ReLife Player

Chapter 107

Unlocked chapter (2/6)

[The difference between man and monster].

A man hasnt been feeling well for several days.

When he tried to eat, he felt sick to his stomach, and when he fell asleep, his head throbbed.

There were times when he blacked out.

Every time he woke up and realized he was walking down a street he didnt recognize, he was terrified.

Ive been working too much lately.

The man made a living carrying construction materials.

Even though he was living in a slum, he was proud of his hard work because he didnt steal from others.

The truth is, I didnt have the courage or strength to steal.

If he had, he would have made a comfortable living stealing from others.

The man turned a blind eye to that fact and occasionally congratulated himself on his shamelessness.

Thats right, Ive been working too much, a man should play sometimes, Ive been working like a fool.

In truth, the man knew.

He knew that the pain he had suffered in the past few days was not caused by his work.

He had been scolded by the foreman for being lazy even at the construction site.

Today was no different.

He was walking down an alleyway that led into the slums when the warden scolded him for staying late.

This way, Ranger! Stay with him!

Hes going into the slums!

Dont let him get in! Dont let him do any damage!

He could hear people shouting between buildings.

The man shrugged it off as none of his business, and continued on his way, drinking a bottle of soju from a convenience store.

Then he came face to face with a monster that had fallen from the sky.

It was the seventh-ranked monster, the Mosquito Fly.

As its name suggests, the monster looked like a cross between a fly and a mosquito, its red eyes the size of a human head darting back and forth as it stared at him.

!!

In an instant, the monster stabbed him in the shoulder with its slender stinger.

There was no sound.

It was so sudden that it took him a moment to realize what had happened.

By the time it turned around, its body was weak and it had fallen to the ground.

There it is! Go!

Leader! Hes lying on the ground at the scene of the crime, what should we do?

He must have been drinking. He looks fine.

Still, shouldnt we follow the manual.

Ha, yeah. Lets get him to the hospital and see what happens.

That day, the players of the Maronie Knights somehow managed to defeat the Mosquito Fly, who fled to the slums.

The man woke up in the hospitals emergency room, and when no visible trauma was found, he was discharged.

But he remembered.

The Mosquito Fly had stung him in the shoulder.

Nothing.

Was it a dream?

It couldnt have been a dream.

There was no mark on his shoulder, but the pain he felt was real.

From then on, I felt unwell.

But I didnt have the courage to go to the hospital.

I was scared. I was afraid of what they would say.

I couldnt afford the exorbitant medical bills.

Again, he was a man living from day to day.

Why are you here now? Your mana accumulation is quite advanced.

He couldnt take the pain anymore.

One day, while washing his face, he was startled to see a giant fly in the mirror.

In his dreams, he would see himself transformed into a fly.

It was horrifying.

I had no choice but to go to the hospital.

In a serious tone, the doctor gave him a diagnosis that he had denied was possible.

Mana accumulation.

A condition in which mana builds up in the body beyond what the body can tolerate.

Well have to run tests to be sure, but from what I can tell, it looks like a dangerous condition that could cause a mana explosion at any moment.

You should be hospitalized and monitored for treatment-.

The doctors advice fell on deaf ears.

The man didnt know how he got out of the hospital. He vaguely remembers running away without paying the bill, using the excuse that he needed to get his things.

No, no, no, this cant be.

He couldnt afford the hospitalization costs, and he couldnt believe that he, who didnt even have the average amount of mana in his body for an adult, had mana concentration disorder.

He swiped at his face with his hand.

Then he looked.

Hic!

His hand had become the hand of a fly, overgrown with black hairs.

No, no, no.

This is an illusion.

Im just tired.

The man shook his head, repeating himself.

The hand was back to normal.

Then his vision shook.

What the hell.

The same scene split and joined together in his vision.

His eyes felt like they were popping out of his head.

He groped with his hand, and the flys arm came back into view.

No. This shouldnt be happening.

The man pulled a slide phone out of his pocket.

The slide phone showed the head of a fly.

Hafh, hufh, hah-!

He dropped the slide phone.

He ran without bothering to pick it up.

No, no, no, you cant do this!

The man repeated over and over again.

He ran, gasping for breath. Hands came and went at the edge of his vision, sometimes the hands of a fly, sometimes the hands of a man.

His stomach was churning. He felt like he was about to vomit, but nothing came out.

His head throbbed.

His eyes felt swollen. He felt like his eyeballs were expanding as if they were about to pop out.

It was all because of his mood.

At an unbelievable speed as a human, the man denied his situation while running.

Huck, huck.

He was out of breath. After running nonstop, he put his hands on his knees and caught his breath.

He was in terrible shape. He couldnt speak.

Mister, are you okay?

At that moment, a boy stepped into the shadow he had created.

A child with a swimming bag in his hand looked up with a worried face.

The man tried to speak.

Im fine.

But the words that came out of his mouth were different.

Oh, dont come.

Something boiled inside him, and a sensation of bloating washed over him.

Oh, its hot. Do you want to go get some ice cream?

Yeah, okay~!

I agree~

It was a day with a heat advisory.

The heat was so intense that it seemed like it was going to melt their bodies, and there was no shade on the street.

Eunhyuk, who was sweating and fanning himself with his clothes, pointed to the supermarket in front of him.

The children ran to the supermarket, not knowing who was first.

Hayang stepped on an overturned plastic box and rummaged through the ice cream.

