Lee Seojun opened his eyes.
The sky above him was deep purple, like a bruise. Not the romantic purple of dusk. Not the grey sky of Seoul.
He rubbed his eyes. Still purple.
He pinched his arm. "ouch!"
…Not a dream.
He sat up. The grass beneath him was cold, pricking his palms. The air was too clean. Silver-barked trees stood surrounding him. In the distance, a bird called out like a cat choking.
Transmigration.
The word came on its own. He'd read enough webnovels between part-time shifts and CSAT studying. Stressed high schooler gets stuck in another world, receives a cheat system, becomes OP. The classic formula.
But that formula belonged in novels. Not in his life.
Then a transparent blue screen appeared in front of his face.
[ WELCOME, PLAYER #17..... ]
A soft voice filled his head. Friendly. Like a bank customer service rep who'd just had their morning coffee.
"Welcome, Player #170845. You have been selected as an Otherworlder. The Guideline System will assist you in navigating the world of Valdran. We wish you a pleasant and productive—"
The voice stopped.
One second. Two seconds.
[ … ]
[ ERROR: CLASSIFICATION FAILED. ENTITY DOES NOT MATCH STANDARD TEMPLATES. ]
Seojun frowned. What?
[ RECALIBRATING… ]
The screen flickered. For a moment, the text became a string of unrecognizable characters. Then it vanished.
[ RECALIBRATION COMPLETE. RESUMING GUIDELINE PROTOCOL. ]
The voice returned. Same tone. But different somehow. Slightly slower.
"Welcome, Player. You have been selected as an Otherworlder. The Guideline System will assist you in navigating the world of Valdran."
The screen displayed the same message again.
[ WELCOME, PLAYER. ]
Seojun stared at the screen. Probably just a bug.
"To open your status panel," the voice continued, "please pay 100 gold."
He waited.
Five seconds. Ten seconds.
"…What?"
"To open your status panel, please pay 100 gold."
He stared at the screen again. No 'Accept' button. No 'Decline'. In the bottom right corner:
[ Current Gold: 0 ]
His hand dug into his uniform pocket. Only lint, a Buldak ramen packet, and a 100-won coin.
Zero gold.
"Wait. I have to *pay* to see my own status?"
"That is correct."
"One hundred gold?"
"That is correct."
"Just to look at it."
"That is correct."
Seojun closed his eyes. Breathed in.
"Okay. How do I get gold?"
"Gold can be obtained through various methods. Monster hunting. Mission completion. Item sales. Arena victories."
Finally. Something free.
"Monster hunting," he said.
A pause.
"Monster hunting!!!!!" he repeated.
"That information requires the Skill: Identify. Cost to unlock: 500 gold."
Seojun stared at the blank screen in front of him.
…I need gold for skills. I need skills to get gold.
"Map? Is there one?"
"To open the dungeon map: 200 gold per area."
"Any other functions? If a monster tries to eat me?"
"Danger notification: 10 gold per second of active scanning."
Ten gold per second. One minute of combat? Six hundred gold. He had zero.
"Is there anything that's free in this system?"
Another pause.
"You may view the welcome message again. Would you like to view the welcome message again?"
"No."
"Very well. Is there anything else I can assist you with?"
Seojun didn't answer. He stood up, brushing grass from his pants.
The forest stretched in every direction. No footpaths. No signs. No friendly village NPC with an opening quest.
His stomach growled.
Problem one: foreign world, zero resources.
Problem two: need gold for everything.
Problem three: to get gold, probably have to kill monsters.
Problem four: no weapon.
He looked around. As far as he could see, only trees. The forest floor was littered with brittle branches.
His eyes landed near a tree root, half-hidden by grass — a rock about the size of a fist.
Seojun picked it up.
He weighed it in his hand. If I throw this at a monster's head, it'll probably leave a dent.
"System. If I kill a monster with this rock, can I sell the corpse?"
"Affirmative. All monster corpses can be sold for gold. Would you like to view current market prices—"
"Does it cost?"
"That is correct."
"Of course it does."
He started walking. The screen at the corner of his vision shrank to a golden dot.
[ Current Gold: 0 ]
[ Active Skills: None ]
[ Active Quests: None ]
Three lines.
He walked for about an hour. The purple sky didn't change.
Then he heard it.
A wet sound. Like jelly being squeezed.
Ahead, near a bush with stained-glass leaves, something moved. Small. Round. Green. Slowly pulsing.
A slime.
Seojun didn't know what it was. But he'd watched enough anime to recognize the most basic tutorial enemy.
The slime slid across the ground, leaving a wet trail behind it.
It's just a slime. A baby monster. I've killed thousands of these in games.
But games didn't make his stomach growl. Games didn't make his hands shake like this.
He thought of his mother.
"Eomma, gwaenchana? Naneun gwaenchana."
And his mother always answered the same way: "Geokjeong ma, neo jalsaenggyeoss-eo."
Don't worry. You've lived well.
Seojun gripped the rock tighter.
He threw it.
The rock flew and struck the slime with a wet smack.
The creature shuddered. Then turned toward him. Faster than he expected.
Seojun's heart slammed against his ribs.
He stepped back, grabbed another rock, threw it again.
Hit.
The slime staggered. He grabbed a third rock. Threw it.
Smack.
The slime collapsed into a puddle of green slime.
Slowly, the liquid evaporated, leaving behind a small, dimly glowing core.
The system chimed.
[ Corpse detected. Sell value: 50 gold. ]
[ Sell? Y / N ]
Seojun was panting. His hands were shaking.
His stomach growled again.
He pressed Y.
The core vanished.
[ Current Gold: 50 ]
Seojun exhaled slowly.
He picked up another rock from the ground—this time deliberately looking for a sharper one.
"Alright, System." He gripped it. "Let's see how far a broke goshiwon kid can get on spite alone."
He started walking deeper into the forest. Toward the sound of running water.
Current Gold: 50