#001
“Team Leader Lee!”
“Yes, Manager. What is it?”
“What did I tell you?”
“About what?”
This was the on-site break room of Jeongwoo Steelworks.
Lee Un, the on-site team leader, and Kim Suyong, the manager, were locked in a battle of wills.
“I told you to turn off the air conditioner because the electricity bill is too high, right? But look at that. Running full blast like it’s nobody’s business.”
Kim Suyong pointed at the air conditioner as he continued.
“And it’s set to twenty degrees? Don’t you know the proper temperature? Is this Antarctica?”
“Manager. Like I said before, the field workers come to the break room to rest for a bit while working. And they go right back out to work soon after.”
“That’s exactly my point. They’re just coming and going, so why leave the AC on!”
At this relentless unreasonable argument.
“Are the employees robots? No, even robots rest when they overheat. And we’re human beings in this weather! They’ve been working by the blast furnace, so shouldn’t we let them cool down!”
Lee Un raised his voice in turn.
“That’s what we pay them for!”
As always, this was a man who couldn’t be reasoned with.
And then.
‘Why is this guy who’s leaving in a week making such a fuss.’
What the company currently needed were employees working in the field, not Kim Suyong who was on the verge of retirement.
“Then since you’re also getting paid, Manager, why don’t you do some work? Why do you make all the juniors do everything?”
“That’s all to teach them the work!”
“Ah~ So that’s why you go around checking the air conditioner. I suppose that’s your job then?”
Kim Suyong’s face turned red.
“What? You bastard! How many years apart are you and me that you’d say something like that!”
“Did you become manager because of your age? Why bring age into this here?”
Still, Lee Un pushed further, crossing the line.
“Just leave quietly, will you.”
It had been a full five years.
Five years since that man had interfered with the site and lowered work efficiency.
‘And I was the one who took all the blame.’
He should be keeping his head down, yet he was acting like this until the very end.
‘If it weren’t for the company….’
But that was Lee Un’s thought.
From Kim Suyong’s position, regardless of the reason, this was insubordination.
“This is why you shouldn’t hire uneducated orphan bastards!”
In the end, he too crossed the line.
“Why is an orphan being brought up here?”
Lee Un scowled and sprang up from his seat.
He wasn’t bulky, but his body had been toughened by grueling field work—it was solid, and his momentum was ferocious.
“Ha, are you going to hit me?”
Forced to look up at Lee Un due to the height difference, Kim Suyong felt pressure without realizing it.
And then, an inexplicable change occurred in Lee Un.
His pupils slit vertically like a tiger’s and turned golden.
‘What the hell kind of eyes are those….’
Meeting Lee Un’s eyes, Kim Suyong felt terror and found his body wouldn’t move.
These were absolutely not human eyes.
“D-don’t come near me!”
Kim Suyong simply wanted to escape this place as quickly as possible.
“Hello, Manager.”
“You’re here, Manager.”
Right then, field workers entered the break room.
Before anyone knew it, Lee Un’s eyes had returned to normal, and Kim Suyong dashed outside in a hurry.
“What? What’s with him? Like he saw a ghost. Team Leader Lee. Is it because of the AC again?”
“Obviously. I wish they’d make him wear heat-resistant gear and put him to work.”
“Ah! So cool! Still, it’s a relief our Team Leader Lee always stands up to him!”
Soaked in sweat, they stood in front of the air conditioner with happy smiles.
And Lee Un poured cool filtered water into paper cups and handed them out.
“The hard work is done by you hyungs in the field. This is the least I can do. Hahaha!”
A completely different demeanor from when he was dealing with Kim Suyong moments ago.
This was the art of navigating society that Lee Un had learned.
They were different from Kim Suyong, who flew into a rage over a single air conditioner.
They were diligent employees who had worked hard in their respective positions for over ten years, people indispensable to the company.
They were also far more helpful to Lee Un than Kim Suyong ever was.
Among them, especially Jeong Jaemin.
“This is why I like our Team Leader Lee! I’ll postpone my leave for tomorrow. You go instead.”
“Oh?”
“You said you have a date, so I should let you go!”
