It was a terrible misfortune.
There’s no other way to put it.
The exact scientific term was…what was it again?
Generally, they say there’s something called TS Disease.
A mysterious phenomenon that suddenly changes a human’s body entirely.
In fact, calling it a disease is too mild – it’s like an unexpected devil’s prank.
“Tomorrow, you’ll depart, right? I came to cheer you up.”
“Don’t you think Dad makes it sound easy? You won’t be able to go out just like that; the director and coaches won’t allow it. Even the director said it would be good for you to take a short break since you’ve been practicing so hard.”
If I hadn’t gotten into my parents’ car at that time, would things have been alright?
No. That would never have happened.
The journey my parents took to reach the athlete’s village wasn’t short.
Even cutting their busy schedule, it would take at least an hour.
I couldn’t betray their earnestness in coming to see me for that brief moment.
My tragedy wasn’t anyone’s fault.
How could I blame my father, who was driving, when TS Disease struck him?
It was the agony of having your body swapped while awake.
He surely couldn’t control the steering wheel.
So, my father did his very best.
What happened to me was a natural disaster.
At least, that’s what I thought.
“Dad of Da-hoon! What’s wrong?”
“Ugh. My body…suddenly. Aah, noooo!”
It just had to be on the slope going down.
My father desperately gripped the wheel and moved his foot toward the brake.
Despite his efforts, the car was shaking wildly. We didn’t have time to think.
As I froze in panic, my mom wrapped herself around me.
What drove her to do such a thing?
How did she gather that courage?
I still don’t really understand the heart of a parent.
The moment the car headed for the cliff and floated in the air, it felt like the world had stopped, and among all the words she could have said, my mom chose one to be her last.
“I love you, my son.”
KWAANG─!
The rest is a blur.
The car rolled multiple times, and it felt like the world flipped dozens of times.
In the darkness, a deafening noise echoed. Shocking impacts came from every direction.
It tasted like dirt in my mouth, or it might have been the distinct metallic taste of blood.
What’s clear is that my mom’s sacrifice saved me.
The vehicle, discovered thanks to the teacher’s missing person report, was practically a lump of scrap.
It was said that surviving at all was a miracle.
So I never laid eyes on my parents’ bodies.
“Please don’t go see them,” the teacher begged, shedding tears while I lay in the hospital.
How could I not guess? It was obvious from the moment that kind man made such a request what had happened to my parents.
I probably wouldn’t be able to recognize their faces.
They probably weren’t even in a condition to be recognizable.
Looking at the faces of the two, I would surely see horrific figures painted over the ones of my beloved mother and father.
The teacher must have worried about that.
But there was one thing the teacher didn’t know.
I faintly remembered my father’s hand desperately gripping the steering wheel up until the very end.
His hand, that tried moving the wheel until his last moments, ultimately couldn’t be freed from death.
So I guess they chopped off the arm itself.
Naturally, I was the only survivor.
My parents’ bodies were unidentifiable.
Inside the car, only one girl covered in blood was barely breathing, and they didn’t even think it was me.
The clothes I wore must have appeared too big, so they only noticed after a while.
They’d definitely said TS Disease wasn’t contagious.
The cruel devil seemed to be mocking me, bestowing the same curse upon me.
When I opened my eyes, I found myself in the body of a girl who looked to be in her mid-teens.
“Well then, as per the patient’s request, we won’t perform amputation surgery. It would be quite inconvenient for daily life. Are you really okay with that?”
“You said there’s a possibility of recovery, even if it’s not zero. Then, I’d like to try walking a bit.”
“Understood. Someone in charge regarding your new identity will come by today.”
Mom managed to preserve most of my body, but she couldn’t protect all of it.
From just below my left knee to the tips of my toes. Something must have gone wrong during the body swap.
A hideous burn scar appeared, preventing it from functioning properly.
If I miscast my weight or received an impact, it felt like my body was being ripped apart in agony.
The doctor’s opinion was amputation. They said it was effectively a dead limb.
However, I resolved to keep my left leg, which resembled a corpse.
Thus, the national kendo champion Han Da-hoon died, and Han Da-eun was born.
The boy who only practiced kendo lost his physical body, so nothing remained.
No, it wasn’t entirely nothing.
There were the exorbitant medical fees for treating my leg.
A studio apartment barely furnished with my parents’ estate and insurance money.
And then, an old brain wave connection device that my parents had used for experiments since they were VR device researchers.
“I should have just thrown this away. It takes up too much space.”
