Chapter 02 …
EX-Level Reincarnation Selected
The background was pure white.
It was impossible to tell where the floor ended and the ceiling began.
Even spending just one day here would be enough to drive someone insane. That was the space I stood in.
And within this endless white space, a single, oddly contrasting presence caught my eye.
A person entirely black, the opposite of the white surroundings.
Who was that?
I saw a figure standing still, staring straight ahead.
Was it a martial arts uniform? Or a combat outfit? I couldn’t tell. It was some kind of black attire, and the man simply stared forward.
“…The feet.”
His bare feet were uncovered, full of scars and dried blood.
I had seen these feet somewhere before.
But where?
I couldn’t recall.
Everything felt hazy.
Why was I here?
Why was I seeing this?
I didn’t know at all.
I found myself staring at the man without realizing it.
From the spot where he stood, a trail of red marks extended backward across the floor.
“…Is that… blood?”
The trail, unmistakably blood, continued without a single break, as if marking the path he had walked.
The scene was strangely cruel, distant, and terrifying.
“…Hah…!”
I gasped involuntarily.
Then:
“…!”
The man slowly turned his head, revealing his face.
Though his gaze was clearly on me, I couldn’t make out his face.
It was hazy, as if shrouded in mist.
But I could feel that his eyes were definitely on me.
I wanted to run.
Instinct told me to.
Run immediately. Escape now.
But my body was frozen, stiff and unresponsive.
Then:
[Do not reveal your identity yet.]
A voice echoed in my mind.
“Ha…!”
I exhaled roughly and opened my eyes.
Even though I had just woken up, I could feel the sweat soaking my back.
My heart pounded as I let out a small sound.
“Was that… a dream?”
Realizing it had been a dream finally calmed my racing heart.
Wow.
What a messed-up dream.
‘Good heavens… such a nightmare… huh?’
Wait… what was the dream again?
I couldn’t remember it anymore.
‘Did I already forget it?’
It felt like I had just been dreaming it, but why had it vanished so quickly?
I didn’t worry too much.
Dreams were usually like that.
The only thing I remembered was the last phrase:
‘Hide your identity?’
What did that mean?
‘Ah, whatever. It’s just a dream.’
At least, that’s what I thought for now.
‘What time is it…’
I checked the clock and suddenly sat up straight.
“Ah…!!”
My mind cleared, and memories of the past days surged.
“Awakening…!”
I had awakened. My heart raced in excitement.
Could it have been a dream too? I clutched my pounding chest and quickly checked my left palm.
There it was.
“…It’s here…”
A star-shaped mark was clearly drawn on my hand.
It was proof of awakening—a tattoo only the awakened could see.
“…It’s real… it’s real!”
It had appeared on me. I couldn’t contain my excitement. This was the awakening I had longed for so desperately.
The emotion was overwhelming. I tried to suppress it, but my trembling fingertips betrayed me.
I pressed the star lightly with my quivering thumb.
Then.
Ding-!!
A notification sounded, and something appeared before my eyes.
[■ Reincarnation Information.]
[■ Martial God (EX)]
[■ Synchronization Rate (0%)]
[■ Synchronization rate is too low; abilities are limited.]
“…Whoa.”
I gasped in admiration. I had heard about this so many times, and now I could finally see it myself.
The system window that appeared when one awakened… now I could see it.
But.
“…What is this?”
The rank seemed odd.
“EX?”
I had never seen this rank before.
“Did this exist?”
Ranks ranged from F to SS, assigned during awakening. The derived abilities would shape one’s future.
F-ranked were mostly ordinary people, farmers, or commoners. In other words, awakening didn’t make much difference.
The higher the rank, the greater the power gap.
‘There are currently three SS-ranked individuals.’
SS was the highest rank. One American, one Chinese, and the last…
‘A Korean.’
Currently in Korea.
‘SS alone can hold power capable of threatening entire nations…’
But this rank… I had never seen one this high before.
“What the hell is this?”
I glanced at my palm. Even the color of the star was unusual.
‘…Black.’
It was pitch black.
Ranks were supposed to have colored markings, and black was not among them.
“Something’s wrong…”
A sense of unease rose.
“At that time… an S-ranked appeared.”
During the reincarnation roulette, an S-rank had appeared. I had been about to choose it when something forced me to pick this instead.
‘This isn’t a dream.’
If it wasn’t a dream, then what was it?
‘What is this synchronization rate?’
I frowned at the synchronization rate. Normally, memories of one’s past life would gradually seep in according to this rate.
“…0%?”
Zero percent? What the hell?
“What if something’s wrong?”
I had just awakened—what if something was wrong? The thought made me anxious.
‘Maybe I’m hallucinating because I wanted to awaken so badly.’
What if that were true?
“…That can’t happen.”
If I went insane, that would be terrible.
“Not yet. I can’t let it happen.”
My eyes fell on a photo of my parents on the desk.
“….”
I stared at it, then got up.
“It’s just past eight in the morning…”
I quickly got dressed.
“If I don’t know, I can just check.”
I needed to confirm whether my awakening was real. My destination was clear.
-The next stop is the Incheon Superhuman Association.
The bus announcement sounded just as I boarded in a hurry.
I pressed the stop button immediately.
The doors opened with a creak. Stepping out, I saw a large building. I hadn’t expected to come here so early.
This was the Superhuman Association, a place I had visited once a year.
