Chapter 1: The Weird Wake-Up
Ji Han was having the kind of dream that makes you not want to wake up.
In it he was some legendary swordsman standing on a cliff overlooking a glowing forest. Wind was blowing his long hair (he didn't actually have long hair in real life, but dreams don't care about reality). And right in front of him was the elf girl from his favorite mobile game, silver hair, emerald eyes, tiny leather outfit that showed way too much skin for a PG-13 rating. She stepped closer, put both hands on his chest, looked up at him with those big sparkling eyes and whispered,
"You're my only hero, Ji Han…"
Her lips were getting closer. His heart was hammering. He could already feel the warmth. Just one more second and
A blinding blue screen exploded directly into his face like someone had flash-banged him in his sleep.
Ji Han yelped, flailed, and launched himself backward. His head cracked against the wall with a painful thud.
"OW! What the?!"
He grabbed the back of his skull, rubbing furiously while his vision swam with little white stars. The room spun for a second. His thin mattress slid half off the frame from the sudden movement. One leg was still tangled in the blanket, the other kicking at empty air.
He blinked hard. Once. Twice.
Floating right where the elf girl's face had been was a perfect glowing rectangle of blue light. Crisp white text hovered inside it.
[Player Awakening]
Rank: F
Level: 1
Objective: Survive.
Ji Han stared at it with his mouth open.
"…huh?"
He reached out slowly and poked the screen with one finger.
His finger passed straight through.
He tried again, faster this time. Nothing. Just air.
"Okay," he said out loud, voice still scratchy from sleep, "either I'm still dreaming, or I finally lost it. Probably both."
He sat up properly, blanket pooling around his waist. He was wearing nothing but faded black boxers with a tiny hole near the waistband. His room looked exactly the same as it always did at 7:18 a.m. on a random Tuesday:
Dirty laundry mountain in the corner threatening to avalanche
Empty ramyeon cups and energy drink cans forming an archaeological layer on the desk
Old 32-inch TV with a cracked bottom corner sitting on a wobbly plastic stand
Window with yellowed curtains letting in gray Seoul morning light
One sad dying succulent on the windowsill that he kept forgetting to water
Everything normal. Except for the floating game interface in his face.
The blue panel shimmered and new lines appeared.
[Origin System Initializing…]
[Special Condition Detected]
Confined to current location until Level 100.
Leaving the designated area before reaching Level 100 will result in severe penalty.
Ji Han read it once. Then read it again slower.
"Confined… to my room?" His voice cracked on the last word. "Until Level 100? You're kidding me."
He laughed. It came out high-pitched and a little hysterical.
"Okay system, very funny. April Fools' was months ago. You can stop now."
No response.
He stood up. The floor was cold under his bare feet. He shuffled the three steps to the door, twisted the knob, cracked it open about five centimeters
A sharp red warning flashed right in front of his eyes like emergency brake lights.
[WARNING]
Exiting confinement zone will trigger penalty.
Return immediately.
The door slammed shut on its own.
Ji Han jumped back so hard he almost fell over the laundry pile.
"Okay! Okay! I get it! I'm not going anywhere!" He raised both hands like he was surrendering to the police. "Jeez. Touchy."
He backed up until his calves hit the mattress and sat down hard.
His heart was still racing. He rubbed his face with both hands, fingers pressing into his eye sockets.
"This can't be real," he muttered. "I'm hallucinating. Too much caffeine. Too little sleep. Wet dream withdrawal. Something."
But the blue panel was still there. Patient. Glowing softly. Not going away.
More text scrolled in.
[Stats Panel Unlocked]
Strength: 5
Agility: 5
Vitality: 5
Intelligence: 5
Luck: 5
[EXP: 0 / 1,000]
[Note: Leveling requirement is 10× standard player value.]
Ji Han's eyebrows climbed higher with every line.
"Ten times? Ten times harder to level than normal people?" He let out a long groan and flopped backward onto the bed, arms spread wide. The springs squeaked sadly. "Why? Why me? I'm literally the most average guy on the planet. Orphan. Part-time convenience store clerk. No girlfriend. No friends who text back. My highest achievement is reaching Diamond in solo queue last season. And now the universe decides I need the hardcore mode?"
He talked to the ceiling like it might answer.
"I mean, come on. If you're gonna give someone a special system, at least pick a gym rat. Or an MMA fighter. Or someone rich who can hire personal trainers. Not… this." He gestured at himself—skinny arms, slight belly from too many late-night snacks, messy black hair that hadn't seen a proper haircut in four months.