Ha, it looks like were going to get some.

We wont be late, will we?

Its okay, we wont be late.

Seona, wearing a straw hat, checked her wristwatch as she ate her ice cream.

It was summer vacation.

The kids had agreed to meet at the Olympic Memorial Community Center for a day of fun in the pool.

Hyun-ryul and Alchemy combo would come as soon as they finished school, and the rest of them would meet at the appointed time.

Seona, who helped out at Happiness during her vacations, was on her way to the pool with Eunhyeok, whom she met on the way with Hayang.

Ice cream is cool!

While Seona worried about the time, Hayang sat on a bench, wiggling her feet that didnt touch the ground, savoring her yogurt ice cream.

Eunhyuk was doing the same, leaning back and enjoying a pipico.

I dont know.

Seona decided to do the same.

Leaning back, she brought a tankboy to her mouth and pressed it firmly with her fingers.

The swimming pool is right in front of us, so we wont be late.

Most likely, Captain also got too hot and had to stop for ice cream on the way, making him late.

Eunha is always late.

At least we have Minji. Shell bring Eunha .

Hayang, I dont think you know yet.

Choi Eunhyuk sticks his tongue out at the pipico in his mouth.

Dont you know that Minji is the one who iss going to eat the most?

He lowered his voice to a tone that suggested he wasnt meant to be heard.

Yeah, Ill tell Minji.

Tsk, tsk, shes not a foodie.

As if she knew that, Seona popped the Tank Boy into her mouth and scooped up the ice cream. Her tiny fangs clamped down on the Tank Boy and her fingers worked rapidly.

She clicked her tongue out loud as she stuck the popsicle stick out, just like Eunhyuk had done, and it was sloppy.

Anyway, it wont be a problem if were a little late.

Eunha might be late.

My dad said a man of his word is a good man.

The kids were cooling off and making small talk.

As they were getting up to leave, they noticed a man gasping for air in the sun.

Doesnt he look like hes sick?

Even from a distance, the mans condition was strange.

He seemed to be catching his breath and screaming, clenching his chest as if it was tight.

Is it the heat? He looks like hes about to collapse. Ill take a look.

Oh, Eunhyuk, dont go!

Something is wrong.

Hayang felt an uncomfortable sensation when she sensed the mana coming from the man.

Though indescribable in words, the mana emitted by the man was fluctuating.

It felt like the mans mana was changing moment by moment.

It was as if his internal mana might burst out at any moment, swaying.

The others seemed not to feel it, but she could.

Its dangerous.

He shouldnt go.

But Eunhyuk had already moved closer to check the mans condition.

No, we shouldnt go.

Hayang, whats wrong?

I dont know, but I dont think we should go. No, we shouldnt go.

Seona tried to calm the suddenly agitated Hayang down.

But as she shook her head, she couldnt take her eyes off the mana radiating from the man.

It was strange, too.

His mana was expanding and contracting rapidly, giving her conflicting information, as if he had a split personality.

It was like a split self.

Seona! Eun-hyeok, you need to go get him.

Okay, Ill get him?

Seona looked at her anxiously and realized something was going on.

Her triangular ears peeking out of her straw hat, she stepped toward the man Eunhyeok was trying to help.

Meanwhile, Eunhyuk was-,

Uncle, are you okay?

The man was in bad shape.

The man was sweating profusely.

Eunhyuk pulled out the water hed kept in his swim bag. It was lukewarm, but it seemed necessary for a man who looked like he was going to pass out any minute.

Oh, dont come here.

What?

Eunhyuk looked up at the man, who had bloodshot eyes.

Oh, dont come!

The man threw the plastic bottle away.

The bottle fell to the ground, splattering water.

Uncle, you look like youre in a lot of pain, are you sure youre okay?

Eunhyuk wasnt offended by the mans behavior.

The man looked very sick.

He felt like he should take him to the hospital right away.

He moved closer to support the man.

An, dee.

The mans pronunciation was shaky.

Eunhyuk froze as he realized something.

Th-this kind of ho-hohow.

The pronunciation was crushed.

A buzzing sound rang out.

MisterMr?

Eunhyuk looked up at the man and froze in place.

The man had visibly released mana from his body.

The mans body began to expand rapidly, tearing through his clothes and covering him with enlarged flesh.

DOOOOOOO

Maaaaaaah

Whiiiiiiir

The squirming flesh, like maggots boiling, emitted a sound akin to the tearing of a gelatinous substance.

What is-.

Eunhyuk stumbled backward.

A lump of flesh that could no longer be called human was in front of him.

Squirm, squirm, squirm

The flesh burst open.

Eunhyuk stared at the scene in front of him, unsurprised by the blood on his head.

A monster reminiscent of a worm emerged from the flesh.

It had hairy legs, and eyeballs protruding from the sides of its head like helmets.

What the hell!

He could barely move.

At that moment, the monster that seemed to be a fusion of flies and mosquitoes had set its sights on him.

Mana is a force that can make the heart beat faster with just a small amount.

Every living creature has its own amount of mana.

After all, a creatures only condition is whether it has mana in its body or not.

However, creatures with different amounts of mana have different amounts of mana that their bodies can hold, called vessels.

If you accumulate more mana than your vessel can hold-

Again, mana is a force that can make your heart beat in very small amounts.

The power that defines living creatures as creatures and humans as human sometimes exceeds the boundaries of existence itself.

That power is what creates monsters beyond the concept of being human.