Rain was meditating in his bathroom, waiting for his right leg to recover. He had submerged it in acid up to the middle of his thigh, testing his regenerative abilities. Though confident that he could heal from almost any injury that didn't kill him instantly, he wasn't willing to take any chances with certain vital areas. The "brother" between his legs, as he wryly thought of it, was more important than any other part of his body, and he wasn't about to risk finding out whether even his self-healing powers could regenerate 'that.'
Tomorrow morning, Rain would venture outside the city to the surface world for the first time. The past six days had been a whirlwind. After investigating Park's death, they concluded it was a suicide, with Park confessing in his note to being responsible for Kassim's death. Consumed by guilt, Park had taken his own life. But Rain and Damian had met Park just hours before his death, and there had been no sign of guilt on his face. The mystery of Kassim's death still loomed large, especially since the time poison crystal embedded in Kassim's pocket watch—a banned A-rank item—was nowhere to be found in Park's apartment.
The most pressing question remained: how had Park, an ordinary person, come into possession of such a dangerous and illegal item? Despite their suspicions, the evidence in Park's room halted their investigation for the time being.
Meanwhile, Siobhan and Lily had been dealing with their own case—a mysterious outbreak of diarrhea at a factory. The culprit turned out to be a bizarre artifact called the Illness Wheel, constructed from materials gathered from various strange domains. This Weird item caused a different disease to spread each day.They had managed to secure the Illness Wheel, but like Rain and Damian, one crucial question remained: how had it ended up in the factory, and who was responsible for placing it there?
At the time, the team hadn't linked this case to the one involving Kassim's death. But they would soon realize that the frequency of cases involving Weird items was on the rise. The following days saw a dramatic surge in incidents related to these bizarre objects, keeping the entire Ghost Department on high alert. Murders, kidnappings, robberies, and thefts were all being committed using Weird items or materials. Rain and his team, along with other officers from the ghost department, managed to capture or neutralize many of the culprits, but no one could trace where these dangerous objects were coming from or who was supplying them.
As the number of crimes spiked, the city lost control over the entire Factory Floor, prompting authorities to shut down the lifts going up and down to the floor, restricting the lift for public and access to only the police. Rain and his team spent the last five days racing around the Factory Floor, containing one Weird item or material after another. Each time they thought they'd found a lead, it vanished, leaving them more frustrated.
Rain's team had been granted a brief reprieve. They were sent back for half a day's rest to prepare for their next mission: a venture into the Sheep Farm Weird Domain, scheduled for the following day.
Rain stood up from the bath, feeling the regeneration in his leg complete as the lingering pain dissipated. Now, both his hands and leg were refined equally. The skin on them could now endure for a minute before starting to melt, even without the support of his genetic energy, while his muscles could withstand even longer exposure. He decided to limit further refinement to his hands and feet until he entered the True Body Realm. Currently, he couldn't regenerate his internal organs before succumbing to damage, but after reaching the True Body Realm, everything except his brain would be able to regenerate fully.
Rain's genetic energy refinement had reached 0.0164, and by his estimates, it would take 610 days to hit a refinement level of 10, the mark required to break into middle D-rank. That timeline was far too slow for him, though. The acid refinement had stabilized in his body, but now, his focus needed to shift toward better energy control. He was determined to advance to middle D-rank in under a year, pushing the limits of his progress.
As he checked the time, it was 5 p.m. With plenty of hours before he would turn in for the night—his mission with his team set to start early at 5 a.m.—Rain knew he needed to be at his peak performance by then. Tonight, he would sleep early to ensure he was in top condition, but for now, there was time for training.
Sitting cross-legged, Rain concentrated. From the palm of his right hand, his genetic energy began to emerge, coalescing and taking the shape of a super healing lizard. The lizard's form grew, reaching about two-thirds the size of a fully grown specimen. It was a clear representation of his current strength—his genetic energy reserves stood at about 60% of what was typical for someone at the beginning of D-rank limit.Though Rain's genetic energy reserves were not yet at full capacity, he was making progress, and every day brought him closer to his goal. Now that he had stabilized the energy enough to shape it, he decided to begin refining the outline of the genetic energy lizard to more closely resemble its real-life counterpart. However, with his energy reserves down to less than 10%, he knew he didn't have enough to work on the entire form.
