Do Your Own Revolution

“Eugene! You bastard, stop right there?!”

“Where does that orphan bastard think he’s running to…!”

In the Kalhyram Empire, an unexpected chase was unfolding in the slums of the capital, Central.

The one being chased was a child with a small build.

The pursuers were thugs as big as mountains.

Hans, who was observing the chase from a step away, pulled out a cigarette from his chest and put it in his mouth.

“Tsk, this is why these slum rats…”

He had given the young one some time when he begged to repay the money somehow, but sure enough, he ran away.

Seems like he inherited his dead father’s habits after all.

“Big brother! Over here!”

It didn’t take long to corner the boy in a dead end.

“He said he wanted to join the organization, so I tested him… Not bad for a rat.”

Hans muttered to himself while looking at Saul and walked into the alley with leisurely steps.

Eugene was already surrounded by the gang.

Being a dead end, there was nowhere to run.

“What should we do, big brother?”

When Saul, who was leading the rats, asked, Hans exhaled cigarette smoke and said.

“That one, does he have any skills with his hands?”

At Hans’s question pointing to Eugene, Saul immediately answered.

“Huh? Ah, yes. When his father was alive, he was good at making things like brooms.”

“Good. We’ll throw him in the factory and work him for about 10 years.”

Something fell at Saul’s feet.

Looking down, there lay a sharp axe with a blue blade.

Hans had thrown it to him.

“B-Big brother? This…”

When Saul asked, Hans gestured with his chin toward the axe and said.

“Cut off his legs. Then he won’t be able to run away again.”

“W-What?!”

At those words spoken without hesitation, Saul and his gang turned pale.

“C-Cut them off…”

“B-Big brother. Even so, that’s…”

No matter how hardened these back alley thugs were, they were still young boys who hadn’t even reached adulthood.

Hans’s lips twisted at the sight of them hesitating in fear.

“…Hah, but these bastards get cocky when you go easy on them.”

And the next moment.

With a sharp sound, Saul’s face whipped to the side.

Hans had struck his cheek with full force.

“B-Big brother…?”

“Who said you could call me big brother, you stupid rat.”

This time it wasn’t a palm but a fist that flew.

Saul, who was slammed against the wall, looked at Hans with wide eyes, but it was useless.

Hans stomped on Saul, who was cornered against the wall, for a long time.

After several minutes, Hans spoke to Saul, who was curled up and trembling, covered in dirt.

“Get up.”

Saul immediately stood up straight in front of Hans.

Hans, who had been quietly looking at Saul, immediately grabbed his collar.

“Kuhk?!”

“Hey. Are you crazy? You said you wanted to join the Valks gang, but now you’re trying to back out of a simple errand? Huh?”

“I-I’m sorry…!”

Saul shouted desperately.

His expression was filled with terror.

“And didn’t I tell you last time? Don’t make me repeat myself.”

“Yes, yes! That’s right! Yes!”

“Then hurry up and cut him, you bastard. If you hesitate one more time, I’ll cut off your head instead. Understand?”

At the fierce threat, Saul frantically gestured to his gang.

One of the gang members picked up the axe and handed it to Saul, who approached Eugene with trembling hands.

“Seriously, these idiots only listen when you rough them up. Stupid bastards.”

Hans crossed his arms while thinking this, throwing away his finished cigarette.

Saul swallowed hard and turned his gaze.

The target, Eugene, was pressed against the wall, glaring at him and his gang.

‘Right. Once I join the gang, I’ll be doing this kind of thing countless times anyway…!’

Saul wanted to escape from these back alleys.

He wanted to join the gang and play in bigger waters.

And to do that, he had to become cruel.

‘I have to do it. I’ll join the gang, and then this slum…!’

Just as Saul gritted his teeth and was about to take a step forward to do the ‘job’…

“…Huh?”

Something was wrong.

He clearly tried to move his foot, but his legs were frozen in place as if stuck.

“What. Why won’t my body…”

He tried to move several more times but it was useless.

No, it got even worse.

“Wh-What…?”

He couldn’t move a single finger.

It was as if he was caught in an invisible trap.

“Hey. What are you bastards…”

Hans frowned as he watched Saul and his gang standing still for a long time.

But that didn’t last long.

Hans, who tried to uncross his arms, also noticed something was wrong.

“…What’s this, why can’t I move?”

Something was wrong.

Just as he thought that, a boy’s voice was heard from the end of the dead-end alley.

“Why? Because it worked.”

Saul, his gang, and Hans’s gazes focused on one person.

“Eu… gene?”

Only then did Hans notice something strange about the boy’s appearance.

Eugene’s right arm extended toward them.

It was wrapped in bandages with scabs stuck here and there.

Before they could figure out what it was, Eugene unwrapped the bandages from his right arm.

And when they saw what was hidden under the bandages, the gang members’ eyes widened.

“Wh-What…?”

It was a forearm riddled with numerous holes. Space was distorting and rippling around that forearm.

“Why is that bastard’s arm like that?”

While Saul and his gang could only look bewildered, not knowing anything, Hans’s reaction was different.

“This, this crazy…!”

Hans’s face turned pale.

The arm covered in wounds, the unknown force rising from it.

It was all something he had heard about before.

“Magic Awakening? That little brat underwent that surgery?”

Just as Hans said that with wide eyes.

“It’s too late to notice now.”

Along with the boy’s words, a dazzling light began to envelop the alley.

And only then could Hans fully grasp the situation before his eyes.

Magician.

Those who awaken to magic through either innate bloodline or surgery, and can manipulate it.

Human weapons who can deflect bullets with their bare body and cut off limbs with their bare hands.

