TRPM 43

chapter 43

Some people might find it strange that Ryu Ah-young was the one to receive the certificate of merit.

After all, although Ryu Ah-young was the one who put it into action, the idea had essentially come from me.

“She even claimed she was able to think of it thanks to something another kid said at the retreat.”

But since she didn’t actually know who that “other kid” was—she didn’t even know my name, nor Lee Ha-eun’s—adults simply dismissed it as a timid child making up a cute little lie because she was afraid of drawing too much attention.

And then…

【User Han Geon-woo, as a Grandmaster, has successfully nurtured user Ryu Ah-young into an excellent superhuman.】

【User Han Geon-woo, as a Grandmaster, has successfully nurtured user Ryu Ah-min into an excellent superhuman.】

【Through users Ryu Ah-young and Ryu Ah-min, humanity’s overall combat power has dramatically increased.】

【A reward will be granted to user Han Geon-woo.】

Since the fusion of manifestation-type and conversion-type abilities had been pioneered by Ryu Ah-young and Ryu Ah-min in the previous timeline, I didn’t feel cheated. Still, the Awakener System, which always favored me as a regressor, seemed eager to wipe away any such sense of unfairness by showering me with rewards.

The “reward” came in the form of points.

And it was no small amount.

“…This is way more than all the usage fees I’ve collected from registering techniques in the database up to now…”

Well, it made sense.

Humanity’s combat power had risen by 3%.

At first glance, 3% might sound small. But that was 3% of the entire human population. Out of billions of people, a combat power boost equivalent to tens of millions—perhaps even hundreds of millions—had been brought about by just two children.

No matter how far beyond my past peak I might go, even aspiring to be the world’s strongest, achieving that by myself would be impossible.

“…Thanks to that, I’ve reached my goal much sooner than expected.”

That night, after seeing the news about Ryu Ah-young and checking the reward message, I headed to the clearing where I usually trained with Yeon Mi-rae.

“System. You know what I’m about to do, right?”

The Awakener System responded immediately with a message.

【Sufficient points have been gathered to enhance the Awakener System.】
【Warning.】
【The result of enhancing the Awakener System cannot be predicted.】

Right.

This was the system upgrade I had been considering for a long time.

Even though I received huge daily sums in usage fees thanks to all the techniques I’d registered, the points required for enhancement were so astronomical that even I needed a long time to save up.

I’d originally thought I’d only reach the required amount around the time I entered high school, or maybe the Academy. But thanks to Ryu Ah-young, I’d managed it far earlier.

The problem was…

“The system itself warns about this, and it was always my biggest worry… I have no clue what form the enhancement will take.”

Would it increase the number of awakeners?
Would it restructure the inconvenient parts of the system?
Or… would it shift in a way that granted me, Han Geon-woo, special privileges?

“…It’s too late to keep worrying about that now.”

One thing was certain.

The Awakener System would evolve in a way that favored humanity’s survival.

If that was true, there was no reason to hesitate.

“Enhance it.”

The moment I spoke, the system responded:

【At user Han Geon-woo’s request, the Awakener System enhancement will now begin.】

【…Error.】
【Retrying.】
【…Error.】

Seeing those messages, unease settled in my chest.

Had I just sunk all those points for nothing—only to end up with a failed enhancement?

While I fretted and waited for the process to complete…

【…One video message has arrived for user Han Geon-woo.】

“…What? A video message?”

A video message?

I’d never heard of the system having such a function.

“Play it,” I ordered.

A projection appeared right before my eyes.

“Ahem… recording begins.”

The video seemed to have been filmed in a research lab. A man stood at the center of the screen, holding what looked like a script.

And I knew who he was.

His face was printed large in the history books.

“To start with an introduction: I am Dr. Jacob, the creator of the Awakener System.”

“……”

A genius who had lived during the first appearance of the black mist. He had analyzed its composition and developed the Awakener System to counter it.

“If you’re watching this, it means you’ve chosen to enhance the system and invested a large amount of points to do so.”

So this video was a contingency plan he had left behind.

“I don’t know what led you to decide on this enhancement, nor do I know who you are. Your nationality, gender, age, religion, ideology—I can’t even guess.”

