Mirror World: Destined Return

“GRAAAAAHHH!” Tae-Jin roared as he relentlessly swung his log-like arms, filled with silver mana.

The blood shield made by Impeto’s Blood Control shattered, but Impeto did not appear flustered in the slightest.

“Geheh! What a cheap copy of a beastfolk! You don’t even have Beast Force!” Impeto shouted, drawing out more Blood Force as he activated his bloodline’s arcane art.

[Activating Unique Skill: Exploding Blood.]

Blood gathered around Impeto’s fists, shining with an orange light that looked dangerous from just a glance.

“Chaaa!” Impeto shouted, countering Tae-Jin’s fist with his own.

As the skill’s name suggested, the blood exploded as soon as it made contact with Tae-Jin’s fist. An orange heat wave engulfed Tae-Jin, and blood splashed all over him.

“Hand over your eyes!” Impeto shouted.

Even as he was tumbling on the ground, Tae-Jin immediately raised his head to not let his enemy out of his sight. Because of that, he managed to kick Impeto’s flank as he was charging toward Tae-Jin to pull out his eyeballs with his thumb and index fingers.

“Geheh!” Impeto laughed even when his flank was kicked.

The orange Exploding Blood had already gathered around the area. The blood exploded again, and Tae-Jin was blown away and smashed into the wall. He coughed, blood pouring from his mouth like a fountain.

He’s... strong! he thought as he watched Impeto walking leisurely toward him, and wiped the blood off his mouth.

“Gehehe! How does the Exploding Blood feel? It’s nothing compared to Marquis Berto’s, but... It’s still pretty hot, isn’t it?”

Exploding Blood was both an offensive and a defensive skill. Impeto’s Exploding Blood couldn’t compare to Berto Motus’s Exploding Blood, which could obliterate an entire castle with just one drop, but it was still an insurmountable wall to Tae-Jin.

So, this is the power of Blood Force! Tae-Jin shouted inwardly.

“How... unfair,” he mumbled.

Humans risked their lives to heighten their caliber to a point that other races were simply born with. Tae-Jin had looked death in the eye countless times to heighten his caliber to a point he was proud of, but he couldn’t do anything about the fact that he was a human who lacked a secondary force.

If only I had... the beastfolk’s Beast Force!

Tae-Jin clenched his fists. If he fell here, it would all be over. The vampire before him would walk over his corpse and go after his comrades, and their plan would ultimately fail.

“I have... the lives of tens of thousands of people behind me!” Tae-Jin screamed as he desperately drew out all of his mana.

I don’t give a shit about what I don’t have! What do I have?

He had his friend, his protector, his master, his destiny—his D Weapon, Silver the silverback gorilla.

***

Flashback.

A boy with a lantern jaw in a T-shirt and shorts walked under the sweltering summer sun as he kicked a rock on the ground. He was pouting, possibly because of the unbearably hot weather.

“I hate you, Mom and Dad!” the young Tae-Jin suddenly shouted in sorrow.

He was angry because his family, who formerly lived in Seoul, had moved to Busan due to issues with his father’s workplace. Because of that, Tae-Jin had to say goodbye to his close friends in school and was pushed into an unfamiliar environment.

“Ey, ya know that guy?”

“Never seen ‘im b’fore.”

“He’s a transfer student from Seoul.”

“F’real?”

“Look at ‘im, actin’ all cool.”[1]

Although they weren’t treating him negatively, their unfamiliar dialect intimidated Tae-Jin. Because of that, he had yet to make a single friend in school. They were a dual-income household, so whenever his parents came home in the evening, Tae-Jin pestered them about moving back to Seoul. He still had hope of returning to Seoul in the first few weeks, but after months, the pestering had become just a habit. He knew they wouldn’t return to Seoul.

The rock he kicked struck an iron bar. Tae-Jin looked up and saw that he had reached his destination without realizing it. Since he couldn’t make friends at school and his parents worked until late, it had become a daily occurrence for Tae-Jin to go to the Children’s Grand Park in front of their house. He often spent time at the zoo in the park, especially at the gorilla enclosure.

“Hey! Look over here, you stupid gorillas!” Tae-Jin shouted across the green metal bar fence, roughly two meters tall.

A notice board was displayed in front of the enclosure.

Eastern lowland gorilla (G. beringei graueri)

As primates, they are the largest of the gorilla subspecies. They mainly inhabit the mountainous forests of Central Africa, and...

