Chapter 159: R-Project 1

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As the world disappeared around him, Junhyuk was relieved, thinking that everything was over. He had won his first battle at that Dimensional Battlefield and he wouldn't have to meet Kaljaque, the troll, again.

The world turned white, but when he opened his eyes, he was not in his room.

Everything remained white, and as he looked around, a square box appeared in front of him. He looked at it and heard a soft voice.

[The Swamp of Despair's victory prize is in the box. Please, check on it.]

Junhyuk was glad it was a prize and put his hands on the box. It opened up, and a small orb appeared.

[The victory prize is a Spatial Bag. Only the owner can open it, and when you place your hand in it, you can pull out whatever item you placed inside.]

Junhyuk pushed his hand inside the orb, and a five-meter cube s.p.a.ce appeared like a hologram. He thought of a s.p.a.ce in it and pushed his hand inside, and the hologram moved to that place.

"Whoa."

Junhyuk pulled the spirit stones from his chest and placed them in the corner of the Spatial Bag. He pulled out his hand, and the hologram disappeared, leaving just the orb in its place.

[You may grab the Spatial Bag with both hands to relocate it.]

He grabbed it with both of his hands and moves it toward the left side of his chest. He pushed his right hand in again, the hologram reappeared, and he took out the spirit stone.

Junhyuk smiled. With it, he could carry whatever he wanted.

[When you want to look for an item in the Spatial Bag, just think about it, and you'll be able to pull it out without looking.]

It was the first time Junhyuk was using the bag, so he was grateful for the explanations. He thought about the spirit stone and pushed his hand inside. Before the hologram appeared, he grabbed it and pulled it out.

"OK."

Junhyuk smiled and put all of the spirit stones back in the bag.

[The next Champions' Battlefield is in two weeks. We will see you next time.]

As the voice finished talking, the world turned bright white. Junhyuk closed his eyes, but the light still pounded his cornea. When he opened his eyes, time hadn't pa.s.sed. He got up slowly and looked at the left side of his chest. The orb was there, but only he could see it. He pulled out the two spirit stones again and smiled.

"I got it now."

The bag was too expensive. He had thought about buying it much later, but now he had it. Smiling, he placed the spirit stones back inside and got up.

The Spatial Bag followed him around. It was fixed in place by holding it with both hands. He teleported, and the bag remained in the same spot by his chest.

Junhyuk pulled out his burner phone and heard the voice he wanted to hear.

"Big brother?"

"Right, it's me."

"What happened? You're already back?"

"Right, time stopped for real. I was there for a while, and time didn't pa.s.s here."

"Did you win?"

"Sure."

"Right! I thought so."

Junhyuk laughed and said, "I had a tough time there."

"What happened?"

"I met a troll."

"A troll?"

"Yes. I'll tell you later."

"OK. You must've just returned. Rest easy."

"Right."

He hung up the phone and lay on his bed, thinking about what to put inside the Spatial Bag.

---

Doyeol was with Elise, looking at a screen shown to them by Zaira. Two men were lying on beds.

"Both of them have broken spines and have lost movement below their waists," Elise explained calmly.

"Right."

People who lost the movement of their lower body experienced some leg muscle deformation even if they were cared for. Their legs looked skinny, so the onlookers could see that they were impaired.

"Both have not used their legs for more than ten years. Their muscles have atrophied. I'll begin the experiment."

Their spines were connected to a tube, and red liquid was being injected through it. They shivered with each injection. Both were restrained, but changes happened quickly and so did the screaming. Their muscle ma.s.s increased within ten minutes, and they started moving.

"We injected the R-Potion from the Regeneration Project into their spines to repair their impaired nervous system."

"Just the nervous system?"

"We can't do anything about amputations yet."

"Right."

Doyeol was still satisfied. With that, Eunseo could recover.

Elise looked at the screen and watched the men get up.

"We can't do anything about amputations, but other regenerations are possible. For example, putting muscles back into atrophied legs."

Doyeol nodded, and Elise showed him another screen.

"There is a theory that beings that hallucinate have nervous systems. These metal models can use that nervous system to allow the user to move freely. The R-Potion can regenerate that nervous system, so that the metal models can recover from any injury."

