[The characteristic ‘Asshole’ is activated]
[The System switches to Control Mode.
Target player: Kang Hyunwoo.]
Every time I see those sentences, I have something to say.
“Fuck this system.”
As usual, curses toward the System came out like a habit again today.
Seeing that message means the system is going to control me.
I always had a hard time when that characteristic was activated. Today will probably be the same.
I’m already getting irritated.
On top of that, the system’s nagging adds to it.
《System Message》
[Let’s use proper and polite language. In the Book of Courtesy and Conduct, it is said that the mouth and tongue are the gateways to anger and worry, like an axe that kills the body, with warnings and admonitions about human behavior…]
I didn’t even bother reading the whole message, so I turned it off.
‘Nagging again.’
Just thinking about the day this characteristic appeared makes my teeth grind involuntarily.
No matter how much time passes, I won’t be able to forget it.
This damned system barged into my relatively peaceful life ever since that day.
* * *
In the summer when I was 18 years old, my parents passed away in a hit-and-run accident.
My only older brother took the insurance money and inheritance our parents left, and ran away.
When I ended up on the streets overnight, I was with my 10-year-old twin siblings.
I, still alive and kicking, couldn’t bear to see my siblings being pointed at as orphans.
I filled the high school requirements with a qualification exam and earned money.
I didn’t hesitate to do manual labor, and I went out for parcel loading and unloading every day.
If there was an extra part-time job I could do, I would go for it, even if it meant sacrificing sleep.
I lived fiercely. I wanted to give my twin siblings the childhood my parents gave me.
It wasn’t easy, of course.
“Is this the only kind of work you can do?!”
Damn.
As I swallowed curses to my throat, a slap came flying.
I wanted to hit back more than once or twice, but when things like this happened, it will just get worst.
The Manager messed with the carefully stacked parcels without checking.
He touched it and, in the process, knocking them down. And among the collapsed parcels there was some with a warning label for fragile contents.
‘Why is this happening to me?’
Since slapping wasn’t enough, this time there was a kick.
With a sound, my body slightly moved backward.
The eyes of the Manager widened.
It seemed like he wanted me to fall flat on my face.
‘If you’re expecting that to happen, you should have kicked harder.’
My pride was too hurt to accept this kind of beating with a toy-like kick.
I raised one corner of my mouth and tilted my head.
The Manager hesitated, and his body trembled.
‘He’s scared.’
If my parents were alive, I would have grabbed him by the collar and given him a beating right away.
‘You’ve become soft, Kang Hyunwoo.’
I laughed sarcastically while the Manager’s face slowly distorted.
‘He’s about to hit me again.’
Before he could raise his hand, some of the higher ups arrived. The logistics center Director, Hwang Kyungsoo.
“Manager, what are you doing now? Do you want to get sued?!”
“Th, th, damn… Do it properly from now on!”
The Manager left with a loud voice.
‘What a loser.’
I spat out a bitter laugh watching the back of that guy retreating.
Meanwhile, Director Hwang started checking if I was injured.
I signaled that I was okay and tidied up the scattered parcel boxes.
People who had been watching nervously from a distance approached and helped.
Someone among them must have called Director Hwang.
Fortunately, it didn’t seem like I would get involved in compensation issues since it wasn’t my fault in the first place.
After a few more hours of working, it was time to leave.
But before I boarded the bus, Director Hwang called me.
“Are you really okay? You got kicked, don’t you need to go to the hospital?”
If it were someone else, I might find it annoying, but Director Hwang was an exception.
He had known about my situation and had quietly taken care of me for over two years.
“Hospital? Doesn’t even feel like I got hit.”
“You might have a bruise or two…”
“Ah, forget it. Going to the hospital is more time-consuming.”
“You, don’t you even appreciate when I worry!”
“I’m always thankful, though.”
“Just go to the hospital! Take a day off tomorrow. I’ll cover your daily wage, so rest.”
In an instant, my eyes widened.
“Let’s change that habit of yours, Hyunwoo. I can’t get you involved the kids for something like this.”
“Are you threatening me with violence? I never turn down an opportunity like this.”
“Are there people here who don’t know about it?”
“Is it really that easy?”
“Rest, take a break! I’m afraid you might collapse, so please rest!”
“Got it.”
Being able to take a few hits and rest, I’m lucky.
I turned away, humming a tune, after taking a nap on the bus and returning home around 9 a.m.
Heading through the busy shopping district to my familiar alley to start the day.
The house I arrived at, after climbing the shabby stairs, was silent.
Even though it’s still vacation, it’s time for my siblings to leave for their studies.
After washing up, I entered the room my siblings generously gave me to use alone, with just an old bed and a wardrobe for hanging clothes.
“Ugh.”
I connected my phone to the charger and lay down, feeling the strain in my body.
A melody automatically played.
I had my moments, but I managed to get through another day.
When I transitioned from an ordinary high school student to the head of the household in a moment, I thought the world would collapse, but nothing had really changed.
Except for my siblings and me, everything else continued as usual.
Seven years had passed since I started enduring each day like that.
“Wow, seven years…”
Saying it out loud made me feel overwhelmed.
Next month marks a new school year, and my siblings will soon become high school students.
The 10-year-old kids who used to huddle and cry in the corner of the funeral hall have already grown up.
