"You didn't, like, seriously hurt your head or something?"
Hearing his sister's question from across the room, Jin-Woo shook his head.
"No."
Even so, his younger sister, Sung Jin-Ah's gaze was still far from friendly.
"You're really okay?" "I said I am."
Jin-Ah, who had been staring at Jin-Woo's condition from a distance, soon stomped over and started whacking him with firm, solid punches — just like always, assuming a guard stance.
"Stop getting hurt already! Do you know how worried I was?" "...Sorry." "Everyone else is fine, so why is it always you who gets hurt?!" "...Sorry."
The force behind Jin-Ah's blows gradually weakened. Before long, she hung her head low and tears began to stream down her cheeks. Jin-Woo slowly patted his sobbing sister's back. His own nose started to sting unexpectedly.
'To think I was about to die and leave behind a kid like this.'
He was glad to be alive. Looking back, the number of close calls had been more than one or two. It felt like he had woken up from a terrible nightmare. Jin-Woo's gaze drifted slightly toward the message floating in midair.
[You have an unread message.]
'I still don't feel completely free from that dream, but...'
His life was full of incomprehensible things now. But so what? What mattered was that he was alive again and could see his family, right?
"Sniff."
Fortunately, the tough little sister's tears dried up quickly. But the lecturing went on for another hour.
"Got it? If you get hurt one more time, I'm quitting my studies and getting a job so you won't be able to work as a Hunter anymore."
Jin-Ah's sharp gaze, so unfit for her pretty face, bore a striking resemblance to Jin-Woo's.
"Got it, got it."
Jin-Woo kept nodding with an exasperated look on his face. Only after being made to promise over and over again did Jin-Ah seem to feel somewhat relieved. She stood up from her seat.
"Where are you going?" "School. I only got permission for a short break to check on you. I have to go back."
Jin-Woo nodded.
"Right, the college entrance exam is next year."
He had never paid for a tutor or sent her to an academy, yet she was an admirable younger sister who always ranked in the top ten of the entire school. Jin-Ah's dream was to become a doctor. Until a few years ago, she had been a kid who loved playing and video games, but after their mother fell ill, she declared she would become a doctor and never left her desk. Jin-Woo truly wanted to help his sister achieve that dream. But wait... video games?
For a brief moment, Jin-Woo's eyes gleamed.
"I'm heading out."
As Jin-Ah turned to leave the hospital room, Jin-Woo hurriedly called out to stop her.
"Jin-Ah." "What?" "When you play video games, you know..."
Jin-Ah let out a short laugh.
"I don't play games these days. There's only a few days left of my senior year." "I know. I know, but there's something I want to ask." "Oh? What are you curious about? Have you been playing games lately?"
Perhaps because it had been her former specialty, Jin-Ah showed strong interest. Jin-Woo glanced up at the text still floating in the air and asked.
"When there's an unread message in a game, how do you open it?" "Well, you open the message box first." "You 'open' the message box?"
Ding! The moment Jin-Woo uttered the word "open," the hidden messages revealed themselves with an electronic chime.
[You have two unread messages.] Welcome, [Player]. (Unconfirmed) [Daily Quest: Preparation to Become a Stronger Person] has arrived. (Unconfirmed)
Jin-Woo's face brightened.
'It worked!'
Sensing a sudden shift in her brother's mood, Jin-Ah felt a pang of anxiety and asked.
"What is it? What game is this? Want me to help?"
Jin-Woo shook his head firmly.
"No. I'll try it on my own."
What would his sister say if he told her about everything happening to him right now?
'I'd rather not be called crazy by my little sister.'
Jin-Woo swallowed back the words he wanted to say.
***
Pretending to see his sister off, Jin-Woo confirmed she had gotten into the elevator and then hurried back to the hospital room.
'I can't make the same mistake twice.'
Click. He walked over and locked the door to prevent any witnesses. With all preparations in place, Jin-Woo sat on the edge of the bed and read through the titles of the messages floating before his eyes.
Welcome, [Player]. (Unconfirmed) [Daily Quest: Preparation to Become a Stronger Person] has arrived. (Unconfirmed)
The title of the first message felt familiar somehow.
'Where have I heard that before? It definitely rings a bell.'
The first message, then.
Welcome, [Player]. (Unconfirmed)
'Confirm.'
Ding.
[This system supports the growth of [Player].] [Non-compliance with this system's directives may result in penalties.] [Rewards have been issued.]
"Ohh."
The memory came back to him. Those had been the last words he heard before losing consciousness.
'Back then, it said something about being a Player too.'
But just like before, he still didn't understand what any of it meant. System, growth, penalty, reward. It was a string of words with unclear meanings.
'What exactly am I supposed to grow, and how exactly are they going to reward me?'
Words you would only see in a game were listed with no explanation whatsoever — no wonder it was hard to understand. He decided to skip over the confusing parts for now and calmly opened the next message.
[Daily Quest: Preparation to Become a Stronger Person] has arrived. (Unconfirmed)
Gulp. Jin-Woo unconsciously swallowed at the ominous message title. His heart began to race.
'Confirm.'
Ding.
[Daily Quest: Preparation to Become a Stronger Person]
Push-ups: 100 reps — Incomplete (0/100) Sit-ups: 100 reps — Incomplete (0/100) Squats: 100 reps — Incomplete (0/100) Running: 10 km — Incomplete (0/10) *Warning: Failure to complete the Daily Quest will result in a corresponding penalty.
