"I'm inside PTJ's world. A place where laws are weak, fists rule, and being weak is a death sentence. A world where respect isn't asked for… it's earned through punches," I thought.
"What a mess. Suhyeon Kim, an idiotic nerd. The loser. Everyone's target, especially Choi Changdong, that guy who looks like a pig."
"Suhyeon wasn't that bad, though. At first he was an asshole, but in the end he changed his fate, he made it, and pulled through. And me… I'm right at that same point, at the beginning. I feel like I'm inside a game…"
I leaned forward, more serious, taking a deep breath.
"I have an advantage. I know what's coming. Maybe not in detail, but I remember who the enemies are, who the traitors are, and what cards exist."
"But of course… I know this system can turn a loser into a monster, one like Johan Seong."
"….."
"As for my weaknesses, let's see… I have no physical strength because I'm still skinny, and another is that I don't have fighting reflexes."
I brought my hands to my face. I still couldn't believe it, I was going to see my favorite character, the incomparable Johan Seong. But then I remembered something about the system. An important detail: the cards.
I inhaled again, deeper this time.
"Reveal the golden card," I said, a little excited.
— — — [System] — — —
Revealing the golden card.
— — — — — — — — —
The room briefly glowed golden. A soft and solemn flash.
A floating card appeared: polished edges, animated sparks, and a low digital melody, like a high-level announcement.
— — — [Consumable Card] — — —
(Grow 3 centimeters)
It will disappear after use!
— — — — — — — — — — — — —
— — — [System] — — —
Are you going to use this?
— — — — — — — — —
"Wow… Of course I am!" I replied happily.
— — — [System] — — —
(Grow 3 centimeters)
Now being used.
— — — — — — — — —
I felt a strange pull in my chest, as if the air had compressed for a second. The card dissolved into golden particles before I could touch it and then…
…I straightened up without realizing it, and my head seemed a little closer to the mirror's top frame.
"Did I grow? Did I really grow?" I whispered, a little confused.
I opened and closed my fists. My joints felt firmer, my shoulders broader. Suhyeon's body was still that of a thin student, but now it had a base. Like someone had updated his version 1.0 to 1.1. Like in a game.
"Good. This isn't just psychological anymore," I said, looking at myself in the mirror.
"The system, as fantastic as it was, had real weight. It could change, physically and mentally. And that meant that if I kept completing missions, I could also gain strength, real strength."
I closed my eyes for a moment, then something crossed my mind.
"Right, I have to go to school, I'm running late. After all, Suhyeon is a student… and I was a minimum-wage employee…"
Just as I was turning to grab the uniform from the chair, a familiar voice pulled me out of my trance.
"Suhyeon, what time do you plan to go to school? You're going to be late!"
It was my mother, or rather, Suhyeon's mother.
There was no anger in her tone… just weariness at her useless son. The kind of weariness that sounds like routine, like many identical days, like resignation.
"I'm coming," I replied, raising my voice so she could hear me from the kitchen.
I grabbed my uniform. I put it on quickly, though my hands trembled slightly. It wasn't fear. It was something else. A kind of electricity under the skin, not like when you have sex… it was like when you step out of your comfort zone.
I combed my hair quickly, at full speed, without obsessing… though it was hard.
When I went downstairs, the smell of hot soup hit me immediately. The kitchen was small and cozy. There was plenty of rice in the pot, a pan with some kimchi in the corner, and two plates on the table. Only one had food.
"You need to eat something," Mom said without turning, while washing a dirty cup.
"Thanks, Mom… I really appreciate this, and I'm so sorry about that time, it wasn't me…" I murmured, lower than I'd planned, but she still heard me.
I sat down and took a big sip of the soup.
"She had probably served it a while ago, thinking I'd come down earlier. The taste was strong, homemade. Nothing special, but… comforting, as if my mother from my past life had made it… damn it, I don't want to remember…"
For a minute, there was only silence. She kept washing. I ate slowly, savoring every bite.
And though the words burned in my throat, I didn't know what else to say to her. I didn't want to break the momentary peace I had.
"Your sister already left, hurry up," she finally said, in a neutral voice. "She said you wouldn't come down even if she shouted, and she left very upset, my God."
"I understand her."
She turned slightly, just enough to glance at me sideways.
"You're… strange today. Quieter. Are you sure you're okay?"
I swallowed and nodded slowly.
"I'm fine, Mom."
She held my gaze for a second that felt much longer. Finally, she nodded too. Though she still looked doubtful.
"Eat. Don't be late."
I took another sip of soup and, when I finished, I set the utensils down carefully. I put on my shoes in the hallway, checked that my phone was in my pocket, and before opening the door, I took one last look at the house.
It was a simple place. Old furniture, worn curtains, a crooked family photo on the wall. And for the first time since I woke up, I felt that… maybe there was something worth protecting here. Something that truly mattered.
I opened the door, the morning air hit my face. It wasn't particularly cold, but it felt different.
The neighborhood streets were half empty, but not silent. Cars passed in the distance, students with backpacks walked in pairs along the sidewalks.
I walked alone. The soles of my shoes hit the concrete with rhythm, while my mind was somewhere else.
I approached the building I already knew… though not from firsthand experience. I had seen it hundreds of times on my phone screen.
It had that common and boring façade: gray walls, a metal fence, and a main gate where dozens of Korean students entered.
They looked like they came straight out of a K-drama. I knew it wasn't an ordinary place. That school was a battlefield.
There were invisible hierarchies, undeclared—maybe even declared—territories. Student gangs ruled with violence, and the teachers preferred to look the other way to survive on their minimum wage.
It was a place where losing a fight meant more than a black eye.
I shoved my hands into my pockets to hide my tension. I still didn't know how to walk. Relaxed? Confident?
"I don't care. I don't have to pretend to be someone else. To hell with everyone. I just have to not be who I was before."
Then I crossed the gate. Already inside the institute.
I turned down the second hallway. The voices grew louder. It seemed like everyone was talking at once, but without saying anything important. A couple of guys bumped shoulders, tossing dirty jokes. An empty bottle rolled across the floor.
— — — [System] — — —
A tutorial quest is being created.
— — — — — — — — —
"You've got to be kidding me…" I muttered, feeling my face freeze this time. "The next mission is… with her?"