Ji-hoon's eyes fluttered open.
The sterile ceiling of the hospital greeted him once again, white lights buzzing faintly overhead. For a moment, he lay there in silence, his body heavy and unresponsive. The memory of the Goblin King's fist in his stomach, the bone-shattering recoil of Impact Kick, and the cold System messages burned into his brain.
Had it been real?
He turned his head slightly. His throat was dry, lips cracked. The faint chatter of voices drifted through the door.
Two nurses.
"Did you hear about that kid?" one whispered."The one who kept kicking that poor tree until his legs bled?""Yes! They say he collapsed right in the courtyard—looked like he was trying to fight it. Crazy, isn't it?""I thought he was going to die on the spot. Who trains like that?"
They both giggled softly, the sound tinged with unease.
Ji-hoon's chest tightened. He closed his eyes, pretending to still be unconscious. But when their footsteps retreated down the hall, his eyes snapped open, sharp and burning.
"…It wasn't a tree."
He clenched his fist under the blanket. Every muscle in his body remembered the clash, the terror, and the impact. The fight hadn't been a dream. The Goblin King had been real. The System had been real.
As if responding to his thoughts, a window blinked into view above him.
[Congratulations: Skill Evolution Successful.][Current Skill List: Spark (F), Impact Kick (E).][Would you like to evolve 'Spark'?]
Ji-hoon stared at the glowing words. His lips pressed into a thin line.
Kick had almost killed him. And that was just an F-rank skill. Spark… was stronger. If the trial for Kick was that brutal, then evolving Spark might be suicide.
He exhaled shakily and shook his head."…No. Not yet. Kick almost killed me… and Spark's stronger than Kick. I'm not doing that."
The System chimed faintly, then went silent.
Ji-hoon leaned back against the pillow, his heart still pounding. The nurses thought he was insane. The doctors probably did too. But none of them knew the truth.
His lips curled into a faint, tired grin.
"I'm not crazy. I'm evolving."