Chapter 1: Am I really Hajun Gu from Questism?

(Author's note: I invite you to read chapter 0 to get an idea of the abnormal strength of the characters from the PTJ verse, and more specifically of Questism, since the story will start there before moving to Lookism.)

"..." = speech

'...' = thoughts

[...] = AI

================================

"Wake up..." a calm voice murmured.

"Are you sure you want to wake him up???" another asked doubtfully.

"Idiot, why no??" the first voice reprimanded.

"Because... he must be angry right now" the other whispered.

I opened my eyes with difficulty because of my hangover from my night out at the bar with friends. I should have been more careful with alcohol.

"I only hope the homeless didn't steal anything from me while I was sleeping, or should I say passed out" I thought, struggling to get up.

As I came to my senses, I could feel my back was sore and my mouth in poor shape, but luckily I still had all my teeth.

I got up staggering and saw panicked teens, some running away, for reasons beyond me.

"Why am I hurting?" I said, touching my sore back, before noticing I was speaking a foreign language.

"What is..." I wanted to ask the teenagers who stayed in front of me how I ended up here, but a sudden flood of information invaded my brain.

In short, I am currently in South Korea, in Seoul to be precise, and I am Hajun Gu, a high school student, leader of the West Gangbuk High gang.

"I think I know a character named Hajun Gu from a manhwa called Questism. He's a secondary character if I remember correctly, who will later become an important ally of the protagonist" I recalled, absorbing the abundance of information in my head.

While I was lost in thought, I had completely forgotten that I was not alone outside.

"How are you boss?" said a skinny young man without eyebrows named, if I remember correctly, Hyeondong Lee. I'll just call him Lee or Hyeondong.

"Yes... I'm fine. And where are the others?" I asked to find out more about my current situation.

Even if I still think it's logically impossible that I'm in a fictional work, everything around me seems too real and proves the opposite.

I'd better avoid making stupid mistakes that could be irreversible because of doubts that could get me into trouble later. I'll check things out properly once at Hajun Gu's place, but for now I have to get through today as normally as possible.

"The others are gone..." he said, lowering his head with some young men behind him.

I can read some shame on his face, but it's not their fault, nor that of his subordinates, but that of the original Hajun Gu for underestimating Suhyeon Kim and losing the fight.

"I see... Tell them that I won't be your boss anymore, but Suhyeon Kim will be" I informed him, leaving without listening to their protests.

I headed to the bathrooms to make myself more presentable and spent the rest of the day ignoring the whispers about me and Suhyeon Kim's gaze.

Right now, I'm heading to Hajun Gu's current apartment, which is not far from West Gangbuk High.

"Anyway, my new father doesn't care about me" this thought was amusing for my current self, but the former Hajun Gu didn't like coming home early because of his complicated family life.

The classic story of the incompetent father and the mother who leaves her grandson in the hands of a madman.

Finally, I arrived at my home in this life. It was an ordinary apartment, a bit messy, but I can't criticize given the state of my apartment in my first life.

"I was a bachelor, so my apartment only served as a place to sleep, nothing more" I thought bitterly.

"AI activation" I said, sitting on my bed with my phone, looking for more information about myself. I got the memory of this body and other information like the AI, but I want to learn more if possible.

[AI launch in progress...]

[Successful launch, welcome Mr. Hajun Gu]

"Who are you?" I asked tonelessly.

[AI: I am an AI, a tool without consciousness or emotion that "he" gave you...]

[AI: Unfortunately, I cannot provide you with more explanation about my nature or origins, beyond that.]

When I recovered the memory of the original Hajun Gu, I also got this AI with basic knowledge about it.

Normally, it should be able to accomplish various tasks like analyzing and storing data obtained through my 5 senses and memory.

The AI can help me efficiently and quickly. For example, through data analysis, it can correct me while I train using the information collected on the subject. Also for school work.

"Can you analyze all of Hajun Gu's boxing techniques and improve them using the data in his memory and mine?" I asked patiently.

[AI: Affirmative, it is possible to use the combat experiences and boxing knowledge in the memories of the one you call Hajun Gu and yours to improve his boxing style.]

"Excellent, do it" I said immediately.

[AI: Analysis of memories in progress...]

[AI: Analysis complete]

[AI: Launch of boxing style improvement project in progress...]

[AI: Estimated time until task completion: 6 hrs.]

Excellent, in 6 hrs I'll be stronger than the original Hajun and at this point in the story, only those from North Gangbuk will be a problem, or the gang leader.

Even if I'm not totally sure that all this is real or fictional, there's no harm in taking things seriously, as a great martial arts master said: "Better to be a warrior in a garden than a gardener in the midst of battle."

"I might have preferred to be a random character in this fictional universe" I said to no one in particular, an old habit from my long life alone.

After that, I spent a good part of the evening finding out about the current situation at Jaewon High School and Gangbuk, making various phone calls.

(Author's note: the high school where the events of Lookism take place is called Jaewon High School or J High School, so know that I will now use this second name "J").

As I already thought, Johan Seong has been missing since his "God Dog" team disbanded. And there's also the return of Yugyeom Na, number 2 at South Gangbuk High.

If that guy's back then Jaeme Kim who's the leader of Big Deal is probably released from juvenile detention or close to it at least.

I was able to easily obtain all this information thanks to Hajun Gu's contacts in the north even if I owe them a small favor.

"Given my current strength, I'd better avoid the Lookism characters or Manager Kim for now" I said before jumping out of my bed surprised by my stupidity.

I forgot that there is precisely a character from Manager Kim who could easily train me and thanks to the AI, I would learn quickly from him.

Author's note: That's it for chapter 1, our protagonist is cautious but he's no genius, he's just a guy barely above average. His way of speaking calmly to others comes from the habits of the original Hajun Gu, in his past life he was a sociable guy.

And here is the status of the protagonist of our fanfic from Suhyeon Kim's (the original protagonist of Questism) point of view:

Name: Hajun Gu

Height: 1.86 m

Weight: 83 kg

Strength: S+

Agility: A

Potential: S-

Intelligence: A

Toughness: S

Martial Arts: Boxing (self-taught)

Apart from intelligence and potential, nothing has changed compared to his version at the start of Questism. I added martial arts to help you since Suhyeon Kim's system doesn't show martial arts style.

A little bonus info to understand where the protagonist stands in strength in the PTJ verse: his strength is similar to the K-House leader named Jin Jang, who has all his stats at A+, except intelligence which is S and his potential which is B.