Kim Min-jun rubbed his tired eyes and looked at his computer screen one more time. The golden letters still glowed brightly: "CONGRATULATIONS! YOU ARE RANK #1 PLAYER IN ETERNAL REALMS ONLINE!"
He had done it. Again. For the third month straight, he was the top player in the most popular RPG game in Korea. Maybe even in the world. The forum posts were already flooding in with congratulations, hate comments, and people asking for his secrets.
"Finally," Min-jun said to his empty apartment. His voice was hoarse from not talking to anyone for the past fifteen hours. He stretched his arms above his head and heard his joints crack like old wood. "Ow."
His back hurt. His neck was stiff. His eyes felt like someone had poured sand in them. When was the last time he had blinked? When was the last time he had eaten something that wasn't from a convenience store?
Min-jun looked around his small apartment. It was a mess. Empty ramen cups covered every surface of his desk. Some still had dried noodles stuck to the bottom. His keyboard had crumbs between the keys. Energy drink cans formed a small tower next to his monitor. Dirty clothes made a mountain in the corner that was so tall it touched the ceiling.
The sunlight coming through his window was bright. Too bright. It made his head hurt.
"What time is it?" he asked himself. He looked at his phone. 2:30 PM. "Oh no. I played all night again."
This happened a lot. Min-jun would start playing Eternal Realms Online after dinner, and before he knew it, the sun was rising. Today he had been trying to clear the new dungeon that came out yesterday. It was called "The Tomb of the Forgotten King" and it was supposed to be impossible to solo.
But Min-jun had done it. He always did the impossible things in this game. That's why he was number one.
His stomach growled like an angry bear. When was the last time he ate? He looked at his desk. There was half a piece of bread that looked like it was from three days ago. It was hard as a rock.
"I need food," he said. "Real food. Or at least fresh ramen."
Min-jun stood up from his gaming chair. His legs felt weak and shaky. He had been sitting for too long. He grabbed his wallet from his dresser. Inside was exactly 10,000 won. Just enough for some instant noodles and maybe a energy drink.
He put on his jacket and looked in the mirror by his door. His hair was messy and greasy. His clothes were wrinkled. He had dark circles under his eyes that made him look like a raccoon. But he didn't care. He was just going to the convenience store two blocks away.
Min-jun locked his apartment door and walked down the stairs. His building was old and the stairs creaked with every step. The hallway smelled like old food and cleaning chemicals. Some of his neighbors were cooking lunch and the smell made his stomach growl even louder.
Outside, the afternoon air was fresh and cool. It felt good after being inside for so long. Min-jun took a deep breath and started walking toward the convenience store. The sidewalk was busy with people going about their normal lives. Office workers on their lunch break, students walking home from school, old ladies carrying heavy shopping bags.
Min-jun felt a little jealous. All these people had normal lives. They had jobs, friends, families. They probably ate three meals a day and slept eight hours every night. They probably didn't know what it felt like to spend eighteen hours straight fighting digital monsters.
But then he remembered the feeling of beating that impossible dungeon. The rush of seeing his name at the top of the leaderboard. The respect from other players who called him a legend. Maybe his life wasn't normal, but it was his life.
The convenience store was busy. Min-jun walked past the magazine rack and went straight to the food section. He grabbed three different flavors of instant ramen - spicy beef, chicken, and seafood. He also took a bag of chips, a energy drink, and some chocolate bars. This would last him for the next two days if he was careful.
At the counter, the cashier was a girl about his age. She had bright pink hair and looked bored.
"Will that be all?" she asked without looking up from her phone.
"Yes," Min-jun said. He handed her the money and waited for his change.
"Hey, aren't you that gamer guy?" the girl suddenly asked. She was looking at him with wide eyes. "Kim Min-jun? The one who's number one in Eternal Realms Online?"
Min-jun was surprised. People rarely recognized him in real life. He spent so much time online that he forgot he was actually famous in the gaming community.
"Uh, yeah, that's me," he said.
"Wow! My boyfriend plays that game all the time. He talks about you constantly. He says you're like a god or something. Can I get your autograph?"
Min-jun felt embarrassed but also a little proud. He signed a receipt for her and took his bag of food.
"Thank you so much!" the girl said. "My boyfriend is going to freak out when I tell him I met you!"
