Joon-ho's eyes fluttered open.
His vision wavered like broken glass, colors bleeding into one another until only blinding white remained. He groaned, throat scraping like sandpaper, lips cracked.
"W…water…" His voice rasped, barely audible. "…water…"
He turned his head weakly, repeating the word again and again like a half-delirious chant.
Then—something cool brushed against his hand.
A bottle.
His blurred eyes followed the shape upward. Someone was sitting there. A silhouette, backlit, the sound of quiet slurping filling the silence.
Joon-ho blinked, forcing his eyes to focus.
The haze lifted.
It was Blaze—calmly eating ramen from a steaming cup, her headphones resting on the table beside her. With one hand, she had pushed the water bottle toward him.
He reached for it and gulped down the liquid greedily, every drop crashing through his throat like a storm hitting desert sand.
When his breathing steadied, his gaze lingered on her face.
Blaze, noticing, paused mid-bite. A faint pink crept up her cheeks. She quickly turned her head away, chopsticks frozen in mid-air.
"What… what are you looking at?" she muttered, her voice sharper than intended.
Joon-ho froze, bottle still halfway to his lips.
Joon-ho lowered the bottle slowly, still catching his breath.
"...How did I even get here?" he asked, voice steadier now.
Blaze didn't look at him immediately, finishing another mouthful of ramen before answering.
"You blacked out. Right after the finish line." She leaned back, eyes half-closed as if it wasn't a big deal. "I dragged you out of the arena. Figured you'd die if you stayed there."
Joon-ho blinked. "…You dragged me?"
Blaze gave a small shrug, avoiding his gaze again.
"I saw the way you handled the race. That… intelligence you showed—it's rare. Useful." Her chopsticks clinked softly against the cup. "So, I thought it'd be smart to team up with you."
For a moment, Joon-ho just stared at her, the words sinking in. Team up? With her?
But then something hit his memory. The race. The system. The rewards.
He shot upright so fast Blaze almost spilled her ramen.
"Menu!" he shouted.
A translucent blue screen blinked into existence before him. Blaze tilted her head, slightly startled by his sudden burst of energy.
Lines of glowing text filled his vision.
Rewards Granted:
EXP Gained: 1,000,000
Current Level: 9
Life Points (LP): +10
Units (Cash): 1,000,000
Skill Points: +200
Joon-ho's eyes widened. He scrolled down, hand trembling. This wasn't just a reward—it was a massive leap.
Without hesitation, he navigated to his stats panel.
Strength +70.
Agility +70.
Awareness +60.
The screen pulsed as the numbers shifted upward.
A warm rush flowed through his virtual body—like invisible gears tightening, muscles brimming with new force, senses sharpening beyond what he ever knew in reality.
Blaze, finally setting her ramen down, arched an eyebrow at him.
"You… leveled up that much from one game?"
Joon-ho grinned faintly, still staring at his screen.
"Looks like it."
Joon-ho, still staring at his upgraded screen, slowly glanced toward Blaze.
"…Hey," he said cautiously. "What's your level, by the way?"
Blaze raised an eyebrow. "Why do you want to know?"
"Curious," he said flatly.
Blaze sighed, muttering, "Menu."
A soft blue glow appeared in front of her, the familiar system screen opening up. Before she could even adjust it, Joon-ho stood, walked over, and plopped down right beside her.
She turned to him, irritation flashing in her eyes.
"What are you doing?"
"Seeing your stats," Joon-ho replied casually, leaning in like it was the most natural thing in the world.
Before she could shove him away, his hand reached for the small cup on the table. He sipped her tea without asking, eyes scanning the glowing numbers.
His expression froze.
Blaze – Level 39
Units: 27,000,000
Life Points (LP): 137
Stats: Strength 292 | Agility 285 | Awareness 298 | Endurance 276 | Willpower 289
Joon-ho nearly choked. His eyes bulged, and in a comically exaggerated moment he spat the tea out in a mist, coughing.
"PFFT—WHAT THE—HOW!?"
Blaze calmly dabbed her face with a napkin, frowning. "Seriously?"
"How do you even—what are those stats!?" Joon-ho exclaimed, pointing at the numbers like they were some divine prophecy. "I just killed myself sprinting and you're walking around with THIS?!"
Blaze slurped her ramen as if nothing had happened.
"I've played nearly twenty-nine games," she said flatly. "Still grinding."
"Still—grinding!?" Joon-ho repeated, throwing his hands up.
She gave him a sidelong glance. "What? You think everyone's at your level of shock? This is survival. Either grind or die."
Joon-ho slumped back into his chair, half defeated, half in awe.
"…I seriously teamed up with a monster."
Blaze smirked faintly but said nothing, returning to her noodles.
Blaze finally set her bowl down, chopsticks resting neatly on top. She turned toward him, studying him with narrowed eyes.
"…So tell me, how many games have you played?"
Joon-ho scratched the back of his head awkwardly.
"Uh… only two."
Blaze's eyes widened. She sat upright immediately, disbelief flashing across her face.
"Two? Just two?"
"Yeah." He nodded, almost embarrassed.
She leaned in slightly, voice tightening. "And you're already level nine?"
Joon-ho shrugged, a little smug but still confused himself. "I guess I got lucky."
Blaze shook her head, muttering under her breath. "Impossible… absolutely insane."
He tilted his head. "What about you? How long have you been grinding here?"
Blaze exhaled and leaned back against her chair, eyes distant.
"…Twenty-nine days."
Joon-ho froze. "…Wait. Twenty-nine days? Already?"
"Yes." She glanced at him with a raised brow. "What's wrong with that?"
"But—" Joon-ho frowned, his mind racing. "That doesn't make sense. I just got here yesterday. How can you have been stuck here almost a month already?"
Blaze stirred her cup absentmindedly before answering.
"I think it's because you were in Japan, right?"
Joon-ho blinked. "...Yeah. How did you know?"
She looked away, arms folding across her chest.
"That's why you arrived late. You're part of the last batch."
"Last batch?" Joon-ho repeated.
Blaze nodded.
"The wave—it didn't hit everyone at once. It started dead center, exactly at Earth's core. Spread outwards like ripples. Took about two days to cover the whole planet. If the wave reached you first, you came here first. If it reached you last…" She gestured toward him. "…then you're like you. The late arrivals."
Joon-ho sat back, realization dawning on him.
"So… that means… no one else is coming now?"
Blaze's gaze hardened.
"Exactly. The world's sealed. Whoever's here—that's it. From now on, no one else enters."
The words hung heavy between them, settling like a weight on Joon-ho's chest. For the first time since arriving, he felt the true scope of what this "Overworld" meant.