Nine gorillas were gathered around the lower terrain beyond the bars, intimately grooming one another. Tae-Jin, annoyed by their kindness toward one another, picked up the rock he had kicked and looked around. As always, no one was around. Tae-Jin lodged his shoes between the bars to climb up.

“Look at me!” he shouted.

Once he reached the top of the bars, he threw the rock. As the rock was about to hit one of the baby gorillas, the silverback, the largest of them all, blocked the rock with his body.

“Argh! You again?! Move!”

Whenever Tae-Jin threw rocks, that gorilla always stepped forward to protect his family, which only made Tae-Jin angrier.

“You’re from Africa, aren’t you?! Go back to your own country!” he screamed.

Tae-Jin always felt refreshed when screaming at the gorilla because, like him, the gorilla was also trapped in an unfamiliar place.

Tae-Jin grew tired after screaming for a while longer. He came down from the bars and shouted, “Huff! Huff! You’d better watch out tomorrow!”

This had been going on for the past month.

***

Summer was on the verge of passing. As always, Tae-Jin was heading to the gorilla enclosure as he kicked a rock. His mother’s words lingered in his head, making him even angrier.

“Have you made any friends?”

“Since it’s your birthday next month, why don’t we hand out birthday cards to your classmates?”

“We could hold the birthday party at our house—”

“I don’t have any friends!” Tae-Jin shouted, wanting to vent his pent-up anger at the gorillas as soon as possible.

I’ll hit the ones inside today, no matter what! he thought once he arrived at the enclosure.

The giant silverback gorilla moved once he noticed Tae-Jin, expressionlessly walking forward to protect his family.

“Hey! Move it!” Tae-Jin shouted.

The gorilla did not answer.

“Don’t you dare ignore me!”

Tae-Jin quickly climbed to the top of the bars. No matter how well he aimed the rock, the silverback gorilla was so large that he completely covered his family.

“You—”

“Ey! Git down from there!” a voice shouted.

The surprised Tae-Jin quickly turned around and saw a security guard in a blue uniform running toward him. Tae-Jin carelessly twisted his body, only thinking about running away, which dislodged his shoes between the bars.

“H-huh?”

The world turned sideways, and he fell to the ground.

“Oh no! The child!” the security guard shouted.

People gathered at his shouts and were shocked to see Tae-Jin inside the gorilla enclosure.

“S-someone fell into the gorilla enclosure!”

“119! Call 119[2]!”

Tae-Jin groaned as he clenched his head from the shock of the fall. He was not severely injured because the ground was made of dirt, but his head was still spinning. He felt like he was about to vomit, but that was the least of his worries. He heard people shouting from outside the enclosure.

“Watch out!”

“T-the gorillas!”

“Run!”

Tae-Jin looked forward and gasped.

Ooo! Ooo! Ooo! Ooo!

Grrr!

Several gorillas approached Tae-Jin as they growled. They recognized Tae-Jin, who screamed at them and threw rocks at them every day.

“M-Mom! Dad!” Tae-Jin instinctively called his parents once he was in danger.

However, his parents weren’t here. Forget his parents; he was the only human in the enclosure. Not only that, but the enclosure’s ground was made to be slightly lower than the outside, so Tae-Jin had nowhere to run.

Wraaagh!

“Ahhhhh!” Tae-Jin shouted, terrified of what was about to become of him.

The vibrations were getting stronger, and he was sure they were right in front of him. However, the seconds passed, and nothing was happening. The pain did not arrive, no matter how long he waited. Tae-Jin slowly opened his eyes and saw a giant back with mystical silver hair. It belonged to the silverback gorilla, whom Tae-Jin had hit with rocks every day. The silverback gorilla was protecting Tae-Jin, as he had protected his family.

“You...”

Ooo! Ooo! Ooo!

Graaahh!

The other gorillas were shouting, but the giant silverback gorilla did not budge, as immovable as a mountain. Tae-Jin instinctively knew that he was safe.

“Why?” he mumbled.

The silverback gorilla turned his head to look at Tae-Jin, who looked into the gorilla’s unwavering black eyes. He felt embarrassed. He was embarrassed about his attitude toward life. He was embarrassed by his shallowness in refraining from approaching new friends and blaming the unfamiliar environment, despite wanting them to notice him.

He was embarrassed by his cowardice in converting his suppressed desires into rage and venting it on animals that couldn’t speak. He was embarrassed by his terrible thoughts about hurting his parents’ feelings, despite knowing their choices had been what was best for all of them.