“So I’ll speak in a way that applies no matter who you might be.”

“This recording was made in English, the global lingua franca at the time. But the Awakener System should be playing it back in whichever language you’re most comfortable with.”

So it wasn’t that Jacob spoke Korean—it was just that the system was translating it.

“If you were hoping the enhancement would create more awakeners or make existing ones stronger, I’m afraid that won’t happen. The enhancement can only improve convenience features.”

I clicked my tongue silently.

Better usability was nice, sure, but I’d been hoping for more awakeners or stronger ones….

“The translation system is one such convenience. In the future, awakeners will be able to easily learn any language the system can recognize.”

Jacob went on, explaining one feature after another.

Listening to it all felt like reading patch notes. Surely he hadn’t left this entire message just to go over minor updates, had he?

“That concludes the explanation of post-enhancement changes. Now, on to the main point.”

Right then, Jacob got serious.

“Do you know of a substance called ether?”

Ether? Of course I knew it.

A hypothetical medium once imagined in physics as the carrier of light. Though its existence had been disproven, ever since the black mist and the Awakener System appeared, some had speculated it might, in fact, exist.

Some even suspected it to be the origin of both the black mist and the system.

And now Jacob was talking about it….

“Ether does exist. To be precise, you could say the black mist and the Awakener System are essentially masses of ether.”

Though perhaps it was something else entirely, and “ether” was just his chosen term for it.

“What matters is that ether can transform into any form.”

And those transformations were what we knew as mana, aura, mental energy, spirit power—the various forces the system granted to awakeners.

“……”

It was an earth-shaking revelation about how the system worked. But knowing it didn’t mean I could do anything with it, so I kept silent.

What mattered was something else.

“So the black mist is a mass of ether….”

If so, what would happen if I burned that ether away with Samādhi True Fire?

What if I forced it all to be consumed?

“If you’ve gathered enough points to enhance the system, it means you’re in a position to accumulate vast amounts. It also means you’re someone who values the empowerment of all over personal gain.”

“Please… use this knowledge well, and erase the black mist from this world.”

The video ended there.

“……”

So Jacob must have reasoned that anyone who could afford to enhance the system would be both influential and altruistic—and thus left them this message.

But even knowing about ether, most people wouldn’t recognize it for what it was. The average awakener couldn’t even clearly distinguish between aura and mana, after all. They only guessed based on how the energy was used.

“…In that sense, it’s lucky this message came to me.”

Samādhi is the ability to perceive essence.

With the Samādhi True Fire, which embodies that principle, perhaps I really could perceive ether—and burn it away.

“Looks like I’ll be busier….”

Up until now, I had focused on cultivating my inner energy with Harmonious Divine Arts, strengthening my body, and polishing techniques through sparring with puppets. But from now on, meditation would have to become a bigger part of my training.

After all, the oceans were the domain of the black mist—a sign of just how vast it was.

With my current Samādhi True Fire, I might be able to burn away fragments of ether, but not the whole. Even strengthening it might not be enough.

Still… who knew?

Through meditation, perhaps I might gain insight into how to completely erase the black mist from this world.

【Awakener System enhancement complete.】
【This message will now be broadcast to all awakeners worldwide.】

As that message appeared, I glanced toward the town. Sure enough, a commotion had broken out—everyone was reacting to the sudden announcement.

“Things are going to get noisy.”

For decades, the system had remained unchanged. Now, all of a sudden, it had been enhanced.

The method was no secret, but the amount of points required was astronomical.

An amount no individual could possibly gather. Even organizations would find it nearly impossible.

And now, without warning, someone had spent that absurd sum to trigger the enhancement….

Naturally, people would want to know who it was.

Some would simply be curious, eager to ask how such a fortune in points had been amassed.
Some would be greedy, hoping to learn a trick for gathering more points themselves.
And some would be convinced the enhancement carried special perks—and would try to steal them from whoever had done it.

“…And in that chaos, innocent people might get caught up and suffer.”

Which was why I would reveal that I was the one who had enhanced the Awakener System.

Of course… not as Han Geon-woo.

But under my other identity: the Artist.