The Morning After
Yujin woke up to the worst headache of her life.
Her mouth was dry, her limbs felt like lead, and her brain seemed to be caught in an endless loop of confusion and regret. She squinted at the sunlight streaming through the crack in the curtains, the harsh light adding to the pounding throb in her temples. For a moment, she tried to piece together the foggy remnants of the night before.
Ding!
A sharp sound broke through the haze of her thoughts, like a bell ringing too close to her ear. She blinked rapidly, her vision swimming for a moment, and then… the damn pink holographic screen was there, floating above her, as if mocking her.
[Reminder: You have 12 hours left to interact with someone who has the potential to become a billionaire.]
Yujin blinked, rubbed her eyes, and squinted harder at the glowing text. Was she still dreaming?
Then she shut her eyes. Maybe if she just ignored it, it would go away.
She opened them again.
The screen was still there. Unrelenting.
"...What?" she whispered to herself, her voice hoarse from dehydration.
Memories of last night hit her like a badly parked truck, everything rushing in at once. The thumping bass of the music vibrated through her bones. The flashing lights that seemed to flicker in and out of existence, distorting the world around her. The crowd, a blur of moving bodies, swaying in slow motion like a twisted fever dream. Mina, spinning in circles, arms flailing like a malfunctioning robot, lost in her own delirium. Yujin could almost hear the stuttering of her friend's movements, as if her entire body was trying to catch up with the speed of the world around her.
And then, that strange, wavy sensation—the Dream Bliss. It had felt like a warm, liquid haze creeping over her mind, fogging up her thoughts. But now, those feelings had long left her, she was starting to suspect that maybe the drug losed a few wires in her head. No, it was something more sinister, maybe she has been cursed by the drugs!.
She'd always heard stories from her grandmother about people who made bad decisions, the kind that started with just one innocent mistake. She remembered her grandmother's warnings, the tales of friends falling into destructive paths. Just one bad choice, Yujin, and it'll swallow you whole.
Yujin could almost see her grandmother's face in her mind's eye, shaking her head in that all-knowing way, as though she'd seen it all before. She pictured herself crying, clutching her grandmother's hands, begging for forgiveness. "I didn't listen, Grandma. You were right. I should've stayed away from people like Mina. She's a bad influence. Look at what it's done to me now…"
But this system? This thing, this invasive force that was hanging over her head and face like an unshakable cloud—it wasn't just a bad decision. It was too real. Too tangible. Far too real for her to chalk it up to the effects of Dream Bliss right?. The screen floating above her she refused to believe anything else was definitely an hallucination. The words were clear. Cold. Uncompromising.
She squeezed her eyes shut, trying to block it out, but when she opened them again, it was still there, staring at her with its impossible demands. Why did hallucinations have to feel this real?
The floating screen had felt like a bizarre hallucination at the time, but now it was in her face, refusing to disappear.
She groaned, pulling the blanket over her head. "This isn't real… This isn't real," she muttered, her voice muffled by the fabric. "I'm just sleep-deprived. Maybe I'm still dreaming... maybe I ate something weird. Also yes that it was an allergic reaction to the drug. Yes that's it that's the only explanation last night... or maybe I'm just going crazy."
[New penalty activated: Ignoring system messages will result in penalty.]
Before she could even process that, her entire left leg seized up in a painful cramp, the muscles knotting as if to punish her for her defiance. Yujin screamed in surprise, clutching her leg as it spasmed uncontrollably.
"AHH!—" Yujin shot up, clutching her calf in pain.
[Penalty issued: Temporary muscle cramps.]
"You psychopath!" she yelled at the air.
[You have 11 hours, 59 minutes, and 30 seconds remaining.]
Yujin wanted to die.
Or at least go back in time and slap herself before she ever stepped into that nightclub.
Desperation & DenialAfter a cold shower that left her shivering and cursing every life choice that had brought her here, two painkillers she hoped weren't expired, and several minutes of deep breathing that barely held off a full-blown panic attack, Yujin sat cross-legged on her bed, her damp hair dripping onto her pajama shirt. And still—still—that cursed pink screen floated in front of her, pulsing gently like it had all the time in the world.
She glared at it like it owed her money.
First, she tried ignoring it.
[Warning: Ignoring system messages will result in penalty.]
Her right leg seized up in a cramp so sharp she let out a yelp and fell sideways on the bed. "Okay, okay! I'm not ignoring you, you digital demon."
Then she shut her eyes. For five full minutes. She even counted. Nothing changed. The screen was still there when she opened them again, hovering with polite persistence like a stalker dressed in pink.
Next, she had an idea since it was Ai, something that had to do with technology. What other way to destroy it than..she splashed water at it using her now-empty painkiller cup. It passed right through, of course, droplets landing uselessly on her blanket. The screen didn't flicker, didn't blur. It just… hovered.
Finally, in frustration, she swiped at it like she was playing an aggressive game of Fruit Ninja.
And then—
[Would you like to access the Help Guide?]
The text blinked at her innocently.
"Oh no," she muttered, recoiling. But her finger had already tapped the glowing Yes before her brain caught up.
A new window unfolded in front of her, unfurling like a digital scroll.
Yujin sank back against her pillow, staring at it like she'd just cracked open Pandora's box.
She hadn't even eaten yet.