trashy leveling (aka, Cale crash lands in solo leveling)

Part 3

i have that mario kart theme song stuck in my head 

buh buh duh duh duh duh buh buh duh duh duh duh duh buh duh duh duh duh duh buh buh duh duh duh duh duh

look, i don't know either. i havent played mario since this winter 

just take the damn chapter

PS we're (i'm) changing the Korean names to separate words. i'm too lazy to do this for the first two chaps but ye, Jinwoo is Jin Woo now etc. 

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Don't tell me, another main character?

No, I'm overreacting. Cale slightly shook his head. However, a niggling feeling tickled the back of his neck; one experience taught him not to ignore.

It seems that God of Death had a motive for putting me in his care. Cale glanced back at the closed hospital door with a frown. What does that bastard want with Jin Woo?

⊱┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄⊰

4 days later:

Jin Woo finally checked out of the hospital after completing his morning exercises with a smile on his face.

He had heard the nurses talking about him earlier, saying, "That patient... was his body that good before he came here?" Indeed, Jin Woo had seemed to buff up even more since leaving the dungeon.

It still felt hard to believe that he was no longer some scrawny twig, but the evidence presented itself throughout the morning. Jin Woo could tell people took him more seriously and actually looked him in the eyes, unlike before. It was like he was a whole new person. 

While returning to his home—an old and decrepit apartment on the 8th floor of a building in the city's outskirts—he attracted appreciative gazes and glances. It was a completely different reception than what he was used to.

Even the staircase up to his apartment felt easier to climb, like his body was floating while he took 4 stairs at-a-time. He found the key and opened the door, finding the entryway inside already illuminated with artificial light.

Jin Ah's already up, huh? She really does work hard. He found his little sister enjoying breakfast at the kitchen table while reading a book.

Closing the door quietly behind him, Jin Woo called out a greeting. "Hey Jin Ah."

Jin Ah startled from her book and quickly turned around. "Eh?" She relaxed slightly when she saw it was Jin Woo, before her eyes opened up real wide in shock. "What the heck? Oppa, you were up already? And you came from the hospital?"

Jin Woo nodded and slipped into the kitchen, where Jin Ah had set out two plates of eggs, rice, and toast, and began to dig in. "Yep, been a while since I was up; I decided I might as well go home. Are you going to the library soon?"

"Uh... yea."

Jin Ah watched her brother's back as he dug around the cabinets for hot sauce and tilted her head. Now that is so strange. Oppa actually woke up early....

One would never call Jin Woo a lazy type, but Jin Ah was always the first one to start the day until now simply because she was unusually industrious, which was quite unfitting for her age group.

Now that I think about it... Her older brother's back seemed broader than before for some reason.

Eii, no way that's true. A human's body wasn't made out of some rubber band, so how could it make any sense for him to expand and contract in a space of a few days? I've probably made a mistake. Jin Ah pushed those thoughts from her mind and swallowed her last bite.