Rain chose to focus on shaping the head first. He absorbed the rest of the genetic energy in his body, leaving only the head of the lizard intact. Manipulating the energy, he carefully refined the head, focusing on replicating the texture of the super healing lizard's unique skin. Shaping the basic skin was simple enough, but the real challenge lay ahead—the lizard's skin had a crystal-like appearance with a jade-colored hue.
The difficulty came from the fact that, at D-rank, his genetic energy was still in a gaseous form. Only at C-rank could one solidify their genetic energy into a true crystal-like structure. For now, Rain's task was to mimic that crystalline appearance without having the actual reserves or control of a C-rank warrior. He worked patiently, manipulating the energy to make the surface look as solid as possible, giving it the illusion of being crystalline even though it was still in a gaseous state. This would serve as crucial practice for the more advanced techniques he'd need later on. The method, as shown in the instructional video, involved mimicking the solid appearance of the super healing lizard's skin by shaping the genetic energy into multiple fine threads. These threads would then be tightly woven together, giving the illusion of solidity.
This technique was not only useful for refining the lizard's appearance but also formed the foundation for learning the 'life vine armor' technique. The principle behind both was the same—manipulating genetic energy into fine threads and then roping them together. In the case of the vine armor, the threads would be woven to resemble intertwined vines, layering upon each other to form a protective armor. Mastering this process was essential for both offensive and defensive applications, and it would significantly enhance Rain's control over his genetic energy. The most important part of this technique was maintaining the individuality of each thread while twisting them together. Because genetic energy is a gaseous substance, there was always the risk of the threads mixing together, which would ruin the structure. Unlike normal gases, which cannot form solid-like threads without transforming their state, genetic energy, while still in its gaseous form, could be manipulated to feel almost solid to the touch.
Rain focused intensely, controlling the threads as he manipulated the genetic energy around the lizard's head. After a few minutes of concentration, he managed to form a single long thread. Next, he divided the energy into two threads and attempted to twist them around each other—a crucial step in refining the appearance.
The next part is the hardest part.
As Rain guided the two threads, carefully twisting them upon each other, his control wavered for just a moment, causing the threads to slip. The delicate structure he was building collapsed, and the genetic energy dispersed into the air, vanishing in seconds. It was a frustrating loss, as this process consumed much of his energy.
Rain spent the next three hours in deep concentration, determined to master the technique. With each attempt, he faced numerous failures—threads slipping, dispersing into the air, or losing form entirely. The process was exhausting, as each failed attempt drained his already limited reserves of genetic energy.
However, after hours of meticulous effort and steady refinement, he finally succeeded in forming 12 fine threads. Each thread was delicate yet distinct, holding its form in a way that had eluded him earlier. His focus was unwavering as he began twisting them together. It was a slow, deliberate process. The threads threatened to unravel with every misstep, but Rain's control had improved through the repetitive trial and error.
By the end of the third hour, the threads were twisted into a single cohesive structure, resembling the intricate, rope-like texture he had been aiming for. Though not perfect, the result was a significant achievement—a clear step forward in his control over his genetic energy. Rain examined the twisted threads, feeling the solid-like texture.
Rain took a deep breath, feeling a sense of satisfaction wash over him. The progress had been slow, but it was critical. The control he was gaining over his genetic energy would be vital for his future battles and missions. However, as he focused inward, the increased control also made him aware of a subtle disharmony in his genetic energy.
Before dealing with the disharmony, Rain checked the time. It was 8:57 PM. He calculated that if he woke up at 3:30 AM the next morning, he'd have enough time to prepare for the mission. He needed to be ready by 5:00 AM, with enough time to get dressed, eat, and meet up with Siobhan, who had agreed to leave their individual rooms fifteen minutes before 5 AM.
There wasn't time to address the disharmony now, but there was still something he needed to take care of before going to sleep. He thought of his dream space, where the flow of time was different from reality. He planned to build a torsion pendulum clock and had been studying its mechanisms.
Using his BIT, Rain brought up visual guides on the various components of a torsion pendulum clock, watching closely as each part was explained in detail and how they fit together. As the visuals played out, he memorized the intricate steps, visualizing each piece and its role in the mechanism. Mentally, he prepared himself to assemble it in his dream space next, where he would also use the clock to calculate the time spent within that alternate dimension.
With everything set in his mind, Rain allowed himself to relax. His body and mind, now at ease, were ready to recover. Tomorrow would be a long day, and he needed to be fully recharged for the mission ahead.