The boy who had been kicked around until last week was now… transformed into a monster.

***

The back alley shook entirely with the thunderous sound.

A basic shockwave that concentrated magic at one point before releasing it.

It was a technique that anyone who had awakened to magic could use, but its power was undeniable.

“Ku, kuhk…!”

“Aagh…! Wh-What is this…!”

Saul’s gang members, slammed against the walls, were groaning in pain.

Saul, who took the shockwave head-on, had his nose crushed, and the rest seemed to have at least one broken limb each.

‘I guess this… settles the debt from a week ago.’

Of course, I wasn’t completely fine either after using magic.

“Hah… Hah…!”

There was no problem with casting the magic.

The problem was my physical condition.

“One more of these and I’ll really die…”

An eight-year-old child’s body that hadn’t fully grown, plus the lingering after-effects of surgery.

Using this much magical power with such a body, it couldn’t handle the recoil.

‘No, no way.’

Blood seeped from burst wounds, and my legs trembled from exhaustion.

But I somehow managed to hold onto consciousness.

‘Get it together, Seong Yu-jin. If you collapse here, all your suffering until now will be for nothing.’

I walked past them through the alley.

My destination was behind Saul’s gang.

There, the man who had threatened me a week ago lay sprawled face-down.

“Im-Impossible…! How can he use magic…!”

Though he couldn’t steady himself, probably due to broken ribs, his consciousness was clear.

‘Tsk, it would’ve been better if he had just passed out.’

After clicking my tongue briefly, I took out what I had prepared from my chest.

A pocket knife made by sharpening a broken glass bottle and wrapping bandages around the handle.

Though crudely made, it was enough to kill one defenseless man.

“Wait. You crazy bastard…?”

Hans’s face turned pale when he saw what I was holding.

“Wait! Wait a minute!”

Hans shouted at me.

“Hey, you crazy bastard! Do you know what you’re trying to do?! Huh?!”

“I know well. That I have to kill you here.”

“Know my ass! What are you going to do after you kill me, you idiot?!”

Seeing me speak calmly, Hans’s shouts became more urgent.

“Listen well. I’m a member of the Valks gang. If you kill me here, what do you think will happen? Huh?!”

I didn’t bother answering Hans’s words.

Seemingly frustrated by my response, he ranted desperately toward me.

“The Valks boss will find you and take revenge! Understand?! You’re not just messing with me alone, but with the entire Valks gang!”

“Idiot, talking nonsense.”

But I cut off his words with an emotionless voice.

“If I kill you, your organization will take revenge on me? Sorry, but that won’t happen.”

“Wh-What…?”

I dropped the childish act.

It wasn’t necessary anymore, and I didn’t have the luxury for it either.

As my voice lowered, Hans’s face turned pale.

“I’m just an eight-year-old kid. Can’t even be called a youngster, just a snot-nosed brat.”

“Wh-What does that have to do with…!”

“Use your head if you have one. The Action Leader who rules this area got killed by a kid like me. If this gets out, how do you think other gangs will view your group?”

Hearing my words, Hans’s body trembled.

“Th-That…!”

“They’ll probably think like this: ‘If a gang executive gets killed by an eight-year-old kid, how pathetic must his underlings be?’ And they’ll also think: ‘If the Valks gang is that pathetic, maybe we should try taking them on?'”

“…!”

Hans’s face rapidly hardened.

He finally understood the situation.

“The moment an organization appears weak, it’s over. You know that better than me, right?”

It wasn’t a lie.

What I just said was about the Valks gang’s downfall that I saw in the original story.

Seven years from now, the protagonist who awakened to magic will break into the Valks gang’s headquarters and defeat their boss, Valks.

A gang that had ruled Grey Quarter for nearly 10 years gets taken down by a fifteen-year-old kid.

That shocking news spreads throughout the back alleys, and after facing numerous challenges, the Valks gang disbands. Their boss Valks gets killed on the street.

But this time it’s not even a 15-year-old youth, but an eight-year-old kid?

The outcome was obvious without even looking.

“Sp-Spare me.”

As if finally realizing what situation he was in, Hans began to beg me.

“I’ll forget all about your debt. No, I’ll give you whatever compensation you want! So please, please just spare my life…!”

“Pft, hahaha!”

I burst out laughing at his appearance.

This man who was threatening to put me through a grinder just yesterday becomes this pathetic when faced with death.

‘Really… It’s exactly like in the game.’

I looked at his face once more.

Though his tear-stained face kept begging for mercy, my resolve didn’t change.

“No, you die here.”

I put my body weight into the hand holding the knife.

The pocket knife that dug into his throat penetrated Hans’s neck.

“Please! Please! Please sp- Kuheeeek…!”

As the blade went deeper, his struggling intensified.

I almost fell over from his constant twisting, but that didn’t last long.

“Kruk…”

Hans’s body went limp like a puppet with cut strings. He drowned in the bubbling blood rather than bleeding out.

“Whew…!”

After confirming Hans’s death, the aftermath of murder began to hit me belatedly.

“Ugh, urk…!”

The sensation of stabbing a living person transmitted directly through my hand.

It was a horrible feeling.

The vibration through the blade, the sensation of cutting through flesh and twisting bone.

Nausea surged up, but I desperately suppressed it.

‘I need to get used to this quickly.’

There are seven years until the main story begins.

In seven years, the empire will fall into chaos, wars will be endless, and countless incidents and deaths will be scattered.

I had to survive that massive current.

To survive, I needed to build up my strength as soon as possible.

The guilt of first murder?

It would be nothing compared to what I would have to face in the future.