In 2028, the South Korean government unveiled the world's first Life Watch.
When they subsequently institutionalized the wearing of Life Watches for all citizens, the UN expressed serious concerns, citing potential human rights violations.
Now, 10 years later.
Since the emergence of Black Monsters worldwide, cumulative sales of Life Watch have exceeded 98 billion units.
Now, it's a world where you can't take a single step outside without wearing a Life Watch.
However, there are always exceptions.
Here, I document the beginning and end of those who don't need to wear a Life Watch.
Black smoke billowed from the heart of the city.
A dump truck and a city bus collided head-on, causing flames to erupt.
Firefighters were desperately trying to control the blaze.
Their fire suits were engulfed in black smoke, but their hands and feet moved without hesitation.
As the fire was finally brought under control, rescue workers were deployed.
The rescue workers cut open the bus's body and used hydraulic equipment to pry apart the crumpled sections, accelerating the rescue efforts.
Paramedic Kim So-yeon, who was watching the rescue site with anxious eyes while holding a stretcher, glanced to the side.
The team's youngest member, Shin Woo-joo, was clenching his teeth with an uneasy expression.
Kim So-yeon checked the time.
February 2nd, 11:58 AM.
Around this time last year and the year before, Shin Woo-joo hadn't been in good condition either.
At first, she was worried that he wasn't healthy. But after this day passed, Shin Woo-joo quickly regained his energy and showed a lively demeanor.
'This is the third time... Does he have some kind of trauma in early February?'
It was at that moment that Kim So-yeon's question deepened.
"Medical team, prepare yourselves. We have a severely injured patient."
A man in his twenties with severe bleeding was carried out on a stretcher.
"We'll take it from here."
Yeongdeungpo Fire Station Rescue Team 1 Park Han-cheol and Kim So-yeon guided the rescue workers toward the ambulance.
After taking the injured person from the rescue workers, Park Han-cheol looked around.
"Where's Squad Leader Shin?"
"He was just over there... Oh! Squad Leader Shin has collapsed!"
"What? Kim, you focus on stopping the bleeding of the injured first."
Park Han-cheol ran toward the collapsed Shin Woo-joo.
He grabbed Shin Woo-joo's shoulder and shouted.
"Squad Leader Shin! What's wrong?"
"Kuh-euh-euk."
Shin Woo-joo groaned.
He lifted his head, which had been buried in the asphalt, and made eye contact with Park Han-cheol.
Shin Woo-joo said with unfocused eyes.
"Am I alive?"
"Hey, you! Snap out of it. Of course, you're alive, would you be dead?"
Park Han-cheol shook Shin Woo-joo's shoulder.
Shin Woo-joo's condition didn't look good, but the surrounding situation was too urgent to ask him about it.
"Cardiac arrest. CPR is urgent."
Two rescue workers ran over again with a stretcher.
"We'll take it from here."
Park Han-cheol quickly checked the injured person's pupils and shouted.
"Start CPR. Prepare the defibrillator."
Shin Woo-joo stared blankly at the injured person in front of him.
It was a woman in her twenties.
The problem was that her face was pale and she wasn't breathing.
'What is all this? Is this a dream?'
Shin Woo-joo, examining the clothes he was wearing, was dumbfounded.
'Why am I wearing a paramedic uniform?'
"I said, start CPR quickly!"
Park Han-cheol shouted as he ran over with the defibrillator and an endotracheal tube.
Even if this was a dream, no, it was definitely a dream, he couldn't just stand by and watch someone die.
Perhaps it was thanks to the grueling repetitive training during his military service.
He remembered how to do chest compressions.
The key was to compress the lower half of the sternum, at least 5 centimeters deep, at a rate of 100-120 compressions per minute, and then allow it to fully decompress.
At the same time as the memory surfaced, his body moved on its own.
Park Han-cheol immediately secured the injured person's airway and attempted endotracheal intubation.
Then, he cut open the injured person's top with scissors and attached the pads of the automated external defibrillator.
"Start chest compressions."
Shin Woo-joo performed chest compressions so skillfully that even he found it strange.
When the number of compressions reached thirty, Park Han-cheol shouted.
"Checking the rhythm. Everyone, step back!"
Shin Woo-joo moved away from the injured person.
Park Han-cheol performed Defibrillation.
The injured person's arms and upper body twitched.
But the patient's heartbeat did not return.
"Again!"
Shin Woo-joo attempted chest compressions again. Sweat dripped from his forehead as he concentrated.
"Defibrillation!"
The patient's heart rhythm was restored the moment the second Defibrillation ended.
"Hoo. Good job!"
Park Han-cheol breathed a sigh of relief and patted Shin Woo-joo's shoulder.
"Now we need to transport the injured person. Let's hurry!"
"Yes, sir!"
Shin Woo-joo, who had unconsciously responded, wore a dazed expression. Everything was too vivid to dismiss it as a dream.
Ding!