Min-jun smiled and walked toward the exit. It felt good to be recognized. Maybe spending all that time gaming wasn't such a waste after all. He was famous. He was the best at something. That had to count for something, right?
He pushed open the glass door and stepped outside. The afternoon sun was still bright, but now it felt warm and pleasant instead of annoying. Min-jun was thinking about which flavor of ramen to eat first when he heard a sound that made his blood freeze.
SCREECH!
It was the sound of car tires sliding on pavement. The sound of brakes being pressed too hard. The sound that meant something very bad was about to happen.
Min-jun turned his head to the left and saw a black sedan coming straight toward him. It was moving fast. Very fast. The driver was not slowing down. In fact, the car seemed to be speeding up.
Time slowed down. Min-jun could see everything in perfect detail. The car's license plate. The crack in the windshield. The terrified expression on the driver's face. Even stranger, the driver looked like he was wearing some kind of glowing white robe.
Min-jun tried to move. He tried to run. He tried to jump out of the way. But his body wouldn't respond fast enough. The car was too close. It was too late.
"Oh no—" he started to say.
CRASH!
The impact felt like being hit by a mountain. Min-jun felt his body flying through the air. He heard the sound of breaking glass and twisting metal. He felt pain everywhere - in his chest, his arms, his legs, his head.
Then he hit the ground hard. The world spun around him like a crazy carnival ride. He could taste blood in his mouth. His vision was blurry and dark around the edges. People were screaming. Someone was calling for an ambulance.
Min-jun tried to move but nothing worked. He couldn't feel his legs. His arms felt heavy like they were made of stone. Warm liquid was spreading underneath his body. He knew it was blood. His blood.
"This is bad," he thought. "This is really bad."
The last thing he saw before everything went black was a crowd of people gathering around him. Some were taking pictures with their phones. Others were trying to help. The cashier girl from the convenience store was crying and talking to a police officer.
Then darkness took him.
When Min-jun opened his eyes, he was not in a hospital.
He was standing on a cloud.
Not a metaphorical cloud. Not a dream cloud. An actual, white, fluffy cloud that somehow held his weight like solid ground.
"What the heck?" Min-jun looked down at his feet. They were definitely standing on a cloud. He could see more clouds floating around him like islands in the sky. Some were small like stepping stones. Others were huge like floating continents.
The sky around him was not blue. It was a soft golden color, like the light right before sunset. There was no sun that he could see, but everything was bright and warm.
In front of him, rising from a massive cloud platform, stood the biggest building Min-jun had ever seen. It looked like one of those Aztec pyramids from his history textbooks, but much larger and more detailed. The walls were made of golden stone covered in strange symbols that seemed to glow and move on their own. Massive stairs led up to the top where a giant bell hung in the air without any support.
"This has to be a dream," Min-jun said out loud. His voice echoed strangely in this place. "Maybe I'm in a coma. Yeah, that makes sense. I got hit by a car and now I'm unconscious in a hospital bed somewhere."
He pinched himself on the arm. It hurt. He could feel everything - the warm air, the soft texture of the cloud under his feet, the weight of his clothes on his body.
"Okay, this is either the most realistic dream ever, or I'm dead," he said. "And if I'm dead, this afterlife is really weird."
"HELLO, YOUNG MAN!"
The voice came from everywhere at once. It was so loud and powerful that Min-jun felt it in his bones. The clouds around him shook like they were made of jelly. Even the massive pyramid temple seemed to vibrate. Min-jun covered his ears but the sound went right through his hands.
"W-Who are you?" Min-jun shouted back. His own voice sounded tiny compared to the booming voice. "W-Where am I?"
"I AM A GOD!" the voice announced proudly. "THE GOD OF THIS REALM! AND ALSO THE ONE WHO CREATED THAT RPG GAME YOU LOVE SO MUCH!"
Min-jun felt his jaw drop open. "You... you created Eternal Realms Online?"
"YES! EVERY QUEST, EVERY MONSTER, EVERY PIECE OF ARMOR! I DESIGNED IT ALL!" The voice paused for a moment. "WELL, I HAD SOME HELP FROM THE DEVELOPMENT TEAM, BUT THE WORLD AND MAGIC SYSTEM WERE ALL ME!"
