HG Ch 2

<2>

Something hard kept tapping against his cheek.

「Would you like to proceed with customization?」

“I’m not doing this…”

「Would you like to proceed without customization and use your current appearance as is?」

“Ah, geez, I get it. Just stop already.”

At first, he ignored it, burying his face in his arms. But that only worked the first few times. When the persistent slapping continued, frustration surged within him.

「Saving the selected customization.」

Eunho swiftly grabbed the object hovering near his face.

「Thwak!」

It was a strange experience. An odd mechanical sound reverberated in his head. It was so direct and pervasive that even covering his ears couldn’t block it out.

Joo Eunho frowned deeply, still keeping his eyes shut, as he clutched the thing that was squirming furiously in his hand as if trying to escape.  His face, often intimidating people due to his sharp, raised eyes and prominent nose bridge, now looked even more fierce.

“Hey, you little…”

「Thwak! Blam! Crash!」

“Are you going to keep quiet or not…?”

「Screech! Clatter!」

“Ugh, I said my head hurts!”

Eunho, his voice still thick with sleep, barked out in frustration and finally opened his eyes. In his hand was a butterfly, flapping its wings.

But could a butterfly even look this black? Its texture was strange too. It didn’t feel like an insect. It felt more like he was gripping a small machine made of metal. No matter how much pressure Eunho applied, the butterfly didn’t crush. Instead, it resisted even harder.

What was strange, though, was that despite its wild fluttering, no breeze stirred.

A mutant? What if it’s poisonous?

A belated sense of unease crept over him, and Eunho loosened his grip. Freed, the butterfly wobbled in the air for a moment before landing on the tip of Eunho’s nose.

At the same time, vivid, colorful emoticons flickered across its pitch-black wings which were entirely free of any impurities.

「(×﹏×)」

Startled, Eunho shot to his feet, and the butterfly fluttered off into the air.

Then, the mechanical voice that had woken Eunho echoed in his head once more.

「Applying the system settings modified by the user’s actions.」

「Switching guide voice from ‘Default’ mode to ‘Youthful Hermit Sage’ mode.」

「Loading. ■■■□□.」

“Youthful… What?”

Just then, a familiar sound reached his ears. Whoosh. The sound of wind rustling through leaves. The clear resonance made Eunho lift his head absentmindedly, and when he did, his eyes widened in shock at the sight of the bright blue sky above.

“Where… the hell is this?”

It felt like being possessed by a ghost. He hadn’t been drinking, and just moments ago, he’d been sitting at home, reading a game-based novel. How was he suddenly outside? And it wasn’t just any outdoor setting. He was in the middle of a dense forest, surrounded by mountains. There wasn’t even a hiking trail, let alone a proper path.

Now that he thought about it, even his clothes were strange too. He had been wearing an old, shabby tracksuit. But now, he was draped in coarse, homespun fabric—a po-ui^[1] straight out of a historical drama.

The sheer absurdity of the situation made it hard for him to process anything. All Eunho could do was absentmindedly rub the unfamiliar texture of his sleeve.

「Loading complete! ■■■■■.」

Instead of the mechanical voice he was beginning to grow accustomed to, a new, unfamiliar voice resounded in his mind.

「Application complete.」

It wasn’t a mechanical voice, but it was no less unnatural. Smooth and polished, it was the kind of voice you’d expect from a seasoned voice actor trained in diaphragmatic breathing. If anything, it felt out of place, as though it belonged in the dub of a martial arts anime rather than inside his head.

「Nameless Practitioner, welcome to Ja-Gwi: Monster Hunter.」

「What is your name?」

“What?”

「Single-character names^[2] are not allowed.」

「What is your name?」

“What kind of bullshit is this?”

「“MwonGaeSori^[3]”? Not a bad name. It’s decided.」

「Your spiritual power is 1. The path of cultivation is long and arduous, so laziness is forbidden. Dedicate yourself fully to your training.」

What the hell is this?

