money. If only the job wasn’t so dangerous. Haneul thought it was weird for a hero to have such low income when their lives were on the line, so he decided to look up a regular civilian’s salary. He was able to see how different his knowledge was when it came to money in this world and his previous world. In this world, the valueof life was very low so Life Insurance was basically non-existent. Haneul found out that even the most expensive Life Insurance was only $20,000. ‘I guess the value of life dropped because of the frequent deaths that happened every day.’ That wasn’t the only thing, this world’s tax percentage was unusually high as well. It wouldn’t be a lie if one said that the government took almost half of the income made. At the same time though, the society’s dependence on the government is also quite high. But for heroes, they were able to take home all of their income and no tax was taken off from it. On top of that, heroes were able to gain various benefits from public inst.i.tutions. ‘The South Korea in my world is so different from the one in this world.’ The name was the same, but there were way too many differences outside of that. “What are you thinking about?” “Oh, nothing. I zoned out for a second.” “Many people think hard when it comes to their hero name, since it’s something that will stick with them for the rest of their lives.” “I’m sure that’s true,” responded Haneul with a short answer, and continued to write down Silver Knight. Yoos.h.i.+k stared at Haneul intensely. “You have a very different image compared to what I pictured. It’s a very realistic feeling. No, I guess it’s closer to being too normal. You first appeared in front of everyone with so much splendor that I thought you would definitely love being in the lime light. Haha, any who, are you okay with the name Silver Knight? Now that I look at it, even the name is really normal.” Normal huh……….. Haneul first thought that Silver Knight was a very embarra.s.sing name, but that changed when he looked up other people’s names online. Silver Knight was a very normal name. It’s quite spectacle to see when you look up the popular names on the hero list. Mister Goldman, Perfect Revolution, Master King, Grand Kaiser, Darkman of the Night…….. How do heroes walk around with names like that when it’s so embarra.s.sing. “Now, let’s move on to the next test.” The elevator stopped on the 4th floor. “Welcome. The test you will be taking today will be…….: In an empty room painted with white walls, the atrophied Haneul was standing in the center, preparing for his test. The tests consisted of testing one’s magic volume, physical, psychological, and in-depth oral interview, but Haneul had no idea what was going on. “Ummm……..” “Oh, please place your hand on that machine there and supply it with your magic.” “Supply it with magic……” Haneul tilted his head. ‘I wonder if this will work.’ The hospital didn’t tell Haneul how to apply his magic, so he tried to remember the feeling from back when he fought the monsters. At that moment, something warm flowed out from his hand. RINGG.
The result was out. The person in charge of running the tests had a shocked expression. “How outstanding. There aren’t many heroes who awaken with such strong powers right from the beginning.” Haneu was told that some heroes live their whole lives staying within their same rank. When compared to them, Haneul was gifted. Once the measuring was completed, Haneul proceeded to the room next door. “h.e.l.lo, it’s nice to meet you. My name is Kyung s.h.i.+k Yoo and I’ll be in charge of testing your magic mastery. To start with, are you able to control your magic yet?” “Control my magic? Is this what you’re talking about?” At that moment, the ring on his finger emitted a bright light and magic was released. Flutter. The silver armor wrapped around Haneul’s body in a quick second, and Kyung s.h.i.+k stared at him with wide eyes. He was told from the top to check Haneul very thoroughly, but it seems like he didn’t need to anymore. There was no mistake that the person in front of him was the hero that showed the electrifying battles in Central South a little while ago. That brilliant silver armor, it’s the Hero in Silver. “The Hero in Silver! So, it seems like you really are the hero from Central South. It’s an honor to meet you. There isn’t anyone as hot of a topic as you are right now.” “It kind of just happened that way I guess.” “Well, there’s no reason for us to continue with this test. You’ve already shown us your powers and skills through your battles. Please proceed to the next test.” Kyung s.h.i.+k showed the way to the next room with a face full of smiles. The next test was a psychological test. Heroes had super powers and if there was a problem with them psychologically, many problems could arise. Those who weren’t registered with the Organization usually turned out to be criminals. That was the reason why the psychological test was mandatory. All the questions were regarding justice and self sacrifice, so finding the correct answers weren’t hard. Should I say it’s similar to a moral test one takes at school when they’re younger? Once the test was finished, Haneul confidently waited for the test results to come out. The results were out. “Ummm, the result was a 72 percent. It’s right on the borderline but you were able to pa.s.s.” “Huh?” Haneul’s eyes went wide from the test results. It was a result he’s never thought of. He was sure that even if he made mistakes, there would only be a couple. To be 72%…….. ……finding the correct answers weren’t easy. Chapter 3 – End.