An involuntary, hollow laugh escaped Jin-Woo's lips.
"Ha ha... well, this is something."
He wasn't sure if "deflated" was the right word. A Daily Quest — and one bearing the grand title of "Preparation to Become a Stronger Person" at that — turned out to be nothing more than a set of physical exercises. Sure, maybe his body would get a little tougher if he did what the quest asked. Could that be what the System meant by growth and reward?
'Come to think of it...'
He remembered reading in some book once that said, "If you have problems within, try listening to the voice inside."
'In the end, you see what you want to see.'
How desperate had he been to get stronger for something like this — this absurd fantasy — to appear before his eyes? It was funny, but at the same time, a bitter feeling settled in his chest.
"If this kind of thing could make someone strong, who would bother going through all that hardship..."
Jin-Woo shook his head. He felt pathetic for having tried to find answers to his many questions in what might just be a figment of his imagination.
'Ah, whatever.'
Jin-Woo flopped back onto the bed, spreading out wide. Then he lay there in silence, staring up at the ceiling.
"..."
With nothing to do, time passed all the same. Just as the weight of the silence filling the hospital room began to settle in, Jin-Woo sat bolt upright.
'But still...'
But what if, just in case, something actually did change? A mix of faint hope and disbelief swirled together as the thought "maybe I should give it a try" crossed his mind.
'Besides, there's nothing to lose.'
He figured it was basically just getting a little exercise — no reason he couldn't do it. Having made up his mind, Jin-Woo got off the bed, finished a brief stretch, then slowly began doing push-ups with his hands on the edge of the bed.
"One, two, three..."
The count starting from one climbed steeply upward.
"...ninety-seven, ninety-eight, ninety-nine, one hundred."
He went all the way to a hundred since he had started, but contrary to his expectations, nothing changed. Aside from his arms tingling slightly.
"What did I even just do..."
Jin-Woo chuckled and stood right up.
Welcome, [Player]. (Confirmed) [Daily Quest: Preparation to Become a Stronger Person] has arrived. (Confirmed)
The messages that had said "Unconfirmed" now read "Confirmed." The text about having unread messages was gone too, and he had no desire to play along with this fantasy any further. That was enough. Jin-Woo closed the message window without looking back.
"Yaaawn~"
He stretched out a big yawn and climbed back onto the bed. His body hadn't moved like that in a while, and he was starting to feel drowsy. Outside the window, the sky had already begun to take on the colors of sunset.
'Is it already this late?'
Earlier, the staff at the surveillance department had told him the Hunter's Association would cover his hospital bill in full. Since he was already admitted, he might as well undergo a few thorough tests and get discharged once the all-clear was given. That was what Jin-Woo thought as he lay down.
'Either way, the hallucinations and the voices in my head will probably all fade with time...'
His eyelids grew heavy. Jin-Woo drifted into a deep sleep. Tick, tick, tick. While Jin-Woo slept, the clock on the wall continued to move its hands diligently. Round and round, the hands eventually pointed to 11:59:57 PM. Tick, tick, tick. Fifty-eight seconds. Fifty-nine seconds. Sixty seconds. The clock hands stopped exactly at 12:00:00. Ding.
[You have failed to complete the Daily Quest. You will be transported to the 'Penalty Zone' for the designated duration.]
***
RUMBLE-! Jin-Woo's eyes snapped open from the violent shaking that rattled his entire body.
"E-earthquake?!"
He sprang upright and grabbed the edge of the bed. The earthquake was so violent that it was difficult to keep his balance. RUMBLE— The shaking grew worse with every passing moment. Then, snap— the iron bar he had been gripping tightly at the end of the bed broke off. No, it didn't break — it vanished. Jin-Woo quickly checked his hand. The iron bar was gone, and only sand remained.
'Sand?'
Snap— the iron bar on the other side had turned to sand as well. The earthquake intensified further. RRRRUMBLE—!
"Aaah!"
In the end, the bed tumbled off the floor. He bounced around the hospital room, screaming. Even as that happened, the objects in the room were one by one turning to sand.
"Ahhhhh-!"
Thud. Jin-Woo was flung somewhere and buried. He felt a soft texture at his fingertips. It was fine-grained sand. The earthquake had stopped.
"Ptoo, ptoo!"
Jin-Woo spat out the sand that had gotten into his mouth and quickly raised his head.
"...?"
An endless expanse of sandy ground stretched out before him. Jin-Woo squinted and climbed to his feet. The sand that had gotten into the crevices of his clothes trickled down and fell away. He brushed the sand from his chest and looked around. His entire field of vision was nothing but sand.
"A desert...?"
It was unbelievable. He had clearly been sleeping just moments ago in a large hospital in the middle of Seoul. But now he had opened his eyes to find himself on a vast desert? Jin-Woo grabbed a handful of sand and let it fall. The grains dropped straight down.
'There's not even a wisp of wind.'
It wasn't just the wind that was absent. When he looked up, there was no sun, no moon, no stars in the sky. An empty void filled with what looked like pitch-black ink. And yet, somehow, he could see his surroundings with perfect clarity.
"Where on earth is this?"