"Right. Then, if we combine the Regeneration Project with the Iron Project, it will have a synergistic effect."

"Yes."

Doyeol looked at Elise.

"OK. This is the Regeneration Project. What about the other project?"

"Zaira."

As Elise spoke, the screen changed, and other people appeared on it. There were ten soldiers, and they were doing a different experiment. A person was shot, but he ran and cut through a machine gun with a knife. Another person dodged the bullets, and another person punctured the steel plate with a knife.

"The muscle strength is up to three times normal. When one uses his muscles to their limit, that person will tear the muscles apart, but the bloodstones enable quick recovery. So, we produced soldiers that go beyond human limitations."

"Awesome. How are they against heavy firepower?"

"That type of weaponry can take out limbs, so we can't heal them yet. But one can always dodge. They will make better agents than soldiers."

"True. That's good thinking."

Only soldiers would come under heavy firepower, so having them as agents would be best.

"As for project results, how many do you have?"

"Only ten that are known to Pentagram. I will send each member two of them."

Doyeol looked at Elise, and she smiled.

"And since you gave me the higher quality bloodstone, I can supply you ten more. They will all come here. Their muscle strength if five times normal, and their regeneration rate is better."

"Put four at Guardians. I will take the remaining six."

"I thank you for that."

Doyeol got up.

"So, the experimental stage is over?"

"So far, we ran secret experiments on two thousand people. They all signed confidentiality agreements. What are you going to do?"

"I don't want to wait anymore," Doyeol said, got up and looked at Elise. "Take care of Eunseo. Set up a date."

"I need time to prepare. You just want the regeneration? Or...?"

Doyeol thought for a moment.

"Will she feel the difference?"

"She will feel her muscles enhancing and she'll have to get used to them, otherwise things could get funny."

Doyeol touched his chin.

"Even so, make sure she recovers. The Guardians' CEO position can be dangerous."

"I will set the date."

Elise smiled, and Doyeol answered, "Please do."

---

It was Sat.u.r.day, and Junhyuk was overseeing the construction at his new house. The power of money was impressive. They were even working on the weekend.

He saw a car coming his way. It stopped in front of him, and Doyeol and Jeffrey got out.

"Why are you here?"

"I heard you would be moving here, so I wanted to pay you a visit."

Junhyuk frowned, and Doyeol looked at the construction.

"Don't worry. I took care of the business you mentioned. There is no one here."

"Are you sure?"

"Sure. If someone is still following you, you may breach the contract between us."

Doyeol was strong, so Junhyuk gave up.

"Then, that's a relief."

"What are you working on?"

"Insulation," he answered.

It looked like they were building the insulation, but he was placing foil inside as well. Junhyuk looked at Jeffrey.

"We were neighbors, so we must separate."

"I am moving in next door," Jeffrey quickly answered him.

Junhyuk was surprised, and Jeffrey smiled. He also had hundreds of millions of dollars, so he could afford the new house.

"We are still neighbors."

Junhyuk looked at Doyeol.

"Did you know?"

"I told you, to stop people from following you, I have to keep watch."

"You also agreed not to follow me around!"

"I have my limits. Can't you understand?"

He looked at Jeffrey. He seemed like a nice person, and Junhyuk shrugged.

"Nothing I can do now."

It would be nice to have Jeffrey around to help him get stronger. Jeffrey should be the strongest after him in South Korea. Doyeol looked around.

"Then, I will be going."

"Be careful on your way."

Doyeol left with Jeffrey, and Junhyuk shook his head and looked at the house. They were working hard to finish the job that weekend.

"I have a lot to do."

He looked at his wrist.w.a.tch. The cube item detector was inside of it. He would use it to find more items in South Korea. He had wanted to do it with Sarang, but people could easily recognize him. He was known throughout the world, so he couldn't do whatever he wanted.

Junhyuk touched his chin.

"I could get items to change my appearance."

So far, he wore hats and hid his face. If he asked Bebe, he might even be able to change his face. Then, people wouldn't recognize him.

"I have to earn more money."

It was a long road ahead. He had to get new equipment and he wanted items that he could use in South Korea from the Dimensional Merchant. He needed more gold coins.