Ha-Jin woke up in the infirmary of The Arena. His chest was wrapped in bandages. His memory was fuzzy and he failed to remember what happened.
"Oh! You're finally awake!" The doctor said as she turned her head from sorting out medical appliances.
"You've been out for a day. I barely managed to heal your legs, you strained yourself too much with those reckless kicks of yours!"
"I can see that, I can barely feel my legs right now. I lost, didn't I? How come i'm alive? I remember passing out from too much strain on my body due to the constant use of my Main Skill and Taekwondo. I even got a notification!" Ha-Jin said trying to show her his fatigue level but remembered only he could see it.
"Woah, Woah, slow down Mr. you talk way too much way too fast." She said, grabbing his arm for an injection.
"Don't worry, it's just painkillers, i'm not some mad scientist who would like to experiment on you." She said, injecting the painkillers into him.
After she was done, she sat down beside Ha-Jin and started to introduce herself. "I'm Joo-hee by the way. I'm from the Junkyard too, I remember seeing you once."
"Huh? Joo-hee... Hmm.. oh! That girl with the B- grade healing skill who was abandoned by her parents because she was useless on the ba-- Nevermind, I said too much, sorry." Ha-Jin said, looking down.
"It's fine, you spoke what was right anyway. I was thrown here into the Arena when I was 13 by the Junkyard. Since I couldn't fight, they put me in the infirmary. I've been adopted by the Father of the nearby church you see."
"Well, that's one good news."
Before they could continue their chit-chat, the man named Jae-woo entered the room. "I heard you were awake and came right away, Ha-Jin." He said, leaning against the door frame.
"How do you know my name?" Ha-Jin asked him, a scowl appearing on his face.
"I'm not here to fight, rather I would like to tell some things to you, and if you are interested, train you." He calmly spoke to Ha-Jin as his scowl died down.
Before Ha-Jin could reply, he spoke again. "I suppose you do not know what a True Essence is?"
"No, what the hell is a "True essence" now?"
"True Essence is when you master the aspect of a body. It increases the potential of the aspect. However, some people are born with a True Essence, these people, however rare do exist. Overtime, people have come to call these people "The Children of God"."
"Are you saying that--"
"No, you are not one of these people. But, before you are discouraged, you have lots of potential in your body, you could unlock a True Essence much sooner than anybody else." Jae-woo, said while interrupting Ha-Jin.
"So? Would you like to train with me? I could help you become much stronger and do whatever it is you want to protect or destroy."
"What.. just what would I have to do to live a peaceful life?.. like a normal person?" Ha-Jin asked.
"Ah, that's a very simple question you have there. To live like a normal person, you just have to destroy whoever stands in your way, those who make your life a living hell, yeah?"
"Though you could do that, living like a normal person with this Interface is an impossible feat. If you follow my advice, the guilt of killing thousands or millions would eat away at you. If you go by the flow of life, you'll end up back in the same place, the easiest way to live something remotely close to a normal life, is to forget your dream."
Ha-Jin stayed quiet.
Jae-woo threw him a piece of paper filled with runes which the Interface translated soon. "Come to that location if you change your mind." He said before closing the door behind him and leaving.
"What are you going to do? Are you going to train with him?" Joo-hee asked him, her words filled with concern.
"I don't know yet..."
Many sleepless nights passed with Ha-Jin not being able to sleep. Not because of the decision to train with Jae-woo but something else.
Ha-Jin was in a place with burning buildings, magma all over the place, burning red sand. A hand reached out to grab him but he woke up with a start as something gold evaporated the arm.
Ha-Jin huffed, he was covered in sweat. He was feeling better now and could walk properly with the help of his Regeneration skill.
He got up and grabbed a glass of water. After he finished drinking water, he sat down on the bed in a cross legged position and began to meditate.
He carefully guided all of his mana to every part of his body to help quicken the healing process. It had worked significantly over the past few nights.
Before he knew it, he had fallen asleep, this time with no such nightmares.
Ha-Jin's eyes fluttered open as the Sun rose and the announcer announced over the loudspeaker.
"Fights will commence in 2 hours, all to get ready within the given time span for their scheduled fights which can be found on the board near the entrance for the new hellhounds."
Ha-Jin went to the infirmary's bathroom and splashed some water on his face and looked at the mirror. He sighed and went out of the bathroom and into the crowd of people betting on fighters.
The announcer announced the next match after one of the fighters snapped the neck of the other.
"Ji-Yeong vs. Ha-Jin"
Ha-Jin hadn't seen the fight schedule and was surprised that it was already his turn.
"Combatants are to get onto the ring." The announcer announced once again.
Ha-Jin got onto the ring and came face to face with a child his age but his physique was more toned.
"Nice to meet you, I hope you can handle a defeat." Ji-Yeong said, extending his hand towards Ha-Jin.
"Your words and body language seem like two different beings." Ha-Jin said, shaking his hand.
"1, 2, 3..."
"And Begin!"