Every day started the same for Minho.
He rushed through his small basement apartment, grabbed his worn backpack, and climbed the narrow stairs to the street. On the way, he scattered a little food for the neighborhood cats. They meowed at him gratefully, but even their tiny thanks felt more comforting than the rest of the world.
School was always worse.
"Gah!" A punch cracked against his lip, sending him tumbling backward.
"Tch." A tall boy with bleached blonde hair clicked his tongue, a smirk plastered across his face.
Yujo Park. The spoiled son of a rich businessman. Minho had no doubt that his life existed only as Yujo's entertainment.
"Every day… it's the same shit," Minho muttered.
No one helped him. Even if he arrived in class covered in bruises and blood dripping from his mouth, the teachers pretended not to notice.
"This poor bastard can't even fight back," Yujo's friends laughed, slipping the money they'd stolen from Minho into their pockets.
Minho sank against the wall at the back of the school, wincing as he touched his arm. "Pulled a muscle… shit. Can't afford medicine…"
He looked at his glasses, already broken and crooked. "Guess I have to go blind for a few weeks..."
His life had been cursed since childhood. His parents died in a car crash when he was ten. His uncle, kind but busy, worked overseas and could only send enough for the bare essentials: a tiny apartment, school, and food. It was enough, if Yujo and his gang didn't keep stealing from him.
Minho had no friends. No one who cared. He was average in school, invisible in everything else. In short, he was a loser
As Minho looked around he saw a familiar silhouette, a tall girl around his age. But she was different, she had long black hair and had flawless skin, she radiated the aura of a spoiled kid.
Siyeon Han, the youngest daughter of the owner of Han Corporate. Essentially, modern royalty. Who knows why she went to this random school, it wasn't dilapidated but it wasn't highly prestigious either.
"Tch." She clicked her tongue. "Losers like you should just get out and stop stinking up the school."
Her words were meant to cut, but Minho had heard them too many times to flinch.
"Seriously… you smell like poverty," she added, her tone sharp.
Minho forced himself upright. Pain shot through him, but he ignored it. "Yeah, yeah. Poor person. I know," he muttered and tried to leave.
"Why do you even bother?" she asked, frustration clear in her voice.
"I don't have a choice. Can't fall back on an empire, princess," he replied without looking back.
He heard her mutter under her breath. "Trash…
Minho sighed. The first time he ever talked to Siyeon was in middle school.
And she was the same as ever, cold. She was rich, smart and no doubt good looking. But she had one flaw. Disgust towards losers like Minho.
After school, Minho sat on a bench, shoulders aching.
To his right, Gian Park, the overweight weeb everyone picked on, sat slouched. To his left, Maseong Li, skinny and fragile, leaned nervously against the backrest.
"You get beaten up again?" Gian asked.
"Yeah…" Minho muttered.
"Those bastards!" Maseong fumed. "Born with silver spoons and still have to pick on us!"
Minho buried his face in his hands. 'This pathetic routine… I just want it to end. I'm not even human anymore. I'm a joke they play with for fun.'
He clenched his fists, but he knew he could never show his anger. Not here. Not ever.
Before the last bell even rang, Yujo found him again.
"Why!?" Yujo roared, boot smashing into Minho's cheek. "Did! You! Talk! To! Siyeon?!"
Each word came with a new strike, Yujo grinding his heel into Minho's face like he wanted to erase him. His friends snickered in the background, treating the assault like a show.
Minho curled inward, shielding his ribs, his cheek, anything he could. He prayed it would end quickly.
"Don't you dare get smart, okay?!" Yujo snarled, yanking Minho up by the hair. "You're a loser. You'll stay a loser until the day you die!"
Minho stumbled as Yujo shoved him away. He bit back a cry. No money for medicine, no one to turn to. He sank to the pavement, fists clenched, looking up at the sky.
"I wish… this pathetic life would just end," he muttered, voice breaking. "Why do I have to be this unlucky?"
The frustration bubbled over. He screamed at the empty sky. "Why couldn't I have been born with something special?! Give me something special too?!"
His throat burned. His chest ached. When he opened his eyes, he saw a sleek black car rolling down the street. The window slid down.
Siyeon's face appeared, a mixture of confusion and disgust. "Seriously? Have you finally lost your mind? People will think you're crazy. So shut up, okay?"
The car drove off. She muttered, almost to herself, "He's such a loser. I'll need to talk to Yujo… that idiot takes it too far."
Minho stared at the street. 'Perfect. Now she thinks I'm even more disgusting.'
But something happened, something awakened. Minho watched as the surroundings became pitch black. No...it was as if he was transported to another world.
"What the hell?!" He panicked. Something shined above his head. He looked up.
