Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep!
The alarm blared obnoxiously, yet again.
Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep!
Shin stirred beneath a tangle of blankets, his messy hair sticking out in every direction.
Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep!
With a grunt, he slapped his hand down on the alarm clock, silencing it. He sat up and rubbed his eyes.
Yawning, he stretched his arms wide and slid out of the bed.
The red digits on the clock glowed 6:05 AM.
Once again, it was just another morning for Shin Jae-Won. Or at least, that's what he thought until he noticed something... off.
He looked different. His arms and legs felt longer, and everything around him seemed smaller than usual. The doorframe, the desk, even the ceiling. He chalked it up to his brain still being half-asleep and kept moving, brushing the weird feeling off like morning fog.
Still sticking to routine, he headed to the bathroom to brush his teeth. That's when he caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror and froze.
There was no denying it. He was taller.
Not only that, but his skin looked clearer, the dark circles under his eyes had faded, and his posture seemed naturally straighter, as if his spine had been quietly realigned in the middle of the night.
He kept brushing his teeth like nothing was wrong, but the moment he peeled off his shirt to get into the shower, he noticed something that brought him to a halt.
A glowing golden symbol had appeared in the center of his chest. It shimmered like a rune, and in the middle of it was a DNA helix. Eyes wide, he hesitated before deciding to touch it.
Immediately, a silver interface flickered into existence in front of his eyes.
>>「Booting... please wait. 」
14%
32%
61%
98%
99%
「Booting Finished.」
>>「Welcome to the Primordial System」
>>「Analyzing ■■■■■■■■■■ User Information」
>>「Analysis complete.」
>>「Unique Trait: L■■■■■■■■l 」
>>「Authority: Locked (Requirement Not Met)」
>>「Initializing System Protocol.... affirmed.」
>>「Analyzing R■A■■, adaptation complete.」
>>「Integrating with Host...」
>>「Synchronization complete. System finalized. Welcome, Shin Jae-Won!」
His knees gave out and he collapsed to the floor, heart pounding. What was this? Some kind of dream? He slapped himself hard, hoping he'd wake up.
All it did was make his cheek burn and swell red.
>>「Question: User is too weak. Mana pathways have been blocked for too long. Why?」
>>「Answer: Pathways have been manually blocked. Attempting to brute force them open...」
Then it hit him. An agonizing surge of pain swept through his body, as if needles were stabbing every inch of him from the inside.
>>「Success! Pathways unblocked.」
>>「...Host is terrified. Cortisol is high. Stressed. Finding reason... System.」
>>「Entering sleep mode. Returning in a few hours.」
>>「...」
The interface vanished just as suddenly as it had appeared, leaving Shin gasping for air.
"Haha... I see. I must've been h-hallucinating. Yeah, that's it," he muttered, clutching his chest and trying to calm his nerves.
He finished his morning routine at a much slower pace than usual, doing his best to act like nothing had happened. Then, he left for work.
The clock on the wall read: 7:10 AM.
Ten minutes late.
He slipped into the office and made his way to his cubicle. For some reason, everything still seemed slightly smaller than he remembered. Even the dividers and desks looked a little... shorter?
He settled in and began his usual task—browsing and bidding on gates—when Jihoon popped up behind him with a suspiciously curious look on his face.
"Oh... well that's strange..." Jihoon mumbled, eyeing him from behind.
Shin didn't even bother turning around. "What is it this time, Jihoon?"
Jihoon narrowed his eyes. "Nothing. Just... is it me, or do you look different today? Your face is cleaned up and your skin complexion is better. And not to mention, taller? Don't tell me the guild handed you some kind of miracle elixir for nabbing that SS-ranked gate."
"What are you talking about? I didn't take anything," Shin said, brushing it off. "You're probably just imagining things."
"No, no... I'm not imagining it. Stand up for a second."
Shin sighed and pushed his chair back. The moment he stood, he realized something was off. He was looking down at Jihoon.
"What the...? Why can I see over your head?"
Jihoon's hands clamped down on his shoulders, eyes wide with excitement. "You definitely changed! Come on, tell me your secrets! You swore your growth plates were closed and we were both doomed to be 5'8 forever!"
He went on, practically vibrating. "Your posture's straighter, your skin's clearing up, and your face looks way better. Dude. Seriously. What did you do? Some hidden training regimen? A black market potion? Tell me!"
Overwhelmed, Shin muttered something incoherent and bolted for the bathroom.
He splashed cold water on his face, gripping the sink. His reflection stared back. He really was taller, sharper, healthier. And then the thought hit him like a brick.
"So that system thing from earlier... that wasn't a dream?"
Right on cue, the familiar silver interface blinked to life in front of him.
>>「Exiting sleep mode. Hello, Shin Jae-Won!」
>>「I can tell you're confused. You're probably thinking: What happened to me? Am I dreaming? And so on.」
>>「But here's what matters: You're still you, and no, you are not dreaming.」
"I'm not dreaming?" he asked under his breath.
>>「Correct!」
"O-okay… then what are you?"
>>「As explained earlier, I am the 'Primordial System'」
>>「As for what I actually am... well, you're not ready for that. Don't worry about it.」
>>「All that matters now is my purpose: to help and serve you!」
>>「Please review the material appearing on your screen now.」
>>「Notification: System Handbook, Reading Mandatory!」
>>「Tip: Reach into the screen and pull the handbook out.」
Feeling like he was in a sci-fi fever dream, Shin cautiously reached forward. His hand passed through the projection, and sure enough, he gripped something solid.