'What, what is it?'
Suddenly, a loud alarm sounded.
It was as intense as if someone had put a cell phone speaker right next to his eardrum.
And...
[First Achievement : Heart Saver]
'Hmm.'
Shin Woo-joo read the flickering letters in front of his eyes and chuckled.
He thought that he was having this dream because he had been reading web novels and webtoons in his spare time as a 병장 (byeongjang - 병장 is the highest enlisted rank in the South Korean military) nearing discharge.
"Kuhahaha."
It was the moment when his hearty laughter spread in all directions.
A sharp voice like an awl chastised Shin Woo-joo.
"Are you crazy!!!"
Shin Woo-joo did not respond to Park Han-cheol's scolding voice.
'I wonder if this would work too?'
Shin Woo-joo muttered Status Window in a small voice.
Ding!
Name: Shin Woo-joo (28 years old)
First Achievement: Heart Saver
Occupation: None
Title: None
Level: 1
Stamina: A
Strength: A
Agility: C
Attack: -
Defense: -
Skills: -
Traits: Altruism (SSS)
'This is possible? But why is the name... What? Traits is Altruism?'
It was when Shin Woo-joo was wearing a dumbfounded expression.
Park Han-cheol urged.
"Hey! Hurry up and carry the stretcher. We need to transport the patient!"
* * *
Shin Woo-joo arrived at the Yeongdeungpo Fire Station.
After parking, Park Han-cheol looked at Kim So-yeon.
"I'll take care of the cleanup, so So-yeon, you do the paperwork, and send Woo-joo home."
"Thank you for your hard work."
Kim So-yeon looked at Shin Woo-joo.
"What are you doing, not getting out?"
Shin Woo-joo was staring intently at the Status Window floating in the air.
He had gone back and forth between the traffic accident scene and the hospital emergency room, transporting three patients, and was on his way back.
But since the dream was still continuing, he couldn't help but think it was strange.
'Is it possible to have a dream that feels this realistic?'
Shin Woo-joo suddenly pinched his arm.
A strong pain, as if it were real, pierced his mind.
Then Kim So-yeon grabbed Shin Woo-joo's wrist.
The place she dragged Shin Woo-joo to was the second floor of the fire station.
When she pulled open the door with a sign that read Rescue Team 1, located in the middle of the hallway, a locker room appeared.
"Change your clothes and go home. You can find your way home, right?"
"Y-yes, of course."
Kim So-yeon patted Shin Woo-joo's shoulder.
"Cheer up."
After she left and Shin Woo-joo was finally alone, he reached into his pocket and took out his cell phone.
After touching the screen and recognizing his fingerprint, the home screen appeared.
After selecting the phone app, he pressed his phone number, which he could never forget.
010.2XXX.2XXX.
The dial tone rang.
Once, twice, three times...
Just as he was about to hang up, a familiar voice was heard.
- Hello. This is Kim Min-ho's phone.
'Huh?'
It was definitely Company Commander Han Tae-seok.
"Can I speak to Kim Min-ho?"
- Excuse me, who is this?
"I'm a close friend. Min-ho said he was being discharged today, but I haven't heard from him."
- Ah... I don't know how to say this. I'm the company commander who worked with Min-ho. Min-ho, who had completed his discharge report this morning and left the unit, was in a traffic accident... and died.
The company commander's voice trembled.
Shin Woo-joo, who was stunned for a moment, hung up the phone.
He changed his clothes frantically.
It was still a chilly winter.
He put on a thick padding and put both hands in his pockets, and a envelope was caught in his hand.
Shin Woo-joo wore a dumbfounded expression after checking the contents of the envelope.
It was a letter of resignation.
* * *
"Everything is real. This is reality. Do you understand, Kim Min-ho? No, Shin Woo-joo! Get a grip!"
Shin Woo-joo muttered as if chanting a mantra.
The map app on his phone showed the address from Shin Woo-joo's resident registration card.
'It's okay. You've just gone from a soldier who was just discharged to a 119 paramedic. You'll get a monthly salary, and you have a house, whether it's a rental or your own? Above all, you're a national civil servant. This is great.'
As he repeated his self-rationalization, he arrived in front of Shin Woo-joo's house.
It was a rooftop room in a five-story multi-family house.
Fortunately, the front door had a digital door lock.
He was able to find the digital key in the bunch of keys in his padding pocket.
The house was bigger than he thought. There were two rooms, a kitchen, and a living room.
Of the two rooms, the one on the left was a bedroom, and the one on the right was a space that could be called a study.
What was unusual was that one wall of the study was covered by a curtain.
'Did they pile up old clothes or something?'
Shin Woo-joo, who occupied the living room, put the letter of resignation, smartphone, and wallet on the table.
When he sat down on the chair, his face was reflected on the turned-off TV monitor.
He had already confirmed it at the fire station, but Shin Woo-joo had a handsome appearance.
He was well over 180 centimeters tall, and his light-toned skin was smooth.
