Aren was very strong.
From a young age, he had possessed the ability to control air itself. As long as he kept up daily physical training, his body steadily strengthened, and he became what he was now.
But he had never had any dreams about becoming a hero or protecting the world.
Since childhood, his wish had been simple: to live as an ordinary person. Clock in on time, clock out on time, work nine to five, and have plenty of free time to enjoy life.
Yet in the brutally realistic world he came from, what awaited him was endless overtime. No overtime pay, a monthly salary barely enough to scrape by.
Overtime turned him into a man who could stay calm and handle anything at any moment.
Even so, he never forgot his dream. Or rather, he continued to struggle toward it in his own way.
Then... he crossed over.
When he first came to this world, his calm personality kept him focused on the most important issue: food, clothing, shelter, and transportation. He needed to secure his basic livelihood. So he immediately began learning about the job market here and the treatment different professions received.
After carefully comparing the salaries, benefits, and conditions of all sorts of work across many fields...
He... joined the Marines.
For the sake of promotions, pay raises, and his future retirement, he worked hard.
Of course, it is worth mentioning that Aren did consider becoming a bounty hunter and making money by capturing pirates. But after thinking it over, he realized pirates were not something you could just conveniently bump into whenever you liked. You also had to investigate, track them down, and handle all kinds of troublesome tasks. That kind of work was basically being on duty around the clock.
Even if he did capture someone and hand them over to the Marines for the bounty, then took time off afterward, that was not the kind of life he wanted.
So in the end, Aren chose the profession of a marine.
However...
Having had enough of being forced into endless overtime in his previous world, in this world he decided to resist, all for the sake of his dream.
Because of his strength, even while living a strict nine to five schedule, Aren was neither fired nor punished.
If anyone objected, it always ended the same way. They would come out and pick a fight with him, he would beat them up, and that would be the end of it.
In just four short months, he had risen from an ordinary seaman to a marine captain.
During that time, Aren also began to live the life he had always wanted.
Working nine to five every day, with everything outside those hours belonging solely to his personal time. During that time, he refused to think about work, refused to do anything related to work. He only did what he wanted to do: read, stroll through town, enjoy the scenery, drink coffee.
A life both disciplined and comfortable.
However...
Even someone as utterly strict about work and personal time as Aren, even someone who always wore a cold, expressionless face, had a side of himself no one knew about.
...
Sea Calendar 1517, June 19, Friday.
Seven in the morning.
The alarm clock by Aren's bed rang exactly on time with a clear, sharp "ring ring ring."
The quiet bedroom instantly became noisy.
But...
After the alarm rang only twice...
Invisible air filled the entire room.
In the next moment, that air turned into countless razor-sharp blades.
Whoosh.
With no warning at all, at the very instant they formed, every one of those blades slashed toward a single target.
Bang.
The alarm clock was sliced into scrap.
The table that had been holding the alarm met the same fate.
Silence returned to the room in an instant.
Aren sat up in bed and glanced sideways at the shredded remains of the alarm clock and the ruined table on the floor. His expression was still as cold as ever, but...
In his eyes, there was one emotion.
Murder.
The victim: alarms.
...
That was right.
Even someone as calm and composed as Aren at all other times had a truly terrible temper when waking up in the morning.