A handbook.
It wasn't too thick, but definitely not light reading either. He opened it, and then something strange happened. Time itself seemed to stretch. In what felt like moments, he flipped through and read hundreds of pages.
By the time he closed the cover, he somehow remembered it all.
The handbook explained everything. To dumb it down, the system was a support tool designed to benefit the host. It included a quest-based progression structure, a stat-tracking feature (not stat-points, just monitoring his physical levels: D, C, B, A, S, SS, and so on), a knowledge search function, and even a battle simulator that could generate opponents, either real or made up, in a sub-dimensional space for training.
Suddenly, Jihoon burst through the door, finding Shin still standing at the sink.
"Hey, Shin? You good? Wake up!"
Shin blinked and looked at him, snapping back to reality.
"Crap! Sorry! How long was I out?"
Jihoon tilted his head. "It's only been 15 minutes. Anyway, the guild master's asking for you. Maybe this is the promotion we've been waiting for."
"Only fifteen minutes?" Shin muttered. That couldn't be right. No way he read nearly 500 pages in that time...
Jihoon waved a hand in front of his face. "Dude! Hello? Don't zone out on me now. If you get that promotion, we can finally have more alcohol and steak!"
"Y-yeah, you're right," Shin said with a nervous smile. "My bad. Just a little jittery, that's all. I'll be back. Wish me luck."
Shin stepped out of the bathroom, nerves still rattling, and made his way toward the guild master's office. Once he reached the door, a deep, husky voice called out from inside.
"Enter."
He pushed the door open and was greeted by two people.
Sitting at the large oak desk was the guild master himself, Takeshi Fujimoto. Despite being born and raised in Korea, his Japanese father had insisted on a traditional name. He was one of only five SS-ranked individuals in the entire country.
Takeshi stood tall at 6'3", his frame packed with dense muscle. He had short black hair, broad shoulders, and a thick, well-groomed beard.
Beside him stood Minseo Kwon, the guild's secretary. She was slender, average in height, and possessed a beauty that could stop anyone in their tracks. What most didn't know was that she and the guild master were privately in a relationship, though it hadn't been made public yet.
Takeshi looked up from a tablet and squinted at Shin.
"Let's see... Shin Jae-Won, correct?"
"Y-yes, sir!" Shin straightened up quickly.
"You've been working for our guild for about seven years now, and in that time, you've helped us rake in a total profit of ₩406.74 trillion," he said, scrolling through a digital file. "That's roughly 292.7 billion USD. Either you're incredibly lucky, or you've got a real knack for handling gates."
"Thank you, sir!"
Takeshi raised an eyebrow. "And somehow, we're only paying you ₩173.5 million per year? That's about 125,000 USD. Minseo, what's the return ratio on his salary?"
Minseo tapped at her tablet. "Currently, it's around ₩335,000 generated per ₩1 paid to him, approximately 1,687 to 1 in USD terms."
He scoffed. "So every won we pay you nets us ₩335,000? That's an absurd return on investment. Honestly, I'm surprised you haven't filed a single complaint."
Shin scratched the back of his neck. "W-well, I just do what I'm told. I've never really looked into the numbers before."
"As any obedient employee should do," Takeshi muttered. "Still, in this economy, it's basically theft. Especially considering you helped us secure an SS-ranked gate last week. It's only right that we adjust your compensation."
He turned to Minseo. The two exchanged a few quick whispers before the guild master nodded.
"Effective immediately, your salary will be increased to ₩2 billion a year," Takeshi announced, pushing the final figure across the screen. "That's around 1.44 million USD."
Minseo did some quick math. "The new ratio is roughly ₩29,000 generated per ₩1 paid. Still a strong margin, but much more reasonable. This marks a 1,052% salary increase."
Takeshi leaned back, arms folded. "Of course, no offense, Shin Jae-Won, but you are an office worker. This is already quite generous."
Shin's face lit up with disbelief and joy. "O-of course! This is incredible, I'd never ask for more!"
And why wouldn't he be ecstatic? His salary had just skyrocketed, relieving him of the daily stress of rent, groceries, and basic survival. For the first time in years, he'd be able to breathe.
Takeshi cleared his throat. "Ah, I almost forgot."
He pulled an envelope from his desk drawer and slid it across the table.
"Here. Two weeks at a five-star resort on Jeju Island. Fully paid for by the guild. Consider it a bonus."
Shin bowed repeatedly, grateful beyond words, and rushed out of the office.
Once the door shut behind him, the guild master's expression shifted.
"Minseo," he said, his voice quieter, "are you sure this was necessary? He's just an office worker. His original pay was fine. He was doing his job."
Minseo crossed her arms. "Yes, Takeshi. It's important to retain people like him. He's been an asset for years, and you could stand to have a bit more empathy. Not everyone's awakened or gifted from birth like you."
Takeshi sighed, shaking his head. "I suppose I'll trust your judgment. But you do realize... that's my personal resort."
Minseo smiled slightly. "Exactly. A small price to keep a valuable man loyal. I think there's something special about him too. "