“Thank you, hyung. How about it? Iced coffee?”
“Hahaha!”
“Do me a favor later then.”
“Oho? I’m losing out too much here though?”
“Shall I make you feel that you’re not losing out by canceling it again~?”
“Please let me know if there’s anything you need, anytime! Hyung!”
“Hahaha!”
If Lee Un, an orphan, had an older brother, he imagined this was what it would feel like.
In that very moment when laughter and chatter filled the break room with a warm atmosphere.
Bang!
Someone urgently opened the door.
“B-big trouble! Sanghyeon got buried under scrap metal!”
“What?”
Lee Un rushed out through the door before the man even finished speaking.
Lee Sanghyeon was a twenty-four-year-old newcomer who had just joined Jeongwoo.
If anything happened, it was all Lee Un’s responsibility.
‘Please! Don’t let it be serious!’
He ran with all his might and arrived at the scrap metal warehouse.
Lee Un entered without hesitation.
‘Damn.’
Lee Sanghyeon’s lower body was trapped under a pile of scrap iron.
If there was a silver lining, it was that his legs were caught, not his waist.
‘This is dangerous.’
But even so, the situation wasn’t one where he could be easily pulled out.
If he pulled from below with force, the piled-up scrap could collapse.
While he was at a loss.
A message appeared before his eyes like a lie.
[Quest]
[Save Lee Sanghyeon.]
[0/1]
[Time Limit: 10 minutes]
[Reward: Skill]
[Failure: Death]
[Difficulty: F]
‘Why here of all places, a quest.’
It was a quest.
A situation where a message window appeared before his eyes and a mission was delivered under the name of ‘Quest.’
This bizarre phenomenon, like something out of a game, was not Lee Un’s first time experiencing it.
The first quest he had received was to win a staring contest with a passing dog.
Carried out with half-belief, or thinking it might be a dream.
The staring contest with the passing dog was easy, and upon victory, he obtained a skill called ‘Tiger Eye.’
The golden eyes that had made Kim Suyong tremble in terror during their confrontation earlier.
Anyway, since he had really obtained a skill, the ‘death upon failure’ couldn’t be a lie either.
‘I have to save Sanghyeon no matter what.’
Even if he had to risk his life.
“Sanghyeon! Wake up!”
Lee Un rushed to the unconscious Lee Sanghyeon without hesitation.
“Huff… huff… Team Leader Lee. It’d be dangerous to clear from the top.”
Jeong Jaemin arrived right after.
“Hyung, please bring the forklift.”
“Lift the scrap?”
“Yes. I’ll pull him out in the meantime.”
“It’s dangerous, Team Leader Lee. You could get hurt too.”
Lee Un knew that too.
That the scrap could collapse and bury him too.
But if he didn’t save him, he would die anyway.
“If I just waste time like this, I’ll regret it, hyung.”
Of course, Lee Un couldn’t tell him the truth.
“You… got it! Wait!”
Moved by Lee Un’s resolute words, Jeong Jaemin ran with all his might and brought the forklift.
“Ready.”
“Yes.”
As the forklift’s tines aimed for the gap in the scrap pressing down on Lee Sanghyeon, Lee Un cautiously approached.
The pile of scrap slowly rose by the forklift, and Lee Un lowered his stance.
‘Now!’
Lee Un grabbed Lee Sanghyeon’s two arms and pulled him out halfway in one go.
It was a relief.
‘If I pull him out straight like this…’
Whether because Jeong Jaemin was skilled at operating the forklift or because of sheer luck, the pile of scrap didn’t move.
As he exhaled a breath of relief.
“Team Leader Lee! Above!”
He raised his head at Jeong Jaemin’s urgent shout.
‘Damn!’
Sharp plate scrap that had been stacked at the very top was falling.
It was a situation where he had to pull back immediately. But Lee Un didn’t step back.
If he dodged, not only would the immobile Lee Sanghyeon be seriously injured, but the quest wouldn’t be completed either.
He had no choice but to cover Lee Sanghyeon with his body.
“Krrk.”
He groaned at the pain felt in his back.
At the same time, Jeong Jaemin quickly got off the forklift and safely pulled Lee Sanghyeon out.