On the other hand, the silverback gorilla was the complete opposite. He was sent to an unfamiliar environment, reduced to an attraction, but still protected his family with his wide back. Not only that, but he was even protecting Tae-Jin, who had harassed them daily.

Just then, rescuers entered the enclosure, aiming tranquilizer guns at the silverback gorilla.

“Get down, kid!”

“We’ll save you!”

“No! Don’t shoot!” Tae-Jin shouted, mustering up the courage he had gotten from who knows where to run forward and outstretch his arms.

“C’mere!”

“Okay! Rescue complete!”

“Yer okay now.”

Tae-Jin was rescued, and they quickly left the enclosure. Tae-Jin looked back as he was carried by one of the rescuers. The silverback gorilla remained standing in place like an immovable mountain.

***

Tae-Jin’s parents bawled their eyes out as they hugged him tightly. Controversies about the zoo’s iron bars, requests for interviews from local newspapers, and related commotions fortunately died down quickly.

“Tae-Jin, Mommy’s so sorry for leaving you all alone... If anything had happened to you, I...” Tae-Jin’s mother said in tears, hugging Tae-Jin tightly.

Tae-Jin’s exhausted father was looking at Tae-Jin apologetically.

“Mommy will quit her job and—”

“No, honey. Why don’t you move back to Seoul with Tae-Jin? You can go to your mother’s place. It’s close to the school Tae-Jin used to go to, and—”

“No, I’m okay,” Tae-Jin interjected, shaking his head despite his parents discussing what he had wanted so desperately all this time.

“But, Tae-Jin—”

“More importantly, Mom. Could you help me make birthday cards?”

“Birthday... cards?”

“Yes. I want to hand them out to my friends starting tomorrow,” Tae-Jin said with a smile so that his parents wouldn’t worry.

You do it like this, right, Silver? he said inwardly, recalling the silverback gorilla that he named Silver in his mind.

He would become immovable, weathering any storm as he protected all that was precious behind him. He would persevere silently with an unwavering patience so that he would be proud of his attitude toward life. The dependable back of Silver, the silverback gorilla, had become Tae-Jin’s lifelong goal before he had realized it.

***

Tae-Jin raced to the Children’s Grand Park, fighting the cold winds, as soon as classes were done. He recalled his deskmate’s confused expression as he handed him a chocolate wrapped in gold foil, copying a Gyeongsang dialect.

“Have ya tried dis?”

“Huh?”

“Try it. It’s imported. And come to dis if ya ‘ave the time.”

“What is it?”

“A birthday invitation card.”

The card Tae-Jin had given his deskmate had an address, a date, and a time.

The deskmate blinked dumbfoundedly, then smirked as he said, “Ya should never use a dialect. Ya suck.”

“Really?”

“Sure do, ya sunovabitch[3].”

“Is that a bad word?”

“Tsa good word!”

“Hehe!” Tae-Jin giggled with a smile, recalling his conversation with his deskmate, and soon arrived at the gorilla enclosure.

However, not only was Silver not there, but the other gorillas were missing, too.

“Huh?” Tae-Jin expressed as he approached a cleaner sweeping the floor and asked, “Excuse me, sir. Where are the gorillas?”

“Gorillas? They went back to where they came from.”

“Where they came from?”

“Have you never read that?” the cleaner said as he pointed at the notice board in front of the enclosure.

Eastern lowland gorilla (G. beringei graueri)

As primates, they are the largest of the gorilla subspecies. They mainly inhabit the mountainous forests of Central Africa, so they are sensitive to the cold. Through a partnership with the Jersey Zoo in the United Kingdom, they are viewable this year from the beginning of summer to the beginning of autumn.

“This year... the beginning of summer... to the beginning of autumn?” Tae-Jin mumbled.

“It means they were the special attraction of this year. Since there was a huge incident involving them, you probably won’t see gorillas here ever again,” the cleaner said as he returned to sweeping the floor.

Tae-Jin stared blankly at the empty gorilla enclosure, which seemed so massive without the tall and proud Silver.

After a while more of standing in place, he mumbled, “You weren’t from Africa... but the UK? You sure have it rough, too.”

Tae-Jin smirked. Wherever he was, Silver, the eastern lowland gorilla of African origins and a resident of the gentlemanly nation, would protect all those behind him as if he were the center of the universe.

And so will I! Tae-Jin shouted inwardly.

End of flashback.

***

What I need right now is... Silver’s attitude! Tae-Jin thought.

He would give up on what he couldn’t have, but would take as much of what he could have.

“Huff! Huff! Hup!”

