TRPM 03

chapter 03

One day, an unknown phenomenon suddenly appeared in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.

At first glance, it looked like nothing more than fog, which was why people named it the Black Fog. But when investigations began, it was quickly revealed that it was far from being just ordinary fog.

People who were exposed to the Black Fog for long periods of time gradually weakened, eventually dying. Afterward, they would resurrect as creatures commonly referred to as zombies, mindlessly attacking any living being they encountered.

Those bitten by the zombies would also die and return as zombies, just like in the movies. Because of this, all the first exposed victims as well as every zombie that appeared afterward were incinerated en masse.

Even those who had only been exposed to the fog but had not yet turned were included.

“If it had ended there, it would have been dismissed as just a bizarre incident…”

The problem was that the Black Fog did not remain in the middle of the Pacific.

Whether it moved with the wind or had a purpose of its own, it expanded in size and drifted toward land.

Humanity hurriedly evacuated coastal populations and tried everything possible to stop its advance.

Enormous fans, circulators, and various cutting-edge technologies were deployed to disperse the fog.

But the Black Fog defied the laws of physics. Not only did it reach land, but the moment it touched ground, it began spewing forth monstrous creatures—beings that are now called monsters.

If things had continued that way, humanity would have been wiped out by the fog that ignored all physical laws.

“But still, there was hope.”

A genius in America managed to analyze the Black Fog and created what became known as the Awakener System.

Just as the fog unleashed creatures out of humanity’s fantasy and nightmares, the Awakener System allowed humans to wield powers from those same fantasies.

No one knows the principle behind it.

The fog seemed to recognize the Awakener System as a threat, and as soon as it was activated, it tried to prevent it from functioning. The genius who had created it managed to launch the system only at the brink of death, thus saving humanity.

What that genius saw through the fog, what he learned, and how he managed to build the system—all of it perished with him.

“Anyway, once the Awakener System activated, it spread to all people across the world.”

Although everyone was imbued with the system, not everyone could benefit from it.

But even that was enough.

With the Awakener System granting abilities, humanity managed to drive the Black Fog back—off the continents and into the sea.

Of course, the Black Fog did not sit idly by.

If the land belonged to humans, the seas had effectively become the domain of the fog. Yet it was not satisfied; it continued to torment humanity.

And I, Han Geon-woo, was born into this world, during this ongoing struggle between mankind and the Black Fog.

* * *

In this world, every newborn spends the first few months of life inside a special incubator.

These incubators are filled with purified mana—energy originally extracted from the Black Fog but refined by mages. By being exposed to it, infants develop a degree of resistance to the fog’s influence.

I, too, was placed into such an incubator immediately after birth.

And there, I thought to myself:

“Regression…”

It wasn’t reincarnation, like the samsara cycle described in Hinduism or Buddhism.

That concept means dying and being reborn. But the idea of dying and going back in time? No religion in the world held such a belief.

The concept of regression was one that only appeared in games, novels, or fictional works.

“So then, how exactly did I regress?”

It wasn’t as if I hadn’t seen the Awakener System’s message.

In fact, that was why I was so puzzled.

From what I gathered, the system must have decided that my martial art, the Harmony Divine Art (JoHwaShinGong), would benefit humanity in some way and sought to preserve me at all costs.

The method it chose was resetting. And that reset meant literally rewinding Earth’s timeline to the past.

Whether it truly rewound time, or simply sent me to a parallel world, I still don’t know.

“But during that process, the Harmony Divine Art interfered.”

As if to protect me, it blocked the Awakener System’s reset. Forced into compromise, the system left my memories and my martial art intact while resetting everything else.

What were the system and the Harmony Divine Art thinking? Why did they act that way?

“…There’s no point overthinking it.”

With so little information, speculation was meaningless.

More important was the Harmony Divine Art itself—perfected just before my death.

It contained the sum of all my techniques and enlightenment.

Though difficult to compare, it was safe to say it was a worthy culmination of my lifelong effort.

“The problem is… it’s far too advanced.”

It was not something a newborn body could possibly endure.

No, even my adult self before regression would have exploded if I had tried to practice it then.

The Harmony Divine Art wasn’t just martial arts—it encompassed magic, aura, psychic powers, and more. To cultivate it, one needed to handle many types of energy that could otherwise clash violently.

“Which means, while I’m in the incubator, my task is clear.”

Reshape my body to withstand the Harmony Divine Art.

Though a baby’s body could barely even move, that limitation applied only to physical strength. Internal energy circulation was still possible.

