Genetic Awakening Serum

Time passed by quickly. Alternating between chatting with Magnus, getting to know the group chat members, and sleeping, school was quickly over. Finally arriving home, Jiwon opened the door to find that his grandpa was already eating at the dinner table. Wordlessly, he sat down next to him and began eating.

The silence was finally broken when Jiwon's grandpa began to speak. "Is there nothing I can do to change your mind?"

Sighing, Jiwon set down his silverware. "No. I've resolved myself. I WILL go to a military academy and become a mech warrior. If I really want to gain power... this is the only route."

His grandfather stared at him silently. He spoke once again, though with less enthusiasm and a sense of resignation. "I know some people. They may not be able to omit your military service, but if you choose to, you can be assigned to a relatively safe position in the back lines. Or, if you choose, you can work as an engineer for the army, and avoid fighting at all."

"You already know my answer, grandpa," Jiwon replied.

His grandfather leaned back in his seat, the last embers of hope snuffed out. When the old man opened his mouth again, it was with a somber countenance and a shaky voice. "Both I and your father were mech warriors too, you know? I was part of the first generation of mech warriors established after humans became recognized as citizens. Because of that, your father, from birth, was saddled with great expectations. And he exceeded every single one. He was a genius, even by galactic standards, who became a Paragon at the age of 22."

"If you and father were so great, then why are we living like this? Not to say we're poor, but based on what you said we should definitely be more than middle class. And why have I never heard about this?" Jiwon asked.

His grandfather paused for a second, collecting his thoughts before he spoke again. "Put bluntly, your father... he was a traitor. He was dissatisfied with his treatment, believing that he was undervalued by the Federation. So, he left. He defected to the Cosmic Union, leaving not even a single word of goodbye. I took most of the fall, receiving a severe demotion and being 'forcibly retired'. I thought I would never see him again... until one day, many years later, he showed up on my front doorstep, with a baby."

"He handed me the child, saying that the mother had died in childbirth and that she was an alien from the Union. He told me to take care of the baby since he doubted he would make it. Then, he left once again. A few days later, I learned that he had been captured and executed by the Celestial Legion," Jiwon's grandfather stated, hands shaking and eyes vacant.

Mind whirling with a myriad of questions, Jiwon only managed to articulate one. "Why are you telling me this?"

His grandfather shrugged. "You're getting that genetic awakening serum soon, right? I was honestly hoping to never tell you this story; I hoped I would be able to spare you the pain. But... the genetic awakening serum was made specifically for humans. For a hybrid, the effects would be completely unknown. Knowing this, do you still want to take it?"

Jiwon met his gaze head on, giving a confident smile. "Of course! You can't succeed without taking any risks. You taught me that, grandpa."

Jiwon's grandfather smiled back, "Alright, then. Good luck. To be honest, I knew you would say that, no matter how much I tried to convince you. So I already made an appointment with the Federal Bureau of Cultivation." Taking a pause to check the time, Jiwon's grandfather continued, "You have... about five minutes to get there. You should probably hurry."

Jiwon immediately jumped up. "Shit! Why didn't you tell me sooner?" he said, frantically grabbing his things and rushing out of the door, as his grandfathers laugh reverberated in the background.

Jiwon called up a pod and immediately got in, hurriedly punching in the address. "Come on, come on!" he murmured, feet tapping nervously against the floor. Thankfully, he managed to confirm the address, causing the pod to sink underground and start accelerating towards his destination. Checking the time on his holo-phone, Jiwon mentally confirmed that he would be able to make it in time, causing him to sigh in relief.

Soon after, the pod arrived at the Federal Bureau of Cultivation. Jiwon stepped out, making sure he looked presentable, before walking into the towering building. Walking up to the counter, Jiwon saw a single holo-screen, as well as directions on what to do. Tapping on the holo-screen, he quickly chose the [Serum Appointment] option, inputting his citizen ID.

After a few seconds of processing, he was verified and given directions on where to go. Following them, he was led to a room only a short distance from the counter. Stepping inside the room, he met the first human worker he had seen since entering the building.

The worker, a genial middle aged man with black hair dressed in a lab coat, beckoned him forward, saying, "Ah! You're... Jiwon Li, I assume? And you're here for the Genetic Awakening Serum, correct?"

Jiwon simply nodded in response.

"Perfect, perfect. Alright then, just have a seat right here, and we'll start." The man said, pointing to a cushioned chair, reminiscent of the ones usually found at the doctors. With Jiwon sitting down, the worker quickly reclined the chair, then shined a light, saying, "Alright, we're all ready. Now, this might hurt a little bit, but endure it, okay?"

Jiwon opened his mouth to voice his affirmation, but the words got caught in his throat as he looked upon the absolutely MASSIVE needle that the doctor pulled out. "Uh... there's no way you're putting that thing in me... right? That's like, the size of my index finger," he said, with a slight tremble in his voice. The worker gave what he thought was a reassuring grin, before stabbing the needle in with zero hesitation.

Jiwon attempted to say something, but the sudden and immense pain caused his vision to temporarily blacken. Violent convulsions rocked his whole body, and his head felt like it was simultaneously imploding and exploding. It was as it was being crushed under a hydraulic press, while somebody inside attempted to break out using an iron sledgehammer.

He bit his cheeks, attempting to suppress his grunting, but a second wave of pain caused him to let out a bloodcurdling scream. "Hmmm, this definitely was not how it was supposed to go. I wasn't joking when I said it was only gonna hurt a bit. There might be something wrong," the worker said to himself calmly.

"You think? Do something, you incompetent fuck! Argh! Damn it!" Jiwon said, in between pants and grunts. Just as the worst of it seemed to be fading, another wave of pain hit him, with the force of a military-grade mothership. Attempting to offset the intense pain, Jiwon clawed at his own skin, attempting to do anything to draw his mind away as he screamed his lungs out.

"Sorry dude, I'm not medically trained. I'm just the minimum wage worker who administers the serum. I am NOT paid enough to deal with this shit. Sorry. Anyways, good luck man, I hope you survive. Bye," the worker said nonchalantly, shrugging and walking out of the door.

Though he sorely wished to punch the worker in the face, Jiwon couldn't even suppress his own convulsions, much less control his body enough to get up and punch someone. The pain overloaded his senses, leaving his ears ringing and his vision swimming. This continued for what felt like hours, before Jiwon regained enough physical and mental faculties to get up off the seat.

"Huff... huff," he panted slowly but surely walking out of the door. The metallic taste of blood filled his mouth, and the still bleeding claw marks on his skin provided a constant, but ultimately negligible source of pain. After all, with the amount of pain he had just experienced beforehand, his other injuries did truly feel like nothing. At least, relatively.

Shambling out of the doorway of the Bureau, dripping blood all over the floor and drawing attention from onlookers, Jiwon finally reached a pod, in which he punched in his home address and practically collapsed on the floor.

Soon, however, he managed to reach home. Weakly grunting, he managed to pick himself up off the floor and muster just enough strength to hobble to his door and open it. Breathing a sigh of relief, he closed the door behind him, and said, "I'm home, grandpa!"

And promptly collapsed.