This was impossible. Min-jun had spent thousands of hours in Eternal Realms Online. He knew every corner of that world. He had memorized every spell, every item, every secret area. And now the creator of his favorite game was talking to him?
"Why am I here?" Min-jun asked. "What do you want from me?"
"I WAS ACTUALLY LOOKING FOR SOMEONE WHO COULD LIVE IN MY WORLD!" the god explained. "THE REAL VERSION OF ETERNAL REALMS! NOT JUST THE GAME VERSION!"
"What?" Min-jun was confused. "There's a real version?"
"OF COURSE! THE GAME WAS JUST A COPY OF MY ACTUAL WORLD! I MADE IT TO FIND SOMEONE SKILLED ENOUGH TO SURVIVE IN THE REAL THING!"
Min-jun's head was spinning. This was too much information to process. A god had created a video game based on his real world, and now he wanted Min-jun to live there?
"There's something I want to say..." the god's voice suddenly got much quieter. Almost shy. "Something important."
"What?"
"I'M ACTUALLY THE ONE WHO WAS DRIVING THAT CAR."
Silence.
Min-jun blinked. Once. Twice. Three times.
"You... you ran me over?"
"YES. I'M VERY SORRY ABOUT THAT. DRIVING IS MUCH HARDER THAN IT LOOKS."
"YOU'RE A GOD AND YOU CAN'T DRIVE A CAR?"
"WELL, I DON'T USUALLY NEED TO! I JUST FLY EVERYWHERE! BUT I WANTED TO EXPERIENCE HUMAN TRANSPORTATION AND... UH... I MAY HAVE MIXED UP THE ACCELERATOR AND THE BRAKE PEDAL."
Min-jun felt his eye start to twitch. This was the most ridiculous conversation he had ever had in his life. Or afterlife. Whatever this was.
"So let me understand this correctly," he said slowly. "You are a god. You created my favorite video game. You also just killed me with a car. By accident. Because you don't know how to drive."
"THAT'S CORRECT!"
"And now you want me to go live in your magical world?"
"YES! ISN'T THAT EXCITING?"
Min-jun looked around at the impossible landscape of floating clouds and the golden pyramid temple. He thought about his old life - his tiny apartment, his empty fridge, his boring part-time job that he barely went to anymore. His only real joy had been playing Eternal Realms Online.
"This is the weirdest afterlife conversation ever," he muttered.
"OH, YOU'RE NOT ACTUALLY DEAD!" the god said cheerfully. "WELL, YOUR OLD BODY IS DEAD. I COULDN'T FIX THAT. TOO MUCH DAMAGE. BUT I GAVE YOU A NEW ONE! LOOK!"
Suddenly, Min-jun could see himself like he was looking in a full-length mirror. He looked exactly like himself, but better. Much better. His skin was clear and healthy. His muscles were more defined but not too bulky. His hair was thick and clean. Even his posture was better - straighter and more confident.
"I look like my character avatar," he said in amazement.
"EXACTLY! I MADE YOU PERFECT FOR SURVIVAL IN MY WORLD! YOU EVEN GET A SYSTEM TO HELP YOU!"
"A system?"
As soon as he asked the question, a translucent blue screen appeared in the air in front of his face. It looked exactly like the user interface from Eternal Realms Online, but somehow more real and detailed.
[SYSTEM ACTIVATED]Welcome, Kim Min-jun!Level: 1Class: Not SelectedHP: 100/100MP: 50/50Status: HealthyLocation: Divine Realm - Temple of Beginning
Available Functions:
Status Window Inventory Skills Map Quest Log
Min-jun reached out and touched the screen. It was solid but felt warm under his fingers. The interface responded to his touch just like in the game, but it felt more alive somehow.
"This is incredible," he whispered. "It's just like the game, but real."
"THE GAME WAS BASED ON THE REAL SYSTEM THAT RUNS MY WORLD!" the god explained. "EVERY PERSON THERE HAS ACCESS TO IT! THEY CAN LEVEL UP, LEARN SKILLS, USE MAGIC, EVERYTHING!"
Min-jun scrolled through the different menus. Everything was there - his character stats, an empty inventory, a skills page with nothing learned yet. It was like starting a new game, except this was real life.