The passage of time felt strangely distant.
The regret was short-lived. High school is an important time for my siblings.
I can’t afford to take a break if I want to send them to law and medical school.
I have to go to another part-time job in three hours.
“I don’t want to see my siblings’ lives turn out like mine.”
I fell asleep as I was.
***
Ring, ring, ring.
The noisy sound continued to assault my ears even in my half-asleep state.
“Already?”
I rolled my sore body and reached out. I was trying to turn off the phone alarm.
But no matter how I fumbled, I couldn’t find anything in my hand.
“Ah, seriously…”
I muttered in frustration, and right after that, my body jolted.
I was lying on a cold, hard floor.
Was I sleeping and rolled off the bed?
I rubbed my face and opened my eyes.
[Beta Server Stabilization 23%.]
[Beta Server Stabilization 31%.]
Something strange caught my eye. A gray window on a white background.
‘Beta server? Stabilization?’
What is that? I blinked my eyes in confusion.
I looked around, but all I could see was white, in every direction.
The text stubbornly followed my gaze, as if insisting that this was its place.
“A dream…?”
My head insisted that the current situation was a dream.
There was no other way to make sense of this surreal scene.
But I couldn’t shake off the feeling that something was off.
The sensations were too vivid to be described as a dream.
‘Is this really a dream?’
Even though my mind couldn’t comprehend the situation, my body was sending signals that something was wrong.
A gut feeling, unexplained by words.
This was not a dream.
[Beta Server Stabilization 56%.]
Even in my confusion, the sound assaulting my ears and the text in front of my eyes continued.
‘56%…?’
The numbers kept rising. I quickly got up from my spot.
As I looked down at the loose T-shirt and sweatpants I wore to bed, I felt the cold from the hard floor rising through my bare feet.
Only then did I realize I was barefoot. It sent shivers down my spine.
The moment I tried to understand, the number reached 100%.
[Beta Server Stabilization 100%.]
[Player protection zone designated.]
[Player development program (absorption and purification) activated.]
[Player management program (summoning and recovery) activated.]
[Player support program (storage and shop) activated.]
[Player interaction program (community and party) activated.]
[Beta player selection in progress (100/100).]
[Basic weapon, dagger, provided.]
New text appeared, and something fell from the air.
I quickly picked up the item.
It was a dagger coated in black. The length was about 15cm.
“Why a dagger? What am I supposed to do with this?”
Looking at the sharp black blade, my spine tingled.
In that moment, a word flashed through my mind.
“A game?”
Servers, players, weapons – everything.
The most appropriate word to describe the current situation was a game.
Those text were forcing me to think that this was like a game.
As I reached a very simple conclusion, something happened that couldn’t be understood by common sense.
The characters that occupied the forefront of my vision disappeared, and a semi-transparent gray window appeared.
≪Important Notice≫
[This system has been developed as a countermeasure to the threat of ◇&ː$ through the cultivation of players and the protection against □% ■¿ː of ^$*(!$, from %!▼ # to ◎¡!#.
Players are ◇&ː$’s saliva¿, turning on *** abilities to block it and ː+\ things from &¡.]
Seeing the broken characters as if the file was corrupted, I found myself gripping the dagger involuntarily.
Unrealistic events didn’t end there.
Ding, ding, ding!
A noisy alert sound started, and gray windows began to pile up.
Dozens of windows were overlapping.
“What on earth is this?”
Is it hacked? Or an error? No, it’s not that.
There seemed to be crucial information that needed to be conveyed, but it looked like something was obstructing it.
“A virus.”
If this situation is a game and the system displayed that notice, then the other side is a virus.
The System is trying to convey something, and the virus is blocking it.
What could be written there? I stared fixedly at the bizarre phenomenon.
Their battle was intense. Numerous windows were popping up, and at some point, the content changed.
But even that was filled with broken characters.
I didn’t blink, watching their struggle without missing a moment.
A sentence flashed across my eyes so quickly that it seemed like an illusion.
“For the existence of humanity…?”
The short sentence engraved itself deep into my mind.
A sense of fear about the unknown slowly accumulated.
My mouth was parched, and my body trembled.
Meanwhile, as the battle between the system and the virus came to an end, the surroundings fell silent.
No more loud alert sounds could be heard.
The surroundings were eerily quiet.
In the midst of the prolonged silence, at that moment when anxiety and tension were escalating.
The semi-transparent gray window appeared again.
MISSION
[Tutorial (Beta Test 1/3)
Eliminate the target.
Time limit: 00:10:00
Start timer: 00:01:00]
This time, every character was clear.
The numbers on the timer quickly dropped to 59 seconds.
But there was no time to pay attention to that.
All focus was on the scene beyond the translucent window.
“Ha!”
A laugh of disbelief escaped involuntarily.
“Growl….”
Growling, a clearly canine creature with saliva dripping, undoubtedly a dog, came into view.
A massive dog, seemingly twice the size of an average one.
Dagger, mission, target, elimination.
Combining all these words, I realized what I needed to do.
As if waiting for that realization, the timer hit 0.
[Starting the tutorial (beta test).]
In the place where the gray transparent window disappeared, the text reappeared together with the colossal dog, baring its sharp teeth, ready to lunged towards me.
“Damn it!”
This fucking system.