A square window shined blue. Almost like a holograph.
"That...is that a system?" He had seen this same thing in almost every webtoon and webnovel for years.
"Am I hallucinating?" He pinched his own arm, it hurt. "This...this is real!"
[Minho Kim, You Have Been Chosen As A Player]
[Complete Your Missions. Advance To The Highest Stage]
The darkness shattered.
And Minho was back on the street. His cheek still stung and his ribs still ached.
He would've dismissed that as a dream, but the glowing screen hovering above him proved that untrue.
[Main Mission #1]
[Objective: Reach Your Home Within 2 Minutes]
[Reward: Bronze Card]
[Failure: Penalty Unknown]
Minho blinked hard. "Two minutes…? To get home?"
His tiny basement apartment was at least a twenty-minute walk from here on a good day. Right now, he could barely move without pain.
"But… that's impossible."
A timer appeared beneath the mission.
[Time Limit: 02:00]
[Starting now.]
Beep.
The numbers began to fall.
01:59
01:58
01:57
"…You've gotta be kidding me!"
Adrenaline surged through him. Minho staggered to his feet, ignoring the throbbing in his lip and the dull ache in his arm. He sprinted down the street, legs wobbling, lungs burning.
The timer kept dropping.
01:44
01:43
"Move!" he yelled at himself.
A sharp pull in his calf nearly made him stumble. His breath wheezed out of him, he hadn't run this fast in years.
Minho gritted his teeth and pushed harder. He cut across the sidewalk, dodged a startled delivery man, nearly crashed into a parked scooter.
01:12
01:11
He skidded around the corner toward the street where his apartment was located, just in time to see the pedestrian light turn red.
Cars streamed by, blocking the crosswalk completely.
"No, no, no—!"
The timer spiraled downward.
00:54
00:53
His path was blocked.
Minho's eyes darted around.
A narrow alleyway between two buildings. Barely wide enough for one person. Cluttered with trash bags. A shortcut.
00:43
He charged into it, shoving trash aside as he squeezed through. A metal pipe scraped his arm, tearing his sleeve.
"Damn it!"
He burst out the other side.
00:29
00:28
Minho dashed down the cracked stairs to his basement door. His legs almost gave out on the final step. He grabbed the handle…and froze.
His key.
"Where is my key?!"
Panic stabbed through him. He pat himself down, searched his pockets. Nothing. Yujo must have kept it.
00:17
00:16
"Please—!"
He tried the door.
It didn't budge.
00:12
00:11
Minho's breath caught.
"No choice!"
He took two steps back and slammed his shoulder into the door with everything he had.
THUD!!
Pain exploded down his side.The door shook but held.
00:06
00:05
"One more—!"
He roared, ran again, and threw his entire weight into the door.
CRACK—
The lock snapped. The door burst inward.
00:02
00:01
Minho collapsed inside his dim apartment. Breath shallow, shoulder aching, sweat pouring down.
Beep.
[Main Mission #1 Complete]
He exhaled shakily, staring up at the ceiling.
A new window materialized above him.
[Reward: Bronze Card Received]
A small, metallic-looking card the size of a credit card floated gently into his palm. It shimmered with faint bronze light.
"What… does this do?"
Another message flashed:
[Cards Give You Strength. Skills and Buffs.]
Minho swallowed hard, gripping the card.
This was real.
All of it.
He wasn't the loser everyone mocked anymore.
"H–how do I use this?"
No message flashed. Minho's eyes narrowed at the card.
"There are words on it!"
The words became clear.
[Perfect Vision]
[Your Eyesight Will Become 20/20. You Will No Longer Need Glasses.]
"That's hard to believe," he muttered. He thought for a while before saying:
"Activate!"
[Bronze Card Has Been Used]
The card disappeared from his hands, turning into particles that faintly glowed.
Minho pulled down his glasses and stood up. He looked around the room. "It was true! I can see perfectly!"
Minho blinked rapidly, focusing on the farthest corner of the room. The rusted boiler, the peeling paint, even the tiny lettering on an old cereal box half-buried under clothes. Everything looked crisp. Sharp. Real.
He hadn't seen this clearly since he was a child.
He wiped the sweat from his forehead and slumped against the wall. "A system… cards… missions… This is insane."
He looked down at his body. He didn't feel the pain anymore, the wounds had closed.
As if waiting for him to acknowledge that thought, another window slid into existence.
[Player Status Unlocked]
[NAME : Minho Kim]
[CLASS : Player]
[LEVEL : 1]
[HP : 1000/1000]
[MP : 100/100]
[ATTACK : 100]
[DEFENSE : 100]
[AGILITY : 100]
[SPIRIT : 100]
Everything was about to change.