"GNOM inside me!"

  That declaration I shouted alone in the empty park that night had already become something from a week ago.

  The hot thrill of that moment when I decided to become a hero was still alive and breathing in my chest. But actually living as a hero was a completely different problem. I couldn't wear some flashy costume and fly around cutting through the night sky like in movies, and I also couldn't just go to the police station and register saying "Actually, I'm a person with superpowers, so could you contact me if there's trouble?"

  The path of being a hero was much more bewildering than I thought, and also... extremely ordinary.

  But something was strange. Lately, small things kept bothering me. The look in a stranger's eyes that I met on the subway was unusually hollow, and the wounds on the convenience store part-timer's wrist kept coming to mind. Was it because my senses had become sensitive, or was the world slowly getting twisted?

  This morning too, something like that happened. When I was buying milk at the convenience store in front of my house, I could feel the clerk's voice trembling slightly. The cold sweat beading on his forehead, his gaze constantly glancing toward the door. He was afraid of something.

  In the end, my daily life hadn't changed much from before. Today too, I went to the pro boxing center as usual, where the smell of iron powder mixed with the rubber smell from old ring ropes. The thumping sound of sandbags and the rough breathing of fighters combined to create a rhythm like the heartbeat of a huge beast.

  "Kang Chul, you came! Let me introduce the sparring partner I mentioned yesterday."

  The coach stopped the timer and smiled brightly. Sweat drops were beading on his face, and an old scar above his right eyebrow showed clearly under the fluorescent light. After last week's incident when I hit the ceiling and sent him flying out of the ring with one sparring punch, he was looking at me with even more interested eyes. Like the eyes of a jeweler who found a diamond in rough stone.

  Of course, he had no idea that I was carefully controlling my strength.

  "Yes, coach. Please take care of me."

  I answered while draining the strength from my voice. It would be strange if I was too confident. Walking toward the changing room, I smelled the metallic scent coming from the old lockers. It was the smell of sweat and effort from various fighters soaked in.

  Changing into sweat-soaked workout clothes, I muttered to myself.

  'I need to be careful. I can't let it show too much.'

  But the 'GNOM' inside me seemed to have different thoughts. Something stirred deep in my chest. It felt like it was whispering 'Why hide? Show them, your real power!'

  My abilities were clearly different from ordinary people. I gained power that could save people, but when it came to where and how to use it, I was at a loss. It felt like my throat was blocked. My breathing became shallow.

  When I got up on the ring, the opponent the coach introduced looked quite skilled.

  "I'm Min-su. Please go easy on me."

  He greeted me politely, but competitive spirit flashed in his eyes. Sharp footwork and fierce jabs. I could see even the tendons under his skin standing out every time his muscles moved.

  But in front of my enhanced dynamic vision, it all looked like slow motion.

  The acting began.

  I had to act like I was barely dodging, barely blocking by a hair's breadth. 'A little slower, a little more clumsy.' Every time I threw a punch, I deliberately delayed the timing and made my footwork awkward. I even had to pretend to make mistakes like my steps getting tangled.

  The longer this theatrical sparring continued, the more violently the 'GNOM' inside me writhed as if frustrated.

  'Stop it! I'm suffocating!'

  I heard a crying sound from inside me. It wasn't a real voice, but I definitely heard it.

  The moment my opponent's fist grazed my guard, I unconsciously put a little strength into my counter.

  Thwack!

  "Ahhhhh!"

  The opposing fighter flew out of the ring with a scream and crashed onto the mat. Shock and terror appeared on his face at the same time. All eyes in the gym instantly focused on me.

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  The gloves of students hitting sandbags stopped in mid-air, and the sound of jump ropes falling to the floor from those who were jumping rope sounded strangely loud.

  "Kang Chul! Oh no, what do I do if you do this again!"

  Coach Kim came running over in a fluster. Worry and interest appeared on his face at the same time. Like the eyes of a miner who discovered a gem.

  I raised my hands behind my head and smiled awkwardly.

  "I'm sorry, coach. My condition is a bit off... I can't concentrate."

  When I was leaving after finishing training that day, Coach Kim put his hand on my shoulder.

  "Kang Chul, you really seem like something special. Don't you want to try entering a proper match?"

  I shook my head. If I entered a real match? I might kill my opponent.

  "I'm not ready yet."

  On the way home, I realized I had developed a habit of checking news on my smartphone. I would scan the society section and incident categories to see if there was anything I might need to step in for.

  But today was the same. 'XX district apartment fire, no casualties', 'Traffic accident injures 2', 'Convenience store theft suspect arrested'... They were all either too far away or incidents that had already ended.

  'When will a moment that really needs a hero come? No, will it really come?'

  With a deflated heart, I sat on a park bench near my house. The evening air brushed my cheeks coldly. It was a peaceful evening with the rustling sound of leaves, dog barking heard from far away, and the footsteps of people jogging.

  What I wanted to protect was exactly this kind of ordinary daily life.

  But even in this peaceful scene, I felt a strange energy. A middle-aged man sitting alone on a bench in one corner of the park - his fists kept trembling. Was it depression, or something else?

  But where was the darkness threatening that daily life hiding? Wasn't someone suffering right now in places I couldn't find? Just thinking about it made my chest feel stuffy.

  "Ugh, this damn world. It's the end times, the end times."

  An old man sitting on the next bench shook his head from side to side. Deep sighs were mixed in his voice.

  "That's right, Brother Park. Looking at the news these days, really... people can't trust people anymore."

  Another old man next to him chimed in. When you turn on the news, all you hear is people dying and getting hurt...

