The "Antique" Body
Time: Year 2032. 15 minutes post-awakening.
Location: Tokyo Central Military Hospital.
Kenji was analyzing his new "home"—his own body.
It felt like installing a Lamborghini engine into a rusted, decades-old hatchback. If he pressed the gas, the car wouldn't move; it would simply explode.
System windows flashed relentlessly before his eyes:
[SYSTEM WARNING]
Physical Condition: Critical (Muscle Atrophy 60%).
Strength (STR): 2 (Average human: 10).
Agility (AGI): 1 (You are slower than a turtle).
Vitality (VIT): 3 (A light breeze could kill you).
Intelligence (INT): 9999+ (MAX).
Spirit: ??? (Immeasurable).
Wonderful, Kenji thought, attempting a sarcastic smirk, though his facial muscles refused to cooperate. I am the smartest... vegetable in the universe.
Beside him, Laylo was still weeping. She sat pressing her brother's hand against her cheek, her tears dripping onto his dry, withered skin.
"Brother, please... just don't die. The doctors want to turn off the machine. We don't have any money left. I sold the house Mom and Dad left us, but it wasn't enough..."
Kenji's Spirit trembled.
Money? House sold? Turn off the machine?
So, after eighty years of heroism, he was left homeless and penniless in the real world?
Real life is the worst game, he thought bitterly. Zero balance.
At that moment, the ward door rattled open.
A doctor with a thick neck and arrogant eyes strode in, followed by a burly man in a black suit wearing a Guild badge on his chest—a Red Dragon's head.
"Miss Laylo," the doctor said in a cold tone, glancing at the tablet in his hand. "Time is up. We can no longer keep your brother in the 'Hopefuls' ward. He is dead. Brain dead. This is a waste of resources."
Laylo sprang to her feet. Wiping her tears, she blocked the path to Kenji's bed.
"No! He is alive! His hand moved just now! I saw it!"
The man in the black suit—the Guild representative—snorted with laughter.
"Moved? That's just a reflex, little girl. A muscle spasm. Look at him," he looked at Kenji with undisguised disgust. "This boy's body is withered away. Even if he wakes up, he'll be a cripple for life. We need the bed. Wounded hunters from the 'Red Dragon' Guild are coming in. They are real heroes. This... is just a 'Sleeping Beauty.'"
Kenji heard everything.
For eighty years, he had faced thousands of demons, arrogant kings, and gods. But none of them had enraged him quite like this "Guild representative."
Sleeping Beauty? Kenji's inner voice turned terrifyingly cold. I'm about to show you exactly who I am, you insect.
Laylo screamed:
"Don't touch him! I'll find the money! I'll join a Guild! I'll go into the dungeons!"
"You?" The man grabbed Laylo by the shoulder and shoved her aside. Laylo slammed against the wall. "You don't even have an 'Awakening' mark, you F-rank trash. Get lost."
The man reached for Kenji's oxygen mask.
"Come on, kid. Clear the space."
Kenji had to act immediately.
But his arm wouldn't rise.
His legs wouldn't work.
He had no Physical Strength.
But he had an Inventory. And he had Intent.
Kenji closed his eyes.
Mind: "Inventory! Open!"
System: [Inventory Accessible. Item Count: 999,999+]
Mind: "I don't need a weapon. It would blow this body apart. I need... Pressure."
In the game, there was a passive skill called "Killing Intent." It required no physical strength. It was pure spiritual pressure.
Kenji decided to unleash just 0.01% of his eighty-year-old blood aura. Any more, and everyone in the hospital would die of heart failure.
Kenji opened his eyes.
He looked straight into the Guild representative's eyes.
[SKILL: DEMON'S GAZE (Level 1)]
The temperature in the room seemed to plummet to -10 degrees in an instant.
The lights flickered violently.
The Guild representative's hand froze in mid-air, inches from Kenji's mask.
Before the man's eyes, the hospital room vanished.
In its place, he found himself standing in the middle of a boundless, pitch-black ocean of blood. Above him, covering the entire sky, a colossal Monster with billions of red eyes—Kenji's spiritual projection—stared down at him.
The Monster did not speak, but its gaze screamed:
"TOUCH HIM AND YOU DIE."
"A... A..." The man's knees began to shake uncontrollably. His face went pale, and cold sweat poured down his forehead. He couldn't breathe.
In the corner, the doctor curled into a ball, clutching his throat as if an invisible hand were strangling him.
Laylo was confused. She felt no pressure (Kenji had excluded her). She only saw the man suddenly trembling as if he were having a seizure.
Gathering every ounce of his will, Kenji moved his lips. The tube in his throat was in the way, but he had to overcome it.
His right hand lifted a single millimeter. His fingers twitched.
A tiny, invisible Wind Blade (Mana Cost: 1 unit) materialized in the air and sliced the strap holding the tube to Kenji's face.
Kenji took a deep breath and spat the tube out of his mouth.
"L... Laylo..." he said. His voice was raspy, cold as the grave, but it was audible.
The Guild representative scrambled backward in terror and fell to the floor. He realized he had wet his pants. He had never experienced such terror in his life. Even S-rank Dungeon Bosses didn't have a gaze like that.
Kenji slowly turned his head to look at the "hero" sprawled on the floor.
"Get. Out."
It wasn't a command; it was a verdict.
The man said nothing. He scrambled to his feet, couldn't find the doorknob, slammed into the wall, and then crawled out into the corridor on all fours. The doctor fled right behind him.
Silence descended on the room.
Laylo stood frozen. She looked at her brother. He lay as weak as before, but in his eyes... those eyes no longer belonged to a seventeen-year-old boy.
"Brother...?" Laylo approached tentatively.
Kenji took a deep breath. Even using that "Minor Pressure" had slashed his HP by 10%. His head was splitting with pain.
Damn, Kenji thought. I almost killed myself with a single look.
He looked at Laylo and offered a weak smile.
"Don't cry," he said, trying to soften his voice. "I just... woke up from a long nap. Give me water."
Laylo hurriedly held a glass of water to his lips. As Kenji drank, he opened his status menu.
[SYSTEM UPDATED]
Task: Body Restoration.
Recommendation: "Low-Grade Healing Elixir" (Available in Inventory).
Warning: Your current body cannot handle a raw elixir. Dilute it with water.
Kenji laughed internally. So, I have to drink my own medicine as a 'cocktail'.
He dipped a finger into the water. Laylo didn't notice, but for a split second, the water glowed a faint green. Kenji had added a single drop of "Elf Spring Water" from his inventory.
He drank the water.
Heat.
A pleasant warmth spread through his stomach. On the status panel, the "Muscle Atrophy" dropped from 60% to 59.9%.
Good, Kenji thought. Painfully slow, but not a bad start.
"Laylo," Kenji said, handing the glass back. "What year is it? And where did these 'Guilds' come from? Tell me everything. I... lost a bit of my memory."
In reality, he hadn't lost his memory. He just needed to understand the difference between the world of 2030, the world of 2110 (his subjective time), and this real world of 2032.
Laylo held his hand tight.
"It's 2032, brother. The world has changed. It has changed so much."