The headquarters was in Seoul; this was the Incheon branch.
‘Rank, huh.’
Could I even talk about this?
The building had six floors. I walked to the information desk on the first floor.
“Hello. I’d like to register for an examination.”
“Oh, are you an awakened?”
“…Yes, I think so.”
“Huh?”
The receptionist tilted their head at my vague reply.
“Ah… yes. Please give me your ID first.”
“Here it is.”
“Got it… hmm?”
The receptionist’s eyes widened slightly as they checked my age.
“…When did you awaken?”
I was exactly twenty, which seemed to surprise them.
“Yesterday.”
“Oh! Congratulations!”
“Thank you.”
Everyone was shocked that I had awakened just the day before. I was surprised too.
“Your ID is confirmed. You can take the examination on this floor.”
“…Okay.”
“Once confirmed, come back down to complete your registration.”
“I understand.”
I received a paper and went up to the examination floor.
No one else was waiting. No one would come to register for awakening on the first day of the year.
“You can go ahead and grab a box.”
I looked at the box I was told to grab.
‘This is it.’
The item I had longed to see.
If you were awakened, it would glow blue to indicate your status.
It was a recently developed device. Previously, measurements had been more crude, but this box allowed for a systematic evaluation.
I swallowed nervously.
‘Please let it glow blue.’
It had to confirm my awakening.
I grabbed the box.
A low hum vibrated through it, then it gradually started to glow.
But…
‘…Black?’
The glow was black.
“Uh? What’s this?”
The inspector watching me reacted in surprise.
“What the…!”
The monitor displayed the results.
[Confirmed.]
[Reincarnation confirmed.]
‘So I really did awaken.’
The machine confirmed my awakening.
“…But why black?”
The inspector seemed flustered. Normally, the glow should have been blue.
Then.
The black light gradually shifted to blue.
The inspector visibly relaxed.
“Oh, it seems the machine had an error… it’s new technology, so occasional glitches happen.”
“I see.”
“Don’t worry; the measurement is fine. You can go down and complete your registration.”
“…Understood.”
After stamping the paper, they told me I had to go to the Seoul headquarters within ten days to certify my rank officially.
I finished the registration and left the building slowly.
‘…What is this?’
The EX-rank in the status window still felt strange.
What exactly was this rank?
I should have asked the staff about it.
‘Hmm…’
I couldn’t put it into words, as if someone had sealed my mouth.
“Oh, right.”
I suddenly remembered something. If I had truly awakened…
‘Then I can use it now.’
A space accessible only to awakened individuals existed.
I tapped the star-shaped tattoo three times.
Then:
[Ding!]
[Do you want to enter the network?]
I couldn’t help but feel excited.
‘…I can really enter this.’
A space accessible only via the system, exclusively for reincarnated individuals:
The Reincarnation Network.
A community for reincarnated people.
‘…And it’s a gateway entrance.’
A space that allowed entry to gates appearing once every few days.
My heart raced as I pressed the entry button.
The system window expanded, blocking my vision.
[Entered the Reincarnation Network.]
I had really entered. It felt like looking at a computer screen.
The posts were overwhelming. I thought:
‘Now it should announce my arrival.’
A notification soon appeared:
[■ A new reincarnated individual has entered the network.]
Interesting. I watched in fascination.
Chijijijik.
“Huh?”
Something felt… very off.
Since its creation, the Reincarnation Network had been extremely useful.
It was necessary for entering dimensional gates threatening peace.
Reincarnated individuals shared information and chatted here. This was the only space for superhumans.
Even new arrivals triggered alerts.
This time was no different.
[■ New reincarnated individual entering.]
[Marcel the Farmer: Huh? An alert?]
[Samdong 1402, Bloodwind: A newbie? A newbie’s here?]
[Bundang Sweetfist: New Year’s newbie? Awakened late, then opened Reincarnation Network?]
[Paris Romance: Who does that? Everyone would open it as soon as they awakened.]
[Samdong 1402, Bloodwind: Could be a time difference. Maybe not Asia.]
[Marcel the Farmer: Hahaha, right.]
The posts poured in. Every user’s attention focused on the newcomer.
Since it wasn’t the usual period for new awakenings, everyone was intrigued.
[■ The presence of this reincarnated individual is overwhelming.]
[■ Temporarily shutting down the network for reconstruction.]
[What the hell!]
[The network’s down. What kind of nonsense is this?]
[The network just shut off? First time seeing this.]
[It couldn’t have happened before. If it did, there’d be records!]
Chaos ensued. The network had never shut down before. It came back online in seconds, but reactions had already escalated.
Posts surged like never before.
Then:
[■ Reconstruction successful.]
[■ Martial God (武神) has entered the network.]
[■ Please give a warm welcome.]
An even bigger event had occurred.
[…A black name? What does black mean?]
[Martial God? What is that? That black nametag.]
[What rank is that? Is it the author? Didn’t it just say something about presence? Did it shut the network because of this person?]
[The Reincarnation Network shut down… just by entering?]
[The color is weird too. Black?]
After the network shutdown, reactions exploded further.
The situation was unprecedented. The color was unprecedented. The unexpected event caused everyone’s responses to go wild.
Comments about Martial God poured in:
[What rank is that?]
[Who are you?]
[Which country are you from?]
Within moments, hundreds, then thousands of comments appeared.
A single individual had impacted superumans worldwide.