  "At times like this, I really wish a hero would appear. Like in movies."

  I smiled bitterly. The old men's voices were so earnest that my heart ached.

  'I'm here, grandfathers. But I don't know what I should do yet either.'

  Three more days passed like that.

  My worries about life as a hero only deepened. Every night lying in bed, I would look at the ceiling and think.

  'Can I really become a hero? Or am I just going to become a monster?'

  The world seemed to turn peacefully without caring about my worries. Every night I checked the news and trained my body preparing for any possible situation, but nothing happened.

  Would I spend my whole life just preparing and end like that? Such doubt felt like it was strangling my neck.

  That day too, I sweated at the boxing center and came home to eat dinner. On the dinner table, seaweed soup that mom had made with bone broth she'd been simmering since dawn was steaming. Kimchi, rolled egg, stir-fried anchovies. It was a simple but heartfelt meal.

  "Son, you've been talking a lot in your sleep lately. Do you have some worry?"

  Mom ladled rice while looking closely at my face. In her eyes shone the intuition that only a mother who had watched her son for many years could have.

  "Talking in my sleep?"

  "Last night too, you were muttering something. You kept saying 'I have to stop it.'"

  I was startled. Did I really say such things in my sleep?

  "Oh, just... it's about a game. The game I'm playing these days is a bit difficult."

  Mom looked at me with suspicious eyes but didn't ask any more. Instead, she ladled another bowl of seaweed soup.

  "Eat a lot. You're too thin."

  That was exactly the moment.

  From the living room TV screen, the anchor's urgent voice burst out along with the loud sound effects announcing breaking news. The entire screen flashed red with 'BREAKING NEWS' subtitles appearing. The anchor's face was pale and tense, unlike usual.

  [This is breaking news. At the current time of 7:34 PM, an unprecedented incident has occurred at Gangnam Station intersection. An unidentified man has appeared and is throwing vehicles with his bare hands. Police have been dispatched but...]

  I couldn't even put down my spoon and just stared at the screen. Time seemed to stop.

  Mom was also surprised and covered her mouth.

  "My goodness, what is that?"

  Helicopter footage filled the screen. The scene in the middle of the intersection was literally hell.

  Cars were crumpled like paper boxes, and one bus was completely overturned. In the middle of it all, a man was roaring.

  The sounds coming from beyond the screen pierced my enhanced hearing. Siren sounds, screaming, and the sounds of something breaking mixed in between.

  Even through the screen, I could smell it at my nose tip. Burning smell, blood smell, and the cold smell coming from people's terror.

  The police SWAT team approached carefully with shields, but at that moment when the man uprooted an entire bus stop and swung it, the officers scattered like leaves.

  "Ahhhhh!"

  The officers' screams echoed through the living room via the TV speakers.

  It was overwhelming. Power that couldn't possibly be believed as human.

  "My God... is that really a person?"

  Mom's voice was trembling.

  'Monster...'

  That word stuck in my brain. But at the same time, I felt a strange déjà vu.

  But then, the camera close-upped the man's upper body. His body, gasping rough breaths, was abnormally swollen with veins standing out.

  And I saw the tattoo carved on his right shoulder.

  Instantly, all the blood in my body froze.

  Tiger.

  A roaring tiger tattoo. At that moment, memories from Cheongryong Mountain rushed in like a tide.

  'This bastard is acting tough until right before he dies? Just bury him.'

  The sensation of cold dirt covering my face, the terror of that suffocating moment came back vividly.

  The thugs who tried to bury me. Dragon, snake, and tiger tattoos.

  He was alive. And he had changed like me. No, much more horribly than me.

  [Military units have currently been ordered to deploy. But experts say this man's power has exceeded human limits...]

  "He became a beast. Completely."

  I muttered. My hands were shaking.

  While I was still maintaining human form, that guy had already become a complete monster.

  This wasn't coincidence. This was fate I had to face.

  "I have to go."

  I muttered while getting up from my seat.

  "What did you say, son? Go where?"

  Mom looked at me with a surprised expression.

  "Oh, no. Just... scared talk."

  But my mind was already decided. Only I could stop that bastard.

  The night the meteor fell, what happened to me had happened to that bastard too. While I struggled to coexist with 'GNOM', that guy had been completely swallowed.

  'If not me, who will stop that bastard?'

  A child's crying could be heard from the TV screen. I could see people waiting for rescue in the rubble of collapsed buildings.

  I couldn't hesitate any longer.

  This wasn't the 'heroic moment' I had been searching for. This was an old grudge I had to end.

  I shot up.

  "Mom, I'm going out for a bit."

  "Where at this time? When something like that is happening!"

  Desperation was mixed in Mom's voice. Her eyes were full of anxiety.

  "I'll be back soon. It's really important. There's no one else who can do this except me."

  Sensing the sincerity in my voice, Mom didn't try to stop me anymore.

  I changed clothes in my room. Black hoodie, jeans, and a mask. My appearance in the mirror was no longer an ordinary job-seeking student.

  Through the window, the sky toward Gangnam Station was tinged red. The siren sounds didn't stop.

  'GNOM' stirred in my chest. This time it was a different feeling. Like it was saying 'Finally, the time has come.'

  I was afraid. Really afraid.

  But something bigger than that fear moved me. I couldn't turn away from those cries.

  I opened the front door and stepped into the cold night air.

  At that moment, I was no longer Kang Chul. I was a new being together with 'GNOM' inside me.

  This was my real first step as a hero.

  Not cool, not confident, but an unavoidable first step toward fate.