It wasn't a normal awakening for me. Neither was it an ordinary dream.
It was more like… a leap. As if my mind had disconnected from the world for a second, like when you blink… but when you open your eyes again, you're no longer in the same place.
I knew it instantly. The air smelled different. The bed was too soft. And the ceiling… I swear I had never seen that pattern before.
I blinked several times. I didn't react like someone normally would. I didn't scream. I didn't sit up suddenly. I just… observed carefully.
A fan was turning slowly above my head, casting broken shadows along the room. To the right, a shelf with sports trophies.
To the left, a half-open window with gray curtains. The noise of cars and students walking outside told me it was morning.
I sat up. The sheets slid down my chest. I looked at my hands. They weren't my hands. They were thinner, the knuckles more pronounced. The nails, trimmed. The veins… Why were they so visible?
I jumped out of the bed, almost tripping over my own feet, and ran toward the mirror hanging on the wardrobe door. What I saw took my breath away.
It was the face of a Korean boy. Dark hair, slightly messy. Light eye bags under the eyes. A thin mouth. And narrow eyes, somewhat tired, but… intense.
It wasn't me. A shiver ran down my spine.
I swallowed hard.
I moved closer. The reflection did the same. I raised a hand to my cheek. The reflection too.
"No, no, no…"
That voice… it wasn't mine either. It sounded younger, much softer, and with a Korean accent.
"Am I going crazy?"
I turned my neck, looking at the walls, the desk, the folded school uniform on the chair.
Then I remembered… Questism. The webtoon connected to other PTJ works.
"This face is identical to that character's. How could I not recognize it? He's one of my favorites."
And that face in front of me… was the protagonist.
Suhyeon Kim.
A weak boy who one day wakes up with an RPG-style system. Daily missions, levels, stats. He becomes strong. He becomes someone. All in the middle of a school full of delinquents, gangs, fights, and senseless rules.
"What kind of twisted joke is this?
Am I dreaming? In a coma? An isekai? Did I die?"
I sat back on the bed, my heart pounding like a drum… and then I noticed it.
A floating window in front of me. Literally floating, a digital rectangle with bright green letters. Like something out of a video game:
— — — [System] — — —
Do you wish to start the quest?
[Yes] / [No]
— — — — — — — — —
"What the hell…?"
I took a step back. The window stayed there, floating, as if it were waiting for an answer.
"This isn't possible. This can't be real."
I tried to touch it. My finger went through the screen without feeling anything, but as if it had understood my attempt, a second message appeared:
— — — [System] — — —
Initializing quest system.
— — — — — — — — —
I thought fast.
"In the webtoon, Suhyeon couldn't reject all the missions. Some were mandatory. Others, if you failed, had serious consequences. And, as far as I remembered, this mission was one of the first. A sort of initiation."
— — — [System] — — —
You will receive [Cards] upon completing the quest.
— — — — — — — — —
"Cards… this isn't a dream!"
I slapped myself several times, leaving my cheeks moderately red.
— — — [System] — — —
A tutorial quest is being created.
— — — — — — — — —
The message blinked a couple of times. A small digital sound, like a hollow click, accompanied it. My breathing was still out of control, and I could still feel the sting from the two slaps I had given myself seconds before. It hurt. So… it wasn't a dream.
Another floating box appeared, more stylized than the previous ones. This time the text was clear and written in an ironically friendly tone:
— — — [System] — — —
Apologize to Mom [0/1]
Reward: 1 golden card.
— — — — — — — — —
"Apologize… to Mom? What the hell happened before I got here?"
My head was spinning. The mirror still showed the unfamiliar face that was now mine, and the room still felt borrowed. Like I was walking inside someone else's memory.
That's when I heard it. Soft footsteps. A trembling breath behind the door.
She didn't need to speak. I could feel it. That kind of tension in the air that only happens when something serious has happened… something that leaves emotions disordered, burning senselessly.
The door opened slightly, just enough for her voice to slip through the crack.
"Suhyeon… Are you going to stay like this all day?"
She whispered, almost as if she were afraid of being rejected again.
I turned again. I couldn't see her clearly, only her shadow cast by the hallway light. But that was enough to sense the sadness.
"I'm sorry," I said, without thinking. Almost like a reflex.
"….."
The kind of silence that isn't empty… but full of doubt.
"What did you say?" she asked.
I approached the door and opened it. On the other side was a woman with a tired face, smudged makeup, and wrinkled hands from so much washing dishes. But it wasn't physical pain she carried. It was the other kind. The one that leaves you with contempt, with exhaustion and guilt.
"I'm sorry, Mom. For before," I said, looking her in the eyes. "I had no right to talk to you like that."
She blinked, surprised. It was obvious: she wasn't expecting it. Maybe she had never heard it before.
"Suhyeon… are you okay?"
I didn't know what to answer. Nor if I should make something up. So I just lowered my gaze and nodded.
She exhaled. She didn't cry, but her expression changed. Like she had taken a weight off her shoulders.
"It's okay. Come when you're hungry. I made soup… there's still some left, your sister saved you a bit."
I nodded again. She left, without fully closing the door. Not like someone walking away, but like someone willing to come back again.
As soon as her footsteps faded, the window reappeared:
— — — [System] — — —
You have completed the tutorial quest.
— — — — — — — — —
"Good!"
— — — [System] — — —
You receive 1 golden card as a special reward for completing the tutorial quest.
— — — — — — — — —
I stood still for a moment. I didn't know who was more cowardly: Suhyeon, who had lashed out at his mother, or me, who had just apologized for something I hadn't even done.
I sighed in frustration. It wasn't like you could reincarnate whenever you wanted; you lost all the identity you'd built in your previous life.
"This doesn't feel as good… as in the novels I read, this is very lonely…"
I couldn't stay still.
After the system window disappeared and his mother's footsteps faded down the hallway, I sat on the edge of the bed, hands on my knees, staring at the floor as if I could find some answer.
"I hope this life is better than the previous one."