The rain in 2030 didn't wash away the sins of the city; it only made the neon lights reflect the filth more clearly.
I stood on the edge of the rooftop of the Zenith Building, feeling the cold wind whip through my cheap, tattered jacket. Below me, Seoul—or what was left of it—was a hive of desperate souls. In ten minutes, the sky would split open. The "Divine Market" would manifest, and the world would realize that God wasn't a shepherd.
God was a CEO. And humanity was the product.
In my first life, I was at the bottom. I scrambled for crumbs, fought for low-rank skills, and eventually became the most efficient "Debt Collector" for the 5%—the elite hunters who owned the world. I did their dirty work, liquidated their rivals, and in return, they put a bullet in my brain when my contract became too expensive to maintain.
But I didn't stay dead. The Void has a funny way of handling bad debt.
I checked my watch. 11:59:50 PM.
"Ten seconds until the IPO of the apocalypse," I whispered. My voice was a dry rasp, devoid of excitement. I wasn't a hero coming back to save the world. I was an auditor coming back to foreclose on it.
3... 2... 1...
The world didn't scream. It gasped.
The sky turned a deep, bruised violet. Golden cracks spider-webbed across the clouds, and suddenly, every human on Earth saw the same notification floating in their retina.
[WELCOME TO THE DIVINE MARKET] [CURRENT GLOBAL ASSETS: 8 BILLION SOULS] [TRADING SESSION: OPEN]
Chaos erupted in the streets below. People fell to their knees as the "Status Window" integrated into their nervous systems. But while they were staring at their pathetic Strength and Agility stats, I was looking at the bottom right corner of the interface.
The "Developer's Backdoor."
In my previous life, I spent ten years hunting a myth—a glitch in the Market that allowed a user to access the "Pre-Order" phase. I found it too late then. Now, I was right on time.
I tapped a seemingly empty space in the air.
[ERROR: UNAUTHORIZED ACCESS] [RETRYING...] [ACCESS GRANTED. WELCOME, BETA-TESTER #000.]
"Beta-tester?" I let out a short, cold laugh. "I'm the one who's going to crash your server."
While everyone was receiving their "Free Starter Box," I opened the Market's Internal Exchange.
[ASSET LISTING: UNIQUE SKILL - 'DIVINE FORECLOSURE' (RANK: ???)] [PRICE: 10,000 KARMA POINTS]
In this early stage, nobody had Karma. You earned Karma by killing monsters or completing quests. But I had brought something back with me from the Void. A "Void-Cheque."
I dragged the black, shimmering mist from my palm into the interface.
[PAYMENT ACCEPTED.] [SKILL 'DIVINE FORECLOSURE' ACQUIRED.] [EFFECT: YOU CAN NOW VIEW THE FINANCIAL VALUE OF ANY SOUL. YOU CAN SEIZE ASSETS FROM DEBTORS WHO FAIL THE SYSTEM'S CRITERIA.]
"Good," I muttered. I felt a sharp, cold sting in my eyes. When I looked back at the city, the world had changed.
Above every person running in panic, a floating crimson number appeared. A businessman: [NET WORTH: 120 KARMA / DEBT: 450 KARMA]. A thief: [NET WORTH: 5 KARMA / DEBT: 1,200 KARMA].
The world was already in the red. And I was the only one holding the pen.
I walked toward the rooftop door. A group of security guards burst out, led by a man I recognized—Captain Han. In the future, he would be a high-ranking commander for the Vanguard Guild. Now, he was just a terrified man with a gun.
"Hey! You!" Han shouted, his hand trembling on his holster. "What's happening? Why is the sky... what are you doing here?"
I didn't stop. I walked toward him, my boots clicking rhythmically on the wet concrete.
"The sky is just a billboard, Captain," I said, my violet eyes locking onto his. Above his head, his stats were flickering. [DEBT: 800 KARMA - REASON: CORRUPTION, LARCENY].
"Stay back!" Han pulled his gun.
In the old world, a bullet would kill me. In the Market, a bullet is just a physical transaction. And Han couldn't afford the tax.
"Captain Han," I said, my voice dropping to a level that made the rain feel like ice. "You've been taking bribes from the local gangs for three years. You've 'liquidated' witnesses to keep your pension safe. In the eyes of the Market, you are a high-risk liability."
"How do you... who are you?"
"I'm your new accountant," I said.
I reached out and touched his chest. Not a punch. Just a light tap.
[SKILL ACTIVATED: DIVINE FORECLOSURE] [TARGET: HAN SO-JUN] [VERDICT: BANKRUPT]
Han's eyes went wide. He didn't bleed. He began to pixelate. His body flickered like a dying lightbulb. The gold and black data that made up his "existence" began to flow into my fingertips. He tried to scream, but his vocal cords had already been sold to the Void.
Five seconds. That's all it took.
Where a man once stood, there was now only a pile of grey ash and a floating glowing sphere.
[ASSET RECOVERED: 'POLICE MARKSMANSHIP' (RANK: D)] [KARMA COLLECTED: 800]
The other guards turned and ran. I didn't chase them. Small fish.
I looked at the glowing sphere in my hand. In the first life, people spent months trying to learn a skill like this. I had just confiscated it in seconds.
"I told you," I whispered to the empty air. "I don't kill my enemies. I just repossess their potential."
I walked down the stairs, leaving the rooftop behind. The city was screaming, monsters were beginning to spawn in the dark alleys, and the 'Heroes' were starting to find their powers.
They thought they were playing a game of survival.
I was playing a game of hostile takeover. And I already owned the bank.