It didn’t take long for Eunho’s confusion to turn into irritation.

“No—”

Just as the exasperated Eunho was about to let out a classic expletive often muttered by frustrated Koreans (No, f*ck), the words that came out of his mouth were something entirely unexpected.

“Lovely.”

But his usual halfhearted curse echoed unnaturally through the tranquil forest, as if amplified.

“…What? Lovely?”

Dumbfounded, he tried to say it again, but the result was the same.

“I said lovely! Why does it keep coming out as ‘lovely’? Lovely, lovely!”

At that moment, a faint translucent screen appeared in front of his eyes.

[SYSTEM] Severe profanity will be automatically corrected. Repeated profanity more than 10 times within 10 minutes may result in the loss of your voice for 30 minutes. Please take care.

Auto-correction?

What the hell is this now? Come to think of it, he vaguely recalled seeing something similar just before he passed out. He reached out toward the screen absentmindedly. His hand slid right through the translucent panel, and in the same instant, the screen disappeared without a trace.

“Ha…”

Fine. He had to admit it—it was clearly a system window. The design was too generic and too intuitive not to recognize (the word ‘SYSTEM’ was plastered at the top in plain text) that it was impossible to miss. But just because he understood what it was didn’t mean he was ready to accept it. This was too bizarre.

「Now, let us begin the tutorial for beginners.」

While the stunned Eunho was still frowning in disbelief, the butterfly fluttering gracefully around him suddenly made an elegant turn and spread its wings wide.

「It’s only practice, so don’t be nervous.」

“Excuse me! How am I supposed to stay calm when I’ve been dragged into the middle of the mountains? Until you give me a proper explanation of what’s going on, I’m not doing anyth—”

But Eunho didn’t get to finish his sentence.

A blinding white light burst out barely three meters in front of him, and from it emerged a wild boar, easily three times Eunho’s size.

The massive creature shook its head from side to side, scattering dust, before locking eyes directly with him. The moment Eunho met the boar’s pitch-black gaze, he fell completely silent, as though all his earlier frustration and defiance had evaporated.

The oppressive aura of the wild beast’s raw killing intent paralyzed him, rendering him incapable of moving so much as a finger.

The boar dragged one of its front hooves across the ground with a loud scrape. The rising dirt and dust kicked up from its hind legs felt like something out of a slow-motion video.

For a moment, he saw his future.

I guess this is how I die.

He could already picture himself being impaled on the boar’s long, sharp tusks and flung dozens of meters away in a single, terrifying instant.

There was no way he could take on something like this with his bare hands.

Meanwhile, the gigantic boar had lowered its head and was now charging toward him with terrifying speed.

“Ah, lovely…”

The damn filtering system kicked in again, but Eunho couldn’t even muster a hollow laugh. Shutting his eyes tightly, he braced himself.

Born and raised in South Korea, where the greatest hardship he had faced was the grueling pressure of college entrance exams, Eunho clenched his fists and thought one last desperate prayer.

Please, let it be quick and painless, damn it.

Squeal!

When he closed his eyes, the beast’s cry and the sound of it tearing through the air became even clearer. Thud, thud, thud. The tremors in the ground struck directly through his legs and reverberated in his chest. His lower jaw quivered uncontrollably from the tension.

Thunk!

Not long after, the sound of something heavy striking as though shattering every bone in its path rang out. But there was no pain. Instead, it felt like the light vibration of a phone resting on his stomach, and Eunho, even in the midst of what he thought was his death, felt relieved.

* * *

“Gasp!”

Eunho shot upright as if waking from a nightmare. Breathing heavily, he twisted and turned his body, realizing he felt no pain. He let out a quiet sigh of relief.

Ha, it was just a dream. What a ridiculous, shitty dream…

「Have you awakened?」

“Argh!”

A pitch-black butterfly flitted right in front of his face, its wings fluttering ominously.