‘Why do I have to suffer like this because of that woman. Damn.’
They gave skills as rewards, but they weren’t necessarily powers essential for survival.
And to think failure meant death.
Since situations where he had to take such risks could come again, the cost-benefit analysis simply didn’t add up.
[Quest completed.]
[Acquired skill ‘Pain Resistance Lv.1’.]
[Pain Resistance – You will no longer feel pain.]
But when the quest was completed and the pain in his back disappeared like a lie.
‘At this rate, I wouldn’t even need anesthesia for surgery.’
A satisfied smile formed on Lee Un’s lips before he knew it.
***
It was the same dream again today.
Lee Un looked at the woman before him.
Skin so white it was dazzling, and a perfect face.
And red hair that blazed like flames, and eyes full of mischief.
She was clearly in human form, yet she gave off a feeling of being something other than human.
‘Well, she gave me this kind of power, so she probably isn’t human.’
That was right.
She was the very one who had given Lee Un his skills.
When she spotted Lee Un, she scowled and shoved her face toward him.
“Hey. How did you get here?”
The same reaction and same question for a week.
It was clearly a dream he was having now, yet the same content had repeated for a week.
“Me? Isn’t this my dream?”
Lee Un’s mouth moved automatically with the same response.
As if to remind him not to forget about her.
“A dream? This is my space, though? And informal speech?”
“Your space? What does that mean? And you used informal speech first?”
“Informal speech comes out when you look at me?”
Despite her appearance that made informal speech difficult, and an inexplicable sense of holiness and fear.
“It comes out just fine, though?”
He was a stubborn one.
The more you pressed him down, the more he bounced back.
“Oho? Interesting?”
Then her eyes instantly changed to look intrigued.
“Are you an Earthling?”
‘In thirty-three years of living, this was the first time I’d been asked if I was an Earthling.’
“I am an Earthling, but….”
“Really? Hmm? It’s not time yet though? What?”
She cut off Lee Un’s words and tilted her head as if something was strange.
Lee Un also asked with a puzzled expression.
“Isn’t this just my dream?”
“Stop talking nonsense and take what’s given. It’s your fate!”
Lee Un was about to get angry at being called stupid.
‘I held back well at this point.’
He stopped at the words that she would give him something.
“What are you giving me?”
“A trait.”
“A trait?”
“Yeah. I was supposed to give it to a human I liked in a week? But you came here yourself?”
“Um. I don’t understand at all, so could you explain in more detail?”
Lee Un continued calmly.
“I mean, this situation feels like a dream but also not a dream. What is a trait? And why are you giving it to me?”
Then she answered with a refreshing smile.
“Secret~!”
“Ah….”
No matter how many times he saw her, her personality was certainly fresh.
“Anyway, there’s no time. You seem to have come here temporarily through a dimensional rift. Hurry up and come here!”
At her call, Lee Un irresistibly approached.
It was absolutely not because she was pretty.
Rather, it was some kind of irresistible force?
Her hand reached the head of Lee Un, who had arrived before her.
And then.
“Kuk!”
A stinging energy instantly pierced from his brain to his heart.
‘Why do I keep feeling this pain!’
“Ta-da! You now have an incredible trait! It’s an unbelievably good one, okay?”
“So what is this trait?”
“Just experience it with your body. That’s the only way it’ll be fun to watch.”
Fun to watch?
It had been a week’s worth of questions.
‘What’s fun about watching me? It’s just the repetitive life of going to work anyway.’
“What's your name?”
“Lee Un.”
“Lee Un. See you tomorrow.”
And this part alone was decreasing by one day from the week.
Like a countdown.
“Entertain me then.”
“Wait? Why do you only say what you want to say….”
And so, the dream with her ended once again.
***
The day after the quest related to Lee Sanghyeon ended.
“Uchachachacha!”
Lee Un stretched and got up from bed.
‘That was a relief.’
Yesterday’s matter had been resolved well.
Fortunately, Lee Sanghyeon’s two legs only had fractures, and Lee Un also finished up with simple sutures.
And now.
‘Today’s the day.’