Moreover, he was in good shape, perhaps because he was a paramedic.
Looking at the exercise equipment such as a bench press, dumbbells, and hand grips on one side of the rooftop, it was clear that he had been consistently taking care of his body.
"Life is a real battle."
Kim Min-ho, who was an orphan, realized the truth of life at an age when his friends were eating tteokbokki and going to PC cafes with the textbook money they received from their parents.
That Kim Min-ho died in a traffic accident.
This was confirmed by the conversation with the company commander, and the last memory was the same.
'I was hit by a bus and thrown out...'
But like in a novel, he opened his eyes in an unfamiliar body.
He could accept up to this point.
This was similar to the stories of web novels or webtoons that he had encountered a lot during his final years as a soldier.
But he couldn't understand that he could even see the Status Window in front of him.
'Should I ignore it?'
Maybe the status window and Status Window were delusions or hallucinations that psychiatrists talk about.
Shin Woo-joo, gritting his teeth, emptied his wallet.
There were 68,000 won in cash, two credit cards, one debit card, a resident registration card, a driver's license, and a fire department ID card.
There was nothing special.
That's why the letter of resignation on the table looked even bigger.
'Why was he carrying a letter of resignation?'
It was necessary to confirm what the real Shin Woo-joo was thinking about while he was alive.
Shin Woo-joo jumped up.
However, because he had not adapted to Shin Woo-joo's body, which was 10 centimeters taller than Kim Min-ho, the table shook as it caught on his thigh.
It was then that something like a movie happened.
The remote control, which was on the edge of the table, fell and the TV turned on by itself.
How could there be such a coincidence?
Shin Woo-joo was about to turn off the TV by pressing the power button on the remote control, but his eyes widened.
Although it was mosaicked, the guard post of the unit where he had served was on the screen.
- I am now in front of a unit in Yanggu, Gangwon-do, where the righteous soldier, Kim Min-ho, served.
Shin Woo-joo stared at the screen with wide eyes.
It was news that Kim Min-ho, who had just been discharged and left the unit, had saved a pregnant woman involved in a traffic accident and lost his life.
An interview followed with the pregnant woman's husband thanking Kim Min-ho.
Company Commander Han Tae-seok was furious that a drunk driver had killed a promising young man from South Korea.
The twenty-three years of Kim Min-ho's life, who had lived without parents or siblings, were over.
The news that Kim Min-ho would be buried in the National Cemetery was the last thing he heard before the next news came on.
Director of Health and Safety Kwon Tae-seung was explaining the Pandemic Disease Early Warning System developed by South Korea, the first in the world.
Shin Woo-joo's eyes trembled.
"It was real after all."
After showing a blank expression for a moment, he turned off the TV and went to the study.
The first thing that caught his eye was a thick book titled 119 Paramedic On-Site Emergency Treatment Standard Guidelines.
'I can't act like an idiot on the scene when I'm supposed to be a paramedic.'
There were about ten other books related to emergency medical care.
What was unexpected was that there were quite a few genre novels.
Most of them were fantasy or modern fantasy novels with game elements, or fusion martial arts novels.
'If it's a work that's been published as a book these days, it must have been a huge hit...'
Next to the genre novels were the Emergency Medical Technician Level 1 license and related textbooks.
Shin Woo-joo, who had examined all the bookshelves, focused his attention on the desk.
Other than the laptop, it was clean without a speck of dust.
When he opened the drawer, there was a thick diary and a few pens.
'There are still people who write diaries by hand these days.'
The first page of the diary that he opened without thinking was written on January 1, 2025.
- My parents were taken to the emergency room of the university hospital where I worked. They were coming up to see their son, who lives alone in Seoul, when they were in a traffic accident near the hospital. I'm going crazy. I feel like I'm suffocating. My parents died on the same day... in front of me. I'm alone now.
The next diary entry was written on February 3, 2025.
- A month has passed since the funeral. Today, I quit my job as an emergency room nurse. I will become a paramedic. No, I have to become one. Am I crazy? I see strange things in front of me. They say it's called a status window... I have to save ten lives within a year. If I don't, I will die.
Shin Woo-joo showed a blank expression.
'I'll die if I don't save ten lives? Why would he think that?'
He turned the next page, but the date was strange.
It was February 1, 2026.
It had been a whole year.
- Tomorrow is February 2nd, the last day to complete the mission. If the status window is real, I will die tomorrow. That's because I need ten Heart Savers, but I've only gotten three. If I die, this nightmarish game will end. I have no regrets. Because I did my best. I don't know why... this happened to me.
Shin Woo-joo hurriedly opened the next page.
"Uh..."
The diary entry for the next day, February 2, 2026, was in front of him.
But the handwriting was different.
It was as if someone else had written it.
Shin Woo-joo's eyes, fixed on the first line of the diary, trembled like a ship in a storm.
- It seems that I am the second Shin Woo-joo.