「Death is not the end but a new beginning. However, if you die, everything you’ve gained so far will be lost, and you’ll have to start over from the beginning. So be cautious.」

“What… What the hell is this?”

No matter how much he voiced his confusion, the butterfly continued speaking mechanically.

「Now, let us begin the tutorial for novice practitioners.」

* * *

「Well done. You have hunted the “Old Serpent” and gained 47 experience points.」

“I want to die. Seriously… How does this even make sense? Lovely! Lovely!”

Covered in dirt, Eunho stomped on the writhing snake. Shhk! The giant snake let out a final, pitiful cry before going limp.

What the hell is going on here?

After taking down the boar, a stag appeared out of nowhere, swinging its antlers. And now, this massive snake.

As Eunho rolled on the ground and swung his bare fists at these creatures, he came to a stark realization—this world wasn’t reality.

If this were real life, punching wild animals would’ve only shattered his own bones. Yet despite being tossed and beaten, the pain wasn’t unbearable. The most he felt was a dull ache in the places where he’d been hit, just enough to let him know he’d taken damage.

That’s why, honestly, he let his guard down when facing the snake. In a brief moment of carelessness, the snake bit him. From that point on, his arm joint wouldn’t bend properly.

The butterfly had explained it to him—it was one of the status effect debuffs, called “Paralysis.”

[HP] 7/30

[Status Effect] Paralysis (00:00:04)

Maybe it was because he had so little health left, but Eunho felt as if he’d just finished running a marathon.

The faint taste of blood lingered on his tongue as he swallowed hard, his throat dry. Suddenly, a white light enveloped him, wrapping him in a glowing halo.

A system window appeared before his eyes.

[SYSTEM] You have gained 47 experience points. [SYSTEM] Required experience has been met. Your spiritual power has increased. [SYSTEM] HP and MP have been restored. All status effects have been removed.

The white light that had engulfed his vision gradually faded. The dizziness that had been weighing him down vanished in an instant, leaving him feeling light and refreshed. Tears welled up in his eyes. Could something feel this unreal?

「Your spiritual power is now 4. You’ve finally shed your status as a commoner and can acquire a new Class^[4].」

Is this really inside a game?

Sure, he’d spent years reading countless game fantasy novels, letting his imagination run wild. But that was just daydreaming, like, “If VR games ever become real, I should start saving up for a capsule now.” He had never imagined falling into such a bizarre world himself.

Eunho kicked the dead snake’s body in frustration, his movements filled with resentment. As he did so, the massive carcass faded into transparency and disappeared, leaving behind a piece of leather in its place.

「Ah, snake hide. If you take this to the village workshop, you should be able to make leather shoes from it.」

How did that make any sense? Normally, snake skins would need to be reprocessed with other materials or reinforcements. But here, the moment he killed the snake, the finished product had instantly appeared, practically saying, “Haha, hello! My name is Snake Hide!” The whole world seemed to be mocking him, screaming, “You’re trapped in a fictional world now, and your life is ruined. GG^[5]!”  

Unable to contain his frustration, Eunho stomped his feet hard in anger.

“Logout!”

「The tutorial for novice practitioners is now complete.」

「Descend the mountain and pursue even greater dreams.」

“Let me log out!”

「Kids these days really do speak incomprehensible nonsense.」

“Logout! Exit! Quit! Depart! Leave! Descend!”

「Ah, so you’re that excited to descend the mountain! I can feel your unshakable determination resonating from the depths of your voice!」

“Lovely!”

「Love is wonderful! A true man should embrace many! Your resolve is truly remarkable. Hahaha!」

[TUTORIAL: Toward a Bigger World! (Completed)] You have met a noble guide, gained profound insight, and are now descending the mountain.

[SYSTEM] In 10 seconds, you will be automatically transported to “Nonyeok Village.” [SYSTEM] In “Dodeul-Yangji,” you can select your Class. Reward: Novice Practitioner’s Bundle