Shangju on the Sea
Fuck, I'm screwed. I muttered to myself, standing in front of the mirror.
A moment ago, I'd woken up in a room I'd never seen before. Wearing pajamas I'd never laid eyes on. And for some reason, my body felt great—not like someone who'd gone five days without sleep. Panicking, I flailed around and stubbed my pinky toe on the furniture corner. The pain was way worse than I'd imagined, so it sure as hell wasn't a dream. I'd definitely fallen asleep playing a game. Had I been kidnapped in the meantime or something?
To clear my foggy head, I rubbed my eyes and shuffled to the bathroom, splashing cold water on my face. But that was when the real problem hit. The moment I touched my face, I felt a subtle wrongness. My skin, roughened by years of time and stress like sandpaper, was strangely smooth today. Then I looked up, and a stranger's face stared back at me.
"...Huh?"
The boy in the mirror looked flustered. A kid in his mid-teens, maybe? Way handsomer than any photo from my own childhood— the kind of face that could make a bunch of girls swoon. Two problems, though. First, this kid's expressions were moving exactly how I wanted them to. And second, handsome as it was, the face looked like a tanned blond delinquent straight out of a drawing.
"Ebuup."
Testing it out, I tried my specialty: rapid-fire facial gags. The delinquent in the mirror quickly twisted into two bizarre expressions.
"...Jackpot?"
I could hardly believe it, but this was undeniably my face now. If I just dyed the hair black, it might not be so bad...
Like hell.
Something utterly ridiculous had happened. I went back to the master bedroom and sat in a chair for a while, trying to guess what could have caused this mess. Experiencing something that defied all common sense had oddly calmed my mind instead of the usual panic—better than freaking out, at least.
So, why the hell was I suddenly inside some blond student's body? I racked my brain, but no plausible hypothesis came up to explain it.
To find clues, I cautiously poked around the house and concluded I was the only one here. The appliances were just a fridge and a microwave. On the table sat a wallet stuffed with cash. Furniture? One closet, that's it. It felt like someone had just moved in—no sign of actual living.
-Vrrr-vrrr!
I was wandering aimlessly when a vibration sound came from somewhere. Back in the master bedroom where I'd woken up, it was buzzing from the gap between the bed and the wall. I fished it out— a smartphone.
8:00
I tapped the screen to stop the alarm and cautiously pressed my thumb to the home button.
Fingerprint recognized
"......"
I didn't need to think hard to get what that meant.
• Entrance Ceremony: D-5
A to-do list sat smack in the middle of the home screen. Waking up as someone else in a strange house was shocking enough, but the phone I assumed was mine had an entrance ceremony scheduled. Absolutely insane.
I was confused, and above all, short on info to judge the situation. Confirming the front door opened and closed normally, I changed into a jersey from the drawer and headed out.
Stepping off the elevator on the 17th floor and out of the apartment, I froze in shock.
-Swoosh!
The ocean was less than 30 seconds' run from the apartment. A vast, deep blue expanse. If someone saw my dumbfounded face, they might ask what's so weird about an apartment by the sea. You see them all the time at Haeundae Beach or whatever. But this was different.
The apartment wasn't built by the sea. And that sound I'd been hearing? Not waves crashing on sand.
-Swoooosh!
This was the cut of a high-speed ship slicing through water. I bolted to the rooftop and looked around.
"My God."
My bad feeling was spot on. The apartment wasn't on land—it was on a massive ship. So enormous it didn't even make me seasick, like a sailing island. No need to climb higher for a full view.
Racing to the other side of the roof, a street scene filled my vision. That's right. This was an aircraft carrier the size of a whole city.
"Academy fleet..."
Surrounding my ship, not far off, other vessels the size of towns moved in formation. Obviously, ships this absurdly huge couldn't exist in reality. So why did I know the name for this unreal armada?
"Found it."
Rushing back to the room, I opened the closet. A familiar-designed uniform hung there. Impossible not to recognize. Watching students wear these for over a year and a half had been my one hobby.
A pure gold badge shaped like a Greek warship on the jacket breast, and a name tag with an unfamiliar name. The ID worn by cadets of Argo Academy, the Awakened training institution where takes place.
Only then did I remember what happened before I fell asleep.
Direct Control Mode unlocked.
Start a new playthrough?
Direct control mode— that's what it meant. Considering the changes to my body, it wasn't a hidden camera or a dream. Hard to believe, but I had to accept it.
"Fuck, I'm screwed."
My legs gave out, and I collapsed right there. I'd become a high schooler from the cleared game. Specifically, an extra named Kim Taeyang who doesn't even get a name drop in the main story.
Shangju on the Sea End