Of course, I had no inner energy at all right now.

But I had plenty of a substitute all around me.

“The pure mana filling this incubator.”

Though born from the fog, it had been meticulously purified by mages.

That was good enough to attempt a Small Heavenly Circuit (Sojucheon) circulation.

Of course, storing mana in my lower dantian would be madness—it had to be pure inner energy.

So I modified the circulation.

I guided the mana through the Governor Vessel:

Gokgol, Huiyin, Weilu, Mingmen, Zhizhong, Shenzhu, Dazhu, Yuzhen, Baihui.

The energy rose up my spine to the crown of my head.

Then, along the Conception Vessel:

Baihui, Yintang, Tiantu, Tanzhong, Shenque, Guanyuan.

It descended back to my lower dantian.

That was the Small Heavenly Circuit.

But I couldn’t stop there. My goal wasn’t storing energy, but rebuilding my body.

So I expelled the mana out of me.

Beep-beep-beep!

“What… what’s going on?!”
“Abnormal mana reading in Incubator #42!”
“Is it a mechanical failure…?”

The moment the mana that had passed through me was expelled, doctors and nurses rushed over, quickly transferring me to a different incubator.

“Ugh, what is this smell…”
“This baby was exposed to that mana? He could’ve died!”
“Which company made this? We need to file a complaint.”

…Sorry about that.

Anyway, that marked the start of my long and tedious training—tempering my Conception and Governor Vessels.

Boring and time-consuming, yes… but once I broke through the Gate of Life and Death (Saengsa Hyeongwan), things would become easier.

Passing through that gate would permanently link the two vessels, letting energy circulate endlessly.

That way, age would not clog them with impurities.

Once I had that foundation, I could expand to the Eight Extraordinary Meridians and the Twelve Principal Meridians.

Over time, I could even strengthen my entire body, not just the meridians.

“Ha… Am I really just a newborn baby?”

* * *

Breaking through the Gate of Life and Death wasn’t that difficult.

It was just another blocked meridian, and since my body was still soft and undeveloped, the obstruction wasn’t very strong.

Soon, my Conception and Governor Vessels were completely connected, leaving me in a state akin to cultivating around the clock.

I still expelled the mana instead of storing it, since I wasn’t ready to build inner energy yet.

When my body was finally strong enough to endure the Harmony Divine Art, then I would begin storing energy.

Months passed, and at last, I was released from the incubator.

Whirrr…

“Can we take him home now?”
“Yes. After completing the paperwork, you may take him.”

Finally, I could leave the incubator and live with my mother.

After finishing the paperwork, she held me close and left the hospital, heading home.

“This house… it’s familiar.”

It was the same house where I had lived with her in my previous life.

Carried in her arms, I looked around, nostalgia welling up.

“Geon-woo, this is our home.”

She placed me gently in a baby chair by the kitchen.

“Mommy will make you food right away.”

She opened the fridge, chopping vegetables to make baby food.

“…Hmm. In this tiny body, I can’t eat that much…”

It was clear she had studied how to make baby food, but her movements were clumsy—it was her first time, after all.

“So… steam these pieces, then blend them… huh?”
“…”

It was going to take a while.

I sighed inwardly and let her fumble through it. In the meantime, I focused on my own task.

“Now that I’m out of the incubator, I can finally cultivate true inner energy.”

In the incubator, any attempt would have been contaminated by ambient mana.

But now, I could safely begin.

Though it wasn’t yet the full Harmony Divine Art, it didn’t matter. That art was designed to accept any form of inner energy.

“…So I just steam this and blend it? Right?”
“…”

Yes, this would take some time.

The classic mistakes of a rookie mom.

Watching her back as she struggled, I thought to myself:

“You suffered so much because of me.”

Not only because she was a single mother raising me alone, but especially after I awakened martial arts powers through the Awakener System.

Organizations all over the world coveted me—the only martial arts Awakener.

To get to me, they repeatedly kidnapped my mother.

Thanks to capable allies, she was always rescued quickly. But she was just an ordinary person; the strain was immense.

Even then, instead of resenting me, she blamed herself.

“I’m sorry, son… I’m sorry for being a burden…”

She thought she was holding me back, keeping me from devoting myself fully to developing martial arts.

In the end, she chose suicide.

Not out of despair, but so she wouldn’t be an obstacle to me.

And on that day, I faced my first Inner Demon—
the demon called Regret.

“…This time, I won’t let that happen.”

This time, there would be no regrets.