[Commencing rule establishment of Destiny Weapon: Silver.]

[Please establish an ability.]

...

[Ability established.]

[Unique Skill: Silver Attitude]

[Restriction established.]

[Permanent loss of Health and Strength.]

I will give up on my life and take yours! Tae-Jin shouted inwardly, his eyes shining with a silver light as he glared at Impeto.

“HAAAAAHHH!” he screamed as he drew out the remainder of his mana and spread it throughout his body.

Mana filled every single muscle fiber in his body, twisting and condensing them like steel cables, becoming immensely more durable and powerful.

[Activating Unique Skill: Silver Attitude.]

Silver Attitude was a skill that imitated the impressive attitude of Silver, the silverback gorilla. The Silver Back, which had been only on his back, wrapped Tae-Jin’s entire body, turning him into a beautiful beast covered in shiny silver hair.

“GRAAAAAHHH!” Tae-Jin roared as he charged straight toward Impeto.

“Geheh! A pointless struggle!” Impeto shouted with a mocking laugh and activated skills.

[Activating Race Skill: Blood Control.]

[Activating Unique Skill: Exploding Blood.]

He used Blood Control to wrap his entire body in blood and used Exploding Blood to make his whole body shine orange.

“Gahaha! This is the meaning of absolute perfection! Try and hit me if you can!” Impeto shouted, expressing unwavering confidence in the perfect balance of offense and defense of Exploding Blood surrounding his body.

The skill he just activated is sure to consume a huge amount of mana! In that case, there’s only one thing I have to do! he thought.

He would engage in a battle of attrition. Since he had Exploding Blood covering his entire body, the human couldn’t attack him recklessly and would only exhaust himself over time.

“I’ll cook you slowly! Let’s start with your arrogant eyeballs—Hm?”

However, unlike Impeto’s expectations, Tae-Jin did not slow down. Rather, he was accelerating.

“Son of a... Are you trying to kill yourself?”

“SO WHAT IF I AM?!” Tae-Jin screamed as he grabbed Impeto, wrapping his limbs around him.

“Bastard! Die!” Impeto shouted, immediately triggering the Exploding Blood.

A point-blank Exploding Blood attack! He must be blown to smithereens—

“Urgh?!” Impeto grunted, hearing the sound of his hip bone cracking.

“I’LL FUCKING BEND YOU IN HALF!” Tae-Jin screamed, black smoke rising from his bloodied skin as he tried to crush Impeto to death.

“Kurgh! Y-you son of a bitch!”

Sensing imminent danger, Impeto repeatedly activated his skill.

[Activating Unique Skill: Exploding Blood.]

[Activating Unique Skill: Exploding Blood.]

[Activating Unique Skill: Exploding Blood.]

...

Thunderous booms echoed as a heat wave dyed everything around them orange. However, even after the orange light vanished, the beast covered in silver hair was still standing.

“HAAAAAHHH!”

“Kurgh! L-let go of—GAAAAAHHH!”

Tae-Jin, eyes filled with madness, did not let go of Impeto even as his entire body was burning. Impeto’s bones broke as if he were under a hydraulic press.

“Let’s... die... together!!!”

“N-NOOOOO!”

Explosions echoed again and again, but the immovable mountainous beast remained standing. The thunderous booms grew quieter, becoming silent soon after.

***

An overweight man with three eyes, layers of grey skin, and a curved horn on his forehead was looking down at the unconscious Tae-Jin, covered in burns.

“You would have been a force to be reckoned with if you had been born a giant,” he mumbled.

The human’s resolve, attitude, and soul were beyond impressive. Just then, lumps of scattered flesh and blood began to slither like snakes to become one.

“This human will write history hundreds of times more impressive than trash like you, who was simply born to a good bloodline,” the man said as he stomped on the regenerating Impeto.

The blood scattered, no longer able to gather. Impeto Motus had died completely.

“What a shame,” the man said as he reached for Tae-Jin, who had become black like charcoal. “Hm?”

Just then, he sensed someone with an aura that couldn’t be ignored, approaching at tremendous speed from afar.

A Recorder? the man wondered, immediately hiding in the darkness.

Moments later, Seong-Hwi arrived as his fifteen wings flashed, and he noticed the dying Tae-Jin.

“TAE-JIN—!!!”

1. I’m trying to show that they’re speaking in a Gyeongsang dialect. ☜

2. 119 is the Korean equivalent of 911. ☜

3. This is a specific Korean word in a Gyeongsang dialect, which basically translates to this. ☜