The day she had said to see him had come.
The date he had told Jeong Jaemin about was a lie. He had just taken the day off to prepare for today in his own way.
‘Or is it? Maybe it could turn into a date?’
Since you never know what will happen in life, Lee Un harbored a faint hope.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
As if to tell him not to entertain useless thoughts, someone knocked urgently and roughly on the studio apartment door.
At the same time, the emergency alert tone on his phone rang.
“What?”
He checked his phone.
-This is a real situation. All citizens are advised to refrain from going outside. Cause under investigation.
Lee Un, who had been heading to the front door, stopped.
“Don’t go outside without any explanation?”
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Then the door shook once more.
“Good grief. Can’t they ring the bell? Is their head just for decoration?”
The anxiety lasted only a moment.
Lee Un yanked the door open.
Thud!
Then a heavy sensation from the door and the sound of something solid colliding.
“No! Why are you standing so close to the door!”
The moment he stuck his head through the half-opened door.
“What is this?”
Before Lee Un’s eyes stood a green-skinned monster.
“Keeeeeek!”
It was about waist-height to Lee Un.
Despite its small stature, it charged without hesitation.
“Damn… shit!”
It swung the dagger it held in its hand.
Shhhhk!
Lee Un instinctively pulled his body back.
But the dagger cut deep into his shoulder as it passed, and blood gushed out.
‘At this rate, I’ll die.’
Facing a life-or-death crisis for the first time, his survival instinct kicked in, and he pulled the half-opened door back before shoving it with all his might.
Boom!
The monster hit its head on the steel door and bounced back.
“Keeek?”
It sensed something odd about this situation.
Seven places total until Lee Un’s home.
It had killed them all by making them open the door in the same way, but none of them had fought back like Lee Un.
Because the moment they saw it, they were seized by fear and terror, unable to move at all.
Bang!
In that gap, Lee Un quickly closed the door.
“Huff… huff… damn. What is going on.”
Leaving the monster that kept banging on the door behind him, Lee Un breathed roughly and rummaged through his medicine cabinet for antiseptic and bandages.
“The wound is too big.”
He wrapped the bandage as tightly as he could, but the bleeding wouldn’t stop.
It was a small mercy that thanks to ‘Pain Resistance,’ it didn’t hurt much.
“Is 112 first or 119 first.”
Lee Un called 112 with the phone in one hand, but it was dead.
119 was the same.
“Why? Could it be?”
He moved to the veranda and opened the window.
“Fuck… what the hell kind of chaos is this.”
The noise between floors was tremendous, but he never thought the soundproofing from outside was this good.
The moment he opened the window, people’s screams pierced Lee Un’s ears.
“Save me!”
“Someone help! Kyaaak!”
It was utter pandemonium.
People were being attacked by green-skinned monsters.
“Come at me! You monsters!”
“I’m a 5th-dan Taekwondo black belt! Come and die!”
There were some who fought back, but they were no match for the armed monsters.
Only corpses piled up.
Then, a sickening scene was captured by Lee Un’s eyes.
“You bastards…”
They were eating people.
Like hunting prey.
“Uuk… huff… huff…”
At the cruel scene, Lee Un hurriedly fell away from the window and crouched down, dry heaving.
“Crazy bastards…”
Movies and reality were completely different.
The cruel scene of blood and flesh flying, seared into his mind.
But Lee Un had to stand up again with trembling body.
‘The bleeding won’t stop. I’ll die like this.’
Because he realized this wasn’t a wound that could be solved with first aid.
To survive somehow, he had to go outside and head to the hospital.
“Hoo…”
He steeled his resolve and went back to the window to observe the monsters’ movements.
‘Strength is about adult level, weapon is one dagger, movement is slightly fast.’
If he had a weapon too, it seemed manageable.
The problem was.
‘Can I kill?’
They were living creatures.
For Lee Un, who had never even killed a chicken, killing a humanoid monster was no easy task.
His hands trembled at just the thought of killing.
“Huh?”
Then, a quest message appeared before his eyes.
[Main Quest Arrived!!!]
Unlike other times, the start was lively?
[Wunya?]
It was her.