The panel didn't care about his complaining. New text appeared.
[Origin System Core Mechanic]
You are the Origin.
Grant sub-systems to selected Users.
You receive 1% of all EXP earned by your Users.
Personal actions grant no EXP.
Only User EXP contributes to your level.
Ji Han sat up slowly.
"So… I'm basically a parasite? A leech? I sit here in my disgusting room and mooch one percent of other people's hard work?"
He laughed again, this time it sounded almost amused.
"That's actually kind of evil. I like it."
He stood up again, pacing the tiny open space between bed and desk. Five steps one way, five steps back.
"Okay. Okay. Let's think simple. Normal people out there are getting basic Player systems right now. They can go kill small monsters, do quests, level up normally. Me? I'm stuck until 100. And I level exclusively by babysitting, no, by investing in other players. Like I'm running a leveling guild except I'm the guild itself."
He stopped in front of the window and peeked through the gap in the curtains.
Outside looked… mostly normal. Cars moving. People walking fast. A delivery scooter almost hit a pedestrian. Typical Seoul morning.
But then he noticed it.
High above the apartment buildings, hanging in the sky like someone hung Christmas ornaments in July, were six massive colorful spheres. One red. One deep blue. One green. One violet. One gold. One pure white. They weren't moving. Just… there. Like second moons.
Ji Han's stomach dropped.
"That's not CGI," he whispered.
He yanked the curtain all the way open.
The sky was wrong.
Way too wrong.
He stumbled back, sat heavily on the bed.
"Okay. Not hallucinating. World really changed."
He grabbed the TV remote with shaky fingers and mashed the power button.
The old TV took forever to warm up, but when it did, every channel was showing the same thing.
Emergency broadcast overlay. Red bar at the bottom.
A female anchor with perfect makeup but terrified eyes was speaking.
"…confirmed by multiple space agencies. Earth has been relocated to an entirely new region of space. Six celestial bodies currently designated Planet Alpha through Zeta are now visible in the sky. Preliminary measurements indicate our planet's surface area has expanded approximately three times while maintaining core gravity. The reason is unknown."
Cut to shaky phone footage: a blue rectangular gate thirty meters tall standing in the middle of Myeongdong shopping street. People screaming. Something big and furry with red eyes stepped out. A man in a business suit threw a fireball at it. The fireball actually worked. The monster howled.
The anchor continued.
"Simultaneously, millions of individuals worldwide are reporting the appearance of status windows commonly being called 'Player Panels.' Governments are urging calm while emergency response teams attempt to contain emerging monster threats. Six enormous structures now being called Main Gates have appeared in major population centers on every continent. Each displays a countdown timer. Current estimate: approximately 29 days remaining. Access appears restricted to individuals who have reached Level 10 or higher."
Ji Han muted the TV for a second just to breathe.
Then he unmuted it because he needed to know more.
"…repeat: do not approach any gate without proper preparation. Small-scale monster incursions are already being reported in residential areas. Awakened individuals are encouraged to band together for mutual protection…"
Ji Han turned the volume down low and stared at his own panel.
"So everyone else is out there playing the normal game," he said quietly. "And I'm the weird DLC character locked in the tutorial room."
He rubbed his face again.
Then he looked at his stats.
Strength 5. Agility 5. Everything 5.
Basic human.
"But stats can go up with training, right? Even if EXP doesn't."
He dropped to the floor and started doing push-ups.
One. Two. Three.
His arms were already shaking by fifteen.
"Come on… you lazy bum… you've done worse all-nighters…"
Twenty-five. Twenty-six.
Sweat dripped onto the dusty floor.
Thirty.
He collapsed onto his stomach, panting.
A tiny chime.
[Strength +0.1]
Ji Han grinned despite the burn.
"Ha! See? Progress."
He rolled onto his back and stared at the ceiling again.
"Okay. Plan time. I can't leave. I can't get EXP alone. I need Users. People I give sub-systems to. They do the work. I get one percent. Slow, but steady."
He glanced at the window.
Somewhere out there, people were fighting, leveling, surviving.
And one of them was going to be his first investment.
He sat up, wiped sweat off his forehead with the back of his wrist.
"Tomorrow," he said to the empty room. "I'll watch from the window. Pick someone smart. Someone who looks like they won't die in the first week."
He stood, stretched, winced at the ache in his shoulders.
"But today? Today I grind stats the old-fashioned way."
He dropped back down.
Push-up number one.
"Ji Han versus the universe," he muttered with a tired grin. "Round one. Let's go."