The reason I didn’t throw away the connection device, even though I knew absolutely nothing about VR,
was simply that it was a trace of my parents.
However, I was curious about what lay inside the device filling my room, so I went in once, and that marked the beginning of my gaming addict life.
Could this be called fate’s trick?
The device my parents were developing was for handicapped or severely paralyzed patients.
So unlike the new way that simultaneously scans brain waves and motor functions, this was a rather aggressive device that solely acted on brain waves.
It seemed it was originally intended to gift people with everyday life rather than games, but I happened to get immersed in gaming.
Now, it was practically my personal device.
Since I didn’t use it as intended, there were side effects.
Regular gamers could apply a sensory fusion rate of only up to 30%.
Mine, in reverse, wouldn’t drop below 70%.
It didn’t help with game performance, and since I couldn’t scale it down, it only amplified my suffering.
Because it was a device still in development, I couldn’t use broadcasting programs or replay functions, and in contrast, with newer devices, I couldn’t control ‘Gawol’ properly.
That was why I couldn’t become a streamer or a pro gamer.
I had tried damn hard, but neither was a path available to me.
“A worthless body with no use whatsoever.”
But I couldn’t give up gaming.
In the game, I felt the sensitivity and physicality returning, just like when I was preparing for competitions.
While moving in there, I didn’t think about reality even for a moment.
I couldn’t let go of that feeling.
The heretic of Infinity Black. The nightmare of streamers and pro gamers.
An assassin killing targets for money – Gawol had already built up infamy for two years.
*
Hsssss…
When I opened my eyes, it was midday this time.
What was the last thing I did?
I went to the convenience store for ramen. Then I felt ill and just came back.
Climbing the stairs was hard, so I think I fell asleep as soon as I got home.
Now that I think about it, it’s a bit of a waste.
I should have just eaten. A single drop of ramen soup is worth money, you know?
How important could my feelings be?
Still, this body had quite good fuel efficiency.
I might not know for sure since I’ve never tried, but if properly managed, my physicality would have been considerable.
Even living like this in complete chaos, I never fell ill even once, and during games, I didn’t lag behind compared to my athlete days.
If it weren’t for my destroyed leg, I could even say I had a blessed body.
As proof, I didn’t feel particularly hungry even now.
I just needed to gather my senses and dive into the game.
On the monitor, Sulbbang was streaming intensely.
I grabbed a cola and unmuted the stream.
“Today’s been quite uneventful. Isn’t it strange that not a single accessory dropped?”
– If only you hadn’t grabbed Gawol by the hair, you would have gotten it ages ago. Oh, wait, does your hair not exist?
“Sulbbang’s roots, thank you for your donation…no! That’s not it! My hair is just fine! And about Gawol, we just have to let it be. What can we do? She’s not coming after me again, is she?”
Well, sorry, but I will be coming again.
When I visit as a hobby, I usually refrain from killing continuously, but when it’s a job like this, it’s a whole different story.
If I only killed the one who ordered it, I would draw suspicion.
So I had to pick a few random streamers to kill alongside the actual target to keep them unaware.
In fact, it wasn’t an obligation…but hey, it’s fun, isn’t it?
Anyway, this time’s selected target would be Sulbbang.
I had been eyeing him for a while.
His basic skills were reasonably good. He had a solid fanbase, and if he cried out loudly, it would make for good gossip.
With a bit of experience in the Siege Guild, he quietly accumulated many enemies.
Plus, his reactions when killed were amusing, so it was a good feeling.
I decided on about three victims while switching around a few broadcasts.
Alright. Location check complete.
Sulbbang just logged out nearby, so should I take him out first?
I could probably just track down the others in order afterward. A simple route formed in my mind.
While the streamers were wondering what they did wrong, I was no different in terms of having no sins.
But you guys shined.
I was shoved deep into this godforsaken pit, while you guys were flaunting yourselves on a flashy stage.
You were doing what I couldn’t do freely.
The only difference between you and me was that one of my feet was broken.
Was that such a crime? I could have done well too. Even if I failed, it should have been my failure.
So…I should be allowed to relieve some frustration, right? It’s not like anyone’s really dying.
I—
I had my reasons to detest streamers.
As I lay in the device and closed my eyes, the system message appeared.
[Executing Infinity Black.]
[Thank you for returning, Gawol.]
I already felt at ease.
The leftover cola was in the fridge where it belonged, and I was right where I needed to be inside the device.
Feeling my body transform into Gawol, I slowly gripped my weapon.
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