The forest was quiet again, save for the faint chirping of strange birds and the rustle of leaves overhead. Jae-hyun stood over the dead Razor Wolf, his knees slightly bent, hands trembling. His chest rose and fell in sharp breaths as the tension slowly bled out of him.
For a long moment, he didn't move. His brain was still catching up to what had just happened. He'd dodged a charging monster, panicked, and somehow copied its skill without knowing how to control it properly—and now the beast was lying dead at his feet.
"Okay… let's just recap here," he muttered, dragging a hand down his face. "One minute, I'm in class scrolling webtoons. The next, I sneeze in front of a goddess and she throws me into an isekai with a trash skill. And now? I just murdered a wolf with glowing eyes by… what, accident? Yeah. Totally normal day. Peak Tuesday."
He crouched down, poking the wolf's body cautiously with a stick. Nothing. It was as lifeless as it looked. "Crazy. I one-shotted it. And I don't even know how I did it. Ha…" He chuckled nervously. "Hah! Hahaha! I'm a natural, clearly. Main character energy. Somebody call the system, I want my cheat title already."
As if to mock him, a glowing panel flickered to life in front of his face.
[LEVEL UP]
A ripple of warmth passed through his chest. His vision sharpened faintly, his muscles felt just a touch lighter, and his mind buzzed with the faintest sense of power.
Stat Panel:Name: Jae-hyunLevel: 1HP: 102 (+2)Mana: 51 (+1)Strength: 11 (+1)Agility: 12 (+0)Luck: 0.1Skill: Minor Copy (F Rank)Efficiency: 16%EXP: 3/15 (Next level: +12 EXP)Skill Storage: Available
He stared at the glowing words. His mouth opened. Then closed. Then opened again.
"…That's it? A single point? And two HP? What am I supposed to do with that, eat it?" He groaned, rubbing his temples. "At this rate, by the time I'm strong enough to take on a demon lord, I'll be collecting pension. Great."
Still, as pathetic as it was, it felt real. Tangible. Progress. His heart swelled just a little with pride. He wasn't completely helpless. Not anymore.
But then his stomach growled. Loudly. So loud a bird flew from a nearby tree in alarm.
"…Yeah, okay. Forget pride. Forget leveling. Food first."
He glanced at the wolf's corpse. His lips curled in disgust. "No way. I'm not eating that. Not unless Gordon Ramsay himself shows up with a frying pan." His stomach twisted again. He sighed. "Alright, new plan: find civilization. Civilization equals food. Hopefully not human-eating-civilization."
With that, Jae-hyun brushed dirt from his ruined uniform, shouldered himself forward, and began walking.
The journey through the forest felt endless. His legs ached, his stomach clawed at itself, and every snapping twig made his nerves twitch. The trees seemed to stretch on forever, their bark twisted and strange, leaves glowing faintly in hues he had never seen before. The air carried a scent like damp moss mixed with iron.
At one point, he swore he saw a rabbit sprint by with glowing runes on its fur. "Nope," he muttered, walking faster. "Not touching that. That's how horror movies start."
Finally, after what felt like hours, the trees began to thin. He squinted. In the distance, beyond a sloping hill, smoke curled into the sky. Not the dark, ominous smoke of war, but the thin gray strands of cooking fires. His heart leapt.
"A village." His lips spread into a grin. "Yes. Actual people. Food. Shelter. Maybe even Wi-Fi."
He stumbled faster down the hill, ignoring the stitch in his side.
The village wasn't much to look at.
Wooden houses slouched tiredly against one another, their thatched roofs patched with straw and cloth. Muddy streets wound between them, chickens pecked lazily at the dirt, and villagers moved with the kind of slow weariness born from long days of work. The place looked… run-down. Faded. As though life here was less about living and more about surviving.
Still, to Jae-hyun, it was paradise compared to starving alone in the woods.
He stepped onto the dirt road, brushing leaves from his shoulders. Heads turned almost immediately. Conversations quieted. Men paused with buckets, women halted mid-chatter, even a dog barked suspiciously at him.
Dozens of eyes bored into him. Suspicious. Curious. Uneasy.
"…Why does this feel like the start of a western movie?" he muttered under his breath.
"Hey, mama," a little voice piped up suddenly. A boy, no older than six, pointed at him with chubby fingers. "Why does his eyes look like that?"
Jae-hyun froze. Slowly, his gaze shifted toward the brat.
…My eyes? What the hell's wrong with my eyes?
The boy blinked up at him innocently, tugging on his mother's skirt. "They're weird. They're dark. Not normal. He looks scary."
Inside Jae-hyun's head, a volcano erupted. Who the hell does this little twerp think he is? I just killed a glowing murder wolf and he's calling me scary? Buddy, you still pee the bed at night, don't act tough.
He forced a smile. "Haha… kids, right?"
The boy's mother quickly pulled him away, whispering apologies, but the damage was done. Now the whole village was whispering. "Weird eyes." "Strange hair." "Outsider."
Jae-hyun groaned. "Great. Day one in a new world and I'm already the village cryptid."
His nose caught a scent then. Meat. Stew. Spices. His stomach roared so loudly people turned to look again. He didn't care. His feet carried him straight toward the largest building in the village—a tavern, its wooden sign barely hanging on its hinges, painted with a crude mug and loaf of bread.
The moment he pushed the door open, warmth and the smell of cooking enveloped him. Inside, rough wooden tables filled the room, a few patrons sitting with mugs of ale or bowls of stew. The atmosphere was dull but alive with the smell of real food.
His eyes locked on a steaming bowl carried past him. Meat. Bread. A hint of garlic. His knees nearly gave out.
He staggered to the counter. "One bowl. Please. Anything. I'll take anything."
The tavern keeper turned. And Jae-hyun's jaw nearly hit the floor.
She was a giant.
Not literally a giant, but she was easily six feet tall, shoulders broader than most men, muscles bulging under her rolled-up sleeves. Her skin was tanned, her hair tied in a messy bun, and her apron looked more like a battle uniform than kitchen wear. Her arms alone looked like they could bench-press a horse.
She raised one eyebrow, voice low and gruff. "You got coin, boy?"
Jae-hyun froze. His pockets were empty. No wallet. No phone. No card. Not even lint. He patted himself down desperately. Nothing.
He forced a weak laugh. "…Would you take… good vibes?"
Her eyebrow twitched. The silence was deafening. Then she leaned forward, muscles flexing, her shadow swallowing him whole. "No coin. No food."
Jae-hyun's stomach growled again. "What if I… worked for it?"
She smirked. A smirk that spelled doom. "Good. You'll be washing dishes until your hands bleed."
And just like that, Jae-hyun, the great hero of another world, found himself standing in the back of a run-down tavern, elbow-deep in dirty dishes, wondering how the hell his glorious isekai adventure had already turned into slave labor.
"…This would be the worst anime adaptation ever," he muttered, scrubbing harder.