"So," Min-jun said, "what exactly would I be doing in your world?"
"WHATEVER YOU WANT! BECOME AN ADVENTURER! FIGHT MONSTERS! LEARN MAGIC! BUILD A KINGDOM! THE CHOICE IS YOURS!"
"Are there other people there?"
"MILLIONS! HUMANS, ELVES, DWARVES, BEAST-PEOPLE! JUST LIKE IN THE GAME!"
"And they all have this system?"
"YES! THOUGH MOST PEOPLE NEVER REACH VERY HIGH LEVELS. THEY'RE TOO BUSY WITH NORMAL LIFE - FARMING, CRAFTING, RAISING FAMILIES. BUT YOU'RE DIFFERENT! YOU UNDERSTAND HOW TO USE THE SYSTEM BETTER THAN ANYONE!"
That was true. Min-jun had spent years mastering every aspect of Eternal Realms Online. He knew the most efficient ways to level up, the best skill combinations, the hidden locations where rare items spawned. If this world really worked the same way as the game, he would have a huge advantage.
"What happens if I say no?" Min-jun asked.
There was a long pause.
"WELL..." the god said slowly, "I SUPPOSE I COULD PUT YOUR SOUL BACK IN YOUR OLD BODY? BUT IT'S PRETTY MESSED UP FROM THE CAR ACCIDENT. YOU'D PROBABLY BE A VEGETABLE FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIFE."
"That's not really a choice then, is it?"
"I GUESS NOT! SORRY ABOUT THAT!"
Min-jun thought about his options. He could go back to his broken body and spend the rest of his life in a hospital bed, or he could start over in a world that was basically his favorite video game come to life.
"If I agree to this," he said, "do I get any special advantages? Since you, you know, killed me and all?"
"OH YES! I FORGOT TO MENTION!" The god sounded excited. "YOU GET TO START WITH SOME SPECIAL BONUSES! FIRST, YOUR SYSTEM IS UPGRADED - YOU'LL GAIN EXPERIENCE FASTER THAN NORMAL PEOPLE. SECOND, YOU KEEP ALL YOUR GAME KNOWLEDGE - YOU'LL REMEMBER THE LOCATIONS OF TREASURES, THE WEAKNESSES OF MONSTERS, ALL THE QUEST SOLUTIONS!"
That was huge. Min-jun had memorized practically everything about Eternal Realms Online. If that knowledge worked in the real world, he would be incredibly powerful.
"And third," the god continued, "YOU GET A SPECIAL SKILL THAT NOBODY ELSE HAS!"
A new window popped up in Min-jun's vision:
[UNIQUE SKILL ACQUIRED: SOLO PLAYER]Description: You are most powerful when fighting alone. When no allies are within 100 meters, all stats increase by 50% and experience gained doubles.
Warning: This skill makes it difficult to form lasting partnerships. Choose your path carefully.
Min-jun read the skill description twice. It was perfect for him. In the game, he had always preferred to play alone. Other players just slowed him down or took his loot. With this skill, being a solo player would actually make him stronger.
"This is amazing," he said.
"SO! DO YOU ACCEPT?" the god asked. "WILL YOU LIVE IN MY WORLD AND HAVE GRAND ADVENTURES?"
Min-jun looked one more time at the floating clouds, the impossible temple, the game interface that had become his reality. He thought about his old life - sitting alone in his apartment, eating instant ramen, never talking to anyone except through a computer screen.
This was his chance for a real adventure. A chance to be the hero he had always played as in games. A chance to start over in a world where his skills actually mattered.
"I accept," Min-jun said.
"WONDERFUL!" The god's voice was so loud and happy that the entire cloud platform shook. "LET'S BEGIN YOUR NEW LIFE RIGHT NOW!"
The golden light around Min-jun started to get brighter and brighter. He felt a warm tingling sensation all over his body, like he was dissolving and reforming at the same time.
"Wait!" he called out as the light became blinding. "I don't even know your name!"
"YOU CAN CALL ME ADMIN!" the god laughed. "GOOD LUCK, KIM MIN-JUN! TRY NOT TO DIE TOO QUICKLY!"
The last thing Min-jun heard before the light took him was the god muttering to himself:
"I REALLY NEED TO TAKE DRIVING LESSONS..."